"The formless attainments are not included in the earliest teachings..."

Just to note that Bhante @Sujato has just been teaching a course on the Pārāyanavagga, where the Brahmins question the Buddha about how to progress. As Bhante says, the Buddha does not tell them to give up the formless attainments that they have been practising and do something else, but gives advice on how to use those attainments to progress.

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