This past Sunday, Jeffrey presented the 10 Stages of Meditation by Culadasa, a particular path of practice designed to foster insights and Awakening [complete detachment from “Self”]. Jeffrey provided a brief overview of Culadasa’s stages and guided the discussion to the idea of stages in general. How do people feel about progressive stages? Is this model useful for householders who practice on our own, often without one specific teacher or group of adepts to guide us? Is it useful to identify signposts and milestones on “the way”? Is there a downside to this approach?
A few members were already, or interested in starting, working with Culdasa’s Stages. We agreed to check in about July, and October, to assess the value of his approach.
Audio clips from:
Meditation Intro: Training the Mind (I used audio from 7:40 – 9:35)
Intro to 10 Stages of Meditation ~ CULADASA with Stephanie Nash
Mastery of Stages ~ CULADASA with Stephanie Nash
Culadasa on the way to practice with the Ten Stages (starts about 12:30 mark)
Video of Robert Wright & Bhikkhu Bodhi [The Wright Show] in which, about 12:30 into the video, that Robert Wright asks Bhikkhu Bodhi if he has attained liberation.
Sources for the Overview:
Progressive Stages of Meditation in Plain English – Culadasa
Burlington Buddhist Sangha 