THE GRADUAL TRAINING workshop

Sutta Study with Meditation Workshop
conducted by Āyasmā Aggacitta

Please contact the host for further details on registration

Workshop time: 8am-7pm (WM and Singapore)

Some Buddhist lay practitioners nowadays think that the chances of attaining stream-entry and beyond are increased by cultivating the jhānas before doing vipassanā. Some even have the mindset that it is ineffective to practise vipassanā without first having a good foundation in the jhānas. Such attitudes may not be practical nor beneficial for them, whether in the short-term or long-term.

This workbook for the Gradual Training Sutta Study with Meditation Workshop attempts to address this issue by exploring the meditations intended for non-renunciants and those for monastics, as recorded in the 4 Nikāyas and in the early suttas of the 5th Nikāya.

The findings of this exploration suggest that jhāna practice was not explicitly prescribed for non-renunciants. They further show that jhāna practice was not a stand-alone meditation endeavour, but rather an integral part of a comprehensive and sequential training program intended for monastics.

This workbook also includes passages from the Nikāyas that throw some light on the nature of the jhānas.

All participants are required to thoroughly study this workbook and attempt to answer the questions in the discussion topics (better still if they can form their own local discussion groups to do so) PRIOR to the workshop.