Skillful Concentration
Skillful Concentration is the last of the steps on the Eightfold Path and is always “wholesome, one-pointed (i.e., focused), and mindful.” Concentration leads to a series of meditative states characterized by deep stillness of mind known as the jhanas. Jhana is sometimes translated as absorption, and these states are sequential in their development. In the Anguttara Sutta, the first four jhanas are described in this way:
First Jhana – characterized by “rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought”
Second Jhana – same as first jhana, but now directed thought is stilled and only rapture remains
Third Jhana – same as first and second, but rapture subsides, and only equanimity and pleasurable sensation remain (“Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding”); this jhana is characterized by contentment
Fourth Jhana – same as above but only a purified equanimity remains, pure awareness without pleasure or pain; the mind is completely at rest but the sense of self is still present
These first four jhanas are completely natural and accessible states that we fall into easily if we let go of our thought
processes: opinions, viewpoints, reactions, emotions. These jhanas in Pali are called rupa jhanas, because they are
natural, in-the-body, or connected to form (rupa). The higher states are called arupa jhanas (not form, or formless)
because they have no connection to our usual mental activities. These higher jhanas come about as practice of the first four
helps the mind to open enough to experience them.
In the Fifth Jhana, the attraction to duality is loosened. There is expansion of boundaries, in fact, boundaries seem to dissolve.
The outer and inner are one in the sphere of infinite space.
In the Sixth Jhana, attention is turned from spaciousness to the consciousness that experiences it. In the Sixth Jhana, personal
identity does not exist, only unity. With this insight, unity consciousness arises. Meister Eckhart, the Christian mystic,
expresses the Sixth Jhana when he said, “God and I are the same.”
Many believe that this realization is nibbana, but according to the Buddha’s teaching, there are three additional
jhanic states beyond this one.
If you have a regular meditation practice, you have probably experienced one or more of the first four jhanas. You may want
to experiment following Bhante G’s instructions for setting intention to reach at least the first stage of concentration
(p. 225-226) and see what results. See if you can replicate the experience in subsequent meditation sessions.
For further reading, you may want to look at Ayya Khema’s Who Is My Self? A Guide to Buddhist Meditation. Ayya
Khema, a Western Buddhist nun, has written about and taught techniques for working with the jhanas.
May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Deb
At the heart of Buddhist meditation are concentration and inquiry. When you cultivate these two qualities in meditation, you develop your ability to be quiet and clear, to offer understanding and love.
--Martine Bachelor, Meditation for Life
