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In Theravada Buddhism becoming an Arhat is the gaining of wisdom / loss of ignorance into dependent arising of suffering. You could make the argument that is p
by proverbialbunny 7y ago
In Theravada Buddhism becoming an Arhat is the gaining of wisdom / loss of ignorance into dependent arising of suffering. You could make the argument that is philosophy, philosophy into the ultimate.
If you meditate without learning and growing and analyzing the causality of different kinds of suffering (that is, psychological stress) eventually overcoming them, you'll never become enlightened. If anything, the analyzing type is the ideal type for enlightenment. Maybe not for meditation, but definitely for figuring things out. A trick is to not get in the way of what you're observing. If it feels bad there is a natural tendency to try to change it, but if you're changing it, then you can't observe it in a clear and scientific way hampering learning and growth. If you want to try to figure out solutions to suffering, it can be done after meditating, but meditation itself is not getting involved, beyond setting breakpoints (called noting) to accelerate awareness if the same problem arises.
If you find yourself getting involved in stressful ruminations, it is helpful to remember that stress/suffering is impermanent and will disappear on its own without any involvement, so you can relax even while stressed. This has the side effect of increasing awareness because involvement decreases awareness. However, being avoidant outside of meditation often makes the problem worse, so it is important to not have aversion. There needs to be a middle ground here, as with everything else.
- zozbot234 7y agoVipassana meditation is specifically not based on 'analysis' of a conventional sort. It's raw unparalleled insight into your phenomenology (in the Husserl sense) - the generally-unnoticed details of your subjective experience. This is why it's considered so effective at going through the stages of 'enlightenment'.
- proverbialbunny 7y agoIt is effective at increasing awareness, which is necessary for enlightenment, but even Stream Entry is based on wisdom, which comes from learning how, eg, taking thinks personally works in relation to suffering. Some do gain stages of enlightenment while meditating, but I suspect the majority gain those stages at the end of their meditation session, when they switch from meditating to analysis putting together what they just saw. Also, Arhat is usually achieved while reading suttas, and Once Returner often is achieved when socializing. Stream Entry is the only common enlightenment obtained while meditating.
- zozbot234 7y agoThis is perhaps true of other traditions of Buddhism, but these are generally not as focused on vipassana in the strict sense that these workshops focus on (which is basically shared by, e.g. Ingram, etc.).
- nabla9 7y agoThe word 'wisdom' in this context is translated from Prajnā (Sanskrit) or panna (Pali) and it has noting to do with learning, thinking or conventional meaning of wisdom. The better term might be insight or intuitive understanding and exactly the thing you might attain by meditation.
- proverbialbunny 7y agoAbsolutely. Maybe I'm using the word learning an an unusual way. Anything and everything you observe that you remember is what I meant by learning, including putting two and two together.