Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c19.s1.35

c19.s1.35

¹⁴¹ Cf. AN. III. 393-8. While Heiler considers the 4th Jhāna the immediate threshold of full deliverance, Keith and Mrs. Rhys Davids are inclined to disagree (B. P. 126-127; Sakya, 167f). Heiler appears to be right for the earlier stratum of texts, since these show the enlightenment of Buddha as following on the 4th Jhāna. The Sāmaññaphalasutta has a similar implication. It may also be noted that Buddha is in D. s. 16 made to enter the Parinibbāna, not in the Saññāvedayitanirodha, but in the 4th Jhāna. Philosophically too, the 4th Jhāna seems to be nearest the state of mind in which Enlightenment might be expected. Mrs. Rhys Davids herself admits as much indirectly. It may be remembered that according to Zen Buddhism, it is in the "balanced" and "dustless" mind that Mahāprajñāpāramitā is revealed (see Suzuki—JPTS—1906-'7).