The journey to enlightenment through Buddhist meditation encompasses various approaches, with tranquility meditation (samatha) being one of the most profound. While insight practices often dominate modern discourse, the path of deep concentration through jhana remains a cornerstone of Buddhist practice.
The Foundation: Tranquility and Insight
Meditation success requires both tranquility to settle the mind and insight to fuel realizations. The insightful mind is always present, merely obscured by mental turbulence – like clear water muddied by stirred sediment. As tranquility deepens, insight naturally emerges. Think of tranquility as creating the optimal conditions for insight to arise – the deeper the tranquility, the fewer obstacles block our natural wisdom.
Overcoming the Five Hindrances
Before accessing jhanic states, one must first overcome five primary obstacles:
- Sensory desire (kāmacchanda): The pull toward pleasurable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and physical sensations
- Ill-will (vyāpāda): Feelings of hostility, resentment, and bitterness
- Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): Mental dullness and physical lethargy
- Restlessness-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): Agitation and anxiety that prevent mental calm
- Doubt (vicikicchā): Lack of conviction in the practice or one’s capabilities
These hindrances act as direct obstacles to jhana. Their temporary suspension marks the threshold of first jhana.
Understanding Jhanic States
Jhana represents a state of profound meditative absorption where consciousness (citta) achieves perfect balance. While the sutras describe four levels, the Abhidhamma tradition recognizes five distinct grades. Each level becomes increasingly subtle, characterized by the progressive reduction of mental factors (cetasikas). Think of jhana as a temporary shelter where the mind finds perfect contentment, free from worldly concerns.
The Form Jhanas
First Jhana
When the five hindrances dissolve, the mind naturally enters first jhana. This state includes all universal ethical factors, occasional variables, and wholesome mental factors plus wisdom. Two key elements characterize this state:
- Initial application (vitakka): Like striking a bell
- Sustained application (vicāra): Like the bell’s continuing resonance
While closest to normal awareness, first jhana remains vulnerable to disturbance. Some discursive thought remains possible, but only within the meditation object’s scope.
Second Jhana
As initial application drops away, second jhana emerges. The experience becomes continuous rather than phasic. Physical rapture (pīti) becomes prominent, manifesting as ecstatic bodily sensations. These arise from deep relaxation and improved energy flow throughout the body.
Third Jhana
Abandoning sustained application marks entry into third jhana. Here, all normal thought processes suspend, leaving pure experience of bodily rapture, happiness, and tranquility.
Fourth Jhana
In fourth jhana, even bodily rapture dissolves, leaving only mental happiness described as “oceanic” and continuous. This level enables development of certain psychic abilities, particularly when mastered with specific meditation objects.
Fifth Jhana
The final form jhana replaces happiness with perfect equanimity (upekkhā), achieving extraordinary mental stillness.
The Formless Realms
Beyond form jhanas lie four increasingly subtle formless states:
Infinite Space
The meditator expands their meditation object until it fills all space, then focuses solely on that boundless dimension.
Infinite Consciousness
Letting go of space, awareness rests in pure, unbounded consciousness – the universal mind beyond individual separation.
Nothingness
Transcending even infinite consciousness, the mind dwells in complete void, where perception continues but without objects.
Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception
The subtlest state, where mental factors become so refined they barely function. Perception neither fully exists nor doesn’t exist – a paradoxical state approaching ultimate reality.
Meditation Objects and Mastery
The Forty Meditation Objects
Different temperaments suit different objects:
- Kasinas: Colored disks representing elements and colors
- Breath meditation: Accessible and effective up to fourth jhana
- Body contemplations: Including anatomical parts and elements
- Divine abodes: Loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity
- Contemplations: Buddha, Dharma, or death
Achieving Mastery
True mastery involves:
- Accessing any jhana level at will
- Moving between levels smoothly
- Maintaining absorption for desired duration
- Emerging at predetermined times
- Reviewing the experience clearly
- Applying skills across different meditation objects
Advanced Practice: Cessation
Only highly advanced practitioners (anagami or arahant) can achieve cessation – complete suspension of mental activity. This state requires:
- Programming duration beforehand
- Setting conditions for emergence
- Maintaining physical stasis without decay
- Direct contemplation of Dependent Origination upon emerging
Modern Applications
While traditional mastery demands extraordinary dedication, modern practitioners can still benefit significantly from jhana practice. Academic minds might find tranquility meditation challenging initially, but persistence yields profound results. Basic competence in these states supports insight practice effectively, even without complete mastery.
The path of tranquility offers a systematic approach to mental development, leading ultimately to the highest Buddhist realizations. While challenging, especially in our fast-paced world, its benefits make it worth pursuing under proper guidance.
Further Reading
- “The Mind Illuminated” by Culadasa (John Yates)
- “Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas” by Leigh Brasington
- “Manual of Insight” by Mahasi Sayada
- Wikipedia: Dhyāna in Buddhism
- Access to Insight
- Dharma Seed
- YouTube Channels:
- Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu
- Buddhist Society of Western Australia
The article above is based on a chapter from “Citrinitas,” the third volume in Dr. Simon Robinson’s enlightening series “A Course in Modern Alchemy.” This comprehensive work delves deep into the advanced stages of spiritual transformation, building upon the foundations laid in the previous volumes, Nigredo and Albedo.
In Citrinitas, Dr. Robinson masterfully weaves together Buddhist meditation practices, alchemical symbolism, and practical spiritual guidance. The book explores profound concepts such as the Path of Tranquility, jhanic states of consciousness, and the subtle mechanics of enlightenment. Through careful examination of both traditional and modern approaches, it illuminates the “yellowing” stage of the Great Work – where the practitioner begins to experience the radiant nature of mind beyond ordinary perception.
While this online excerpt offers valuable insights, the complete journey through Citrinitas contains detailed instructions, contemplative exercises, and esoteric wisdom that are best appreciated in their full context. The physical book provides an invaluable companion for serious practitioners of modern spiritual alchemy.