Dream Walker:
Are we talking exponents here? My math is rusty.
11 x 11 x 11 = 1331
11 x 11 x 11 x 11 = 14641
either way that is a lot of slicing
hmm wait
11 nanas times 8 jhanas times 8 jhanas = 704 combos... is this right?
then there are an additional 8 jhanas times 8 jhanas times 8 jhanas = 512 jhana combos....right?
1216 total discrete states?
First of all we have to assume that all combinations are possible.
For example, I'm not sure if something like eq.c8.c5 is possible (the boundless space aspect of neither perception nor yet non-perception??).
Also, all of the formless concentration jhanas occur out of the 4th jhana so would it make sense to say something like ce.c6.c7 where the formless realms arise out of the cause and effect stage?
Also, there are at least four pure land stages beyond the 8th jhana and how are they counted? Would we call them c9, c10, c11, c12? The difference between samatha and vipassana tends to diminish as we go up the jhanic arc, though this does not mean that it's not impossible to be heavily concentrated in formless realms, but what about pure lands? This also means that vipassanized formless realms are not being counted in the total since they are not expressible outside the 11 insight stages if the insight naming notation is used. For example, i6 would need to be counted. (Where insight is being done on the jhana of boundless consciousness). Assuming no distinction between samatha and vipassana for a pure land or the 8th jhana (though I'm not sure if this is entirely true), then we would have.
(So assuming that all combinations are possible, going three levels in, and including pure lands we would have):
(11 nanas + 12 jhanas + 3 insight formless realms )^3 = 17,576
This includes weird stuff like j12.ce.mb (The subsubstage of mind and body of the substage of cause and effect of the 4th pure land jhana).