The Eel-Wriggler

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Jason Siff

Jason Siff

Author of "Unlearning Meditation: What To Do When the Instructions Get in the Way," published by Shambhala Publications in 2010. My purpose in writing is to help people trust their own process within an open meditation practice.

📍 Nepal

The Prisons of Renewed Existence

Three of the great teachers of the Buddha’s time described their vision of the prison of renewed existence before giving their plans for escape. The Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta saw the prison as kamma clinging to the soul due to our actions and passions. The Buddha saw it as suffering dependent

2 + 250 Students

If it was true that Sariputta and Moggallana took 250 students with them when they left Sañjaya for the Buddha, then there was a considerable contingent of his students in the early Buddhist Sangha. One of the reasons I was able to discover threads of Sañjaya's method in

Inner Authority and Sañjaya’s Method

The standard account of Sañjaya being stupid, foolish, dull, and confusing was obviously not true. In what are believed to be Sariputta’s own words, Sañjaya (spelled “Sañcayo” in this instance) was described in this way: “There was a learned mantra-knower who had mastered the three Vedas — a brahmin

My Discovery Four Months Later

Working on this research into Sañjaya every day since my initial discovery has brought a wealth of information about him and his method, which I have decided to share in this blog rather than write a book. The main reason for doing it that way, making it more public and

Running Sañjaya's Method

Before I went any further with adding articles to this blog, I needed to run the thought experiment that Sañjaya lays out in the "Discourse on the Fruits of the Renunciate Life.” It took me about five days and nights (with sleep breaks) to work it through. The complexity

My Discovery Moment

I had just arrived in Dharamshala, India. It was mid-February 2026, and my intention was to spend a couple of months in relative solitude to write my third book on meditation. I had already written a few chapters while I was in Kathmandu, and in South India before that.

When Sañjaya Lost His Heirs

Sañjaya’s response to his two main followers leaving him for the Buddha is not a caricature of a confused and stupid sage, as it has been handled by the tradition, but a statement of his self honesty and knowing his limitations. Few teachers, if any, would admit that their

Standing Outside of the Mandala

A couple of decades ago, I was in the habit of explaining my approach to meditation to other meditation teachers in the hope that they would understand what I was doing. The most common reply I got was, “Everything is inside the mandala.” They seemed to be saying, “Your approach

The Eel-Wriggler Had a Name

The Eel-Wriggler’s name was Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta in Pali (Sañjaya Vairatiputra in Sanskrit). Sañjaya means “with victory,” and has the sense of being triumphant. It can also mean “co-victory,” as in a victory that is accomplished together with others, not just by oneself. The historical context for Sañjaya

Who was the Eel-Wriggler?

Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta lived during the Buddha’s time. The only records of him exist in the teachings of the Buddha, the Pali Canon, along with scant references to him in the Jain scriptures. At that time, wandering sages would meet each other and exchange ideas, but, for some reason, once