Reply To: Taking Back my old claim based on newfound awareness

#37846
Tobias G
Participant

Hi Lang, this I also asked in another post.

SengKiat answered:
This is my translation:
There is no jhāna for (those) without pañña,
pañña, there is not for (those) without jhāna,
Which ever indeed have jhāna and paññā,
that truly is near to Nibbāna.

Translation from Tipiṭaka.net:
Verse 372: There can be no concentration in one who lacks wisdom; there can be no wisdom in one who lacks concentration. He who has concentration as well as wisdom is, indeed, close to Nibbana.

With mettā, Seng Kiat

—————-
Lal answered:
jhāna does not necessarily mean transcending the kāma loka and attaining “jhānic states” as commonly interpreted these days.

“Jhāna” means to “cleanse one’s defilements (especially kāma raga“) by making an effort, especially via Anapanasati and Satipatthana Bhavana.
– When one does that panna grows and one may also attain “jhānic states.”

This verse basically says that one needs to cultivate both jhāna and panna. The latter, of course, via learning true Dhamma. In fact, they grow together.

One can get a better idea of the meaning of the verse by looking at other verses in the sequence:
Dhammapada Verses 368 to 376