Early Buddhist Meditation
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Early Buddhist Meditation
This book offers a new interpretation of the relationship between ‘insight practice’ (satipaṭṭhāna) and the attainment of the four jhānas (i.e., right samādhi), a key problem in the study of Buddhist meditation. The author challenges the traditional Buddhist understanding of the four jhānas as states of absorption, and shows how these states are the actualization and embodiment of insight (vipassanā). It proposes that the four jhānas and what we call ‘vipassanā’ are integral dimensions of a single process that leads to awakening.
Current literature on the phenomenology of the four jhānas and their relationship with the ‘practice of insight’ has mostly repeated traditional Theravāda interpretations. No one to date has offered a comprehensive analysis of the fourfold jhāna model independently from traditional interpretations. This book offers such an analysis. It presents a model which speaks in the Nikāyas’ distinct voice. It demonstrates that the distinction between the ‘practice of serenity’ (samatha-bhāvanā) and the ‘practice of insight’ (vipassanā-bhāvanā) – a fundamental distinction in Buddhist meditation theory – is not applicable to early Buddhist understanding of the meditative path. It seeks to show that the common interpretation of the jhānas as ‘altered states of consciousness’, absorptions that do not reveal anything about the nature of phenomena, is incompatible with the teachings of the Pāli Nikāyas.
By carefully analyzing the descriptions of the four jhānas in the early Buddhist texts in Pāli, their contexts, associations and meanings within the conceptual framework of early Buddhism, the relationship between this central element in the Buddhist path and ‘insight meditation’ becomes revealed in all its power.
Early Buddhist Meditation will be of interest to scholars of Buddhist studies and Asian philosophies and religions, as well as Buddhist practitioners with a serious interest in the process of insight meditation.
Keren Arbel holds a PhD in Buddhist Studies and teaches at the Department of East Asian Studies in Tel Aviv University, Israel. Her research interests include early Buddhism, Buddhist Meditation, Indian contemplative traditions and South Asian Buddhism.
Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism
Edited by Stephen C. Berkwitz
Missouri State University, USA
Founding Editors : Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown
Utah State University, USA and Goldsmith’s College, London University, UK
Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives, using a range of different methodologies.
The series is diverse in its focus, including historical, philological, cultural and sociological investigations into the manifold features and expressions of Buddhism worldwide. It also presents works of constructive and reflective analysis, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that are of significance and interest to the broader field of Buddhist Studies.
Editorial advisory board
James A. Benn, McMaster University, Canada; Jinhua Chen, University of British Columbia, Canada; Rupert Gethin, University of Bristol, UK; Peter Harvey, University of Sunderland, UK; Sallie King, James Madison University, USA; Anne Klein, Rice University, USA; Lori Meeks, University of Southern California, USA; Ulrich Pagel, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK; John Powers, Australian National University, Australia; Juliane Schober, Arizona State University, USA; Vesna A. Wallace, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA; Michael Zimmermann, University of Hamburg, Germany
Tibetan Buddhism in Diaspora
Ana Cristina Lopes
Engendering the Buddhist State
Reconstructions of Cambodian History
Ashley Thompson
Ethical Practice and Religious Reform in Nepal
The Buddhist Art of Living
Lauren Leve
Early Buddhist Meditation
The Four Jhânas as the Actualization of Insight
Keren Arbel
Birth in Buddhism
The Suffering Fetus and Female Freedom
Amy Paris Langenberg
Early Buddhist Meditation
The Four Jhānas as the Actualization of Insight
Keren Arbel
First published 2016
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© 2017 Keren Arbel
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To the most important people in my life:
my father and my mother
my brother
my soul mate, Yossi
With love and deep gratitude
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 The Fourfold Jhāna Model: Buddhist or Not?
2 The First Jhāna: A Turning Point in the Spiritual Path
3 The Second Jhāna: Non-discursive Broad Field of Awareness
4 Awakening Jhāna Factors
5 The Third Jhāna: Establishing a Specialized Form of Awareness
6 The Fourth Jhāna: Non-reactive and Lucid Awareness of the Phenomenal Field
7 Morality (sīla), Wisdom (paññā) and the Attainment of the Jhānas
8 Reconsidering Samatha-bhāvanā, Vipassanā-bhāvanā and Paññā-vimutti
Final Reflections
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Writing this research was an adventure involving all aspects of life. It is the result of many years of study and contemplations. Completing this project holds the joy of remembering all those who have helped and supported me along this long but fulfilling journey. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those who assisted me on this path and inspired my study, both directly and indirectly. These pages reflect my relationships with many generous and inspiring people, some of whom I met personally and some who inspired me by their writings. I cherish each of their contribut
ions and feel deep appreciation.
First to Jacob Raz, my thesis supervisor at Tel Aviv University. I am deeply grateful for his support, illuminating discussions and precious comments; I also appreciate the profound impact he has had over the years on my thinking about Buddhist practice and philosophy. I am grateful for his allowing me to enjoy the freedom of study while supporting me at every step.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Menachem Lorberbaum and Ornan Rotem. Without their encouragement and support in the early stages of my academic life, I would not have continued to graduate studies. I owe them a great debt for their unlimited kindness when we barely knew each other. I will forever be grateful to my MA supervisor, Rupert Gethin, whose writing on early Buddhism initiated me into the field of Buddhist Studies, inspired my thinking and motivated my academic path. I am profoundly grateful to Meir Shahar for his generosity, encouragement, friendship and unselfish help. I would also like to extend deep thanks to Dr. Pushpa Kale, with whom I had the good fortune to read Pāli in her home when I lived in Pune. I thank Professor P.D. Premasiri and Professor G.A. Somaratne, for their kindness and willingness to share with me their knowledge of Pāli and Buddhism, when I came to study in Sri Lanka. I want to thank Professor Stanley Insler, who deepened my knowledge of Pāli when he took the time to read Pāli texts with me when I visited Yale as a Fulbright fellow.
This work benefited from the inspired studies of scholars around the world such as Tilmann Vetter, Sue Hamilton, Andrew Olendzki, Stuart Ray Sarbacker, Richard Gombrich, Johanness Bronkhorst, Lance Cousins, K.R. Norman, Bhikkhu Anālayo and Bhikkhu Bodhi. Without the research of all of these scholars, my project would have been made much more difficult. I would like to express a special gratitude to Peter Harvey, who generously converse with me and offered perceptive comments which illuminated aspects I had not seen without his insights.
A major portion of Chapter 2 was published under the title “Joy (pīti) and Pleasure (sukha) in the Early Buddhist Path to Awakening” in Buddhist Studies Review 32, no. 2 (2015). Thanks to the publisher for permission to reprint this material.
I would like to thank the Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism Series Editor, Stephen Berkwitz, for his interest in the manuscript and the editorial team at Routledge Press who guided me through the many publication logistics. I thank, too, Cynthia Col for copyediting the manuscript and for compiling the index. Thank you to the Israel Science Foundation, which supported the publication of this book.
To my invaluable network of supportive and loving friends: Vered Lam, Shiri Shoham, Dana Merzel, Orit Kahana, Erez Joskovich and Iris Toister. A deep gratitude to Shlomo Shantideva Springer, with whom I have had many deep and productive discussions over the years about the Buddhist path. I would like to express my gratitude to Daniel Stambler for his patience, kindness and helpful comments when editing the PhD. Many other friends and colleagues gave me strength along the way. I apologize for not mentioning all of them by name.
I am deeply grateful to my Dharma teachers, Rob Burbea, Shaila Catherine, Kittisaro, Thanissara, Stephen Batchelor and Joseph Goldstein, who inspired my practice, deepened my understanding and enriched my scholastic writing.
No acknowledgements would be complete without appreciating wholeheartedly my parents, who have supported me in all my pursuits. Without their unconditional love, unfailing support and encouragement, I would never have been able to choose this path and follow it through. With all my heart, I wish to thank them and my loving and supporting brother, Avri, for their complete confidence in me and utter understanding during the long years of research which took me all over the world. I have been blessed with the most supportive and loving family; thank you.
Last, but certainly not least, I wish to express my eternal gratefulness to my loving partner, Yossi, my kalyāṇa-mitta. Thank you for your limitless encouragement, love and support, which has allowed me to delve deeply into this experience without worrying where it will take me. Thank you for always being there and for being a full-fledged partner in this journey. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Abbreviations
AA Aṅguttara Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā
AN Aṅguttara Nikāya
Bṛh Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad
Chānd Chāndogya Upaniṣad
DA Dīgha Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā
DDB Digital Dictionariy of Buddhism
DN Dīgha Nikāya
Kauṣ Kausītaki Upaniṣad
Kaṭha Kaṭha Upaniṣad
Kv Kathāvatthu
MA Majjhima Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā
MMW Monier Monier-Williams, a Sanskrit-English dictionary (2008)
MN Majjhima Nikāya
Paṭis Paṭisambhidāmagga
PED Pāli English Dictionary
SA Saṃyutta Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā
SN Saṃyutta Nikāya
Sn Sutta Nipāta
Tait Taittirīya Upaniṣad
Ud Udāna
Vibh-a Vibhaṅgaṭṭhakathā (= Sammohavindanī)
Vin Vinaya
Vism Visuddhimagga
YS Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra
Introduction
Bhikkhus, just as the river Ganges slants, slopes, and inclines towards the east, similarly, a bhikkhu, who develops and cultivates the four jhānas slants, slopes, and inclines towards Nibbāna.1
This book is about the four jhānas in the early Buddhist meditative path. It is about the way the early Buddhist texts in Pāli conceived and described the progression of the meditative path culminating in complete liberation. It is about the relation between the deepening of liberating insight (paññā) and the attainment of the four jhānas. It seeks to offer a fresh look at how these path-factors interrelate and integrate into a coherent model of the path to awakening in the Pāli Nikāyas.
First and foremost, this study critically examines the traditional Buddhist distinction between the ‘practice of serenity’ (samatha-bhāvanā) and the ‘practice of insight’ (vipassanā-bhāvanā); doing so challenges the traditional positioning of the four jhānas under the category of ‘serenity (or concentration) meditation’ and the premise regarding their secondary and superfluous role in the path to liberation. It seeks to show that the common interpretation of the jhānas as absorption concentration or ‘altered states of consciousness’ that do not reveal anything about the nature of phenomena2 is incompatible with the teachings of the Pāli Nikāyas. It will become clear that a close reading of the early Pāli texts suggests a different interpretation of the nature of and liberating role of the four jhānas in the Nikāyas’ teaching of awakening.
The interrelation between samatha-bhāvanā and vipassanā-bhāvanā is a controversial issue in the study of early Buddhism. According to the Theravāda tradition,3 the practice of samatha, namely, the jhānas and the arūpa samāpattis, is not necessary for the attainment of liberation. A common supposition shared by modern Theravāda meditation teachers4 and some Buddhologists is that the jhānas (conjointly with the ‘formless attainments’) are a borrowed element from Indian contemplative traditions; in contrast, vipassanā-bhāvanā, namely, the practice of satipaṭṭhāna, is the only Buddhist innovation.5 Thus, my primary task throughout these pages is to offer a new interpretation of the four jhānas, shedding a new light on their nature, their liberative importance in the early Buddhist path and their relation to other path-factors such as the practice of satipaṭṭhāna and the perfection of sīla, paññā and the ‘seven factors of awakening’ (bojjhaṅga).
In contrast to previous studies that analyzed the four jhānas by heavily relying on the Theravāda commentarial literature, the focus of this study is the fourfold jhāna model as it is depicted in the Pāli Nikāyas. It aims at offering a model which speaks in the Nikāyas’ distinct voice. Hopefully this work will not only offer some new understanding of this central and debated theme but also an opportunity to rethink some of the fundamental views we might have on the nature of the early Buddhist path of libera
tion.
By phenomenologically examining the various descriptions of the four jhānas in the suttas (not relying exclusively on the formulaic description) and by analyzing the combination of mental and physical factors in each jhāna-state, I will demonstrate the significance of the jhānic process for liberating the mind from clinging, aversion and ignorance, thereby clarifying the abstruse and enigmatic process, by which the mind becomes purified (visuddhi) and awakened (bodhi) according to the Nikāyas. Further, by re-thinking traditional interpretations of key terms, it will become clear that the structure of the meditative path as it is presented in the Nikāyas is different from the common hierarchical-polarized model of the path, in which the development of the jhānas is preliminary, at best, to the practice of satipaṭṭhāna. I will show how the jhānas are intrinsic and essential in the Nikāyas’ theory of developing liberating wisdom; moreover, I argue that the fourfold jhāna model embodies a distinct Buddhist view of mental cultivation. My argument is that the jhānas are the outcome of both calming the mind and developing insight into the nature of experience. The jhānas are psychosomatic states that allow the practitioner to further deepen insight into the nature of phenomena and de-condition misconceived perceptions and unwholesome tendencies based on ignorance. In other words, the four jhānas, and what we call vipassanā, are integral dimensions of a single process that leads to awakening. They exemplify a gradual development of an awakened awareness of experience. They are not just specific experiences, but actually modes of apprehension, modes of perceiving, that fabricate less.
Although the jhānas were the subject of quite a few scholarly and Buddhist publications that discussed the nature of samatha-bhāvanā in comparison to vipassanā-bhāvanā, 6 I agree with Cousins’s observation that ‘the topic is difficult and much remains to be understood.’7 This is especially true since none of the studies that have discussed the four jhānas offer an in-depth and critical phenomenological analysis of this meditative model in the Nikāyas, independent from traditional explications. To date, all theories involving the relationship between samatha-bhāvanā and vipassanā-bhāvanā assume the phenomenological sameness of the jhānas and of the arūpa samāpattis. The common supposition in the study of Buddhist meditation is that the jhānas and the arūpa samāpattis belong to the same ‘meditation vehicle’ called samatha-bhāvanā: the first part of a ‘meditation vehicle’ called samatha-yāna, that is, deep samatha (peace) prior to the practice of vipassanā. This view sees the jhānas as arising from a meditative technique that aims at increased mental absorption by means of maximal onepointed concentration, possibly on a synthetic object (kaṣina), that is, on a mentally created object.8 According to the Theravāda tradition and also many Buddhologists, the only difference between the jhānas and the arūpa samāpattis is the intensity of concentration and abstraction attained. This view is exemplified by the Theravāda epithet arūpa jhānas; however, this designation does not appear even once in the Pāli Nikāyas (while it is widely used by contemporary Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars of Buddhism). The implication of this view is significant. It has resulted in the characterization of the four jhānas as ‘absorption concentration’ (appaṇā samādhi):9 a meditative technique that is separated and distinguished from the practice of satipaṭṭhāna. Most importantly, the four jhānas are almost unanimously perceived in the Buddhist tradition, and subsequently by most scholars of Buddhism, as meditative states that can be attained without the development of liberating wisdom (paññā) in the sense of insight into the three characteristics of experience.10 That is, they are seen as attainments not relevant to the process of de-conditioning misconceived perceptions.11