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Upasaka Culadasa

Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/2/11 8:54 PM
I first discovered Culadasa while reading the yahoo jhana_insight forum, and found his meditation manual available there immensely useful. It is also available on his website at http://dharmatreasure.com/ I'm surprised to see relatively little mention of him here.

The manual covers starting a practice and extends to access concentration. It's written and structured in a clear fashion I found refreshing.

He also runs some retreats in arizona, and this feb/march will be doing a 10-day retreat in masachussetts.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/3/11 12:56 AM as a reply to Daniel F Connor.
[quote="Daniel F Conner"]I'm surprised to see relatively little mention of him here.
I've had dealings with Upasaka Culadasa (aka John Yates) while I spent some time at the same yahoo group list service. He indeed knows what he's talking about and is well worth listening to and reading. He has a very good way of describing the experiential stages of development that many people might find to be not only eloquent but uncannily accurate. His writing etcetera is well worth looking into, especially for people just starting out.

As to why he may not be mentioned much here, I don't think he's into the Dharma hardcore movement in the way that Daniel Ingram defines it. He is doing his own thing, so to speak. Each to his own.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/30/11 12:23 AM as a reply to Ian And.
@Ian: I haven't heard of him. What would you say were his basic differences from what we are interested in doing here?

I will post a link to his stuff on the Links section.

D

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
1/26/12 12:55 AM as a reply to Daniel M. Ingram.
Daniel M. Ingram:
@Ian: I haven't heard of him. What would you say were his basic differences from what we are interested in doing here?

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been monitoring this thread.

He's more of a traditionalist in terms of Dhamma practice, not nearly as "out there" in terms of giving credence to questionable practices such as the Actual Freedom crowd. As one should be able to tell by the religious name he chooses to be known by.

I should say that I haven't had contact with him for several years now, so I'm not certain which direction he may be going in, other than the one posted on his website.

Although I must say, he's right there with you in terms of your hardcore approach to the meditation technology and diligence in its practice. He had quite a few good things to say about your approach to meditation, as I recall, a few years back when you first appeared on the E-sangha scene and were first becoming known and talked about in more traditional circles.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/3/11 6:45 AM as a reply to Daniel F Connor.
Apparently Shinzen Young speaks very highly of him too, and having read his take on things he really knows his stuff. His descriptions are, as Ian mentions, incredibly accurate and well phrased, there's no doubt whatsoever that he's a highly skilled dude.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/3/11 8:14 PM as a reply to Tommy M.
That's funny- I actually had a conversation with Shinzen about Culadasa- a couple of years ago. Same impression.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
11/29/11 4:42 PM as a reply to Daniel F Connor.
I've studied on and off with Upasaka Culadasa (John Yates) for about 10 years. He is a well-kept secret. He is extremely knowledgeable, and has a gift for making the dharma remarkably clear, even self-evident. He is an expert in jhana practice. All of his teachings that have been recorded are available for free on his website (http://DharmaTreasure.com). Check out the "Teaching Retreats" section.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
1/24/12 2:07 AM as a reply to Daniel F Connor.
Bumping this, as I am currently finding Culadasa's descriptions very helpful.

RE: Upasaka Culadasa
Answer
1/24/12 11:08 AM as a reply to Stian Gudmundsen Høiland.
Stian Gudmundsen Høiland:
Bumping this, as I am currently finding Culadasa's descriptions very helpful.


There's also some great stuff of his to be mined over on the Yahoo group Jhana Insight. It requires some digging to find it but is well worth the effort.