| | Exactly. The vipassana jhanas try to incorporate and/or balance seven factors of enlightenment, including investiation (the second factor), whereas samatha jhanas involve 6 of the 7 (they don't involve investigation), and are on this front the antithesis of investigation of the three characteristics, so that in vipassana one tries to see each little arising and vanishing component, in samatha one ignores these and tries to pretend the thing is stable, in vipassana one tries to detect any hint of suffering in each sensation, and in samatha one tries to ignore suffering and cultivate more enjoyable, relaxing, etc. aspects, in vipassana one tries to see all things arising on their own, whereas samatha is very much an exercise in conscious creation and conscious illusion, i.e. a deliberate act of will.
Thus, they may seem antithetical, and yet, at various points, they may look a lot alike, such as in Mind and Body, which is very much the same as the early first samatha jhana, in the Arising and Passing Away, which often has very heavy second samatha jhana overtones, Dissolution, which can have heavy third samatha jhana overtones, and the middle section of High Equanimity, which often has very heavy fourth samatha jhana and sometimes formless overtones.
Thus, even on the path of insight, samatha aspects are hard to entirely avoid, and on the path of serenity one often ends up noticing the Three Characteristics even if one doesn't want to (as happened to me and was how I got into this whole business). Interesting? |