One of the mistakes many people make when they are talking about jhānas is to think that a jhāna only arises while you're doing your sitting meditation. However, you can take any one of these jhānas and stay with it while you get up and do your walking meditation. You can also be in this state when you're washing the dishes; you could even be taking a bath or standing in the checkout line at the store. Staying with your object of meditation while you are walking and during all your activities will help you to progress further.
Unlike being in absorption jhāna, any one of the tranquil aware jhānas can arise during your daily activities. This is one of the reasons that you keep your meditation going all the time. It doesn't matter what you are doing — it's all part of the practice.
Everything you do is practice. If you train in this way, then you will make progress. Be aware of what your mind is doing all the time. Remember to stay with the meditation practice as much as possible. That’s the first part of mindfulness — remembering to practice. Remember what? Observing mind’s attention moving from one thing to another.
Chapter Seven: 2nd Jhāna— Noble Silence
MN-111 section 5. “Again, monks, with the stilling of [thinking and examining thought], Sāriputta entered and abided in the second jhāna, which has self-confidence and [stillness] of mind without thinking and examining thought, with joy and happiness born of collectedness.”
The joy that arises in the second jhāna is stronger than the first and deeper; you feel much lighter in your mind, much lighter in your body. Sometimes it feels like you are floating in your chair. There are students that say they felt so light that they had to open their eyes because they thought they were going to hit the ceiling. This is the uplifting type of joy from attaining a meditative state.
The happiness you experience is a comfortable peacefulness. There is a calm feeling in your mind and in your body.
Mind quiets down, like when a refrigerator turns off. You hadn’t even noticed it was on, and then the compressor clicks off. It’s a level of quiet that you never thought possible.
Confidence appears. You feel you are really starting to understand the meditation. You feel like you have no more doubts about how to do this practice. You are starting to understand the 6Rs.
When you're in the first jhāna, you can still have thoughts, and you can still have thinking and examining mind which means a wholesome observing mind that is thinking about the experience.
When you enter the second jhāna, this is where true, noble silence begins. This is real noble silence. It is not writing notes on retreat instead of talking all the while your mind is speeding along. It is noble silence because your internal verbalizing has essentially stopped.
While you are in this state, if you try to make a wish like, “May I be happy” this will cause more tension and more phrases mentally repeated will cause your head to get tight. You then are advised to stop making verbal wishes as it explains below.
—Meditation Instruction:
Again, for meditators using this book as a guide, now let go of internal verbalizing of the wishes. Simply wish loving-kindness for your spiritual friend. Bring up the feeling without the phrases. When you are in the 2nd jhāna, and you repeat phrases you will find it causes tension in your head and mind and you can’t do it comfortably. That is your signal to let go of internal verbalization.
Chapter Eight: 3rd Jhāna — Happiness
MN:111 section 7. "Again, monks, with the fading away of joy, Sāriputta abided in equanimity, and mindful, and fully aware, still feeling pleasure [happiness] with the body, still feeling happiness with the body, he entered upon and abided in the third jhāna, on account of which noble ones announce: 'He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.'”
When you get into the third jhāna, you start losing body awareness. This is a way to mark your progress. You'll be sitting and all of a sudden you think, "I don't feel my hands," or "I don't feel my leg," or "my shoulder disappeared" (unless you consciously put your attention there, and then you feel them). You feel very tranquil, and sometimes it can be a heavy, yet pleasant feeling. This is a sign that you are starting to truly understand the use of the 6Rs.
This is not a state of absorption where if someone pokes you, you would not feel it. This is a state where your attention is not on the body unless there is contact — it can be an outside force demanding your attention as in the teacher calls you, or someone taps your shoulder.
Whenever the attention is drawn somewhere, it is because there is craving there. When a feeling arises, you want to feel it and check it out. There is a little craving in every part of the mental stream. If a pleasant feeling arises, craving arises, and we launch into liking or disliking that feeling. Then the thoughts and stories come up about the feeling; what the feeling is about, the perception that comes with the feeling, and the story about the feeling. Again, we 6R and continue.
When you get into the third jhāna, you let go of a lot of mental tension. When you let go of that mental tension, you start letting go of physical tension as well. Bhante said that one meditator came to him and told him she felt just like her head was sitting on the floor. There was nobody there, just a head rolling around.
A loud noise like a motorcycle might be heard outside, and you know that this happened. You have a balanced mind about it. There is much more equanimity in the third jhāna. Sounds don't make your mind shake; they don't make your mind flutter. Your mind just says: "Okay, there was a sound. Never mind, relax, come back to your object of meditation." There is this strong balance that occurs. You feel more comfortable than you've ever felt, very much at ease in your body. Bodily tension has all but disappeared.
Whereas in the first and second jhānas you had joy coming up, now it starts to fade away. You will ask, "Where has the joy gone? I like that. I want it back!"
You have gone beyond that coarser level of excitement and arrived at a deeper, more content state. The word used here is happiness (sukha) along with contentment. This is not joy anymore. Sometimes the student needs to be reassured, "It’s okay not to have joy. This is progress. Your mind is going deeper."
Mind becomes very tranquil and very unified, not in a one-pointed way where the senses are shut out, but it stays on one object. It just sits there, and there is no need for control. It is happy there. Everything is okay.
You are starting to see with a quieter mind. You can notice when mental movements first start to arise. You can let them go and relax. You'll start to see that mind begins to flutter a little bit, and then it flutters faster and faster, and then it gets completely distracted away. You'll begin to observe how that process works. When you first notice this fluttering, if you relax right then, your mind stays on your object of meditation. As you go deeper, your wandering mind is 6r’d sooner.
Mettā Takes You to the Fourth Jhāna
In the Saṃyutta Nikāya, there is a section on loving-kindness meditation that refers to the factors of awakening. This sutta is a real revelation because it is talking about practicing loving-kindness in the fourth jhāna. The reason that this is a revelation is that it is widely held that loving-kindness can only take you to the third jhāna. But, there it is in the sutta[xi] talking about experiencing the feeling of mettā in the fourth jhāna.
The suttas disagree with the Vissudhi Magga about this. In reading the sutta “Accompanied by Loving-kindness” No.46 section 54 (4) from the Saṃyutta Nikāya, it says that, on the other hand, mettā, or loving-kindness, goes to the fourth jhāna; compassion goes to the base of infinite space, the first arūpa jhāna; joy goes to the base of infinite consciousness, the second arūpa jhāna; and equanimity goes to the base of nothingness, the third arūpa jhāna.
The practice that is being taught here is not only loving-kindness; it is the complete practice of the Brahmavihāras. There are four “abodes or divine abidings of Brahma” that make up the brahmavihāras which are Loving-kindness (Mettā), Compassion (Karunā), Joy (Muditā) and Equanimity
(Upekkhā). Loving-kindness is the first part of this larger system that eventually leads to the experience of Nibbāna.
The Loving-kindness meditation that we are talking about here is not just a side meditation to help us calm down after a long day at the office, or to prepare for our meditation on the breath, it is a powerful system in its own right as part of the Brahmavihāra meditation path and does, indeed, culminate in full awakening.
Bhante Vimalaraṁsi talks about some of his Malaysian students who would come off a difficult Vipassanā retreat and request to take a mettā retreat with him. He said that they said their minds had been hardened by those retreats and that they needed to return to a more balanced, happy state.
Who could think that a method that Buddha taught would cause hardness, not lead directly to the goal, and need mettā to recover from it? Were these other retreats being taught in the way the Buddha instructed? If they had added the relax step, then this could have been avoided.
Mettā is a very important practice that the Buddha taught which can take you directly to Nibbāna. That misunderstanding that it will not take you to the goal needs to be corrected. Mettā is just the first part of the Brahmavihāras system that you experience as you go deeper into your practice. It automatically leads to the other four viharas, but you have to continue the practice. Mettā is, indeed, the doorway to the unconditioned.
After all the definition of Right Effort is to 1)Recognize there is an unwholesome state, 2)to let go of that unwholesome state, 3)bring up a wholesome state — 4)keep it going. Four parts. And what is more wholesome than Mettā. You just keep it going and it will lead you to Nibbana with no other methods needed. This is what it says right in the texts themselves.
Chapter Nine: 4th Jhāna — The Beautiful
MN:111 section 9. “Again monks, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, Sāriputta entered upon and abided in the fourth jhāna, which has neither pain nor pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.”
In the fourth jhāna, the loving-kindness energy moves from the chest and heart area, up to your head; it is like the feeling of mettā is starting to radiate from the top of the head. The spiritual friend smiles back, and there is no more warmth in the chest area from the loving-kindness.
In no circumstances should you try to push the feeling back down to your heart area again. It should be allowed to go where it wants to based on the sincerity of your loving-kindness.
Some meditators make the mistake of trying to make a feeling arise by focusing on their heart and chest area. That’s not right. They should be bringing up sincere wishes of loving-kindness which they really mean and honestly believe. Then the feeling appears on its own, and it goes where it needs to.
In the 4th jhāna, the contentment turns into a deeper peaceful feeling, full of equanimity; it is a nonreactive state of balance. It doesn't mean that there cannot be a painful or a pleasurable feeling arising; it means that it doesn't make your mind shake. You see it for what it is, and you have this beautiful balance towards it. The fourth jhāna in some texts is called “The Beautiful.”
You don’t notice sensations arising inside your body, but you do notice external contact. If an ant walks on you, you know it. You have such balance that nothing bothers you. A mosquito comes around, and he bites you; it's okay, so what, no big deal. Mind is in balance to all feeling. In the fourth jhāna, pain in your body will disappear as your mind no longer reacts with an "I don't like it" mind. Of course, when the next hindrance occurs you can fall out of that state, and the pain will come back.
Also, there are reports of golden light pervading your mind and this wonderful feeling pouring out of the top of the head.
In the fourth jhāna, because there is contact with the ground while you're walking, you will feel sensation from your feet. This is because of contact with the ground. Bodily sensations will not draw your attention. Your sense of self-awareness will have moved up to your head area now.
You have now given up your beginner status. You're not a novice anymore. You've become an advanced meditator. But, interestingly, you are balanced and not over-excited with that. It’s just more self-discovery, and you don’t get a “big head” about it, whereas at the first jhāna you might have thought you were pretty good. Now it is just another step on the path with no looking back.
Advancing — Breaking Down the Barriers
You are now told that you have developed the meditation skills to a higher level. You are told this so that you have confidence in the practice and gain more enthusiasm. Previously, you weren't informed of what was happening because it would just lead to more mental wanderings. Now that you have some more equanimity and your mind has calmed, you are told where you are day by day what exact jhāna you are in, as it happens if you ask about it. You see that sutta MN 111 is real. And, like Sāriputta, you are just watching the progress step-by-step as it occurs.
—Meditation Instruction:
Now, you are to change your spiritual friend. You have completed the practice to this point and have now advanced. It’s time to move ahead.
Let go of the friend you have been working with and change to the people listed below. Go through each group one at a time until you see them smiling and happy.
• Pick three more spiritual friends (any gender, living, and not a family member), and one-by-one radiate loving-kindness to them until they smile back or you feel there is a connection of loving-kindness with them.
• Four living family members (either male or female — gender no longer matters). One-by-one radiate loving-kindness to them until they smile back.
• Four neutral people (either male or female). One-by-one radiate loving-kindness to them until they smile back. A neutral person is a casual acquaintance that you occasionally see, like the bus driver or the cashier at the store. You don't really know them, but you say "Hello" every now and then.
• Enemies are last. Send mettā to any troublesome people, whoever arises. Enemies are those people we don’t like. We may hold a grudge, or we know they don’t care for us. It might be public figures or any person who comes to your mind when you do this. One by one radiate mettā to people who pop into your mind until you can't think of anyone else.
If hatred, or even dislike, arises while radiating mettā to an enemy, go back to a neutral person until you can let go of the aversion and come back to that feeling of loving-kindness. Then begin again. Radiate mettā to your enemy and continue until that hostile energy is dissipated and they smile back. It doesn't have to be that deep — just have a friendly feeling for them. Or even a neutral feeling in which they don’t bother you. Remember: everyone has some good qualities. You can focus on those.
You can do the process above in as little as twenty to thirty minutes. But you should spend no more than an hour on this.
If you cannot get beyond this step, then perhaps some forgiveness meditation will be suggested by the teacher. Information and directions for Forgiveness Meditation may be found on the Dhamma Sukha website and practiced from the book on this topic by Bhante Vimalaraṁsi. Forgiveness is a very powerful practice by itself and is highly recommended to everyone, but especially to those who cannot bring up a genuine feeling of loving-kindness for any of these groups of people.
Radiating to the Six Directions
—Meditation Instruction:
After the process of breaking down the barriers is complete, you will report back to the teacher. Or if you are working on your own then simply continue below.
You will be now instructed to radiate loving-kindness from the head — not from the "third eye" or forehead but just the area in the middle of your head. You radiate to each of the six directions — Forward, Backward, Right, Left, Above, and Below — for five minutes apiece. That is thirty minutes total.
For the rest of the sitting, you then radiate to all beings in all directions at once, to the whole universe without limitations. Sit and glow with this f
eeling of loving-kindness and let it warm the whole cosmos and beyond. Like a candle, let the feeling radiate to all beings. Don’t push or force; just let it radiate and see it just going out by itself. Now the fun begins!
You should sit for more than one hour if you can. You are encouraged to sit even longer if you are comfortable. Don't stop when you feel good or think you have made progress. Go longer. Don’t stop if you get edgy or want to quit. Try another five minutes just to see if you can do it. Many times a few more minutes will get you through that short period of restlessness.
Radiating the four Brahmavihāras successively, as they arise, to all directions will now be your practice into the highest states of the meditation. Please note that I am describing the technique as it is presented in the texts. I am only explaining the texts here and not creating a “new” sort of meditation. You are now practicing the Brahmavihāra practice exactly as it is described and taught by the Buddha in the texts.
This practice of mettā and the rest of the Brahmavihāras are actually mentioned much more frequently: in twelve suttas in the Majjhima Nikāya versus the breath or Anapanasati practice which is only found in four suttas.[xii] Which one do you think the Buddha taught more often? He did appear to favor the Brahmavihāras over the breath practice.
Bhante Vimalaramsi states that Metta is six times quicker than breath and gets you to the goal much faster. He says it takes six weeks for someone to experience jhāna with breath versus a week (or less) with mettā. This has been our experience, and thus we always recommend mettā first. He will teach breath to certain personality types that have a hard time with the feeling of loving-kindness. But, he does add the relax or tranquilize step.
The Path to Nibbana Page 9
