This is a sudden awakening to Anatta.
This is just one thought moment.
Hey @SarathW1, you like polemics, donât you? hehehe 
By now mentioning Abhidhammic thought moment there is a chance you will manage to bring the Abhidhamma debate into this topic! 
Actually this is my own experience.
I still remember the day and the place I first heard the word Anatta.
It stuck to me like a liquid nail.
That must surely not have been the 1st time he went thru the four jhanas.
Many people today have the four jhanas attainment and do not claim to be arahat.
The accounts of the Buddha-to-be night of awakening are not cristal clear enough for us to deduct what exactly happened within him. As result of this situation it is really not possible to try to copy what happened to him.
Anyway other people didnât become awakened by spending a night in meditation.
Alain, while we are all surely entitled to our opinions and views we must acknowledge that the narrative found in MN36 tells us that something special happened over the course of a night and it clearly involved the gradual penetration into and fulfillment of those four absorptions.
Hereâs mine 
: It is possible to attain to immaterial (arupa) jhana w/o going through rupa jhana- much like development of the âenlarged mindâ (mahaggatta) of the Brahmavihara (but not quite⊠). Equally, and more easily it is possible to go to the first immaterial jhana, transcending the 4th material jhana (see relevant suttas).
Buddha attained the first Rupa jhana in his childhood as shown above. He was taught immaterial attainments by his two teachers (that is, not via the Rupa jhana path), but as attainments, as otherwise it wouldnât make sense to remember a childhood memory vs a recent adulthood practice memory. I think he already had enough insight at this point for enlightenment. There are suttas where he recalls his insight, as a Bodhisatva. However he tried âforced sankharaâ of the austerities, as they were a commonly practiced path to âenlightenmentâ, albeit an ineffective one. This would have enforced âobsessions/latent tendenciesâ (anusaya). Specifically: obsession of conceit, obsession of passion for becoming, obsession of ignorance, I think. Relaxing then had the opposite effect. I canât prove this textually but it is in accordance with the defilements removed sequentially by the Path. The. Buddha in his final life would have been intelligent and reflective to learn broadly from the Four signs. He had a mind which could concentrate readily (perhaps suggesting past life experiences?). In essence he had been practicing for a long time -the night of his enlightenment was only the result.
With metta
Hearing it and realising it is a difference between බà·à·à·à·âරà·à¶ and à·à·âà¶źà·à¶Žà¶±à·à¶«!
Agree.
What I am saying is you have to hear it only once.
It is one mind moment.
The same way the reaisation also a one mind moment.
This all depends on how long one mind moment is. 
With metta
It appears the mind moment is so fast we canât comprehend it.
If it is too fast to comprehend, hearing it, no one will can comprehend it either, because it happens too fast?
What I meant was we canât comprehend all the information coming from five senses at once. We can perceive only one at a time.
Hi there
I donât know if his 1st 2 teachers taught him the ruupa jhaanas, but if they did, I think it would have been wrong jhaana, but still not useless.
I donât know and doubt if the attainments (of the so-called arupa) can be attained without having to go thru the four rupas, but again, I think they would have been wrong attainments.
His remembering of his jhana experience as a boy, only seems to makes sense to me, if he had already mastered only wrong jhanas with his two teachers.
If the path is thought of in three sections: ethics, meditation and wisdom, then I would say: calm covers both ethics (calming unwholesome serious actions of word and deed) and meditation (calming unwholesome serious actions of thought), but insight is in the category of wisdom (understanding cause and effect in thought, word and deed, especially their link to emotion).
Best wishes
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Hi Alaber
What PÄli term/s do you think âmeditationâ is the translation of?
best wishes
Hi again
I agree with the other poster. I donât think there is anything in the suttas so specific, but it seems to have been an extended period of time, not Abhidhammic mind moment. I have wondered that before.
I only know the tradition says, from the time of his leaving home till his enlightenment was six years and he taught for 45, passing away at 80yo.
best wishes
I also have not found âinsight meditationâ, in the Buddhaâs teaching. But I would not step out of my bounds to say âit is not thereâ. It seems we both believe there is âvipassanÄ bhavanÄâ or âthe development of insightâ (thus my other post with the question as to the Pali word being translated as âmeditationâ), as well as samatha bhavanÄ,
One could say, developing the causes, is practically developing the thing. thus your âof course the scientist has to do the footwork beforeâ.
I could also say, we donât âdo ethicsâ, but we develop ethics, by creating the causes for them. Understanding that ethics is a mental quality; and I could say, we donât do concentration, but develop the causes for it. Cause and effect seems to be the essence of the Buddhaâs teaching, to me, rather than a forcing to exist or not.
I agree the Buddha didnât discover insight (vipassanÄ), but neither did he discover bhavanÄ, (a combination of samatha and vipassanÄ together not separate), nor probably jhanas. I would agree that he discovered how to use them to end suffering and it was his key discovery. Using them all that way, would be right bhavanÄ, jhÄna, ethics, concentrationâŠ
best wishes
I donât see why we need to think about time in this connection. Also, the idea of discovery can be misleading. There are different kinds of discoveries and ways to discover. We may search for something and then find it - we can make accidental discoveries. Absorption - and Nibbana - are not âthingsâ we search for and, find! They are not that kind of discovery.
When we enjoy the deep peace, joy and happiness that is present in absorption we donât discover this, as something that has entered our field of attention. Instead, we have relaxed, we are not self conscious, we are not busy âdoingâ something. This gives deep joy and peace the opportunity to fill that opening. The space we had previously monopolized - as self-conscious observers - âopens upâ so we can breath easy - Ahh! Once the meditator drops out of the picture absorption moves in - a unique joy appears.
The Time spent in different states of absorption varies. We may be in the ambit of unique joy and happiness for a short while and then vanish in formlessness.
We cannot consciously decide when to enter jhana, how long we wish to stay there or, decide that itâs time to leave. So, how long did it take for the Buddha to realise all this? Who knows? We are told it happened in one watch of the night? Along with other liberating insights. 
https://suttacentral.net/en/mn26#15
good luck with that theory, expressed in an arrogant way, as truth, imo
Correction - there is nothing to prevent us from searching for it - there is a lot of searching that has gone on and, may continue until the cows come home! The crux of the issue is whether there is anything to find? The Buddha used similes to help us to understand these teachings. There is the simile where he asks: where does the fire go - when it is extinguished? Does it go in any direction? No, it just âgoes outâ - it is extinguished.
The other âtellingâ story is the one where he gets the psychic who can tell where beings are reborn - by tapping on their dead skulls - to tap on an Arahants skull. The Buddha gave him a skull that had been on the shoulders of an Arahant - who âceased without remainderâ. The psychic could not identify a place where the Arahant had âreappearedâ.
So, if Nibbana is a thing that we can look for and, find, where is it? Have you found it and, if that is the case, what is it that you have found? We can search - nothing wrong with looking for something - good luck!
We may undertake a noble search for the truth which liberates. In the process we learn how to relax and let go, be content with little. Those who expect nothing are never disappointed, and often, pleasantly surprised! Nibbana is a true cessation not a true acquisition. 
Hi all,
I am interested in @Brother_Joeâs idea of wrong jhana. There are meditators/teachers at a large, famous, jhana monastery who can practice all 4 jhanas â1 hour, 2 hours. 3 hours, no problemâ, yet are still puthajjanas. This is not a criticism of that monastery, Iâm sure itâs happens enough elsewhere.
Maybe what the Buddha is recalling is the self âletting goâ through contentment; sammÄ-sankappa. From seeing the will as a problem he could then formulate DO.
Or maybe thatâs not what you meant at all Bhante!
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