[alecst]

I dunno. I heard a story about Ayya Khema that she basically just stayed up all night for a while just committed to learning the jhanas.

One of the problems with all the stuff is that it's very hard for us to know what other people have experienced. So who knows. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Let's not be so closed-minded about it. People are different.

[ergonaught]

Most of the "results" of various forms of "meditation" have an element of "time served" (time spent "doing" the particular "activity") before they arise.

It is extremely common for people to experience an "early" result and mistakenly believe it is a "later" (much later) result. Among the many reasons why one is not supposed to develop attachments to the "results" is this very mistake.

[jackdawipper]

"heard a story" her whole life was dedicated to meditation practice so I doubt it happened in a night. a lot more context required to make that claim. and if you look at her history she did the long yards in retreats. no short-cuts, much as people want to think there are.

[__rito__]

I have never come across a Buddhist source saying that some people are inherently more advantaged than others.

But I did come across some interviews of great Tantric gurus, and they all say that some people are more in inherent advantage over others in terms of spiritual progress.

[axkdev]

>Then, understanding Brahmā’s invitation, the Buddha Vipassī surveyed the world with the eye of a Buddha, out of his compassion for sentient beings. And he saw sentient beings with little dust in their eyes, and some with much dust in their eyes; with keen faculties and with weak faculties, with good qualities and with bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach. And some of them lived seeing the danger in the fault to do with the next world, while others did not. It’s like a pool with blue water lilies, or pink or white lotuses. Some of them sprout and grow in the water without rising above it, thriving underwater. Some of them sprout and grow in the water reaching the water’s surface. And some of them sprout and grow in the water but rise up above the water and stand with no water clinging to them.

This is from Digha Nikaya 14. There is another one, but I don't remember which sutta, where Buddha says that for some people the path is long and hard, while for others it's short and quick.

[__rito__]

Oh, this. I knew of this.

I interpreted this as being in a better place due to entirely one's own background after their birth- i.e. upbringing, education, work, mindset, intelligence, etc.

Where the tantric gurus say that some people are ahead of other people from their birth - in a very clear and unambiguous way. In a very "the force is strong with this one" vibe.

[axkdev]

I see. I don't subscribe to Tantra, so can't comment on that. What I believe is that there is no magic and it just depends on the conditions. Those can be from your birth or before your birth. Like if you have a genetic mutation that inhibits brain developement, it will make it harder to grasp these concepts and / or meditate.

[__rito__]

Totally makes sense, and I understand your point-of-view.

I don't "subscribe" to tantra, either, but I felt curious and inquired into it.

[lewispollard]

> I have never come across a Buddhist source saying that some people are inherently more advantaged than others.

That's essentially the entirety of the Buddha's teachings on karma. I haven't the time to look for sources right now, but I'm pretty sure the close disciples of the Buddha - who all had distinct and extraordinary abilities, either feats of memory or meditation - were explained to have those abilities due to intense work in past lives. Indeed, the Buddha himself didn't chance upon his enlightenment - he made a vow to do it thousands or millions of lifetimes prior, and worked towards it life by life until he was able to achieve it.