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Originally Posted by jonesboy
Maybe not goals.. but signposts along the way.
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"Signposts" along the way is fine as well but, on second thought, it might not even be that.
Actually, as I think about it more, the jhanas could apply to any mental activity on any subject --- even a business topic. In such a case, there's thought-conception and discursive thought followed by joy when the problem is solved, then happiness, and then equanimity as one moves on to the next thing. The jhanas are just an expression of common sense relevant to mental activity in which one is absorbed.
Nonetheless, I'm glad that we had this discussion. That's enough words on this subject for me, and I'm still inclined to define jhana in the Theravada sense as an "absorption" as it can easily apply to things that are not meditative.
Religions seem too focused on words and categories when it's all much simpler than it's made out to be by the intellectual religion promoters.