The Nature of Consciousness
Consciousness (citta) has a remarkable capacity to take itself as an object, creating a temporary self-sustaining state. This fundamental principle underlies the possibility of heavenly realms. Our ordinary consciousness requires a heart base and circulating blood with iron to generate electromagnetic currents that support the mind. When blood flow stops, this everyday awareness ceases.
Beyond Ordinary Awareness
Many people experience awareness beyond normal sensory consciousness through jhanic states. These experiences often occur naturally in childhood, and habitual thinkers frequently operate in the jhanic plane. Unlike ordinary awareness with its five senses, jhanic awareness operates primarily through three consciousnesses: visual, sound, and mind.
The Mechanism of Heavenly Existence
Normal awareness depends on the life continuum – a stream of identical resultant citta. Heavenly beings possess a different type of life continuum composed of self-sustaining ‘jhanic’ consciousness seeds. These form when awareness curves so deeply into itself that it collapses into a stable, self-sustaining pattern. This mechanism likely explains the existence of angels, who cannot tolerate ill-will as it destabilizes their fundamental nature.
Understanding Jhanic Consciousness
Jhanic consciousness manifests naturally in various activities:
- Meditation practice
- Profound abstract thinking
- Artistic creation
- Athletic performance
- Musical expression
While these activities provide glimpses, dedicated meditators and occultists can access a broader range of jhanic states through specific meditative objects.
The Process of Jhanic Development
When consciousness merges with its meditative object, jhana arises. This merger triggers:
- Physical relaxation equivalent to deep sleep
- Cessation of sympathetic nervous system activity
- Initial awareness of blood flow changes (often misidentified as kundalini)
- Experience of rapture and fascination
- Progressive levels of heavenly love and bliss
The Realms of Jhana
Jhanic experiences divide into two categories:
Fine Material (Form) Realms
- Five distinct levels
- Mental worlds similar to ordinary reality
- Perfect in their manifestation
Formless Realms
- Four progressive levels
- Abstract states beyond ordinary conception
- Culminating in neither perception nor non-perception
Mastery and Rebirth
Practitioners who achieve jhanic mastery can experience rebirth in corresponding realms. The formless realms represent increasingly subtle states where:
- Only mind exists
- Concepts of materiality dissolve
- Space and being become meaningless
- Consciousness can enter temporal stasis
Practical Considerations
While jhana can bestow certain psychic abilities, pursuing these powers often leads to problematic karma. Jhana remains within the realm of normal awareness, though modified. It can provide shelter for the troubled mind but should not substitute for moral development.
Transcendental Awareness
Beyond jhanic states lies transcendental awareness, which:
- Takes nirvana as its object
- Reveals deep connectivity of awareness
- Eliminates attachment to permanent self
- Eradicates negative mental states
- Manifests physically through slowed heart rate and skin color changes
Conclusion
While jhanic experience can support spiritual development, advanced mastery isn’t essential for the path. Practitioners should not become discouraged if they find tranquility meditation challenging.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia: Dhyāna in Buddhism
- Ajahn Punnadhammo’s YouTube Channel: “Arrow River Forest Hermitage”
- “Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas” by Leigh Brasington
- “Manual of Insight” by Mahasi Sayadaw
- “The Experience of Samadhi” by Richard Shankman
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