Were the 4 jhanas a unique discovery of the Buddha?

[silence]

@SilaSamadhi8

The practice of the 8 Jhanas was already present before the Buddha.

Hi @SilaSamadhi8, did anyone there provide evidence for this claim? It would seem that it is not very easy to do

@thomaslaw

Are the 8 (or 9) jhanas shown in EBTs also found in other Indian religious traditions/texts?

See my earlier post:

@silence

Such evidence as we are talking would be provided by a description of anything resembling the four jhanas in ancient Hindu texts, they are not to be sought in late Buddhist fabrications. What Polak has found is that at best some of the Buddhist vocabulary is used, but reinterpreted to fit long standing Hindu practice and thus not describing the 4 jhanas.

For more info on this topic you can check out Polak’s Reexamining jhanas but the short answer appears to be ‘no’.