Jhanas Solved? Part IV

In part III, the second jhāna was described as an ecstatic experience of quelled thoughts with a movement of the mind into oneness.

In this part, the third and fourth jhānas will be discussed and analyzed within the context of the jhānas as a whole. From this discussion, I will argue that the jhānas are facets of one meditative process rather than a sequence of distinct stages and the purpose of the jhānas is a succesive activity of relinquishment.

In the Maha-Saccaka Sutta, the Buddha describes the third jhāna:

With the fading of rapture I remained equanimous, mindful, & alert, and sensed pleasure with the body. I entered & remained in the third jhana.

In the third jhāna, the “rapture” experienced in the second jhāna fades and in its place is a frame of mind that is “equanimous, mindful (sato) & alert (sampajano)” with pleasure still remaining.

The Buddha goes on to describe the fourth jhāna:

But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the abandoning of pleasure & pain . . . I entered & remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain.

Here in the final fourth jhāna, pleasure (sukha) is now abandoned and we are left with mindfulness and equanimity (upekkha-sati) as in the third jhāna but now purified (parisuddhim) in relation to the third.

Having expounded the stock passages of the third and fourth jhāna it is essential at this point to look at these specific jhānas alongside the first two jhānas within the context of the Maha-Saccaka Sutta. In the sutta the Buddha is talking to a Jain ascetic about the severe acetic strivings he performed that left him almost dead from starvation without being any closer to enlightenment.

The Buddha relates in this sutta that the turning point came in his quest for awakening when he recalled having a blissful experience as a boy relaxing under a Rose Apple tree. This remembrance sparked the insight that the relentless striving and pushing of the body and mind to the extreme was not the way, but rather an opposite type activity was required; an activity characterized by relinquishment, pleasure and relaxation.

And this is the essence of the jhanas: an activity that allows for relinquishment to take place in a successive manner.

The first jhāna begins with the relinquishment of external disturbances or “seclusion” which leads to a blissful feeling. The second jhāna continues with the relinquishment of internal disturbances in terms of thoughts and evaluations resulting in an ultimate absorption in ecstasy. The third jhāna continues with the relinquishment or “fading” of this ecstasy or “rapture” with only pleasure remaining. And even this pleasure relinquished or “abandon[ed]” in the final fourth jhāna.

From this perspective, we can now see more clearly that the jhānas are a single successive process of letting go rather than independent, compartmentalized stages which scholastic numbering provides the illusion for.

Also from this perspective we can a better idea of what the third and fourth jhānas consist of which is simply the relinquishment of the qualities gained by the first two jhāna with the exception of the new development of mindfulness (sati) and equanimity (upekkha) which will be explored later.

In conclusion, the Buddha is telling the Jain ascetic in Maha-Saccaka Sutta that the path to enlightenment is not by controlling and dominating the body to one’s will, but it is rather the relinquishment of all striving that respects the body and welcomes blameless inner pleasure.

But what exactly was it that after the Buddha reached the fourth jhāna that led him to enlightenment? Well, that is in the next post.

Jhanas Solved? Part III

In part II, I discussed the first jhāna and the argued that it was unlikely that the Buddha as a young boy experienced the first jhāna as described in the stock passage in the Pali Canon. While it is quite possible that the young Gautama did experience a happy state by withdrawing from the frivolities around him, it is dubious he did so by meditating cross-legged and entering some absorbed state as the text implicitly conveys.

Moving on to explicating the second jhāna, we fortunately find more textual information to draw upon.

In the Maha-Saccaka Sutta, the Buddha describes the second jhāna:

With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhāna: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance.

Of interest in this passage is the continuation of pleasure and rapture from the first jhāna but with the explicit absence of “thought & evaluation” and the new key element of “unification of awareness” (cetaso ekodi-bhavam).

But what is this “unification of awareness”? Looking at the Pali derivation of ekodi-bhavam, the word ekodi is composed of eka, meaning one or single, and udi, meaning arising or movement. Thus ekodi can be understood as movement to oneness or singleness. With the accusative of bhava, bhavam, which means “being” and the genitive singular ceta or mind, we can understand the phrase cetaso ekodi-bhavam as a mind of moving into a state of oneness.

Given this new understanding, we can tentatively describe the second jhāna as a meditative experience of bliss characterized by a lack of thought and a unification of the mind into a state oneness.

While this description appears to be fairly detailed, it is still, however, rather abstract and begs some further questions as what exactly is this “rapture & pleasure” and what does this “movement of mind into oneness” really describing?

One way to help remove this ambiguity is to examine the testimony of those who have avowedly experienced such states. Being unable, of course, to be able to verify such private, personal experiences, we should take them with a degree of skepticism but not to the point of refusing to lend the descriptions any credence when there is a strong semblance between the descriptions and the key Pali passages.

In Ajahn Brahmavamso’s book, aptly titled The Jhānas, we are provided a detailed description of what the experience of jhāna is like:

When the breath disappears and delight fills the mind, the nimitta usually appears. Nimitta, in the context used here, refers to the beautiful "lights" that appear in the mind. . . .

ENTERING JHANA

When the nimitta is radiant and stable, then its energy builds up moment by moment. . . . If one can maintain the one-pointedness here by keeping one's focus on the very center of the nimitta, the power will reach a critical level. One will feel as if the knower is being drawn into the nimitta, that one is falling into the most glorious bliss. Alternatively, one may feel that the nimitta approaches until it envelops the knower, swallowing one up in cosmic ecstasy. One is entering Jhana. . . .

NO THOUGHT, NO DECISION-MAKING, NO PERCEPTION OF TIME

From the moment of entering a Jhana, one will have no control. One will be unable to give orders as one normally does.

Of interest in these snippets is the mentioning of “falling into” and “envelop[ing] the knower” which seems quite similar to the translation I offered of cetaso ekodi-bhavam as moving into a state of oneness.

Another similarity is the mentioning "NO THOUGHT" and "NO DESCISION-MAKING" which is clearly similar to the “stilling of directed thoughts” as described in the stock passage of the second jhāna.

While we have these two concrete similarities with the stock passage, we encounter the quite obvious difference of the nimitta or “lights” as mentioned by Brahmavamso. As indicated in the section of his book quoted above, the nimitta is described as acting as a gateway or launching point into jhāna.

If this passage is to be interpreted as being congruent with the early Pali passages, it is important to find corresponding Pali passages that also mention this light or nimitta as acting as a threshold for entering jhāna.

In the Upakkilesa Sutta the sutta begins with Anuruddha expressing difficulty in obtaining jhāna (translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi):

‘Venerable sir, as we abide here diligent, ardent, and resolute, we perceive both light and a vision of forms. Soon afterwards the light and the vision of forms disappear, but we have not discovered the cause for that.’

Note Anuruddha here experiences light (obhāsa) and vision of forms (dassanam ruanam) which is quite similar to the qualities of the nimitta that Ajahn Brahmavamso describes as "beautiful 'lights'."

But is this a nimmita? In the next passage the Buddha confirms that these lights are indeed a nimmita when he replies to Anuruddha by saying, “Nimittam pativvijjhitabbam”, which can literally be translated as Bhikkhu Bodhi notes, “You should penetrate that sign.” While this has often been translated as “understanding” that sign, if we take the more literal interpretation of “penetrating” the sign then it appears we have another similarity with Ajahn Brahmvamaso’s description of “being drawn into the nimitta” or “envelop[ing] the knower” and also the element in the stock passage cetaso ekodi-bhavam that I translate as moving into a state of oneness.

These similarities are suggestive that Ajahn Brahmvamaso could be accurately describing the state of jhāna as expounded in the Pali texts. If this is indeed the case, it behooves us to examine his descriptions of the other elements of jhāna.

Of course, one of the most important elements of jhāna is this “rapture & pleasure” which Ajahn Brahmavamso describes as a feeling of “cosmic ecstasy” or “great bliss.” If this is indeed the case, then this “rapture & pleasure” appears to be of a stronger nature than the “rapture & pleasure” in the first jhāna, which from my discussion in part II, is more of a gentle, relaxing nature.

From this discussion, it can be summarized that the second jhāna is a meditative experience of ecstasy where thoughts come to a conclusion and the mind is absorbed into a light.

Having elucidated the second jhāna, what about the third and fourth jhānas?

That is for part IV.