215: About Jhana

In this episode, we explore jhana, the higher states of concentration. Moving beyond ordinary beautiful consciousness, jhana represents deeply refined, purified states of mind that arise only through dedicated meditation. We break down what jhana truly means, why it cannot be captured by English words like “ecstasy” or “absorption,” and how it functions by burning away the five mental hindrances.

The talk explains the two types of jhana—samatha-based concentration and vipassana-based insight—and how each examines the mind in different ways. We also look at the five jhana factors, how they support concentration, and how each one directly opposes a corresponding hindrance. Finally, we clarify the distinction between jhana, jhana factors, and jhana consciousness, and why understanding these differences matters for progress on the path.

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Sayar Myat: 0:02

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa,Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa, Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Theravada Buddhism Dhamma series number thirty-eight. About Jhana. We have completed the fifty-four consciousness of sensuous realms. Today we are going to discuss higher consciousness. Jhana citta. Higher consciousness, jhana citta. Before we get into consciousness, let's see what jhana is. It is translated as ecstasy, in some cases, meditation, and also absorption- different English words for jhana. Neither of these words fully explain what jhana is. So from now on, we will use the word jhana in our talks. Like the way we use the word kamma. Kamma is not translated into English anymore. We just adopted that word kamma as one of the words in English. So let's adopt another word, jhana. Jhana derives from the root jhe, j-h-e. jhe. Which means contemplate and burn. Contemplate is looking closely and burning mental hindrances that oppose concentration. Contemplate means looking closely at the object and burning is, burning the mental hindrances. Samadhi. Therefore, when one has jhana, mental hindrances, five mental hindrances, sense desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt cannot arise. If you have jhana, these five hindrances cannot arise. To develop jhana consciousness of form and formless spheres, those are Brahma Reamls. One must practice jhana. Jhana consciousness is beyond and nobler than the beautiful consciousness. Beautiful consciousness, sobana citta, they are great, good, beautiful, but jhana consciousness is even higher, more beautiful, more noble than those beautiful consciousness. Why? Because occasional acts of generosity and morality in general, if you want to know detail, the ten wholesome dhamma of humans can produce beautiful consciousness. If you do charity, generosity, morality, those consciousness can arise. But you can do when you want it. It will still arise. However, for jhana consciousness, one must exert great effort in meditation and with commitment. It's not easy. Not everyone can do it. That's why jhana consciousness is known as higher consciousness or consciousness of Brahma. Consciousness of Brahma are higher consciousness because they are totally devoid of ill will. So that's a little rundown on what jhana is. J-H-A-N-A. There are two types of jhana. The first one is closely examining or meditating on the object. The first one examine or meditate very closely on the object of meditation. In Pali, just for information purpose, Ārammaṇa Pañca Jhāna. That's what it's called. Ārammaṇa is the object of meditation. Anupanni means closely examine. That's what it means, that whole Aramanupanni jhana. Jhana brings about by looking closely at the object. There are forty kinds of meditation objects for concentration meditation in scripture. Concentration meditation, samatha meditation, one and the same. There are 40 objects. It is written in the scripture. One of the forty, you pick one that you like and observe. Observe to the point of not physically, you look at the physical representation, but it's the mental image of that physical object that you are building jhana with. Attainments of form and formless realms belong to this category. The second type of jhana. It closely examines the characteristics or marks of the body and mind. Lakkanut Padijhana and Pali. The second type. Vipassana Bhavana closely examines the three common characteristics of mind and body, which are impermanence, suffering, no-soul or nonself. Just the true characteristics of mind and matter. And Vipassana Jhana examine it very closely. And those are called condition phenomena. Condition phenomena of mind and matter. Completion of the vipassana indicates the arising of the part consciousness. When you have achieved all the vipassana insight, at that moment part consciousness arises. But beware, part consciousness is not the result of vipassana. Let's say if you graduate from high school, you can go to college. But going to college is not the result of complete passing the high school. Give you an opportunity, give rise to going to college. Some may go, some won't go. If you don't go, you don't have it. So part consciousness is not the result of vipassana. It simply is a indicator that there is part consciousness. Fruition (Phala) is the result of part consciousness. Path is the cause, Phala is the effect. Magga is the cause, Phala is the effect. And this fruition closely examine the fruit of cessation, Nibbana. So still it is observing, looking closely at the fruit of the cessation of mind and matter, Nibbana. So path and fruition consciousness belongs to the supramundane consciousness. They are not jhanic consciousness, they are supramundane consciousness lokuttara citta. But in both consciousness they look closely. Okay, closely at the cessation, the truth of the cessation nepana. Five jhana factors. We just finished talking about jhana. Now is the jhana factors. Five jhana factors are parts of jhana. There are five of them. These are initial application, sustained application, joy, happiness, and one-pointedness. Those five are parts of jhana. Okay. Jhanainga, jhanainga. Parts of jhana. So they call it jana factors. These opposes the five hindrances. These five parts of jhana opposes five hindrances. That's jhana factor. The first one is jhana and this is jhana factor. Parts of jhana. And then one needs to know jhana consciousness. They are different. Jhana is one thing, jhana factor is another thing, jhana consciousness is another thing. If you want to know what jhana is, one need to know all these little things. Jhana consciousness is the one accompanied by jhana factors. If those five factors or some of those five factors accompany a consciousness, and that consciousness is called jhana consciousness. So to have jhana consciousness, one must practice tranquility meditation, also known as calm meditation, also known as concentration meditation. By taking an object of the subject of forty concentration meditations. In other words, there are forty different objects to take if one wants to practice concentration meditation. And you can pick up one that you like, that you want to. So let's go back to jhana. There are five kinds of jhana. Five kinds. Okay. All five jhana factors accompany the first jhana. If you say first jhana, it has all the five factors. I'll repeat them again. Initial application, sustained application, joy, happiness, and one-pointedness. When all those five accompany a consciousness that is called the first jhana consciousness. And then the second jhana consciousness, it is accompanied by sustained application, joy, happiness, and one-pointedness. In the second jhana consciousness, initial application is not there anymore because initial application is pretty gross for second jhana consciousness only has four. And the third jhana only has three joy, happiness, and one-pointedness. And again, initial application and sustained application are eliminated. Only three. So it is quite subtle, a lot finer. And the fourth jhana consciousness. In the fourth, only the happiness and one pointedness remains, only two. It's very refined. Happiness and one pointedness. And then the fifth jhana, the highest jhana, contains only equanimity and one-pointedness. Happiness is being replaced by equanimity. Neutral feeling. Equanimous to all situation. So those are the five jhanas. I believe one of the yogi asks, what is the fifth jhana? And one of the class. So the fifth jhana is a jhana, which is accompanied by equanimity and one-pointedness. So those are the five kinds of jhana. So let's see these jhana factor one at a time. The initial application in Pali, it's called vitakka. It's directing or applying the mind towards the object. Objects. One of the hindrances. Sloth and torper. Sluggishness, laziness, sleepiness. When you are sluggish and lazy and sleepy, what happened? You are in a more heart state, deluded, eluded, unsure state. So this vitakka, initial application, opposes in general, moha. Specifically sloth and torper. That is initial application vitakka. The next one is the sustained application. In Pali it is called vicāra . Sustained application keeps or stick the mind with the object from the beginning to the end. An object arise. So arising is the beginning. Carry on, middle and disappear, and from the mid from the beginning to the end of that object, the mind keeps with the object, sticks with the object. And that is sustained application. And this factor opposes doubt. Vicikicchā. Beacause vicikicchā, is you are not sure of things, you are uncertain about things. But if one stays with the object from the beginning to the end, if it is rubbing the object, so with the object, you know about the object. As you know about the object, you have no doubt about the object. That doubt is vicikicchā. That sustained application sticking with the object is the opposing force to clear doubt. And the third jhana factor called Piti. Piti is translated as joy, pleasurable interest. This Piti or joy is a mental cetasika. Mental formation (saṅkhāra). Mental factor ( cetasika). It is a pleasurable interest for an object. If you have a interest with keen interest, delightful interest in an object, then you are having piti. See, interest that's a key thing. Aversion. When you have a piti, dosa is not there. And the fourth jhanic factor is happiness. And Pali is sukha. Sometimes they translate it as bliss. Bliss or happiness. Sukha. This happiness is a pleasant feeling. Pleasant feeling. Somanassa. Mental pleasant feeling. Somanassa. Or you can even call it it's a spiritual pleasure. You pursue spirituality and then you feel great, happy, blissful. So you can call it a spiritual pleasure. And it is born out of detachment to the five-sense pleasure. Detachment to the sixth sense pleasure. When you are detached to the sense pleasure, which is pleasure you get out of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking. If you are detached to those things that bliss or happiness, sukha or somanassa arises. Happiness closely follows the joy. There's joy and then happiness follow. But one can experience happiness with or without joy. There could be joy and happiness. It could be simply be happiness without joy. Because happiness is a feeling (vedana). And joy is a mental factor or mental state. Two different category. So just to explain it with an example will be let's say a person in a desert, alone, hot and thirsty. And when that person sees an oasis at a distance, when you see an oasis at the distance, the joy comes up. Just the expectation of what one can receive at the oasis. Just that expectation produces joy, a mental factor. It's not a feeling. And happiness, the feeling, is the experience of enjoying the water. On arrival at the oasis. It is the actual experience that you are feeling when you are drinking water in an oasis. That is happiness, sukha. The other one is expectation of a desirable object. Piti or joy. Pleasurable interest. And this happiness opposes restlessness and remorse. Uddhacca-kukkucca nivarana. Which is a category of dosa. So each mental factor is opposing to one of the hindrances. That's what's happening. And the last one, ekaggatā. One pointedness. Ekaggatā. One pointedness on an object is a mental factor, citasika. It is also known as samadhi. Samadhi and ekaggatā are one and the same. One-pointedness. It has cohesive power and its function is to consolidate it all the associated mental factors with it. The samadhi consolidated all the other mental factors that are with it so that they become more powerful and work more efficiently and effectively. And this mental factor, one pointedness opposed to sense desire (kāmacchanda nivāraṇa). Sense desire is a lobha, greed. So when you have one pointedness, there is no lobha, there is no kāmacchanda. That is the fifth jhana factor. So it's a little a brief explanation of five jhana factors, how they are, what they do, and what kind of hindrances they are opposed to or eliminate. So that's about jhana. And it is essential to know the difference between jhana, jhana factors, and jhana consciousness. Some people use it like as if they are one and the same, but they are not, they are different. So may all of you be able to attain samatha jhana if you are practicing samatha meditation or vipassana jhana if you are practicing vipassana and eliminate all the five hindrances as soon as possible. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu. Thank you very much.