This book is an abridged
version of the author's The Path of Serenity and
Insight: An Explanation of the Buddhist Jhanas,
Copyright 1985 Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi. This
abridgment is published in the Wheel series by
permission of the original publisher.
This edition was
transcribed from the print edition in 1995 by Bill
Petrow and Jane Yudelman under the auspices of the
DharmaNet Dharma Book Transcription Project, with the
kind permission of the Buddhist Publication Society.
Abbreviations
[top]
PTS = Pali Text
Society edition
BBS = Burmese Buddhasasana Samiti edition
A. ..... Anguttara
Nikaya (PTS)
D. ..... Digha Nikaya (PTS)
Dhs. ..... Dhammasangani (BBS)
Dhs.A. ..... Dhammasangani Atthakatha = Atthasalini
(BBS)
M. ..... Majjhima Nikaya (PTS)
M.A. ..... Majjhima Nikaya Atthakatha (BBS)
Miln. ..... Milindapanha (PTS)
PP. ..... Path of Purification (translation of
Visuddhimagga, by Bhikkhu Ñanamoli; Kandy: BPS,
1975)
S. ..... Samyutta Nikaya (PTS)
SA. ..... Samyutta Nikaya Atthakatha (BBS)
ST. ..... Samyutta Nikaya Tika (BBS)
Vbh. ..... Vibhanga (PTS)
Vin.A. ..... Vinaya Atthakatha (BBS)
Vism. ..... Visuddhimagga (PTS)
Vism.T. ..... Visuddhimagga Tika (BBS)
1.
Introduction
[top]
The
Doctrinal Context of Jhana
[top]
The Buddha says that
just as in the great ocean there is but one taste, the
taste of salt, so in his doctrine and discipline there
is but one taste, the taste of freedom. The taste of
freedom that pervades the Buddha's teaching is the taste
of spiritual freedom, which from the Buddhist
perspective means freedom from suffering. In the process
leading to deliverance from suffering, meditation is the
means of generating the inner awakening required for
liberation. The methods of meditation taught in the
Theravada Buddhist tradition are based on the Buddha's
own experience, forged by him in the course of his own
quest for enlightenment. They are designed to re-create
in the disciple who practices them the same essential
enlightenment that the Buddha himself attained when he
sat beneath the Bodhi tree, the awakening to the Four
Noble Truths.
The various subjects and
methods of meditation expounded in the Theravada
Buddhist scriptures -- the Pali Canon and its
commentaries -- divide into two inter-related systems.
One is called the development of serenity
(samathabhavana), the other the development of
insight (vipassanabhavana). The former also goes
under the name of development of concentration
(samadhibhavana), the latter the development of
wisdom (paññabhavana). The practice of serenity
meditation aims at developing a calm, concentrated,
unified mind as a means of experiencing inner peace and
as a basis for wisdom. The practice of insight
meditation aims at gaining a direct understanding of the
real nature of phenomena. Of the two, the development of
insight is regarded by Buddhism as the essential key to
liberation, the direct antidote to the ignorance
underlying bondage and suffering. Whereas serenity
meditation is recognized as common to both Buddhist and
non-Buddhist contemplative disciplines, insight
meditation is held to be the unique discovery of the
Buddha and an unparalleled feature of his path. However,
because the growth of insight presupposes a certain
degree of concentration, and serenity meditation helps
to achieve this, the development of serenity also claims
an incontestable place in the Buddhist meditative
process. Together the two types of meditation work to
make the mind a fit instrument for enlightenment. With
his mind unified by means of the development of
serenity, made sharp and bright by the development of
insight, the meditator can proceed unobstructed to reach
the end of suffering, Nibbana.
Pivotal to both systems
of meditation, though belonging inherently to the side
of serenity, is a set of meditative attainments called
the jhanas. Though translators have offered
various renderings of this word, ranging from the feeble
"musing" to the misleading "trance" and the ambiguous
"meditation," we prefer to leave the word untranslated
and to let its meaning emerge from its contextual
usages. From these it is clear that the jhanas are
states of deep mental unification which result from the
centering of the mind upon a single object with such
power of attention that a total immersion in the object
takes place. The early suttas speak of four jhanas,
named simply after their numerical position in the
series: the first jhana, the second jhana, the third
jhana and the forth jhana. In the suttas the four
repeatedly appear each described by a standard formula
which we will examine later in detail.
The importance of the
jhanas in the Buddhist path can readily be gauged from
the frequency with which they are mentioned throughout
the suttas. The jhanas figure prominently both in the
Buddha's own experience and in his exhortation to
disciples. In his childhood, while attending an annual
plowing festival, the future Buddha spontaneously
entered the first jhana. It was the memory of this
childhood incident, many years later after his futile
pursuit of austerities, that revealed to him the way to
enlightenment during his period of deepest despondency
(M.i, 246-47). After taking his seat beneath the Bodhi
tree, the Buddha entered the four jhanas immediately
before direction his mind to the threefold knowledge
that issued in his enlightenment (M.i.247-49).
Throughout his active career the four jhanas remained
"his heavenly dwelling" (D.iii,220) to which he resorted
in order to live happily here and now. His understanding
of the corruption, purification and emergence in the
jhanas and other meditative attainments is one of the
Tathagata's ten powers which enable him to turn the
matchless wheel of the Dhamma (M.i,70). Just before his
passing away the Buddha entered the jhanas in direct and
reverse order, and the passing away itself took place
directly from the fourth jhana (D.ii,156).
The Buddha is constantly
seen in the suttas encouraging his disciples to develop
jhana. The four jhanas are invariably included in the
complete course of training laid down for disciples.[1]
They figure in the training as the discipline of higher
consciousness (adhicittasikkha), right
concentration (sammasamadhi) of the Noble
Eightfold Path, and the faculty and power of
concentration (samadhindriya, samadhibala).
Though a vehicle of dry insight can be found,
indications are that this path is not an easy one,
lacking the aid of the powerful serenity available to
the practitioner of jhana. The way of the jhana attainer
seems by comparison smoother and more pleasurable
(A.ii,150-52). The Buddha even refers to the four jhanas
figuratively as a kind of Nibbana: he calls them
immediately visible Nibbana, factorial Nibbana, Nibbana
here and now (A.iv,453-54).
To attain the jhanas,
the meditator must begin by eliminating the unwholesome
mental states obstructing inner collectedness, generally
grouped together as the five hindrances
(pañcanivarana): sensual desire, ill will, sloth and
torpor, restlessness and worry and doubt.[2]
The mind's absorption on its object is brought about by
five opposing mental states -- applied thought,
sustained thought, rapture, happiness and one
pointedness[3]
-- called the jhana factors (jhanangani) because
they lift the mind to the level of the first jhana and
remain there as its defining components.
After reaching the first
jhana the ardent meditator can go on to reach the higher
jhanas, which is done by eliminating the coarser factors
in each jhana. Beyond the four jhanas lies another
fourfold set of higher meditative states which deepen
still further the element of serenity. These attainments
(aruppa), are the base of boundless space, the
base of boundless consciousness, the base of
nothingness, and the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception.[4]
In the Pali commentaries these come to be called the
four immaterial jhanas (arupajhana), the four
preceding states being renamed for the sake of clarity,
the four fine-material jhanas (rupajhana). Often
the two sets are joined together under the collective
title of the eight jhanas or the eight attainments
(atthasamapattiyo).
The four jhanas and the
four immaterial attainments appear initially as mundane
states of deep serenity pertaining to the preliminary
stage of the Buddhist path, and on this level they help
provide the base of concentration needed for wisdom to
arise. But the four jhanas again reappear in a later
stage in the development of the path, in direct
association with liberating wisdom, and they are then
designated the supramundane (lokuttara) jhanas.
These supramundane jhanas are the levels of
concentration pertaining to the four degrees of
enlightenment experience called the supramundane paths
(magga) and the stages of liberation resulting
from them, the four fruits (phala).
Finally, even after full
liberation is achieved, the mundane jhanas can still
remain as attainments available to the fully liberated
person, part of his untrammeled contemplative
experience.
Etymology of Jhana
[top]
The great Buddhist
commentator Buddhaghosa traces the Pali word "jhana"
(Skt. dhyana) to two verbal forms. One, the
etymologically correct derivation, is the verb
jhayati, meaning to think or meditate; the other is
a more playful derivation, intended to illuminate its
function rather than its verbal source, from the verb
jhapeti meaning to burn up. He explains: "It burns
up opposing states, thus it is jhana" (Vin.A. i, 116),
the purport being that jhana "burns up" or destroys the
mental defilements preventing the developing the
development of serenity and insight.
In the same passage
Buddhaghosa says that jhana has the characteristic mark
of contemplation (upanijjhana). Contemplation, he
states, is twofold: the contemplation of the object and
the contemplation of the characteristics of phenomena.
The former is exercised by the eight attainments of
serenity together with their access, since these
contemplate the object used as the basis for developing
concentration; for this reason these attainments are
given the name "jhana" in the mainstream of Pali
meditative exposition. However, Buddhaghosa also allows
that the term "jhana" can be extended loosely to insight
(vipassana), the paths and the fruits on the
ground that these perform the work of contemplating the
characteristics of things the three marks of
impermanence, suffering and non-self in the case of
insight, Nibbana in the case of the paths and fruits.
In brief the twofold
meaning of jhana as "contemplation" and "burning up" can
be brought into connection with the meditative process
as follows. By fixing his mind on the object the
meditator reduces and eliminates the lower mental
qualities such as the five hindrances and promotes the
growth of the higher qualities such as the jhana
factors, which lead the mind to complete absorption in
the object. Then by contemplating the characteristics of
phenomena with insight, the meditator eventually reaches
the supramundane jhana of the four paths, and with this
jhana he burns up the defilements and attains the
liberating experience of the fruits.
Jhana
and Samadhi
[top]
In the vocabulary of
Buddhist meditation the word "jhana" is closely
connected with another word, "samadhi" generally
rendered by "concentration." Samadhi derives from
the prefixed verbal root sam-a-dha, meaning to
collect or to bring together, thus suggesting the
concentration or unification of the mind. The word
"samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word
"samatha," serenity, though the latter comes from a
different root, sam, meaning to become calm.
In the suttas samadhi
is defined as mental one-pointedness,
(cittass'ekaggata M.i,301) and this definition is
followed through rigorously in the Abhidhamma. The
Abhidhamma treats one-pointedness as a distinct mental
factor present in every state of consciousness,
exercising the function of unifying the mind on its
object. From this strict psychological standpoint
samadhi can be present in unwholesome states of
consciousness as well as in wholesome an neutral states.
In its unwholesome forms it is called "wrong
concentration" (micchasamadhi), In its wholesome
forms "right concentration" (sammasamadhi).
In expositions on the
practice of meditation, however, samadhi is
limited to one-pointedness of mind (Vism.84-85;
PP.84-85), and even here we can understand from the
context that the word means only the wholesome
one-pointedness involved in the deliberate transmutation
of the mind to a heightened level of calm. Thus
Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as
"the centering of consciousness and consciousness
concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object...
the state in virtue of which consciousness and its
concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single
object, undistracted and unscattered" (Vism.84-85;
PP.85).
However, despite the
commentator's bid for consistency, the word samadhi
is used in the Pali literature on meditation with
varying degrees of specificity of meaning. In the
narrowest sense, as defined by Buddhaghosa, it denotes
the particular mental factor responsible for the
concentrating of the mind, namely, one-pointedness. In a
wider sense it can signify the states of unified
consciousness that result from the strengthening of
concentration, i.e., the meditative attainments of
serenity and the stages leading up to them. And in a
still wider sense the word samadhi can be applied
to the method of practice used to produce and cultivate
these refined states of concentration, here being
equivalent to the development of serenity.
It is in the second
sense that samadhi and jhana come closest in
meaning. The Buddha explains right concentration as the
four jhanas (D.ii,313), and in doing so allows
concentration to encompass the meditative attainments
signified by the jhanas. However, even though jhana and
samadhi can overlap in denotation, certain
differences in their suggested and contextual meanings
prevent unqualified identification of the two terms.
First behind the Buddha's use of the jhana formula to
explain right concentration lies a more technical
understanding of the terms. According to this
understanding samadhi can be narrowed down in
range to signify only one mental factor, the most
prominent in the jhana, namely, one-pointedness, while
the word "jhana" itself must be seen as encompassing the
state of consciousness in its entirety, or at least the
whole group of mental factors individuating that
meditative state as a jhana.
In the second place,
when samadhi is considered in its broader meaning
it involves a wider range of reference than jhana. The
Pali exegetical tradition recognizes three levels of
samadhi: preliminary concentration
(parikammasamadhi), which is produced as a result of
the meditator's initial efforts to focus his mind on his
meditation subject; access concentration
(upacarasamadhi), marked by the suppression of the
five hindrances, the manifestation of the jhana factors,
and the appearance of a luminous mental replica of the
meditation object called the counterpart sign
(patibhaganimitta); and absorption concentration
(appanasamadhi), the complete immersion of the mind
in its object effected by the full maturation of the
jhana factors.[5]
Absorption concentration comprises the eight
attainments, the four immaterial attainments, and to
this extent jhana and samadhi coincide. However,
samadhi still has a broader scope than jhana,
since it includes not only the jhanas themselves but
also the two preparatory degrees of concentration
leading up to them. Further, samadhi also covers
a still different type of concentration called momentary
concentration (khanikasamadhi), the mobile mental
stabilization produced in the course of insight
contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena.
2. The
Preparation for Jhana
[top]
The jhanas do not arise
out of a void but in dependence on the right conditions.
They come to growth only when provided with the
nutriments conductive to their development. Therefore,
prior to beginning meditation, the aspirant to the
jhanas must prepare a groundwork for his practice by
fulfilling certain preliminary requirements. He first
must endeavor to purify his moral virtue, sever the
outer impediments to practice, and place himself under a
qualified teacher who will assign him a suitable
meditation subject and explain to him the methods of
developing it. After learning these the disciple must
then seek out a congenial dwelling and diligently strive
for success. In this chapter we will examine in order
each of the preparatory steps that have to be fulfilled
before commencing to develop jhana.
The
Moral Foundation for Jhana
[top]
A disciple aspiring to
the jhanas first has to lay a solid foundation of moral
discipline. Moral purity is indispensable to meditative
progress for several deeply psychological reasons. It is
needed first, in order to safeguard against the danger
of remorse, the nagging sense of guilt that arises when
the basic principles of morality are ignored or
deliberately violated. Scrupulous conformity to virtuous
rules of conduct protects the meditator from this danger
disruptive to inner calm, and brings joy and happiness
when the meditator reflects upon the purity of his
conduct (see A.v,1-7).
A second reason a moral
foundation is needed for meditation follows from an
understanding of the purpose of concentration.
Concentration, in the Buddhist discipline, aims at
providing a base for wisdom by cleansing the mind of the
dispersive influence of the defilements. But in order
for the concentration exercises to effectively combat
the defilements, the coarser expressions of the latter
through bodily and verbal action first have to be
checked. Moral transgressions being invariably motivated
by defilements -- by greed, hatred and delusion -- when
a person acts in violation of the precepts of morality
he excites and reinforces the very same mental factors
his practice of meditation is intended to eliminate.
This involves him in a crossfire of incompatible aims
which renders his attempts at mental purification
ineffective. The only way he can avoid frustration in
his endeavor to purify the mind of its subtler
defilements is to prevent the unwholesome inner impulses
from breathing out in the coarser form of unwholesome
bodily and verbal deeds. Only when he establishes
control over the outer expression of the defilements can
he turn to deal with them inwardly as mental obsessions
that appear in the process of meditation.
The practice of moral
discipline consists negatively in abstinence from
immoral actions of body and speech and positively in the
observance of ethical principles promoting peace within
oneself and harmony in one's relations with others. The
basic code of moral discipline taught by the Buddha for
the guidance of his lay followers is the five precepts:
abstinence from taking life, from stealing, from sexual
misconduct, from false speech, and from intoxicating
drugs and drinks. These principles are bindings as
minimal ethical obligations for all practitioners of the
Buddhist path, and within their bounds considerable
progress in meditation can be made. However, those
aspiring to reach the higher levels of jhanas and to
pursue the path further to the stages of liberation, are
encouraged to take up the more complete moral discipline
pertaining to the life of renunciation. Early Buddhism
is unambiguous in its emphasis on the limitations of
household life for following the path in its fullness
and perfection. Time and again the texts say that the
household life is confining, a "path for the dust of
passion," while the life of homelessness is like open
space. Thus a disciple who is fully intent upon making
rapid progress towards Nibbana will when outer
conditions allow for it, "shave off his hair and beard,
put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life
into homelessness" (M.i,179).
The moral training for
the bhikkhus or monks has been arranged into a system
called the fourfold purification of morality
(catuparisuddhisila).[6]
The first component of this scheme, its backbone,
consists in the morality of restraint according to
the Patimokkha, the code of 227 training precepts
promulgated by the Buddha to regulate the conduct of the
Sangha or monastic order. Each of these rules is in some
way intended to facilitate control over the defilements
and to induce a mode of living marked by harmlessness,
contentment and simplicity. The second aspect of the
monk's moral discipline is restraint of the senses,
by which the monk maintains close watchfulness over his
mind as he engages in sense contacts so that he does not
give rise to desire for pleasurable objects and aversion
towards repulsive ones. Third, the monk is to live by a
purified livelihood, obtaining his basic
requisites such as robes food, lodgings and medicines in
ways consistent with his vocation. The fourth factor of
the moral training is proper use of the requisites,
which means that the monk should reflect upon the
purposes for which he makes use of his requisites and
should employ them only for maintaining his health and
comfort, not for luxury and enjoyment.
After establishing a
foundation of purified morality, the aspirant to
meditation is advised to cut off any outer impediments
(palibodha) that may hinder his efforts to lead a
contemplative life. These impediments are numbered as
ten: a dwelling, which becomes an impediment for those
who allow their minds to become preoccupied with its
upkeep or with its appurtenances; a family of relatives
or supporters with whom the aspirant may become
emotionally involved in ways that hinder his progress;
gains, which may bind the monk by obligation to those
who offer them; a class of students who must be
instructed; building work, which demands time and
attention; travel; kin, meaning parents, teachers,
pupils or close friends; illness; the study of
scriptures; and supernormal powers, which are an
impediment to insight (Vism.90-97; PP.91-98).
The
Good Friend and the Subject of Meditation
[top]
The path of practice
leading to the jhanas is an arduous course involving
precise techniques and skillfulness is needed in dealing
with the pitfalls that lie along the way. The knowledge
of how to attain the jhanas has been transmitted through
a lineage of teachers going back to the time of the
Buddha himself. A prospective meditator is advised to
avail himself of the living heritage of accumulated
knowledge and experience by placing himself under the
care of a qualified teacher, described as a "good
friend" (kalyanamitta), one who gives guidance
and wise advice rooted in his own practice and
experience. On the basis of either of the power of
penetrating others minds, or by personal observation, or
by questioning, the teacher will size up the temperament
of his new pupil and then select a meditation subject
for him appropriate to his temperament.
The various meditation
subjects that the Buddha prescribed for the development
of serenity have been collected in the commentaries into
a set called the forty kammatthana. This word
means literally a place of work, and is applied to the
subject of meditation as the place where the meditator
undertakes the work of meditation. The forty meditation
subjects are distributed into seven categories,
enumerated in the Visuddhimagga as follows: ten
kasinas, ten kinds of foulness, ten recollections, four
divine abidings, four immaterial states, one perception,
and one defining.[7]
A kasina is a device
representing a particular quality used as a support for
concentration. The ten kasinas are those of earth,
water, fire and air; four color kasinas -- blue, yellow,
red and white; the light kasina and the limited space
kasina. The kasina can be either a naturally occurring
form of the element or color chosen, or an artificially
produced device such as a disk that the meditator can
use at his convenience in his meditation quarters.
The ten kinds of
foulness are ten stages in the decomposition of a
corpse: the bloated, the livid, the festering, the
cut-up, the gnawed, the scattered, the hacked and
scattered, the bleeding, the worm-infested and a
skeleton. The primary purpose of these meditations is to
reduce sensual lust by gaining a clear perception of the
repulsiveness of the body.
The ten recollections
are the recollections of the Buddha, the Dhamma, the
Sangha, morality, generosity and the deities,
mindfulness of death, mindfulness of the body,
mindfulness of breathing, and the recollection of peace.
The first three are devotional contemplations on the
sublime qualities of the "Three Jewels," the primary
objects of Buddhist virtues and on the deities
inhabiting the heavenly worlds, intended principally for
those still intent on a higher rebirth. Mindfulness of
death is reflection on the inevitably of death, a
constant spur to spiritual exertion. Mindfulness of the
body involves the mental dissection of the body into
thirty-two parts, undertaken with a view to perceiving
its unattractiveness. Mindfulness of breathing is
awareness of the in-and-out movement of the breath,
perhaps the most fundamental of all Buddhist meditation
subjects. And the recollection of peace is reflection on
the qualities of Nibbana.
The four divine abidings
(brahmavihara) are the development of boundless
loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and
equanimity. These meditations are also called the
"immeasurables" (appamañña) because they are to
be developed towards all sentient beings without
qualification or exclusiveness.
The four immaterial
states are the base of boundless space, the base of
boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness, and
the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. These
are the objects leading to the corresponding meditative
attainments, the immaterial jhanas.
The one perception is
the perception of the repulsiveness of food. The one
defining is the defining of the four elements, that is,
the analysis of the physical body into the elemental
modes of solidity, fluidity, heat and oscillation.
The forty meditation
subjects are treated in the commentarial texts from two
important angles -- one their ability to induce
different levels of concentration, the other their
suitability for differing temperaments. Not all
meditation subjects are equally effective in inducing
the deeper levels of concentration. They are first
distinguished on the basis of their capacity for
inducing only access concentration or for inducing full
absorption; those capable of inducing absorption are
then distinguished further according to their ability to
induce the different levels of jhana.
Of the forty subjects,
ten are capable of leading only to access concentration:
eight recollections -- i.e., all except mindfulness of
the body and mindfulness of breathing -- plus the
perception of repulsiveness in nutriment and the
defining of the four elements. These, because they are
occupied with a diversity of qualities and involve and
active application of discursive thought, cannot lead
beyond access. The other thirty subjects can all lead to
absorption.
The ten kasinas and
mindfulness of breathing, owing to their simplicity and
freedom from thought construction, can lead to all four
jhanas. The ten kinds of foulness and mindfulness of the
body lead only to the first jhana, being limited because
the mind can only hold onto them with the aid of applied
thought (vitakka) which is absent in the second
and higher jhanas. The first three divine abidings can
induce the lower three jhanas but the fourth, since they
arise in association with pleasant feeling, while the
divine abiding of equanimity occurs only at the level of
the fourth jhana, where neutral feeling gains
ascendency. The four immaterial states conduce to the
respective immaterial jhanas corresponding to their
names.
The forty subjects are
also differentiated according to their appropriateness
for different character types. Six main character types
are recognized -- the greedy, the hating, the deluded,
the faithful, the intelligent and the speculative --
this oversimplified typology being taken only as a
pragmatic guideline which in practice admits various
shades and combinations. The ten kind of foulness and
mindfulness of the body, clearly intended to attenuate
sensual desire, are suitable for those of greedy
temperament. Eight subjects -- the four divine abidings
and four color kasinas -- are appropriate for the hating
temperament. Mindfulness of breathing is suitable for
those of the deluded and the speculative temperament.
The first six recollections are appropriate for the
faithful temperament. Four subjects -- mindfulness of
death, the recollection of peace, the defining of the
four elements, and the perception of the repulsiveness
in nutriment -- are especially effective for those of
intelligent temperament. The remaining six kasinas and
the immaterial states are suitable for all kinds of
temperaments. But the kasinas should be limited in size
for one of speculative temperament and large in size for
one of deluded temperament.
Immediately after giving
this breakdown Buddhaghosa adds a proviso to prevent
misunderstanding. He states that this division by way of
temperament is made on the basis of direct opposition
and complete suitability, but actually there is no
wholesome form of meditation that does not suppress the
defilements and strengthen the virtuous mental factors.
Thus an individual meditator may be advised to meditate
on foulness to abandon lust, on loving-kindness to
abandon hatred, on breathing to cut off discursive
thought, and on impermanence to eliminate the conceit "I
am" (A.iv,358).
Choosing a Suitable Dwelling
[top]
The teacher assigns a
meditation subject to his pupil appropriate to his
character and explains the methods of developing it. He
can teach it gradually to a pupil who is going to remain
in close proximity to him, or in detail to one who will
go to practice it elsewhere. If the disciple is not
going to stay with his teacher he must be careful to
select a suitable place for meditation. The texts
mention eighteen kinds of monasteries unfavorable to the
development of jhana: a large monastery, a new one, a
dilapidated one, one near a road, one with a pond,
leaves, flowers or fruits, one sought after by many
people, one in cities, among timber of fields, where
people quarrel, in a port, in border lands, on a
frontier, a haunted place, and one without access to a
spiritual teacher (Vism. 118-121; PP122-125).
The factors which make a
dwelling favorable to meditation are mentioned by the
Buddha himself. If should not be too far from or too
near a village that can be relied on as an alms resort,
and should have a clear path: it should be quiet and
secluded; it should be free from rough weather and from
harmful insects and animals; one should be able to
obtain one's physical requisites while dwelling there;
and the dwelling should provide ready access to learned
elders and spiritual friends who can be consulted when
problems arise in meditation (A.v,15). The types of
dwelling places commended by the Buddha most frequently
in the suttas as conductive to the jhanas are a secluded
dwelling in the forest, at the foot of a tree, on a
mountain, in a cleft, in a cave, in a cemetery, on a
wooded flatland, in the open air, or on a heap of straw
(M.i,181). Having found a suitable dwelling and settled
there, the disciple should maintain scrupulous
observance of the rules of discipline, He should be
content with his simple requisites, exercise control
over his sense faculties, be mindful and discerning in
all activities, and practice meditation diligently as he
was instructed. It is at this point that he meets the
first great challenge of his contemplative life, the
battle with the five hindrances.
3. The
First Jhana and its Factors
[top]
The attainment of any
jhana comes about through a twofold process of
development. On one side the states obstructive to it,
called its factors of abandonment, have to be
eliminated, on the other the states composing it, called
its factors of possession, have to be acquired. In the
case of the first jhana the factors of abandonment are
the five hindrances and the factors of possession the
five basic jhana factors. Both are alluded to in the
standard formula for the first jhana, the opening phrase
referring to the abandonment of the hindrances and the
subsequent portion enumerating the jhana factors:
Quite secluded from
sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of
mind, he enters and dwells in the first jhana, which is
accompanied by applied thought and sustained thought
with rapture and happiness born of seclusion. (M.i,1818;
Vbh.245)
In this chapter we will
first discuss the five hindrances and their abandonment,
then we will investigate the jhana factors both
individually and by way of their combined contribution
to the attainment of the first jhana. We will close the
chapter with some remarks on the ways of perfecting the
first jhana, a necessary preparation for the further
development of concentration.
The
Abandoning of the Hindrances
[top]
The five hindrances
(pañcanivarana) are sensual desire, ill will, sloth
and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt. This
group, the principal classification the Buddha uses for
the obstacles to meditation, receives its name because
its five members hinder and envelop the mind, preventing
meditative development in the two spheres of serenity
and insight. Hence the Buddha calls them "obstructions,
hindrances, corruptions of the mind which weaken
wisdom"(S.v,94).
The hindrance of sensual
desire (kamachanda) is explained as desire for
the "five strands of sense pleasure," that is, for
pleasant forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangibles. It
ranges from subtle liking to powerful lust. The
hindrance of ill will (byapada) signifies
aversion directed towards disagreeable persons or
things. It can vary in range from mild annoyance to
overpowering hatred. Thus the first two hindrances
correspond to the first two root defilements, greed and
hate. The third root defilement, delusion, is not
enumerated separately among the hindrances but can be
found underlying the remaining three.
Sloth and torpor is a
compound hindrance made up of two components: sloth
(thina), which is dullness, inertia or mental
stiffness; and torpor (middha), which is
indolence or drowsiness. Restlessness and worry is
another double hindrance, restlessness (uddhacca)
being explained as excitement, agitation or disquietude,
worry (kukkucca) as the sense of guilt aroused by
moral transgressions. Finally, the hindrance of doubt
(vicikiccha) is explained as uncertainty with regard
to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha and the training.
The Buddha offers two
sets of similes to illustrate the detrimental effect of
the hindrances. The first compares the five hindrances
to five types of calamity: sensual desire is like a
debt, ill will like a disease, sloth and torpor like
imprisonment, restless and worry like slavery, and doubt
like being lost on a desert road. Release from the
hindrances is to be seen as freedom from debt, good
health, release from prison, emancipation from slavery,
and arriving at a place of safety (D.i,71-73). The
second set of similes compares the hindrances to five
kinds of impurities affecting a bowl of water,
preventing a keen-sighted man from seeing his own
reflection as it really is. Sensual desire is like a
bowl of water mixed with brightly colored paints, ill
will like a bowl of boiling water, sloth and torpor like
water covered by mossy plants, restlessness and worry
like water blown into ripples by the wind, and doubt
like muddy water. Just as the keen-eyed man would not be
able to see his reflection in these five kinds of water,
so one whose mind is obsessed by the five hindrances
does not know and see as it is his own good, the good of
others or the good of both (S.v,121-24). Although there
are numerous defilements opposed to the first jhana the
five hindrances alone are called its factors of
abandoning. One reason according to the
Visuddhimagga, is that the hindrances are
specifically obstructive to jhana, each hindrance
impeding in its own way the mind's capacity for
concentration.
The mind affected
through lust by greed for varied objective fields does
not become concentrated on an object consisting in
unity, or being overwhelmed by lust, it does not enter
on the way to abandoning the sense-desire element. When
pestered by ill will towards an object, it does not
occur uninterruptedly. When overcome by stiffness and
torpor, it is unwieldy. When seized by agitation and
worry, it is unquiet and buzzes about. When stricken by
uncertainty, it fails to mount the way to accomplish the
attainment of jhana. So it is these only that are called
factors of abandonment because they are specifically
obstructive to jhana.(Vism.146: PP.152)
A second reason for
confining the first jhana's factors of abandoning to the
five hindrances is to permit a direct alignment to be
made between the hindrances and the jhanic factors.
Buddhaghosa states that the abandonment of the five
hindrances alone is mentioned in connection with jhana
because the hindrances are the direct enemies of the
five jhana factors, which the latter must eliminate and
abolish. To support his point the commentator cites a
passage demonstrating a one-to-one correspondence
between the jhana factors and the hindrances:
one-pointedness is opposed to sensual desire, rapture to
ill will, applied thought to sloth and torpor, happiness
to restlessness and worry, and sustained thought to
doubt (Vism. 141; PP.147).[8]
Thus each jhana factor is seen as having the specific
task of eliminating a particular obstruction to the
jhana and to correlate these obstructions with the five
jhana factors they are collected into a scheme of five
hindrances.
The standard passage
describing the attainment of the first jhana says that
the jhana is entered upon by one who is "secluded from
sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of
mind." The Visuddhimagga explains that there are
three kinds of seclusion relevant to the present context
-- namely, bodily seclusion (kayaviveka), mental
seclusion (cittaviveka), and seclusion by
suppression (vikkhambhanaviveka) (Vism. 140;
PP.145). These three terms allude to two distinct sets
of exegetical categories. The first two belong to a
threefold arrangement made up of bodily seclusion,
mental seclusion, and "seclusion from the substance"
(upadhiviveka). The first means physical withdrawal
from active social engagement into a condition of
solitude for the purpose of devoting time and energy to
spiritual development. The second, which generally
presupposes the first, means the seclusion of the mind
from its entanglement in defilements; it is in effect
equivalent to concentration of at least the access
level. The third, "seclusion from the substance," is
Nibbana, liberation from the elements of phenomenal
existence. The achievement of the first jhana does not
depend on the third, which is its outcome rather than
prerequisite, but it does require physical solitude and
the separation of the mind from defilements, hence
bodily and mental seclusion. The third type of seclusion
pertinent to the context, seclusion by suppression,
belongs to a different scheme generally discussed under
the heading of "abandonment" (pahana) rather than
"seclusion." The type of abandonment required for the
attainment of jhana is abandonment by suppression, which
means the removal of the hindrances by force of
concentration similar to the pressing down of weeds in a
pond by means of a porous pot.[9]
The work of overcoming
the five hindrances is accomplished through the gradual
training (anupubbasikkha) which the Buddha has
laid down so often in the suttas, such as the
Samaññaphala Sutta and the Culahatthipadopama Sutta. The
gradual training is a step-by-step process designed to
lead the practitioner gradually to liberation. The
training begins with moral discipline, the undertaking
and observance of specific rules of conduct which enable
the disciple to control the coarser modes of bodily and
verbal misconduct through which the hindrances find an
outlet. With moral discipline as a basis, the disciple
practices the restraint of the senses. He does not seize
upon the general appearances of the beguiling features
of things, but guards and masters his sense faculties so
that sensual attractive and repugnant objects no longer
become grounds for desire and aversion. Then, endowed
with the self-restraint, he develops mindfulness and
discernment (sati-sampajañña) in all his
activities and postures, examining everything he does
with clear awareness as to its purpose and suitability.
He also cultivates contentment with a minimum of robes,
food, shelter and other requisites.
Once he has fulfilled
these preliminaries the disciple is prepared to go into
solitude to develop the jhanas, and it is here that he
directly confronts the five hindrances. The elimination
of the hindrances requires that the meditator honestly
appraises his own mind. When sensuality, ill will and
the other hindrances are present, he must recognize that
they are present and he must investigate the conditions
that lead to their arising: the latter he must
scrupulously avoid. The meditator must also understand
the appropriate antidotes for each of the five
hindrances. The Buddha says that all the hindrances
arise through unwise consideration (ayoniso
manasikara) and that they can be eliminated by wise
consideration (yoniso manasikara). Each
hindrance, however, has its own specific antidote. Thus
wise consideration of the repulsive feature of things is
the antidote to sensual desire; wise consideration of
loving-kindness counteracts ill will; wise consideration
of the elements of effort, exertion and striving opposes
sloth and torpor; wise consideration of tranquillity of
mind removes restlessness and worry; and wise
consideration of the real qualities of things eliminates
doubt (S.v,105-106).
Having given up
covetousness [i.e., sensual desire] with regard to the
world, he dwells with a heart free of covetousness; he
cleanses his mind from covetousness. Having given up the
blemish of ill will, he dwells without ill will;
friendly and compassionate towards all living beings, he
cleanses his mind from the blemishes of ill will. Having
given up sloth and torpor, he dwells free from sloth and
torpor, in the perception of light; mindful and clearly
comprehending, he cleanses his mind from sloth and
torpor. Having given up restlessness and worry, he
dwells without restlessness; his mind being calmed
within, he cleanses it from restlessness and worry.
Having given up doubt, he dwells as one who has passed
beyond doubt; being free from uncertainty about
wholesome things, he cleanses his mind from doubt...
And when he sees himself
free of these five hindrances, joy arises; in him who is
joyful, rapture arises; in him whose mind is enraptured,
the body is stilled; the body being stilled, he feels
happiness; and a happy mind finds concentration. Then,
quite secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from
unwholesome states of mind, he enters and dwells in the
first jhana, which is accompanied by applied thought and
sustained thought, with rapture and happiness born of
seclusion. (D.i,73-74)[10]
The
Factors of the First Jhana
[top]
The first jhana
possesses five component factors: applied thought,
sustained thought, rapture, happiness and
one-pointedness of mind. Four of these are explicitly
mentioned in the formula for the jhana; the fifth,
one-pointedness, is mentioned elsewhere in the suttas
but is already suggested by the notion of jhana itself.
These five states receive their name, first because they
lead the mind from the level of ordinary consciousness
to the jhanic level, and second because they constitute
the first jhana and give it its distinct definition.
The jhana factors are
first aroused by the meditator's initial efforts to
concentrate upon one of the prescribed objects for
developing jhana. As he fixes his mind on the
preliminary object, such as a kasina disk, a point is
eventually reached where he can perceive the object as
clearly with his eyes closed as with them open. This
visualized object is called the learning sign
(uggahanimitta). As he concentrates on the learning
sign, his efforts call into play the embryonic jhana
factors, which grow in force, duration and prominence as
a result of the meditative exertion. These factors,
being incompatible with the hindrances, attenuate them,
exclude them, and hold them at bay. With continued
practice the learning sign gives rise to a purified
luminous replica of itself called the counterpart sign
(patibhaganimitta), the manifestation of which
marks the complete suppression of the hindrances and the
attainment of access concentration (upacarasamadhi).
All three events-the suppression of the hindrances, the
arising of the counterpart sign, and the attainment of
access concentration -- take place at precisely the same
moment, without interval (Vism. 126; PP.131). And though
previously the process of mental cultivation may have
required the elimination of different hindrances at
different times, when access is achieved they all
subside together:
Simultaneously with his
acquiring the counterpart sign his lust is abandoned by
suppression owing to his giving no attention externally
to sense desires (as object). And owing to his
abandoning of approval, ill will is abandoned too, as
pus is with the abandoning of blood. Likewise stiffness
and torpor is abandoned through exertion of energy,
agitation and worry is abandoned through devotion to
peaceful things that cause no remorse; and uncertainty
about the Master who teaches the way, about the way, and
about the fruit of the way, about the way, and about the
fruit of the way, is abandoned through the actual
experience of the distinction attained. So the five
hindrances are abandoned. (Vism. 189; PP.196)
Though the mental
factors determinative of the first jhana are present in
access concentration, they do not as yet possess
sufficient strength to constitute the jhana, but are
strong enough only to exclude the hindrances. With
continued practice, however, the nascent jhana factors
grow in strength until they are capable of issuing in
jhana. Because of the instrumental role these factors
play both in the attainment and constitution of the
first jhana they are deserving of closer individual
scrutiny.
Applied
Thought
(vitakka)
[top]
The word vitakka
frequently appears in the texts in conjunction with the
word vicara. The pair signify two interconnected
but distinct aspects of the thought process, and to
bring out the difference between them (as well as their
common character), we translate the one as applied
thought and the other as sustained thought.
In both the suttas and
the Abhidhamma applied thought is defined as the
application of the mind to its object (cetaso
abhiniropana), a function which the Atthasalini
illustrates thus: "Just as someone ascends the king's
palace in dependence on a relative of friend dear to the
king, so the mind ascends the object in dependence on
applied thought" (Dhs.A.157). This function of applying
the mind to the object is common to the wide variety of
modes in which the mental factor of applied thought
occurs, ranging from sense discrimination to
imagination, reasoning and deliberation and to the
practice of concentration culminating in the first
jhana. Applied thought can be unwholesome as in thoughts
of sensual pleasure, ill will and cruelty, or wholesome
as in thoughts of renunciation, benevolence and
compassion (M.i,116).
In jhana applied through
is invariably wholesome and its function of directing
the mind upon its object stands forth with special
clarity. To convey this the Visuddhimagga
explains that in jhana the function of applied thought
is "to strike at and thresh -- for the meditator is
said, in virtue of it, to have the object struck at by
applied thought, threshed by applied thought"
(Vism.142;PP148). The Milindapanha makes the same
point by defining applied thought as absorption
(appana): "Just as a carpenter drives a
well-fashioned piece of wood into a joint, so applied
thought has the characteristic of absorption" (Miln.62).
The object of jhana into
which vitakka drives the mind and its concomitant
states is the counterpart sign, which emerges from the
learning sign as the hindrances are suppressed and the
mind enters access concentration. The Visuddhimagga
explains the difference between the two signs thus:
In the learning sign any
fault in the kasina is apparent. But the counterpart
sign appears as if breaking out from the learning sign,
and a hundred times, a thousand times more purified,
like a looking-glass disk drawn from its case, like a
mother-of-pearl dish well washed, like the moon's disk
coming out from behind a cloud, like cranes against a
thunder cloud. But it has neither color nor shape; for
if it had, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross,
susceptible of comprehension (by insight) and stamped
with the three characteristics. But it is not like that.
For it is born only of perception in one who has
obtained concentration, being a mere mode of appearance
(Vism. 125-26; PP.130)
The counterpart sign is
the object of both access concentration and jhana, which
differ neither in their object nor in the removal of the
hindrances but in the strength of their respective jhana
factors. In the former the factors are still weak, not
yet fully developed, while in the jhana they are strong
enough to make the mind fully absorbed in the object. In
this process applied thought is the factor primarily
responsible for directing the mind towards the
counterpart sign and thrusting it in with the force of
full absorption.
Sustained Thought
(vicara)
[top]
Vicara
seems to represent a more developed phase of the thought
process than vitakka. The commentaries explain
that it has the characteristic of "continued pressure"
on the object (Vim. 142; PP.148). Applied thought is
described as the first impact of the mind on the object,
the gross inceptive phase of thought; sustained thought
is described as the act of anchoring the mind on the
object, the subtle phase of continued mental pressure.
Buddhaghosa illustrates the difference between the two
with a series of similes. Applied thought is like
striking a bell, sustained thought like the ringing;
applied thought is like a bee's flying towards a flower,
sustained thought like its buzzing around the flower;
applied thought is like a compass pin that stays fixed
to the center of a circle, sustained thought like the
pin that revolves around (Vism. 142-43; PP.148-49).
These similes make it
clear that applied thought and sustained thought
functionally associated, perform different tasks.
Applied thought brings the mind to the object, sustained
thought fixes and anchors it there. Applied thought
focuses the mind on the object, sustained thought
examines and inspects what is focused on. Applied
thought brings a deepening of concentration by again and
again leading the mind back to the same object,
sustained thought sustains the concentration achieved by
keeping the mind anchored on that object.
Rapture
(piti)
[top]
The third factor present
in the first jhana is piti, usually translated as
joy or rapture.[11]
In the suttas piti is sometimes said to arise
from another quality called pamojja, translated
as joy or gladness, which springs up with the
abandonment of the five hindrances. When the disciple
sees the five hindrances abandoned in himself "gladness
arises within him; thus gladdened, rapture arises in
him; and when he is rapturous his body becomes tranquil"
(D.i,73). Tranquillity in turn leads to happiness, on
the basis of which the mind becomes concentrated. Thus
rapture precedes the actual arising of the first jhana,
but persists through the remaining stages up to the
third jhana.
The Vibhanga defines
piti as "gladness, joy, joyfulness, mirth,
merriment, exultation, exhilaration, and satisfaction of
mind" (Vbh. 257). The commentaries ascribe to it the
characteristic of endearing, the function of refreshing
the body and mind or pervading with rapture, and the
manifestation as elation (Vism.143; PP.149). Shwe Zan
Aung explains that "piti abstracted means
interest of varying degrees of intensity, in an object
felt as desirable or as calculated to bring happiness."[12]
When defined in terms of
agency, piti is that which creates interest in the
object; when defined in terms of its nature it is the
interest in the object. Because it creates a positive
interest in the object, the jhana factor of rapture is
able to counter and suppress the hindrance of ill will,
a state of aversion implying a negative evaluation of
the object.
Rapture is graded into
five categories: minor rapture, momentary rapture,
showering rapture, uplifting rapture and pervading
rapture.[13]
Minor rapture is generally the first to appear in the
progressive development of meditation; it is capable of
causing the hairs of the body to rise. Momentary
rapture, which is like lightning, comes next but cannot
be sustained for long. Showering rapture runs through
the body in waves, producing a thrill but without
leaving a lasting impact. Uplifting rapture, which can
cause levitation, is more sustained but still tends to
disturb concentration, The form of rapture most
conductive to the attainment of jhana is all-pervading
rapture, which is said to suffuse the whole body so that
it becomes like a full bladder or like a mountain cavern
inundated with a mighty flood of water. The
Visuddhimagga states that what is intended by the
jhana factor of rapture is this all-pervading rapture
"which is the root of absorption and comes by growth
into association with absorption" (Vism.144; PP.151)
Happiness
(sukha)
[top]
As a factor of the first
jhana, sukha signifies pleasant feeling. The word
is explicitly defined in the sense by the Vibhanga
in its analysis of the first jhana: "Therein, what is
happiness? Mental pleasure and happiness born of
mind-contact, the felt pleasure and happiness born of
mind-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of mind
contact -- this is called 'happiness' " (Vbh.257). The
Visuddhimagga explains that happiness in the
first jhana has the characteristic of gratifying, the
function of intensifying associated states, and as
manifestation, the rendering of aid to its associated
states (Vism. 145; PP.151).
Rapture and happiness
link together in a very close relationship, but though
the two are difficult to distinguish, they are not
identical. Happiness is a feeling (vedana);
rapture a mental formation (sankhara). Happiness always
accompanies rapture, so that when rapture is present
happiness must always be present; but rapture does not
always accompany happiness, for in the third jhana, as
we will see, there is happiness but no rapture. The
Atthasalini, which explains rapture as "delight in
the attaining of the desired object" and happiness as
"the enjoyment of the taste of what is required,"
illustrates the difference by means of a simile:
Rapture is like a weary
traveler in the desert in summer, who hears of, or sees
water of a shady wood. Ease [happiness] is like his
enjoying the water of entering the forest shade. For a
man who, traveling along the path through a great desert
and overcome by the heat, is thirsty and desirous of
drink, if he saw a man on the way, would ask 'Where is
water?' The other would say, 'Beyond the wood is a dense
forest with a natural lake. Go there, and you will get
some.' He, hearing these words, would be glad and
delighted and as he went would see lotus leaves, etc.,
fallen on the ground and become more glad and delighted.
Going onwards, he would see men with wet clothes and
hair, hear the sounds of wild fowl and pea-fowl, etc.,
see the dense forest of green like a net of jewels
growing by the edge of the natural lake, he would see
the water lily, the lotus, the white lily, etc., growing
in the lake, he would see the clear transparent water,
he would be all the more glad and delighted, would
descend into the natural lake, bathe and drink at
pleasure and, his oppression being allayed, he would eat
the fibers and stalks of the lilies, adorn himself with
the blue lotus, carry on his shoulders the roots of the
mandalaka, ascend from the lake, put on his clothes, dry
the bathing cloth in the sun, and in the cool shade
where the breeze blew ever so gently lay himself down
and saw: 'O bliss! O bliss!' Thus should this
illustration be applied. The time of gladness and
delight from when he heard of the natural lake and the
dense forest till he say the water is like rapture
having the manner of gladness and delight at the object
in view. The time when, after his bath and dried he laid
himself down in the cool shade, saying, 'O bliss! O
bliss!' etc., is the sense of ease [happiness] grown
strong, established in that mode of enjoying the taste
of the object.[14]
Since rapture and
happiness co-exist in the first jhana, this simile
should not be taken to imply that they are mutually
exclusive. Its purport is to suggest that rapture gains
prominence before happiness, for which it helps provide
a causal foundation.
In the description of
the first jhana, rapture and happiness are said to be
"born of seclusion" and to suffuse the whole body of the
meditator in such a way that there is no part of his
body which remains unaffected by them:
Monks, secluded from
sense pleasure... a monk enters and dwells in the first
jhana. He steeps, drenches, fills and suffuses his body
with the rapture and happiness born of seclusion, so
that there is no part of his entire body that is not
suffused with this rapture and happiness. Just as a
skilled bath-attendant or his apprentice might strew
bathing powder in a copper basin, sprinkle it again and
again with water, and knead it together so that the mass
of bathing soap would be pervaded, suffused, and
saturated with moisture inside and out yet would not
ooze moisture, so a monk steeps, drenches, fills and
suffuses his body with the rapture and happiness born of
seclusion, so that, there is no part of his entire body
that is not suffused with this rapture and happiness
born of seclusion. (D.i,74)
One-pointedness
(ekaggata)
[top]
Unlike the previous four
jhana factors, one-pointedness is not specifically
mentioned in the standard formula for the first jhana,
but it is included among the jhana factors by the
Mahavedalla Sutta (M.i,294) as well as in the Abhidhamma
and the commentaries. One-pointedness is a universal
mental concomitant, the factor by virtue of which the
mind is centered upon its object. It brings the mind to
a single point, the point occupied by the object.
One-pointedness is used
in the text as a synonym for concentration (samadhi)
which has the characteristic of non-distraction, the
function of eliminating distractions, non-wavering as
its manifestation, and happiness as its proximate cause
(Vism.85; PP.85). As a jhana factor one-pointedness is
always directed to a wholesome object and wards off
unwholesome influences, in particular the hindrance of
sensual desire. As the hindrances are absent in jhana
one-pointedness acquires special strength, based on the
previous sustained effort of concentration.
Besides the five jhana
factors, the first jhana contains a great number of
other mental factors functioning in unison as coordinate
members of a single state of consciousness. Already the
Anupada Sutta lists such additional components of the
first jhana as contact, feeling, perception, volition,
consciousness, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness,
equanimity and attention (M.iii,25). In the Abhidhamma
literature this is extended still further up to
thirty-three indispensable components. Nevertheless,
only five states are called the factors of the first
jhana, for only these have the functions of inhibiting
the five hindrances and fixing the mind in absorption.
For the jhana to arise all these five factors must be
present simultaneously, exercising their special
operations:
But applied thought
directs the mind onto the object; sustained thought
keeps it anchored there. Happiness [rapture] produced by
the success of the effort refreshes the mind whose
effort has succeeded through not being distracted by
those hindrances; and bliss [happiness] intensifies it
for the same reason. Then unification aided by this
directing onto, this anchoring, this refreshing and this
intensifying, evenly and rightly centers the mind with
its remaining associated states on the object consisting
in unity. Consequently possession of five factors should
be understood as the arising of these five, namely,
applied thought, sustained thought, happiness [rapture],
bliss [happiness], and unification of mind. For it is
when these are arisen that jhana is said to be arisen,
which is why they are called the five factors of
possession. (Vism.146;PP.152)
Each jhana factor serves
as support for the one which succeeds it. Applied
thought must direct the mind to its object in order for
sustained thought to anchor it there. Only when the mind
is anchored can the interest develop which will
culminate in rapture. As rapture develops it brings
happiness to maturity, and this spiritual happiness, by
providing an alternative to the fickle pleasures of the
senses, aids the growth of one-pointedness. In this way,
as Nagasena explains, all the other wholesome states
lead to concentration, which stands at their head like
the apex on the roof of a house (Miln. 38-39).
Perfecting the First Jhana
[top]
The difference between
access and absorption concentration, as we have said,
does not lie in the absence of the hindrances, which is
common to both, but in the relative strength of the
jhana factors. In access the factors are weak so that
concentration is fragile, comparable to a child who
walks a few steps and then falls down. But in absorption
the jhana factors are strong and well developed so that
the mind can remain continuously in concentration just
as a healthy man can remain standing on his feet for a
whole day and night (Vism.126; PP.131).
Because full absorption
offers the benefit of strengthened concentration, a
meditator who gains access is encouraged to strive for
the attainment of jhana. To develop his practice several
important measures are recommended.[15]
The meditator should live in a suitable dwelling, rely
upon a suitable alms resort, avoid profitless talk,
associate only with spiritually-minded companions, make
use only of suitable food, live in a congenial climate,
and maintain his practice in a suitable posture. He
should also cultivate the ten kinds of skill in
absorption. He should clean his lodging and his physical
body so that they conduce to clear meditation, balance
his spiritual faculties by seeing that faith is balanced
with wisdom and energy with concentration, and he must
be skillful in producing and developing the sign of
concentration (1-3). He should exert the mind when it is
slack, restrain it when it is agitated, encourage it
when it is restless or dejected, and look at the mind
with equanimity when all is proceeding well (4-7). The
meditator should avoid distracting persons, should
approach people experienced in concentration, and should
be firm in his resolution to attain jhana (8-10).
After attaining the
first jhana a few times the meditator is not advised to
set out immediately striving for the second jhana. This
would be a foolish and profitless spiritual ambition.
Before he is prepared to make the second jhana the goal
of his endeavor he must first bring the first jhana to
perfection. If he is too eager to reach the second jhana
before he has perfected the first, he is likely to fail
to gain the second and find himself unable to regain the
first. The Buddha compares such a meditator to a foolish
cow who, while still unfamiliar with her own pasture,
sets out for new pastures and gets lost in the
mountains: she fails to find food or drink and is unable
to find her way home (A.iv, 418-19).
The perfecting of the
first jhana involves two steps: the extension of the
sign and the achievement of the five masteries. The
extension of the sign means extending the size of the
counterpart sign, the object of the jhana. Beginning
with a small area, the size of one or two fingers, the
meditator gradually learns to broaden the sign until the
mental image can be made to cover the world-sphere or
even beyond (Vism. 152-53; PP.158-59).
Following this the
meditator should try to acquire five kinds of mastery
over the jhana: mastery in adverting, in attaining, in
resolving, in emerging and in reviewing.[16]
Mastery in adverting is the ability to advert to the
jhana factors one by one after emerging from the jhana,
wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and for as long as
he wants. Mastery in attaining is the ability to enter
upon jhana quickly, mastery in resolving the ability to
remain in the jhana for exactly the pre-determined
length of time, mastery in emerging the ability to
emerge from jhana quickly without difficulty, and
mastery in reviewing the ability to review the jhana and
its factors with retrospective knowledge immediately
after adverting to them. When the meditator has achieved
this fivefold mastery, then he is ready to strive for
the second jhana.
4. The
Higher Jhanas
[top]
In this chapter we will
survey the higher states of jhana. First we will discuss
the remaining three jhanas of the fine-material sphere,
using the descriptive formulas of the suttas as our
starting point and the later literature as our source
for the methods of practice that lead to these
attainments. Following this we will consider the four
meditative states that pertain to the immaterial sphere,
which come to be called the immaterial jhanas. Our
examination will bring out the dynamic character of the
process by which the jhanas are successively achieved.
The attainment of the higher jhanas of the fine-material
sphere, we will see, involves the successive elimination
of the grosser factors and the bringing to prominence of
the subtler ones, the attainment of the formless jhanas
the replacement of grosser objects with successively
more refined objects. From our study it will become
clear that the jhanas link together in a graded sequence
of development in which the lower serves as basis for
the higher and the higher intensifies and purifies
states already present in the lower. We will end the
chapter with a brief look at the connection between the
jhanas and the Buddhist teaching of rebirth.
The
Higher Fine-material Jhanas
[top]
The formula for the
attainment of the second jhana runs as follows:
With the subsiding of
applied thought and sustained thought he enters and
dwells in the second jhana, which has internal
confidence and unification of mind, is without applied
thought and sustained thought, and is filled with
rapture and happiness born of concentration (M.i,181;
Vbh. 245)
The second jhana, like
the first, is attained by eliminating the factors to be
abandoned and by developing the factors of possession.
In this case however, the factors to be abandoned are
the two initial factors of the first jhana itself,
applied thought and sustained thought; the factors of
possession are the three remaining jhana factors,
rapture, happiness and one-pointedness. Hence the
formula begins "with the subsiding of applied thought
and sustained thought," and then mentions the jhana's
positive endowments.
After achieving the five
kinds of mastery over the first jhana, a meditator who
wishes to reach the second jhana should enter the first
jhana and contemplate its defects. These are twofold:
one, which might be called the defect of proximate
corruption, is the nearness of the five hindrances,
against which the first jhana provides only a relatively
mild safeguard; the other defect, inherent to the first
jhana, is its inclusion of applied and sustained
thought, which now appear as gross, even as impediments
needing to be eliminated to attain the more peaceful and
subtle second jhana.
By reflecting upon the
second jhana as more tranquil and sublime than the
first, the meditator ends his attachment to the first
jhana and engages in renewed striving with the aim of
reaching the higher stage. He directs his mind to his
meditation subject -- which must be one capable of
inducing the higher jhanas such as a kasina or the
breath -- and resolves to overcome applied and sustained
thought. When his practice comes to maturity the two
kinds of thought subside and the second jhana arises. In
the second jhana only three of the original five jhana
factors remain -- rapture, happiness, and
one-pointedness. Moreover, with the elimination of the
two grosser factors these have acquired a subtler and
more peaceful tone.[17]
Besides the main jhana
factors, the canonical formula includes several other
states in its description of the second jhana. "Internal
confidence" (ajjhattamsampasadanam), conveys the
twofold meaning of faith and tranquillity. In the first
jhana the meditator's faith lacked full clarity and
serenity due to "the disturbance created by applied and
sustained thought, like water ruffled by ripples and
wavelets" (Vism. 157; PP.163). But when applied and
sustained thought subside, the mind becomes very
peaceful and the meditator's faith acquires fuller
confidence.
The formula also
mentions unification of mind (cetaso ekodibhavam),
which is identified with one-pointedness or
concentration. Though present in the first jhana,
concentration only gains special mention in connection
with the second jhana since it is here that it acquires
eminence. In the first jhana concentration was still
imperfect, being subject to the disturbing influence of
applied and sustained thought. For the same reason this
jhana, along with its constituent rapture and happiness,
is said to be born of concentration (samadhijam):
"It is only this concentration that is quite worthy to
be called 'concentration' because of its complete
confidence and extreme immobility due to absence of
disturbance by applied and sustained thought" (Vism.158;
PP.164).
To attain the third
jhana the meditator must use the same method he used
to ascend from the first jhana to the second. He must
master the second jhana in the five ways, enter and
emerge from it, and reflect upon its defects. In this
case the defect of proximate corruption is the nearness
of applied and sustained thought, which threaten to
disrupt the serenity of the second jhana; its inherent
defect is the presence of rapture, which now appears as
a gross factor that should be discarded. Aware of the
imperfections in the second jhana, the meditator
cultivates indifference towards it and aspires instead
for the peace and sublimity of the third jhana, towards
the attainment of which he now directs his efforts. When
his practice matures he enters the third jhana, which
has the two jhana factors that remain when the rapture
disappears, happiness and one-pointedness, and which the
suttas describe as follows:
With the fading away of
rapture, he dwells in equanimity, mindful and
discerning; and he experiences in his own person that
happiness of which the noble ones say: 'Happily lives he
who is equanimous and mindful' -- thus he enters and
dwells in the third jhana. (M.i,182; Vbh.245)
The formula indicates
that the third jhana contains, besides its two defining
factors, three additional components not included among
the jhana factors: equanimity, mindfulness and
discernment. Equanimity is mentioned twice. The Pali
word for equanimity, upekkha, occurs in the texts
with a wide range of meanings, the most important being
neutral feeling -- that is, feeling which is neither
painful nor pleasant -- and the mental quality of inner
balance or equipoise called "specific neutrality"
(tatramajjhattata -- see Vism.161; PP.167). The
equanimity referred to in the formula is a mode of
specific neutrality which belongs to the aggregate of
mental formations (sankharakkhandha) and thus
should not be confused with equanimity as neutral
feeling. Though the two are often associated, each can
exist independently of the other, and in the third jhana
equanimity as specific neutrality co-exists with
happiness or pleasant feeling.
The meditator in third
jhana is also said to be mindful and discerning, which
points to another pair of frequently conjoined mental
functions. Mindfulness (sati), in this context,
means the remembrance of the meditation object, the
constant bearing of the object in mind without allowing
it to float away. Discernment (sampajañña) is an
aspect of wisdom or understanding which scrutinizes the
object and grasps its nature free from delusion. Though
these two factors were already present even in the first
two jhanas, they are first mentioned only in connection
with the third since it is here that their efficacy
becomes manifest. The two are needed particularly to
avoid a return to rapture. Just as a suckling calf,
removed from its mother and left unguarded, again
approaches the mother, so the happiness of jhana tends
to veer towards rapture, its natural partner, if
unguarded by mindfulness and discernment (Dhs. A.219).
To prevent this and the consequent loss of the third
jhana is the task of mindfulness and discernment.
The attainment of the
fourth jhana commences with the aforesaid procedure.
In this case the meditator sees that the third jhana is
threatened by the proximity of rapture, which is ever
ready to swell up again due to its natural affinity with
happiness; he also sees that it is inherently defective
due to the presence of happiness, a gross factor which
provides fuel for clinging. He then contemplates the
state where equanimous feeling and one-pointedness
subsist together -- the fourth jhana -- as far more
peaceful and secure than anything he has so far
experienced, and therefore as far more desirable. Taking
as his object the same counterpart sign he took for the
earlier jhana, he strengthens his efforts in
concentration for the purpose of abandoning the gross
factor of happiness and entering the higher jhana. When
his practice matures the mind enters absorption into the
fourth jhana:
With the abandoning of
pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance
of joy and grief, he enters and dwells in the fourth
jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has
purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. (M.i,182;
Vbh.245)
The first part of this
formula specifies the conditions for the attainment of
this jhana -- also called the
neither-painful-nor-pleasant liberation of mind (M.i,
296) -- to be the abandoning of four kinds of feeling
incompatible with it, the first two signifying bodily
feelings, the latter two the corresponding mental
feelings. The formula also introduces several new terms
and phrases which have not been encountered previously.
First, it mentions a new feeling,
neither-pain-nor-pleasure (adukkhamasukha), which
remains after the other four feelings have subsided.
This kind of feeling also called equanimous or neutral
feeling, replaces happiness as the concomitant feeling
of the jhana and also figures as one of the jhana
factors. Thus this attainment has two jhana factors:
neutral feeling and one-pointedness of mind. Previously
the ascent from one jhana to the next was marked by the
progressive elimination of the coarser jhana factors,
but none were added to replace those which were
excluded. But now, in the move from the third to the
fourth jhana, a substitution occurs, neutral feeling
moving in to take the place of happiness.
In addition we also find
a new phrase composed of familiar terms, "purity of
mindfulness due to equanimity"
(upekkhasatiparisuddhi). The Vibhanga explains:
"This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified by
equanimity" (Vbh. 261), and Buddhaghosa adds: "for the
mindfulness in this jhana is quite purified, and its
purification is effected by equanimity, not by anything
else" (Vism.167; PP.174). The equanimity which purifies
the mindfulness is not neutral feeling, as might be
supposed, but specific neutrality, the sublime
impartiality free from attachment and aversion, which
also pertains to this jhana. Though both specific
neutrality and mindfulness were present in the lower
three jhanas, none among these is said to have "purity
of mindfulness due to equanimity." The reason is that in
the lower jhanas the equanimity present was not purified
itself, being overshadowed by opposing states and
lacking association with equanimous feeling. It is like
a crescent moon which exists by day but cannot be seen
because of the sunlight and the bright sky. But in the
fourth jhana, where equanimity gains the support of
equanimous feeling, it shines forth like the crescent
moon at night and purifies mindfulness and the other
associated states (Vism. 169; PP.175).
The
Immaterial Jhanas
[top]
Beyond the four jhanas
lie four higher attainments in the scale of
concentration, referred to in the suttas as the
"peaceful immaterial liberations transcending material
form" (santa vimokkha atikammarupe aruppa,
M.i,33). In the commentaries they are also called the
immaterial jhanas, and while this expression is not
found in the suttas it seems appropriate in so far as
these states correspond to jhanic levels of
consciousness and continue the same process of mental
unification initiated by the original four jhanas, now
sometimes called the fine-material jhanas. The
immaterial jhanas are designated, not by numerical names
like their predecessors, but by the names of their
objective spheres: the base of boundless space, the base
of boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness, and
the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.[18]
They receive the designation "immaterial" or " formless"
(arupa) because they are achieved by surmounting
all perceptions of material form, including the subtle
form of the counterpart sign which served as the object
of the previous jhanas, and because they are the
subjective correlates of the immaterial planes of
existence.
Like the fine-material
jhanas follow a fixed sequence and must be attained in
the order in which they are presented. That is, the
meditator who wishes to achieve the immaterial jhanas
must begin with the base of boundless space and then
proceed step by step up to the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception. However, an
important difference separates the modes of progress in
the two cases. In the case of the fine-material jhanas,
the ascent from one jhana to another involves a
surmounting of jhana factors. To rise from the first
jhana to the second the meditator must eliminate applied
thought and sustained thought, to rise from the second
to the third he must overcome rapture, and to rise from
the third to the fourth he must replace pleasant with
neutral feeling. Thus progress involves a reduction and
refinement of the jhana factors, from the initial five
to the culmination in one-pointedness and neutral
feeling.
Once the fourth jhana is
reached the jhana factors remain constant, and in higher
ascent to the immaterial attainments there is no further
elimination of jhana factors. For this reason the
formless jhanas, when classified from the perspective of
their factorial constitution as is done in the
Abhidhamma, are considered modes of the fourth jhana.
They are all two-factored jhanas, constituted by
one-pointedness and equanimous feeling.
Rather than being
determined by a surmounting of factors, the order of the
immaterial jhanas is determined by a surmounting of
objects. Whereas for the lower jhanas the object can
remain constant but the factors must be changed, for the
immaterial jhanas the factors remain constant while the
objects change. The base of boundless space eliminates
the kasina object of the fourth jhana, the base of
boundless consciousness surmounts the object of the base
of boundless space, the base of nothingness surmounts
the object of base of boundless consciousness, and the
base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception surmounts
the objects the object of the base of nothingness.
Because the objects
become progressively more subtle at each level, the
jhana factors of equanimous feeling and one-pointedness,
while remaining constant in nature throughout, become
correspondingly more refined in quality. Buddhaghosa
illustrates this with a simile of four pieces of cloth
of the same measurements, spun by the same person, yet
made of thick, thin, thinner and very thin thread
respectively (Vism. 339; PP.369). Also, whereas the four
lower jhanas can each take a variety of objects -- the
ten kasinas, the in-and-out breath, etc. -- and do not
stand in any integral relation to these objects, the
four immaterial jhanas each take a single object
inseparably related to the attainment itself. The first
is attained solely with the base of boundless space as
object, the second with the base of boundless
consciousness, and so forth.
The motivation which
initially leads a meditator to seek the immaterial
attainments is a clear recognition of the dangers
inherent in material existence: it is in virtue of
matter that injuries and death by weapons and knives
occur that one is afflicted with diseases, subject of
hunger and thirst, while none of this takes place on the
immaterial planes of existence (M.i,410). Wishing to
escape these dangers by taking rebirth in the immaterial
planes, the meditator must first attain the four
fine-material jhanas and master the fourth jhana with
any kasina as object except the omitted space kasina. By
this much the meditator has risen above gross matter,
but he still has not transcended the subtle material
form comprised by the luminous counterpart sign which is
the object of his jhana. To reach the formless
attainments the meditator, after emerging from the
fourth jhana, must consider that even that jhana, as
refined as it is, still has an object consisting in
material form and thus is distantly connected with gross
matter; moreover, it is close to happiness, a factor of
the third jhana, and is far coarser than the immaterial
states. The meditator sees the base of boundless space,
the first immaterial jhana, as more peaceful and sublime
than the fourth fine-material jhana and as more safely
removed from materiality.
Following these
preparatory reflections, the meditator enters the fourth
jhana based on a kasina object and extends the
counterpart sign of the kasina "to the limit of the
world-sphere, or as far as he likes." Then, after
emerging from the fourth jhana, he must remove the
kasina by attending exclusively to the space it has been
made to cover without attending to the kasina itself.
Taking as his object the space left after the removal of
the kasina, the meditator adverts to it as "boundless
space" or simply as "space, space," striking at it with
applied and sustained thought. As he cultivates this
practice over and over, eventually the consciousness
pertaining to the base of boundless space arises with
boundless space as its object (Vism. 327-28; PP.355-56).
A meditator who has
gained mastery over the base of boundless space, wishing
to attain as well the second immaterial jhana, must
reflect upon the two defects of the first attainment
which are its proximity to the fine-material jhanas and
its grossness compared to the base of boundless
consciousness. Having in this way developed indifferent
to the lower attainment, he must next enter and emerge
from the base of boundless space and then fix his
attention upon the consciousness that occurred there
pervading the boundless space. Since the space taken as
the object by the first formless jhana was boundless,
the consciousness of that space also involves an aspect
of boundlessness, and it is to this boundless
consciousness that the aspirant for the next attainment
adverts. He is not to attend to it merely as boundless,
but as "boundless consciousness" or simply as
"consciousness." He continues to cultivate this sign
again and again until the consciousness belonging to the
base of boundless consciousness arises in absorption
taking as its object the boundless consciousness
pertaining to the first immaterial state (Vism. 331-32;
PP.360-61).
To attain the next
formless state, the base of nothingness, the meditator
who has mastered the base of boundless consciousness
must contemplate its defects in the same twofold manner
and advert to the superior peacefulness of the base of
nothingness. Without giving any more attention to the
base of boundless consciousness, he should "give
attention to the present non-existence, voidness,
secluded aspect of that same past consciousness
belonging to the base consisting of boundless space"
(Vism. 333; PP.362). In other words, the meditator is to
focus upon the present absence or non-existence of the
consciousness belonging to the base of boundless space,
adverting to it over and over thus: "There is not, there
is not" or "void, void". When his efforts fructify there
arises in absorption a consciousness belonging to the
base of nothingness, with the non-existence of the
consciousness of boundless space as its object. Whereas
the second immaterial state relates to the consciousness
of boundless space positively, by focusing upon the
content of that consciousness and appropriating its
boundlessness, the third immaterial state relates to it
negatively, by excluding that consciousness from
awareness and making the absence or present
non-existence of that consciousness its object.
The fourth and final
immaterial jhana, the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception, is reached
through the same preliminary procedure. The meditator
can also reflect upon the unsatisfactoriness of
perception, thinking: "Perception is a disease,
perception is a boil, perception is a dart... this is
peaceful, this is sublime, that is to say,
neither-perception-nor-non-perception" (M.ii,231). In
this way he ends his attachment to the base of
nothingness and strengthens his resolve to attain the
next higher stage. He then adverts to the four mental
aggregates that constitute the attainment of the base of
nothingness -- its feeling, perception, mental
formations and consciousness -- contemplating them as
"peaceful, peaceful," reviewing that base and striking
at it with applied and sustained thought. As he does so
the hindrances are suppressed, the mind passes through
access and enters the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
This jhana receives its
name because, on the one hand, it lacks gross perception
with its function of clearly discerning objects, and
thus cannot be said to have perception; on the other, it
retains a very subtle perception, and thus cannot be
said to be without perception. Because all the mental
functions are here reduced to the finest and most subtle
level, this jhana is also named the attainment with
residual formations. At this level the mind has reached
the highest possible development in the direction of
pure serenity. It has attained the most intense degree
of concentration, becoming so refined that consciousness
can no longer be described in terms of existence or
non-existence. Yet even this attainment, from the
Buddhist point of view, is still a mundane state which
must finally give way to insight that alone leads to
true liberation.
The
Jhanas and Rebirth
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