Jhāna

Jhāna — overview (opening lines)

First Jhāna “I am secluded from sensuality, secluded from unwholesome states; I have attained the first jhāna: applied thought (vitakka), sustained thought (vicāra), rapture (pīti) and pleasure (sukha) born of seclusion.”

Second Jhāna “I have attained the second jhāna: there is a brightening of mind within; a single mental quality arises, there is no applied thought and no sustained thought, because applied and sustained thought have calmed; there is rapture and pleasure born of concentration.”

Third Jhāna “I have equanimity (upekkhā), mindfulness and clear comprehension, and I experience pleasure in the mental-and-material (nāma-kāya) — because rapture has ceased — I have attained the third jhāna, which the noble ones praise as one who has equanimity, mindfulness, and is at peace.”

Fourth Jhāna “I have attained the fourth jhāna: neither suffering nor pleasure, because I have relinquished pleasure and suffering and have extinguished the earlier joy and grief; equanimity is the cause of purity of mindfulness.”

Vinaya Piṭaka — Mahāvibhanga (on the first jhāna) — exposition

Now, when the Blessed One was going to expound the excellence beginning from the first jhāna — the three knowledges (vijjā-tilakkhaṇa) are perfected by this practice — He said “So kho ahaṁ…” and so on.

In those passages the meaning of the phrase (for example: vīvijjeva kāmehi vīvijja akusalehi dhammehi etc.) was already stated in the Vibhanga. By implication it signals that the worldly sensualities and unwholesome states are such-and-such. What is ‘kāma’ (sensuality)? — delight/pleasure is called kāma; lust/craving is called kāma; the lust arising through delight is kāma; intent/thought is called kāma; the fixation of mind is called kāma; the attachment through thinking is called kāma — these are called kāma. And what are the unwholesome states? — delight born of sensual desire, hatred, dejection and intoxication, restlessness and vexation, indecision and doubt — these are called unwholesome states. A yogin who is secluded is quiet from these kāma and from these unwholesome states as thus described; therefore that yogin is called ‘secluded’ from the kāmas and ‘calmed’ from the unwholesome states. Nevertheless, if you omit the explanatory (commentarial) sense, the plain meaning will not appear properly. I will therefore declare that meaning according to the commentarial sense as follows.

[Exposition of the five constituents of first jhāna]

When the Blessed One described the factor(s) for release in the first jhāna briefly, then when He was to set forth the component factors He said: “it is with vitakka, it is with vicāra.”

Concerning the phrase “it is with vitakka” the commentary analyzes thus: ‘thinking’ (vitakka) is named so and explained as the act of directing the mind. This vitakka has a pressing thrust characteristic in which the mind is fixed on the object, a note and a surrounding fixation as a flavour. Thus the yogin is said to “make the meditation with the vitakka fixed and the surrounding fixation” — vitakka is that which brings the mind to the object as the proximate condition. ‘Considering’ (vicāra) is described as the mind’s roaming or traversing; vicāra has the quality of blending with the object; it entails a continuous accompanying that is enjoyed as a flavour in that meditative object; it is the proximate condition for the mind’s continued fixation. When vitakka and vicāra have not yet dropped away in the mind’s brief moment of jhānic abiding, vitakka is the first thrust of mind to the object (coarse in quality, first in occurrence — like the initial strike on a bell), and vicāra is the subsequent adhering movement of mind (finer in quality — like the lingering sound of the bell). The distinction between vitakka and vicāra appears in the first and second jhānas.

This jhāna is accompanied by vitakka and vicāra, like a tree is with flower and fruit — therefore the Blessed One said “accompanied by vitakka, accompanied by vicāra.”

In the phrase viveka (seclusion/withdrawal) the commentary explains: ‘viveka’ is freedom from hindrances; or the dhammas that are secluded from the hindrances are termed viveka. The seclusion is the ground in which piti and sukha arise; thus the phrase viveka-pīti-sukha.

[On piti and sukha]

‘Pīti’ (rapture) — the nature of pīti is to make one filled; it has a characteristic of elation, of fullness of body and mind as a flavour; it spreads and is the proximate condition for gladness. ‘Sukha’ (pleasure) — the nature of sukha is that which comforts and removes distress of body and mind; it is pleasant and enriching; it is supportive. When pīti and sukha are together in the jhānic mind-state, pīti is the joyful delight in the attainment of the desired object; sukha is the palatable enjoyment of that object. Where pīti is present in a jhānic moment, sukha too is present in that moment; where sukha is present, by convention pīti may not be present (i.e., they have different structural relations). Pīti is assimilated into the saṅkhāra-aggregate, sukha is assimilated into the feeling-aggregate (vedanā). Pīti is like the joy of a weary traveler seeing water and wood; sukha like the comfort of entering the shade and drinking water. Thus pīti and sukha arise from seclusion — therefore the Blessed One says pīti-sukha.

The jhāna burns up the enemy-factors (e.g., the hindrances). The name jhāna signifies that the yogin burns up defiling states (hindrances) by entering and dwelling in the jhāna. Jhāna also signifies the focused investigation (one-pointed concentration).

[Two senses of jhāna]

There are two senses called jhāna: ārammana-upaniṣajja (entering and abiding upon an object) and lakkhaṇa-upaniṣajja (entering as to characteristic). Those two classes are collectively called ārammana-upaniṣajja when the meditation is on a kasina-type object. The vipassanā-path and its fruits are called lakkhaṇa-upaniṣajja because they penetrate the characteristics. In this exposition the commentator intends ārammana-upaniṣajja (i.e., the concentration-jhāna).

When objectors questioned why the Blessed One describes jhāna as “with vitakka and vicāra… with piti and sukha…,” the reply is that if other meditative attainments lacked vitakka, they would not be rightly called jhāna. Just as society’s conventional description “an army” implies its components, so too the formulation of the four jhānas as having these five constituents is appropriate. The five constituents listed are: vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and one-pointedness (ekaggatā). These five are indeed the jhāna-factors; hence the Buddha says the jhāna is “with vitakka, with vicāra,” etc.

On the Second Jhāna (exposition)

The two lines “because vitakka and vicāra are calmed” mean that by transcending these two (the coarser factors), the second jhāna is attained. The commentary explains that things present in the first jhāna are not present in the second as such, because the modes differ: what in the first is present with contact of attention, in the second it is present differently. Nevertheless the Buddha says: “by calming vitakka and vicāra” to show that progression from first to higher jhāna is by transcending coarser factors.

Other technical terms explained: achchhatta (arising within one’s own disposition) and sampasādana/sampassadana (confidence/brightness) — the second jhāna is also called sampasādana (a brightening/assurance of mind) and egoti (ekotti? — here explained as the emergence of an excellent single quality of mind). Because the first jhāna is still somewhat ‘clouded’ by vitakka and vicāra (like water stirred into cloudiness), the second jhāna is praised as more lucid; therefore the Buddha highlights it as a mind-brightening state and as possessing the feature called egoti (i.e., the elevated single quality of concentration).

Because vitakka and vicāra are calmed, the second jhāna is said to be without vitakka and vicāra. The Pāli style sometimes states both the causal phrase (“because vitakka and vicāra are calmed”) and then also states “there is no vitakka and vicāra” to indicate both the cause and the resultant state — hence both expressions occur.

By reason of these calmer facts, the second jhāna is described as having sampasādana (bright faith/assurance), pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā. In some direct formulae the Buddha presents second jhāna as principally consisting in three characteristics (pīti, sukha, ekaggatā), because sampasādana may be treated as implicit; but by direct sense the second jhāna is often enumerated with those four (sampasādana, pīti, sukha, ekaggatā).

On the Third Jhāna (exposition)

When rapture (pīti) is quelled, what remains is equanimity (upekkhā) with mindfulness and clear comprehension; this is the third jhāna. The term vīraka/vīrāka (here treated as the husking away of pīti, a sort of disinclination for the formerly intense delight) is discussed: there is a nuance where the word implies both ‘disappearance of rapture’ and the transcending movement that brings about quietude beyond rapture. The third jhāna is praised: the practitioner has equanimity, mindfulness, and experiences sukha borne of nāma-kāya (mental-bodied pleasure), because the more coarse joy (pīti) has ceased; it is a subtler pleasure. The third jhāna is called third by ordinal sequence.

On the Fourth Jhāna (exposition)

The fourth jhāna — neither-pleasure-nor-pain feeling (the ‘neither’ feeling), purity of mindfulness, and equanimity — is described in detail. The commentary explains that the fourth jhāna is characterized by equanimity in a particularly pure sense (tadramajjhattika upekkhā etc.), and that the purity of mindfulness in the fourth jhāna is especially clean because it is not dominated by the hindrances (which in earlier jhānas may still cast a shadow). Thus the Pali phrase that the Buddha “has mindfulness pure by reason of equanimity” is applied to the fourth jhāna.

The commentary also enumerates ten forms of upekkhā (equanimity), mentions how equanimity in the jhāna differs from coarser equanimities, and notes that in the higher jhānas the work of sati and sampajañña becomes more manifest and required because the subtlety of the state requires careful regulatoring awareness.

The text then analyzes how the meditator should develop the anāpānasati or other meditation methods to attain these jhānas — but in this Vinaya exposition the commentator limits his discussion to explaining the Pāli phrasing rather than giving a full meditation manual.

Additional doctrinal clarifications (summary of key technical points)

• Vitakka: the initial application of mind to the object (coarse thrust — like the first strike on a bell).
• Vicāra: the subsequent sustained interest/inspection (finer, like the lingering sound).
• Viveka: seclusion from hindrances; the ground of jhānic bliss.
• Pīti: rapture/joy — an energizing, expansive quality arising in absorption.
• Sukha: pleasure/pleasantness — a mellow, satisfying experience accompanying jhāna.
• Ekaggatā: one-pointedness of mind — single-minded concentration.
• Progression of jhānas: (1) vitakka & vicāra present; (2) vitakka & vicāra calmed (sampasādana/egotī-type brightness appears); (3) pīti fades leaving upekkhā, sati, sampajañña and sukha of nāma-kāya; (4) sukha and dukkha relinquished, equanimity is fully established and mindfulness pure.
• Jhāna as burning up the hindrances: jhāna destroys or suppresses the hindrances, so it is said to “burn the enemies.”

Short Pāli Glossary (concise · intensive)

• jhāna — meditative absorption; a series of increasingly refined samādhi states (first → fourth). Literally “that which is burned” (i.e., burns up hindrances) or “absorption.”
• vitakka — initial application/thrust of mind to the meditation object; the first clinging-to-the-object (coarse).
• vicāra — sustained/manipulative attention; the subtle examining/holding movement that follows vitakka (finer).
• Pīti — rapture, joyful exhilaration that arises in jhāna; energizing, expansive quality.
• sukha — pleasure/pleasantness; the pleasurable tone that accompanies absorption (milder than pīti).
• ekaggatā / ekacitta — one-pointedness; unified attention on a single object.
• viveka — seclusion/withdrawal from sensuality and hindrances; the ground for jhānic factors to arise.
• sampasādana / sampasādanaṃ — brightening/confidence/mental clarity (term used for the brightening quality of second jhāna).
• sati — mindfulness; recollective awareness that preserves the continuity and ethical regulation of mind.
• sampajañña — clear comprehension; contextual, practical awareness that oversees activities.
• upekkhā — equanimity; balanced impartiality of mind that becomes dominant at higher jhāna levels.
• nīvaraṇa — hindrances; mental afflictions that obstruct concentration (sense-desire, ill-will, sloth-and-torpor, restlessness-and-worry, doubt).
• ārammana-upaniṣajja — jhāna entered by fixing on an object (concentration on a kasina-type or applied object).
• lakkhaṇa-upaniṣajja — jhāna entered by penetrating characteristic marks (more allied with vipassanā-penetration).
• anupassanā / vipassanā — insight observation; contemplative seeing of the characteristics (anicca, dukkha, anattā) — indicated as the route to uprooting ignorance.
• saṅkhāra — mental formations/volitional fabrications; a technical aggregate often associated with jhāna factors (pīti assimilates into saṅkhāra).