8. From States to Traits: The Phenomenology of No Self (w/ Roger Thisdell)

Roger Thisdell talks to Brendan about jhana meditation and the transformational experience born of such high state cultivation which suddenly left him with "a mind which represents itself as permanently centreless and without the sense of a singly, positioned epistemic agent." 

0:00 Introduction

3:40 Jhana Meditation: An Overview

13:09 The Phenomenology of No "Self"

18:36 The Epistemology and Ontology of No "Self"

24:01 Roger's Story

31:16 Suffering and No "Self"

34:44 The Web vs. the Spider

41:33 Navigating States

49:33 Development: States vs. Stages

53:57 Nonduality

56:00 Jhana: The Ladder That You Throw Away

58:24 The God beyond "God": Beyond I AM

1:09:16 Cessation: Is There Awareness beyond Experience?

"Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas" by Leigh Brasington: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Concentr...

Graph source: https://www.suttavada.foundation/brai...

Comparison of Christian and Buddhist cosmological systems with consideration of their relationship to jhanas (mentioned at 58:24) available here: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/...

www.BrendanGrahamDempsey.com