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The Jhānas in Theravāda Buddhist Meditation |
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INTRODUCTION
 The Doctrinal Context of Jhāna
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 practises 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 (samatha-bhāvanā), the other the development
of insight (vipassanā-bhāvanā). The former also goes
under the name of the development of concentration (samādhi-bhāvanā),
the latter the development of wisdom (paññā-bhāvanā).
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 recognised 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, Nibbāna.
Pivotal to both systems of meditation,
though belonging inherently to the side of serenity, is a set
of meditative attainments called the jhānas. 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
un-translated and to let its meaning emerge from its
contextual usage. From these it is clear that the jhānas are
states of deep mental unification which result from the
centring 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 jhānas, named simply after
their numerical position in the series: the first jhāna, the
second jhāna, the third jhāna and the fourth jhāna. In the
suttas the four repeatedly appear each described by a standard
formula, which we will examine later in detail.
The importance of the jhānas in the
Buddhist path can readily be gauged from the frequency with
which they are mentioned throughout the suttas. The jhānas
figure prominently both in the Buddha’s own experience and in
his exhortation to disciples. In his childhood, while
attending an annual ploughing festival, the future Buddha
spontaneously entered the first jhāna. 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 jhānas immediately before
directing his mind to the threefold knowledge that issued in
his enlightenment (M.i.247-49). Throughout his active career
the four jhānas 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 jhānas and other meditative attainments is
one of the Tathāgata’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 jhānas in direct and
reverse order, and the passing away itself took place directly
from the fourth jhāna (D.ii.156).
The Buddha is constantly seen in the suttas
encouraging his disciples to develop jhāna. The four jhānas
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 (adhicittasikkhā), right concentration (sammā
samādhi) of the Noble Eightfold Path, and the faculty and
power of concentration (samādhindriya, samādhibala).
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 jhāna. The
way of the jhāna attainer seems by comparison smoother and
more pleasurable (A.ii.150-52). The Buddha even refers to the
four jhānas figuratively as a kind of Nibbāna: he calls them
immediately visible Nibbāna, factorial Nibbāna, Nibbāna here
and now (A.iv.453-54).
To attain the jhānas, the meditator must
begin by eliminating the unwholesome mental states obstructing
inner collectedness, generally grouped together as the five
hindrances (pañcanivaranā):
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 jhāna factors (jhānangāni) because they
lift the mind to the level of the first jhāna and remain there
as its defining components.
After reaching the first jhāna the ardent
meditator can go on to reach the higher jhānas, which is done
by eliminating the coarser factors in each jhāna while aiming
at the superior purity of the next higher jhāna. Beyond the
four jhānas lies another fourfold set of higher meditative
states which deepen still further the element of serenity.
These attainments, known as the formless or immaterial
attainments (āruppā), 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 jhānas’ (arūpa-jhāna), the four preceding
stages being renamed, for the sake of clarity, the ‘four
fine-material jhānas’ (rūpajjhāna). Often the two sets
are joined together under the collective title of the eight
jhānas or the eight attainments (atthasamāpattiyo).
The four jhānas 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 jhānas
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) jhānas.
These supramundane jhānas 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 jhānas can still remain as attainments available to the fully liberated person, part of his untrammelled contemplative experience. [1]See, for example, the Sāmaññaphala Sutta (D. 2), the Cūllahatthipadopama Sutta (M.27), etc. [2]Kāmacchanda, byāpāda, thīnamiddha, uddhaccakukkucca, vicikicchā. [3]Vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, ekaggatā. [4]ākāsānañcāyatana, viññānañcāyatana, ākiñcaññāyatana, nevasaññanāsaññāyatana.
Etymology of Jhāna
The great Buddhist commentator
Buddhaghosa traces the Pali word „jhāna“ (Skt. dhyāna)
to two verbal forms. One, the etymologically correct
derivation, is the verb jhāyati, 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 jhāpeti meaning to burn up, explains: „It
burns up opposing states, thus it is called jhāna“
(Vin.A.i.116), the purport being that jhāna „burns up“ or
destroys the mental defilements preventing the development of
serenity and insight.
In the same passage Buddhaghosa says that
jhāna has the characteristic mark of contemplation (upanijjhāna).
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 „jhāna“ in
the mainstream of Pali meditative exposition. However,
Buddhaghosa also allows that the term „jhāna“ can be extended
loosely to insight (vipassanā), 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, Nibbāna in the case of the paths and fruits.
In brief the twofold meaning of jhāna 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 jhāna
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 jhāna of the four paths, and with this jhāna he
burns up the defilements and attains the liberating experience
of the fruits.
Jhāna and Samādhi
In the vocabulary of Buddhist meditation
the word „jhāna“ is closely connected with another word, „samādhi“
generally rendered by „concentration.“ Samādhi derives
from the prefixed verbal root sam-ā-dhā, meaning to
collect or to bring together, thus suggesting the
concentration or unification of the mind. The word „samādhi“
is almost interchangeable with the word „samatha,“
serenity, though the latter comes from a different root,
sam, meaning to become calm.
In the suttas samādhi 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
samādhi can be present in unwholesome states of
consciousness as well as in wholesome and neutral states. In
its unwholesome forms it is called „wrong concentration“ (micchāsamādhi),
in its wholesome forms „right concentration“ (sammāsamādhi).
In expositions on the practice of
meditation, however, samādhi 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 samādhi etymologically as „ the
centring 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 samādhi 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 samādhi
can be applied to the method of practice used to produce and
cultivate those refined states of concentration, here being
equivalent to the development of serenity.
It is in the second sense that samādhi
and jhāna come closest in meaning. The Buddha explains right
concentration as the four jhānas (D.ii,313), and in doing so
allows concentration to encompass the meditative attainments
signified by the jhānas. However, even though jhāna and
samādhi 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 jhāna formula to explain right concentration lies a
more technical understanding of the terms. According to this
understanding samādhi can be narrowed down in range to
signify only one mental factor, the most prominent in the
jhāna, namely, one-pointedness, while the word „jhāna“ 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 jhāna.
In the second place, when samādhi is
considered in its broader meaning it involves a wider range of
reference than jhāna. The Pali exegetical tradition recognises
three levels of samādhi preliminary concentration (parikamma-samādhi)
which is produced as a result of the meditator’s initial
efforts to focus his mind on his meditation subject; access
concentration (upacāra-samādhi), marked by the
suppression of the five hindrances, the manifestation of the
jhāna factors, and the appearance of a luminous mental replica
of the meditation object called the counterpart sign (patibhāganimitta);
and absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi), the
complete immersion of the mind in its object effected by the
full maturation of the jhāna factors.[1]
Absorption concentration comprises the eight attainments, the
four jhānas and the four immaterial attainments, and to this
extent jhāna and samādhi coincide. However, samādhi still has
a broader scope than jhāna, since it includes not only the
jhānas themselves but also the two preparatory degrees of
concentration leading up to them. Further, samādhi also covers
a still different type of concentration called momentary
concentration (khanika-samādhi), the mobile mental
stabilisation produced in the course of insight contemplation
on the passing flow of phenomena.
THE PREPARATION FOR
JHāNA
The jhānas do not arise out of a void but
in dependence on the right conditions. They come to growth
only when provided with the nutriments conducive to their
development. Therefore, prior to beginning meditation, the
aspirant to the jhānas must prepare a groundwork for his
practice by fulfilling certain preliminary requirements. He
first must endeavour 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 lt. After
learning these the disciple must then seek outer collegial
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 jhāna.
The Moral Foundation for Jhāna
A disciple aspiring to the jhānas 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 frustrating his
endeavour to purify the mind of its subtler defilements is to
prevent the unwholesome inner impulses from breaking 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 binding 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 the jhānas, 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 Nibbāna 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 monks
has been arranged into a system called the fourfold
purification of morality (cātupārisuddhisīla).[1]
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 obligations 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
The path of practice leading to the jhānas
is an arduous course involving precise techniques and
skilfulness is needed in dealing with the pitfalls that lie
along the way. The knowledge of how to attain the jhānas 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“ (kalyānamitta),
one who gives guidance and wise advice rooted in his own
practice and experience. On the basis 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
kammatthāna. 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 Visuddhi-Magga as follows: ten kasinas, ten
kinds of foulness, ten recollections, four divine abidings,
four immaterial states, one perception, and one defining.[2]
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
colour 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 colour 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 veneration. The second three are reflections on two
cardinal 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
inevitability 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
Nibbāna.
The four divine abidings (brahmavihāra)
are the development of boundless loving-kindness, compassion,
sympathetic joy and equanimity. These meditations are also
called the „immeasurables“ (appamaññā) 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 jhānas.
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 different 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 jhāna.
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 an 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 jhānas. The ten kinds of
foulness and mindfulness of the body lead only to the first
jhāna, 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 jhānas. The first three divine
abidings can induce the lower three jhānas but not the fourth,
since they arise in association with pleasant feeling, while
the divine abiding of equanimity occurs only at the level of
the fourth jhāna, where neutral feeling gains ascendancy. The
four immaterial states conduce to the respective immaterial
jhānas corresponding to their names.
The forty subjects are also differentiated
according to their appropriateness for different character
types. Six main character types are recognised - 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 kinds 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 colour kasinas - are appropriate
for the hating temperament. Mindfulness of breathing is
suitable for those of the deluded and the speculative
temperaments. 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
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 practise 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 unfavourable to the development
of jhāna: 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 or
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; PP.122-125).
The factors which make a dwelling
favourable 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
conducive to the jhānas 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
practise 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.
[1]A full description of the fourfold purification of morality will be found in the Visuddhi-Magga. Chapter I. [2]The following discussion is based on Vism.110-115; PP.112-118.
THE FIRST JHāNA AND
ITS FACTORS
The attainment of any jhāna 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 jhāna the factors of abandonment are the
five hindrances and the factors of possession the five basic
jhāna factors. Both are alluded to in the standard formula for
the first jhāna, the opening phrase referring to the
abandonment of the hindrances and - the subsequent portion
enumerating the jhāna factors:
Quite secluded from sense pleasures,
secluded from unwholesome states of mind, he enters and dwells
in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied thought
and sustained thought with rapture and happiness born of
seclusion. (M.i,181; Vbh.245)
In this chapter we will first discuss the
five hindrances and their abandonment, then we will
investigate the jhāna factors both individually and by way of
their combined contribution to the attainment of the first
jhāna. We will close the chapter with some remarks on the ways
of perfecting the first jhāna, a necessary preparation for the
further development of concentration.
The Abandoning of the Hindrances
The five hindrances (pañcanīvaranā)
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 (kāmachanda)
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 (byāpāda) signifies a version
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 (thīna), 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 (vicikicchā) 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, restlessness 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 coloured 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 jhāna the five hindrances alone are
called its factors of abandoning. One reason, according to the
Visuddhi-Magga, is that the hindrances are specifically
obstructive to jhāna, 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 jhāna.
So it is these only that are called factors of abandonment
because they are specifically obstructive to jhāna. (Vism.146;
PP.152)
A second reason for confining the first
jhāna’s factors of abandoning to the five hindrances is to
permit a direct alignment to be made between the hindrances
and the jhāna factors. Buddhaghosa states that the abandonment
of the five hindrances alone is mentioned in connection with
jhāna because the hindrances are the direct enemies of the
five jhāna 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 jhāna
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).[1]
Thus each jhāna factor is seen as having the specific task of
eliminating a particular obstruction to the jhāna and to
correlate these obstructions with the five jhāna factors they
are collected into a scheme of five hindrances.
The standard passage describing the
attainment of the first jhāna says that the jhāna is entered
upon by one who is „secluded from sense pleasures, secluded
from unwholesome states of mind“ The Visuddhi-Magga explains
that there are three kinds of seclusion relevant to the
present context - namely, bodily seclusion (kāyaviveka),
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 Nibbāna, liberation from
the elements of phenomenal existence. The achievement of the
first jhāna 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“ (pahāna) rather than „seclusion.“ The
type of abandonment required for the attainment of jhāna 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.[2]
The work of overcoming the five hindrances
is accomplished through the gradual training (anupubbasikkhā)
which the Buddha has laid down so often in the suttas, such as
the Sāmaññaphala Sutta and the Cūlahatthipadopama 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 practises the restraint of the senses.
He does not seize upon the general appearances or the
beguiling features of things, but guards and masters his sense
faculties so that sensually attractive and repugnant objects
no longer become grounds for desire and aversion. Then,
endowed with this 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
jhānas, 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 recognise 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 manasikāra) and that they can be
eliminated by wise consideration (yoniso manasikāra).
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 blemish 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 jhāna, which is accompanied by applied
thought and sustained thought, with rapture and happiness born
of seclusion. [D. i, 73-74][3]
The Factors of the First Jhāna
The first jhāna 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 jhāna; the fifth,
one-pointedess, is mentioned elsewhere in the suttas but is
already suggested by the notion of jhāna itself. These five
states receive their name, first because they lead the mind
from the level of ordinary consciousness to the jhānic level,
and second because they constitute the first jhāna and give it
its distinct definition.
The jhāna factors are first aroused by the
meditator’s initial efforts to concentrate upon one of the
prescribed objects for developing jhāna. 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 visualised object
is called the learning sign (uggahanimitta). As he
concentrates on the learning sign, his efforts call into play
the embryonic jhāna 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 (patibhāganimitta),
the manifestation of which marks the complete suppression of
the hindrances and the attainment of access concentration (upacārasamādhi).
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, 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 jhāna are present in access concentration, they do
not as yet possess sufficient strength to constitute the jhāna,
but are strong enough only to exclude the hindrances. With
continued practice, however, the nascent jhāna factors grow in
strength until they are capable of issuing in jhāna. Because
of the instrumental role these factors play both in the
attainment and constitution of the first jhāna they are
deserving of closer individual scrutiny.
Applied Thought (vitakka)
The word vitakka frequently appears
in the texts in conjunction with the word vicāra. 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
Atthasālini illustrates thus: „Just as someone ascends the
king’s palace in dependence on a relative or 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 jhāna. 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 jhāna applied thought is invariably
wholesome and its function of directing the mind upon its
object stands forth with special clarity. To convey this the
Visuddhi-Magga explains that in jhāna 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; PP. 148). The
Milinda-Pañha, makes the same point by defining applied
thought as absorption (appanā): „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 jhāna into which vitakka
drives the mind and its concomitant states is the counterpart
sign, which emerges from the learning sign as soon as the
hindrances are suppressed and the mind enters access
concentration. The Visuddhi-Magga 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 colour 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 jhāna, which differ neither in their
object nor in the removal of the hindrances but in the
strength of their respective jhāna factors. In the former the
factors are still weak, not yet fully developed, while in the
jhāna 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 (vicāra)
Vicāra
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 (Vism.
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
centre 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, though 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 (pīti)
The third factor present in the first jhāna
is pīti, usually translated as joy or rapture.[4]
In the suttas pīti is sometimes said to arise from
another quality called pāmojja, 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 jhāna, but persists through the remaining stages up to
the third jhāna.
The Vibhanga defines pīti 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 „pīti abstracted
means interest of varying degrees of intensity, in an object
felt as desirable, or as calculated to bring happiness.“[5]
When defined in terms of agency pīti
is that which creates interest in the object; when defined in
terms of its nature it is the interest created in the object.
Because it creates a positive interest in the object, the
jhāna factor or 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.[6]
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 conducive to the attainment of jhāna 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
Visuddhi-Magga states that what is intended by the jhāna
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)
I
As a factor of the first jhāna, sukha
signifies pleasant feeling. The word is explicitly defined in
this sense by the Vibhanga in its analysis of the first jhāna:
„Therein, what is happiness? Mental pleasure, mental
happiness, the felt pleasure and happiness born of
mind-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of
mind-contact - this is called ‘happiness“’ (Vbh.257). The
Visuddhi-Magga explains that happiness in the first jhāna has
the characteristic of gratifying, the function of intensifying
associated states, and as manifestation, the rendering of aid
to its associated states (Vism. 1 45; PP. 1 5 1).
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 (vedanā),
rapture a mental formation (sankhāra). 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 jhāna, as we will see, there is
happiness but no rapture. The Atthasālini, which explains
rapture as „delight in the attaining of the desired object“
and happiness as „the enjoyment of the taste of what is
acquired,“ illustrates the difference by means of a simile:
Rapture is like a weary traveller in the
desert in summer, who hears of, or sees water or a shady wood.
Ease [happiness] is like his enjoying the water or entering
the forest shade. For a man who, travelling 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 fibres 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 say: ‘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
saw the water is like rapture having the manner of gladness
and delight at the object in view. The time when, after his
bath and drink 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.[7]
Since rapture and happiness co-exist in the
first jhāna, 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 jhāna,
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 jhāna. 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 (ekaggatā)
Unlike the previous four jhāna factors,
one-pointedness is not specifically mentioned in the standard
formula for the first jhāna, but it is included among the
jhāna factors by the Mahāvedalla 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 centred upon its object. It brings the mind to a
single point, the point occupied by the object.
One-pointedness is used in the texts as a
synonym for concentration (samādhi) 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 jhāna 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 jhāna one-pointedness
acquires special strength, based on the previous sustained
effort of concentration.
Besides the five jhāna factors, the first
jhāna contains a great number of other mental factors
functioning in unison as co-ordinate members of a single state
of consciousness. Already the Anupada Sutta lists such
additional components of the first jhāna as contact, feeling,
perception, volition consciousness desire, decision, energy,
mindfulness, equanimity and attention (M.iii,25). In the
Abhidhamma literature this list is extended still further up
to thirty-three indispensable components. Nevertheless, only
five states are called the factors of the first jhāna, for
only these have the functions of inhibiting the five
hindrances and fixing the mind in absorption. For the jhāna 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 centres 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
jhāna is said to be arisen, which is why they are called the
five factors of possession. [Vism.146; PP.152]
Each jhāna 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
Nāgasena 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 Jhāna
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 jhāna 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 jhāna 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 jhāna. To develop
his practice several important measures are recommended.[8]
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 skilful 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
jhāna (8-10).
After attaining the first jhāna a few times
the meditator is not advised to set out immediately striving
for the second jhāna. This would be a foolish and profitless
spiritual ambition. Before he is prepared to make the second
jhāna the goal of his endeavour he must first bring the first
jhāna to perfection. If he is too eager to reach the second
jhāna 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 jhāna 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 jhāna.
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 jhāna: mastery in
adverting, in attaining, in resolving, in emerging and in
reviewing.[9]
Mastery in adverting is the ability to advert to the jhāna
factors one by one after emerging from the jhāna, wherever he
wants, whenever he wants, and for as long as he wants. Mastery
in attaining is the ability to enter upon jhāna quickly,
mastery in resolving the ability to remain in the jhāna for
exactly the pre-determined length of time, mastery in emerging
the ability to emerge from jhāna quickly, without difficulty,
and mastery in reviewing the ability to review the jhāna 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
jhāna.
[1]Buddhaghosa ascribes the passage he cites in support of this correspondence to the „Petaka,“ but it cannot be traced anywhere in the present Tipitaka, nor in the exegetical work named Petakopadesa. [2]The other two types of abandoning are by sustitution of opposites (tadangappahāna), which means the replacement of unwholesome states by wholesome ones specifically opposed to them, and abandoning by eradication (samucchedappahāna) the final destruction of defilements by the supramundane paths. See Vism. 693-96; PP.812-16. [3]Adapted from Nyanaponika Thera, The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest (Wheel No. 26). This booklet contains a full compilation of texts on the hindrances. [4]Ven. Nānamoli, in his translation of the Visuddhi-Magga, renders pīti by happiness, but this rendering can be misleading since most translators use happiness as a rendering for sukha, the pleasurable feeling present in the jhāna. We will render pīti by „rapture,“ thus maintaining the connection of the term with ecstatic meditative experience. [5]Shwe Zan Aung, Compendium of Philosophy (London: Pali Text Society, 1960), p.243. [6]Khuddhikāpīti, khanikāpīti, okkantikāpīti, ubbegā pīti and pharana pīti. Vism 143-44; PP.149-51. Dhs.A.158. [7]Dhs.A.160-61. Translation by Maung Tin, The Expositor (Athasālini) (London: Pali Text Society, 1921), i.155-56. [8]The following is based on Vism.126-35; PP.132-40. [9]āvajjanavasī, samāpajjanavasī, adhitthānavasī. vutthānavasī, paccavekkhanavasī. For a discussion see Vism. 154-55; PP. 160-61. The canonical source for the five masteries is the Patisambhidāmagga, i.100.
THE HIGHER JHāNAS
In this chapter we will survey the higher
states of jhāna. First we will discuss the remaining three
jhānas 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 jhānas. Our examination will
bring out the dynamic character of the process by which the
jhānas are successively achieved. The attainment of the higher
jhānas 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 jhānas the replacement of grosser objects with
successively more refined objects. From our study it will
become clear that the jhānas 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 jhānas and the
Buddhist teaching of rebirth.
The Higher Fine-material Jhānas
The formula for the attainment of the
second jhāna runs as follows:
With the subsiding of applied thought and
sustained thought he enters and dwells in the second jhāna,
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 jhāna, 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 jhāna itself, applied thought and sustained thought; the
factors of possession are the three remaining jhāna factors,
rapture, happiness and one-pointedness. Hence the formula
begins „with the subsiding of applied thought and sustained
thought,“ and then mentions the jhāna’s positive endowments.
After achieving the five kinds of mastery
over the first jhāna, a meditator who wishes to reach the
second jhāna should enter the first jhāna 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 jhāna provides only a
relatively mild safeguard; the other defect, inherent to the
first jhāna, 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 jhāna.
By reflecting upon the second jhāna as more
tranquil and sublime than the first, the meditator ends his
attachment to the first jhāna 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 jhānas 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 jhāna arises. In the second jhāna only
three of the original five jhāna 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.[1]
Besides the main jhāna factors, the
canonical formula includes several other states in its
description of the second jhāna. „Internal confidence“ (ajjhattamsampasādanam),
conveys the twofold meaning of faith and tranquillity. In the
first jhāna 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 ekodibhāvam), which is identified with
one-pointedness or concentration. Though present in the first
jhāna, concentration only gains special mention in connection
with the second jhāna since it is here that it acquires
eminence. In the first jhāna concentration was still
imperfect, being subject to the disturbing influence of
applied and sustained thought. For the same reason this jhāna,
along with its constituent rapture and happiness, is said to
be born of concentration (samādhijam): „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 jhāna the meditator
must use the same method he used to ascend from the first
jhāna to the second. He must master the second jhāna 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 jhāna; 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 jhāna, the meditator cultivates
indifference towards it and aspires instead for the peace and
sublimity of the third jhāna, towards the attainment of which
he now directs his efforts. When his practice matures he
enters the third jhāna, which has the two jhāna factors that
remain when 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 jhāna. [M.i,182; Vbh.245]
The formula indicates that the third jhāna
contains, besides its two defining factors, three additional
components not included among the jhāna factors: equanimity,
mindfulness and discernment. Equanimity is mentioned twice.
The Pali word for equanimity, upekkhā, 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“ (tadamajjhattatā
- 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 (sankhārakkhandha) 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 jhāna equanimity
as specific neutrality co-exists with happiness or pleasant
feeling.
The meditator in the third jhāna 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 scrutinises the
object and grasps its nature free from delusion. Though these
two factors were already present even in the first two jhānas,
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 jhāna 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 jhāna is the task of
mindfulness and discernment.
The attainment of the fourth jhāna
commences with the aforesaid procedure. In this case the
meditator sees that the third jhāna 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 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 jhāna - 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 jhāna, he strengthens
his efforts in concentration for the purpose of abandoning the
gross factor of happiness and entering the higher jhāna. When
his practice matures the mind enters absorption into the
fourth jhāna:
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain,
and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, he
enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, 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 jhāna - 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 jhāna and
also figures as one of the jhāna factors. Thus this attainment
has two jhāna factors: neutral feeling and one-pointedness of
mind. Previously the ascent from one jhāna to the next was
marked by the progressive elimination of the coarser jhāna
factors, but none were added to replace those which were
excluded. But now, in the move from the third to the fourth
jhāna, 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“ (upekkhāsatipārisuddhi). The Vibhanga
explains: „This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified by
equanimity“ (Vbh. 261), and Buddhaghosa adds: „For the
mindfulness in this jhāna 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 jhāna.
Though both specific neutrality and mindfulness were present
in the lower three jhānas, none among these is said to have
purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.“ The reason is that
in the lower jhānas 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 jhāna, 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 Jhānas
Beyond the four jhānas lie four higher
attainments in the scale of concentration, referred to in the
suttas as the „peaceful immaterial liberations transcending
material form“ (santā vimokkhā atikammarūpe aruppā,
M.i,33). In the commentaries they are also called the
immaterial jhānas, and while this expression is not found in
the suttas it seems appropriate in so far as these states
correspond to jhānic levels of consciousness and continue the
same process of mental unification initiated by the original
four jhānas, now sometimes called the fine-material jhānas.
The immaterial jhānas 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.[2]
They receive the designation „immaterial“ or „formless“ (arūpa)
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 jhānas, and
because they are the subjective correlates of the immaterial
planes of existence.
Like the fine-material jhānas, the
immaterial jhānas 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 jhānas 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 jhānas, the ascent from one
jhāna to another involves a surmounting of jhāna factors. To
rise from the first jhāna 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 jhāna factors, from the initial five to the
culmination in one-pointedness and neutral feeling.
Once the fourth jhāna is reached the jhāna
factors remain constant, and in higher ascent to the
immaterial attainments there is no further elimination of
jhāna factors. For this reason the formless jhānas, when
classified from the perspective of their factorial
constitution as is done in the Abhidhamma, are considered
modes of the fourth jhāna. They are all two-factored jhānas,
constituted by one-pointedness and equanimous feeling.
Rather than being determined by a
surmounting of factors, the order of the immaterial jhānas is
determined by a surmounting of objects. Whereas for the lower
jhānas the object can remain constant but the factors must be
changed, for the immaterial jhānas the factors remain constant
while the objects change. The base of boundless space
eliminates the kasina object of the fourth jhāna, the base of
boundless consciousness surmounts the object of the base of
boundless space, the base of nothingness surmounts the object
of the base of boundless consciousness, and the base of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception surmounts the object of
the base of nothingness.
Because the objects become progressively
more subtle at each level, the jhāna 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
jhānas 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 jhānas 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 to
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 jhānas and
master the fourth jhāna with any kasina as object except the
limited 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 jhāna. To reach the formless
attainments the meditator, after emerging from the fourth
jhāna, must consider that even that jhāna, 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 jhāna, and is far
coarser than the immaterial states. The meditator sees the
base of boundless space, the first immaterial jhāna, as more
peaceful and sublime than the fourth fine-material jhāna and
as more safely removed from materiality.
Following these preparatory reflections,
the meditator enters the fourth jhāna 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 jhāna, 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 jhāna, must reflect upon the two defects of the
first attainment which are its proximity to the fine-material
jhānas and its grossness compared to the base of boundless
consciousness. Having in this way developed indifference 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 jhāna 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 jhāna, 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 jhāna 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 jhāna 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 Jhānas and Rebirth
Buddhism teaches that all sentient beings
in whom ignorance and craving still linger are subject to
rebirth following death. Their mode of rebirth is determined
by their kamma, their volitional action, wholesome
kamma issuing in a good rebirth and unwholesome kamma in a bad
rebirth. As a kind of wholesome kamma the attainment of jhāna
can play a key role in the rebirth process, being considered a
weighty good kamma which takes precedence over other lesser
kammas in determining the future rebirth of the person who
attains it.
Buddhist cosmology groups the numerous
planes of existence into which rebirth takes place into three
broad spheres each of which comprises a number of subsidiary
planes. The sense sphere (kāmadhātu) is the field of
rebirth for evil deeds and for meritorious deeds falling short
of the jhānas; the fine-material sphere (rūpadhātu),
the field of rebirth for the fine-material jhānas; and the
immaterial sphere (arūpadhātu), the field of rebirth
for the immaterial jhānas.
An unwholesome kamma, should it become
dcterminative of rebirth, will lead to a new existence in one
of the four planes of misery belonging to the sense sphere:
the hells, the animal kingdom, the sphere of afflicted
spirits, or the host of titans. A wholesome kamma of a
subjhānic type produces rebirth in one of the seven happy
planes in the sense sphere, the human world or the six
heavenly worlds.
Above the sense-sphere realms are the
fine-material realms, into which rebirth is gained only
through the attainment of the fine-material jhānas. The
sixteen realms in this sphere are hierarchically ordered in
correlation with the four jhānas. Those who have practised the
first jhāna to a minor degree are reborn in the Realm of the
Retinue of Brahmā, to a moderate degree in the Realm of the
Ministers of Brahma, and to a superior degree in the Realm of
the Great Brahma.[3]
Similarly, practising the second jhāna to a minor degree
brings rebirth in the Realm of Minor Lustre, to a moderate
degree in the Realm of Infinite Lustre, and to a superior
degree in the Realm of Radiant Lustre.[4]
Again, practising the third jhāna to a minor degree brings
rebirth in the Realm of Minor Aura, to a moderate degree in
the Realm of Infinite Aura, and to a superior degree in the
Realm of Steady Aura.[5]
Corresponding to the fourth jhāna there are
seven realms: the Realm of Great Reward, the Realm of
Non-percipient Beings, and the five Pure Abodes.[6]
With this jhāna the rebirth pattern deviates from the former
one. It seems that all beings who practise the fourth jhāna of
the mundane level without reaching any Supramundane attainment
are reborn in the Realm of Great Reward. There is no
differentiation by way of inferior, moderate or superior
grades of development. The Realm of Non-percipient Beings is
reached by those who, after attaining the fourth jhāna, then
use the power of their meditation to take rebirth with only
material bodies, they do not acquire consciousness again until
they pass away from this realm. The five Pure Abodes are open
only to non-returners (anāgāmis), noble disciples at
the penultimate stage of liberation who have eradicated the
fetters binding them to the sense sphere and thence
automatically take rebirth in higher realms, where they attain
Arahatship and reach final deliverance.
Beyond the fine-material sphere lie the
immaterial realms, which are four in number - the base of
boundless space, the base of boundless consciousness, the base
of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-non
perception. As should be evident, these are realms of rebirth
for those who, without having broken the fetters that bind
them to samara, achieve and master one or another of the four
immaterial jhānas. Those meditators who have mastery over a
formless attainment at the time of death take rebirth in the
appropriate plane, where they abide until the kammic force of
the jhāna is exhausted. Then they pass away, to take rebirth
in some other realm as determined by their accumulated kamma.[7] [1]Based on the distinction between applied and sustained thought, the Abhidhamma presents a fivefold division of the jhānas obtained by recognizing the sequential rather than simultaneous elimination of the two kinds of thought. On this account a meditator of duller faculties eliminates applied thought first and attains a second jhāna with four factors including sustained thought, and a third jhāna identical with the second jhāna of the fourfold scheme. In contrast a meditator of sharp faculties comprehends quickly the defects of both applied and sustained thought and so eliminates them both at once. [2]ākāsānañcāyatana. viññānañcāyatana, ākiñcaññāyatana, nevasaññanā saññāyatana. [3]Brahmapārisajja brahmapurohita, mahā brahmā. [4]Parttāhha, appamānābha, ābhassara. [5]Parirrasuhha, appamānasubha, subhakinha. [6]Vehapphala asaññasatta suddhāvasa. [7]A good summary of Buddhist cosmology and of the connection between kamma and planes of rebirth can be found in Nārada, A Manual of Abhidhamma, pp.233-55.
JHāNA AND THE
SUPRAMUNDANE
The Way of Wisdom
The goal of the Buddhist path, complete and
permanent liberation from suffering, is to be achieved by
practising the full threefold discipline of morality (sīla)
concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). The
mundane jhānas, comprising the four fine-material jhānas and
the four immaterial jhānas, pertain to the stage of
concentration, which they fulfil to an eminent degree.
However, taken by themselves, these states do not ensure
complete deliverance, for they are incapable of cutting off
the roots of suffering. The Buddha teaches that the cause of
suffering, the driving power behind the cycle of rebirths, is
the defilements with their three unwholesome roots - greed,
hatred and delusion. Concentration of the absorption level, no
matter to what heights it is pursued, only suppresses the
defilements, but cannot destroy their latent seeds. Thence
bare mundane jhāna, even when sustained, cannot by itself
terminate the cycle of rebirths. To the contrary, it may even
perpetuate the round. For if any fine-material or immaterial
jhāna is held to with clinging, it will bring about a rebirth
in that particular plane of existence corresponding to its own
kammic potency, which can then be followed by a rebirth in
some lower realm.
What is required to achieve complete
deliverance from the cycle of rebirths is the eradication of
the defilements. Since the most basic defilement is ignorance
(avijjā), the key to liberation lies in developing its
direct opposite, namely wisdom (paññā). Since wisdom
presupposes a certain proficiency in concentration it is
inevitable that jhāna comes to claim a place in its
development. This place, however, is not fixed and invariable,
but as we will see allows for differences depending on the
individual meditator’s disposition.
Fundamental to the discussion in this
chapter is a distinction between two terms crucial to
Theravada philosophical exposition, „mundane“ (lokiya)
and „supramundane“ (lokuttara). The term „mundane“
applies to all phenomena comprised in the world (loka)
- to subtle states of consciousness as well as matter, to
virtue as well as evil, to meditative attainments as well as
sensual engrossments. The term „supramundane,“ in contrast,
applies exclusively to that which transcends the world, that
is, the nine supramundane states: Nibbāna, the four noble
paths (magga) leading to Nibbāna, and their
corresponding fruits (phala) which experience the bliss
of Nibbāna.
Wisdom has the specific characteristic of
penetrating the true nature of phenomena. It penetrates the
particular and general features of things through direct
cognition rather than discursive thought. Its function is „to
abolish the darkness of delusion which conceals the individual
essences of states“ and its manifestation is „non-delusion.“
Since the Buddha says that one whose mind is concentrated
knows and sees things as they are, the proximate cause of
wisdom is concentration (Vism.438; pp.481).
The wisdom instrumental in attaining
liberation is divided into two principal types: insight
knowledge (vipassanāñāna) and the knowledge pertaining
to the supramundane paths (maggañāna). The first is the
direct penetration of the three characteristics of conditioned
phenomena - impermanence, suffering and non-self.[1]
It takes as its objective sphere the five aggregates (pancakkhandhā)
- material form, feeling, perception, mental formations and
consciousness. Because insight knowledge takes the world of
conditioned formations as its object, it is regarded as a
mundane form of wisdom. Insight knowledge does not itself
directly eradicate the defilements, but serves to prepare the
way for the second type of wisdom, the wisdom of the
supramundane paths, which emerges when insight has been
brought to its climax. The wisdom of the path, occurring in
four distinct stages (to be discussed below), simultaneously
realises Nibbāna, fathoms the Four Noble Truths, and cuts off
the defilements. This wisdom is called „supramundane“ because
it rises up from the world of the five aggregates to realise
the state transcendent to the world, Nibbāna.
The Buddhist disciple, striving for
deliverance, begins the development of wisdom by first
securely establishing its roots - purified moral discipline
and concentration. He then learns and masters the basic
material upon which wisdom is to work - the aggregates,
elements, sense bases, dependent arising, the Four Noble
Truths, etc. He commences the actual practice of wisdom by
cultivating insight into the impermanence, suffering and
non-self aspect of the five aggregates. When this insight
reaches its apex it issues in supramundane wisdom, the right
view factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, which turns from
conditioned formations to the unconditioned Nibbāna and
thereby eradicates the defilements.
The Two Vehicles
The Theravada tradition recognises two
alternative approaches to the development of wisdom, between
which practitioners are free to choose according to their
aptitude and propensity. These two approaches are the vehicle
of serenity (samathayāna) and the vehicle of insight (vipassanāyāna).
The meditators who follow them are called, respectively, the
samathayānika, „one who makes serenity his vehicle,“
and the vipassanāyānika, „one who makes insight his
vehicle.“ Since both vehicles, despite their names, are
approaches to developing insight, to prevent misunderstanding
the latter type of meditator is sometimes called a
suddhavipassanāyānika, „one who makes bare insight his
vehicle,“ or a sukkhavipassaka, „a dry-insight worker.“
Though all three terms appear initially in the commentaries
rather than in the suttas, the recognition of the two vehicles
seems implicit in a number of canonical passages.
The samathayānika is a meditator who
first attains access concentration or one of the eight mundane
jhānas, then emerges and uses his attainment as a basis for
cultivating insight until he arrives at the supramundane path.
In contrast, the vipassanāyānika does not attain
mundane jhāna prior to practising insight contemplation, or if
he does, does not use it as an instrument for cultivating
insight. Instead, without entering and emerging from jhāna, he
proceeds directly to insight contemplation on mental and
material phenomena and by means of this bare insight he
reaches the noble path. For both kinds of meditator the
experience of the path in any of its four stages always occurs
at a level of jhānic intensity and thus necessarily includes
supramundane jhāna under the heading of right concentration (sammā
samādhi), the eighth factor of the Noble Eightfold
Path.
The classical source for the distinction
between the two vehicles of serenity and insight is the
Visuddhi-Magga where it is explained that when a meditator
begins the development of wisdom „if, firstly, his vehicle is
serenity, [he] should emerge from any fine-material or
immaterial jhāna except the base consisting of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and he should discern,
according to characteristic, function, etc. the jhāna factors
consisting of applied thought, etc. and the states associated
with them“ (Vism.557; PP.679-80). Other commentarial passages
allow access concentration to suffice for the vehicle of
serenity, but the last immaterial jhāna is excluded because
its factors are too subtle to be discerned. The meditator
whose vehicle is pure insight, on the other hand, is advised
to start directly by discerning material and mental phenomena,
beginning with the four elements, without utilising a jhāna
for this purpose (Vism.558; PP.680).Thus the samathayānika
first attains access concentration or mundane jhāna and then
develops insight knowledge, by means of which he reaches the
supramundane path containing wisdom under the heading of right
view and supramundane jhāna under the heading of right
concentration. The vipassanāyānika in contrast, skips
over mundane jhāna and goes directly into insight
contemplation. When he reaches the end of the progression of
insight knowledge he arrives at the supramundane path which,
as in the previous case, brings together wisdom with
supramundane jhāna. This jhāna counts as his accomplishment of
serenity.
For a meditator following the vehicle of
serenity the attainment of jhāna fulfils two functions: first,
it produces a basis of mental purity and inner collectedness
needed for undertaking the work of insight contemplation; and
second, it serves as an object to be examined with insight in
order to discern the three characteristics of impermanence,
suffering and non-self. Jhāna accomplishes the first function
by providing a powerful instrument for overcoming the five
hindrances. As we have seen, for wisdom to arise the mind must
first be concentrated well, and to be concentrated well it
must be freed from the hindrances, a task accomplished
pre-eminently by the attainment of jhāna. Though access
concentration will keep the hindrances at bay, jhāna will
ensure that they are removed to a much safer distance.
In their capacity for producing
concentration the jhānas are called the basis (pāda)
for insight, and that particular jhāna a meditator enters and
emerges from before commencing his practice of insight is
designated his pādakajjhāna, the basic or foundational
jhāna. Insight cannot be practised while absorbed in jhāna,
since insight meditation requires investigation and
observation, which are impossible when the mind is immersed in
one-pointed absorption. But after emerging from the jhāna the
mind is cleared of the hindrances, and the stillness and
clarity that then result conduce to precise, penetrating
insight.
The jhānas also enter into the
samathayānika’s practice in second capacity, that is, as
objects for scrutinization by insight. The practice of insight
consists essentially in the examination of mental and physical
phenomena to discover their marks of impermanence, suffering
and non-self. The jhānas a meditator attains provide him with
a readily available and strikingly clear object in which to
seek out the three characteristics. After emerging from a
jhāna the meditator will proceed to examine the jhānic
consciousness and to discern the way it exemplifies the three
universal marks. This process is called sammasanañāna.
„comprehension knowledge,“ and the jhāna subjected to such a
treatment is termed the sammasitajjhāna, „the
comprehended jhāna“ (Vism. 607-11; PP.706-10). Though the
basic jhāna and the comprehended jhāna will often be the same,
the two do not necessarily coincide. A meditator cannot
practise comprehension on a jhāna higher than he is capable of
attaining, but one who uses a higher jhāna as his
pādakajjhāna can still practise insight comprehension on a
lower jhāna which he has previously attained and mastered.
This admitted difference between the pādakajjhāna and
the sammasitajjhāna leads to discrepant theories about
the supramundane concentration of the noble path, as we will
see.
Whereas the sequence of training undertaken
by the samathayānika meditator is unproblematic, the
vipassanāyānika’s approach presents the difficulty of
accounting for the concentration he uses to provide a basis
for insight. Concentration is needed in order to see and know
things as they are, but without access concentration or jhāna,
what concentration can he use? The solution to this problem is
found in a type of concentration distinct from the access and
absorption concentrations pertaining to the vehicle of
serenity, called „momentary concentration“ (khanika samādhi).
Despite its name, momentary concentration does not signify a
single moment of concentration amidst a current of distracted
thoughts, but a dynamic concentration which flows from object
to object in the ever-changing flux of phenomena, retaining a
constant degree of intensity and collectedness sufficient to
purify the mind of the hindrances. Momentary concentration
arises in the samathayānika simultaneously with his
post-jhānic attainment of insight, but for the
vipassanāyānika it develops naturally and spontaneously in
the course of his insight practice without his having to fix
the mind upon a single exclusive object. Thus the follower of
the vehicle of insight does not omit concentration altogether
from his training, but develops it in a different manner from
the practitioner of serenity. Without gaining jhāna he goes
directly into contemplation on the five aggregates and by
observing them constantly from moment to moment acquires
momentary concentration as an accompaniment of his
investigations. This momentary concentration fulfils the same
function as the basic jhāna of the serenity vehicle, providing
the foundation of mental clarity needed for insight to emerge.
Supramundane Jhāna
The climax in the development of insight is
the attainment of the four supramundane paths and fruits. Each
path is a momentary peak experience directly apprehending
Nibbāna and permanently cutting off certain defilements. These
defilements are generally grouped into a set of ten „fetters“
(samyojana) which keep beings chained to the round of
rebirths. The first path, called the path of stream-entry (sotāpatti)
because it marks the entry into the stream of the Dhamma,
eradicates the first three fetters - the false view of self,
doubt, and clinging to rites and rituals. The disciple who has
reached stream - entry has limited his future births to a
maximum of seven in the happy realms of the human and heavenly
worlds, after which he will attain final deliverance. But an
ardent disciple may progress to still higher stages in the
same life in which he reaches stream-entry, by making an
aspiration for the next higher path and again undertaking the
development of insight with the aim of reaching that path.
The next supramundane path is that of the
once-returner (sakadāgāmi). This path does not
eradicate any fetters completely, but it greatly attenuates
sensual desire and ill will. The once-returner is so called
because he is bound to make an end of suffering after
returning to this world only one more time. The third path,
that of the non-returner (anāgāmi) utterly destroys the
sensual desire and ill will weakened by the preceding path.
The non-returner is assured that he will never again take
rebirth in the sense sphere; if he does not penetrate higher
he will be reborn spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and there
reach final Nibbāna. The highest path, the path of Arahatship,
eradicates the remaining five fetters - desire for existence
in the fine-material and immaterial spheres, conceit,
restlessness and ignorance. The Arahat has completed the
development of the entire path taught by the Buddha; he has
reached the end of rebirths and can sound his „lion’s roar“:
„Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what was to
be done has been done, there is nothing further beyond this.“
Each path is followed immediately by the
supramundane experience of fruition, which results from the
path, comes in the same four graded stages, and shares the
path’s world-transcending character. But whereas the path
performs the active function of cutting off defilements,
fruition simply enjoys the bliss and peace that result when
the path has completed its task. Also, where the path is
limited to a single moment of consciousness, the fruition that
follows immediately on the path endures for two or three
moments. And while each of the four paths occurs only once and
can never be repeated, fruition remains accessible to the
noble disciple at the appropriate level. He can resort to it
as a special meditative state called fruition attainment (phalasamāpatti)
for the purpose of experiencing nibbānic bliss here and now
(Vism.699-702; PP.819-24).
The supramundane paths and fruits always
arise as states of jhānic consciousness They occur as states
of jhāna because they contain within themselves the jhāna
factors elevated to an intensity corresponding to that of the
jhāna factors in the mundane jhānas. Since they possess the
jhāna factors these states are able to fix upon their object
with the force of full absorption. Thence, taking the
absorptive force of the jhāna factors as the criterion, the
paths and fruits may be reckoned as belonging to either the
first, second, third or fourth jhāna of the fourfold scheme,
or to the first, second, third, fourth or fifth jhāna of the
fivefold scheme.
The basis for the recognition of a
supramundane type of jhāna goes back to the suttas, especially
to the section of „The Great Discourse on the Foundations of
Mindfulness“ where the Buddha defines right concentration of
the Noble Eightfold Path by the standard formula for the four
jhānas (D.ii,313). However, it is in the Abhidhamma that the
connection between the jhānas, paths and fruits comes to be
worked out with great intricacy of detail. The Dhammasanganī,
in its section on states of consciousness, expounds each of
the path and fruition states of consciousness as occasions,
first, of one or another of the four jhānas in the fourfold
scheme, and then again as occasions of one or another of the
five jhānas in the fivefold scheme (Dhs.74-86). Standard
Abhidhammic exposition, as formalised in the synoptical
manuals of Abhidhamma, employs the fivefold scheme and brings
each of the paths and fruits into connection with each of the
five jhānas. In this way the eight types of supramundane
consciousness - the path and fruition consciousness of
stream-entry, the once-returner, the non-returner and
arahatship-proliferate to forty types of supramundane
consciousness, since any path or fruit can occur at the level
of any of the five jhānas. It should be noted, however, that
there are no paths and fruits conjoined with the immaterial
attainments, the reason being that supramundane jhāna is
presented solely from the standpoint of its factorial
constitution, which for the immaterial attainments and the
fifth jhāna is identical - equanimity and one-pointedness.
The fullest treatment of the supramundane
jhānas in the authoritative Pali literature can be found in
the Dhammasanganī read in conjunction with its commentary, the
Atthasālini. The Dhammasanganī opens its analysis of the first
wholesome supramundane consciousness with the words.
On the occasion when one develops
supramundane jhāna which is emancipating, leading to the
demolition (of existence), for the abandonment of views, for
reaching the first plane, secluded from sense pleasures … one
enters and dwells in the first jhāna. [Dhs.72]
The Atthasālini explains the word
lokuttara, which we have, been translating „supramundane,“
as meaning „it crosses over the world, it transcends the
world, it stands having surmounted and overcome the world.“ It
glosses the phrase „one develops jhāna“ thus: „One develops,
produces, cultivates absorption jhāna lasting for a single
thought-moment.“ This gloss shows us two things about the
consciousness of the path: that it occurs as a jhāna at the
level of full absorption and that this absorption of the path
lasts for only a single thought-moment. The word
„emancipating“ (niyyānika) is explained to mean that
this jhāna „goes out“ from the world, from the round of
existence, the phrase „leading to demolition“ (apacayagāmi)
that it demolishes and dismantles the process of rebirth
(Dhs.A.259).
This last phrase points to a striking
difference between mundane and supramundane jhāna. The
Dhammasanganī’s exposition of the former begins: „On the
occasion when one develops the path for rebirth in the
fine-material sphere … one enters and dwells in the first
jhāna“ [my italics]. Thus, with this statement, mundane jhāna
is shown to sustain the round of rebirths; it is a wholesome
kamma leading ta renewed existence. But the supramundane jhāna
of the path does not promote the continuation of the round. To
the contrary, it brings about the round’s dismantling and
demolition, as the Atthasālini shows with an illustrative
simile:
The wholesome states of the three planes
are said to lead to accumulation because they build up and
increase death and rebirth in the round. But not this. Just as
when one man has built up a wall eighteen feet high another
might take a club and go along demolishing it, so this goes
along demolishing and dismantling the deaths and rebirths
built up by the wholesome kammas of the three planes by
bringing about a deficiency in their conditions. Thus it leads
to demolition.[2]
Supramundane jhāna is said to be cultivated
„for the abandoning of views.“ This phrase points to the
function of the first path, which is to eradicate the fetters.
The supramundane jhāna of the first path cuts off the fetter
of personality view and all speculative views derived from it.
The Atthasālini points out that here we should understand that
it abandons not only wrong views but other unwholesome states
as well, namely, doubt, clinging to rites and rituals, and
greed, hatred and delusion strong enough to lead to the plane
of misery. The commentary explicates „for reaching the first
plane“ as meaning for attaining the fruit of stream-entry.
Besides these, several other differences
between mundane and supramundane jhāna may be briefly noted.
First, with regard to their object, the mundane jhānas have as
object a conceptual entity such as the counterpart sign of the
kasinas or, in the case of the divine abodes, sentient beings.
In contrast, for the supramundane jhāna of the paths and
fruits the object is exclusively Nibbāna. With regard to their
predominant tone, in mundane jhāna the element of serenity
prevails, while the supramundane jhāna of the paths and fruits
brings serenity and insight into balance. Wisdom is present as
right view and serenity as right concentration, both
functioning together in perfect harmony, neither one exceeding
the other.
This difference in prevailing tone leads
into a difference in function or activity between the two
kinds of jhāna. Both the mundane and supramundane are jhānas
in the sense of closely attending (upanijjhāna), but in
the case of mundane jhāna this close attention issues merely
in absorption into the object, an absorption that can only
suppress the defilements temporarily. In the supramundane
jhāna, particularly of the four paths, the coupling of close
attention with wisdom brings the exercise of four functions at
a single moment. These four functions each apply to one of the
Four Noble Truths. The path penetrates the first noble truth
by fully understanding suffering; it penetrates the second
noble truth by abandoning craving, the origin of suffering; it
penetrates the third noble truth by realising Nibbāna, the
cessation of suffering; and it penetrates the fourth noble
truth be developing the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to the
end of suffering. Buddhaghosa illustrates this with the simile
of a lamp, which also performs four tasks simultaneously: it
burns the wick, dispels darkness, makes light appear, and
consumes oil (Vism.690; PP.808).
The Jhānic Level of the Path and Fruit
When the paths and fruits are assigned to
the level of the four or five jhānas, the question arises as
to what factor determines their particular level of jhānic
intensity. In other words, why do the path and fruit arise for
one meditator at the level of the first jhāna, for another at
the level of the second jhāna, and so forth? The commentaries
present three theories concerning the determination of the
jhānic level of the path, apparently deriving from the
lineages of ancient teachers (Vism.666-67; PP.778-80.
Dhs.A.271-74). The first holds that it is the basic jhāna,
i.e. the jhāna used as a basis for the insight leading to
emergence in immediate proximity to the path, that governs the
difference in the jhānic level of the path. A second theory
says that the difference is governed by the aggregates made
the objects of insight on the occasion of insight leading to
emergence. A third theory holds that it is the personal
inclination of the meditator that governs the difference.
According to the first theory the path
arisen in a dry-insight meditator who lacks jhāna, and the
path arisen in one who possesses a jhāna attainment but does
not use it as a basis for insight, and the path arisen by
comprehending formations after emerging from the first jhāna,
are all paths of the first jhāna only. When the path is
produced after emerging from the second, third, fourth and
fifth jhānas (of the fivefold system) and using these as the
basis for insight, then the path pertains to the level of the
jhāna used as a basis - the second, third, fourth or fifth.
For a meditator using an immaterial jhāna as basis the path
will be a fifth jhāna path. Thus in this first theory, when
formations are comprehended by insight after emerging from a
basic jhāna, then it is the jhāna attainment emerged from at
the point nearest to the path, i. e. just before insight
leading to emergence is reached, that makes the path similar
in nature to itself.
According to the second theory the path
that arises is similar in nature to the states which are being
comprehended with insight at the time insight leading to
emergence occurs. Thus if the meditator, after emerging from a
meditative attainment, is comprehending with insight
sense-sphere phenomena or the constituents of the first jhāna,
then the path produced will occur at the level of the first
jhāna. On this theory, then, it is the comprehended jhāna (sammasitajjhāna)
that determines the jhānic quality of the path. The one
qualification that must be added is that a meditator cannot
contemplate with insight a jhāna higher than he is capable of
attaining.
According to the third theory, the path
occurs at the level of whichever jhāna the meditator wishes -
either at the level of the jhāna he has used as the basis for
insight or at the level of the jhāna he has made the object of
insight comprehension. In other words, the jhānic quality of
the path accords with his personal inclination. However, mere
wish alone is not sufficient. For the path to occur at the
jhānic level wished for, the mundane jhāna must have been
either made the basis for insight or used as the object of
insight comprehension.
The difference between the three theories
can be understood through a simple example.[3]
If a meditator reaches the supramundane path by contemplating
with insight the first jhāna after emerging from the fifth
jhāna, then according to the first theory his path will belong
to the fifth jhāna, while according to the second theory it
will belong to the first jhāna. Thus these two theories are
incompatible when a difference obtains between basic jhāna and
comprehended jhāna. But according to the third theory, the
path becomes of whichever jhāna the meditator wishes, either
the first or the fifth. Thus this doctrine does not
necessarily clash with the other two.
Buddhaghosa himself does not make a
decision among these three theories. He only points out that
in all three doctrines, beneath their disagreements, there is
the recognition that the insight immediately preceding the
supramundane path determines the jhānic character of the path.
For this insight is the proximate and principal cause for the
arising of the path, so whether it be the insight leading to
emergence near the basic jhāna or that occurring through the
contemplated jhāna or that fixed by the meditator’s wish, it
is in all cases this final phase of insight that gives
definition to the supramundane path. Since the fruition that
occurs immediately after the path has an identical
constitution to the path, its own supramundane jhāna is
determined by the path. Thus a first jhāna path produces a
first jhāna fruit, and so forth for the remaining jhānas.
[1]Anicca, dukkha anatā. [2]Dhs.A 259. See Expositor. ii.289-90. [3]Dhs.A.274. See Expositor, ii.310.
JHāNA AND THE NOBLE
DISCIPLES
All noble persons, as we saw, acquire
supramundane jhāna along with their attainment of the noble
paths and fruits. The noble ones at each of the four stages of
liberation, moreover, have access to the supramundane jhāna of
their respective fruition attainments, from the fruition
attainment of stream-entry up to the fruition attainment of
Arahatship. It remains problematic, however, to what extent
they also enjoy the possession of mundane jhāna. To determine
an answer to this question we will consult an early typology
of seven types of noble disciples, which provides a more
psychologically oriented way of classifying the eight noble
individuals. A look at the explanation of these seven types
will enable us to see the range of jhānic attainment reached
by the noble disciples. On this basis we will proceed to
assess the place of mundane jhāna in the early Buddhist
picture of the Arahat, the perfected individual.
Seven Types of Disciples
The sevenfold typology is originally found
in the Kitāgiri Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya (M.i,477-79) and
is reformulated in the Puggalapaññatti of the Abhidhamma
Pitaka. This typology classifies the noble persons on the
paths and fruits into seven types: [1] the faith-devotee, [2]
the one liberated by faith, [3] the body-witness, [4] the one
liberated in both ways, [5] the truth-devotee, [6] the one
attained to understanding, and [7] the one liberated by
wisdom.[1]
The seven types may be divided into three general groups, each
defined by the predominance of a particular spiritual faculty.
The first two types are governed by a predominance of faith,
the middle two by a predominance of concentration, and the
last three by a predominance of wisdom. To this division,
however, certain qualifications will have to be made as we go
along.
[1] The faith-devotee
The faith-devotee is explained in the sutta
thus:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached
with his own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial
deliverances transcending material form; nor after seeing with
wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed.[2]
But he has a certain degree of faith in the Tathāgata, a
certain degree of devotion to him, and he has these qualities
- the faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration
and wisdom. This person, monks, is called a faith-devotee.
[M.i,479]
The Puggalapaññatti (p. 182) defines the faith-devotee from a different angle as a disciple practising for the fruit of stream-entry in whom the faculty of faith is predominant and who develops the noble path led by faith. It adds that when he is established in the fruit he becomes one liberated by faith. Although the sutta excludes the „peaceful immaterial attainments,“ i.e. the four immaterial jhānas, from the faith-devotee’s equipment, this implies nothing with regard to his achievement of the four lower mundane jhānas. It would seem that the faith-devotee can have previously attained any of the four fine-material jhānas before reaching the path, and can also be a dry-insight worker bereft of mundane jhāna.
[2] The one liberated by faith
The one liberated by faith is strictly and
literally defined as a noble disciple at the six intermediate
levels, from the fruit of stream-entry through to the path of
Arahatship, who lacks the immaterial jhānas and has a
predominance of the faith faculty.
The Buddha explains the one liberated by
faith as follows:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached
with his own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial
deliverances transcending material form; but having seen with
wisdom, some of his cankers have been destroyed, and his faith
in the Tathāgata is settled, deeply rooted, well established.
This person, monks, is called one liberated by faith.
[M.i,478]
As in the case of the faith-devotee, the
one liberated by faith, while lacking the immaterial jhānas,
may still be an obtainer of the four mundane jhānas as well as
a dry-insight worker.
The Puggalapaññatti states (pp.184-85) that
the person liberated by faith is one who understands the Four
Noble Truths, has seen and verified by means of wisdom the
teachings proclaimed by the Tathāgata, and having seen with
wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. However, he has not
done so as easily as the ditthipatta, the person
attained to understanding, whose progress is easier due to his
superior wisdom. The fact that the one liberated by faith has
destroyed only some of his cankers implies that he has
advanced beyond the first path but not yet reached the final
fruit, the fruit of Arahatship.[3]
[3] The body witness
The body witness is a noble disciple at the
six intermediate levels, from the fruit of stream-entry to the
path of Arahatship, who has a predominance of the faculty of
concentration and can obtain the immaterial jhānas. The sutta
explanation reads:
And what person, monks, is a body-witness?
Herein, monks, some person has reached with his own (mental)
body those peaceful immaterial deliverances transcending
material form, and having seen with wisdom, some of his
cankers have been destroyed. This person, monks, is called a
body-witness. [M.i,478]
The Puggalapaññatti (p.184) offers a slight
variation in this phrasing, substituting „the eight
deliverances“ (atthavimokkhā) for the sutta’s „peaceful
immaterial deliverances“ (santā vimokkhā āruppa). These
eight deliverances consist of three meditative attainments
pertaining to the fine-material sphere (inclusive of all four
lower jhānas), the four immaterial jhānas, and the cessation
of perception and feeling (saññāvedayitanirodha) - the
last a special attainment accessible only to those non-returners
and Arahats who have also mastered the eight jhānas.[4]
The statement of the Puggalapaññatti does not mean either that
the achievement of all eight deliverances is necessary to
become a body-witness or that the achievement of the three
lower deliverances is sufficient. What is both requisite and
sufficient to qualify as a body-witness is the partial
destruction of defilements coupled with the attainment of at
least the lowest immaterial jhāna Thus the body-witness
becomes fivefold by way of those who obtain any of the four
immaterial jhānas and the one who also obtains the cessation
of perception and feeling.
[4] One who is liberated in both ways
One who is liberated in both ways is an
Arahat who has completely destroyed the defilements and
possesses the immaterial attainments. The commentaries explain
the name „liberated in both ways“ as meaning „through the
immaterial attainment he is liberated from the material body
and through the path (of Arahatship) he is liberated from the
mental body“ (MA.ii,131). The sutta defines this type of
disciple thus:
And what person, monks, is liberated in
both ways? Herein, monks, someone has reached with his own
(mental) body those peaceful immaterial deliverances
transcending material form, and having seen with wisdom, his
cankers are destroyed. This person, monks, is called liberated
in both ways. [M.i,477]
The Puggalapaññatti (p.l84) gives basically
the same formula but replaces „immaterial deliverances“ with
„the eight deliverances.“ The same principle of interpretation
that applied to the body-witness applies here: the attainment
of any immaterial jhāna, even the lowest, is sufficient to
qualify a person as both-ways liberated. As the commentary to
the Visuddhi-Magga says: „One who has attained Arahatship
after gaining even one [immaterial jhāna] is liberated both
ways“ (Vism.T.ii,466). This type becomes fivefold by way of
those who attain Arahatship after emerging from one or another
of the four immaterial jhānas and the one who attains
Arahatship after emerging from the attainment of cessation
(MA:iii,131).
[5] The truth devotee
The truth devotee is a disciple on the
first path in whom the faculty of wisdom is predominant. The
Buddha explains the truth-devotee as follows:
Herein, monks, some person has not reached
with his own (mental) body those peaceful immaterial
deliverances transcending material form; nor, after seeing
with wisdom, have his cankers been destroyed. But the
teachings proclaimed by the Tathāgata are accepted by him
through mere reflection, and he has these qualities - the
faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and
wisdom. This person, monks, is called a truth-devotee.
[M.i,479]
The Puggalapaññatti (p.185) defines the
truth-devotee as one practising for realisation of the fruit
of stream-entry in whom the faculty of wisdom is predominant,
and who develops the path led by wisdom. It adds that when a
truth-devotee is established in the fruit of stream-entry he
becomes one attained to understanding, the sixth type. The
sutta and Abhidhamma again differ as to emphasis, the one
stressing lack of the immaterial jhānas, the other the ariyan
stature. Presumably, he may have any of the four fine-material
jhānas or be a bare-insight practitioner without any mundane
jhāna.
[6] The one attained to understanding
The one attained to understanding is a
noble disciple at the six intermediate levels who lacks the
immaterial jhānas and has a predominance of the wisdom
faculty. The Buddha explains:
And what person, monks, is the one attained
to understanding? Herein, monks someone has not reached with
his own mental body those peaceful immaterial deliverances
transcending material form, but having seen with wisdom some
of his cankers are destroyed, and the teachings proclaimed by
the Tathāgata have been seen and verified by him with wisdom.
This person, monks, is called the one attained to
understanding. [M.i,478]
The Puggalapaññatti (p.185) defines the one
attained to understanding as a person who understands the Four
Noble Truths, has seen and verified by means of wisdom the
teachings proclaimed by the Tathāgata, and having seen with
wisdom has eliminated some of his cankers. He is thus the
„wisdom counterpart“ of the one liberated by faith, but
progresses more easily than the latter by virtue of his
sharper wisdom. Like his counterpart, he may possess any of
the four mundane jhānas or may be a dry-insight worker.
[7] The one liberated by wisdom
The one liberated by wisdom is an Arahat
who does not obtain the immaterial attainments. In the words
of the sutta:
And what, person, monks, is the one
liberated by wisdom? Herein, monks, someone has not reached
with his own (mental) body those peaceful material
deliverances transcending material form, but having seen with
wisdom his cankers are destroyed. This person, monks, is
called one liberated by wisdom. [M.i.477-78]
The Puggalapaññatti’s definition (p.185)
merely replaces „immaterial deliverances“ with „the eight
deliverances.“ Though such Arahats do not reach the immaterial
jhānas it is quite possible for them to attain the lower
jhānas. The sutta commentary in fact states that the one
liberated by wisdom is fivefold by way of the dry-insight
worker and the four who attain Arahatship after emerging from
the four jhānas.
It should be noted that the one liberated
by wisdom is contrasted not with the one liberated by faith,
but with the one liberated in both ways. The issue that
divides the two types of Arahat is the lack or possession of
the four immaterial jhānas and the attainment of cessation.
The person liberated by faith is found at the six intermediate
levels of sanctity, not at the level of Arahatship. When he
obtains Arahatship, lacking the immaterial jhānas, he becomes
one liberated by wisdom even though faith rather than wisdom
is his predominant faculty. Similarly, a meditator with
predominance of concentration who possesses the immaterial
attainments will still be liberated in both ways even if
wisdom rather than concentration claims first place among his
spiritual endowments, as was the case with the venerable
Sāriputta.
Jhāna and the Arahat
From the standpoint of their spiritual
stature the seven types of noble persons can be divided into
three categories. The first, which includes the faith-devotee
and the truth-devotee, consists of those on the path of
stream-entry, the first of the eight noble Individuals. The
second category, comprising the one liberated by faith, the
body-witness and the one attained to understanding, consists
of those on the six intermediate levels, from the
stream-enterer to one on the path of Arahatship. The third
category, comprising the one liberated in both ways and the
one liberated by wisdom, consists only of Arahats.[5]
The ubhatobhāgavimutta, „one
liberated in both ways,“ and the paññāvimutta „one
liberated by wisdom,“ thus form the terms of a twofold
typology of Arahats distinguished on the basis of their
accomplishment in jhāna. The ubhatobhāgavimutta Arahat
experiences in his own person the „peaceful deliverances“ of
the immaterial sphere, the paññāvimutta Arahat lacks
this full experience of the immaterial jhānas. Each of these
two types, according to the commentaries, again becomes
fivefold - the ubhatobhāgavimutta by way of those who
possess the ascending four immaterial jhānas and the
attainment of cessation, the paññāvimutta by way of
those who reach Arahatship after emerging from one of the four
fine-material jhānas and the dry-insight meditator whose
insight lacks the support of mundane jhāna.
The possibility of attaining the
supramundane path without possession of a mundane jhāna has
been questioned by some Theravada scholars, but the
Visuddhi-Magga clearly admits this possibility when it
distinguishes between the path arisen in a dry-insight
meditator and the path arisen in one who possesses a jhāna but
does not use it as a basis for insight (Vism.666-67; PP.779).
Textual evidence that there can be Arahats lacking mundane
jhāna is provided by the Susima Sutta (S.ii,199-23) together
with its commentaries. When the monks in the sutta are asked
how they can be Arahats without possessing supernormal powers
or the immaterial attainments, they reply: „We are liberated
by wisdom“ (paññāvimutta kho mayam). The commentary
glosses this reply thus: „We are contemplative, dry-insight
meditators, liberated by wisdom alone“ (Mayam nijjhānakā
sukkhavipassakā paññāmatten’eva vimuttā ti, SA.ii,117).
The commentary also states that the Buddha gave his long
disquisition on insight in the sutta „to show the arising of
knowledge even without concentration“ (vinā pi samādhimevam
ñānuppattidassanattham, SA.ii,117). The subcommentary
establishes the point by explaining „even without
concentration“ to mean „even without concentration previous
accomplished reaching the mark of serenity“ (samathalakkhanappattam
purimasiddhamvinā pi samādhin ti), adding that this is
said in reference to one who makes insight his vehicle
(ST.ii,125).
In contrast to the paññāvimutta
Arahats, those Arahats who are ubhatobhāgavimutta enjoy
a twofold liberation. Through their mastery over the formless
attainments they are liberated from the material body (rūpakāya),
capable of dwelling in this very life in the meditations
corresponding to the immaterial planes of existence; through
their attainment of Arahatship they are liberated from the
mental body (nāmakāya), presently free from all
defilements and sure of final emancipation from future
becoming. Paññāvimutta Arahats only possess the second
of these two liberations.
The double liberation of the
ubhatobhāgavimutta Arahat should not be confused with
another double liberation frequently mentioned in the suttas
in connection with Arahatship. This second pair of
liberations, called cetovimutti paññāvimutti,
liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom,“ is shared by all
Arahats. It appears in the stock passage descriptive of
Arahatship: „With the destruction of the cankers he here and
now enters and dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind,
liberation by wisdom, having realised it for himself with
direct knowledge.“ That this twofold liberation belongs to
paññāvimutta Arahats as well as to those who are
ubhatobhāgavimutta is made clear by the Putta Sutta, where
the stock passage is used for two types of Arahats called the
„white lotus recluse“ and the „red lotus recluse“:
How, monks, is a person a white lotus
recluse (samanapundarīka)? Here, monks, with the
destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by
wisdom, having realised it for himself with direct knowledge.
Yet he does not dwell experiencing the eight deliverances with
his body. Thus, monks, a person is a white lotus recluse.
And how, monks, is a person a red lotus
recluse (samanapaduma)? Here monks, with the
destruction of the cankers a monk here and now enters and
dwells in the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by
wisdom, having realised it for himself with direct knowledge.
And he dwells experiencing the eight deliverances with his
body. Thus, monks, a person is a red lotus recluse. [A.ii,87]
Since the description of these two types
coincides with that of paññāvimutta and
ubhatobhāgavimutta the two pairs may be identified, the
white lotus recluse with the paññāvimutta, the red
lotus recluse with the uhhatobhāgavimutta. Yet the
paññāvimutta Arahat, while lacking the experience of the
eight deliverances, still has both liberation of mind and
liberation by wisdom.
When liberation of mind and liberation by
wisdom are joined together and described as „cankerless“ (anāsava),
they can be taken to indicate two aspects of the Arahat’s
deliverance. Liberation of mind signifies the release of his
mind from craving and its associated defilements, liberation
by wisdom the release from ignorance: „With the fading away of
lust there is liberation of mind, with the fading away of
ignorance there is liberation by wisdom“ (A.i,61). „As he sees
and understands thus his mind is liberated from the canker of
sensual desire, from the canker of existence, from the canker
of ignorance (M.i,183-84) - here release from the first two
cankers can be understood as liberation of mind, release from
the canker of ignorance as liberation by wisdom. In the
commentaries „liberation of mind“ is identified with the
concentration factor in the fruition attainment of Arahatship,
„liberation by wisdom“ with the wisdom factor.
Since every Arahat reaches Arahatship
through the Noble Eightfold Path, he must have attained
supramundane jhāna in the form of right concentration, the
eighth factor of the path, defined as the four jhānas. This
jhāna remains with him as the concentration of the fruition
attainment of Arahatship, which occurs at the level of
supramundane jhāna corresponding to that of his path. Thus he
always stands in possession of at least the supramundane jhāna
of fruition, called the „cankerless liberation of mind.“
However, this consideration does not reflect back on his
mundane attainments, requiring that every Arahat possess
mundane jhāna.
Although early Buddhism acknowledges the
possibility of a dry-visioned Arahatship, the attitude
prevails that jhānas are still desirable attributes in an
Arahat. They are of value not only prior to final attainment,
as a foundation for insight, but retain their value even
afterwards. The value of jhāna in the stage of Arahatship,
when all spiritual training has been completed, is twofold.
One concerns the Arahat’s inner experience, the other his
outer significance as a representative of the Buddha’s
dispensation.
On the side of inner experience the jhānas
are valued as providing the Arahat with a „blissful dwelling
here and now“ (ditthadhammasukhavihāra). The suttas
often show Arahats attaining to jhāna and the Buddha himself
declares the four jhānas to be figuratively a kind of Nibbāna
in this present life (A.iv.453-s4). With respect to levels and
factors there is no difference between the mundane jhānas of
an Arahat and those of a non-Arahat. The difference concerns
their function. For non-Arahats the mundane jhānas constitute
wholesome kamma; they are deeds with a potential to produce
results, to precipitate rebirth in a corresponding realm of
existence. But in the case of an Arahat mundane jhāna no
longer generates kamma. Since he has eradicated ignorance and
craving, the roots of kamma, his actions leave no residue;
they have no capacity to generate results. For him the jhānic
consciousness is a mere functional consciousness which comes
and goes and once gone disappears without a trace.
The value of the jhānas, however, extends
beyond the confines of the Arahat’s personal experience to
testify to the spiritual efficacy of the Buddha’s
dispensation. The jhānas are regarded as ornamentation’s of
the Arahat, testimonies to the accomplishment of the
spiritually perfect person and the effectiveness of the
teaching he follows. A worthy monk is able to „gain at will,
without trouble or difficulty, the four jhānas pertaining to
the higher consciousness, blissful dwellings here and now.“
This ability to gain the jhānas at will is a „quality that
makes a monk an elder.“ When accompanied by several other
spiritual accomplishments it is an essential quality of „a
recluse who graces recluses“ and of a monk who can move
unobstructed in the four directions. Having ready access to
the four jhānas makes an elder dear and agreeable, respected
and esteemed by his fellow monks. Facility in gaining the
jhānas is one of the eight qualities of a completely inspiring
monk (samantapāsādika bhikkhu) perfect in all respects;
it is also one of the eleven foundations of faith (saddhā
pada). It is significant that in all these lists of
qualities the last item is always the attainment of Arahatship,
„the cankerless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom,“
showing that all desirable qualities in a Bhikkhu culminate in
Arahatship.[6]
The higher the degree of his mastery over
the meditative attainments, the higher the esteem in which an
Arahat monk is held and the more praiseworthy his achievement
is considered. Thus the Buddha says of the
ubhatobhāgavimutta Arahat: „There is no liberation in both
ways higher and more excellent than this liberation in both
ways“ (D.ii,71).
The highest respect goes to those monks who
possess not only liberation in both ways but the six
abhiññās or „super-knowledges“: the exercise of psychic
powers, the divine ear, the ability to read the minds of
others, the recollection of past lives, knowledge of the death
and rebirth of beings, and knowledge of final liberation. The
Buddha declares that a monk endowed with the six abhiññās,
is worthy of gifts and hospitality, worthy of offerings and
reverential salutations, a supreme field of merit for the
world (A.iii,280-81). In the period after the Buddha’s demise,
what qualified a monk to give guidance to others was endowment
with ten qualities: moral virtue, learning, contentment,
mastery over the four jhānas, the five mundane abhiññas
and attainment of the cankerless liberation of mind,
liberation by wisdom (M.iii, 11-12). Perhaps it was because he
was extolled by the Buddha for his facility in the meditative
attainments and the abhiññas that the venerable
Mahākassapa assumed the presidency of the first great Buddhist
council held in Rājagaha after the Buddha’s passing away.
The gradation in the veneration given to
Arahats on the basis of their mundane spiritual achievements
implies something about the value system of early Buddhism
that is not often recognised. It suggests that while final
liberation may be the ultimate and most important value, it is
not the sole value even in the spiritual domain. Alongside it,
as embellishments rather than alternatives, stand mastery over
the range of the mind and mastery over the sphere of the
knowable. The first is accomplished by the attainment of the
eight mundane jhānas, the second by the attainment of the
abhiññas. Together, final liberation adorned with this
twofold mastery is esteemed as the highest and most desirable
way of actualising the ultimate goal.
[1][1] Saddhānusari, [2] saddhāvimutta, [3] Kayasakkhi, [4] ubhatobhāgavimutta, [5] dhammānusari, [6] ditthipatta, and [7] paññāvimutta. [2]The cankers, (āsava) are four powerful defilements that sustain samsāra; sensual desire, desire for existence, wrong views and ignorance. [3]The Visuddhi-Magga, however, says that arahats in whom faith is predominant can also be called „liberated by faith“ (Vism.659; PP.770). Its commentary points out that this statement is intended only figuratively, in the sense that those arahats reach their goal after having been liberated by faith in the intermediate stages. Literally, they would be „liberated by wisdom“ (Vism.T.ii,486). [4]The first three emancipations are: one possessing material form sees material forms; one not perceiving material forms internally sees material forms externally; and one is released upon the idea of the beautiful. They are understood to be variations on the jhānas attained with colour kasinas. For the attainment of cessation, see PP.824-833. [5]It should be noted that the Kātāgiri Sutta makes no provision in its typology for a disciple on the first path who gains the immaterial jhānas. (Vism.T.ii,466) holds that he would have to be considered either a faith devote or a truth-devotee, and at the final fruition would be one liberated in both ways. [6]The references are to: A,ii,23; iii,131,135,114; iv,314-15; v,337.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mahāthera Henepola Gunaratana was ordained
as a Buddhist monk in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 1947 and received
his education at Vidyalankara College and Buddhist Missionary
College, Colombo. He worked for five years as a Buddhist
missionary among the Harijans (Untouchables) in India and for
ten years with the Buddhist Missionary Society in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1968 he came to the United States to
serve as general secretary of the Buddhist Vihara Society at
the Washington Buddhist Vihara. In 1980 he was appointed
president of the Society. He has received a Ph.D. from The
American University and since 1973 has been Buddhist Chaplain
at The American University. He is now director of the Bhāvanā
Meditation Centre in West Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley,
about 100 miles from Washington, D.C.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
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