Dhyāna in Buddhism

In the oldest texts of Buddhism, dhyāna (Sanskrit) or jhāna (Pāḷi) is

the training of the mind, commonly translated as meditation, to
Dhyāna
withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense- Chinese name
impressions, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and Traditional Chinese
awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)."[1] Dhyāna may have been the
core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several Simplified Chinese
related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and Transcriptions
detachment, and are fully realized with the practice of dhyana.[2][3][4] Standard Mandarin

In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Hanyu Pinyin Chán
Theravāda, dhyāna is equated with "concentration," a state of one- Wade–Giles Ch’an
pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the
Yue: Cantonese
surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana
movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and Jyutping sim4
even non-beneficial for awakening, which has to be reached by Tibetan name
mindfulness of the body and vipassanā (insight into impermanence).
Tibetan བསམ་གཏན
Since the 1980s, scholars and practitioners have started to question
this equation, arguing for a more comprehensive and integrated Transcriptions
understanding and approach, based on the oldest descriptions of Wylie bsam gtan
dhyāna in the suttas.[5][6][7][8]
Vietnamese name
In Chán and Zen, the names of which Buddhist traditions are the Vietnamese Thiền
Chinese and Japanese pronunciations, respectively, of dhyāna, alphabet
dhyāna is the central practice, which is ultimately based on
Sarvastivāda meditation practices, and has been transmitted since the
Hán-Nôm 禪
beginning of the Common Era. Korean name
Hangul 선
Hanja 禪
Contents Transcriptions
Etymology Revised Romanization Seon
The jhānas McCune–Reischauer Sŏn
Preceding practices Japanese name
The rūpa jhānas
Qualities of the rūpa jhānas
Kanji 禅
Interpretation of the four dhyānas Transcriptions

The arūpas Romanization Zen

Nirodha-samāpatti Sanskrit name

Origins Sanskrit यान (in

Invention or incorporation Devanagari)
Buddhist origins Dhyāna
Brahmanical influences (Romanised)
Uddaka Ramaputta and Alara Kalama Pāli name
Brahmanical practices
Pāli झान (in
Formless spheres
 Reversal of the creation of the world Devanagari)

Investigation of self ඣාන (in

Criticism of Wynne Sinhala)
ណ (in Khmer)
Early Buddhism
ဈာန် (in Burmese)
Five possibilities regarding jhāna and liberation
ၛာန် (in Mon)
Rupa Jhāna followed by liberating insight
Jhāna
Rupa Jhāna and the arupas, followed by liberating
insight (Romanised)

Insight alone suffices ฌาน (in Thai)

Jhana itself is liberating
Liberation in Nirodha-Samapatti
Theravada
Dhyana as concentration
Samadhi
Development and application of concentration
Contemporary reassessment - the "Jhana wars"
Criticism of Visudhimagga
Jhana as integrated practice
In Mahāyāna traditions
Chan Buddhism
Origins
Mindfulness
Observing the breath
Observing the mind
Insight
Pointing to the nature of the mind
Kōan practice
Vajrayāna
Related concepts in Indian religions
Parallels with Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Etymology
Dhyāna, from Proto-Indo-European root *√dheie-, "to see, to look," "to show."[9][10] Developed into Sanskrit
root √dhī and n. dhī,[10] which in the earliest layer of text of the Vedas refers to "imaginative vision" and
associated with goddess Saraswati with powers of knowledge, wisdom and poetic eloquence.[11][12] This term
developed into the variant √dhyā, "to contemplate, meditate, think",[13][10] from which dhyāna is derived.[11]
According to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE Theravāda exegete), the term jhāna (Skt. dhyāna) is derived from
the verb jhayati, "to think or meditate," while the verb jhapeti, "to burn up," explicates its function, namely
burning up opposing states, burning up or destroying "the mental defilements preventing [...] the development
of serenity and insight."[14][note 1]

Commonly translated as meditation, and often equated with "concentration," though meditation may refer to a
wider scala of exercises for bhāvanā, development. Dhyāna can also mean "attention, thought, reflection."[17]

The jhānas
The Pāḷi canon describes four progressive states of jhāna called rūpa jhāna ("form jhāna"),[note 2] and four
additional meditative states called arūpa ("without form").

Preceding practices

Meditation and contemplation are preceded by several practices, which are fully realized with the practice of
dhyāna.[2][4] As described in the Noble Eightfold Path, right view leads to leaving the household life and
becoming a wandering monk. Sīla (morality) comprises the rules for right conduct. Right effort, or the four
right efforts, aim to prevent the arising of unwholesome states, and to generate wholesome states. This includes
indriya samvara (sense restraint), controlling the response to sensual perceptions, not giving in to lust and
aversion but simply noticing the objects of perception as they appear.[18] Right effort and mindfulness calm the
mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns, and encouraging the development of
wholesome states and non-automatic responses.[7] By following these cumulative steps and practices, the mind
becomes set, almost naturally, for the practice of dhyāna.[19][7][note 3] The practice of dhyāna reinforces the
development of wholesome states, leading to upekkhā (equanimity) and mindfulness.[7][8]

The rūpa jhānas

Qualities of the rūpa jhānas

The practice of dhyāna is aided by ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breathing. The Suttapiṭaka and the Agamas
describe four stages of rūpa jhāna. Rūpa refers to the material realm, in a neutral stance, as different from the
naam realm (mind realm) and the arūpa-realm (non-material realm).[23] Each jhāna is characterised by a set of
qualities which are present in that jhāna.[2][24][note 4]

First dhyāna: the first dhyāna can be entered when one is secluded from sensuality and
unskillful qualities, due to withdrawal and right effort. There is pīti ("rapture") and non-sensual
sukha ("pleasure") as the result of seclusion, while vitarka-vicara ("discursive thought")
continues;[note 5]
Second dhyāna: there is pīti ("rapture") and non-sensual sukha ("pleasure") as the result of
concentration (samadhi-ji, "born of samadhi"[30]); ekaggata (unification of awareness) free from
vitarka-vicara ("discursive thought"); sampasadana ("inner tranquility");[25][note 6]
Third dhyāna: upekkhā[note 7] (equanimous; "affective detachment"[25]), mindful, and alert, and
senses pleasure with the body;
Fourth dhyāna: upekkhāsatipārisuddhi[note 7] (purity of equanimity and mindfulness); neither-
pleasure-nor-pain. Traditionally, the fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic
powers (abhijñā).[note 8]
 Rupajhāna
First jhāna Second jhana Third jhana Fourth jhana
Kāma / Akusala
secluded
dhamma
from; Does not occur Does not occur Does not occur
(sensuality / unskillful
withdrawn
qualities)

Vitakka
(applied thought) unification of awareness
accompanies
free from vitakka and Does not occur Does not occur
Vicāra jhāna
vicāra
(sustained thought)

fades away
Pīti seclusion- (along with Does not occur
(rapture)
born; samādhi-born; distress)
pervades pervades body
Sukha body pervades abandoned
(non-sensual pleasure) physical body (no pleasure nor pain)
purity of
Upekkhāsatipārisuddhi Does not equanimous;
internal confidence equanimity and
(pure, mindful equanimity) occur mindful
mindfulness

Sources: [20][21][22]

Interpretation of the four dhyānas

While the jhānas are often understood as deepening states of concentration, due to its description as such in the
Abhidhamma,[31] and the Visuddhimagga,[25] since the 1980s scholars and modern Theravādins have started
to question this understanding.

Roderick S. Bucknell notes that vitarka and vicara may refer to "probably nothing other than the normal
process of discursive thought, the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of mental imagery and verbalization."
Bucknell further notes that "[t]hese conclusions conflict with the widespread conception of the first jhāna as a
state of deep concentration."[25]

According to Stuart-Fox, the Abhidhamma separated vitarka from vicara, and ekagatta (one-pointednes) was
added to the description first dhyāna to give an equal number of five hindrances and five antidotes.[32] The
commentarial tradition regards the qualities of the first dhyāna to be antidotes to the five hindrances, and
ekagatta may have been added to the first dhyāna to give exactly five antidotes for the five hindrances.[33]
Stuart-Fox further notes that vitarka, being discursive thought, will do very little as an antidote for sloth and
torpor, reflecting the inconsistencies which were introduced by the scholastics.[33]

Vetter, Gombrich and Wynne note that the first and second jhana represent the onset of dhyāna due to
withdrawal and right effort c.q. the four right efforts, followed by concentration, whereas the third and fourth
jhāna combine concentration with mindfulness.[30][34] Polak, elaborating on Vetter, notes that the onset of the
first dhyāna is described as a quite natural process, due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the
nurturing of wholesome states.[7][19] Regarding samādhi as the eighth step of the Noble Eightfold Path, Vetter
notes that samādhi consists of the four stages of dhyāna meditation, but

...to put it more accurately, the first dhyana seems to provide, after some time, a state of strong
concentration, from which the other stages come forth; the second stage is called samadhija"[35]
[...] "born from samadhi."[30]
According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rūpa jhānas describes two different cognitive states:
"I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the
second."[36][note 9] Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhāna denotes a state of absorption, in
the third and fourth jhāna one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being
indifferent to them.[37][note 10] According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by
classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other—and
indeed higher—element.[36]

Gethin, followed by Polak and Arbel, further notes that there is a "definite affinity" between the four jhānas
and the bojjhaṅgā, the seven factors of awakening.[38][39][40][8] According to Gethin, the early Buddhist texts
have "a broadly consistent vision" regarding meditation practice. Various practices lead to the development of
the factors of awakening, which are not only the means to, but also the constituents of, awakening.[41]
According to Gethin, satipaṭṭhāna and ānāpānasati are related to a formula that summarizes the Buddhist
path to awakening as "abandoning the hindrances, establishing [...] mindfulness, and developing the seven
factors of awakening."[42] This results in a "heightened awareness," "overcoming distracting and disturbing
emotions,"[43] which are not particular elements of the path to awakening, but rather common disturbing and
distracting emotions.[44] Gethin further states that "the exegetical literature is essentially true to the vision of
meditation presented in the Nikayas,"[45] applying the "perfect mindfulness, stillness and lucidity" of the
jhanas to the contemplation of "reality," of the way things really are,[46] as temporary and ever-changing.[45] It
is in this sense that "the jhana state has the transcendent, transforming quality of awakening."[47]

Upekkhā, equanimity, which is perfected in the fourth dhyāna, is one of the four Brahmā-vihāra. While the
commentarial tradition downplayed the importance of the Brahmā-vihāra, Gombrich notes that the Buddhist
usage of the term Brahmā-vihāra originally referred to an awakened state of mind, and a concrete attitude
toward other beings which was equal to "living with Brahman" here and now. The later tradition took those
descriptions too literally, linking them to cosmology and understanding them as "living with Brahman" by
rebirth in the Brahmā-world.[48] According to Gombrich, "the Buddha taught that kindness—what Christians
tend to call love—was a way to salvation.[49]

Alexander Wynne states that the dhyāna-scheme is poorly understood.[50] According to Wynne, words
expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā, are mistranslated or
understood as particular factors of meditative states,[50] whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the
sense objects:[50]

Thus the expression sato sampajāno in the third jhāna must denote a state of awareness different
from the meditative absorption of the second jhāna (cetaso ekodibhāva). It suggests that the
subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out
of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word upek(k)hā:
it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent
to it [...] The third and fourth jhāna-s, as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of
meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.[51]

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, a western teacher in the Thai Forest Tradition, argues that the Visuddhimagga deviates
from the Pāḷi Canon in its description of the jhānas, and warns against the development of strong states of
concentration.[52] Arbel describes the fourth jhāna as "non-reactive and lucid awareness," not as a state of
deep concentration.[8]

The arūpas
Grouped into the jhāna-scheme are four meditative states referred to in the early texts as arūpas. These are
also referred to in commentarial literature as immaterial/formless jhānas (arūpajhānas), also translated as The
Formless Dimensions, to be distinguished from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical
texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them; they are instead referred to as āyatana.
However, they are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas (other texts, e.g. MN 121, treat
them as a distinct set of attainments) and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhānas. The immaterial
are related to, or derived from, yogic meditation, while the jhānas proper are related to the cultivation of the
mind. The state of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.

The four arūpas are:

fifth jhāna: infinite space (Pāḷi ākāsānañcāyatana, Skt. ākāśānantyāyatana),

sixth jhāna: infinite consciousness (Pāḷi viññāṇañcāyatana, Skt. vijñānānantyāyatana),
seventh jhāna: infinite nothingness (Pāḷi ākiñcaññāyatana, Skt. ākiṃcanyāyatana),
eighth jhāna: neither perception nor non-perception (Pāḷi nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, Skt.
naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana).

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception"
are included in the list of nine jhānas taught by the Buddha (see section on nirodha-samāpatti below), they are
not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Truth number eight is sammā samādhi (Right Concentration),
and only the first four jhānas are considered "Right Concentration." If he takes a disciple through all the
jhānas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the
"Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".

Nirodha-samāpatti

Beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception lies a state called nirodha samāpatti, the
"cessation of perception, feelings and consciousness".[53] Only in commentarial and scholarly literature, this is
sometimes called the "ninth jhāna".[54][55]

Origins
The time of the Buddha saw the rise of the śramaṇa movement, ascetic practitioners with a body of shared
teachings and practices.[56] The strict delineation of this movement into Jainism, Buddhism and
brahmanical/Upanishadic traditions is a later development.[56]

Invention or incorporation

According to Bronkhorst, the practice of the four dhyānas may have been an original contribution by Gautama
Buddha to the religious practices of ancient India in response to the ascetic practices of the Jains.[57]
Kalupahana argues that the Buddha "reverted to the meditational practices" he had learned from Ārāḍa
Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.[58] Wynne argues that Ārāḍa Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta were
Brahmanical teachers, and that the attainment of the formless meditative absorption was incorporated from
Brahmanical practices.[16] These practices were paired to mindfulness and insight, and given a new
interpretation.[16] The stratification of particular samādhi experiences into the four jhānas seems to be a
Buddhist innovation.[16] It was then borrowed and presented in an incomplete form in the Mokṣadharma, a
part of the Mahābhārata.[59]
Thomas William Rhys Davids and Maurice Walshe agreed that the term samādhi is not found in any pre-
Buddhist text but is first mentioned in the Tipiṭaka. It was subsequently incorporated into later texts such as the
Maitrayaniya Upanishad.[60] But according to Matsumoto, "the terms dhyana and samahita (entering samadhi)
appear already in Upanishadic texts that predate the origins of Buddhism".[61][note 11]

Buddhist origins

The Mahasaccaka Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 36, narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening. According to
this story, he learned two kinds of meditation which did not lead to enlightenment. He then underwent harsh
ascetic practices, with which he eventually also became disillusioned. The Buddha then recalled a meditative
state he entered by chance as a child:[3]

I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool
shade of a rose-apple tree, then—quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental
qualities—I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion,
accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then
following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.'[63]

Originally, the practice of dhyāna itself may have constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism,
since in this state all "pleasure and pain" had waned.[2] According to Vetter,

[P]robably the word "immortality" (a-mata) was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of
this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the four noble truths [...] the
Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the four noble truths and/or
other data. But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation
"achieving immortality".[64]

Brahmanical influences

Alexander Wynne attempted to find parallels in Brahmanical texts to the meditative goals the two teachers
claimed to have taught, drawing especially on some of the Upanishads and the Mokshadharma chapter of the
Mahabharata.[16]

Uddaka Ramaputta and Alara Kalama

The suttas describe how the Buddha learned meditative practices from two teachers, Uddaka Ramaputta and
Alara Kalama. Alex Wynne argues that Uddaka Ramaputta belonged to the pre-Buddhist tradition portrayed
by the Buddhist and Brahmanic sources, in which the philosophical formulations of the early Upanishads were
accepted, and the meditative state of "neither perception nor non-perception" was equated with the self.[65]
Wynne further argues that the goal of Alara Kalama was a Brahminical one. Evidence in the Chandogya
Upanishad and the Taittiriya Upanishad suggests that a different early Brahminic philosophical traditions held
the view that the unmanifest state of Brahman was a form of non-existence.[66] According to Wynne, it thus
seems likely that both element and formless meditation was learned by the Buddha from his two teachers, and
adapted by him to his own system.[67][note 12]

Brahmanical practices
Formless spheres

It appears that in early Brahminic yoga, the formless spheres were attained following element meditation.[69]
This is also taught as an option in the early Buddhist texts.[70] The primary method taught to achieve the
formless attainment in early Buddhist scriptures, on the other hand, is to proceed to the sphere of infinite space
following the fourth jhāna.[71]

Reversal of the creation of the world

Wynne claimed that Brahminic passages on meditation suggest that the most basic presupposition of early
Brahmanical yoga is that the creation of the world must be reversed, through a series of meditative states, by
the yogin who seeks the realization of the self.[72] These states were given doctrinal background in early
Brahminic cosmologies, which classified the world into successively coarser strata. One such stratification is
found at TU II.1 and Mbh XII.195, and proceeds as follows: self, space, wind, fire, water, earth. Mbh XII.224
gives alternatively: Brahman, mind, space, wind, fire, water, earth.[73]

In Brahmanical thought, the meditative states of consciousness were thought to be identical to the subtle strata
of the cosmos.[74][note 13] There is no similar theoretical background to element meditation in the early
Buddhist texts, where the elements appear simply as suitable objects of meditation.[75] It is likely that the
Brahmanic practices of element-meditation were borrowed and adapted by early Buddhists, with the original
Brahmanic ideology of the practices being discarded in the process.[76]

Investigation of self

On this point, it is thought that the uses of the elements in early Buddhist literature have in general very little
connection to Brahmanical thought; in most places they occur in teachings where they form the objects of a
detailed contemplation of the human being. The aim of these contemplations seems to have been to bring
about the correct understanding that the various perceived aspects of a human being, when taken together,
nevertheless do not comprise a "self."[77] Moreover, the self is conceptualized in terms similar to both
"nothingness" and "neither perception nor non-perception" at different places in early Upanishadic
literature.[74] The latter corresponds to Yajnavalkya’s definition of the self in his famous dialogue with
Maitreyi in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and to the definition given in the post-Buddhist Mandukya
Upanishad. This is mentioned as a claim of non-Buddhist ascetics and Brahmins in the Pañcattaya Sutta
(Majjhima Nikaya 102.2).[78][79] In the same dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya draws
the conclusion that the self that is neither perceptive nor non-perceptive is a state of consciousness without
object. The early Buddhist evidence suggests much the same thing for the eighth absorption or jhāna, the state
of "neither perception nor non-perception".[79] It is a state without an object of awareness, that is not devoid of
awareness.[80] The ninth jhāna that is sometimes said to be beyond this state, the "cessation of perception and
sensation", is devoid not only of objectivity, but of subjectivity as well.[81]

Criticism of Wynne

The Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final form long after the Buddha's lifetime. The
Mokshadharma postdates him.[68]

Early Buddhism
The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of jhāna.[3] There is a tradition that
stresses attaining insight (bodhi, prajñā, kenshō) as the means to awakening and liberation.[note 14] But the
Buddhist tradition has also incorporated the yogic tradition, as reflected in the use of jhāna, which is rejected
in other sūtras as not resulting in the final result of liberation. One solution to this contradiction is the
conjunctive use of vipassanā and samatha.[84][note 15]

Five possibilities regarding jhāna and liberation

Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is
attained after mastering the Rupa Jhānas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[86][3][2]
Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a
fourth possibility, while the attainment of Nirodha-Samapatti may constitute a fifth possibility:[87]

1. Mastering the four jhānas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;

2. Mastering the four jhānas and the four arupas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;
3. Liberating insight itself suffices;
4. The four jhānas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the
Buddha;[88]
5. Liberation is attained in Nirodha-Samapatti.[89]

Rupa Jhāna followed by liberating insight

According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhāna state to bring the mind to rest, and to
strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain
insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self. According to the Theravada-tradition, the arahant is aware
that the jhānas are ultimately unsatisfactory, realizing that the meditative attainments are also anicca,
impermanent.[90]

In the Mahasaccaka Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 36), which narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening, dhyana
is followed by insight into the four noble truths. The mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating
insight" is probably a later addition.[86][64][3] Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyana,
when interpreted as concentration, since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state.[91] He also notes that
the emphasis on "liberating insight" developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an
expression of what this "liberating insight" constituted.[92] In time, other expressions took over this function,
such as pratītyasamutpāda and the emptiness of the self.[93]

Rupa Jhāna and the arupas, followed by liberating insight

This scheme is rejected by scholars as a later development, since the arupas are akin to non-Buddhist
practices, and rejected elsewhere in the canon.

Insight alone suffices

The emphasis on "liberating insight" alone seems to be a later development, in response to developments in
Indian religious thought, which saw "liberating insight" as essential to liberation.[94][95] This may also have
been due to an over-literal interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha,[96] and to
the problems involved with the practice of dhyana, and the need to develop an easier method.[97]
Contemporary scholars have discerned a broader application of jhāna in historical Buddhist practice.
According to Alexander Wynne, the ultimate aim of dhyana was the attainment of insight,[98] and the
application of the meditative state to the practice of mindfulness.[98] According to Frauwallner, mindfulness
was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their
objects. According to Frauwallner, this may have been the Buddha's original idea.[99] According to Wynne,
this stress on mindfulness may have led to the intellectualism which favoured insight over the practice of
dhyana.[50]

Jhana itself is liberating

Both Schmithausen and Bronkhorst note that the attainment of insight, which is a cognitive activity, cannot be
possible in a state wherein all cognitive activity has ceased.[3] According to Vetter, the practice of Rupa Jhāna
itself may have constituted the core practice of early Buddhism, with practices such as sila and mindfulness
aiding its development.[95] It is the "middle way" between self-mortification, ascribed by Bronkhorst to
Jainism,[3] and indulgence in sensual pleasure.[100] Vetter emphasizes that dhyana is a form of non-sensual
happiness.[101] The eightfold path can be seen as a path of preparation which leads to the practice of
samadhi.[102]

Liberation in Nirodha-Samapatti

According to some texts, after progressing through the eight jhānas and the stage of Nirodha-Samapatti, a
person is liberated.[53] According to some traditions someone attaining the state of Nirodha-Samapatti is an
anagami or an arahant.[89] In the Anupadda sutra, the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant upon
reaching it.[103]

Theravada

Dhyana as concentration

Buddhagosa's Visuddhimagga considers jhana to be an exercise in concentration-meditation. His views,

together with the Satipatthana Sutta, inspired the development, in the 19th and 20th century, of new
meditation techniques which gained a great popularity among lay audiences in the second half of the 20th
century.[104]

Samadhi

According to Henepola Gunaratana, the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally
rendered as "concentration". The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha",
serenity.[14] According to Gunaratana, in the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices
which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning.[note 16]
Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical, since "certain differences in their suggested and contextual
meanings prevent unqualified identification of the two terms." Samadhi signifies only one mental factor,
namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness, "or at least
the whole group of mental factors individuating that meditative state as a jhana."[14] Furthermore, according to
Gunaratana, samadhi involves "a wider range of reference than jhana," noting that "the Pali exegetical
tradition recognizes three levels of samadhi: preliminary concentration (parikammasamadhi) [...] access
concentration (upacarasamadhi) [...] and absorption concentration (appanasamadhi)."[14]
Development and application of concentration

According to the Pāli canon commentary, access/neighbourhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi) is a stage

of meditation that the meditator reaches before entering into jhāna. The overcoming of the five
hindrances[note 17] mark the entry into access concentration. Access concentration is not mentioned in the
discourses of the Buddha, but there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma on
hearing a teaching from the Buddha.[note 18][note 19]

According to Tse-fu Kuan, at the state of access concentration, some meditators may experience vivid mental
imagery,[note 20] which is similar to a vivid dream. They are as vivid as if seen by the eye, but in this case the
meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images. According to Tse-fu Kuan, this is
discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravāda commentaries.[106]

According to Venerable Sujivo, as the concentration becomes stronger, the feelings of breathing and of having
a physical body will completely disappear, leaving only pure awareness. At this stage inexperienced meditators
may become afraid, thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration, because the feeling
of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has completely disappeared. They should not be so
afraid and should continue their concentration in order to reach "full concentration" (jhāna).[107]

A meditator should first master the lower jhānas, before they can go into the higher jhānas. According to
Nathan Katz, the early suttas state that "the most exquisite of recluses" is able to attain any of the jhānas and
abide in them without difficulty.[90][note 21]

According to the contemporary Vipassana-movement, the jhāna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as
it only suppresses the defilements. Meditators must use the jhāna state as an instrument for developing wisdom
by cultivating insight, and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will
lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana.

According to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga,
after coming out of the state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access concentration. In
this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the
characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.

Contemporary reassessment - the "Jhana wars"

While Theravada-meditation was introduced to the west as vipassana-meditation, which rejected the
usefulness of jhana, there is a growing interest among western vipassana-practitioners in jhana.[52][109] The
nature and practice of jhana is a topic of debate and contention among western convert Theravadins, to the
extent that the disputes have even been called "the Jhana wars."[5][note 22] Both academic scholars and
contemporary practitioners have raised questions about the interpretation of the jhanas as being states of
absorption which are not necessary for the attainment of liberation. While groundbreaking research on this
topic has been done by Bareau, Schmithausen, Stuart-Fox, Bucknell, Vetter, Bronkhorst, and Wynne,
Theravada practitioners have also scrutinized and criticised the samatha-vipassana distinction.[111]
Reassessments of the description of jhana in the suttas consider jhana and vipassana to be an integrated
practice, leading to a "tranquil and equanimous awareness of whatever arises in the field of
experience."[5][6][7][8]

Criticism of Visudhimagga
The Visuddhimagga, and the "pioneering popularizing work of Daniel Goleman,"[109][note 23] has been
influential in the (mis)understanding of dhyana being a form of concentration-meditation. The Visuddhimagga
is centered around kasina-meditation, a form of concentration-meditation in which the mind is focused on a
(mental) object.[112] According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "[t]he text then tries to fit all other meditation methods
into the mold of kasina practice, so that they too give rise to countersigns, but even by its own admission,
breath meditation does not fit well into the mold."[112] According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "the Visuddhimagga
uses a very different paradigm for concentration from what you find in the Canon."[113] In its emphasis on
kasina-meditation, the Visuddhimagga departs from the Pali Canon, in which dhyana is the central meditative
practice, indicating that what "jhana means in the commentaries is something quite different from what it
means in the Canon."[112]

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana also notes that what "the suttas say is not the same as what the Visuddhimagga
says [...] they are actually different," leading to a divergence between a [traditional] scholarly understanding
and a practical understanding based on meditative experience.[114] Gunaratana further notes that Buddhaghosa
invented several key meditation terms which are not to be found in the suttas, such as "parikamma samadhi
(preparatory concentration), upacara samadhi (access concentration), appanasamadhi (absorption
concentration)."[115] Gunaratana also notes that Buddhaghosa's emphasis on kasina-meditation is not to be
found in the suttas, where dhyana is always combined with mindfulness.[116][note 24]

According to Vetter, dhyana as a preparation of discriminating insight must have been different from the
dhyana-practice introduced by the Buddha, using kasina-exercises to produce a "more artificially produced
dhyana", resulting in the cessation of apperceptions and feelings.[117] Kasina-exercises are propagated in
Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, which is considered the authoritative commentary on meditation practice in
the Theravada tradition, but differs from the Pali canon in its description of jhana. While the suttas connect
samadhi to mindfulness and awareness of the body, for Buddhaghosa jhana is a purely mental exercise, in
which one-pointed concentration leads to a narrowing of attention.[118]

Jhana as integrated practice

Several western teachers (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Leigh Brasington, Richard Shankman) make a distinction
between "sutta-oriented" jhana and "Visuddhimagga-oriented" jhana,[52][119] dubbed "minimalists" and
"maximalists" by Kenneth Rose.[119]

Thanissaro Bhikkhu has repeatedly argued that the Pali Canon and the Visuddhimagga give different
descriptions of the jhanas, regarding the Visuddhimagga-description to be incorrect.[52]

According to Richard Shankman, the sutta descriptions of jhāna practice explain that the meditator does not
emerge from jhāna to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhāna itself. In
particular the meditator is instructed to "enter and remain in the fourth jhāna" before commencing the work of
insight in order to uproot the mental defilements.[120][note 25]

Keren Arbel has conducted extensive research on the jhanas and the contemporary criticisms of the
commentarial interpretation. Based on this research, and her own experience as a senior meditation-teacher,
she gives a reconstructed account of the original meaning of the dhyanas. She argues that jhana is an
integrated practice, describing the fourth jhana as "non-reactive and lucid awareness," not as a state of deep
concentration.[8] According to Arbel, it develops "a mind which is not conditioned by habitual reaction-
patterns of likes and dislikes [...] a profoundly wise relation to experience, not tainted by any kind of wrong
perception and mental reactivity rooted in craving (tanha).[122]

According to Kenneth Rose, the Visuddhimagga-oriented "maximalist" approach is a return to ancient Indian
"mainstream practices," in which physical and mental immobility was thought to lead to liberation from
samsara and rebirth. This approach was rejected by the Buddha, turning to a gentler approach which results in
upekkha and sati, equanimous awareness of experience.[5]

In Mahāyāna traditions
Mahāyāna Buddhism includes numerous schools of practice. Each
draw upon various Buddhist sūtras, philosophical treatises, and
commentaries, and each has its own emphasis, mode of expression,
and philosophical outlook. Accordingly, each school has its own
meditation methods for the purpose of developing samādhi and
prajñā, with the goal of ultimately attaining enlightenment.

Chan Buddhism

Dhyāna is a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan, necessary for

progress on the path and "true entry into the Dharma."[note 26]

Origins

In China, the word dhyāna was originally transliterated with Chinese:

那 ; pinyin: chánnà and shortened to just pinyin: chán in common Bodhisattva seated in meditation.
usage. The word and the practice of meditation entered into Chinese Afghanistan, 2nd century CE
through the translations of An Shigao (fl. c. 148–180 CE), and
Kumārajīva (334–413 CE), who translated Dhyāna sutras, which
were influential early meditation texts mostly based on the Yogacara meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda
school of Kashmir circa 1st-4th centuries CE.[125] The word chán became the designation for Chan Buddhism
(Korean Seon, Zen).

While dhyana in a strict sense refers to the four dhyanas, in Chinese Buddhism dhyāna may refer to various
kinds of meditation techniques and their preparatory practices, which are necessary to practice dhyana.[126]
The five main types of meditation in the Dhyana sutras are anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing);
paṭikūlamanasikāra meditation, mindfulness of the impurities of the body; loving-kindness maitrī meditation;
the contemplation on the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda; and the contemplation on the Buddha's thirty-two
Characteristics.[127]

Mindfulness

Observing the breath

During sitting meditation, practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus,
Burmese, or yoga postures, using the dhyāna mudrā. To regulate the mind, awareness is directed towards
counting or watching the breath or by bringing that awareness to the energy center below the navel (see also
ānāpānasati).[128] Often, a square or round cushion placed on a padded mat is used to sit on; in some other
cases, a chair may be used. This practice may simply be called sitting dhyāna, which is zuòchán ( 坐禅 ) in
Chinese, and zazen (坐禅 坐禅
) in Japanese, jwaseon ( ) in Korean.

Observing the mind

In the Sōtō school of Zen, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is
the primary form of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream
of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference.
Considerable textual, philosophical, and phenomenological justification of this
practice can be found throughout Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, as for example in the
"Principles of Zazen"[129] and the "Universally Recommended Instructions
for Zazen".[130] In the Japanese language, this practice is called Shikantaza.

Insight

Pointing to the nature of the mind

Venerable Hsuan Hua
According to Charles Luk, in the earliest traditions of Chán, there was no
meditating in the Lotus
fixed method or formula for teaching meditation, and all instructions were Position. Hong Kong, 1953.
simply heuristic methods, to point to the true nature of the mind, also known
as Buddha-nature.[131] According to Luk, this method is referred to as the
"Mind Dharma", and exemplified in the story of Śākyamuni Buddha holding up a flower silently, and
Mahākāśyapa smiling as he understood.[132][131] A traditional formula of this is, "Chán points directly to the
human mind, to enable people to see their true nature and become buddhas."[133]

Kōan practice

At the beginning of the Sòng dynasty, practice with the kōan method became
popular, whereas others practiced "silent illumination."[134] This became the
source of some differences in practice between the Línjì and Cáodòng
schools.

A kōan, literally "public case", is a story or dialogue, describing an interaction

between a Zen master and a student. These anecdotes give a demonstration of
the master's insight. Koans emphasize the non-conceptional insight that the
Buddhist teachings are pointing to. Koans can be used to provoke the "great
doubt", and test a student's progress in Zen practice. Chinese character for
"nothing" (Hanyu Pinyin: wú;
Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin Japanese pronunciation:
(walking meditation), and throughout all the activities of daily life. Kōan mu; Korean pronunciation:
practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai school, but it also mu). It figures in the famous
occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching Zhaozhou's dog kōan.
line.[135]

The Zen student's mastery of a given kōan is presented to the teacher in a private interview (referred to in
Japanese as dokusan ( 独参 ), daisan (代参 ), or sanzen ( 参禅 )). While there is no unique answer to a kōan,
practitioners are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the kōan and of Zen through their responses.
The teacher may approve or disapprove of the answer and guide the student in the right direction. The
interaction with a Zen teacher is central in Zen, but makes Zen practice also vulnerable to misunderstanding
and exploitation.[136]

Vajrayāna
B. Alan Wallace holds that modern Tibetan Buddhism lacks emphasis on achieving levels of concentration
higher than access concentration.[137][138] According to Wallace, one possible explanation for this situation is
that virtually all Tibetan Buddhist meditators seek to become enlightened through the use of tantric practices.
These require the presence of sense desire and passion in one's consciousness, but jhāna effectively inhibits
these phenomena.[137]

While few Tibetan Buddhists, either inside or outside Tibet, devote themselves to the practice of concentration,
Tibetan Buddhist literature does provide extensive instructions on it, and great Tibetan meditators of earlier
times stressed its importance.[139]

Related concepts in Indian religions

Dhyana is an important ancient practice mentioned in the Vedic and post-Vedic literature of Hinduism, as well
as early texts of Jainism.[140][141][142] Dhyana in Buddhism influenced these practices as well as was
influenced by them, likely in its origins and its later development.[140]

Parallels with Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga

There are parallels with the fourth to eighth stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical
work, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which were compiled around 400 CE by, taking materials about yoga from
older traditions.[143][144][145]

Patanjali discerns bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and the
antaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage
into the practice of Samyama. At the stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in
order that the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective
centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka (practitioner) to next stages of Yoga, namely Dharana
(concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (mystical absorption), being the aim of all Yogic
practices.[146]

The Eight Limbs of the yoga sutras show Samadhi as one of its limbs. The Eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra was
influenced by Buddhism.[147][148] Vyasa's Yogabhashya, the commentary to the Yogasutras, and Vacaspati
Misra's subcommentary state directly that the samadhi techniques are directly borrowed from the Buddhists'
Jhana, with the addition of the mystical and divine interpretations of mental absorption.[149] The Yoga Sutra,
especially the fourth segment of Kaivalya Pada, contains several polemical verses critical of Buddhism,
particularly the Vijñānavāda school of Vasubandhu.[150]

The suttas show that during the time of the Buddha, Nigantha Nataputta, the Jain leader, did not even believe
that it is possible to enter a state where the thoughts and examination stop.[151]

See also
Research on meditation
Neuroplasticity
Altered state of consciousness
Jñāna

Notes
1. Bronkhorst and Wynne, among others, have discussed the influence of Vedic and Jain thought
 and practices on Buddhism. The "burning up" of defilements by means of austerities is a typical
Jain practice, which was rejected by the Buddha.[15][16]
2. Though rūpa may also refer to the body. Arbel (2017) refers to the jhana as psycho-somatic
experiences.
3. Polak refers to Vetter, who noted that in the suttas right effort leads to a calm state of mind.
When this calm and self-restraint had been reached, the Buddha is described as sitting down
and attaining the first jhana, in an almost natural way.[7]
4. See also, among others:
* Majjhima Nikaya 26, Ariyapariyesana Sutta, The Noble Search (http://www.accesstoinsight.or
g/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html)
* Majjhima Nikaya 111, Anuppada Sutta (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.tha
n.html)
* AN 05.028, Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration (http://www.accesstoinsight.or
g/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.028.than.html)
5. According to Bucknell, while the commentarial tradition explains vitarka and vicara as the
concentration on an object of meditation, the terms may simply refer to "the normal process of
discursive thought."[25] Bucknell refers to:
* Martin Stuart-Fox, "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism," Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies 12.2 (1989): 79-110
* Paul Griffiths, "Buddhist Jhana: A form-critical study," Religion 13 (1983): 55-68

According to Fox, referring to Rhys Davids and Stede, when vitarka-vicara are mentioned in
tandem, they are one expression, "to cover all varieties of thinking, including sustained and
focused thought. It is thinking in this inclusive sense that the meditator suppresses through
concentration when he attains one-ness of mind and thus moves from first to second jhana."[26]

According to Polak, in the Pali Canon vitarka-vicara mostly refers to thinking about the sense-
impressions, which gives rise to further egoistical thinking and action.[7] The process of sense-
withdrawal, right effort, and dhyana, stops the "fueling" of this process of sense-impressions-
thoughts-egoistic thinking.[27][7][8]

Compare the Yogacara term manas, meaning both "intentionality"[28] or 'self-centered

thinking',[29] and "discriminative thinking" (vikalpa). The provess of meditation aims at "non-
thinking," stopping both these cognitive processes.[28]
6. The common translation, based on the commentarial interpretation of dhyana as expanding
states of absorption, translates sampasadana as "internal assurance." Yet, as Bucknell
explains, it also means "tranquilizing," which is more apt in this context.[25] See also
Passaddhi.
7. Upekkhā is one of the Brahmaviharas.
8. For instance in AN 5.28, the Buddha states (Thanissaro, 1997.):
"When a monk has developed and pursued the five-factored noble right concentration in this
way, then whichever of the six higher knowledges he turns his mind to know and realize, he
can witness them for himself whenever there is an opening...."
"If he wants, he wields manifold supranormal powers. Having been one he becomes many;
having been many he becomes one. He appears. He vanishes. He goes unimpeded through
walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He dives in and out of the earth as if it were
water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. Sitting crosslegged he flies
through the air like a winged bird. With his hand he touches and strokes even the sun and
moon, so mighty and powerful. He exercises influence with his body even as far as the Brahma
worlds. He can witness this for himself whenever there is an opening ..."
9. Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism (http://
www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism), OCHS Library
10. Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism (http://
www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism), OCHS Library
11. It is important to note that of the 200 or so Upanishads, only the first 10 or 12 are considered the
oldest and principal Upanishads. Among these 10 or 12 principal Upanishads, the Taittiriya,
Aitareya and Kausitaki show Buddhist influence.[62] The Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya-Upanisad-
Brahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads were composed during the pre-Buddhist era while
the rest of these 12 oldest Upanishads are dated to the last few centuries BCE.
12. According to Bronkhorst, the account of the Buddha practicing under Uddaka Ramaputta and
Alara Kalama is entirely fictitious, and meant to flesh out the mentioning of those names in the
post-enlightenment narrative in Majjhima Nikaya 36.[3][68] According to Bronkhorst, the
Buddha's teachings developed primarily in response to Jain teachings, not Brahmanical
teachings.[3]
13. See also Pratītyasamutpāda#Commentary on Vedic cosmogeny.
14. According to the Theravada tradition dhyana must be combined with vipassana,[82] which
gives insight into the three marks of existence and leads to detachment and "the manifestation
of the path".[83]
15. In Zen Buddhism, this problem has appeared over the centuries in the disputes over sudden
versus gradual enlightenment.[85]
16. Gunarathana refers to Buddhaghosa, who explains samadhi etymologically as "the centering of
consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object [...] the
state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a
single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.84–85; PP.85)."[14]
17. Sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry and doubt
18. According to Peter Harvey, access concentration is described at Digha Nikaya I, 110, among
other places: "The situation at D I, 110, then, can be seen as one where the hearer of a
discourse enters a state which, while not an actual jhana, could be bordering on it. As it is free
from hindrances, it could be seen as 'access' concentration with a degree of wisdom." Peter
Harvey, Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha. In Karel Werner, ed., The
Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press 1989, page 95. See also: Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind,
page 170.
19. The equivalent of upacāra-samādhi used in Tibetan commentaries is nyer-bsdogs.[105]
20. Pāli: nimitta
21. According to Sujiva, there are five aspects of jhāna mastery:[108]
1. Mastery in adverting: the ability to advert to the jhāna factors one by one after emerging
from the jhāna, wherever desired, whenever she/ he wants, and for as long as one wants.
2. Mastery in attaining: the ability to enter upon jhāna quickly.
3. Mastery in resolving: the ability to remain in the jhāna for exactly the pre-determined length
of time.
4. Mastery in emerging: the ability to emerge from jhāna quickly without difficulty.
5. Mastery in reviewing: the ability to review the jhāna and its factors with retrospective
knowledge immediately after adverting to them.
22. See also:
* Leigh Brasington, Interpretations of the Jhanas (http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm)
* Simple|Sutta, Jhana Wars! (https://simplesuttas.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/jhana-wars-pt-1-w
hat-the-heck-is-jhana-a-first-pass/)
* Dhamma Wheel, The great Jhana debate[110]
23. See Golman's The Varieties of Meditative Experience, published early 1970s, which praises
the Visuddhimagga as a masterguide for the practice of meditation.
24. See also Bronkhorst (1993), Two Traditions of Meditation in ancient India; Wynne (2007), The
Origin of Buddhist Meditation; and Polak (2011), Reexaming Jhana.
25. Samaññaphala Sutta: "With the abandoning of pleasure and pain — as with the earlier
disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhāna: purity of
equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure nor pain...With his mind thus concentrated,
purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to
imperturbability, the monk directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental
fermentations. He discerns, as it has come to be, that 'This is suffering... This is the origination
of suffering... This is the cessation of suffering... This is the way leading to the cessation of
suffering... These are mental fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is
the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations."[121]
26. Dhyāna is a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan:
* Nan Huai-Chin: "Intellectual reasoning is just another spinning of the sixth consciousness,
whereas the practice of meditation is the true entry into the Dharma."[123]
* According to Sheng Yen, meditative concentration is necessary, calling samādhi one of the
requisite factors for progress on the path toward enlightenment.[124]

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2. Vetter 1988.
3. Bronkhorst 1993.
4. Gethin 1992.
5. Rose 2016, p. 60.
6. Shankman 2008.
7. Polak 2011.
8. Arbel 2017.
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39. Gethin 2004, p. 217, note 26.
40. Polak 2011, p. 25.
41. Gethin 2004, p. 217-218.
42. Gethin 2004, p. 203-204.
43. Gethin 2004, p. 204.
44. Gethin 2004, p. 208.
45. Gethin 2004, p. 216.
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48. Gombrich 1997, p. 84-85.
49. Gombrich 1997, p. 62.
50. Wynne 2007, p. 106.
51. Wynne 2007, p. 106-107.
52. Quli 2008.
53. Majjhima NIkaya 111, Anuppada Sutta (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.tha
n.html)
54. Steven Sutcliffe, Religion: Empirical Studies. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004, page 135.
55. Chandima Wijebandara, Early Buddhism, Its Religious and Intellectual Milieu. Postgraduate
Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, 1993, page 22..
56. Samuel 2008.
57. Bronkhorst 1993, p. 95;122–123.
58. Kalupahana 1994, p. 24.
59. Wynne 2007, p. 29.
60. Walshe, Maurice (trans.) (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the
Digha Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
61. Matsumoto 1997, p. 242.
62. King 1995, p. 52.
63. Nanamoli 1995.
64. Vetter 1988, pp. 5–6.
65. Wynne 2007, p. 44, see also 45–49.
66. Wynne 2007, p. 196.
67. Wynne 2007, p. 50.
68. Vishvapani (rev.) (1997). Review: Origin of Buddhist Meditation. Retrieved 2011-2-17 from
"Western Buddhist Review" at http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol5/the-origin-of-
buddhist-meditation.html.
69. Wynne 2007, p. 56.
70. Wynne 2007, p. 29-31.
71. Henepola Gunaratana, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation. [1] (http://www.accesstoi
nsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html).
72. Wynne 2007, p. 41, 56.
73. Wynne 2007, p. 49.
74. Wynne 2007, p. 42.
75. Wynne 2007, p. 39.
76. Wynne 2007, p. 41.
77. Wynne 2007, p. 35.
78. M II.228.16 ff according to the PTS numbering.
79. Wynne 2007, p. 43.
80. Wynne 2007, p. 44.
81. Wynne 2007, p. 99.
82. Wynne 2007, p. 73.
83. King 1992, p. 90.
84. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, One Tool Among Many. The Place of Vipassana in Buddhist Practice (htt
p://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html)
85. Gregory 1991.
86. Schmithausen 1981.
87. Vetter 1988, pp. xxi–xxii.
88. Vetter 1988, pp. xxi-xxxvii.
89. Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 252.
90. Nathan Katz, Buddhist Images of Human Perfection: The Arahant of the Sutta Piṭaka
Compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahāsiddha. Motilal Banarsidass, 1990, page 78.
91. Vetter 1988, p. xxvii.
92. Vetter 1988, p. xxxi.
93. Bronkhorst 1993, pp. 100–101.
94. Bronkhorst 1993, p. 131.
95. Vetter 1988, pp. xxi–xxxvii.
96. Gombrich 1997, p. 96-134.
97. Vetter 1988, p. xxxv.
98. Wynne 2007, p. 105.
99. Williams 2000, p. 45.
00. Vetter 1988, p. xxviii.
01. Vetter 1988, p. xxix.
02. Vetter 1988, p. xxx.
03. Thanissaro Bhikkhu's commentary on the Anuppada Sutta, MN#111 (http://www.accesstoinsig
ht.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.111.than.html)
04. Rose 2016, p. 60-61.
05. B. Alan Wallace, The bridge of quiescence: experiencing Tibetan Buddhist meditation. Carus
Publishing Company, 1998, page 92. Wallace translates both as "the first proximate meditative
stabilization".
06. Tse-fu Kuan, Mindfulness in Early Buddhism: New Approaches Through Psychology and
Textual Analysis of Pali, Chinese and Sanskrit Sources. Routledge, 2008, pages 65–67.
07. Venerable Sujivo, Access and Fixed Concentration. Vipassana Tribune, Vol 4 No 2, July 1996,
Buddhist Wisdom Centre, Malaysia. Available here (http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/eb
med020.htm).
08. Sujiva, Mastering an Absorption (http://www.buddhanet.net/mettaf3.htm), Buddhanet
09. Rose 2016, p. 61.
10. The great Jhana debate (https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4597&sid=4349d25
a4379c3849c5b6ba90cb5b4f3)
11. Buddhadasa; Bhikkhu Tanissaro; Arbel 2017
12. Bhikkhu Thanissaro, Concentration and Discernment (http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books/Bhik
khu_Thanissaro_Jhanas_Concentration_Wisdom.htm)
13. Shankman 2008, p. 117.
14. Shankman 2008, p. 136.
15. Shankman 2008, p. 137.
16. Shankman 2008, p. 137-138.
17. Vetter 1988, p. xxxvi.
18. Shankman 2008, p. 80.
19. Rose 2016, p. 59.
20. Richard Shankman, The Experience of Samadhi – an in depth Exploration of Buddhist
Meditation, Shambala publications 2008
21. "Samaññaphala Sutta" (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.039.than.html).
22. Arbel 2017, p. 16.
23. Nan, Huai-Chin. To Realize Enlightenment: Practice of the Cultivation Path. 1994. p. 1
24. Sheng Yen. Orthodox Chinese Buddhism. North Atlantic Books. 2007. p. 122
25. Deleanu, Florin (1992); Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras (https://ahandfulofleave
s.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/mindfulness-of-breathing-in-the-dhayana-sutra_florin-deleanu_
1992.pdf). Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan (TICOJ) 37, 42-
57.
26. Fischer-Schreiber 2008, p. 103.
27. Ven. Dr. Yuanci, A Study of the Meditation Methods in the DESM and Other Early Chinese
Texts (http://www.undv.org/vesak2012/iabudoc/31YuanciFINAL.pdf) Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20130508164744/http://www.undv.org/vesak2012/iabudoc/31YuanciFINAL.pdf)
2013-05-08 at the Wayback Machine, The Buddhist Academy of China.
28. Sheng, Yen. "Fundamentals of Meditation" (http://www.chancenter.org/chanctr/ddp/talks/zuocha
n.html).
29. Sōtō Zen Text Project. "Zazengi translation" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022108/htt
p://web.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/translations/shobogenzo/translations/zazengi/zazengi.ht
ml). Stanford University. Archived from the original (http://web.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/tra
nslations/shobogenzo/translations/zazengi/zazengi.html) on 17 November 2015. Retrieved
15 November 2015.
30. Sōtō Zen Text Project. "Fukan Zazengi" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080429201213/http://w
ww.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/translations/gongyo_seiten/translations/part_3/fukan_zazen
gi.html). Stanford University. Archived from the original (http://www.stanford.edu/group/scbs/szt
p3/translations/gongyo_seiten/translations/part_3/fukan_zazengi.html) on 2008-04-29.
Retrieved 2008-03-26.
31. Luk, Charles. The Secrets of Chinese Meditation. 1964. p. 44
32. group+note
33. Nan, Huai-Chin. Basic Buddhism: Exploring Buddhism and Zen. 1997. p. 92
34. Blyth 1966.
35. Loori 2006.
36. Lachs 2006.
37. B. Alan Wallace, The Bridge of Quiescence: Experiencing Tibetan Buddhist Meditation. Carus
Publishing Company, 1998, pages 215–216.
38. Study and Practice of Meditation: Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless
Absorptions by Leah Zahler. Snow Lion Publications: 2009 pg 264-5
39. B. Alan Wallace, The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind. Wisdom
Publications, 2006, page xii.
40. Johannes Bronkhorst (1993). The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=AZbZDP8MRJoC). Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 45–49, 68–70, 78–81, 96–
98, 112–119. ISBN 978-81-208-1114-0.
41. Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA283). Infobase. pp. 283–284. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5.
42. James G. Lochtefeld, Ph.D. (2001). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1 (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&pg=PA196). The Rosen Publishing Group,
Inc. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
43. Wujastyk 2011, p. 33.
44. Feuerstein 1978, p. 108.
45. Tola, Dragonetti & Prithipaul 1987, p. x.
46. Moving Inward: The Journey from Asana to Pratyahara (http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/Yoga
plus/Article.aspx?id=934) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110719232925/http://www.h
imalayaninstitute.org/Yogaplus/Article.aspx?id=934) July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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Yogabhashya attributed to Veda Vyasa and Tattva Vaicharadi by Vacaspati Misra (https://archiv
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50. An Outline of the Religious Literature of India, By John Nicol Farquhar p.132
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of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.

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ments/The%20Origin%20of%20Insight%20Meditation_Cousins_TBF_1994-96.pdf) (PDF), in
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Gethin, Rupert (2004), "On the Practice of Buddhist Meditation According to the Pali Nikayas
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Gregory, Peter N. (1991), Sudden and Gradual. Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese
Thought, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited
Kalupahana, David J. (1992), The Principles of Buddhist Psychology, Delhi: ri Satguru
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Publishers Private Limited
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Further reading
Scholarly (philological/historical)

Analayo (2017), Early Buddhist Meditation Studies (https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hambur

g.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/ebms.pdf) (defence of traditional Theravada position)
Bronkhorst, Johannes (1993), The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ.
Bucknell, Robert S. (1993), "Reinterpreting the Jhanas", Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies, 16 (2)
Polak (2011), Reexamining Jhana
Stuart-Fox, Martin (1989), "Jhana and Buddhist Scholasticism", Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies, 12 (2)
Wynne, Alexander (2007), The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Routledge

Re-assessment of jhana in Theravada

Arbel, Keren (2017), Early Buddhist Meditation (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/97813173

83994), Taylor & Francis
Quli, Natalie (2008), "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhana in Convert Theravada" (http://www.
leighb.com/Jhana_in_Theravada_Quli.pdf) (PDF), Pacific World, 10: 225–249
Shankman, Richard (2008), The Experience of Samadhi

External links
Sutras

"Jhana" (2005) (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/jhana.html), descriptions and similes from

the Pali Canon's Anguttara Nikaya and Dhammapada, by John T. Bullitt.

"Jhana wars"

Leigh Breighton, Interpretations of the Jhanas (http://www.leighb.com/jhanantp.htm)

Jhana Wars! (https://simplesuttas.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/jhana-wars-pt-1-what-the-heck-is-
jhana-a-first-pass/), Simple|Suttas
Sutta-style jhanas: a western phenomenon? (https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=2651
4), Dhamma Wheel
Western Theravada (Pali Based Interpretation)

Ajahn Brahmavamso, Travelogue to the four Jhanas (https://web.archive.org/web/2011010215

2640/http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Travelogue_to_the_four_jhanas_by_Ajahn_Brahm
avamso)
Ajahn Brahmavamso, The Jhanas (http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books/Ajahn_Brahm_The_Jha
nas.htm)

Western Theravada (English Based Interpretation)

Thanissaro Bhikkhuhttps, Jhana not by the numbers (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/author

s/thanissaro/jhananumbers.html)
Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahāthera, MN 111 One by One as They Occurred – Anupada Sutta. (htt
p://talks.dhammasukha.org/mn-111-jt1-060220.html) Dhamma-Talks on the Anupada-Sutta.
This provides a highly detailed account of the progression through the jhānas.

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