All of us are familiar with The Eightfold Path -- the Buddha's prescription for attaining Enlightenment. We have some idea what is meant by right speech, right action, right livelihood and so forth. And we know that these are very important. However, the one step in the path that is often short-changed is the eighth step: "Right Concentration." This paper will seek to explain what right concentration is, how to practice it, and the role it plays in the road to Enlightenment.
Right Concentration, (Samma Samadhi) is explicitly defined in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta (Digha Nikaya #22) and in other suttas (for example, Saccavibhanga Sutta - Majjhima Nikaya #141) as Jhanic meditation:
Before he became the Buddha, at the beginning of his spiritual quest, Siddhattha Gotma studied with two teachers. The fisrt teacher taught him the first seven Jhanas; the other teacher taught him the eighth Jhana. Both teachers told him they had taught him all there was to learn. But Siddhattha still didn't know why there was suffering, so he left each of these teachers and wound up doing six years of austerity practises. These too did not provide the answer to his question and he abandoned these for what has come to be known as the Middle Way. The suttas indicate that on the night of his enlightenment, he sat down under the Bohdi Tree and began his meditation by practising the Jhanas (for example, see the Mahasaccaka Sutta - Majjhima Nikaya #36). When his mind was "concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady and attained to imperturbability" he direct it to the "true knowledges" that gave rise to his incredible breakthru in consciousness. So we see that the Jhanas are not only at the heart of his teaching, but also were at the heart of his own practise.
The Pali word Jhana is best translated as "meditative absorption state." It is the same as the Sanskrit Dhyana, which derives from Dhayati, meaning to think or meditate. You know what an "absorption state" is -- it's when you get so involved in a TV show or video game or mystery novel that you are surprised when the phone rings and brings you back to reality. The Jhanas are eight altered states of consciousness which can arise during periods of strong concentration. The Jhanas are naturally occurring states of mind, but learning how to enter them at will and how to stay in them takes practice.
There is very little actual instruction on how to "do" Jhana practice in the suttas. One probable reason for this is that the Jhanas were a well-known practice among serious spiritual seekers 2500 years ago. Just like today, when giving someone directions to your house, you don't include information on how to start the car, shift gears, etc., so it wasn't considered necessary to explain how to do the Jhanas. Another probable reason is that the Jhanas are best learned in a one-on-one setting with a teacher -- they do not lend themselves to what we call today "book learning." Let us examine each Jhana and how one goes about "doing" them.
You must have a certain amount of concentration for the first Jhana to arise. This is called access concentration. Access concentration has Sila (morality) as a prerequisite. The description of the first Jhana starts "Secluded from sense desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind...". If you are not leading a morally upright life, you cannot expect to sit down on a little pillow and find yourself "secluded from sense desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind." If there is not sufficient Sila, there is too much to desire, too much to hate or fear, too much to worry about, etc. We can also deduce that access concentration requires that you be in a physical posture that is both comfortable and alert; otherwise, you will be in a painful posture which will lead to aversion or you will be too sleepy to meditate.
Access concentration can be induced in a number of different ways. There are forty different methods of meditation mentioned in the suttas and thirty of these are suitable for gaining entry to the first Jhana. The first Jhana has five factors and the first two are Vittaka and Vichara. These two words often get translated as something like "thinking and pondering." They do have these meanings in some contexts, but not in the context of the Jhanas. Here they are best translated as "initial and sustained attention to the meditation subject." You put your attention on the meditation subject and you leave it there until access concentration is established. For example, if you have chosen Anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) as the meditation method, you put your attention on the breath and you keep your attention on the breath until access concentration is established. How do you know access concentration has been established? It varies for each method. For mindfulness of breathing, the breath becomes very fine, almost undetectable when you have established access concentration.
Once access concentration has been established, you now
induce the next factor of the first Jhana. This third factor is
called Piti and is variously translated as delight, euphoria,
rapture and ecstasy. By shifting your attention from the
meditation subject to a pleasant sensation, particularly a
pleasant physical sensation, and doing nothing more than not
becoming distracted from the pleasant sensation, you will
"automatically" enter the first Jhana. The experience is that
the pleasant sensation grows in intensity until it explodes into
an unmistakable state of ecstasy. This is Piti, which is
primarily a physical experience. Physical pleasure this intense
is accompanied by emotional pleasure, and this emotional pleasure
is Sukha (joy) which is the fourth factor of the first Jhana.
The last factor of the first Jhana is Ekaggata (one-pointedness
of mind). Like Sukha, this factor arises without you doing
anything, and as long as you remain totally focused on the
physical and emotional pleasure, you will remain in the first
Jhana.
As far as I have been able to determine, based on my own
experience, the entry into the first Jhana from a physiological
perspective proceeds something like this:
1) You quiet your mind with the initial and sustained attention
to the meditation subject. I suspect that brain wave activity
shows a noticable decrease during access concentration.
2) By shifting your attention to a pleasant sensation, you set
up a positive reinforcement feedback loop within your quiet mind.
For example, one of the most useful pleasant sensations to focus
on is a smile. The act of smiling generates endorphins, which
make you feel good, which makes you smile more, which generates
more endorphins, etc.
3) The final and most difficult part of entering the first
Jhana is to not do anything but observe the pleasure. Any
attempt to increase the pleasure, even any thoughts of wanting to
increase the pleasure, interrupt the feedback loop and drop you
into a less quiet state of mind. But by doing nothing but
focusing intently on the pleasure, you are propelled into an
unmistakably altered state of consciousness.
The second Jhana has three factors which are the same as
the last three factors of the first Jhana. The initial and
sustained attention to the meditation subject are no longer part
of the process. You shift from the first to the second Jhana by
shifting your attention from the physical pleasure to the
emotional pleasure -- from the Piti to the Sukha. This has the
effect of pushing the physical pleasure into the background and
also of greatly calming the mind. The first Jhana is a very
intense, agitated state, the second Jhana is much more soothing.
The last factor of the second Jhana is once again one-pointedness
of mind, as it is for all the Jhanas.
The third Jhana has two factors. You shift from the second
to the third by letting go of the physical pleasure and changing
the emotional pleasure from joy to contentment, almost like
turning down the volume control on your emotional pleasure. The
second Jhana has an upwelling quality to it as the joy seems to
flow through you; the third Jhana is much more of a motionless,
quiet contentment. The one-pointedness of mind remains as the
other factor.
The transition to the fourth Jhana from the third takes a
bit more effort and bit more letting go than any of the previous
transitions. The contentment of the third Jhana is still a
positive state of mind. This contentment is refined into a very
equanimous, quiet, stillness. There is no positive or negative
feeling in either mind or body. There is just an all pervading,
deep peacefulness, with of course, one-pointedness.
The first four Jhanas are called the fine-material Jhanas.
Intense pleasure, joy, contentment and stillness are all states
we are familiar with in our normal, everyday lives. But the
quality and intensity of these factors as experienced in the
Jhanas is more sublime than we normally experience, thus they are
called the fine-material Jhanas. The next four Jhanas are called
the immaterial Jhanas because they are not like anything we
normally experience. Each of these Jhanas has two factors -- the
first factor serves as the name of the Jhana, the second factor
is one-pointedness.
The fifth Jhana is called "The Base of Infinite Space".
Please remember that these are just names for experiences the
likes of which we are not familiar with. It just feels like
infinite space -- it doesn't necessarily mean we are able to
experience all the space in the universe. According to the
suttas, you enter the fifth Jhana by "not giving attention to
diversity". This isn't much detail, but then there is very
little "how to" detail about any of the Jhanas. Many people
enter the fifth Jhana by shifting their attention from the
primary factor of the previous Jhana to the boundaries of their
being. They then start to mentally push these boundaries
outward. If you can continue to focus on imagining your
boundaries growing ever larger so that you fill the room, the
building, the neighborhood, the city, etc., you will eventually
experience a sudden shift and find your self in a huge expanse of
empty space. The first time entry into "The Base of Infinite
Space" is often quite dramatic. You seem to be observing an
incredibly large, empty expanse of space. It can feel like
walking up to the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking over, but
there is no other side and no bottom.
The sixth Jhana is called "The Base of Infinite
Consciousness". It has been mistaken for achieving oneness with
all consciousness. It can be entered from the fifth Jhana by
realizing that in order to "gaze" at an infinite spaceousness,
you must have an infinite consciousness, and then shifting your
attention to that consciousness. This is a fairly subtle shift,
but like the transition from each of the Jhanas to the next
higher Jhana, there is an increase in concentration.
The seventh Jhana is called "The Base of No-thingness". It
has been mistaken for Sunyata (Emptiness). It can be entered
from the sixth Jhana by shifting your attention from the infinite
consciousness to the content of that consciousness. It is not
surprising that the content of infinite consciousness is empty
since that infinite consciousness was entered from infinite space
which has no perception of diversity.
The eighth Jhana is called "The Base of Neither Perception
nor Non-perception". It is quite difficult to discuss because
there is very little to discuss. Perception is a translation of
the word Sanna which refers to the categorizing, naming function
of the mind. Hence in this state there is very little
recognition of what's happening, yet one is also not totally
unaware of what's happening. It is a very peaceful, restful
state and has the ability to recharge a tired mind. It is
entered from the seventh Jhana by letting go of all the outward,
infinite expanse and coming to rest in what seems to be a very
natural calm quiet place. The mind seems to know a lot more
about how to find this space than can be verbalized.
Again, all of these Jhanas are naturally occurring states
of mind. It is simply necessary to set up the proper conditions
for the Jhana to arise, then do nothing and the mind will find
its own way into the heart of the Jhana. Each of these Jhanas
requires more concentration to enter than its predecessor. Each
of these Jhanas results in a more concentrated mind than its
predecessor. This concentration is the main reason for the
importance of the Jhanas. With a superbly concentrated mind, you
can see much more deeply into the nature of things as they are.
Because the ego has to become very quiet to "do" the Jhanas,
after "doing" them, you see things from a much less egocentric
perspective. This is why Jhana practice is sometimes referred to as
"sharpening Manjushri's sword"; once the sword is sharp, once the
mind is concentrated, it is much easier to cut through the bonds
of ignorance (Manjushri is the Tibetan Bodhisattva of Wisdom. He is usually pictured
with a sword in his right hand which is used to cut thru the bonds of ignorance).
From the above discussion, we can more fully understand the
Buddha's teaching of
Sila,
Panna
Samadhi,
-- morality, wisdom, concentration. You clean up your act so that
when you sit down to meditate, you can fully concentrate. You use the
Jhanas to concentrate your mind as strongly as you are able. You
then begin wielding Manjushri's sword by doing an insight
practice that enables you to gain wisdom by seeing things as they
really are rather than by seeing things from your usual
egocentric perspective.
Since the time of the Buddha, attitudes towards the Jhanas
have varied greatly. There is strong evidence in the Suttas that
quite early on there were at least two schools of thought. One
approach emphasized insight practice almost exclusively, feeling
that since insight gives rise to the wisdom necessary for
enlightenment, this was what was more important. An excellent
example of a sutta reflecting this approach is the Sammaditthi Sutta
(Majjhima Nikaya
#9). Here Sariputta gives a beautiful
discourse on Right View. He discussed 16 important topics and
ends each topic by saying "When a noble disciple has thus
understood [the topic], he uproots the underlying tendency to
greed, hatred, the 'I am' conceit and ignorance, and arousing
true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering." Here
enlightenment is achieved solely through insights; the Jhanas are
not even mentioned.
Another school of thought gave considerable importance to
the Jhanas. Those using this approach practiced the Jhanas so
deeply that they developed Siddhis (supernatural powers). These
Siddhis, such as the divine ear (telepathy), being in two places
at once, (bi-location), remembering past lives, etc., may be seen
as phenomena in which the person is tapping into the "collective
unconscious." This approach to enlightenment can be found in
Digha Nikaya
Suttas #2 - #12. In each of these suttas, the
Buddha first teaches morality and then the Jhanas. From the
concentration resulting from the Jhanas, "one applies and directs
the mind" to the attainment of these Siddhis. Enlightenment is
attained in exactly the same way as the divine ear; there is no
discussion of insights other than "knowing and seeing". This
"formula" appears in each of these eleven suttas in almost
exactly the same way -- something to be expected in an oral
tradition -- but which means that we cannot be sure of what was
originally in the sutta before the formula was inserted. Insight
is barely mentioned in this method. Here enlightenment is
achieved through developing paranormal powers. We can assume
that enlightenment arises in one who has developed sufficent
intimate contact with the collective unconscious that one can no
longer concieve of himself as a separate entity.
The Culasaropama Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya #30) in addition
to being an excellent teaching on the dangers of spiritual
materialism, also refers to the Jhanas. However, it shows signs
that suggest the text has been altered. Its beautiful
mathematical harmony of the sutta suddenly breaks down in section
12 with a discussion of the Jhanas. The Jhanas are a
concentration practice and concentration has already been stated
in section 10 to be a lesser state than knowledge and vision.
But when the Jhanas are introduced in section 12, they are said
to be "higher and more sublime than knowledge and vision." The
inclusion of the Jhanas here actually makes the sutta
self-contradictory. It also contradicts other pro-Jhana suttas.
The formulation of the eight Jhanas is the standard "short" one,
(similiar to what is found in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta) but with
the addition of a last sentence in each of the paragraphs: "This
[too] is a state higher and more sublime than knowledge and
vision." This sentence directly contradicts the last sentence of
section 84 of the Samannaphala Sutta (Digha Nikaya #2). In the
previous paragraph of the Samannaphala Sutta, the recluse directs
the concentrated, pure, bright mind resulting from the fourth
Jhana towards knowledge and vision. The understanding gained "is
a visible fruit of recluseship more excellent and sublime than
the previous ones". Many other suttas show signs of this type of
tampering and we are left today with the task of puzzling out the
original teaching.
The effects of this multi-millennium old debate still
affect us today, not only in not knowing what the original suttas
looked like, but also in understanding the role of the Jhanas.
The Jhanas are also difficult to teach. Not everyone has a
temperament suited to concentration practice. Even for those who
find concentration easy, the Jhanas require a long silent retreat
setting for learning. Far from being "secluded from unwholesome
states of mind," people who wish to learn the Jhanas are
immediately thrust INTO the state of desiring something.
Finally, as mentioned above, the Jhanas do not lend themselves to
"book learning"; you really need one-on-one, immediate feedback
from a teacher in order to aim your mind in the correct
direction. The Jhanas are natural states on mind, but the lives
we lead here at the close of the 20th century are so filled that
it is difficult to find the quiet, natural mind.
The Jhanas are states of concentration. How to do them was
common knowledge at the time of the Buddha. He practiced them,
and it is clear from the suttas that they comprise right
concentration. We are left with the task of fitting the Jhanas
into our present spiritual practises. Perhaps between the
extremes of ignoring them completely and practising them to
excess, lies the middle way of using them as a tool to sharpen
the mind for insight practise.
First Jhana
Second Jhana
Third Jhana
Fourth Jhana
Fifth Jhana
Sixth Jhana
Seventh Jhana
Eighth Jhana
CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE PRACTICE OF THE JHANAS
CONCLUSION
The Jhanas are sometimes considered a dangerous practice because
they are not an insight practice. The primary factor of the
first Jhana is Piti and Piti is mentioned as a corruption of
insight in the commentaries (see, for example, the
Visuddhimagga). This has been taken to mean that Piti is bad,
when all that is meant is that Piti should not be mistaken for a
non-mundane state.
Theravadan Buddhism
in the West has primarily
come down from the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition in Burma and this
tradition is a "dry insight" (non-Jhanic) tradition. Thus the
Jhanas are seldom mentioned, let alone taught, in Western
Theravadan Buddhist teaching.
WEB SITES - Pro Jhana
WEB SITES - Anti Jhana
WEB SITES - Another View
This work may be freely distributed, as a gift of Dharma.