| | Dear Tracy,
Think of the first layer of mind as a radio frequency. You can tune to it and just listen. It sounds good. This would be analogous to samatha. But if you tune to that same frequency and then go slightly out of phase, you can set up an interference pattern with it. This creates a new wave pattern. Within this new pattern is hidden a message. This latter situation is vipassana. The frequency is the same in either case, but you have accessed it by two different methods. You have the first ñana and the first jhana. Good message, good music.
Move on to the 2nd and 3rd frequencies. Use the vipassana technique to find the message. But what if you access those same strata using samatha? The music is boring at the 2nd freq. At the 3rd, the music sucks. There is no place to rest. Change the channel. 4th frequency has both good message and good music (4th ñana, 2nd jhana). 5th frequency, good message, good music (5th ñana, 3rd jhana). 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th frequencies, ugly message, crummy music (ñanas, but no jhanas). 11th frequency, nice message, nice music (11th ñana, 4th jhana).
All ñanas have underlying jhanas (frequencies). But some frequencies are stable (pleasant), and some are unstable (unpleasant). Only the stable jhanas have received the official jhana designation. But there is no fundamental difference between the strata of mind underlying the "jhanas" and those underlying the ñanas. All the frequencies can be accessed by either technique. Thanks for the astute question.
Kenneth
ps: Why are some strata unstable? Don't know. Something inherent in the way the energy flows and arranges itself within the body. |