The 9 Jhanas of Buddha

Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand

What is Jhana?
The story goes that in Buddha's quest for enlightenment, he reached up to the 8th Jhana but still came short of liberation. This word Jhana kept coming up in my readings. What the heck is Jhana? Curious, I devoted quality reading-time to learn more about this esoteric word.

In a nutshell, Jhana is an altered state of consciousness while in meditative absorption. It is one of the 8 paths in the Eightfold Path way to enlightenment - Right Concentration. It comes in 9 states although it's not very clear where one state ends and the next begins. While there is not even an official label for these altered states, some conventions have been established. Some say only 8 Jhanas exist. The higher Jhanas are far more subtle, it's even hard to explain into words. Others contend that they simply have to be experienced to be understood. It may take years of devoted practice before the 1st state of Jhana is realized. You cannot summon Jhana. Just do the proper meditation with no expectation, nor having Jhana as a goal. Jhana may or may not happen.

Jhana vs. Vipassana
My meditation background is Vipassana (as taught by SN Goenka), and there was no mention of Jhana, even though Vipassana and the Jhanas stem from Buddha. Both are powerful meditation methods but distinct from the other. Jhana is geared toward single-pointed concentration - samatha...like concentrating on an object, the breath, picture of a guru, etc. until everything else disappears or becomes imperceptible, except for that object. Vipassana, on the other hand, scans the entire body for any sensation with a calm and equanimous mind. While the first 3 days of a Vipassana course focuses on the breath, it is not yet Vipassana but Anapana Breathing Meditation. So we can say that a 10-day Vipassana meditation course includes the practice of samatha for the first 3 days.

Same Experience but Different Labels
Further scrutiny reveals that even though the approach is different, the meditative states achieved are the same. Vipassana simply doesn't put labels on the Jhanic states or uses a different name. Example, Vipassana calls the state where the physical body is no longer present and what's left is a mass of vibrations, Bhanga-ñana. This is simply called the 5th Jhana: Infinity of Space - a state of consciousness where there is no perception of a form or body.

Disclosure: I'm discussing Bhanga and Infinity of Space as I understand them from my readings. I have not experienced them...yet.

Superpowers
It is said that as a meditator goes through the Jhanic phases, superpowers inevitably develop. Yes, it is involuntary. I've met serious meditators who developed these powers in the course of practising meditation. The powers vary from person to person. You simply cannot know what powers develop - they just happen. But because there is great risk of inflating the ego and losing focus on the path when you openly exhibit or talk about these powers, it is considered taboo to even talk about them, let alone show it off.

What exactly are these powers? To the newbie, it could be seeing elementals, ghosts or spirits - much to their chagrin. To the seasoned meditators, it could be traveling to other unearthly places or leaving the physical body. To the very advanced ones, they could see their past lives or will to terminate their existence.

It is interesting to note that in Hindu Yoga, superpowers are developed when prana (life energy) goes through the central nadi (energy channel), the Sushumna, and travels up, touching-up the rest of the chakras (energy centers) all the way up to the highest chakra, the Sahasrara on the top of the head.

9 Jhanas

1st Jhana: Pleasant Sensations
With a single-pointed concentration of the mind on a subject (there are 40 established subjects for the choosing, one of which could be the breath), you could start feeling a pleasant physical sensation which could explode into a state of ecstasy (piti) - this is not a calm and peaceful state. The sensation could start from a specific body part like the hands or heart center. While observing the pleasant sensation without clinging to them and keeping the stillness of the mind, the physical rapture morphs into an emotional joy (sukha). I have met meditators who cling to this pleasant sensation and meditate for the purpose of arriving at this joy - like a junkie in search of his 'fix'. He has lost the balance of his mind. Thus it is important to observe this joy without attachment. At this point, it is important to shift the observation from the breath to the pleasant sensation - observing the meditation subject has already served its purpose by bringing about the rapture. While piti and sukha are in high gear, there is still thinking and analysis lurking in the background.

2nd Jhana: Stilling the Analytical Mind
While immersed in rapture, the meditator stills his analytical mind. Thinking and evaluation cease. There is now pure awareness, free of conceptualization.

3rd Jhana: Contentment
As you let go of the peaceful joy, you transition into a quiet, placid state of contentment with an alert and vigilant mind.

4th Jhana: Peacefulness
As the mind remains equanimous without feeling anything positive or negative in the body or mind, a deep sense of peace prevails. The joyful sensations are no longer present.

5th Jhana: Infinity of Space
From hereon, the altered states of Jhana are said to be "absorption without form". The perception of the body disappears. There is a transformation into the heavenly realms where form is abstract. From feeling peaceful, you shift your attention to your physical boundaries which seem to be getting bigger and bigger until you feel everywhere.

6th Jhana: Infinity of Consciousness
When you realize that the expansive space you occupy includes your consciousness, you enter the 6th Jhana. As consciousness fills into infinity, you feel one with the universe. The one-pointedness of the mind remains. This is not yet enlightenment, even though it feels like it.

7th Jhana: No-thingness
With infinite consciousness, you realize there is nothing within this infinity that is permanent. Everything in it complies with the natural law of impermanence and is in a constant state of flux.

8th Jhana: Neither perception nor non-perception
This realm is very hard to grasp as it is so fine and subtle. It is at the highest pinnacle of concentration that the only way to describe it is to experience it. You let go of the nothingness of the 7th Jhana and into a natural and calm place where you have little recognition of what's happening even though you still have the awareness in you. You thread the world of perception and non-perception. Again, despite the permeating peace and calm, this is not enlightenment.

9th Jhana: Vipassana
According to SN Goenka, the Buddha found the 9th Jhana, and that is Vipassana - the development of insight that will take the meditator to the ultimate goal beyond the misery of sensory experience.

I find it interesting that other meditation teachers claim that Vipassana is a stepping stone in getting established in the practice of meditation. Stepping stone? When Buddha reached the 8th Jhana from the most learned teachers during his time, he was still short of enlightenment. There was no teacher alive who could liberate him. Thus he went deep within the physical structure of his body and gained wisdom which helped him develop Vipassana which opened up the gateway to enlightenment. So I have to strongly disagree that Vipassana is a beginner stepping stone.

This "stepping stone" claim was also uttered by a self-proclaimed "Vipassana teacher" in one of his sessions. When I asked him to clarify exactly what he meant by it, he recanted. I sat through his 1-hour "Vipassana class" and it was anything but Vipassana. Think about it. Authentic Vipassana in the Goenka tradition, in its most condensed form, takes 10 days. How could anyone claim to teach Vipassana in one hour?

Another Tibetan Yantra Yoga teacher I met in Dharamsala claimed the same thing - that Vipassana is a good start in meditation but that there are far more advanced forms of meditation. I'm not sure if he has ever done Vipassana (in the Goenka tradition) as he is steeped in his Tibetan Buddhism tradition. I'm familiar with Tibetan yoga retreats conducted in a cave or remote mountain highlands which lasts 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. Yes, I will agree it's more intense, longer and more consuming. But I disagree that Vipassana is just a good start for the more advanced meditation modalities.

I will say that you can start a meditation practice with Vipassana, but you can go deeper and deeper into Vipassana until you reach liberation. I don't think anyone can max-out Vipassana to prompt him to "move on" to other types of meditation. My analogy is Photoshop. This program is so user-friendly that a 5 year old can play with it. But Photoshop has so much complexity to it that even a 30-year veteran power-user cannot claim that he has exhausted Photoshop.

I'm not saying that Vipassana is the be-all and end-all of meditation. There are many out there. If Vipassana doesn't work for you, try something else until you find one that works. Simple as that. Just don't make a claim or imply that Vipassana is a beginner stepping stone in a meditation practice - that is simply wrong and misleading.

I digressed, but there are other interpretations of the 9th Jhana. Some posit it as:

Cessation
At this point, even consciousness stops. The heartbeat slows down to a faint beating and breathing is almost nil. It's like a deep state of sleep. This is as close as it gets to liberation.

Caution
Jhanic states are not something to pursue. The more it is pursued, the more it becomes elusive. It is best to stay focused on the goal and not be distracted by the sensations that happen along the journey. Talking about reaching Jhanic states is discouraged and frowned upon, but honestly, if that happens to me, I cannot resist the temptation of writing about it.

Ending Thoughts
There was a time in my early meditation days that my focus was experiencing bhanga-nana. It was a high I wanted to have. Of course, nothing happened. Now, it doesn't even appeal to me. If I can just find time to meditate and still my mind for a few moments, I'm already happy. To this date, I can easily still my mind in meditation, but I can't seem to go deeper as in dissolving my solidity and becoming a spec of consciousness. But again, I no longer aim for it. While meditating, being at peace with myself and the planet I live in is reward enough.

This pursuit of Jhanic states is simply intellectual adventurism for me...or a 'nice to have' at best. Perhaps it is best seen that way so it becomes part of a journey but not the destination. Jhana can best be viewed as a blueprint to enlightenment. Buddha confirms this when he said, "Jhana is the path to enlightenment". Experience of Jhana is a validation that you're on the right path - but you're not there yet.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

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