<p>If I'm not mistaken, Samatha alone leads to attainment of Jhanas. With perfection in certain levels of Jhanas, one could get reborn in certain Brahma worlds, which by itself is a good thing, but as per Lanka's answer, it doesn't lead to enlightenment.</p>

<p>From <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/fuang/itself.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A group of laypeople who had studied the Abhidhamma together came to
  Ajaan Fuang to try out his version of mental training, but when he
  told them to sit, close their eyes, and focus on the breath, they
  immediately backed off, saying that they didn't want to practice
  concentration, for fear that they'd get stuck on jhana and end up
  being reborn in the Brahma worlds. He responded, "What's there to be
  afraid of? Even non-returners are reborn in the Brahma worlds. At any
  rate, being reborn in the Brahma worlds is better than being reborn as
  a dog."</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-18T01:43:47.900Z
2015-03-18T01:43:47.900Z
ruben2020
<p>Can you just do so much samatha meditation that you achieve enlightenment?</p>

<enlightenment><samatha>
Can straight samatha ever lead to enlightenment?
# Can straight samatha ever lead to enlightenment?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-17)

Can you just do so much samatha meditation that you achieve enlightenment?

**Tags:** enlightenment, samatha


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-03-18. Score: 2

If I'm not mistaken, Samatha alone leads to attainment of Jhanas. With perfection in certain levels of Jhanas, one could get reborn in certain Brahma worlds, which by itself is a good thing, but as per Lanka's answer, it doesn't lead to enlightenment.

From [here](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/fuang/itself.html):

> A group of laypeople who had studied the Abhidhamma together came to
> Ajaan Fuang to try out his version of mental training, but when he
> told them to sit, close their eyes, and focus on the breath, they
> immediately backed off, saying that they didn't want to practice
> concentration, for fear that they'd get stuck on jhana and end up
> being reborn in the Brahma worlds. He responded, "What's there to be
> afraid of? Even non-returners are reborn in the Brahma worlds. At any
> rate, being reborn in the Brahma worlds is better than being reborn as
> a dog."


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