A Deeper Exploration of Jhana

Jhana practice offers a profound refinement of concentration, leading the practitioner into increasingly subtle and unified states of absorption. While introductory discussions often describe the basic stages, a deeper exploration reveals nuances that illuminate both the power and the potential pitfalls of these states.

The initial jhanas are characterised by distinct factors:

• First jhana: Applied and sustained attention, joy, bliss, and one-pointedness.
• Second jhana: Joy, bliss, and unification — with applied and sustained thought dropping away.
• Third jhana: Bliss gives way to equanimous contentment and deepening stability.
• Fourth jhana: Utter equanimity and purity of mindfulness, free from both joy and pain.

Beyond these form jhanas lie the formless absorptions — realms of boundless space, boundless consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception. These states reflect an ever-increasing subtlety, where even the sense of spatial or cognitive reference dissolves.

While profoundly peaceful, the danger of jhana practice lies in attachment. The practitioner may mistakenly equate these blissful states with final liberation, clinging to the calm rather than using it as a foundation for insight. The true function of jhana is preparatory: stabilising the mind so that it can penetrate the impermanent, selfless, and conditioned nature of all phenomena.

Ultimately, even the highest jhanas are conditioned states. Insight leads beyond all states — to the unconditioned freedom of awakening, where peace is not dependent on any particular experience but rests in knowing things as they truly are.

“Serenity supports insight, and insight supports serenity.”
— Buddhist Teaching