The Jhanas

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The Jhanas

• Jan 27th , 2008

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2008 Class Syllabus
Panna/Wisdom
The Training Path
Sila/Virtue
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Two Inter-related Meditation Systems

• Samathabhavana or Samadhibhavana
• The development of serenity and concentration
• Calming, stabilizing, unified, and concentrated
• The necessary platform for gaining insights
• Vipassanabhavana or Pannabhavana
• The development of insights and wisdom
• Gaining understanding the real natural of
  phenomena
• The essential key to liberation
• Jhanas (in relationship to the two systems)
• Jhanas refer to a set of meditative attainments
  that are pivotal to both systems with an inherent
  reference to Samathabhavana
• Jhanas (U Pandita) (also translated as
  absorptions) refers to the quality of the mind
  that can stick to an object and observe it
• There are two kinds of Jhanas
• Samatha Jhanas Concentration and Tranquility
  only
• Vipassana Jhanas Jhanas that have insights and
  liberation as the end results

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Jhanas

• Samadhi vs Jhanas
• Samadhi To collect, to bring together, calm, to
  unify
• Jhana Meditative attainments

• Two meanings of Jhanas (According to Buddhaghosa)
• Burn up
• One of the root word for Jhanas is Jhapeti,
  which means burn up, i.e., to burn up defilements
  that prevent the development of concentration and
  insight.
• Contemplation
• Contemplation of object Development of
  concentration
• Contemplation of the characteristics of phenomena
  Related to insights

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Preparation for Jhana Attainments

• Four factors to prepare
• Virtue and morality
• Choose good friends
• Choose meditation subjects
• Choose suitable dwelling
• Virtues and Morality
• Negatively abstain from immoral body, verbal, and
  mental actions
• Positively promote and incline moral and ethical
  actions
• Loving kindness and compassion
• Mindfulness
• Generosity
• Four fold Purification of morality
  (Catuparisuddhisila) (Based on Visuddhimaga)
• Morality of restraints (Precepts)
• Restraint of the senses (Protect sense doors)
• Purification of livelihood, obtaining basic
  requisites
• Proper use of requisites, only for maintenance of
  his health, comfort, not for enjoyment and luxury
• Choose good friends

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Preparation for Jhana Attainments Choose
Meditation Subjects

• 40 meditation subjects categorized into 7
  categories and two angles See table below
• Inducing the deeper levels of concentration and
  attainments
• Suitable to different personalities, greedy,
  hating, deluded, faithful, intelligent and the
  speculative

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The Attainments of Jhanas

• The two fold process
• The process of abandoning
• Abandoning those states that are obstructive to
  the attainment of Jhanas
• The process of acquiring
• Acquiring those states that compose the Jhana
  states
• Jhana Factors
• Each Jhana is comprised of a set of factors that
  were acquired through the two fold-process
• Jhana Levels
• Fine-material Jhanas 1st 4th Jhana
• Immaterial Jhanas
• The base of boundless space
• The base of boundless consciousness
• The base of nothingness
• The base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
  

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The Five Jhana Factors

• Applied Thought Vitakka
• Application of the mind to its object with
  special clarity
• Wholesome
• Sustained Thought Vicara
• Developed phase of the thought process which has
  continued pressure on the object
• The act of anchoring the mind on the object with
  continued pressure
• Rapture Piti
• Gladdening due to seclusion and the abandoning of
  five hindrances
• MN 119. Secluded from sensual pleasures,
  secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu
  enters upon and abides in the first Jhana, .
  Rapture and happiness born of seclusion
• Mental formation
• The delight in the attaining of the desired
  object
• Happiness Sukha
• Signifies pleasant feeling, gratifying and
  intensifying the associated states
• Feeling
• The enjoyment of the taste of what is acquired

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Jhana Factors and Their Progressive Levels
4 Immaterial Jhanas
Jhanas by Names
Jhanas by Numbers

• Fourth Jhana
• Arising of equanimity

• Third Jhana
• Disappearance of rapture
• Subtler happiness

• Second Jhana
• Disappearance of applied and sustained thought
• Strong rapture and happiness

• First Jhana
• 5 hindrances are opposed to the 5 Jhana factors
• One pointedness is hinted, others are explicit
  from Sutras

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Access Concentration and Absorptions

• For Jhana attainments have two phases
• Access concentration
• Absorption concentration
• One is encouraged to reach absorption as much as
  one can before trying the next Jhana
• Access concentration
• Jhana factors are weak and fragile, prone to its
  dangers
• Absorption concentration
• Jhana factors are strong and fully developed, and
  the mind can remain continuously in concentration
  as he/she wishes
• Perfecting the Jhanas from access to absorption
• Extension of the sign
• Extending the size of the object of the Jhana,
  from small to large areas
• Five masteries
• Mastery in adverting the ability to clearly see
  each factor one by one after merging from Jhana,
  wherever he wants and whenever he wants, and for
  as long as he wants
• Mastery in attaining the ability to enter upon
  Jhana quickly
• Mastery in resolving the ability to remain in
  the Jhana for exactly pre-determined length of
  time
• Mastery in emerging the ability to emerge from
  Jhana quickly without difficulty

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MN 119 pg 952 Description of the Four Jhanas
and Similes

• First Jhana
• Quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded
  from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon
  and abides in the first Jhana, which is
  accompanied by applied and sustained thought,
  with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. He
  makes the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion
  drench, steep, fill, and pervade this body, so
  that there is no part of his whole body
  un-pervaded by the rapture and pleasure born of
  seclusion.
• Simile The bath powder
• Second Jhana
• with the stilling of applied and sustained
  thought, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the
  second Jhana, which has self-confidence and
  singleness of mind without applied and sustained
  thought, with rapture and pleasure born of
  concentration. He makes the rapture and pleasure
  born of concentration drench, steep, fill, and
  pervade this body, .. born of concentration.
• Simile The lake with cool water
• Third Jhana
• with the fading away as well of rapture, a
  bhikkhu abides in equanimity, and mindful and
  fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the
  body, he enters upon and abides in the third
  Jhana, on account of which noble nodes announce
  He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and
  is mindful.. He makes the pleasure divested of
  rapture drench, steep,
• Simile The underwater lotus
• Fourth Jhana
• with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and
  with the previous disappearance of joy and grief,
  a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth
  jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and
  purity of mindfulness due to enquanimity. He sits
  pervading this body with a pure bright mind, so
  that there is no part of his whole body
  unpervaded by the pure bright mind
• Simile The pure white cloth

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The Immaterial Jhanas
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The Jhana Attainments
The base of Neither perception nor
non-perception
Second Jhana
First Jhana
Third Jhana Subtle happiness
The base of nothingness
BIW
The base of boundless consciousness
Fourth Jhana Equanimity
Effort
Rapture/Happiness
Initial Efforts
The base of boundless space
Four Jhanas
Immaterial Jhanas

Attainments