Dear Yong Peng,

> Then, there is also the bulk of literature dealing with antaraabhava
> among the Mahayana (particularly Tibetan) texts.

Sorry to persist with this, but the most extensive treatment in extant
Indian sources of the antaraabhava is found in the Sarvastivadin
Mahavibhasha. My impression is that it was taken as a given by many
Mahayana people and so they never discussed it a great length. The Tibetan
material seems to have been inspired by the above-mentioned lengthy
treatment by the Sarvastivadins.

> One last point to raise is the practice of jhana.

I should stress that I do want to encourage people to attempt jhana
meditation by themselves without expert guidance.

> I remember the Buddha advised people not to go beyond the fourth jhana

Difficult since, properly speaking, there are only four jhanas.

> However, jhana is never regarded as highly as other jhanic-based
> religions.

On the contrary, I think one can argue that the jhanas were an extremely
important part of the Buddha's path, perhaps the originally central element.
But I would rather not get into a long discussion about this, because I can
already hear the howls of disagreement :)

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge