Questions tagged [jhana]
Jhāna generally refers to the 8 stages of tranquility (samatha) meditation taught by Gautama Buddha and mentioned in the Pali Canon.
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How to get rid of demons or evil spirits?
I have been a Vipassana meditator since 2001 and had a very strong practice and very good concentration. Last 2-3 years I started feeling a physical violation of space and then hearing voices. What ...
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Sutta on leaving absorption/concentration/meditation
I'm looking for a Sutta I read recently that has instructions (or a description) on a gradual exit of meditation/levels of concentration. It might talk about this in the context of Samādhi or Jhāna, I'...
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Difference between Jhana and the Path of Insight [duplicate]
In the book Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman and Rachard J. Davidson, its says:
Sustained focus, the manual notes, brings the first major sign of
progress, "access concentration," where ...
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Recalling Neither Perception nor Non-Perception for Nimittas
In the state known as neither perception nor non-perception, it seems impossible to cognize the relative particulates that allow it to occur as an event, but one can emerge mindfully from its ...
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Among 9 jhanas which is deep sleep?
Please provide suttas
I plan to do a meditation until I can achieve the same experience as my deep sleep but I don't know whether it's the first jhana or even cessation of feeling and perception or ...
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1answer
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Am I falling asleep or am I deepening my concentration?
I use the Tara mantra as my focus during Samatha meditation prior to beginning Vipassana but lately I am beginning to wonder...am I falling asleep? I can't tell, really. I don't get drowsy but my ...
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Signless Meditation • 8th Jhana
We find in Thig 3.3 the following verses :
I attain the meditations on emptiness and signlessness whenever I
want.
I am the Buddha’s rightful daughter, always delighting in quenching.
How, dear ...
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Did infinite space had a beginning?
One of the absorption is of Infinite Space.
Did the dimension of Infinite Space had a beginning and therefore it is impermanent and non-self?
If yes then how much time did it took for this 'plane of ...
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Looking for a canonical reference: everyone who attains jhana will be a god of that realm in the next life
Looking for a canonical reference: that everyone who attains jhana will be a god of that realm in the next life.
I'm fairly sure I've seen that claimed in scholarship, either Buddhist or otherwise.
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Are the higher arupa jhanas supernatural states expanding beyond the physical body?
The higher arupa jhanas are:
fifth jhāna: infinite space (Pāḷi ākāsānañcāyatanaa),
sixth jhāna: infinite consciousness (Pāḷi viññāṇañcāyatana),
seventh jhāna: infinite nothingness (Pāḷi ...
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Is attaining to Jhana possible for me?
I searched for the word 'Jhana' on this site and read almost all about 50 odd questions on Jhana. I asked few questions myself.
It seems like one has to put extreme efforts to attain to Jhana.
This is ...
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Looking for sutta reference on entering into Jhana
Following are the stages Ajahn Brahm mentions in his book Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond, to enter in to Jhana.
Present moment awareness
Silent present moment awareness
Silent present moment awareness ...
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4answers
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Is there anything akin to 'Jhana' in Zen Buddhism?
I have read about 'Jhana' in Ajahn Brahm's book, 'Mindfulness, bliss and beyond'. It looks like, from his teaching of Theravada Buddhism, 'Jhana' is a pre-requisite to attain 'Nirvana'.
I want to ask, ...
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Doesn't mahāyāna have a classification for jhānas?
Is it me or is it incredibly difficult to find resources on the 4 (or 8, with the arupas) jhānas and how to reach them in the mahāyāna/vajrayāna literature? Apart from vague references to samādhi in ...
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Do visual objects have karma?
According to Nagarjuna, the second causal link (sankhara, motivations)
and the tenth causal link (bhava, gestation) are two karmas through
which sentient beings trigger seven sufferings identified ...
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2answers
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what's the emptiness, 空, in 3rd jhana of STED 4 jhana formula in agamas?
what's the emptiness, 空, in 3rd jhana of STED 4 jhana formula in agamas?
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2019/12/whats-emptiness-in-3rd-jhana-of-sted-4.html
excerpt:
The 4 jhanas standard ...
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Jhana Explaination [duplicate]
Namo Buddhaya!
Can someone please SIMPLY explain the EIGHT Jhanas, specifically:
1) What are Jhanas meant to do & why would one want to achieve them?
2) How does one specifically achieve ...
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4answers
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looking for citation, pīti and sukha of 4 jhānas compared to dying of thirst, seeing water in distance, and drinking it
There's an excellent simile in the Theravada non canonical literature explaining the difference between piti and sukha in the first 3 jhanas, reminiscent of the lotus pond in this sutta MN 40. (...
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3answers
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Sathipathanna mindfulness and Jhana how to do them correctly
1) It is said that doing the technique that Mahasi Sayadaw talks about we can attain awakening. If you know anything about this technique how is it to be done and can it take us to Nibbana.
2) ...
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Should I judge the efficacy of Samadhi based on the ethical qualities of the meditator?
As far as I understand, one of the main purposes of the eight factor of the Path (samma samadhi) is to clean the mind from impurities.
I've read a lot of discussions where one meditator states that ...
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What is bodily formation? Does it refer to the breath or the body?
'I will breathe in tranquilizing the bodily formation'; he trains thus: 'I will breathe out tranquilizing the bodily formation.'" ---Satipatthana (Bhiku Bodhi's translation)
What is bodily formation? ...
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To reach 1st jhana, do we have to let go, or do we have to put some effort?
Recently, I've been reading a lot about the different methods and perspectives for reaching the jhanas.
For a long time, the only method I've been using is to "let go" everything, and to use the ...
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1answer
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In which sutta does a lay disciple of the Buddha tell a non-buddhist mendicant that he has experienced jhana?
I remember reading a sutta some time ago in which a lay disciple of the Buddha held a conversation with a non-Buddhist ascetic. I don't remember the topic of their conversation, but at one point the ...
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1answer
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MN 36 parallels for section where Buddha as a 9 year old boy has first jhana
I read up on B. Analayo's Agama comparative notes between the passage in question in various EBT schools (pali, more than one agama lineage, sanskrit...).
But he didn't have the part I'm interested ...
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5answers
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Describe all the Jhanas in everyday language
Could you describe to me what all the Jhanas mean in everyday language because I couldnt understand it by reading the sutras. I couldn't understand what they meant by reading the sutras describing ...
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7answers
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Is Jhana considered dukkha and/or conditioned?
Is the experience of jhana considered dukkha because of its impermanence? If yes, is it still considered dukkha after attaining Nibbana?
Is the experience of jhana conditioned? Is it still considered ...
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How to 'Let Go' in Meditation?
"And what is the faculty of concentration? There is the case where a monk, a disciple of the noble ones, making it his object to let go, attains concentration, attains singleness of mind.
Indriya-...
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1answer
131 views
Missing Dhyana/Jhana Sutras?
Are there parallel texts between Pali Canon Jhana Suttas, and Mahayana equivalent? Dhyana Sutras? I now that the theme is picked up again in Tiantai texts, but I'm thinking of between the Pali canon ...
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Is Samadhi mentioned in Jhana Suttas?
Do the Pali texts on jhana actually mention Samadhi and/or One-Pointedness by name in the jhana descriptions or is this mention apocryphal?
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Nimitta - sutta references
Please provide references from the Pali suttas on nimitta.
Are they mentioned in the context of jhana?
In the article below, it is mentioned that nimitta is found in the Anapanasati Sutta, but I ...
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6answers
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Remaining in first jhana, while walking, talking, eating
Is it possible to attain the first jhana, then remain in first jhana, while walking, talking, eating and performing other daily activities?
Or does one remain in first jhana only while in sitting ...
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Sutta jhana vs. Visuddhimagga jhana
In the paper "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhāna in Convert Theravāda", Natalie Quli compares what the following teachers have taught about jhana: Ayya Khema, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Pa-...
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Can you focus on the feeling of your body on the chair for reaching the jhanas?
I feel like focusing on the feeling of my feet on the ground is easier than focusing on the sensations of the breath. Is this a viable object for access concentration/jhana?
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Are the Jhanas related to some of the 31 realms of existence
When I say 'related' in this sense means more about the hue that accompanies a jhana, this might be a very pleasant feeling, mind state or perception.
I don't know what school this question refers to....
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Which is a certified/authentic guide to entering Jhnanas?
By far I have came across only Ajahn Brahms book which gives detailed instructions on entering Jhnanas.
If I google for any other instruction manual I get this link.
I don't doubt Ajahn Brahm at all ...
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Considering other traditions than Goenka Vipassana for better Right Effort, Right Concentration and Right Mindfullness
I have been on three 10-day Goenka Vipassana retreats in the past four years. I continue to meditate every day, although I question my technique, my progress, and eventually if this is the right ...
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4answers
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Other physical (samatha) meditation objects besides breath?
Does Buddhist samatha meditation allow for physical meditation objects other than the breath? I have noticed I feel much more contentment with the physical sensation of "back straight". Please give ...
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Did the Buddha prescribe other meditations besides breath meditation? (for concentration, jhana) [duplicate]
After reading Ajahn Brahm, Leigh Brasington, and Ayya Khema's books on meditation, I have not been able to reach the jhanas through breath meditation.
If I stay with the breath long enough to reach "...
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The Buddha and the Jhanas
This is a continuation of an original question I asked, linked here: Buddhist Jhanas, how best to describe them?
My question is: can any of you link me directly to the instances in primary sources (...
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What exacly is the so-called “formless” jhana?
When reading the suttas, sometimes I come across to the expressions:
"dimension of the infinitude of space",
"dimension of the infinitude of consciousness",
"dimension of nothingness" and
"dimension ...
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3answers
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If you build in difference to reach higher jhana won't that make it hard to enter jhana?
If i have to review how gross the jhana factors are won't that make it hard to enter the jhana as I don't care for the factors?
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Samatha Meditation
This summer I got the chance to spend 20 days at Pa-Auk Tawya forest meditation center in Myanamar and I did Anapana-Sati for 20 days. Now I'm back at my university but when I look back I see than ...
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Jhanic potential in Christians?
I was reading over at this post...
https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/26834/13249
...and saw this reply (quoted below) and wondered if I could get some elaboration.
How is it a Christian could ...
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3answers
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Must one move through the various jhanas to realise nibbana?
Some of these jhanas are incredibly powerful but they have an opposite, that being emotional and mental upheaval and the dark nights.
Essentially, I realise that there are valuable insights to learn ...
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Is there a reason not to practice jhana?
From a chemical point of view, there has to be an after effect of the amount of joy and happiness one feels, right ?
In a spiritual point of view, I know one should be aware of attachement to jhana. ...
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Buddhist Jhanas, how best to describe them?
I’m conducting research into the phenomena of Buddhist Jhanas/Dhyanas, and am looking for a good place to start.
In addition to primary sources that discuss what this phenomena is, how would you ...
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How to intentionally move to second jhana
I have mastered the 1st and wish to move now to the second. But all the books and sources online confuse me. Some say it happen naturally other say it's something you can focus on to bring about the ...
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Is pīti physical and sukha emotional?
I always read piti: joy is mental happiness and sukha is physical. But lately i have been reading pīti is physical, sukha is emotional. At first i thought this didn't matter but now for Jhana training ...
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Two types of satipaṭṭhāna - which has jhana?
In Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond, Ajahn Brahm writes -
The Buddha taught two types of satipaṭṭhāna. The first type is supported by jhāna and leads to enlightenment in a short time.
Which ...
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How to enter the second Jhana?
I know you must abandoned applied & sustain thought. Getting rid of applied is easy it's gone once the first Jhana is established. But how to you get rid of sustain thought? I have ready many ...
