Yes you are rightchownah wrote:...in the sutta which I referenced its says the monk "enters and remains in" each of the four jhanas...."remains" seems to be suggesting that it is more than a momentary event....but I don't know.
chownah
But the fact that you can "remain" does not necessarily entail that the 2nd, 3rd etc moment of remaining are different from the 1st and it does not entail that it is worth to try and want to remain there."And what, monks, is right concentration? (i) There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental) qualities — enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. (ii) With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance. (iii) With the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.' (iv) With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. This, monks, is called right concentration."
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I am suggesting that the "tour" from the 1st jhana to the 4th and further passing the formless attainments is actually a progression of "letting go". Why should one need to remain at an interstation? What would be the benefit of getting absorbed there?chownah wrote: Are you suggesting that jhana is like a key to a door and once the door is unlocked it is no longer relevant?
If you want to travel from city A to city D and you are passing cities B and C in between, why should one buy land, build a house and start living in city B and then some years later in city C if one's goal is just city D? Why should one waste one's energy to establish a living where one did not want to stay in the first place? Isn't it better to just swiftly pass by? Isn't it better to focus on letting go instead of focusing on interstations? When progression of letting go happens the interstations will be passed by necessarily even if these are just instantaneous momentary events and there is no "remaining there".
Kind regards