For anyone interested in the long-running debate over insight and
concentration in the Theravada, there is an interesting essay by Richard
Gombrich on the topic in his book How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned
Genesis of the Early Teachings entitled 'Tracing the Course of an Ancient
Debate: How Insight Worsted Concentration in the Pali Canon'.

Gombrich identifies the Susiima Sutta (PTS: SN II, 119-128, available at
Access to Insight as SN XII.70:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn12-070.html) as being
one of the few texts in the Sutta Pitaka that gives credence to the belief
that nibbana is attainable without achievement of the jnanas (Gombrich seems
to disagree with the translator's note that Ven. Thanissaro provides at
ATI).

Ultimately, Gombrich comes down in favor of the view that belief in nibbana
without the attainment of concentration represents a belief introduced after
the time of the Buddha, stemming from errors in the translation and
preservation of a few texts, as well as an overly-litteral reading of some
scriptures that deal with classifying different levels of attainment of
disciples of the Buddha.

I'd recommend the rest of the book for anyone who is interested in the study
of the tipitaka.

Clay Collier

On 8/15/05, Jitendra Kumar <jitendra.kumar.jitu@...> wrote:
>
> the only thing i can think of is,
> Gautama tried 2 Margas (ways), one full of pains (he hung upside down
> on a tree for several weeks) and another full of luxury in 4
> different palaces each for different season. He figured both ways
> were not good. So he suggested Majhima(medium) MArga. So one can
> attain Nibbana without entering Jhana and just living his regular
> life.
>
> Thats all I can remember and hopefully correctly, I read it long time
> back.
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Chris André Stranden <bobtarzan@...>
> wrote:
> > Hello folks! :-)
> >
> > Are there any statements in the Palicanon that clearly states that
> it is
> > possible to reach Nibbana without having such a strong samadhi that
> you can
> > enter the jhana-states?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Chris André Stranden
>
>
>
>
>
>
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