Jhana - The Higher Jhanas

The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
by Bhikkhu Henepola Gunaratana



  Chapter 4
  The Higher Jhanas



   
    In this chapter we will survey the higher states of jhana. First we will
    discuss the remaining three jhanas of the fine-material sphere, using the
    descriptive formulas of the suttas as our starting point and the later
    literature as our source for the methods of practice that lead to these
    attainments. Following this we will consider the four meditative states that
    pertain to the immaterial sphere, which come to be called the immaterial
    jhanas. Our examination will bring out the dynamic character of the process
    by which the jhanas are successively achieved. The attainment of the higher
    jhanas of the fine-material sphere, we will see, involves the successive
    elimination of the grosser factors and the bringing to prominence of the
    subtler ones, the attainment of the formless jhanas the replacement of
    grosser objects with successively more refined objects. From our study it
    will become clear that the jhanas link together in a graded sequence of
    development in which the lower serves as basis for the higher and the higher
    intensifies and purifies states already present in the lower. We will end
    the chapter with a brief look at the connection between the jhanas and the
    Buddhist teaching of rebirth.
    The Higher Fine-material Jhanas
    The formula for the attainment of the second jhana runs as follows:
      With the subsiding of applied thought and sustained thought he enters and
      dwells in the second jhana, which has internal confidence and unification
      of mind, is without applied thought and sustained thought, and is filled
      with rapture and happiness born of concentration (M.i,181; Vbh. 245)
    The second jhana, like the first, is attained by eliminating the factors to
    be abandoned and by developing the factors of possession. In this case
    however, the factors to be abandoned are the two initial factors of the
    first jhana itself, applied thought and sustained thought; the factors of
    possession are the three remaining jhana factors, rapture, happiness and
    one-pointedness. Hence the formula begins "with the subsiding of applied
    thought and sustained thought," and then mentions the jhana's positive
    endowments.
    After achieving the five kinds of mastery over the first jhana, a meditator
    who wishes to reach the second jhana should enter the first jhana and
    contemplate its defects. These are twofold: one, which might be called the
    defect of proximate corruption, is the nearness of the five hindrances,
    against which the first jhana provides only a relatively mild safeguard; the
    other defect, inherent to the first jhana, is its inclusion of applied and
    sustained thought, which now appear as gross, even as impediments needing to
    be eliminated to attain the more peaceful and subtle second jhana.
    By reflecting upon the second jhana as more tranquil and sublime than the
    first, the meditator ends his attachment to the first jhana and engages in
    renewed striving with the aim of reaching the higher stage. He directs his
    mind to his meditation subject -- which must be one capable of inducing the
    higher jhanas such as a kasina or the breath -- and resolves to overcome
    applied and sustained thought. When his practice comes to maturity the two
    kinds of thought subside and the second jhana arises. In the second jhana
    only three of the original five jhana factors remain -- rapture, happiness,
    and one-pointedness. Moreover, with the elimination of the two grosser
    factors these have acquired a subtler and more peaceful tone. [1]
    Besides the main jhana factors, the canonical formula includes several other
    states in its description of the second jhana. "Internal confidence"
    (ajjhattamsampasadanam), conveys the twofold meaning of faith and
    tranquillity. In the first jhana the meditator's faith lacked full clarity
    and serenity due to "the disturbance created by applied and sustained
    thought, like water ruffled by ripples and wavelets" (Vism. 157; PP.163).
    But when applied and sustained thought subside, the mind becomes very
    peaceful and the meditator's faith acquires fuller confidence.
    The formula also mentions unification of mind (cetaso ekodibhavam), which is
    identified with one-pointedness or concentration. Though present in the
    first jhana, concentration only gains special mention in connection with the
    second jhana since it is here that it acquires eminence. In the first jhana
    concentration was still imperfect, being subject to the disturbing influence
    of applied and sustained thought. For the same reason this jhana, along with
    its constituent rapture and happiness, is said to be born of concentration
    (samadhijam): "It is only this concentration that is quite worthy to be
    called 'concentration' because of its complete confidence and extreme
    immobility due to absence of disturbance by applied and sustained thought"
    (Vism.158; PP.164).
    To attain the third jhana the meditator must use the same method he used to
    ascend from the first jhana to the second. He must master the second jhana
    in the five ways, enter and emerge from it, and reflect upon its defects. In
    this case the defect of proximate corruption is the nearness of applied and
    sustained thought, which threaten to disrupt the serenity of the second
    jhana; its inherent defect is the presence of rapture, which now appears as
    a gross factor that should be discarded. Aware of the imperfections in the
    second jhana, the meditator cultivates indifference towards it and aspires
    instead for the peace and sublimity of the third jhana, towards the
    attainment of which he now directs his efforts. When his practice matures he
    enters the third jhana, which has the two jhana factors that remain when the
    rapture disappears, happiness and one-pointedness, and which the suttas
    describe as follows:
      With the fading away of rapture, he dwells in equanimity, mindful and
      discerning; and he experiences in his own person that happiness of which
      the noble ones say: 'Happily lives he who is equanimous and mindful' --
      thus he enters and dwells in the third jhana. (M.i,182; Vbh.245)
    The formula indicates that the third jhana contains, besides its two
    defining factors, three additional components not included among the jhana
    factors: equanimity, mindfulness and discernment. Equanimity is mentioned
    twice. The Pali word for equanimity, upekkha, occurs in the texts with a
    wide range of meanings, the most important being neutral feeling -- that is,
    feeling which is neither painful nor pleasant -- and the mental quality of
    inner balance or equipoise called "specific neutrality" (tatramajjhattata --
    see Vism.161; PP.167). The equanimity referred to in the formula is a mode
    of specific neutrality which belongs to the aggregate of mental formations
    (sankharakkhandha) and thus should not be confused with equanimity as
    neutral feeling. Though the two are often associated, each can exist
    independently of the other, and in the third jhana equanimity as specific
    neutrality co-exists with happiness or pleasant feeling.
    The meditator in third jhana is also said to be mindful and discerning,
    which points to another pair of frequently conjoined mental functions.
    Mindfulness (sati), in this context, means the remembrance of the meditation
    object, the constant bearing of the object in mind without allowing it to
    float away. Discernment (sampajanna) is an aspect of wisdom or understanding
    which scrutinizes the object and grasps its nature free from delusion.
    Though these two factors were already present even in the first two jhanas,
    they are first mentioned only in connection with the third since it is here
    that their efficacy becomes manifest. The two are needed particularly to
    avoid a return to rapture. Just as a suckling calf, removed from its mother
    and left unguarded, again approaches the mother, so the happiness of jhana
    tends to veer towards rapture, its natural partner, if unguarded by
    mindfulness and discernment (Dhs. A.219). To prevent this and the consequent
    loss of the third jhana is the task of mindfulness and discernment.
    The attainment of the fourth jhana commences with the aforesaid procedure.
    In this case the meditator sees that the third jhana is threatened by the
    proximity of rapture, which is ever ready to swell up again due to its
    natural affinity with happiness; he also sees that it is inherently
    defective due to the presence of happiness, a gross factor which provides
    fuel for clinging. He then contemplates the state where equanimous feeling
    and one-pointedness subsist together -- the fourth jhana -- as far more
    peaceful and secure than anything he has so far experienced, and therefore
    as far more desirable. Taking as his object the same counterpart sign he
    took for the earlier jhana, he strengthens his efforts in concentration for
    the purpose of abandoning the gross factor of happiness and entering the
    higher jhana. When his practice matures the mind enters absorption into the
    fourth jhana:
      With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous
      disappearance of joy and grief, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhana,
      which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to
      equanimity. (M.i,182; Vbh.245)
    The first part of this formula specifies the conditions for the attainment
    of this jhana -- also called the neither-painful-nor-pleasant liberation of
    mind (M.i, 296) -- to be the abandoning of four kinds of feeling
    incompatible with it, the first two signifying bodily feelings, the latter
    two the corresponding mental feelings. The formula also introduces several
    new terms and phrases which have not been encountered previously. First, it
    mentions a new feeling, neither-pain-nor-pleasure (adukkhamasukha), which
    remains after the other four feelings have subsided. This kind of feeling
    also called equanimous or neutral feeling, replaces happiness as the
    concomitant feeling of the jhana and also figures as one of the jhana
    factors. Thus this attainment has two jhana factors: neutral feeling and
    one-pointedness of mind. Previously the ascent from one jhana to the next
    was marked by the progressive elimination of the coarser jhana factors, but
    none were added to replace those which were excluded. But now, in the move
    from the third to the fourth jhana, a substitution occurs, neutral feeling
    moving in to take the place of happiness.
    In addition we also find a new phrase composed of familiar terms, "purity of
    mindfulness due to equanimity" (upekkhasatiparisuddhi). The Vibhanga
    explains: "This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified by equanimity"
    (Vbh. 261), and Buddhaghosa adds: "for the mindfulness in this jhana is
    quite purified, and its purification is effected by equanimity, not by
    anything else" (Vism.167; PP.174). The equanimity which purifies the
    mindfulness is not neutral feeling, as might be supposed, but specific
    neutrality, the sublime impartiality free from attachment and aversion,
    which also pertains to this jhana. Though both specific neutrality and
    mindfulness were present in the lower three jhanas, none among these is said
    to have "purity of mindfulness due to equanimity." The reason is that in the
    lower jhanas the equanimity present was not purified itself, being
    overshadowed by opposing states and lacking association with equanimous
    feeling. It is like a crescent moon which exists by day but cannot be seen
    because of the sunlight and the bright sky. But in the fourth jhana, where
    equanimity gains the support of equanimous feeling, it shines forth like the
    crescent moon at night and purifies mindfulness and the other associated
    states (Vism. 169; PP.175).
    The Immaterial Jhanas
    Beyond the four jhanas lie four higher attainments in the scale of
    concentration, referred to in the suttas as the "peaceful immaterial
    liberations transcending material form" (santa vimokkha atikammarupe aruppa,
    M.i,33). In the commentaries they are also called the immaterial jhanas, and
    while this expression is not found in the suttas it seems appropriate in so
    far as these states correspond to jhanic levels of consciousness and
    continue the same process of mental unification initiated by the original
    four jhanas, now sometimes called the fine-material jhanas. The immaterial
    jhanas are designated, not by numerical names like their predecessors, but
    by the names of their objective spheres: the base of boundless space, the
    base of boundless consciousness, the base of nothingness, and the base of
    neither-perception-nor-non-perception. [2] They receive the designation
    "immaterial" or " formless" (arupa) because they are achieved by surmounting
    all perceptions of material form, including the subtle form of the
    counterpart sign which served as the object of the previous jhanas, and
    because they are the subjective correlates of the immaterial planes of
    existence.
    Like the fine-material jhanas follow a fixed sequence and must be attained
    in the order in which they are presented. That is, the meditator who wishes
    to achieve the immaterial jhanas must begin with the base of boundless space
    and then proceed step by step up to the base of
    neither-perception-nor-non-perception. However, an important difference
    separates the modes of progress in the two cases. In the case of the
    fine-material jhanas, the ascent from one jhana to another involves a
    surmounting of jhana factors. To rise from the first jhana to the second the
    meditator must eliminate applied thought and sustained thought, to rise from
    the second to the third he must overcome rapture, and to rise from the third
    to the fourth he must replace pleasant with neutral feeling. Thus progress
    involves a reduction and refinement of the jhana factors, from the initial
    five to the culmination in one-pointedness and neutral feeling.
    Once the fourth jhana is reached the jhana factors remain constant, and in
    higher ascent to the immaterial attainments there is no further elimination
    of jhana factors. For this reason the formless jhanas, when classified from
    the perspective of their factorial constitution as is done in the
    Abhidhamma, are considered modes of the fourth jhana. They are all
    two-factored jhanas, constituted by one-pointedness and equanimous feeling.
    Rather than being determined by a surmounting of factors, the order of the
    immaterial jhanas is determined by a surmounting of objects. Whereas for the
    lower jhanas the object can remain constant but the factors must be changed,
    for the immaterial jhanas the factors remain constant while the objects
    change. The base of boundless space eliminates the kasina object of the
    fourth jhana, the base of boundless consciousness surmounts the object of
    the base of boundless space, the base of nothingness surmounts the object of
    base of boundless consciousness, and the base of
    neither-perception-nor-non-perception surmounts the objects the object of
    the base of nothingness.
    Because the objects become progressively more subtle at each level, the
    jhana factors of equanimous feeling and one-pointedness, while remaining
    constant in nature throughout, become correspondingly more refined in
    quality. Buddhaghosa illustrates this with a simile of four pieces of cloth
    of the same measurements, spun by the same person, yet made of thick, thin,
    thinner and very thin thread respectively (Vism. 339; PP.369). Also, whereas
    the four lower jhanas can each take a variety of objects -- the ten kasinas,
    the in-and-out breath, etc. -- and do not stand in any integral relation to
    these objects, the four immaterial jhanas each take a single object
    inseparably related to the attainment itself. The first is attained solely
    with the base of boundless space as object, the second with the base of
    boundless consciousness, and so forth.
    The motivation which initially leads a meditator to seek the immaterial
    attainments is a clear recognition of the dangers inherent in material
    existence: it is in virtue of matter that injuries and death by weapons and
    knives occur that one is afflicted with diseases, subject of hunger and
    thirst, while none of this takes place on the immaterial planes of existence
    (M.i,410). Wishing to escape these dangers by taking rebirth in the
    immaterial planes, the meditator must first attain the four fine-material
    jhanas and master the fourth jhana with any kasina as object except the
    omitted space kasina. By this much the meditator has risen above gross
    matter, but he still has not transcended the subtle material form comprised
    by the luminous counterpart sign which is the object of his jhana. To reach
    the formless attainments the meditator, after emerging from the fourth
    jhana, must consider that even that jhana, as refined as it is, still has an
    object consisting in material form and thus is distantly connected with
    gross matter; moreover, it is close to happiness, a factor of the third
    jhana, and is far coarser than the immaterial states. The meditator sees the
    base of boundless space, the first immaterial jhana, as more peaceful and
    sublime than the fourth fine-material jhana and as more safely removed from
    materiality.
    Following these preparatory reflections, the meditator enters the fourth
    jhana based on a kasina object and extends the counterpart sign of the
    kasina "to the limit of the world-sphere, or as far as he likes." Then,
    after emerging from the fourth jhana, he must remove the kasina by attending
    exclusively to the space it has been made to cover without attending to the
    kasina itself. Taking as his object the space left after the removal of the
    kasina, the meditator adverts to it as "boundless space" or simply as
    "space, space," striking at it with applied and sustained thought. As he
    cultivates this practice over and over, eventually the consciousness
    pertaining to the base of boundless space arises with boundless space as its
    object (Vism. 327-28; PP.355-56).
    A meditator who has gained mastery over the base of boundless space, wishing
    to attain as well the second immaterial jhana, must reflect upon the two
    defects of the first attainment which are its proximity to the fine-material
    jhanas and its grossness compared to the base of boundless consciousness.
    Having in this way developed indifferent to the lower attainment, he must
    next enter and emerge from the base of boundless space and then fix his
    attention upon the consciousness that occurred there pervading the boundless
    space. Since the space taken as the object by the first formless jhana was
    boundless, the consciousness of that space also involves an aspect of
    boundlessness, and it is to this boundless consciousness that the aspirant
    for the next attainment adverts. He is not to attend to it merely as
    boundless, but as "boundless consciousness" or simply as "consciousness." He
    continues to cultivate this sign again and again until the consciousness
    belonging to the base of boundless consciousness arises in absorption taking
    as its object the boundless consciousness pertaining to the first immaterial
    state (Vism. 331-32; PP.360-61).
    To attain the next formless state, the base of nothingness, the meditator
    who has mastered the base of boundless consciousness must contemplate its
    defects in the same twofold manner and advert to the superior peacefulness
    of the base of nothingness. Without giving any more attention to the base of
    boundless consciousness, he should "give attention to the present
    non-existence, voidness, secluded aspect of that same past consciousness
    belonging to the base consisting of boundless space" (Vism. 333; PP.362). In
    other words, the meditator is to focus upon the present absence or
    non-existence of the consciousness belonging to the base of boundless space,
    adverting to it over and over thus: "There is not, there is not" or "void,
    void". When his efforts fructify there arises in absorption a consciousness
    belonging to the base of nothingness, with the non-existence of the
    consciousness of boundless space as its object. Whereas the second
    immaterial state relates to the consciousness of boundless space positively,
    by focusing upon the content of that consciousness and appropriating its
    boundlessness, the third immaterial state relates to it negatively, by
    excluding that consciousness from awareness and making the absence or
    present non-existence of that consciousness its object.
    The fourth and final immaterial jhana, the base of
    neither-perception-nor-non-perception, is reached through the same
    preliminary procedure. The meditator can also reflect upon the
    unsatisfactoriness of perception, thinking: "Perception is a disease,
    perception is a boil, perception is a dart ... this is peaceful, this is
    sublime, that is to say, neither-perception-nor-non-perception" (M.ii,231).
    In this way he ends his attachment to the base of nothingness and
    strengthens his resolve to attain the next higher stage. He then adverts to
    the four mental aggregates that constitute the attainment of the base of
    nothingness -- its feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness
    -- contemplating them as "peaceful, peaceful," reviewing that base and
    striking at it with applied and sustained thought. As he does so the
    hindrances are suppressed, the mind passes through access and enters the
    base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
    This jhana receives its name because, on the one hand, it lacks gross
    perception with its function of clearly discerning objects, and thus cannot
    be said to have perception; on the other, it retains a very subtle
    perception, and thus cannot be said to be without perception. Because all
    the mental functions are here reduced to the finest and most subtle level,
    this jhana is also named the attainment with residual formations. At this
    level the mind has reached the highest possible development in the direction
    of pure serenity. It has attained the most intense degree of concentration,
    becoming so refined that consciousness can no longer be described in terms
    of existence or non-existence. Yet even this attainment, from the Buddhist
    point of view, is still a mundane state which must finally give way to
    insight that alone leads to true liberation.
    The Jhanas and Rebirth
    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 jhana 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 (kamadhatu) is the field of
    rebirth for evil deeds and for meritorious deeds falling short of the
    jhanas; the fine-material sphere (rupadhatu), the field of rebirth for the
    fine-material jhanas; and the immaterial sphere (arupadhatu), the field of
    rebirth for the immaterial jhanas.
    An unwholesome kamma, should it become determinative 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 subjhanic 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 jhanas.
    The sixteen realms in this sphere are hierarchically ordered in correlation
    with the four jhanas. Those who have practiced the first jhana to a minor
    degree are reborn in the Realm of the Retinue of Brahma, 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, practicing the second jhana 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 the Realm
    of Radiant Lustre. [4] Again, practicing the third jhana 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 jhana there are seven realms: the Realm of Great
    Reward, the Realm of Non-percipient Beings, and the five Pure Abodes.[6]
    With this jhana the rebirth pattern deviates from the former one. It seems
    that all beings who practice the fourth jhana 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 jhana, 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 (anagamis), 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 samsara, achieve and master one or another of the four immaterial
    jhanas. Those mediators 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 jhana is exhausted. Then they pass away, to take
    rebirth in some other realm as determined by their accumulated kamma. [7]
    Notes:
    [1] Based on the distinction between applied and sustained thought, the
    Abhidhamma presents a fivefold division of the jhanas 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 jhana with four factors including
    sustained thought, and a third jhana identical with the second jhana 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] Akasanancayatana, vinnanancayatana, akincannayatana, nevasannana
    sannayatana
    [3] Brahmaparisajja brahmapurohita, maha brahma.
    [4] Paritabha, appamanabha, abhassara.
    [5] Parittasubha, appamanasubha, subhakinha.
    [6] Vehapphala, asannasatta, suddhavasa.
    [7] A good summary of Buddhist cosmology and of the connection between kamma
    and planes of rebirth can be found in Narada, A Manual of Abhidhamma.
    pp.233-55.