Insight occurs whilst in Jhāna according to Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Yogācāra and different currents of Mahāyāna Buddhism generally. Most Mahāyānist Buddhists that I know also define sukha in Jhāna as being bodily pleasure, from what I’ve read. Likely as an influence from the Sautrāntikas.
1 Like
According to the Vaibhāṣika breathing in and out occurs whilst in the Jhānas (accept the 4th).
1 Like
For example, when discussing the Liberations, Spheres of Mastery and Kasiṇas
A. Vimokṣas 1–3, eight abhibhus and kṛtsnas 1–8.
In nature they are the five skandhas and they have as object the visibles of kāmadhātu.
Vimokṣas 1–2 and abhibhus 1–4 are contemplations of the horrible (aśubhabhāvana), i.e., of the decomposing corpse, and are practiced in the 1st and 2nd dhyānas. When practiced in the first, they counteract attachment to color (varṇarāga) of kāmadhātu; when practiced in the second, they counteract attachment to color of the first dhyāna.
In vimokṣaṣ 1 and abhibhus 1–2, the ascetic still has the notion of inner visibles, those of his own body; in vimokṣa 2 and abhibhus 3–4, he no longer has them. But in all cases, he contemplates unpleasant outer visibles (amanojñā), less numerous (parītta) in abhibhus 1 and 3, numerous (mahodgata or paramāna) in abhibhus 2 and 4.
Vimokṣa 3, abhibhus 5–8 and kṛtsnas 1–8 are contemplations on the beautiful (śubhabhāvana) and are practiced exclusively in the 4th dhyāna. No longer having the notion of inner visibles, the ascetic contemplates the outer pleasant visibles (manojñā) of kāmadhātu: in vimokṣa 3, the beautiful (śubha) in general, which he actualizes (kāyena sākādātkaroti); in abhibhus 5–8 and kṛtsnas 5–8, the four pure colors (blue, yellow, red and white); in kṛtsnas 1–4, the four great elements (earth, water, fire and wind).
Preliminary note to liberations, masteries and totalities (wisdomlib.org)
As a side note generally I find the Sarvāstivādin explanation of these things far more satisfying than the Theravādin one, which hardly discusses them and just collapses them all into the same practice. Namely, Kasiṇa meditation. Also note that for the Sarvāstivādins the Kasiṇas are developed in the 4th Jhāna, instead of being a means to obtain the Jhānas in the Theravādin tradition.
This paper is worth a read
Mindfulness of breathing facilitates the attainment of both tranquillity meditation (śamatha) and insight meditation (vipaśyanā). Does one practice vipaśyanā while in dhyāna or after emerging from dhyāna? Regarding this controversy of vipaśyanā practice, Ven. Bodhi says:
“The commentarial method of explanation stipulates that the meditator emerges from the jhāna attainment and practices insight contemplation with a mind made sharp and supple by the jhāna. However, the suttas themselves say nothing about emerging from the jhāna. If one reads the suttas alone, without the commentaries, it seems as if the meditator examines the factors within the jhāna itself”…
According to the Visuddhimagga and the Vimuttimagga, the union of śamatha and vipaśyanā occurs after one emerges from dhyāna. In contrast, according to the Yogācārabhūmi, the Mahāvibhāṣā, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, and the Tattvasiddhiśāstra, this union takes place while one is in dhyāna.
Issues in śamatha and vipaśyanā : a comparative study of Buddhist meditation
You do get some irregularities with these. For example the Sarvāstivādin and Yogācārin position is that the 5 sense consciousness do not occur, however they also say that the body is still experienced.
1 Like
I wonder in which step the 4th jhāna is within the 16 steps found in the Ānāpānassatisutta because each step involves either breathing in or breathing out. Thank you in advance.
1 Like
Here is an example from the Dharmatrāta-Dhyāna-Sūtra
Or, similar to the contemplation
of the absolute truth (paramārtha-satya) of the (four
noble) truths,
suffering (duḥkha) comes before its cause
(samudaya).
The observation of breathing is the same.
It is firstly long
and then becomes short.
It is wrong to assert that
breathing in the first dhyāna is short
and that in the second dhyāna is long,
for it contradicts what is being experienced.
In the first dhyāna,
the force of the breath lasts very long,
in the second dhyāna the breath becomes short,
and what is being experienced comes to gradually
differ.When one‘s whole body experiences illuminating
awareness, one has entered the third dhyāna.
Eventually, all his bodily activities (kāya-saṃskāra)
have come to a halt,
for all his pores have been left behind.
This sums up the fact
that the various forms of samādhi
which arise on the accumulation
of positive effects
should form the dwelling place
of the practitioner who
could then avoid the disturbance
of distracted thought (viṭarka)
and consideration (vicāra).
Its not really clear where the 4th Jhāna kicks in here. There were debates around what was done in each Jhāna, as shown above.
2 Likes
I wonder in which step the 1st, 2nd and 3rd jhāna kicks in within the 16 steps found in the Ānāpānassatisutta.
1 Like
Some masters taught that “long breath” was in the 1st Jhāna, “short breath” in the 2nd Jhāna and so on. The text above disagrees with that exegesis. Personally I take a different view. I think, like Satipaṭṭhāna, the tetrads aren’t progressive. Rather they are different aspects of the same experience that we pay attention to and develop.
2 Likes
Considering:
- Ānāpānassati is about being mindful/aware of breathing;
- Again, all the 16 steps in MN118 involve either breathing in or breathing out; and
- All breathing process takes place within the physical body.
How does one know (be aware) that they are breathing while in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd jhāna if all bodily sensations are ‘gone’ during the jhāna session?
Thank you.
2 Likes
This depends on how you view Jhana. With bodily sensations or not.
2 Likes
I found something interesting, I thought I would share it here:
In appanāsamādhi the mind calms down and is stilled to a level where it is at its most subtle and skilful. Even if you experience sense impingement from the outside, such as sounds and physical sensations, it remains external and is unable to disturb the mind.
-Ajahn Chah
(Page 454)
Interesting, thank you.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to know how you come by this information. I’d also like to find out what positions ancient schools of Buddhism have taken on jhanas, whether it’s the possibility of practising vipassana during jhana, or the bodily aspect of jhanas.
I feel that even now, I have the ingrained impression that the traditional, orthodox Buddhist position is that the Buddha’s jhana are without the 5 senses, as if for millennia the only type of jhana taught was non-corporeal jhana, and that the idea that jhana are bodily is only a modern one (and from there, it’s only a short step to think that bodily jhana are only an expression of the degeneration of dhamma, since they are recent). I have seen several teachers of non-corporeal jhanas implicitly use the degeneration of dhamma as an argument in favor of non-corporeal jhana.
And contrary to this, if I follow you (and I’ve also read this elsewhere), it seems that this is not true, and that there were already very old significant theses in favor of bodily jhanas.
That’s also why I’d like to know how you go about researching this subject.
In addition, given that for a while you supported the idea that the Buddha’s jhanas no longer have the 5 senses, I’d like to know what made you change your mind.
1 Like
Interesting, thank you.
At Pa-Auk, it is possible that they would say that the inhalation and exhalation continue (except in the 4th), but that the inhalation and exhalation are not separately perceived in the meditator’s head.
1 Like
It’s about the passage as a whole, which sounds to me much more like withdrawing from the five senses than withdrawing into a hut or forest. For example, it says that the sensual perceptions cease at the moment one enters first jhāna, just like perception of pīti ends at the moment one enters the third jhāna. This doesn’t seem to refer to going into physical seclusion, which is usually done long before abandoning the hindrances and entering jhāna.
Let me quote the passage once more, for clarity:
When they get fully separated from sensory experiences and separated from unskillful states of mind, they attain the first jhana, where there is delight and bliss (sukha) caused by the separation [from the sensory experiences], to which the mind moves and holds on. The perception of sensory experiences which they had before, ceases. At that time there is subtle but true perception of delight and bliss caused by the separation, and they only have that perception, subtle but true, of delight and bliss caused by the separation. That is how through training some perceptions [of the five senses] cease while others [of pītisukha] arise.
The thing abandoned in the first jhāna is also called a ‘perception’, just like the feeling of pītisukha is called a perception. Walking into seclusion doesn’t really make certain “perceptions” cease, I would say, at least not in the same way the perception of pīti ceases in the third jhāna. However, the cessation of sounds, smells, and so on, is cessation in very much the same sense. (To pre-empt possible responses by others, I know in some other places kāmasaññā means perceptions of sense desire, but I don’t think that’s the case here in DN9.)
Elsewhere “fully separated from sensual objects (kāmā)” is also explained as “one has thoroughly ended sensual objects (kāmā)”. (AN9.33) That also doesn’t sound like withdrawing into the forest to me. By walking into a forest, you don’t really thoroughly end the “sensual objects”; you just move away from them. However, in my view of jhāna, sounds, sights, smells, etc, do actually thoroughly come to an end.
The sense I get is that what has ceased here is something like this
“Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, the thought occurred to me: ‘My mind may often stray towards those five cords of sensual pleasure that have already left their impression on the heart but which have passed, ceased, and changed, or towards those that are present, or slightly towards those in the future.’ Then it occurred to me: ‘Being set on my own welfare, I should practise diligence, mindfulness, and guarding of the mind in regard to those five cords of sensual pleasure that have already left their impression on the heart, which have passed, ceased, and changed." - SN 35.117
Well, that’s exactly where we disagree, isn’t it?
As I said, I think one needs to do something else too, namely withdrawing the mind from the five senses. That’s why there are two prerequisites for attaining the first jhāna in the standard formula, not one. Another argument is, if you only needed to abandon the unskillful qualities, the enlightened ones would always be in jhāna, because all unskillful qualities depend on ignorance (SN20.1).
They wouldn’t always be in Jhāna because they wouldn’t always be meditating. In order to enter the 1st Jhāna you have to meditate and intentionally form the formation of rapture. From there you can enter the other Jhānas.
That’s how sukha-indriya is defined there, yes. But as discussed before, it is said in SN48.40 that this kind of sukha (bodily sukha) does not exist in the third jhāna! So the sukha that exists in the third jhāna must be a different kind of sukha, which is mental. Therefore, it can’t be felt “with the body” (“kāyena”).
If you look at the parallels (not listed on SuttaCentral, but there were parallels once) you see that SN 48.40 is the outlier. The parallel, known as the Aviparītaka Sutra, is found in the Yogācārabhūmi -Śāstra, the Tattvasiddhi -Śāstra and the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. There we find this order:
1st Jhāna: Domanassa (mental pain) ceases
2nd Jhāna: Dukkha (physical pain) ceases
3rd Jhāna: Somanassa (mental pleasure) ceases
4th Jhāna: Sukha (physical pleasure) ceases.
This matches what we see with the Jhānas, where pleasure & pain are abandoned in the 4th Jhāna. It also makes more sense. Rapture is the basis for somanassa, and so when it goes somanassa goes leaving the 3rd Jhāna. Since we are dealing with somanassa and sukha as separate things, and since somanassa has gone, the sukha remaining in the 3rd Jhāna must be physical. Based then on the parallels and the general theme of the Indriyasaṁyutta, sukha in the 3rd Jhāna then is bodily pleasure.
It does make sense on some level, and I used to think of it like that too. But I think the practice goes much deeper than just bodily relaxation. I take this to mean your body becomes so tranquil you can’t feel it anymore. That happens because you focus on the pīti (which is mental), being no longer interested in the body. Then the mind feels the ease (sukha) of not having that burden of the body anymore, the ease of being away from the senses.
(It’s good news for those in chronic pain: the body can also be tranquilized in this way if it is in pain. To attain jhānas the pain fades away into the background; it doesn’t need to be transformed into bodily pleasure, which sometimes just isn’t feasible. Also good news for quadriplegics, who, not being able to feel the body, can’t attain the bodily jhānas of some interpretations.)
Some Chinese parallels also say that both body and mind become tranquil at this point, not just the body.
Well let me clarify that when I say bodily tranquillity, I do mean something extra ordinary. The body becomes so tranquil and light its hardly there, but it is still there. When it becomes very tranquil and light its form changes to that of those in the deva realms, of subtle matter. I suppose my position is in-between those who teach a “Jhāna lite”, for want of a better word, and “hard Jhāna”. I also agree that tranquillity is both of mind and body. The suttas say this also. Apologies if my overemphasis on the bodily aspect seemed like I was ignoring the mental aspect of it.
Exactly, it’s spiritual (or literally “not of the flesh”), which means, “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”, synonyms being ‘psychological’, ‘inner’, and ‘non-material’. To avoid confusion, I prefer to translate nirāmisa following Cone and Digital Pali Dictionary as ‘non-physical’. PED and Buddhadatta also have ‘non-material’.
What I’m saying is, pleasure felt “with the body” is not spiritual, not nirāmisa. That’s what SĀmisa means, “of the flesh”, i.e. “of the body”. (As in Matthew 26:41: “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh (body) is weak.”)
We also have to be consistent when possible. If nirāmisa pīti is a mental emotion, as you seem to agree (and which is hard to deny since it’s called pīti-māna), then nirāmisa sukha must also be a mental emotion.
The “material” means the kāmaguṇa. So material rapture and pleasure is that which comes from playing a video game. Spiritual rapture and pleasure doesn’t come from indulging in sensual pleasures, but in the stillness of the body and mind. You are reading it to mean “physical in general”, which I think misses the point.
No, here the two are definitely synonymous. Notice that in uppajjati sukhaṁ somanassaṁ the verb uppajjati is singular, which means that one thing arises, not two separate ones. You can see a peculiarity in Sujato’s translation, where subject and verb don’t agree in number: “pleasure and happiness arises”. The word “and” isn’t there in Pali, that’s the thing. More literally it says: “[there] arises sukha, which is somanassa”. The two words are attributes to one another, not different things.
There are other cases where we see “uppajjati sukhaṁ somanassaṁ”. Here for example:
‘The pleasure and happiness that arise from the eye: this is its gratification.
‘yaṁ kho cakkhuṁ paṭicca uppajjati sukhaṁ somanassaṁ, ayaṁ cakkhussa assādo. - SN 35.13
They occur whenever the gratification and drawback of x is discussed. I don’t know why the Pāli is framed that way, but I don’t think synonyms is the answer. Both Ven. Bodhi and Sujato use “and” when translating these passages. If then we go with my initial argument, you can’t say that because sukha is spiritual it has to be mental in nature and if we are indeed dealing with two different things, since somanassa is discussed sukha then must mean physical ease in SN 36.31. This would fit the overall theme of the Indriyasaṁyutta that I mentioned earlier, and the parallel versions of SN48.40.
I got your line of reasoning already, but I don’t find it satisfying. I’m not sure whether you saw my later post when you typed this. So to clarify, I think the essential comparison being made is much more pragmatic than that, and also more directly related to the central theme of the sutta, which is how the nine attainments are a basis for enlightenment, not whether one becomes enlightened inside of them or not.
The comparison being made is how you contemplate these states. When it comes to the last two attainments you can’t “contemplate the phenomena there”, because there just are not enough “phenomena” there. So when the Buddha says, “thus there is penetration to final knowledge as far as meditative attainments accompanied by perception”, the word “thus” means “in that way”—which is to say, penetration occurs in the way he just described for the attainments with perception, namely through analyzing “the phenomena there”. But it’s different for the final two.
The sutta doesn’t actually say the penetration to enlightenment happens inside the first seven attainments. That is something added on through interpretation, including in that article you linked, which is why I still think it makes a “John had breakfast in bed”-type argument. (There should be a better name for this! ‘Appeal to ignorance’, I believe is the name, claiming something is true because of something not being said. That is to say, “It isn’t said one comes out of jhana, therefore one doesn’t come out of jhana.”)
I mean, it’s true that the sutta only mentions having to be skilled in entering and emergence for the last two attainments. But does this therefore mean one doesn’t have to be skilled in these things for the prior attainments? I don’t think so. Elsewhere these skills are said to be important for developing all attainments of samādhi including the jhānas. A whole book in the Saṃyutta Nikāya, SN34, is all about these skills. There’s also SN52.21, AN2.163, AN6.64, AN6.72, AN7.40–41, and more. Suffice to say, the idea isn’t exactly marginal!
Forgive me but that seems a bit tortuous to me Bhante. The sutta is about the attainments and how they are a basis for awakening. Up to Nothingness they are a basis for awakening because they include perception. The final two do not, but are a basis for awakening when skilled at entering and leaving them. The whole point of saying that is to say that you can’t awaken whilst inside them, because there is barely any perception at all or none. Its a completely redundant comparison if you gain insight whilst outside of all of the attainments, because with all of them one gains insights when skilled in entering and emerging from them. The final two work differently when it comes to awakening. Since perception is needed for wisdom, and since there is no perception (or hardly any) in them, you have to leave them to awaken. This is the straightforward reading of the sutta, and its how old northern schools interpreted it too. Also this
"There should be a better name for this! ‘Appeal to ignorance’, I believe is the name, claiming something is true because of something not being said. That is to say, “It isn’t said one comes out of jhana, therefore one doesn’t come out of jhana.”
is a straw man, since that isn’t my argument. My argument isn’t that because they don’t say one leaves, awakening occurs whilst in them. My argument is that due to the comparison being made with the final two, it means awakening occurs whilst in them. When there is no perception there is no wisdom, so one has to leave the attainment, regain perception and then there is wisdom. Ergo, you don’t need to enter and leave the previous attainments for there to be wisdom since there is perception there.
It’s somewhat off topic, but I think that is very true, at least if we’re talking about enlightenment. The body’s impermanence is obvious if one gives it a second of thought, one doesn’t need jhana for that. But if one wants to understand impermanence of the aggregates/senses, on deep level that leads to awakening, something beyond the intellect, then one needs to see them cease. Two suttas earlier, in AN9.34, this is also explained with respect to dukkha using the jhānas. To understand for example how pīti in the third jhāna is “an affliction” (same word as mentioned in AN9.36), one needs to go beyond it (e.g. attain fourth jhāna) and then have it come back again. Through impermanence one understands suffering. The absence of a self can also be understood through seeing things cease. (E.g. MN148) Example: if the five senses cease in the first jhāna, you’ll be able to acknowledge deeply that they are anattā.
Anyway, that is only a tangential argument for the insights in AN9.36 to happen after the jhānas. My main argument is that it is not specifically mentioned to happen inside the jhānas (nor is this the case anywhere else). But there are other suttas where the person clearly comes out of jhāna at some point, yet emergence also isn’t mentioned there. Emergence is always implied, is what I’m saying.
In DN 2 we find the following
“When his mind is thus concentrated, pure and bright, unblemished, free from defects, malleable, wieldy, steady and attained to imperturbability, he directs and inclines it to knowledge and vision. He understands thus: ‘This is my body, having material form, composed of the four primary elements, originating from father and mother, built up out of rice and gruel, impermanent, subject to rubbing and pressing, to dissolution and dispersion. And this is my consciousness, supported by it and bound up with it.’
This is insight into the dependent nature of the body and mind, and so impermanence, yet the body has not actually ceased. To see impermanence you don’t need to see things directly ceasing. You just need to “see” it, like when I “see” your argument. In other words, there is understanding (wisdom).
A final word. In SN16.13 it is said the dhamma will disappear when counterfeit dhamma appears in the world. It happens when people “lack respect and reverence for” certain things. And only one factor of the path is mentioned: samādhi. In my opinion, the bodily jhāna interpretations are a lack of reverence for how powerful the mind is, not respecting how deep it can go; and how deep it needs to go in order to see the dhamma. What, samādhi is at the very end of the path! but people claim these things are rather ordinary states. I think that’s very dangerous for the continuance of our Teacher’s dispensation, especially if people start actively discouraging the absorption jhānas, which is why I care about this topic.
This wasn’t aimed at me, but to clarify my position again I don’t think the Jhānas are ordinary states and I don’t think the tranquillity of the body and mind, nor the bodily experience in Jhāna, is like the ordinary sense. In other words I don’t think you can just get into Jhāna by feeling relaxed at a bus stop or whatnot. As I quoted earlier, my view is more like this
When the mind dwells on an image, the body would be soft, gentle, and blissful. All anger, anxiety, grief, and other afflictive mental dharmas are ceased.174 The mind acquires swift blissfulness never before experienced, which surpasses the five desires. Because the mind is pure without any defilement, the body will shine brightly. It is like a pure and clean mirror [shining] the light externally, or like the shining light of bright pearl that appears, illumines, and manifests in the pure water… the body has bright light. When one attains the first dhyāna, its mark is that it continuously changes, increases, and excels [than before]. cause the four elements of the Desire Realm spread fully all over the body, which is soft, harmonious, gentle, and joyful signs, and the mind leaves bad desire and unwholesome deed, then the samādhi of single-minded thought can cause one having joy and happiness.183 Forms created in the Form Realm have the feature of bright light. Hence, the cultivator sees the wonderful and bright light emitting from the body internally and externally…The blissfulness of the first dhyāna is spread all over the body internally and externally. As the water soaks into dry earth, it is wet and moist inside and outside. The experience of blissfulness of the Desire Realm cannot spread through the body and mind.
Chán fǎ yào jiě (Essential Explanation of The Method of Dhyāna)
2 Likes
This is a very interesting comment, thank you very much.
Yes, some suttas clearly state that there is no more inhalation/exhalation during the fourth jhana.
For example:
- AN 9.31 (Bodhi) :
(4) For one who has attained the fourth.jhana, in-breathing an d out-breathing have ceased.
- SN 36.11 (Bodhi):
For one who has attained the fourth jhana, in-breathing and out-breathing have ceased.
But at the same time, all the Anapanasati tetrads speak of an awareness of inspiration/expiration.
How can we understand the relationship between Anapanasati and the fourth jhana?
You might think that Anapanasati’s tetrads are just a means of reaching the fourth jhana, but that once the jhanas have been reached, there’s no longer any need to use tetrads. For example, you reach the fourth jhana through the first tetrad, then, once you’re in the fourth jhana, you no longer practice Anapanasati, since there is no longer any inhalation and exhalation.
However, my impression is that the fact that there is no longer any inhalation/exhalation in the fourth jhana does not prevent you from being attentive to the breath. In other words, in the fourth jhana, we are no longer aware of breathing as a series of inhalations and exhalations, but we are aware of breathing as a homogeneous block. (And the difference with the Pa-Auk system is that Pa-Auk says that even before jhana, we are no longer aware of inhalation/exhalation during Anapanasati tetrads).
But to say that homogeneous breathing is the object of the fourth jhana seems to imply that being in the fourth jhana prevents one from practicing Anapanasati at the same time…
I was inspired by this article by Venerable Thanissaro: Advanced Practice | With Each & Every Breath
Reading some of Ven. Dhammajoti’s work such as this (thoroughly recommend): The aśubhā Meditation in the Sarvāstivāda (PDF) The aśubhā Meditation in the Sarvāstivāda (researchgate.net) or “Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma”:
Having achieved tranquility, the practitioner then proceeds to the practice of insight comprising the fourfold application of mindfulness40 on body (kāya), sensation (vedanā), ideations (saṃjñā) and dharma‑s.41 This is done in two ways: First, he contemplates the specific characteristics42 of each of the four —the body is impure; sensations are unsatisfactory (duḥkha); ideations are impermanent; all dharma‑s are without a Self.43 He must also contemplate generally that the body, sensations, ideations and dharma‑s are — in each case —like all conditioned dharma‑s in being impure, unsatisfactory, impermanent and without a Self. Next, he contemplates collectively that all four — body, sensations, ideations and dharma‑s — are equally impure, unsatisfactory, impermanent and without a Self. It is to be noted that for the Sarvāstivādins, śamatha and vipaśyanā are not mutually exclusive practices, nor are they to be too sharply differentiated. It is an abhidharma doctrine that within one and the same thought there exists both śamatha and vipaśyanā.44 Indeed, according to the Sarvāstivāda, samādhi and prajñā necessarily co‑exist as two of the ten universal thought‑concomitants (see supra, § 9.3.4.1). The two types of practitioner are to be distinguished from the point of view of their preparatory stages:
Those who mostly cultivate the requisites of śamatha are those who, at the stage of preparatory effort, always delight in solitude and shun noisiness. They see the faults of socializing and constantly dwell in quiet places. When they enter into the noble path, they are called the śamatha‑type of practitioner (śamatha-carita). Those who mostly cultivate the requisites of vipaśyanā are those that, at the stage of preparatory effort, always delight in studying and reflecting on the tripiṭaka. They repeatedly examine the specific and general characteristics of all dharma‑s. When they enter into the noble path, they are called the vipaśyanā‑type of practitioner (vipaśyanā-carita).45
Their mutual non‑exclusiveness is also underscored in the various opinions given in the MVŚ46 by different Ābhidharmika masters as to how many of the six aspects of mindfulness of breathing (§ 15.3.1.1) come under either śamatha or vipaśyanā: Some say the first three are śamatha, the last three vipaśyanā; others say the opposite. The compilers of the MVŚ remark that “there is no fixed rule here — all may come under śamatha or all may come under vipaśyanā”.
One question here arises: Does one need to attain the dhyāna‑s in order to acquire the pure prajñā which liberates us from saṃsāra? Does one in fact need to practice meditation at all? From the Sarvāstivāda Ābhidharmika perspective, the answer is clearly ‘yes’. It is stated that the four skillful roots (i.e., the nirvedhabhāgīya) can only be produced from the understanding derived from cultivation, not from those derived from reflection and listening.47 In other words, at the preparatory stage leading to the actual attainment of warmth, etc., the practitioner necessarily depends on meditative practices. It is further stated that the practitioner can acquire these roots only at the stages of the ‘not‑yet‑arrived’ (anāgamya), the intermediate meditation (dhyānāntara) and the four meditations (dhyāna).48 This means that he must have acquired the degree of concentration of the ‘not‑yet arrived’ stage. This stage is a ‘neighborhood’(sāmantaka),i.e., a meditative state bordering the dhyāna stage proper into which its power of concentration is strong enough to lead. There is one such ‘neighborhood’ stage bordering each of the meditative attainments (samāpatti). Since there are eight meditative attainments — four dhyāna‑s (also called the four ‘fundamental or principal meditations’, maula-dhyāna) of the fine‑material sphere and four meditative attainments of the non‑material sphere (ārūpya) —there are corresponding eight neighbourhood stages, the first of which, bordering the first dhyāna, is called the ‘not‑yet‑arrived’ stage.
Or other material
*Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra (particualrly Stage of Samāhita)
Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra: *Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (wisdomlib.org)
Chán fǎ yào jiě (Essential Explanation of The Method of Dhyāna): The Sutra on the Concentration of Sitting Meditation – BDK America
Xiao Zhiguan (* Small Treatise on Concentration and Insight) by Ven. Zhiyi
Issues in Śamatha and Vipaśyanā: A Comparative Study of Buddhist Meditation by a-Chun (Bhikkhuni Syinchen) Hung
Clarification on Feelings in Buddhist Dhyāna/Jhāna Meditation by Tse-Fu Kuan
Abhidharmakośabhāṣya by Ven. Vasubandhu
In addition, given that for a while you supported the idea that the Buddha’s jhanas no longer have the 5 senses, I’d like to know what made you change your mind.
The arguments in favour didn’t hold up anymore, with further investigation and I found there is a history in Buddhism of teaching non-absorbed Jhānas. Its not a modern thing, although some modern explanations of non-absorbed Jhānas are different to the old ones.
2 Likes
From Issues in Śamatha and Vipaśyanā: A Comparative Study of Buddhist Meditation by a-Chun (Bhikkhuni Syinchen) Hung
According to the Visuddhimagga and the Vimuttimagga, the union of śamatha and vipaśyanā occurs after one emerges from dhyāna. 524 In contrast, according to the Yogācārabhūmi, the Mahāvibhāṣā, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, and the Tattvasiddhiśāstra, this union takes place while one is in dhyāna. Unequivocally, śamatha and vipaśyanā are one path for a yogin to extirpate defilements leading to ultimate deliverance…
Harivarman, in his *Tattvasiddhiśāstra, also shows that insight is developed while one is in dhyāna. He points out that the Buddha says wisdom occurs while one is in dhyāna, because when one attains dhyāna and defilements arise, then one develops wisdom so as to abandon defilements and make this samādhi as “noble purity.” That one abandons defilements by wisdom while in dhyāna illustrates that insight is developed within dhyāna, as the Yogācārabhūmi states that a meditator develops wisdom while in dhyāna in order to eliminate unskillful mental states which arise from the experience of rapture and pleasure.
1 Like
Very interesting, I had never thought of assigning a jhana to each stage of Anapanasati…
Taking the translations of the Venerable Thanissaro we see that the calm of the “bodily formation” comes with the fourth jhana (AN 10.20), and that the “bodily formation” is actually the breath (MN 44) and so I could conclude that the fourth step of the first tetrad of Anapanasati is actually talking about the fourth jhana.
What do you think?
I look at mindfulness of breathing as being different aspects of the same experience, rather than being stages. I don’t really practice it much these days. I mostly focus on Paṭikūlamanasikāra. Which reminds me, this is also worth a read: Religions | Free Full-Text | Meditative Experiences of Impurity and Purity—Further Reflection on the aśubhā Meditation and the śubha-vimokṣa (mdpi.com)
1 Like
Thank you very much for your clarity and all the references you gave, I’ll be able to learn from them. And I find that changing one’s mind is a great quality for advancing towards the truth.
And please, could you describe your conception of Anapanasati? In other words, step by step, what is the Anapanasati meditation preached by the Buddha, in your opinion? Do you start by concentrating on breathing through the nostrils, or breathing through the abdomen, or nowhere in particular ; then force the breath to be long and then short, or just naturally become aware of whether the breath is long or short ; etc. ?
Sorry if I’m asking all these questions. But I’m extremely curious about your precise conception of the Buddha’s Anapanasati. I find that knowing this meditation is extremely important, so I’m looking at what different people teach to try to refine my understanding.
Thanks in advance.
1 Like
With a solid foundation in virtue and sense restraint you go somewhere secluded to meditate. You establish awareness of the breath via mindfulness, which also keeps awareness there. You breathe in and out mindful of the breath being long or short. You breath in being sensitive to the whole breath and body whilst breathing in and out. You breath in and out whilst being aware of your feelings, your mind (distracted or not) and mentality (with sensual desire etc or not). You breath in & out contemplating impermanence, fading away, cessation of the hindrances. You breath in & out being sensitive to rapture, pleasure. You breath in & out establishing a collected mind. If someone wants to use the nostrils or abdomen as an anchor, that is fine IMO. I don’t think you need to force the breath to do anything.
Think of mindfulness of breathing as you would meditation on the body parts. There Satipaṭṭhāna isn’t distinct stages you go through, but more different aspects of the same experience when meditating on an aspect of the body.
3 Likes