Right. I also believe that paññā is the most important. Mere Jhāna by itself does not lead to wisdom because there were many ascetics who mastered it and immaterial attainments and still clung to Atta and wrong views. But what Buddhist teachers today teach just Jhāna without some aspect of paññā?robertk wrote:Dear Alex
even when one is developing vipassana alone there will be calmness, it happens naturally imho. I think one will feel more relaxed in any aspect of life- and that is just for the beginner, let alone for someone who is close to attaining.
One can't realize that "all dhammas are anicca, etc" merely due to amount of accumulated observation. We can't observe every single dhamma in past, future, or present, in this or other universe. Something else is needed.
As for wisdom. Listening and considering is the cause for sutamayā and cintāmayā paññā. These can be enough for Ugghaṭitaññū or vipañcitaññū for maggaphala, but not us.robertk wrote: Of course life is still dukkha and sometimes even distressing, depending on kamma made in the past and how strong the accumulations of lobha and dosa are. But the overall trend must be towards more understanding of reality. And that is freeing and always with detachment..
The contention is how to develop bhāvanāmayā paññā for people living today. Not for those rare extraordinary people in the Buddha's time. Even in Buddha's time not everyone who has heard his teaching became Awakened. I would not be surprised if 99% of monks had to work hard for maggaphala, and that is under the Buddha - the best teacher.
Taking extremely rare, exceptional and gifted people's results as a general rule for us, IMHO, is wrong.