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'And what, monks, is right concentration? Here, monks, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and dwells in the first jhana ... second jhana ... third jhana ... fourth jhana.'
-Buddha, SN45.8 |
What is jhana practice?
Jhana practice is a key feature of the form of concentration meditation (sometimes called samadhi or samatha) which shows up in the early Buddhist discourses.
By focusing our minds carefully and diligently, we can learn to access the altered states of consciousness known as the jhanas. These are states of enhanced well-being (characterised by qualities like bliss, joy, contentment and peace), so they're enjoyable to practise in their own right, but they also have many other benefits. Spending time in jhana will leave your mind calmer, clearer and more focused, and thus your insight practice will be much more effective. Jhana practice also has a quality of 'purification' - as we focus the mind, unresolved psychological material starts to come up, giving us the opportunity to process and release it over time.
Depending on how concentrated our minds are when we enter jhana, the resulting experience can vary significantly, and different teachers have different standards for what they consider 'proper jhana'. Personally, I follow my teacher Leigh Brasington's approach; Leigh teaches jhanas which are accessible enough that most people are able to learn to enter them in the context of a 10-day retreat, but which are deep enough to bring profound benefits for insight practice, and that's what I offer too.
What are the jhanas?
The suttas describe four jhanas, four 'immaterial states', and a ninth state called 'the cessation of perception and feeling'. In the Pali canon it's most common to find references only to the four jhanas proper, but sometimes you'll find all nine listed together. Each state is characterised by certain perceptions, usually called 'jhana factors'.
How do I access the jhanas?
Your first task is to learn to get into the first jhana reliably and consistently.
In order to do this, put your attention on some focal point such as your breath (or a candle flame, or metta, or anything else that allows you to focus for extended periods of time). Pay close attention to your object, with an attitude of 'relaxed diligence'. When you notice that the mind has wandered, just come back to the object - don't investigate, don't analyse, don't think, just keep coming back to the object. It's very important to stay on the object, but it's also very important to stay relaxed - the jhanas are states of enhanced well-being, so if you're grumpy or frustrated, you're very unlikely to find the jhanas.
Eventually, you will find that you enter what Leigh calls 'access concentration', where the mind settles down, and the distracting thoughts move into the background. At this point, Leigh recommends shifting your attention to a pleasant sensation somewhere in the body, and then simply allowing yourself to enjoy the pleasantness of the pleasant sensation. In time, this pleasantness will 'ripen' into the first jhana.
The first jhana is felt as a strongly energetic experience. This energy (the piti in the above description) may show up as heat, tingling, electrical or sexual sensations. The first few times you encounter the first jhana, the energetic feelings can be really strong, even overwhelming, but don't worry, it'll settle down in time.
Once you can access the first jhana with some consistency, the next part of the practice is to learn how to move to successive jhanas. This is largely a matter of letting go - you'll notice that each jhana is 'quieter' and more refined than the one that came before it, so moving through the jhanas is a process of shifting to increasingly subtle perceptions and letting go of the grosser ones.
Moving from the first to the second is usually easiest to accomplish by taking a deep breath and letting some (even most) of the energy out of your system. (Just breathe out with the idea that you're letting energy out.) That will tend to quieten down the piti, shifting you into an experience where emotional happiness or joy predominates. This is the second jhana.
Moving from the second to the third is a matter of letting go of the last of the piti. Again, a deep breath works well here. You'll probably find that the happiness/joy of the second jhana quietens down to a subtle contentment too.
Moving from the third to the fourth requires you to let go even of the subtle contentment of the third, shifting into a deep, quiet stillness of equanimity.
To shift to the first immaterial state (often called 'the fifth jhana' as a shorthand), you need to let go of any sense of boundary in your experience. One way to do this is to imagine something getting larger and larger and larger until suddenly a sense of a boundless space opens up in front of you or around you. (Usually the space feels really huge, but it doesn't actually have to be - the only requirement is that there's no sense of it being limited or enclosed in any way.) Rest in the perception of this boundless space.
To move from the first immaterial state to the second, turn your attention from the boundless space to the consciousness of that space. Notice that, since the space is boundless, the consciousness that is able to perceive that space must also be boundless. Rest here, aware of boundless consciousness.
To move from the second immaterial state to the third, notice that your boundless consciousness is empty - that is, it contains no things at all. It's a bit like the sensation of opening the fridge to get the milk, only to discover that there's no milk. There's a momentary sense of 'no-thing-ness'. Rest in that sense of no-thing-ness.
To move from the third immaterial state to the fourth, let go even of the sense of no-thing-ness. Your mind may shift into a state where there is no definite perception of anything at all, but you haven't gone unconscious either - you are in the state of neither perception (of anything in particular) nor non-perception (i.e. unconsciousness). It's a bit like that moment when you've noticed something but don't know what it is yet, and your mind hasn't quite landed on a concrete identification. In the fourth immaterial state, your mind never lands on anything.
To move from the fourth immaterial state to the cessation of perception and feeling, you must let go even of this neither perception nor non-perception. The best advice seems to be to form the intention to let go of all conscious experiencing, and then let go of that intention, and simply see what happens next.
Didn't the Buddha decide jhana was a waste of time?
Some teachers (generally those who don't teach jhana!) will tell you that the Buddha rejected jhana as being not the path leading to enlightenment. They'll cite the story of his search for awakening, giving up his life of luxury and sensual indulgence, and his subsequent studies with Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, who taught him the third and fourth immaterial states respectively. In both cases, the Buddha-to-be found that those states were fine while he was in them, but once he came back out, all his suffering came back. As a result (these teachers will say), he decided that deep concentration meditation was not the path to enlightenment, and thereby abandoned it.
This story has some truth - it comes from one of the Middle-Length Discourses in the Pali Canon (the collection of texts representing the earliest stratum of the Buddhist teachings), MN36. But it's also a highly selective quotation!
If we read a bit further, the Buddha-to-be went on to try all sorts of ascetic practices, which also turned out to be unsatisfactory - torturing and starving his body almost to the brink of death and generally trying to avoid all forms of pleasure was the equal and opposite extreme of his previous life of luxury, and neither led to an escape from suffering. Then he remembered a time when, as a boy, he had spontaneously entered the first jhana. He realised that the jhanas represented a source of pleasure which didn't have the drawbacks of material pleasures, and which could be an asset on the spiritual path rather than a drawback. Subsequently, after eating some food to recover his strength, he then entered the four jhanas in sequence before turning his attention to insight practice - and became fully enlightened. (At least, that's how the story goes!)
So, far from rejecting jhana, the Buddha used it on his own path to enlightenment, and taught it to his subsequent followers as one of the aspects of his Eightfold Path - as you can see from the quotation at the top of this page. Claiming that the Buddha 'rejected deep concentration' because of his experiences with Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta is to take the wrong lesson from the story. The Buddha rejected a path of practice which was solely based in using altered states of consciousness to escape from reality - but fully embraced the appropriate use of jhana as part of a more holistic path which also emphasised insight practice.
I'd support this from my own experience as well. I've found the jhanas to be immensely helpful in my own practice - I became a meditation teacher first and foremost so that I could share them with others, because they'd been so helpful to me. I hope they help you too.
Jhana practice is a key feature of the form of concentration meditation (sometimes called samadhi or samatha) which shows up in the early Buddhist discourses.
By focusing our minds carefully and diligently, we can learn to access the altered states of consciousness known as the jhanas. These are states of enhanced well-being (characterised by qualities like bliss, joy, contentment and peace), so they're enjoyable to practise in their own right, but they also have many other benefits. Spending time in jhana will leave your mind calmer, clearer and more focused, and thus your insight practice will be much more effective. Jhana practice also has a quality of 'purification' - as we focus the mind, unresolved psychological material starts to come up, giving us the opportunity to process and release it over time.
Depending on how concentrated our minds are when we enter jhana, the resulting experience can vary significantly, and different teachers have different standards for what they consider 'proper jhana'. Personally, I follow my teacher Leigh Brasington's approach; Leigh teaches jhanas which are accessible enough that most people are able to learn to enter them in the context of a 10-day retreat, but which are deep enough to bring profound benefits for insight practice, and that's what I offer too.
What are the jhanas?
The suttas describe four jhanas, four 'immaterial states', and a ninth state called 'the cessation of perception and feeling'. In the Pali canon it's most common to find references only to the four jhanas proper, but sometimes you'll find all nine listed together. Each state is characterised by certain perceptions, usually called 'jhana factors'.
- First jhana: Rapture (piti) and happiness (sukha), accompanied by thinking (vitakka) and examining (vicara).
- Second jhana: Rapture and happiness, internal confidence and unification of mind.
- Third jhana: Happiness, equanimity and mindfulness.
- Fourth jhana: Equanimity and mindfulness.
- First immaterial state: Perception of boundless space.
- Second immaterial state: Perception of boundless consciousness.
- Third immaterial state: Perception of nothingness.
- Fourth immaterial state: Neither perception nor non-perception.
- Cessation of perception and feeling.
How do I access the jhanas?
Your first task is to learn to get into the first jhana reliably and consistently.
In order to do this, put your attention on some focal point such as your breath (or a candle flame, or metta, or anything else that allows you to focus for extended periods of time). Pay close attention to your object, with an attitude of 'relaxed diligence'. When you notice that the mind has wandered, just come back to the object - don't investigate, don't analyse, don't think, just keep coming back to the object. It's very important to stay on the object, but it's also very important to stay relaxed - the jhanas are states of enhanced well-being, so if you're grumpy or frustrated, you're very unlikely to find the jhanas.
Eventually, you will find that you enter what Leigh calls 'access concentration', where the mind settles down, and the distracting thoughts move into the background. At this point, Leigh recommends shifting your attention to a pleasant sensation somewhere in the body, and then simply allowing yourself to enjoy the pleasantness of the pleasant sensation. In time, this pleasantness will 'ripen' into the first jhana.
The first jhana is felt as a strongly energetic experience. This energy (the piti in the above description) may show up as heat, tingling, electrical or sexual sensations. The first few times you encounter the first jhana, the energetic feelings can be really strong, even overwhelming, but don't worry, it'll settle down in time.
Once you can access the first jhana with some consistency, the next part of the practice is to learn how to move to successive jhanas. This is largely a matter of letting go - you'll notice that each jhana is 'quieter' and more refined than the one that came before it, so moving through the jhanas is a process of shifting to increasingly subtle perceptions and letting go of the grosser ones.
Moving from the first to the second is usually easiest to accomplish by taking a deep breath and letting some (even most) of the energy out of your system. (Just breathe out with the idea that you're letting energy out.) That will tend to quieten down the piti, shifting you into an experience where emotional happiness or joy predominates. This is the second jhana.
Moving from the second to the third is a matter of letting go of the last of the piti. Again, a deep breath works well here. You'll probably find that the happiness/joy of the second jhana quietens down to a subtle contentment too.
Moving from the third to the fourth requires you to let go even of the subtle contentment of the third, shifting into a deep, quiet stillness of equanimity.
To shift to the first immaterial state (often called 'the fifth jhana' as a shorthand), you need to let go of any sense of boundary in your experience. One way to do this is to imagine something getting larger and larger and larger until suddenly a sense of a boundless space opens up in front of you or around you. (Usually the space feels really huge, but it doesn't actually have to be - the only requirement is that there's no sense of it being limited or enclosed in any way.) Rest in the perception of this boundless space.
To move from the first immaterial state to the second, turn your attention from the boundless space to the consciousness of that space. Notice that, since the space is boundless, the consciousness that is able to perceive that space must also be boundless. Rest here, aware of boundless consciousness.
To move from the second immaterial state to the third, notice that your boundless consciousness is empty - that is, it contains no things at all. It's a bit like the sensation of opening the fridge to get the milk, only to discover that there's no milk. There's a momentary sense of 'no-thing-ness'. Rest in that sense of no-thing-ness.
To move from the third immaterial state to the fourth, let go even of the sense of no-thing-ness. Your mind may shift into a state where there is no definite perception of anything at all, but you haven't gone unconscious either - you are in the state of neither perception (of anything in particular) nor non-perception (i.e. unconsciousness). It's a bit like that moment when you've noticed something but don't know what it is yet, and your mind hasn't quite landed on a concrete identification. In the fourth immaterial state, your mind never lands on anything.
To move from the fourth immaterial state to the cessation of perception and feeling, you must let go even of this neither perception nor non-perception. The best advice seems to be to form the intention to let go of all conscious experiencing, and then let go of that intention, and simply see what happens next.
Didn't the Buddha decide jhana was a waste of time?
Some teachers (generally those who don't teach jhana!) will tell you that the Buddha rejected jhana as being not the path leading to enlightenment. They'll cite the story of his search for awakening, giving up his life of luxury and sensual indulgence, and his subsequent studies with Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, who taught him the third and fourth immaterial states respectively. In both cases, the Buddha-to-be found that those states were fine while he was in them, but once he came back out, all his suffering came back. As a result (these teachers will say), he decided that deep concentration meditation was not the path to enlightenment, and thereby abandoned it.
This story has some truth - it comes from one of the Middle-Length Discourses in the Pali Canon (the collection of texts representing the earliest stratum of the Buddhist teachings), MN36. But it's also a highly selective quotation!
If we read a bit further, the Buddha-to-be went on to try all sorts of ascetic practices, which also turned out to be unsatisfactory - torturing and starving his body almost to the brink of death and generally trying to avoid all forms of pleasure was the equal and opposite extreme of his previous life of luxury, and neither led to an escape from suffering. Then he remembered a time when, as a boy, he had spontaneously entered the first jhana. He realised that the jhanas represented a source of pleasure which didn't have the drawbacks of material pleasures, and which could be an asset on the spiritual path rather than a drawback. Subsequently, after eating some food to recover his strength, he then entered the four jhanas in sequence before turning his attention to insight practice - and became fully enlightened. (At least, that's how the story goes!)
So, far from rejecting jhana, the Buddha used it on his own path to enlightenment, and taught it to his subsequent followers as one of the aspects of his Eightfold Path - as you can see from the quotation at the top of this page. Claiming that the Buddha 'rejected deep concentration' because of his experiences with Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta is to take the wrong lesson from the story. The Buddha rejected a path of practice which was solely based in using altered states of consciousness to escape from reality - but fully embraced the appropriate use of jhana as part of a more holistic path which also emphasised insight practice.
I'd support this from my own experience as well. I've found the jhanas to be immensely helpful in my own practice - I became a meditation teacher first and foremost so that I could share them with others, because they'd been so helpful to me. I hope they help you too.