A defense of Ecstatic Buddhism

Please excuse my delay in replying, I fully expected to get back on to each
and every Yahoo group that I posted my brief spiritual bio to, but I have had
over 150 email messages on most days since I post that biography a week ago.
And, I have endeavor to give each thoughtful message sent to me a personal and
thoughtful response. Therefore, I have literally spent every moment from
roughly 6 AM, after my morning meditation, to 9 PM before my evening meditation,
reading and responding to these very thoughtful and tender responses to my
simple contemplative biography. I do however take breaks for rest and meals, as
well as a mid-day break to lead a meditation sit with my tiny sangha here in
Tucson.

Many apologies to all of you if my message last week caused any difficulties
for anyone. I do certainly seek not to harm, but only to benefit all beings.
I have found it is my work to validate, contextualize, authenticate through
canonical support, and to generally support the ecstatic contemplative, who are
sincere seekers, in their journey.

It is interesting to note that most of the responses have been from ecstatic
contemplatives who feel they either have had no support for their practice, or
they have been dismissed by their meditation teachers and spiritual guides
due to their various charismatic manifestations.

I regret that a few small flaws in my writing implied that there was not
ample and excellent support in many religions and traditions of the world. And,
there is of course excellent support for the ecstatic contemplative here on
Yahoo as well. And, no doubt that excellent support is most probably available
on this very Yahoo list. I posted to this list because I felt it fit in a
general way within the context of meditation and the various charismatic
manifestations that can occur to some contemplatives.

Perhaps 98% of the responses I have received to my simple bio have been
positive. And, they have come from contemplatives in almost every tradition and
religion. Remarkably there have been a small number of misguided people who
claim to be teachers of the Buddha dhamma. I too often find I am being accused
of "arhat practice" as though it is some kind of dirty word or misguided
practice. My practice is "Arahant practice" as was the historic Buddha's, he
was
after all called "an Arahant, a fully enlightened being," by his students.

Arahant (Pali) practice is intent on enlightenment (nibbana, Pali). If you
read the original Buddhist canon of literature, which is now available in
English, you may find that the historic Buddha was a Bodhisatta (Bodhisattva,
Sanskrit) who attained nibbana (nirvana, Sanskrit) and became a fully
enlightened
Arahant (arhat Sanskrit). Therefore he taught "Arahant practice."

I have found there is a remarkable degree of misinformation prevalent within
the Buddhist community (sangha). And, I believe its origin is in too many
Buddhist teachers who do not read the teachings of the Historic Buddha, but rely
too heavily on latter-day commentary and apocrypha for their beliefs and
practices.

The Pali Canon is reputed to be a record of the spoken word of the historic
Buddha, Sidharta Gotama, who was a native speaker of the Pali language. The
Pali Canon is at least the oldest extant document of the words of the Buddha in
the language he spoke. It was first written during the reign of King Ashoka
in 250 BCE. Therefore no other canon of Buddhist literature has a better claim
of authenticity.

It may also be worth pointing out that most of the other canons of Buddhist
literature are based on first century CE Sanskrit translations of the original
Pali canon. It is also worth noting that some of the other Buddhist canons
have additions that can only be of questionable origin, since these additions
are not in the original Pali canon.

Reading the Pali canon is an excellent way to come to understand the central
concepts of the teachings of the historic Buddha. It is available in many
languages including English. While the canon has a reputation for being a
weighty tome, I have found it is readable and accessible. Much of it is even
online
at the websites listed below.

In defense of my position that Buddhism was originally an ecstatic
contemplative tradition, do consider reading the suttas that outline the
Buddha's
original discourses on meditation. There you will find Sidharta Gotama
specifically
instructed his students in what he called the jhanas, or eight ecstatic
states of absorption. It is these ecstatic states that I have arrived at, and
which are listed in my personal statement.

I have received a few generous offers to become someone's disciple. It might
be worth pointing out, based on my years of practice and my subjective
experiences, that I am really not seeking guidance. I am however interested in
developing an international ecumenical dialog on and about the ecstatic
experience
and practice. I am also interested in developing a community of peers who
honor, respect, and validate each other's subjective experiences. So, those who
are interested in participating as peers in that venture, then please join
the Jhana Support Group where that dialog is going on today..

Jhana Support Group
A support group for ecstatic contemplatives
website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/
Subscribe: Jhanas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Best regards,

Jeff Brooks


The Buddha's three discourses on meditation and the ecstatic states (jhanas)
are available in these suttas at these URLs:

Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjthis onea/mn118.html
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN. 22)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/digha/dn22.html
Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/mn010b.html

Do consider examining the Buddha's original teachings at the following
websites:

S O U R C E S for the Tipitaka, P A L I Canon
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

ACCESS TO INSIGHT
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/

The Tipitaka and other valuable Pali sources
http://www.palikanon.com/english/english_web.htm

The PALI TEXT SOCIETY
http://www.palitext.demon.co.uk/

METTANET - LANKA
http://www.metta.lk/


The various volumes of the Pali Canon in English translation and where they
can be purchased, or downloaded off the web for free are at these URLs:

Digha Nikaya, DN (The Long Discourses).
Translation by Maurice Walshe.
Wisdom/Buddhist Publication Society BPS. 1996:
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.phtml?prod_id=251033
Thanissaro Bhikkhu' translations are at:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/digha/index.html

Majjhima Nikaya, MN (The Middle Length Discourses).
Translation by Bhikkhu Nanamoli.
Ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi. Wisdom/Buddhist Publication Society BPS
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.phtml?prod_id=25072X
Thanissaro Bhikkhu' translations are at:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/index.html

Samyutta Nikaya, SN (The Connected Discourses of the Buddha)
Translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Wisdom Publications. Or ATI www:
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.phtml?prod_id=948507
Thanissaro Bhikkhu' translations are at:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/index.html

Anguttara Nikaya, AN (The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha)
Translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi and Nyanaponika Thera. Or ATI www:
Altamira Press, 1997
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.phtml?prod_id=204050
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.phtml?prod_id=132552
Thanissaro Bhikkhu' translations are at:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/anguttara/index.html