Ep115: Jhana, Ego, & Orgasm – Leigh Brasington, Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, & Dr Sanguinetti
In this episode special guest Leigh Brasington once again joins the ongoing conversation featuring Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, and Dr Jay Sanguinetti.
In this episode special guest Leigh Brasington, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of ‘Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas’, once again joins the ongoing conversation featuring:
Shinzen Young, meditation teacher and neuroscience research consultant
Chelsey Fasano, a Columbia University neuroscience student
Dr Jay Sanguinetti, Assistant Director for the Center for Consciousness Studies and Research Professor at the University of New Mexico
In this episode Shinzen and Leigh engage in a detailed discussion about the variety of classifications of jhana in Buddhist scripture and the competing interpretations of them that exist today.
They examine the contents and political context of 5th century text the Visuddhimagga and its author Buddhagosa and consider possible conflicts between its jhana system and the those of the Sutta and Abhidhamma literature.
Chelsey reveals fascinating research on the neuroscience of pleasure and its relationship to meditational bliss, Jay shares the research on cognitive bias and religious belief, and the group ask the question if jhana and kriya phenomena are actually forms of epileptic seizure.
Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Topics Include:
00:00 – Intro
01:45 – Sutta vs Visuddhimagga jhanas
06:53 – Complete absorption and nimitta
09:35 – Do jhanas confer an evolutionary advantage?
11:54 – Orgasmic jhanas
14:18 – Shinzen and Leigh discuss jhanas and lineage
25:40 – How enlightened was Buddhagosa?
29:55 -Sutta vs Abhidhamma vs Visuddhimagga
33:01 – Why did the Visuddhimagga become so popular?
37:14 – Leigh’s orientation vs Shinzen’s orientation
43:36 – The spiritual ego
47:11 – Cognitive bias and defense mechanisms in spiritual practice
54:38 – Sutta Nipāta on dogmatism and bias
59:05 – Is grasping fundamental to the brain?
01:01:54 – Leigh’s enlightenment test
01:07:34 – The nature of pleasure
01:14:28 – Reducing inhibition to reveal states of bliss
01:15:33 – Centre-surround neurons
01:22:25 – Sensory processing according to Buddhism
01:27:24 – The neuroscience of pleasure
01:32:43 – Jhana and kriya as kinds of epileptic seizure
01:42:58 – Leigh’s upcoming book on dependent origination
Previous episodes in this series:
To find out more about Leigh, visit,
https://www.guruviking.com/ep18-leigh-brasington-guru-viking-interviews/
Case Study of Ecstatic Meditation: fMRI and EEG Evidence of Self-Stimulating a Reward System – https://www.hindawi.com/journals/np/2013/653572/
How Many Jhanas Are There? http://www.leighb.com/howmanyjhanas.htm
To find out more about Shinzen, visit:
To find out more about Chelsey, visit:
To find our more about Dr Sanguinetti, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James