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Dhyana in Buddhism

August 20, 2023

See also: Samadhi, Samatha, Vipassanā, and Dhyana in Hinduism

In the oldest texts of Buddhism, dhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान) or jhāna (Pali: 𑀛𑀸𑀦) is a component of the training of the mind (bhavana), commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, "burn up" the defilements, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)."[1] Dhyāna may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment.[2][3][4]

Dhyāna
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese禪
Simplified Chinese禅
Tibetan name
Tibetanབསམ་གཏན
Transcriptions
Wyliebsam gtan
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetThiền
Hán-Nôm禪
Korean name
Hangul선
Hanja禪
Japanese name
Kanji禅定 or 静慮
Transcriptions
RomanizationZenjyō or Jyōryo
Filipino name
TagalogDhyana
Sanskrit name
Sanskritध्यान (in Devanagari)
Dhyāna (Romanised)
Pāli name
Pāli𑀛𑀸𑀦 (in Brāhmī)
ඣාන (in Sinhala)
ឈាន/ធ្យាន (in Khmer)
ဈာန် (in Burmese)
ၛာန် (in Mon)
Jhāna (Romanised)
ฌาน (in Thai)
Buddha depicted in dhyāna, Amaravati, India

In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Theravāda, dhyāna is equated with "concentration", a state of one-pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non-beneficial for the first stage of awakening, which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and Vipassanā (insight into impermanence). Since the 1980s, scholars and practitioners have started to question these positions, arguing for a more comprehensive and integrated understanding and approach, based on the oldest descriptions of dhyāna in the suttas.[5][6][7][8]

In Buddhist traditions of Chán and Zen (the names of which are, respectively, the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations of dhyāna), as in Theravada and Tiantai, anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing), which is transmitted in the Buddhist tradition as a means to develop dhyana, is a central practice. In the Chan/Zen-tradition this practice is ultimately based on Sarvastivāda meditation techniques transmitted since the beginning of the Common Era.

Etymology

Dhyāna, Pali jhana, from Proto-Indo-European root *√dheie-, "to see, to look", "to show".[9][10] Developed into Sanskrit root √dhī and n. dhī,[10] which in the earliest layer of text of the Vedas refers to "imaginative vision" and associated with goddess Saraswati with powers of knowledge, wisdom and poetic eloquence.[11][12] This term developed into the variant √dhyā, "to contemplate, meditate, think",[13][10] from which dhyāna is derived.[11]

According to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE Theravāda exegete), the term jhāna (Skt. dhyāna) is derived from the verb jhayati, "to think or meditate", while the verb jhapeti, "to burn up", explicates its function, namely burning up opposing states, burning up or destroying "the mental defilements preventing [...] the development of serenity and insight."[14][note 1]

Commonly translated as meditation, and often equated with "concentration", though meditation may refer to a wider scale of exercises for bhāvanā, development. Dhyāna can also mean "attention, thought, reflection".[17]

The jhāna/dhyana-stages

The Pāḷi canon describes four progressive states of jhāna called rūpa jhāna ("form jhāna"),[note 2] and four additional meditative attainments called arūpa ("without form").

Integrated set of practices

See also: Buddhist meditation and Buddhist paths to liberation

Meditation and contemplation form an integrated set of practices with several other practices, which are fully realized with the onset of dhyāna.[2][4] As described in the Noble Eightfold Path, right view leads to leaving the household life and becoming a wandering monk. Sīla (morality) comprises the rules for right conduct. Right effort, or the four right efforts, which already contains elements of dhyana,[18][note 3] aim to prevent the arising of unwholesome states, and to generate wholesome states. This includes indriya samvara (sense restraint), controlling the response to sensual perceptions, not giving in to lust and aversion but simply noticing the objects of perception as they appear.[20] Right effort and mindfulness ("to remember to observe"[21]), notably mindfulness of breathing, calm the mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns, and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non-automatic responses.[7] By following these cumulative steps and practices, the mind becomes set, almost naturally, for the equanimity of dhyāna,[22][7][note 4] reinforcing the development of wholesome states, which in return further reinforces equanimity and mindfulness.[7][8]

The rūpa jhānas

See also: Seven Factors of Awakening

In the sutras, jhāna is entered when one 'sits down cross-legged and establishes mindfulness'. According to Buddhist tradition, it may be supported by ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breathing, a core meditative practice which can be found in almost all schools of Buddhism. The Suttapiṭaka and the Agamas describe four stages of rūpa jhāna. Rūpa refers to the material realm, in a neutral stance, as different from the kāma-realm (lust, desire) and the arūpa-realm (non-material realm).[23] While interpreted in the Theravada-tradition as describing a deepening concentration and one-pointedness, originally the jhānas seem to describe a development from investigating body and mind and abandoning unwholesome states, to perfected equanimity and watchfulness,[24] an understanding which is retained in Zen and Dzogchen.[7][24] The stock description of the jhānas, with traditional and alternative interpretations, is as follows:[24][note 5]

  1. First jhāna:
    Separated (vivicceva) from desire for sensual pleasures, separated (vivicca) from [other] unwholesome states (akusalehi dhammehi, unwholesome dhammas[25]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is [mental] pīti ("rapture," "joy") and [bodily] sukha ("pleasure") "born of viveka" (traditionally, "seclusion"; alternatively, "discrimination" (of dhamma's)[26][note 6]), accompanied by vitarka-vicara (traditionallly, initial and sustained attention to a meditative object; alternatively, initial inquiry and subsequent investigation[29][30][31] of dhammas (defilements[32] and wholesome thoughts[33][note 7]); also: "discursive thought"[note 8]).
  2. Second jhāna:
    Again, with the stilling of vitarka-vicara, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which is [mental] pīti and [bodily] sukha "born of samadhi" (samadhi-ji; trad. born of "concentration"; altern. "knowing but non-discursive [...] awareness,"[41] "bringing the buried latencies or samskaras into full view"[42][note 9]), and has sampasadana ("stillness,"[44] "inner tranquility"[39][note 10]) and ekaggata (unification of mind,[44] awareness) without vitarka-vicara;
  3. Third jhāna:
    With the fading away of pīti, a bhikkhu abides in upekkhā (equanimity," "affective detachment"[39][note 11]), sato (mindful) and [with] sampajañña ("fully knowing,"[45] "discerning awareness"[46]). [Still] experiencing sukha with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which the noble ones announce, "abiding in [bodily] pleasure, one is equanimous and mindful".
  4. Fourth jhāna:
    With the abandoning of [the desire for] sukha ("pleasure") and [aversion to] dukkha ("pain"[47][46]) and with the previous disappearance of [the inner movement between] somanassa ("gladness,"[48]) and domanassa ("discontent"[48]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which is adukkham asukham ("neither-painful-nor-pleasurable,"[47] "freedom from pleasure and pain"[49]) and has upekkhāsatipārisuddhi (complete purity of equanimity and mindfulness).[note 12]

The arūpa āyatanas

See also: Formless Realm

Grouped into the jhāna-scheme are four meditative states referred to in the early texts as arūpa-āyatanas. These are also referred to in commentarial literature as arūpa-jhānas ("formless" or "immaterial" jhānas), corresponding to the arūpa-loka (translated as the "formless realm" or the "formless dimensions"), to be distinguished from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them; they are instead referred to as āyatana. However, they are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas (other texts, e.g. MN 121, treat them as a distinct set of attainments) and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhānas.[citation needed] The formless jhānas are related to, or derived from, yogic meditation, while the jhānas proper are related to the cultivation of the mind. The state of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.

The four arūpa-āyatanas/arūpa-jhānas are:

  • Fifth jhāna: infinite space (Pāḷi ākāsānañcāyatana, Skt. ākāśānantyāyatana)
  • Sixth jhāna: infinite consciousness (Pāḷi viññāṇañcāyatana, Skt. vijñānānantyāyatana)
  • Seventh jhāna: infinite nothingness (Pāḷi ākiñcaññāyatana, Skt. ākiṃcanyāyatana)
  • Eighth jhāna: neither perception nor non-perception (Pāḷi nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, Skt. naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana)

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine jhānas taught by the Buddha (see section on nirodha-samāpatti below), they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Truth number eight is sammā samādhi (Right Concentration), and only the first four jhānas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the jhānas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".

Nirodha-samāpatti

Beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception lies a state called nirodha samāpatti, the "cessation of perception, feelings and consciousness".[51] Only in commentarial and scholarly literature, this is sometimes called the "ninth jhāna".[52][53] Another name for this state is saññāvedayitanirodha ("cessation of perception and feeling"). According to Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga (XXIII, 18), it is characterized by the temporary suppression of consciousness and its concomitant mental factors, so the contemplative reaches a state unconscious (acittaka) for a week at most. In the nirodha remain unically some elementary physiological process designated, in the Mahāvedalla-sutta, by the terms āyu and usmā.

Broader dhyana-practices

While dhyana typically refers to the four jhanas/dhyanas, the term also refers to a set of practices which seem to go back to a very early stage of the Buddhist tradition. These practices are the contemplation on the body-parts and their repulsiveness (patikulamanasikara); contemplation on the elements of which the body is composed; contemplation on the stages of decay of a dead body; and mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati). These practices are described in the Satipatthana Sutta of the Pali canon and the equivalent texts of the Chinese agamas, in which they are interwoven with the factors of the four dhyanas or the seven factors of awakening (bojjhanga). This set of practices was also transmitted via the Dhyana sutras, which are based on the Sarvastivada-tradition, forming the basis of the Chan/Zen-tradition.

Early Buddhism

Main articles: Enlightenment in Buddhism and Nirvana

The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of jhāna.[3][page needed] There is a tradition that stresses attaining insight (vipassanā) as the means to awakening (bodhi, prajñā, kenshō) and liberation (vimutti, nibbāna).[note 13] But the Buddhist tradition has also incorporated the yogic tradition, as reflected in the use of jhāna as a concentrative practice, which is rejected in other sūtras as not resulting in the final result of liberation. One solution to this contradiction is the conjunctive use of vipassanā and samatha.[56][note 14]

Origins of the jhana/dhyana-stages

Textual accounts

The Mahasaccaka Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 36, narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening. According to this story, he learned two kinds of meditation from two teachers, Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma. These forms of meditation did not lead to liberation, and he then underwent harsh ascetic practices, with which he eventually also became disillusioned. The Buddha then recalled a meditative state he entered by chance as a child:[3][page needed]

I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then—quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities—I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.'[58]

Originally, the practice of dhyāna itself may have constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, since in this state all "pleasure and pain" had waned.[59] According to Vetter,

Probably the word "immortality" (a-mata) was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the Four Noble Truths [...] the Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the Four Noble Truths and/or other data. But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation "achieving immortality".[60]

Possible Buddhist transformation of yogic practices

The time of the Buddha saw the rise of the śramaṇa movement, ascetic practitioners with a body of shared teachings and practices.[61][full citation needed] The strict delineation of this movement into Jainism, Buddhism and brahmanical/Upanishadic traditions is a later development.[61][full citation needed][note 15] According to Crangle, the development of meditative practices in ancient India was a complex interplay between Vedic and non-Vedic traditions.[65] According to Bronkhorst, the four rūpa jhāna may be an original contribution of the Buddha to the religious practices of ancient India, forming an alternative to the ascetic practices of the Jains and similar śramaṇa traditions, while the arūpa āyatanas were incorporated from non-Buddhist ascetic traditions.[66]

"That meditation-expert (muni) becomes eternally free who, seeking the Supreme Goal, is able to withdraw from external phenomena by fixing his gaze within the mid-spot of the eyebrows and by neutralizing the even currents of prana and apana [that flow] within the nostrils and lungs; and to control his sensory mind and intellect; and to banish desire, fear, and anger.”

—The Bhagavad Gita V:27-28[67]

Kalupahana argues that the Buddha "reverted to the meditational practices" he had learned from Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, "directed at the appeasement of mind rather than the development of insight." Moving beyond these initial practices, reflection gave him the essential insight into conditioning, and learned him how to appease his "dispostional tendencies", without either being dominated by them, nor completely annihilating them.[68]

Wynne argues that the attainment of the formless meditative absorption was incorporated from Brahmanical practices, and have Brahmnanical cosmogenies as their doctrinal background.[69][note 16] Wynne therefore concludes that these practices were borrowed from a Brahminic source, namely Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma.[72] Yet, the Buddha rejected their goals, as they were not liberating, and discovered his own path to awakening,[69] which "consisted of the adaptation of the old yogic techniques to the practice of mindfulness and attainment of insight." Thus "radically transform[ed]" application of yogic practices was conceptualized in the scheme of the four jhānas.[69]

Yet, according to Bronkhorst, the Buddha's teachings developed primarily in response to Jain teachings, not Brahmanical teachings,[3]and the account of the Buddha practicing under Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma is entirely fictitious, and meant to flesh out the mentioning of those names in the post-enlightenment narrative in Majjhima Nikaya 36.[3][73] Vishvapani notes that the Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final form long after the Buddha's lifetime, with the Mokshadharma postdating him. Vishvapani further notes that Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma may well have been sramanic teachers, as the Buddhist tradition asserts, not Brahmins.[73]

Five possibilities regarding jhāna and liberation

See also: Buddhist paths to awakening and Subitism

A stock phrase in the canon states that one develops the four rupa dhyanas and then attains liberating insight. While the texts often refer to comprehending the four noble truths as constituting this "liberating insight", Schmithausen notes that the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight" (here referring to paññā[74]) is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[75][3][page needed][2][page needed]

Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility, while the attainment of nirodha-samāpatti may constitute a fifth possibility:[76]

  1. Mastering the four jhānas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;
  2. Mastering the four jhānas and the four arūpas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;
  3. Liberating insight itself suffices;
  4. The four jhānas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the Buddha;[77]
  5. Liberation is attained in nirodha-samāpatti.[78]

Rūpa jhāna followed by liberating insight

Main articles: Vipassanā and Sampajañña

According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhāna state to bring the mind to rest, and to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self. According to the Theravada-tradition, the arahant is aware that the jhānas are ultimately unsatisfactory, realizing that the meditative attainments are also anicca, impermanent.[79]

In the Mahasaccaka Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 36), which narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening, dhyāna is followed by insight into the four noble truths. The mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight" is probably a later addition.[75][60][3][page needed] Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyāna, when interpreted as concentration, since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state.[80] He also notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an expression of what this "liberating insight" constituted.[81] In time, other expressions took over this function, such as pratītyasamutpāda and the emptiness of the self.[82]

Rūpa jhāna and the arūpas, followed by liberating insight

This scheme is rejected by scholars as a later development, since the arūpas are akin to non-Buddhist practices, and rejected elsewhere in the canon.

Insight alone suffices

The emphasis on "liberating insight" alone seems to be a later development, in response to developments in Indian religious thought, which saw "liberating insight" as essential to liberation.[83][77] This may also have been due to an over-literal interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha,[84] and to the problems involved with the practice of dhyana, and the need to develop an easier method.[85]

Contemporary scholars have discerned a broader application of jhāna in historical Buddhist practice. According to Alexander Wynne, the ultimate aim of dhyāna was the attainment of insight,[86] and the application of the meditative state to the practice of mindfulness.[86] According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner, this may have been the Buddha's original idea.[87] According to Wynne, this stress on mindfulness may have led to the intellectualism which favoured insight over the practice of dhyāna.[88]

Jhāna itself is liberating

Both Schmithausen and Bronkhorst note that the attainment of insight, which is a cognitive activity, cannot be possible in a state wherein all cognitive activity has ceased.[3] According to Vetter, the practice of Rupa Jhāna itself may have constituted the core practice of early Buddhism, with practices such as sila and mindfulness aiding its development.[77] It is the "middle way" between self-mortification, ascribed by Bronkhorst to Jainism,[3] and indulgence in sensual pleasure.[89] Vetter emphasizes that dhyana is a form of non-sensual happiness.[90] The eightfold path can be seen as a path of preparation which leads to the practice of samadhi.[91]

Liberation in nirodha-samāpatti

According to some texts, after progressing through the eight jhānas and the stage of nirodha-samāpatti, a person is liberated.[51] According to some traditions someone attaining the state of nirodha-samāpatti is an anagami or an arahant.[78] In the Anupadda sutra, the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant upon reaching it.[92]

Theravada

 
Buddha in Dhyana, which in this context means: The meditative training stage on the path to Samadhi.

The five hindrances

In the commentarial tradition, the development of jhāna is described as the development of five mental factors (Sanskrit: caitasika; Pali: cetasika) that counteract the five hindrances:[note 17]

Table: Rūpa jhāna
Cetasika
(mental factors)		 First
jhāna		 Second
jhāna		 Third
jhāna		 Fourth
jhāna
Kāma / Akusala dhamma
(sensuality / unskillful qualities)
 secluded from;
withdrawn 		does not occur does not occur does not occur
Pīti
(rapture)
 seclusion-born;
pervades body 		samādhi-born;
pervades body 		fades away
(along with distress) 		does not occur
Sukha
(non-sensual pleasure)
 pervades
physical body 		abandoned
(no pleasure nor pain)
Vitakka
("applied thought")
 accompanies
jhāna 		unification of awareness
free from vitakka and vicāra 		does not occur does not occur
Vicāra
("sustained thought")
Upekkhāsatipārisuddhi does not occur internal confidence equanimous;
mindful 		purity of
equanimity and mindfulness
Sources:[93][94][95]
This box:
  1. vitakka ("applied thought") counteracts sloth and torpor (lethargy and drowsiness)
  2. vicāra ("sustained thought") counteracts doubt (uncertainty)
  3. pīti (rapture) counteracts ill-will (malice)
  4. sukha (non-sensual pleasure) counteracts restlessness-worry (excitation and anxiety)
  5. ekaggata (one-pointedness) counteracts sensory desire

Jhana as concentration

Buddhagosa's Visuddhimagga considers jhana to be an exercise in concentration-meditation. His views, together with the Satipatthana Sutta, inspired the development, in the 19th and 20th century, of new meditation techniques which gained a great popularity among lay audiences in the second half of the 20th century.[96]

Samadhi

Further information: Samadhi in Buddhism

According to Henepola Gunaratana, the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration". The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha", serenity.[14] According to Gunaratana, in the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning.[note 18] Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical, since "certain differences in their suggested and contextual meanings prevent unqualified identification of the two terms." Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness, "or at least the whole group of mental factors individuating that meditative state as a jhana."[14] Furthermore, according to Gunaratana, samadhi involves "a wider range of reference than jhana", noting that "the Pali exegetical tradition recognizes three levels of samadhi: preliminary concentration (parikammasamadhi) [...] access concentration (upacarasamadhi) [...] and absorption concentration (appanasamadhi)."[14]

Development and application of concentration

According to the Pāli canon commentary, access/neighbourhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi) is a stage of meditation that the meditator reaches before entering into jhāna. The overcoming of the five hindrances[note 19] mark the entry into access concentration.[citation needed] Access concentration is not mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha, but there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma on hearing a teaching from the Buddha.[note 20][note 21]

According to Tse-fu Kuan, at the state of access concentration, some meditators may experience vivid mental imagery,[note 22] which is similar to a vivid dream. They are as vivid as if seen by the eye, but in this case the meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images. According to Tse-fu Kuan, this is discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravāda commentaries.[98]

According to Venerable Sujivo, as the concentration becomes stronger, the feelings of breathing and of having a physical body will completely disappear, leaving only pure awareness. At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid, thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration, because the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has completely disappeared. They should not be so afraid and should continue their concentration in order to reach "full concentration" (jhāna).[99]

A meditator should first master the lower jhānas, before they can go into the higher jhānas. According to Nathan Katz, the early suttas state that "the most exquisite of recluses" is able to attain any of the jhānas and abide in them without difficulty.[79][note 23]

According to the contemporary Vipassana-movement, the jhāna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses the defilements. Meditators must use the jhāna state as an instrument for developing wisdom by cultivating insight, and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana.[citation needed]

According to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access concentration. In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.[citation needed]

Criticism

While the jhānas are often understood as deepening states of concentration, due to its description as such in the Abhidhamma,[101] and the Visuddhimagga,[39] since the 1980s both academic scholars and contemporary Theravādins have started to question this understanding, raising questions about the interpretation of the jhanas as being states of absorption which are not necessary for the attainment of liberation. While groundbreaking research on this topic has been done by Bareau, Schmithausen, Stuart-Fox, Bucknell, Vetter, Bronkhorst, and Wynne, Theravada practitioners have also scrutinized and criticised the samatha-vipassana distinction.[102] Reassessments of the description of jhana in the suttas consider jhana and vipassana to be an integrated practice, leading to a "tranquil and equanimous awareness of whatever arises in the field of experience."[5][6][7][8]

Scholarly criticism

While the commentarial tradition regards vitarka and vicara as initial and sustained concentration on a meditation object, Roderick S. Bucknell notes that vitarka and vicara may refer to "probably nothing other than the normal process of discursive thought, the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of mental imagery and verbalization." Bucknell further notes that "[t]hese conclusions conflict with the widespread conception of the first jhāna as a state of deep concentration."[39]

According to Stuart-Fox, the Abhidhamma separated vitarka from vicara, and ekaggata (one-pointedness) was added to the description of the first dhyāna to give an equal number of five hindrances and five antidotes.[103] The commentarial tradition regards the qualities of the first dhyāna to be antidotes to the five hindrances, and ekaggata may have been added to the first dhyāna to give exactly five antidotes for the five hindrances.[104] Stuart-Fox further notes that vitarka, being discursive thought, will do very little as an antidote for sloth and torpor, reflecting the inconsistencies which were introduced by the scholastics.[104]

Vetter, Gombrich and Wynne note that the first and second jhana represent the onset of dhyāna due to withdrawal and right effort c.q. the four right efforts, followed by concentration, whereas the third and fourth jhāna combine concentration with mindfulness.[43][105] Polak, elaborating on Vetter, notes that the onset of the first dhyāna is described as a quite natural process, due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the nurturing of wholesome states.[7][22] Regarding samādhi as the eighth step of the Noble Eightfold Path, Vetter notes that samādhi consists of the four stages of dhyāna meditation, but

...to put it more accurately, the first dhyana seems to provide, after some time, a state of strong concentration, from which the other stages come forth; the second stage is called samadhija"[106] [...] "born from samadhi."[43]

According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rūpa jhānas describes two different cognitive states: "I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second."[107][note 24] Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhāna denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth jhāna one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to them.[108][note 25] According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other—and indeed higher—element.[107] According to Lusthaus, "mindfulness in [the fourth dhyana] is an alert, relaxed awareness detached from positive and negative conditioning."[109]

Gethin, followed by Polak and Arbel, further notes that there is a "definite affinity" between the four jhānas and the bojjhaṅgā, the seven factors of awakening.[110][111][112][8] According to Gethin, the early Buddhist texts have "a broadly consistent vision" regarding meditation practice. Various practices lead to the development of the factors of awakening, which are not only the means to, but also the constituents of, awakening.[113] According to Gethin, satipaṭṭhāna and ānāpānasati are related to a formula that summarizes the Buddhist path to awakening as "abandoning the hindrances, establishing [...] mindfulness, and developing the seven factors of awakening."[114] This results in a "heightened awareness", "overcoming distracting and disturbing emotions",[115] which are not particular elements of the path to awakening, but rather common disturbing and distracting emotions.[116] Gethin further states that "the exegetical literature is essentially true to the vision of meditation presented in the Nikayas,"[117] applying the "perfect mindfulness, stillness and lucidity" of the jhanas to the contemplation of "reality", of the way things really are,[118] as temporary and ever-changing.[117] It is in this sense that "the jhana state has the transcendent, transforming quality of awakening."[119]

Alexander Wynne states that the dhyāna-scheme is poorly understood.[88] According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā, are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states,[88] whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects:[88]

Thus the expression sato sampajāno in the third jhāna must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhāna (cetaso ekodibhāva). It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word upek(k)hā: it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth jhāna-s, as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.[120]

Upekkhā, equanimity, which is perfected in the fourth dhyāna, is one of the four Brahmā-vihāra. While the commentarial tradition downplayed the importance of the Brahmā-vihāra, Gombrich notes that the Buddhist usage of the term Brahmā-vihāra originally referred to an awakened state of mind, and a concrete attitude toward other beings which was equal to "living with Brahman" here and now. The later tradition took those descriptions too literally, linking them to cosmology and understanding them as "living with Brahman" by rebirth in the Brahmā-world.[121] According to Gombrich, "the Buddha taught that kindness—what Christians tend to call love—was a way to salvation.[122]

Contemporary Theravada reassessment - the "Jhana wars"

While Theravada-meditation was introduced to the west as vipassana-meditation, which rejected the usefulness of jhana, there is a growing interest among western vipassana-practitioners in jhana.[123][124] The nature and practice of jhana is a topic of debate and contention among western convert Theravadins, to the extent that the disputes have even been called "the Jhana wars."[5][note 26]

Criticism of Visudhimagga

The Visuddhimagga, and the "pioneering popularizing work of Daniel Goleman",[124][note 27] has been influential in the (mis)understanding of dhyana being a form of concentration-meditation. The Visuddhimagga is centered around kasina-meditation, a form of concentration-meditation in which the mind is focused on a (mental) object.[126] According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "[t]he text then tries to fit all other meditation methods into the mold of kasina practice, so that they too give rise to countersigns, but even by its own admission, breath meditation does not fit well into the mold."[126] According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "the Visuddhimagga uses a very different paradigm for concentration from what you find in the Canon."[127] In its emphasis on kasina-meditation, the Visuddhimagga departs from the Pali Canon, in which dhyana is the central meditative practice, indicating that what "jhana means in the commentaries is something quite different from what it means in the Canon."[126]

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana also notes that what "the suttas say is not the same as what the Visuddhimagga says [...] they are actually different," leading to a divergence between a [traditional] scholarly understanding and a practical understanding based on meditative experience.[128] Gunaratana further notes that Buddhaghosa invented several key meditation terms which are not to be found in the suttas, such as "parikamma samadhi (preparatory concentration), upacara samadhi (access concentration), appanasamadhi (absorption concentration)."[129] Gunaratana also notes that Buddhaghosa's emphasis on kasina-meditation is not to be found in the suttas, where dhyana is always combined with mindfulness.[130][note 28]

According to scholar Tilman Vetter, dhyana as a preparation of discriminating insight must have been different from the dhyana-practice introduced by the Buddha, using kasina-exercises to produce a "more artificially produced dhyana", resulting in the cessation of apperceptions and feelings.[131] Shankman notes that kasina-exercises are propagated in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, which is considered the authoritative commentary on meditation practice in the Theravada tradition, but differs from the Pali canon in its description of jhana. While the suttas connect samadhi to mindfulness and awareness of the body, for Buddhaghosa jhana is a purely mental exercise, in which one-pointed concentration leads to a narrowing of attention.[132]

Jhana as integrated practice

Several western teachers (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Leigh Brasington, Richard Shankman) make a distinction between "sutta-oriented" jhana and "Visuddhimagga-oriented" jhana,[123][133] dubbed "minimalists" and "maximalists" by Kenneth Rose.[133]

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, a western teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition, has repeatedly argued that the Pali Canon and the Visuddhimagga give different descriptions of the jhanas, regarding the Visuddhimagga-description to be incorrect.[123] According to Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu warns against the development of strong states of concentration.[123] Arbel describes the fourth jhāna as "non-reactive and lucid awareness", not as a state of deep concentration.[8]

According to Richard Shankman, the sutta descriptions of jhāna practice explain that the meditator does not emerge from jhāna to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhāna itself. In particular the meditator is instructed to "enter and remain in the fourth jhāna" before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental defilements.[134][note 29]

Keren Arbel has conducted extensive research on the jhanas and the contemporary criticisms of the commentarial interpretation. Based on this research, and her own experience as a senior meditation-teacher, she gives a reconstructed account of the original meaning of the dhyanas. She argues that jhana is an integrated practice, describing the fourth jhana as "non-reactive and lucid awareness", not as a state of deep concentration.[8] According to Arbel, it develops "a mind which is not conditioned by habitual reaction-patterns of likes and dislikes [...] a profoundly wise relation to experience, not tainted by any kind of wrong perception and mental reactivity rooted in craving (tanha).[136]

According to Kenneth Rose, the Visuddhimagga-oriented "maximalist" approach is a return to ancient Indian "mainstream practices", in which physical and mental immobility was thought to lead to liberation from samsara and rebirth. This approach was rejected by the Buddha, turning to a gentler approach which results in upekkha and sati, equanimous awareness of experience.[5]

In Mahāyāna traditions

 
Bodhisattva seated in meditation. Afghanistan, 2nd century CE.

Mahāyāna Buddhism includes numerous schools of practice. Each draw upon various Buddhist sūtras, philosophical treatises, and commentaries, and each has its own emphasis, mode of expression, and philosophical outlook. Accordingly, each school has its own meditation methods for the purpose of developing samādhi and prajñā, with the goal of ultimately attaining enlightenment.

Preservation of dhyana as open awareness

Both Polak and Arbel suggest that the traditions of Dzogchen,[137][138] Mahamudra and Chan[137] preserve or resemble dhyana as an open awareness of body and mind, thus transcending the dichotomy between vipassana and samatha.[137][138][note 30]

Chan Buddhism

See also: Zen, Chan Buddhism, Zazen, Korean Seon, Vietnamese Thiền, and Zen in the United States

Anapanasati and dhyāna are a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan, necessary for progress on the path and "true entry into the Dharma".[note 31]

Origins

In China, the word dhyāna was originally transliterated with Chinese: 禪那; pinyin: chánnà and shortened to just pinyin: chán in common usage. The word and the practice of meditation entered into Chinese through the translations of An Shigao (fl. c. 148–180 CE), and Kumārajīva (334–413 CE), who translated Dhyāna sutras, which were influential early meditation texts mostly based on the Yogacara meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir circa 1st–4th centuries CE.[145] The word chán became the designation for Chan Buddhism (Korean Seon, Vietnamese Thiền, Japanese Zen).

In Chinese Buddhism, following the Ur-text of the Satipatthana Sutra and the dhyana sutras, dhyāna refers to various kinds of meditation techniques and their preparatory practices, which are necessary to practice dhyana.[146] The five main types of meditation in the Dhyana sutras are anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing); paṭikūlamanasikāra meditation, mindfulness of the impurities of the body; loving-kindness maitrī meditation; the contemplation on the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda; and the contemplation on the Buddha's thirty-two Characteristics.[147]

Downplaying the body-recollections[148] (but maintaining the awareness of imminent death), the early Chan-tradition developed the notions or practices of wu nian ("no thought, no "fixation on thought, such as one's own views, experiences, and knowledge")[149][150] and fēi sīliàng (非思量, Japanese: hishiryō, "nonthinking");[151] and kanxin ("observing the mind")[152] and shou-i pu i (守一不移, "maintaining the one without wavering")[153] turning the attention from the objects of experience, to the nature of mind, the perceiving subject itself, which is equated with Buddha-nature.[154]

Mindfulness

Observing the breath
 
Venerable Hsuan Hua meditating in the Lotus Position. Hong Kong, 1953

During sitting meditation, practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus, Burmese, or yoga postures, using the dhyāna mudrā. To regulate the mind, awareness is directed towards counting or watching the breath or by bringing that awareness to the energy center below the navel (see also ānāpānasati).[155] Often, a square or round cushion placed on a padded mat is used to sit on; in some other cases, a chair may be used. This practice may simply be called sitting dhyāna, which is zuòchán (坐禅) in Chinese, zazen (坐禅) in Japanese, jwaseon (坐禅) in Korean, and tọa thiền in Vietnamese .

Observing the mind

In the Sōtō school of Zen, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of this practice can be found throughout Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, as for example in the "Principles of Zazen"[156] and the "Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen".[157] In the Japanese language, this practice is called Shikantaza.

Insight

Pointing to the nature of the mind

According to Charles Luk, in the earliest traditions of Chán, there was no fixed method or formula for teaching meditation, and all instructions were simply heuristic methods, to point to the true nature of the mind, also known as Buddha-nature.[158] According to Luk, this method is referred to as the "Mind Dharma", and exemplified in the story of Śākyamuni Buddha holding up a flower silently, and Mahākāśyapa smiling as he understood.[note 32][158] A traditional formula of this is, "Chán points directly to the human mind, to enable people to see their true nature and become buddhas."[159]

Kōan practice
Main article: Kōan
 
Chinese character for "nothing" (Hanyu Pinyin: wú; Japanese pronunciation: mu; Korean pronunciation: mu; Vietnamese: vô). It figures in the famous Zhaozhou's dog kōan.

At the beginning of the Sòng dynasty, practice with the kōan method became popular, whereas others practiced "silent illumination".[160] This became the source of some differences in practice between the Línjì and Cáodòng schools.

A kōan, literally "public case", is a story or dialogue, describing an interaction between a Zen master and a student. These anecdotes give a demonstration of the master's insight. Koans emphasize the non-conceptional insight that the Buddhist teachings are pointing to. Koans can be used to provoke the "great doubt", and test a student's progress in Zen practice.

Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and throughout all the activities of daily life. Kōan practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai school, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line.[161]

The Zen student's mastery of a given kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview (referred to in Japanese as dokusan (独参), daisan (代参), or sanzen (参禅)). While there is no unique answer to a kōan, practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the kōan and of Zen through their responses. The teacher may approve or disapprove of the answer and guide the student in the right direction. The interaction with a Zen teacher is central in Zen, but makes Zen practice also vulnerable to misunderstanding and exploitation.[162]

Vajrayāna

B. Alan Wallace holds that modern Tibetan Buddhism lacks emphasis on achieving levels of concentration higher than access concentration.[163][164] According to Wallace, one possible explanation for this situation is that virtually all Tibetan Buddhist meditators seek to become enlightened through the use of tantric practices. These require the presence of sense desire and passion in one's consciousness, but jhāna effectively inhibits these phenomena.[163]

While few Tibetan Buddhists, either inside or outside Tibet, devote themselves to the practice of concentration, Tibetan Buddhist literature does provide extensive instructions on it, and great Tibetan meditators of earlier times stressed its importance.[165]

Related concepts in Indian religions

See also: Dhyana in Hinduism

Dhyana is an important ancient practice mentioned in the Vedic and post-Vedic literature of Hinduism, as well as early texts of Jainism.[166][167][168] Dhyana in Buddhism influenced these practices as well as was influenced by them, likely in its origins and its later development.[166]

Parallels with Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga

See also: Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

There are parallels with the fourth to eighth stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical work, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which were compiled around 400 CE by, taking materials about yoga from older traditions.[169][170][171]

Patanjali discerns bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and the antaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of Samyama. At the stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka (practitioner) to next stages of Yoga, namely Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (mystical absorption), being the aim of all Yogic practices.[172]

The Eight Limbs of the yoga sutras show Samadhi as one of its limbs. The Eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra was influenced by Buddhism.[173][174] Vyasa's Yogabhashya, the commentary to the Yogasutras, and Vacaspati Misra's subcommentary state directly that the samadhi techniques are directly borrowed from the Buddhists' Jhana, with the addition of the mystical and divine interpretations of mental absorption.[175][failed verification] The Yoga Sutra, especially the fourth segment of Kaivalya Pada, contains several polemical verses critical of Buddhism, particularly the Vijñānavāda school of Vasubandhu.[176]

The suttas show that during the time of the Buddha, Nigantha Nataputta, the Jain leader, did not even believe that it is possible to enter a state where the thoughts and examination stop.[177]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Bronkhorst and Wynne, among others, have discussed the influence of Vedic and Jain thought and practices on Buddhism. The "burning up" of defilements by means of austerities is a typical Jain practice, which was rejected by the Buddha.[15][16]
  2. ^ Though rūpa may also refer to the body. Arbel (2017) refers to the jhana as psycho-somatic experiences.
  3. ^ Shankman 2008, p. 15 quotes to MN 117.14, Mahācattārīsakasutta:[19] “And what, bhikkhus, is right intention that is noble, taintless, supramundane, a factor of the path? The thinking, thought, intention, mental absorption, mental fixity, directing of mind, verbal formation in one whose mind is noble, whose mind is taintless, who possesses the noble path and is developing the noble path: this is right intention that is noble…a factor of the path."
  4. ^ Polak refers to Vetter, who noted that in the suttas right effort leads to a calm state of mind. When this calm and self-restraint had been reached, the Buddha is described as sitting down and attaining the first jhana, in an almost natural way.[7]
  5. ^ Keren Arbel refers to Majjhima Nikaya 26, Ariyapariyesana Sutta, The Noble Search
    See also:
    * Majjhima Nikaya 111, Anuppada Sutta
    * AN 05.028, Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration.
    See Johansson (1981), Pali Buddhist texts Explained to Beginners for a word-by-word translation.
  6. ^ Arbel explains that "viveka" is usually translated as "detachment," "separation," or "seclusion," but the primary meaning is "discrimination." According to Arbel, the usage of vivicca/vivicceva and viveka in the description of the first dhyana "plays with both meanings of the verb; namely, its meaning as discernment and the consequent 'seclusion' and letting go," in line with the "discernment of the nature of experience" developed by the four satipatthanas.[26] Compare Dogen: "Being apart from all disturbances and dwelling alone in a quiet place is called "enjoying serenity and tranquility.""[27]
    Arbel further argues that viveka resembles dhamma vicaya, which is mentioned in the bojjhanga, an alternative description of the dhyanas, but the only bojjhanga-term not mentioned in the stock dhyana-description.[28] Compare Sutta Nipatha 5.14 Udayamāṇavapucchā (The Questions of Udaya): "Pure equanimity and mindfulness, preceded by investigation of principles—this, I declare, is liberation by enlightenment, the smashing of ignorance.” (Translation: Sujato)
  7. ^ Stta Nipatha 5:13 Udaya’s Questions (transl. Thanissaro): "With delight the world’s fettered. With directed thought it’s examined."
    Chen 2017: "Samadhi with general examination and specific in-depth investigation means getting rid of the not virtuous dharmas, such as greedy desire and hatred, to stay in joy and pleasure caused by nonarising, and to enter the first meditation and fully dwell in it."
    Arbel 2016, p. 73: "Thus, my suggestion is that we should interpret the existence of vitakka and vicara in the first jhana as wholesome 'residues' of a previous development of wholesome thoughts. They denote the 'echo' of these wholesome thoughts, which reverberates in one who enters the first jhana as wholesome attitudes toward what is experienced."
  8. ^ In the Pali canon, Vitakka-vicāra form one expression, which refers to directing one's thought or attention on an object (vitarka) and investigate it (vicāra).[31][34][35][36][37] According to Dan Lusthaus, vitarka-vicāra is analytic scrutiny, a form of prajna. It "involves focusing on [something] and then breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it, "distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event."[38] The Theravada commentarial tradition, as represented by Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, interprets vitarka and vicāra as the initial and sustained application of attention to a meditational object, which culminates in the stilling of the mind when moving on to the second dhyana.[39][40] According to Fox and Bucknell it may also refer to "the normal process of discursive thought," which is quieted through absorption in the second jhāna.[40][39]
  9. ^ The standard translation for samadhi is "concentration"; yet, this translation/interpretation is based on commentarial interpretations, as explained by a number of contemporary authors.[24] Tilmann Vetter notes that samadhi has a broad range of meanings, and "concentration" is just one of them. Vetter argues that the second, third and fourth dhyana are samma-samadhi, "right samadhi," building on a "spontaneous awareness" (sati) and equanimity which is perfected in the fourth dhyana.[43]
  10. ^ The common translation, based on the commentarial interpretation of dhyana as expanding states of absorption, translates sampasadana as "internal assurance." Yet, as Bucknell explains, it also means "tranquilizing," which is more apt in this context.[39] See also Passaddhi.
  11. ^ Upekkhā is one of the Brahmaviharas.
  12. ^ With the fourth jhāna comes the attainment of higher knowledge (abhijñā), that is, the extinction of all mental intoxicants (āsava), but also psychic powers.[50] For instance in AN 5.28, the Buddha states (Thanissaro, 1997.):
    "When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening...."
    "If he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many; having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives in and out of the earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening ..."
  13. ^ According to the Theravada tradition dhyana must be combined with vipassanā,[54] which gives insight into the three marks of existence and leads to detachment and "the manifestation of the path".[55]
  14. ^ In Zen Buddhism, this problem has appeared over the centuries in the disputes over sudden versus gradual enlightenment.[57][page needed]
  15. ^ Thomas William Rhys Davids and Maurice Walshe agreed that the term samādhi is not found in any pre-Buddhist text but is first mentioned in the Tipiṭaka. It was subsequently incorporated into later texts such as the Maitrayaniya Upanishad.[62] But according to Matsumoto, "the terms dhyana and samahita (entering samadhi) appear already in Upanishadic texts that predate the origins of Buddhism".[63] Note that of the 200 or so Upanishads, only the first 10 or 12 are considered the oldest and principal Upanishads. Among these 10 or 12 principal Upanishads, the Taittiriya, Aitareya and Kausitaki show Buddhist influence.[64] The Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya-Upanisad-Brahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads were composed during the pre-Buddhist era while the rest of these 12 oldest Upanishads are dated to the last few centuries BCE.
  16. ^ Wynne claimed that Brahmanic passages on meditation suggest that the most basic presupposition of early Brahmanical yoga is that the creation of the world must be reversed, through a series of meditative states, by the yogin who seeks the realization of the self.[70] These states were given doctrinal background in early Brahminic cosmogenies, which classified the world into successively coarser strata. One such stratification is found at TU II.1 and Mbh XII.195, and proceeds as follows: self, space, wind, fire, water, earth. Mbh XII.224 gives alternatively: Brahman, mind, space, wind, fire, water, earth.[71]
  17. ^ See, for instance, Samādhaṅga Sutta (a/k/a, Pañcaṅgikasamādhi Sutta, AN 5.28) (Thanissaro, 1997b).
  18. ^ Gunarathana refers to Buddhaghosa, who explains samadhi etymologically as "the centering 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)."[14]
  19. ^ Sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry and doubt
  20. ^ According to Peter Harvey, access concentration is described at Digha Nikaya I, 110, among other places: "The situation at D I, 110, then, can be seen as one where the hearer of a discourse enters a state which, while not an actual jhana, could be bordering on it. As it is free from hindrances, it could be seen as 'access' concentration with a degree of wisdom." Peter Harvey, Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha. In Karel Werner, ed., The Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press 1989, page 95. See also: Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind, page 170.
  21. ^ The equivalent of upacāra-samādhi used in Tibetan commentaries is nyer-bsdogs.[97]
  22. ^ Pāli: nimitta
  23. ^ According to Sujiva, there are five aspects of jhāna mastery:[100]
    1. Mastery in adverting: the ability to advert[clarification needed] to the jhāna factors one by one after emerging from the jhāna, wherever desired, whenever she/ he wants, and for as long as one wants.
    2. Mastery in attaining: the ability to enter upon jhāna quickly.
    3. Mastery in resolving: the ability to remain in the jhāna for exactly the pre-determined length of time.
    4. Mastery in emerging: the ability to emerge from jhāna quickly without difficulty.
    5. Mastery in reviewing: the ability to review the jhāna and its factors with retrospective knowledge immediately after adverting to them.
  24. ^ Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism, OCHS Library
  25. ^ Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism, OCHS Library
  26. ^ See also:
    * Leigh Brasington, Interpretations of the Jhanas
    * Simple|Sutta, Jhana Wars!
    * Dhamma Wheel, The great Jhana debate[125]
  27. ^ See Golman's The Varieties of Meditative Experience, published early 1970s, which praises the Visuddhimagga as a masterguide for the practice of meditation.
  28. ^ See also Bronkhorst (1993), Two Traditions of Meditation in ancient India; Wynne (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation; and Polak (2011), Reexaming Jhana.
  29. ^ Samaññaphala Sutta: "With the abandoning of pleasure and pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhāna: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure nor pain...With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, the monk directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. He discerns, as it has come to be, that 'This is suffering... This is the origination of suffering... This is the cessation of suffering... This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering... These are mental fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations."[135]
  30. ^ Arbel refers to Bodhi (2011) What Does Minfulness really Mean? A Canonical perspective. Contemporary Buddhism 12, no.1, p.25: "... a stance of observation or wtachfulness towards one's own experience. One might even call this a stance of sati a 'bending back' of the light of consciousness upon the experiencing subject in its physical, sensory and psychological dimensions."[139]
    "'Bending back' of the light" resembles Chinul's "turning back the radiance," in which the light of consciousness is turned back to apprehend the source of awareness; and Dogen in Fukan Zazen-gi, "Recommending Zazen to All People: "Take the backward step and turn the light inward. Your body-mind of itself will drop off and your original face will appear."[140] This goes back to the Xinxin Ming, "Faith in Mind," attributed to the third Zen-patriarch Sengcan, which states "Turning the light around for an instant / routs becoming, abiding, and decay,"[141] and is expressed in the Chinese Chan practice of Observing the mind.[142]
  31. ^ Dhyāna is a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan:
    * Nan Huai-Chin: "Intellectual reasoning is just another spinning of the sixth consciousness, whereas the practice of meditation is the true entry into the Dharma."[143]
    * According to Sheng Yen, meditative concentration is necessary, calling samādhi one of the requisite factors for progress on the path toward enlightenment.[144]
  32. ^ See Flower Sermon

References

  1. ^ Vetter 1988, p. 5.
  2. ^ a b c Vetter 1988.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bronkhorst 1993.
  4. ^ a b Gethin 1992.
  5. ^ a b c d Rose 2016, p. 60.
  6. ^ a b Shankman 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Polak 2011.
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  • Chen, Naichen (2017), The Great Prajna Paramita Sutra, Volume 1, Wheatmark
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  • Fuller-Sasaki, Ruth (2008), The Record of Lin-Ji, University of Hawaii Press
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  • Kunsang, Erik Pema (2004), Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1, North Atlantic Books
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  • McRae, John (1986), The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chʻan Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press
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  • Polak, Grzegorz (2011), Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology, UMCS
  • Quli, Natalie (2008), "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhana in Convert Theravada" (PDF), Pacific World, 10: 225–249
  • Rhys-Davids, T.W.; Stede, William, eds. (1921–25), The Pali Text Society's Pali–English dictionary, Pali Text Society)
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  • Schaik, Sam van (2018), The spirit of Zen, Yale University Press
  • Shankman, Richard (2008), The Experience of Samadhi: An In-depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation, Shambhala
  • Sharf, Robert (2014), "Mindfullness and Mindlessness in Early Chan" (PDF), Philosophy East & West, 64 (4): 933–964, doi:10.1353/pew.2014.0074, S2CID 144208166
  • Sharf, Robert H. (2015), "Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters)", Transcultural Psychiatry, 52 (4): 470–484, doi:10.1177/1363461514557561, PMID 25361692, S2CID 18518975
  • Suzuki, D.T. (2014), Selected Works of D.T. Suzuki, Volume I: Zen, University of California Press
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  • Vetter, Tilmann (1988), The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, BRILL
  • Vimalaramsi, Bhante (2015), A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation, Dhamma Sukha Publishing
  • Wayman, Alex (1997), "Introduction", Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real: Buddhist Meditation and the Middle View, from the Lam Rim Chen Mo Tson-kha-pa, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
  • Williams, Paul (2000), Buddhist Thought. A complete introduction to the Indian tradition, Routledge
  • Wujastyk, Dominik (2011), The Path to Liberation through Yogic Mindfulness in Early Ayurveda. In: David Gordon White (ed.), "Yoga in practice", Princeton University Press
  • Wynne, Alexander (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge
  • Yu, Jimmy (2021), Reimagining Chan Buddhism: Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan, Routledge
  • Zhu, Rui (2005), "Distinguishing Sōtō and Rinzai Zen: Manas and the Mental Mechanics of Meditation" (PDF), East and West, 55 (3): 426–446

Further reading

Scholarly (philological/historical)
  • Analayo (2017), Early Buddhist Meditation Studies (defence of traditional Theravada position)
  • Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
  • Bucknell, Robert S. (1993), "Reinterpreting the Jhanas", Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 16 (2)
  • Polak (2011), Reexamining Jhana
  • Stuart-Fox, Martin (1989), "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism", Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 12 (2)
  • Wynne, Alexander (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge
Re-assessment of jhana in Theravada
  • Arbel, Keren (2017). Early Buddhist meditation : the four jhânas as the actualization of insight. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-38399-4.
  • Quli, Natalie (2008), "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhana in Convert Theravada" (PDF), Pacific World, 10: 225–249
  • Shankman, Richard (2008), The Experience of Samadhi

External links

From Sutta Pitaka
Theravādin Buddhist perspective
  • Henepola Gunaratana, Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
  • Ajahn Brahmavamso,
  • Ajahn Brahmavamso, The Jhanas
  • Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Jhana not by the numbers
  • Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahāthera, MN 111 One by One as They Occurred – Anupada Sutta. Dhamma-Talks on the Anupada-Sutta. This provides a highly detailed account of the progression through the jhānas.
  • Sutta-style jhanas: a western phenomenon?, Dhamma Wheel
Mahayana
  • Nagarjuna, Commentary in the Four Dhyanas
Others
  • Leigh Breighton, Interpretations of the Jhanas
  • Jhana Wars!, Simple|Suttas
  • O'Brien, Barbara. "Jhanas or Dhyanas: A Progression of Buddhist Meditation." Learn Religions, 28 Sept. 2018.

August 20, 2023
dhyana, buddhism, also, samadhi, samatha, vipassanā, dhyana, hinduism, oldest, texts, buddhism, dhyāna, sanskrit, jhāna, pali, 𑀛, 𑀦, component, training, mind, bhavana, commonly, translated, meditation, withdraw, mind, from, automatic, responses, sense, impres. See also Samadhi Samatha Vipassana and Dhyana in Hinduism In the oldest texts of Buddhism dhyana Sanskrit ध य न or jhana Pali 𑀛 𑀦 is a component of the training of the mind bhavana commonly translated as meditation to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense impressions burn up the defilements and leading to a state of perfect equanimity and awareness upekkha sati parisuddhi 1 Dhyana may have been the core practice of pre sectarian Buddhism in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment 2 3 4 DhyanaChinese nameTraditional Chinese禪Simplified Chinese禅TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinChanWade GilesCh anYue CantoneseJyutpingsim4Tibetan nameTibetanབསམ གཏནTranscriptionsWyliebsam gtanVietnamese nameVietnamese alphabetThiềnHan Nom禪Korean nameHangul선Hanja禪TranscriptionsRevised RomanizationSeonMcCune ReischauerSŏnJapanese nameKanji禅定 or 静慮TranscriptionsRomanizationZenjyō or JyōryoFilipino nameTagalogDhyanaSanskrit nameSanskritध य न in Devanagari Dhyana Romanised Pali namePali𑀛 𑀦 in Brahmi ඣ න in Sinhala ឈ ន ធ យ ន in Khmer ဈ န in Burmese ၛ န in Mon Jhana Romanised chan in Thai Buddha depicted in dhyana Amaravati IndiaIn the later commentarial tradition which has survived in present day Theravada dhyana is equated with concentration a state of one pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings In the contemporary Theravada based Vipassana movement this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non beneficial for the first stage of awakening which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and Vipassana insight into impermanence Since the 1980s scholars and practitioners have started to question these positions arguing for a more comprehensive and integrated understanding and approach based on the oldest descriptions of dhyana in the suttas 5 6 7 8 In Buddhist traditions of Chan and Zen the names of which are respectively the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations of dhyana as in Theravada and Tiantai anapanasati mindfulness of breathing which is transmitted in the Buddhist tradition as a means to develop dhyana is a central practice In the Chan Zen tradition this practice is ultimately based on Sarvastivada meditation techniques transmitted since the beginning of the Common Era Contents 1 Etymology 2 The jhana dhyana stages 2 1 Integrated set of practices 2 2 The rupa jhanas 2 3 The arupa ayatanas 2 4 Nirodha samapatti 2 5 Broader dhyana practices 3 Early Buddhism 3 1 Origins of the jhana dhyana stages 3 1 1 Textual accounts 3 1 2 Possible Buddhist transformation of yogic practices 3 2 Five possibilities regarding jhana and liberation 3 2 1 Rupa jhana followed by liberating insight 3 2 2 Rupa jhana and the arupas followed by liberating insight 3 2 3 Insight alone suffices 3 2 4 Jhana itself is liberating 3 2 5 Liberation in nirodha samapatti 4 Theravada 4 1 The five hindrances 4 2 Jhana as concentration 4 2 1 Samadhi 4 2 2 Development and application of concentration 4 3 Criticism 4 3 1 Scholarly criticism 4 3 2 Contemporary Theravada reassessment the Jhana wars 4 3 2 1 Criticism of Visudhimagga 4 3 2 2 Jhana as integrated practice 5 In Mahayana traditions 5 1 Preservation of dhyana as open awareness 5 2 Chan Buddhism 5 2 1 Origins 5 2 2 Mindfulness 5 2 2 1 Observing the breath 5 2 2 2 Observing the mind 5 2 3 Insight 5 2 3 1 Pointing to the nature of the mind 5 2 3 2 Kōan practice 5 3 Vajrayana 6 Related concepts in Indian religions 6 1 Parallels with Patanjali s Ashtanga Yoga 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External linksEtymology EditDhyana Pali jhana from Proto Indo European root dheie to see to look to show 9 10 Developed into Sanskrit root dhi and n dhi 10 which in the earliest layer of text of the Vedas refers to imaginative vision and associated with goddess Saraswati with powers of knowledge wisdom and poetic eloquence 11 12 This term developed into the variant dhya to contemplate meditate think 13 10 from which dhyana is derived 11 According to Buddhaghosa 5th century CE Theravada exegete the term jhana Skt dhyana is derived from the verb jhayati to think or meditate while the verb jhapeti to burn up explicates its function namely burning up opposing states burning up or destroying the mental defilements preventing the development of serenity and insight 14 note 1 Commonly translated as meditation and often equated with concentration though meditation may refer to a wider scale of exercises for bhavana development Dhyana can also mean attention thought reflection 17 The jhana dhyana stages EditThe Paḷi canon describes four progressive states of jhana called rupa jhana form jhana note 2 and four additional meditative attainments called arupa without form Integrated set of practices Edit See also Buddhist meditation and Buddhist paths to liberation Meditation and contemplation form an integrated set of practices with several other practices which are fully realized with the onset of dhyana 2 4 As described in the Noble Eightfold Path right view leads to leaving the household life and becoming a wandering monk Sila morality comprises the rules for right conduct Right effort or the four right efforts which already contains elements of dhyana 18 note 3 aim to prevent the arising of unwholesome states and to generate wholesome states This includes indriya samvara sense restraint controlling the response to sensual perceptions not giving in to lust and aversion but simply noticing the objects of perception as they appear 20 Right effort and mindfulness to remember to observe 21 notably mindfulness of breathing calm the mind body complex releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non automatic responses 7 By following these cumulative steps and practices the mind becomes set almost naturally for the equanimity of dhyana 22 7 note 4 reinforcing the development of wholesome states which in return further reinforces equanimity and mindfulness 7 8 The rupa jhanas Edit See also Seven Factors of Awakening In the sutras jhana is entered when one sits down cross legged and establishes mindfulness According to Buddhist tradition it may be supported by anapanasati mindfulness of breathing a core meditative practice which can be found in almost all schools of Buddhism The Suttapiṭaka and the Agamas describe four stages of rupa jhana Rupa refers to the material realm in a neutral stance as different from the kama realm lust desire and the arupa realm non material realm 23 While interpreted in the Theravada tradition as describing a deepening concentration and one pointedness originally the jhanas seem to describe a development from investigating body and mind and abandoning unwholesome states to perfected equanimity and watchfulness 24 an understanding which is retained in Zen and Dzogchen 7 24 The stock description of the jhanas with traditional and alternative interpretations is as follows 24 note 5 First jhana Separated vivicceva from desire for sensual pleasures separated vivicca from other unwholesome states akusalehi dhammehi unwholesome dhammas 25 a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana which is mental piti rapture joy and bodily sukha pleasure born of viveka traditionally seclusion alternatively discrimination of dhamma s 26 note 6 accompanied by vitarka vicara traditionallly initial and sustained attention to a meditative object alternatively initial inquiry and subsequent investigation 29 30 31 of dhammas defilements 32 and wholesome thoughts 33 note 7 also discursive thought note 8 Second jhana Again with the stilling of vitarka vicara a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhana which is mental piti and bodily sukha born of samadhi samadhi ji trad born of concentration altern knowing but non discursive awareness 41 bringing the buried latencies or samskaras into full view 42 note 9 and has sampasadana stillness 44 inner tranquility 39 note 10 and ekaggata unification of mind 44 awareness without vitarka vicara Third jhana With the fading away of piti a bhikkhu abides in upekkha equanimity affective detachment 39 note 11 sato mindful and with sampajanna fully knowing 45 discerning awareness 46 Still experiencing sukha with the body he enters upon and abides in the third jhana on account of which the noble ones announce abiding in bodily pleasure one is equanimous and mindful Fourth jhana With the abandoning of the desire for sukha pleasure and aversion to dukkha pain 47 46 and with the previous disappearance of the inner movement between somanassa gladness 48 and domanassa discontent 48 a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana which is adukkham asukham neither painful nor pleasurable 47 freedom from pleasure and pain 49 and has upekkhasatiparisuddhi complete purity of equanimity and mindfulness note 12 The arupa ayatanas Edit See also Formless Realm Grouped into the jhana scheme are four meditative states referred to in the early texts as arupa ayatanas These are also referred to in commentarial literature as arupa jhanas formless or immaterial jhanas corresponding to the arupa loka translated as the formless realm or the formless dimensions to be distinguished from the first four jhanas rupa jhanas In the Buddhist canonical texts the word jhana is never explicitly used to denote them they are instead referred to as ayatana However they are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four jhanas other texts e g MN 121 treat them as a distinct set of attainments and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhanas citation needed The formless jhanas are related to or derived from yogic meditation while the jhanas proper are related to the cultivation of the mind The state of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhana is transcended The four arupa ayatanas arupa jhanas are Fifth jhana infinite space Paḷi akasanancayatana Skt akasanantyayatana Sixth jhana infinite consciousness Paḷi vinnaṇancayatana Skt vijnananantyayatana Seventh jhana infinite nothingness Paḷi akincannayatana Skt akiṃcanyayatana Eighth jhana neither perception nor non perception Paḷi nevasannanasannayatana Skt naivasaṃjnanasaṃjnayatana Although the Dimension of Nothingness and the Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non Perception are included in the list of nine jhanas taught by the Buddha see section on nirodha samapatti below they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path Noble Truth number eight is samma samadhi Right Concentration and only the first four jhanas are considered Right Concentration If he takes a disciple through all the jhanas the emphasis is on the Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions rather than stopping short at the Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non Perception Nirodha samapatti Edit Beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non perception lies a state called nirodha samapatti the cessation of perception feelings and consciousness 51 Only in commentarial and scholarly literature this is sometimes called the ninth jhana 52 53 Another name for this state is sannavedayitanirodha cessation of perception and feeling According to Buddhaghosa s Visuddhimagga XXIII 18 it is characterized by the temporary suppression of consciousness and its concomitant mental factors so the contemplative reaches a state unconscious acittaka for a week at most In the nirodha remain unically some elementary physiological process designated in the Mahavedalla sutta by the terms ayu and usma Broader dhyana practices Edit While dhyana typically refers to the four jhanas dhyanas the term also refers to a set of practices which seem to go back to a very early stage of the Buddhist tradition These practices are the contemplation on the body parts and their repulsiveness patikulamanasikara contemplation on the elements of which the body is composed contemplation on the stages of decay of a dead body and mindfulness of breathing anapanasati These practices are described in the Satipatthana Sutta of the Pali canon and the equivalent texts of the Chinese agamas in which they are interwoven with the factors of the four dhyanas or the seven factors of awakening bojjhanga This set of practices was also transmitted via the Dhyana sutras which are based on the Sarvastivada tradition forming the basis of the Chan Zen tradition Early Buddhism EditMain articles Enlightenment in Buddhism and Nirvana The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of jhana 3 page needed There is a tradition that stresses attaining insight vipassana as the means to awakening bodhi prajna kenshō and liberation vimutti nibbana note 13 But the Buddhist tradition has also incorporated the yogic tradition as reflected in the use of jhana as a concentrative practice which is rejected in other sutras as not resulting in the final result of liberation One solution to this contradiction is the conjunctive use of vipassana and samatha 56 note 14 Origins of the jhana dhyana stages Edit Textual accounts Edit The Mahasaccaka Sutta Majjhima Nikaya 36 narrates the story of the Buddha s awakening According to this story he learned two kinds of meditation from two teachers Uddaka Ramaputta and Aḷara Kalama These forms of meditation did not lead to liberation and he then underwent harsh ascetic practices with which he eventually also became disillusioned The Buddha then recalled a meditative state he entered by chance as a child 3 page needed I thought I recall once when my father the Sakyan was working and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose apple tree then quite secluded from sensuality secluded from unskillful mental qualities I entered amp remained in the first jhana rapture amp pleasure born from seclusion accompanied by directed thought amp evaluation Could that be the path to Awakening Then following on that memory came the realization That is the path to Awakening 58 Originally the practice of dhyana itself may have constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism since in this state all pleasure and pain had waned 59 According to Vetter Probably the word immortality a mata was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the Four Noble Truths the Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the Four Noble Truths and or other data But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation achieving immortality 60 Possible Buddhist transformation of yogic practices Edit The time of the Buddha saw the rise of the sramaṇa movement ascetic practitioners with a body of shared teachings and practices 61 full citation needed The strict delineation of this movement into Jainism Buddhism and brahmanical Upanishadic traditions is a later development 61 full citation needed note 15 According to Crangle the development of meditative practices in ancient India was a complex interplay between Vedic and non Vedic traditions 65 According to Bronkhorst the four rupa jhana may be an original contribution of the Buddha to the religious practices of ancient India forming an alternative to the ascetic practices of the Jains and similar sramaṇa traditions while the arupa ayatanas were incorporated from non Buddhist ascetic traditions 66 That meditation expert muni becomes eternally free who seeking the Supreme Goal is able to withdraw from external phenomena by fixing his gaze within the mid spot of the eyebrows and by neutralizing the even currents of prana and apana that flow within the nostrils and lungs and to control his sensory mind and intellect and to banish desire fear and anger The Bhagavad Gita V 27 28 67 Kalupahana argues that the Buddha reverted to the meditational practices he had learned from Aḷara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta directed at the appeasement of mind rather than the development of insight Moving beyond these initial practices reflection gave him the essential insight into conditioning and learned him how to appease his dispostional tendencies without either being dominated by them nor completely annihilating them 68 Wynne argues that the attainment of the formless meditative absorption was incorporated from Brahmanical practices and have Brahmnanical cosmogenies as their doctrinal background 69 note 16 Wynne therefore concludes that these practices were borrowed from a Brahminic source namely Uddaka Ramaputta and Aḷara Kalama 72 Yet the Buddha rejected their goals as they were not liberating and discovered his own path to awakening 69 which consisted of the adaptation of the old yogic techniques to the practice of mindfulness and attainment of insight Thus radically transform ed application of yogic practices was conceptualized in the scheme of the four jhanas 69 Yet according to Bronkhorst the Buddha s teachings developed primarily in response to Jain teachings not Brahmanical teachings 3 and the account of the Buddha practicing under Uddaka Ramaputta and Aḷara Kalama is entirely fictitious and meant to flesh out the mentioning of those names in the post enlightenment narrative in Majjhima Nikaya 36 3 73 Vishvapani notes that the Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final form long after the Buddha s lifetime with the Mokshadharma postdating him Vishvapani further notes that Uddaka Ramaputta and Aḷara Kalama may well have been sramanic teachers as the Buddhist tradition asserts not Brahmins 73 Five possibilities regarding jhana and liberation Edit See also Buddhist paths to awakening and Subitism A stock phrase in the canon states that one develops the four rupa dhyanas and then attains liberating insight While the texts often refer to comprehending the four noble truths as constituting this liberating insight Schmithausen notes that the four noble truths as constituting liberating insight here referring to panna 74 is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36 75 3 page needed 2 page needed Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility while the attainment of nirodha samapatti may constitute a fifth possibility 76 Mastering the four jhanas whereafter liberating insight is attained Mastering the four jhanas and the four arupas whereafter liberating insight is attained Liberating insight itself suffices The four jhanas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism c q the Buddha 77 Liberation is attained in nirodha samapatti 78 Rupa jhana followed by liberating insight Edit Main articles Vipassana and Sampajanna According to the Theravada tradition the meditator uses the jhana state to bring the mind to rest and to strengthen and sharpen the mind in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena dhamma and to gain insight into impermanence suffering and not self According to the Theravada tradition the arahant is aware that the jhanas are ultimately unsatisfactory realizing that the meditative attainments are also anicca impermanent 79 In the Mahasaccaka Sutta Majjhima Nikaya 36 which narrates the story of the Buddha s awakening dhyana is followed by insight into the four noble truths The mention of the four noble truths as constituting liberating insight is probably a later addition 75 60 3 page needed Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyana when interpreted as concentration since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state 80 He also notes that the emphasis on liberating insight developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an expression of what this liberating insight constituted 81 In time other expressions took over this function such as pratityasamutpada and the emptiness of the self 82 Rupa jhana and the arupas followed by liberating insight Edit This scheme is rejected by scholars as a later development since the arupas are akin to non Buddhist practices and rejected elsewhere in the canon Insight alone suffices Edit The emphasis on liberating insight alone seems to be a later development in response to developments in Indian religious thought which saw liberating insight as essential to liberation 83 77 This may also have been due to an over literal interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha 84 and to the problems involved with the practice of dhyana and the need to develop an easier method 85 Contemporary scholars have discerned a broader application of jhana in historical Buddhist practice According to Alexander Wynne the ultimate aim of dhyana was the attainment of insight 86 and the application of the meditative state to the practice of mindfulness 86 According to Frauwallner mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects According to Frauwallner this may have been the Buddha s original idea 87 According to Wynne this stress on mindfulness may have led to the intellectualism which favoured insight over the practice of dhyana 88 Jhana itself is liberating Edit Both Schmithausen and Bronkhorst note that the attainment of insight which is a cognitive activity cannot be possible in a state wherein all cognitive activity has ceased 3 According to Vetter the practice of Rupa Jhana itself may have constituted the core practice of early Buddhism with practices such as sila and mindfulness aiding its development 77 It is the middle way between self mortification ascribed by Bronkhorst to Jainism 3 and indulgence in sensual pleasure 89 Vetter emphasizes that dhyana is a form of non sensual happiness 90 The eightfold path can be seen as a path of preparation which leads to the practice of samadhi 91 Liberation in nirodha samapatti Edit According to some texts after progressing through the eight jhanas and the stage of nirodha samapatti a person is liberated 51 According to some traditions someone attaining the state of nirodha samapatti is an anagami or an arahant 78 In the Anupadda sutra the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant upon reaching it 92 Theravada Edit Buddha in Dhyana which in this context means The meditative training stage on the path to Samadhi The five hindrances Edit In the commentarial tradition the development of jhana is described as the development of five mental factors Sanskrit caitasika Pali cetasika that counteract the five hindrances note 17 Table Rupa jhanaCetasika mental factors Firstjhana Secondjhana Thirdjhana FourthjhanaKama Akusala dhamma sensuality unskillful qualities secluded from withdrawn does not occur does not occur does not occurPiti rapture seclusion born pervades body samadhi born pervades body fades away along with distress does not occurSukha non sensual pleasure pervadesphysical body abandoned no pleasure nor pain Vitakka applied thought accompaniesjhana unification of awarenessfree from vitakka and vicara does not occur does not occurVicara sustained thought Upekkhasatiparisuddhi pure mindful equanimity does not occur internal confidence equanimous mindful purity ofequanimity and mindfulnessSources 93 94 95 This box viewtalkeditvitakka applied thought counteracts sloth and torpor lethargy and drowsiness vicara sustained thought counteracts doubt uncertainty piti rapture counteracts ill will malice sukha non sensual pleasure counteracts restlessness worry excitation and anxiety ekaggata one pointedness counteracts sensory desireJhana as concentration Edit Buddhagosa s Visuddhimagga considers jhana to be an exercise in concentration meditation His views together with the Satipatthana Sutta inspired the development in the 19th and 20th century of new meditation techniques which gained a great popularity among lay audiences in the second half of the 20th century 96 Samadhi Edit Further information Samadhi in Buddhism According to Henepola Gunaratana the term jhana is closely connected with samadhi which is generally rendered as concentration The word samadhi is almost interchangeable with the word samatha serenity 14 According to Gunaratana in the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity In this sense samadhi and jhana are close in meaning note 18 Nevertheless they are not exactly identical since certain differences in their suggested and contextual meanings prevent unqualified identification of the two terms Samadhi signifies only one mental factor namely one pointedness while the word jhana encompasses the whole state of consciousness or at least the whole group of mental factors individuating that meditative state as a jhana 14 Furthermore according to Gunaratana samadhi involves a wider range of reference than jhana noting that the Pali exegetical tradition recognizes three levels of samadhi preliminary concentration parikammasamadhi access concentration upacarasamadhi and absorption concentration appanasamadhi 14 Development and application of concentration Edit According to the Pali canon commentary access neighbourhood concentration upacara samadhi is a stage of meditation that the meditator reaches before entering into jhana The overcoming of the five hindrances note 19 mark the entry into access concentration citation needed Access concentration is not mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha but there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma on hearing a teaching from the Buddha note 20 note 21 According to Tse fu Kuan at the state of access concentration some meditators may experience vivid mental imagery note 22 which is similar to a vivid dream They are as vivid as if seen by the eye but in this case the meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images According to Tse fu Kuan this is discussed in the early texts and expanded upon in Theravada commentaries 98 According to Venerable Sujivo as the concentration becomes stronger the feelings of breathing and of having a physical body will completely disappear leaving only pure awareness At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration because the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has completely disappeared They should not be so afraid and should continue their concentration in order to reach full concentration jhana 99 A meditator should first master the lower jhanas before they can go into the higher jhanas According to Nathan Katz the early suttas state that the most exquisite of recluses is able to attain any of the jhanas and abide in them without difficulty 79 note 23 According to the contemporary Vipassana movement the jhana state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses the defilements Meditators must use the jhana state as an instrument for developing wisdom by cultivating insight and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition which will lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana citation needed According to the later Theravada commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga after coming out of the state of jhana the meditator will be in the state of post jhana access concentration In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence suffering and not self arises citation needed Criticism Edit While the jhanas are often understood as deepening states of concentration due to its description as such in the Abhidhamma 101 and the Visuddhimagga 39 since the 1980s both academic scholars and contemporary Theravadins have started to question this understanding raising questions about the interpretation of the jhanas as being states of absorption which are not necessary for the attainment of liberation While groundbreaking research on this topic has been done by Bareau Schmithausen Stuart Fox Bucknell Vetter Bronkhorst and Wynne Theravada practitioners have also scrutinized and criticised the samatha vipassana distinction 102 Reassessments of the description of jhana in the suttas consider jhana and vipassana to be an integrated practice leading to a tranquil and equanimous awareness of whatever arises in the field of experience 5 6 7 8 Scholarly criticism Edit While the commentarial tradition regards vitarka and vicara as initial and sustained concentration on a meditation object Roderick S Bucknell notes that vitarka and vicara may refer to probably nothing other than the normal process of discursive thought the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of mental imagery and verbalization Bucknell further notes that t hese conclusions conflict with the widespread conception of the first jhana as a state of deep concentration 39 According to Stuart Fox the Abhidhamma separated vitarka from vicara and ekaggata one pointedness was added to the description of the first dhyana to give an equal number of five hindrances and five antidotes 103 The commentarial tradition regards the qualities of the first dhyana to be antidotes to the five hindrances and ekaggata may have been added to the first dhyana to give exactly five antidotes for the five hindrances 104 Stuart Fox further notes that vitarka being discursive thought will do very little as an antidote for sloth and torpor reflecting the inconsistencies which were introduced by the scholastics 104 Vetter Gombrich and Wynne note that the first and second jhana represent the onset of dhyana due to withdrawal and right effort c q the four right efforts followed by concentration whereas the third and fourth jhana combine concentration with mindfulness 43 105 Polak elaborating on Vetter notes that the onset of the first dhyana is described as a quite natural process due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the nurturing of wholesome states 7 22 Regarding samadhi as the eighth step of the Noble Eightfold Path Vetter notes that samadhi consists of the four stages of dhyana meditation but to put it more accurately the first dhyana seems to provide after some time a state of strong concentration from which the other stages come forth the second stage is called samadhija 106 born from samadhi 43 According to Richard Gombrich the sequence of the four rupa jhanas describes two different cognitive states I know this is controversial but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second 107 note 24 Gombrich and Wynne note that while the second jhana denotes a state of absorption in the third and fourth jhana one comes out of this absorption being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to them 108 note 25 According to Gombrich the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated calming kind of meditation ignoring the other and indeed higher element 107 According to Lusthaus mindfulness in the fourth dhyana is an alert relaxed awareness detached from positive and negative conditioning 109 Gethin followed by Polak and Arbel further notes that there is a definite affinity between the four jhanas and the bojjhaṅga the seven factors of awakening 110 111 112 8 According to Gethin the early Buddhist texts have a broadly consistent vision regarding meditation practice Various practices lead to the development of the factors of awakening which are not only the means to but also the constituents of awakening 113 According to Gethin satipaṭṭhana and anapanasati are related to a formula that summarizes the Buddhist path to awakening as abandoning the hindrances establishing mindfulness and developing the seven factors of awakening 114 This results in a heightened awareness overcoming distracting and disturbing emotions 115 which are not particular elements of the path to awakening but rather common disturbing and distracting emotions 116 Gethin further states that the exegetical literature is essentially true to the vision of meditation presented in the Nikayas 117 applying the perfect mindfulness stillness and lucidity of the jhanas to the contemplation of reality of the way things really are 118 as temporary and ever changing 117 It is in this sense that the jhana state has the transcendent transforming quality of awakening 119 Alexander Wynne states that the dhyana scheme is poorly understood 88 According to Wynne words expressing the inculcation of awareness such as sati sampajano and upekkha are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states 88 whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects 88 Thus the expression sato sampajano in the third jhana must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhana cetaso ekodibhava It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state i e that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects The same is true of the word upek k ha it does not denote an abstract equanimity but it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it The third and fourth jhana s as it seems to me describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects 120 Upekkha equanimity which is perfected in the fourth dhyana is one of the four Brahma vihara While the commentarial tradition downplayed the importance of the Brahma vihara Gombrich notes that the Buddhist usage of the term Brahma vihara originally referred to an awakened state of mind and a concrete attitude toward other beings which was equal to living with Brahman here and now The later tradition took those descriptions too literally linking them to cosmology and understanding them as living with Brahman by rebirth in the Brahma world 121 According to Gombrich the Buddha taught that kindness what Christians tend to call love was a way to salvation 122 Contemporary Theravada reassessment the Jhana wars Edit While Theravada meditation was introduced to the west as vipassana meditation which rejected the usefulness of jhana there is a growing interest among western vipassana practitioners in jhana 123 124 The nature and practice of jhana is a topic of debate and contention among western convert Theravadins to the extent that the disputes have even been called the Jhana wars 5 note 26 Criticism of Visudhimagga Edit The Visuddhimagga and the pioneering popularizing work of Daniel Goleman 124 note 27 has been influential in the mis understanding of dhyana being a form of concentration meditation The Visuddhimagga is centered around kasina meditation a form of concentration meditation in which the mind is focused on a mental object 126 According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu t he text then tries to fit all other meditation methods into the mold of kasina practice so that they too give rise to countersigns but even by its own admission breath meditation does not fit well into the mold 126 According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu the Visuddhimagga uses a very different paradigm for concentration from what you find in the Canon 127 In its emphasis on kasina meditation the Visuddhimagga departs from the Pali Canon in which dhyana is the central meditative practice indicating that what jhana means in the commentaries is something quite different from what it means in the Canon 126 Bhante Henepola Gunaratana also notes that what the suttas say is not the same as what the Visuddhimagga says they are actually different leading to a divergence between a traditional scholarly understanding and a practical understanding based on meditative experience 128 Gunaratana further notes that Buddhaghosa invented several key meditation terms which are not to be found in the suttas such as parikamma samadhi preparatory concentration upacara samadhi access concentration appanasamadhi absorption concentration 129 Gunaratana also notes that Buddhaghosa s emphasis on kasina meditation is not to be found in the suttas where dhyana is always combined with mindfulness 130 note 28 According to scholar Tilman Vetter dhyana as a preparation of discriminating insight must have been different from the dhyana practice introduced by the Buddha using kasina exercises to produce a more artificially produced dhyana resulting in the cessation of apperceptions and feelings 131 Shankman notes that kasina exercises are propagated in Buddhaghosa s Visuddhimagga which is considered the authoritative commentary on meditation practice in the Theravada tradition but differs from the Pali canon in its description of jhana While the suttas connect samadhi to mindfulness and awareness of the body for Buddhaghosa jhana is a purely mental exercise in which one pointed concentration leads to a narrowing of attention 132 Jhana as integrated practice Edit Several western teachers Thanissaro Bhikkhu Leigh Brasington Richard Shankman make a distinction between sutta oriented jhana and Visuddhimagga oriented jhana 123 133 dubbed minimalists and maximalists by Kenneth Rose 133 Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu a western teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition has repeatedly argued that the Pali Canon and the Visuddhimagga give different descriptions of the jhanas regarding the Visuddhimagga description to be incorrect 123 According to Ṭhanissaro Bhikkhu warns against the development of strong states of concentration 123 Arbel describes the fourth jhana as non reactive and lucid awareness not as a state of deep concentration 8 According to Richard Shankman the sutta descriptions of jhana practice explain that the meditator does not emerge from jhana to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhana itself In particular the meditator is instructed to enter and remain in the fourth jhana before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental defilements 134 note 29 Keren Arbel has conducted extensive research on the jhanas and the contemporary criticisms of the commentarial interpretation Based on this research and her own experience as a senior meditation teacher she gives a reconstructed account of the original meaning of the dhyanas She argues that jhana is an integrated practice describing the fourth jhana as non reactive and lucid awareness not as a state of deep concentration 8 According to Arbel it develops a mind which is not conditioned by habitual reaction patterns of likes and dislikes a profoundly wise relation to experience not tainted by any kind of wrong perception and mental reactivity rooted in craving tanha 136 According to Kenneth Rose the Visuddhimagga oriented maximalist approach is a return to ancient Indian mainstream practices in which physical and mental immobility was thought to lead to liberation from samsara and rebirth This approach was rejected by the Buddha turning to a gentler approach which results in upekkha and sati equanimous awareness of experience 5 In Mahayana traditions Edit Bodhisattva seated in meditation Afghanistan 2nd century CE Mahayana Buddhism includes numerous schools of practice Each draw upon various Buddhist sutras philosophical treatises and commentaries and each has its own emphasis mode of expression and philosophical outlook Accordingly each school has its own meditation methods for the purpose of developing samadhi and prajna with the goal of ultimately attaining enlightenment Preservation of dhyana as open awareness Edit Both Polak and Arbel suggest that the traditions of Dzogchen 137 138 Mahamudra and Chan 137 preserve or resemble dhyana as an open awareness of body and mind thus transcending the dichotomy between vipassana and samatha 137 138 note 30 Chan Buddhism Edit See also Zen Chan Buddhism Zazen Korean Seon Vietnamese Thiền and Zen in the United States Anapanasati and dhyana are a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan necessary for progress on the path and true entry into the Dharma note 31 Origins Edit In China the word dhyana was originally transliterated with Chinese 禪那 pinyin channa and shortened to just pinyin chan in common usage The word and the practice of meditation entered into Chinese through the translations of An Shigao fl c 148 180 CE and Kumarajiva 334 413 CE who translated Dhyana sutras which were influential early meditation texts mostly based on the Yogacara meditation teachings of the Sarvastivada school of Kashmir circa 1st 4th centuries CE 145 The word chan became the designation for Chan Buddhism Korean Seon Vietnamese Thiền Japanese Zen In Chinese Buddhism following the Ur text of the Satipatthana Sutra and the dhyana sutras dhyana refers to various kinds of meditation techniques and their preparatory practices which are necessary to practice dhyana 146 The five main types of meditation in the Dhyana sutras are anapanasati mindfulness of breathing paṭikulamanasikara meditation mindfulness of the impurities of the body loving kindness maitri meditation the contemplation on the twelve links of pratityasamutpada and the contemplation on the Buddha s thirty two Characteristics 147 Downplaying the body recollections 148 but maintaining the awareness of imminent death the early Chan tradition developed the notions or practices of wu nian no thought no fixation on thought such as one s own views experiences and knowledge 149 150 and fei siliang 非思量 Japanese hishiryō nonthinking 151 and kanxin observing the mind 152 and shou i pu i 守一不移 maintaining the one without wavering 153 turning the attention from the objects of experience to the nature of mind the perceiving subject itself which is equated with Buddha nature 154 Mindfulness Edit Observing the breath Edit Venerable Hsuan Hua meditating in the Lotus Position Hong Kong 1953During sitting meditation practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position half lotus Burmese or yoga postures using the dhyana mudra To regulate the mind awareness is directed towards counting or watching the breath or by bringing that awareness to the energy center below the navel see also anapanasati 155 Often a square or round cushion placed on a padded mat is used to sit on in some other cases a chair may be used This practice may simply be called sitting dhyana which is zuochan 坐禅 in Chinese zazen 坐禅 in Japanese jwaseon 坐禅 in Korean and tọa thiền in Vietnamese Observing the mind Edit In the Sōtō school of Zen meditation with no objects anchors or content is the primary form of practice The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts allowing them to arise and pass away without interference Considerable textual philosophical and phenomenological justification of this practice can be found throughout Dōgen s Shōbōgenzō as for example in the Principles of Zazen 156 and the Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen 157 In the Japanese language this practice is called Shikantaza Insight Edit Pointing to the nature of the mind Edit According to Charles Luk in the earliest traditions of Chan there was no fixed method or formula for teaching meditation and all instructions were simply heuristic methods to point to the true nature of the mind also known as Buddha nature 158 According to Luk this method is referred to as the Mind Dharma and exemplified in the story of Sakyamuni Buddha holding up a flower silently and Mahakasyapa smiling as he understood note 32 158 A traditional formula of this is Chan points directly to the human mind to enable people to see their true nature and become buddhas 159 Kōan practice Edit Main article Kōan Chinese character for nothing Hanyu Pinyin wu Japanese pronunciation mu Korean pronunciation mu Vietnamese vo It figures in the famous Zhaozhou s dog kōan At the beginning of the Song dynasty practice with the kōan method became popular whereas others practiced silent illumination 160 This became the source of some differences in practice between the Linji and Caodong schools A kōan literally public case is a story or dialogue describing an interaction between a Zen master and a student These anecdotes give a demonstration of the master s insight Koans emphasize the non conceptional insight that the Buddhist teachings are pointing to Koans can be used to provoke the great doubt and test a student s progress in Zen practice Kōan inquiry may be practiced during zazen sitting meditation kinhin walking meditation and throughout all the activities of daily life Kōan practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai school but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line 161 The Zen student s mastery of a given kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview referred to in Japanese as dokusan 独参 daisan 代参 or sanzen 参禅 While there is no unique answer to a kōan practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the kōan and of Zen through their responses The teacher may approve or disapprove of the answer and guide the student in the right direction The interaction with a Zen teacher is central in Zen but makes Zen practice also vulnerable to misunderstanding and exploitation 162 Vajrayana Edit B Alan Wallace holds that modern Tibetan Buddhism lacks emphasis on achieving levels of concentration higher than access concentration 163 164 According to Wallace one possible explanation for this situation is that virtually all Tibetan Buddhist meditators seek to become enlightened through the use of tantric practices These require the presence of sense desire and passion in one s consciousness but jhana effectively inhibits these phenomena 163 While few Tibetan Buddhists either inside or outside Tibet devote themselves to the practice of concentration Tibetan Buddhist literature does provide extensive instructions on it and great Tibetan meditators of earlier times stressed its importance 165 Related concepts in Indian religions EditSee also Dhyana in Hinduism Dhyana is an important ancient practice mentioned in the Vedic and post Vedic literature of Hinduism as well as early texts of Jainism 166 167 168 Dhyana in Buddhism influenced these practices as well as was influenced by them likely in its origins and its later development 166 Parallels with Patanjali s Ashtanga Yoga Edit See also Yoga Sutras of Patanjali There are parallels with the fourth to eighth stages of Patanjali s Ashtanga Yoga as mentioned in his classical work Yoga Sutras of Patanjali which were compiled around 400 CE by taking materials about yoga from older traditions 169 170 171 Patanjali discerns bahiranga external aspects of yoga namely yama niyama asana pranayama and the antaranga internal yoga Having actualized the pratyahara stage a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of Samyama At the stage of pratyahara the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that the sensations from the senses of taste touch sight hearing and smell don t reach their respective centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka practitioner to next stages of Yoga namely Dharana concentration Dhyana meditation and Samadhi mystical absorption being the aim of all Yogic practices 172 The Eight Limbs of the yoga sutras show Samadhi as one of its limbs The Eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra was influenced by Buddhism 173 174 Vyasa s Yogabhashya the commentary to the Yogasutras and Vacaspati Misra s subcommentary state directly that the samadhi techniques are directly borrowed from the Buddhists Jhana with the addition of the mystical and divine interpretations of mental absorption 175 failed verification The Yoga Sutra especially the fourth segment of Kaivalya Pada contains several polemical verses critical of Buddhism particularly the Vijnanavada school of Vasubandhu 176 The suttas show that during the time of the Buddha Nigantha Nataputta the Jain leader did not even believe that it is possible to enter a state where the thoughts and examination stop 177 See also EditResearch on meditation Altered state of consciousness JnanaNotes Edit Bronkhorst and Wynne among others have discussed the influence of Vedic and Jain thought and practices on Buddhism The burning up of defilements by means of austerities is a typical Jain practice which was rejected by the Buddha 15 16 Though rupa may also refer to the body Arbel 2017 refers to the jhana as psycho somatic experiences Shankman 2008 p 15 quotes to MN 117 14 Mahacattarisakasutta 19 And what bhikkhus is right intention that is noble taintless supramundane a factor of the path The thinking thought intention mental absorption mental fixity directing of mind verbal formation in one whose mind is noble whose mind is taintless who possesses the noble path and is developing the noble path this is right intention that is noble a factor of the path Polak refers to Vetter who noted that in the suttas right effort leads to a calm state of mind When this calm and self restraint had been reached the Buddha is described as sitting down and attaining the first jhana in an almost natural way 7 Keren Arbel refers to Majjhima Nikaya 26 Ariyapariyesana Sutta The Noble SearchSee also Majjhima Nikaya 111 Anuppada Sutta AN 05 028 Samadhanga Sutta The Factors of Concentration See Johansson 1981 Pali Buddhist texts Explained to Beginners for a word by word translation Arbel explains that viveka is usually translated as detachment separation or seclusion but the primary meaning is discrimination According to Arbel the usage of vivicca vivicceva and viveka in the description of the first dhyana plays with both meanings of the verb namely its meaning as discernment and the consequent seclusion and letting go in line with the discernment of the nature of experience developed by the four satipatthanas 26 Compare Dogen Being apart from all disturbances and dwelling alone in a quiet place is called enjoying serenity and tranquility 27 Arbel further argues that viveka resembles dhamma vicaya which is mentioned in the bojjhanga an alternative description of the dhyanas but the only bojjhanga term not mentioned in the stock dhyana description 28 Compare Sutta Nipatha 5 14 Udayamaṇavapuccha The Questions of Udaya Pure equanimity and mindfulness preceded by investigation of principles this I declare is liberation by enlightenment the smashing of ignorance Translation Sujato Stta Nipatha 5 13 Udaya s Questions transl Thanissaro With delight the world s fettered With directed thought it s examined Chen 2017 Samadhi with general examination and specific in depth investigation means getting rid of the not virtuous dharmas such as greedy desire and hatred to stay in joy and pleasure caused by nonarising and to enter the first meditation and fully dwell in it Arbel 2016 p 73 Thus my suggestion is that we should interpret the existence of vitakka and vicara in the first jhana as wholesome residues of a previous development of wholesome thoughts They denote the echo of these wholesome thoughts which reverberates in one who enters the first jhana as wholesome attitudes toward what is experienced In the Pali canon Vitakka vicara form one expression which refers to directing one s thought or attention on an object vitarka and investigate it vicara 31 34 35 36 37 According to Dan Lusthaus vitarka vicara is analytic scrutiny a form of prajna It involves focusing on something and then breaking it down into its functional components to understand it distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event 38 The Theravada commentarial tradition as represented by Buddhaghosa s Visuddhimagga interprets vitarka and vicara as the initial and sustained application of attention to a meditational object which culminates in the stilling of the mind when moving on to the second dhyana 39 40 According to Fox and Bucknell it may also refer to the normal process of discursive thought which is quieted through absorption in the second jhana 40 39 The standard translation for samadhi is concentration yet this translation interpretation is based on commentarial interpretations as explained by a number of contemporary authors 24 Tilmann Vetter notes that samadhi has a broad range of meanings and concentration is just one of them Vetter argues that the second third and fourth dhyana are samma samadhi right samadhi building on a spontaneous awareness sati and equanimity which is perfected in the fourth dhyana 43 The common translation based on the commentarial interpretation of dhyana as expanding states of absorption translates sampasadana as internal assurance Yet as Bucknell explains it also means tranquilizing which is more apt in this context 39 See also Passaddhi Upekkha is one of the Brahmaviharas With the fourth jhana comes the attainment of higher knowledge abhijna that is the extinction of all mental intoxicants asava but also psychic powers 50 For instance in AN 5 28 the Buddha states Thanissaro 1997 When a monk has developed and pursued the five factored noble right concentration in this way then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize he can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening If he wants he wields manifold supranormal powers Having been one he becomes many having been many he becomes one He appears He vanishes He goes unimpeded through walls ramparts and mountains as if through space He dives in and out of the earth as if it were water He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and moon so mighty and powerful He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma worlds He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening According to the Theravada tradition dhyana must be combined with vipassana 54 which gives insight into the three marks of existence and leads to detachment and the manifestation of the path 55 In Zen Buddhism this problem has appeared over the centuries in the disputes over sudden versus gradual enlightenment 57 page needed Thomas William Rhys Davids and Maurice Walshe agreed that the term samadhi is not found in any pre Buddhist text but is first mentioned in the Tipiṭaka It was subsequently incorporated into later texts such as the Maitrayaniya Upanishad 62 But according to Matsumoto the terms dhyana and samahita entering samadhi appear already in Upanishadic texts that predate the origins of Buddhism 63 Note that of the 200 or so Upanishads only the first 10 or 12 are considered the oldest and principal Upanishads Among these 10 or 12 principal Upanishads the Taittiriya Aitareya and Kausitaki show Buddhist influence 64 The Brihadaranyaka Jaiminiya Upanisad Brahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads were composed during the pre Buddhist era while the rest of these 12 oldest Upanishads are dated to the last few centuries BCE Wynne claimed that Brahmanic passages on meditation suggest that the most basic presupposition of early Brahmanical yoga is that the creation of the world must be reversed through a series of meditative states by the yogin who seeks the realization of the self 70 These states were given doctrinal background in early Brahminic cosmogenies which classified the world into successively coarser strata One such stratification is found at TU II 1 and Mbh XII 195 and proceeds as follows self space wind fire water earth Mbh XII 224 gives alternatively Brahman mind space wind fire water earth 71 See for instance Samadhaṅ ga Sutta a k a Pancaṅ gikasamadhi Sutta AN 5 28 Thanissaro 1997b Gunarathana refers to Buddhaghosa who explains samadhi etymologically as the centering 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 14 Sensual desire ill will sloth and torpor restlessness and worry and doubt According to Peter Harvey access concentration is described at Digha Nikaya I 110 among other places The situation at D I 110 then can be seen as one where the hearer of a discourse enters a state which while not an actual jhana could be bordering on it As it is free from hindrances it could be seen as access concentration with a degree of wisdom Peter Harvey Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha In Karel Werner ed The Yogi and the Mystic Curzon Press 1989 page 95 See also Peter Harvey The Selfless Mind page 170 The equivalent of upacara samadhi used in Tibetan commentaries is nyer bsdogs 97 Pali nimitta According to Sujiva there are five aspects of jhana mastery 100 Mastery in adverting the ability to advert clarification needed to the jhana factors one by one after emerging from the jhana wherever desired whenever she he wants and for as long as one wants Mastery in attaining the ability to enter upon jhana quickly Mastery in resolving the ability to remain in the jhana for exactly the pre determined length of time Mastery in emerging the ability to emerge from jhana quickly without difficulty Mastery in reviewing the ability to review the jhana and its factors with retrospective knowledge immediately after adverting to them Original publication Gombrich Richard 2007 Religious Experience in Early Buddhism OCHS Library Original publication Gombrich Richard 2007 Religious Experience in Early Buddhism OCHS Library See also Leigh Brasington Interpretations of the Jhanas Simple Sutta Jhana Wars Dhamma Wheel The great Jhana debate 125 See Golman s The Varieties of Meditative Experience published early 1970s which praises the Visuddhimagga as a masterguide for the practice of meditation See also Bronkhorst 1993 Two Traditions of Meditation in ancient India Wynne 2007 The Origin of Buddhist Meditation and Polak 2011 Reexaming Jhana Samannaphala Sutta With the abandoning of pleasure and pain as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress he enters and remains in the fourth jhana purity of equanimity and mindfulness neither pleasure nor pain With his mind thus concentrated purified and bright unblemished free from defects pliant malleable steady and attained to imperturbability the monk directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations He discerns as it has come to be that This is suffering This is the origination of suffering This is the cessation of suffering This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering These are mental fermentations This is the origination of fermentations This is the cessation of fermentations This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations 135 Arbel refers to Bodhi 2011 What Does Minfulness really Mean A Canonical perspective Contemporary Buddhism 12 no 1 p 25 a stance of observation or wtachfulness towards one s own experience One might even call this a stance of sati a bending back of the light of consciousness upon the experiencing subject in its physical sensory and psychological dimensions 139 Bending back of the light resembles Chinul s turning back the radiance in which the light of consciousness is turned back to apprehend the source of awareness and Dogen in Fukan Zazen gi Recommending Zazen to All People Take the backward step and turn the light inward Your body mind of itself will drop off and your original face will appear 140 This goes back to the Xinxin Ming Faith in Mind attributed to the third Zen patriarch Sengcan which states Turning the light around for an instant routs becoming abiding and decay 141 and is expressed in the Chinese Chan practice of Observing the mind 142 Dhyana is a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan Nan Huai Chin Intellectual reasoning is just another spinning of the sixth consciousness whereas the practice of meditation is the true entry into the Dharma 143 According to Sheng Yen meditative concentration is necessary calling samadhi one of the requisite factors for progress on the path toward enlightenment 144 See Flower SermonReferences Edit Vetter 1988 p 5 a b c Vetter 1988 a b c d e f g h i Bronkhorst 1993 a b Gethin 1992 a b c d Rose 2016 p 60 a b Shankman 2008 a b c d e f g h Polak 2011 a b c d e f Arbel 2017 Online Etymology Dictionary Zen n a b c Jayarava Namapada a guide to names in the Triratna Buddhist Order a b William Mahony 1997 The Artful Universe An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791435809 pages 171 177 222 Jan Gonda 1963 The Vision of Vedic Poets Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978 3110153156 pages 289 301 George Feuerstein Yoga and Meditation Dhyana a b c d e Henepola Gunaratana The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation Bronkhorst 1993 p 62 Wynne 2007 Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit dhyana Shankman 2008 p 16 Mahacattarisakasutta Analayo Early Buddhist Meditation Studies p 69 70 80 Vimalaramsi 2015 p 4 a b Vetter 1988 p XXV Fuller Sasaki 2008 a b c d Arbel 2016 Johansson 1981 p 83 a b Arbel 2016 p 50 51 Maezumi amp Cook 2007 p 63 Arbel 2016 p 106 Wayman 1997 p 48 Sangpo amp Dhammajoti 2012 p 2413 a b Lusthaus 2002 p 89 Chen 2017 p samadhi A calm stable and concentrative state of mind Arbel 2016 p 73 Rhys Davids amp Stede 1921 25 Guenther amp Kawamura 1975 p Kindle Locations 1030 1033 Kunsang 2004 p 30 Berzin 2006 Lusthaus 2002 p 116 a b c d e f g Bucknell 1993 p 375 376 a b Stuart Fox 1989 p 82 Arbel 2016 p 94 Lusthaus 2002 p 113 a b c Vetter 1988 p XXVI note 9 a b Arbel 2016 p 86 Arbel 2016 p 115 a b Lusthaus 2002 p 90 a b Arbel 2016 p 124 a b Arbel 2016 p 125 Johansson 1981 p 98 Sarbacker 2021 p entry abhijna a b Majjhima NIkaya 111 Anuppada Sutta Steven Sutcliffe Religion Empirical Studies Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2004 page 135 Chandima Wijebandara Early Buddhism Its Religious and Intellectual Milieu Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies University of Kelaniya 1993 page 22 Wynne 2007 p 73 King 1992 p 90 Thanissaro Bhikkhu One Tool Among Many The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice Gregory 1991 Nanamoli 1995 Vetter 1988 p 6 7 a b Vetter 1988 pp 5 6 a b Samuel 2008 Walshe Maurice trans 1995 The Long Discourses of the Buddha A Translation of the Digha Nikaya Boston Wisdom Publications ISBN 0 86171 103 3 Matsumoto 1997 p 242 King 1995 p 52 Crangle 1994 p 267 274 Bronkhorst 1993 p 95 122 123 Paramahansa Yogananda Autobiography of a Yogi Kalupahana 1994 p 24 25 a b c Wynne 2007 p 94 Wynne 2007 p 41 56 Wynne 2007 p 49 Wynne 2007 p 44 see also 45 49 a b Vishvapani rev 1997 Review Origin of Buddhist Meditation Retrieved 2011 2 17 from Western Buddhist Review at http www westernbuddhistreview com vol5 the origin of buddhist meditation html Polak Grzegorz 2016 05 01 How Was Liberating Insight Related to the Development of the Four Jhanas in Early Buddhism A New Perspective through an Interdisciplinary Approach a b Schmithausen 1981 Vetter 1988 pp xxi xxii a b c Vetter 1988 pp xxi xxxvii a b Peter Harvey An Introduction to Buddhism Cambridge University Press 1990 page 252 a b Nathan Katz Buddhist Images of Human Perfection The Arahant of the Sutta Piṭaka Compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahasiddha Motilal Banarsidass 1990 page 78 Vetter 1988 p xxvii Vetter 1988 p xxxi Bronkhorst 1993 pp 100 101 Bronkhorst 1993 p 131 Gombrich 1997 p 96 134 Vetter 1988 p xxxv a b Wynne 2007 p 105 Williams 2000 p 45 a b c d Wynne 2007 p 106 Vetter 1988 p xxviii Vetter 1988 p xxix Vetter 1988 p xxx Thanissaro Bhikkhu s commentary on the Anuppada Sutta MN 111 Bodhi Bhikku 2005 In the Buddha s Words Somerville Wisdom Publications pp 296 8 SN 28 1 9 ISBN 978 0 86171 491 9 Suttantapinake Aiguttaranikayo 5 1 3 8 MettaNet Lanka in Pali Archived from the original on 2007 11 05 Retrieved 2007 06 06 Bhikku Thanissaro 1997 Samadhanga Sutta The Factors of Concentration AN 5 28 Access to Insight Retrieved 2007 06 06 Rose 2016 p 60 61 B Alan Wallace The bridge of quiescence experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation Carus Publishing Company 1998 page 92 Wallace translates both as the first proximate meditative stabilization Tse fu Kuan Mindfulness in Early Buddhism New Approaches Through Psychology and Textual Analysis of Pali Chinese and Sanskrit Sources Routledge 2008 pages 65 67 Venerable Sujivo Access and Fixed Concentration Vipassana Tribune Vol 4 No 2 July 1996 Buddhist Wisdom Centre Malaysia Available here Sujiva Mastering an Absorption Buddhanet Fox 1989 p 83 87 Buddhadasa Bhikkhu Tanissaro Arbel 2017 Fox 1989 p 85 87 a b Fox 1989 Wynne 2007 p 106 140 note 58 Vetter 1988 p 13 a b Wynne 2007 p 140 note 58 Wynne 2007 p 106 107 140 note 58 Lusthaus 2002 p 91 Gethin 1992 p 162 182 Gethin 2004 p 217 note 26 Polak 2011 p 25 Gethin 2004 p 217 218 Gethin 2004 p 203 204 Gethin 2004 p 204 Gethin 2004 p 208 a b Gethin 2004 p 216 Gethin 2004 p 215 Gethin 2004 p 217 Wynne 2007 p 106 107 Gombrich 1997 p 84 85 Gombrich 1997 p 62 a b c d Quli 2008 a b Rose 2016 p 61 The great Jhana debate a b c Bhikkhu Thanissaro Concentration and Discernment Shankman 2008 p 117 Shankman 2008 p 136 Shankman 2008 p 137 Shankman 2008 p 137 138 Vetter 1988 p xxxvi Shankman 2008 p 80 a b Rose 2016 p 59 Richard Shankman The Experience of Samadhi an in depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation Shambala publications 2008 Samannaphala Sutta Arbel 2017 p 16 a b c Polak 2011 p 208 a b Arbel 2016 p 171 n 65 Arbel 2016 p 141 Dogen 1999 p 32 Baker 2008 p 235 note 136 Sharf 2014 Nan Huai Chin To Realize Enlightenment Practice of the Cultivation Path 1994 p 1 Sheng Yen Orthodox Chinese Buddhism North Atlantic Books 2007 p 122 Deleanu Florin 1992 Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyana Sutras Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan TICOJ 37 42 57 Fischer Schreiber Ehrhard amp Diener 2008 p 103 Ven Dr Yuanci A Study of the Meditation Methods in the DESM and Other Early Chinese Texts Archived 2013 05 08 at the Wayback Machine The Buddhist Academy of China Sharf 2015 p 475 Yu 2021 p 157 Lai amp Cheng 2008 p 351 Suzuki 2014 p 112 Schaik 2018 p 70 93 McRae 1986 p 143 Sharf 2014 p 939 Sheng Yen Fundamentals of Meditation Sōtō Zen Text Project Zazengi translation Stanford University Archived from the original on 17 November 2015 Retrieved 15 November 2015 Sōtō Zen Text Project Fukan Zazengi Stanford University Archived from the original on 2008 04 29 Retrieved 2008 03 26 a b Luk Charles The Secrets of Chinese Meditation 1964 p 44 Nan Huai Chin Basic Buddhism Exploring Buddhism and Zen 1997 p 92 Blyth 1966 Loori 2006 Lachs 2006 a b B Alan Wallace The Bridge of Quiescence Experiencing Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Carus Publishing Company 1998 pages 215 216 Study and Practice of Meditation Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless Absorptions by Leah Zahler Snow Lion Publications 2009 pg 264 5 B Alan Wallace The Attention Revolution Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind Wisdom Publications 2006 page xii a b Johannes Bronkhorst 1993 The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India Motilal Banarsidass pp 45 49 68 70 78 81 96 98 112 119 ISBN 978 81 208 1114 0 Constance Jones James D Ryan 2006 Encyclopedia of Hinduism Infobase pp 283 284 ISBN 978 0 8160 7564 5 James G Lochtefeld Ph D 2001 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume 1 The Rosen Publishing Group Inc p 196 ISBN 978 0 8239 3179 8 Wujastyk 2011 p 33 Feuerstein 1978 p 108 Tola Dragonetti amp Prithipaul 1987 p x Moving Inward The Journey from Asana to Pratyahara Archived July 19 2011 at the Wayback Machine Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy Karel Werner The Yogi and the Mystic Routledge 1994 page 27 Robert Thurman The Central Philosophy of Tibet Princeton University Press 1984 page 34 Woods James Haughton trans 1914 The Yoga System of Patanjali with commentary Yogabhashya attributed to Veda Vyasa and Tattva Vaicharadi by Vacaspati Misra Cambridge Harvard University Press a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link page needed An Outline of the Religious Literature of India By John Nicol Farquhar p 132 Bodhi Bhikkhu trans 2000 The Connected Discourses of the Buddha A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya Boston Wisdom Publications ISBN 0 86171 331 1 page needed Sources EditAjahn Brahm 2006 Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond A Meditator s Handbook Wisdom Publications Ajahn Brahm 2007 Simply This Moment Arbel Keren 2016 Early Buddhist Meditation The Four Jhanas as the Actualization of Insight Routledge doi 10 4324 9781315676043 ISBN 9781317383994 Baker Kenneth 2008 The Lightning Field Hol Art Books Berzin Alexander 2006 Primary Minds and the 51 Mental Factors Blyth R H 1966 Zen and Zen Classics Volume 4 Tokyo Hokuseido Press Bronkhorst Johannes 1993 The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India Motilal Banarsidass Publ Bucknell Robert S 1993 Reinterpreting the Jhanas Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16 2 Chen Naichen 2017 The Great Prajna Paramita Sutra Volume 1 Wheatmark Cousins L S 1996 The origins of insight meditation PDF in Skorupski T ed The Buddhist Forum IV seminar papers 1994 1996 pp 35 58 London UK School of Oriental and African Studies Crangle Edward Fitzpatrick 1994 The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices Harrassowitz Verlag Dogen Kazuaki 1999 Tanahashi ed Enlightenment Unfolds The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen Shambhala Dumoulin Heinrich 2005 Zen Buddhism A History Volume 1 India and China World Wisdom Books ISBN 978 0 941532 89 1 Feuerstein George 1978 Handboek voor Yoga Dutch translation English title Textbook of Yoga Ankh Hermes Fischer Schreiber Ingrid Ehrhard Franz Karl Diener Michael S 2008 Lexicon Boeddhisme Wijsbegeerte religie psychologie mystiek cultuur en literatuur Asoka Fox Martin Stuart 1989 Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 12 2 Fuller Sasaki Ruth 2008 The Record of Lin Ji University 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the Gauḍapadiya karika SUNY Press King Winston L 1992 Theravada Meditation The Buddhist Transformation of Yoga Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Kunsang Erik Pema 2004 Gateway to Knowledge Vol 1 North Atlantic Books Lachs Stuart 2006 The Zen Master in America Dressing the Donkey with Bells and Scarves Lai Whalen Cheng Yu yin 2008 Chinese Buddhist Philosophy from Han through Tang in Mou Bo ed Routledge Loori John Daido 2006 Sitting with Koans Essential Writings on Zen Koan Introspection Wisdom Publications ISBN 0 86171 369 9 Lusthaus Dan 2002 Buddhist Phenomenology A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch eng Wei shih Lun Routledge Maezumi Taizan Cook Francis Dojun 2007 The Eight Awarenesses of the Enlightened Person Dogen Zenji s Hachidainingaku in Maezumi Taizan Glassman Bernie eds The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment Wisdom Publications Matsumoto Shiro 1997 1997 The Meaning of Zen In Jamie Hubbard ed Pruning the Bodhi Tree The Storm Over Critical Buddhism PDF Honolulu University of Hawaiʻi Press pp 242 250 ISBN 082481908X McRae John 1986 The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chʻan Buddhism University of Hawaii Press Nanamoli Bhikkhu trans 1995 The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya Wisdom Publications ISBN 0 86171 072 X Polak Grzegorz 2011 Reexamining Jhana Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology UMCS Quli Natalie 2008 Multiple Buddhist Modernisms Jhana in Convert Theravada PDF Pacific World 10 225 249 Rhys Davids T W Stede William eds 1921 25 The Pali Text Society s Pali English dictionary Pali Text Society Rose Kenneth 2016 Yoga Meditation and Mysticism Contemplative Universals and Meditative Landmarks Bloomsbury Samuel Geoffrey 2008 The Origins of Yoga and Tantra Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 139 47021 6 Sangpo Gelong Lodro Dhammajoti Bhikkhu K L 2012 Abhidharmakosa Bhasya of Vasubandhu Volume 3 Motilal Banarsidass Sarbacker Stuart Ray 2021 Tracing the Path of Yoga The History and Philosophy of Indian Mind Body Discipline State University of New York Press Schmithausen Lambert 1981 On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of Liberating Insight and Enlightenment in Early Buddhism In Studien zum Jainismus und Buddhismus Gedenkschrift fur Ludwig Alsdorf hrsg von Klaus Bruhn und Albrecht Wezler Wiesbaden 1981 199 250 Schaik Sam van 2018 The spirit of Zen Yale University Press Shankman Richard 2008 The Experience of Samadhi An In depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation Shambhala Sharf Robert 2014 Mindfullness and Mindlessness in Early Chan PDF Philosophy East amp West 64 4 933 964 doi 10 1353 pew 2014 0074 S2CID 144208166 Sharf Robert H 2015 Is mindfulness Buddhist and why it matters Transcultural Psychiatry 52 4 470 484 doi 10 1177 1363461514557561 PMID 25361692 S2CID 18518975 Suzuki D T 2014 Selected Works of D T Suzuki Volume I Zen University of California Press Tola Fernando Dragonetti Carmen Prithipaul K Dad 1987 The Yogasutras of Patanjali on concentration of mind Motilal Banarsidass Vetter Tilmann 1988 The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism BRILL Vimalaramsi Bhante 2015 A Guide to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation Dhamma Sukha Publishing Wayman Alex 1997 Introduction Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real Buddhist Meditation and the Middle View from the Lam Rim Chen Mo Tson kha pa Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Williams Paul 2000 Buddhist Thought A complete introduction to the Indian tradition Routledge Wujastyk Dominik 2011 The Path to Liberation through Yogic Mindfulness in Early Ayurveda In David Gordon White ed Yoga in practice Princeton University Press Wynne Alexander 2007 The Origin of Buddhist Meditation Routledge Yu Jimmy 2021 Reimagining Chan Buddhism Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Routledge Zhu Rui 2005 Distinguishing Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Manas and the Mental Mechanics of Meditation PDF East and West 55 3 426 446Further reading EditScholarly philological historical Analayo 2017 Early Buddhist Meditation Studies defence of traditional Theravada position Bronkhorst Johannes 1993 The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India Motilal Banarsidass Publ Bucknell Robert S 1993 Reinterpreting the Jhanas Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16 2 Polak 2011 Reexamining Jhana Stuart Fox Martin 1989 Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 12 2 Wynne Alexander 2007 The Origin of Buddhist Meditation RoutledgeRe assessment of jhana in TheravadaArbel Keren 2017 Early Buddhist meditation the four jhanas as the actualization of insight London Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 38399 4 Quli Natalie 2008 Multiple Buddhist Modernisms Jhana in Convert Theravada PDF Pacific World 10 225 249 Shankman Richard 2008 The Experience of SamadhiExternal links EditFrom Sutta Pitaka Jhana 2005 descriptions and similes from the Pali Canon s Anguttara Nikaya and Dhammapada by John T Bullitt Theravadin Buddhist perspectiveHenepola Gunaratana Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation Ajahn Brahmavamso Travelogue to the four Jhanas Ajahn Brahmavamso The Jhanas Thanissaro Bhikkhu Jhana not by the numbers Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahathera MN 111 One by One as They Occurred Anupada Sutta Dhamma Talks on the Anupada Sutta This provides a highly detailed account of the progression through the jhanas Sutta style jhanas a western phenomenon Dhamma WheelMahayanaNagarjuna Commentary in the Four DhyanasOthersLeigh Breighton Interpretations of the Jhanas Jhana Wars Simple Suttas O Brien Barbara Jhanas or Dhyanas A Progression of Buddhist Meditation Learn Religions 28 Sept 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dhyana in Buddhism amp oldid 1162787090, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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