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.