Day 5 - The Jhanas (stages of meditative absorption)

So I'm going to talk about the Jhanas.

The stages of meditative absorption.

And I want to kind of put them in context.

So these stages of absorption are
something that come from very

ancient traditions. So this is sort of
pre sectarian Buddhism

from the Upanishads you know,
long time ago.

So a lot of modern Buddhism,
is now about insight meditation.

There are still people
teaching the Jhanas,

And often these things
are taught separately.

As there are practices for the Jhanas
and practices for insight meditation.

Practices, for direct inquiry
or the non dual practices.

And I see them all at
a certain point converging

and I want to kind of point
in that direction.

That's where I'm going in this talk, and
I want to kind of make it clear that

these are all facets of what unfolds,
when we start to really inquire

or meditate, or whatever you want to call
this process we're engaged in here.

And so this is part of the landscape
or part of the phenomena.

And I'm going to go into the
Theravada sort of framework

of the Jhanas, just because it's
very thorough and complete.

But I don't consider it to be like a map.

I don't considered to be definitive.

People have awakenings without
encountering any of this stuff.

But I think it can be helpful
for some people,

especially when we're really going
into a meditation practice.

You know, the Jhanas are really
related to practice.

So as we're cultivating concentration,
attention, equanimity,

there are these stages
that seem to unfold.

So, we can also completely
forget about all this stuff.

And as Dogen said, we just sit.
Just sit and just be

and we can end up awakening
through that path as well.

So again, it always comes down to this
'Always being Buddha,

always becoming Buddha'.

This is a developmental process,
so it's unfolding through time.

So it's pertaining to the self structure,

but yet we can wake up
from the self structure at any time.

So with these Jhanas in our practice,

as we cultivate these meditation
skills, then we can,

jump into these different stages
of absorption more easily.

So the more advanced
we are in our practice,

the later the stages
we can just jump into.

So we don't have to go all
through them in every sit.

These are found in all different
traditions.

So, Patanjali talks about these
in the Yoga Sutras,

sometimes when people are talking
about stages of Samadhi,

they're talking about the Jhanas,
basically. It's just different terminology

But sometimes Samadhi is used to refer to
the final awakening or the final merging

like Savikalpa or a Nirvikalpa.

But other times they divide up all these
different Samadhis, and when you get

into that, then it's the same as these
stages of Jhanas absorption.

So I have Patanjali's teaching here,

and even in Christianity, the Christian
mystics, they call it sometimes

the Religious Ecstasies. So there are
energetic unfolding in these Jhanas.

So if you listen or read the works of
Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint John of

the Cross, or Saint Francis
of Assisi, you find

these religious ecstasies
as they go deeper into prayer.

And there are these different
stages that unfold.

And they don't all exactly correlate.
But you get a sense that

it's the same landscape,
it's the same phenomena unfolding.

So in Patanjali's teachings, and the
last three limbs of yoga

are essentially what we're doing here, in
this retreat. This is called Samyama,

There is Dharana, which is concentration
Dhyana, which is the meditation,

and then Samadhi which is sort of the
fruition of that practice.

So what he says, as we spoke about
previously, Dharana is the

fixing of consciousness on one point,
or one region, which is concentration.

So focusing on one point.

Then Dhyana is the continuous flow of
attention towards the same point or region

So that continuity through time
is the attention span.

And then he says, when the object of
meditation engulfs the meditator appearing

as the subject, self-awareness is lost.
and this is Samadhi.

So you become one
with the meditation object.

So your concentration and attention

becomes so focused, so single
pointed, that the distinguishing,

between subject and object falls away.
That duality falls away.

So there's just the breath
and it's you, essentially,

or there's just whatever that
meditation object is.

So this is pointing towards the Jhanas,
this absorption, meditative absorption,

you becoming absorbed
in the meditation object.

So the first Jhana is...

you know, we start out in meditation
and we have the monkey mind,

it's busy, and we have these
hindrances that are coming up,

which we've been talking about.

And so the first, Jhana, is when that
monkey mind is settling down,

the hindrances are not a problem anymore.
We sort of move beyond the hindrances.

And we're not necessarily continuously

present with the meditation object, but
we're starting to really stick with it.

And so the monkey mind is settled down,

and we're generally
staying with the object.

So there's at this point, still
thoughts arising from time to time,

But generally you're you're doing
something that really looks

like meditation at this point.
You're actually sticking with it.

And so there's what they call Piti, in
Pali, starts to arise, which is an energy

So the energy that was going into these
old patterns starts to become present.

There's this feeling of of energy
and a generally feels good.

It's a good feeling at this point.

And so we start to go deeper, and so the
Dukkah at the beginning,

that unsatisfactoryness, because of the
hindrances, is starting to fall away.

and then this satisfactoryness starts to
grow. So this is called Sukha.

So we have Dukkha and Sukha. So this
Sukha also sort of comes and goes as well.

Sometimes it'll be there,
sometimes it isn't there.

And so this is a really important point.

A lot of people really stall out,
they get what Shinzen Young calls

'Stuck in a good place'.

So there is this
satisfactoriness that comes,

and what happens is we can start
to play this game of sensation.

So with the hindrances,
we can learn to surrender.

We're not labeling our pain
as pain anymore,

we're just, being
equanimous with what is.

And then we find that it produces
this kind of bliss or satisfactoryness.

And so we can start seeking that.

So the good blissful feelings
will be there and then they'll subside,

and then we'll be craving
to get them back again.

And, there's this game of sensation,

there's this subtle seeking in the mind
of wanting that state or that bliss.

We don't progress beyond the second Jana

until we really have no preference
towards that Sukah.

until we're willing to let
that phenomena come and go.

So, even that bliss that is born out
of progress in our meditation,

we're really surrendering, if that's
coming, can just become

another prison or another attachment.

So we have to even let that go.

And so the next stage, the third stage,
is really being equanimous.

We're really being sort of grounded
in equanimity,

having no preference of any phenomena
that's coming and going.

And it's with this equanimity, if we
can really be okay with whatever

is coming up in our practice,
this equanimity kind of goes hand in hand

with the next thing that arises,
and that is true single pointedness.

That's the true single pointedness, where
you're really there continuously

with your meditation objects.
So there's there's no more break.

So it's like what Patanjali was talking
about, that continuous attention

that leads to Samadhi.

So that will lead into the fourth Jhana,
which it's sort of characterized

by this feeling that you
can meditate forever.

There's just this feeling that
there's, total focus, total presence,

just this this energy is present,
because the energy now

is single pointed, or
the focus is single pointed.

So that energy, all of that energy that's
normally going into the conditioned mind

becomes present and it somehow supports
this single pointed presence

with your meditation object.

So this is the point at which that
that merging starts to happen

or that Samadhi state happens.

And I'm going to read,

this is from the Buddha himself.

This is on his night of enlightenment,
and he's talking about the Jhanas.

He's talking about how he's going
into the Jhanas.

So he's at this point where he says

'Tireless energy was aroused in me, and
unrelenting mindfulness was established.

My body was tranquil and untroubled,
my mind concentrated and unified,

quite secluded from central pleasures,
secluded from unwholesome states.

I entered upon, and abided in the first
Jhana, the second Jhana, the third Jhana,

the fourth, and so on.

So he talks about how .... This is
his big sitting under the bodhi tree,

really going for it. He had that
absolute determination.

You know, the story goes that he
decided he was going to sit

under that tree,
until he got to the truth.

Whatever happened,, he was going
to be unrelenting in that.

What really stands out to me is, you know,
unrelenting mindfulness was established,

tireless energy was aroused.
So this is the Jhanas.

So as we go deeper in our practice,
we have these capabilities,

the attention, concentration, equanimity,
these literally get wired into this avatar

It's like our baseline of meditative
capacity just gets increased

as we progress through the Jhanas.

So one of the things that is described in
the teachings of the mystics

is , as we progress on the path, at every
stage there's this sort of dropping off

of mind, and there's an increase in
the benefit of that dropping off.

So we go deeper into these feelings
of joy or energy or ecstasy, rapture.

And the deeper we go, the more beautiful
these experiences are.

And simultaneously, the more sticky
they are, because, when the real rapture

starts to come, these non dual experiences
of being one with God,

everything in our being
wants to stay there.

So to be equanimous with that as a
temporary state is is challenging,

it's very challenging.

So it's like the stakes get higher
as we go further with the Jhanas.

It gets very difficult for the mind
to not be attached.

So in direct inquiry, we intend to
directly experience our true nature.

It's always in the now, we're not
progressing through these different stages

And when we awaken, we find a peace
and a joy and happiness

that is not contingent on
anything, on anything external.

So in all of these Jhanas, all of the
experiences that come and go are temporary

They're all contingent on this practice
that we're doing,

This letting go, and this
dropping off of mind.

But eventually, when we go
to the end of the Jhanas,

you know, the first four Jhanas are
what they call the material Jhanas,

which are pretty equivalent to the
Salvikalpa Samadhi.

Sometimes it's called
'Samadhi with a seed'.

So there's a seed of form,
there's a seed of pattern there.

So it's temporary.

The pattern will grow back, basically.
The seed is still there.

So they call those the material Jhanas.
Material having to do with form.

And the Immaterial Jhanas, are when we
enter into that Savikalpa Samadhi state.

So we merge with our meditation object,
then there can be the dropping away

of the mind and body, and we enter
into the immaterial Jhanas.

So there are four immaterial Jhanas,
and I'm not going to really talk

about those, because they're,
not really good to talk about,

they're best left for direct experience.

But I'll just say what they are.

So the first one is infinite space.

There's a sense of infinite space,
and then that will drop away,

and there's a sense that infinite
space is infinite consciousness.

And that infinite consciousness drops away
into this even more subtle no thingness.

And that nothingness drops away into what
they call neither perception,

nor non-perception. So it's getting
pretty abstract here.

and you don't have to learn these things.

These are just phenomena that unfold
naturally as a result of practice.

And so hanging out in either perception
or non perception, then the final sort of

realization in that Jhana progression is
what they call Nirodha Samāpatti,

which is what the Buddha experienced.

So it's a very rare phenomenon, where
the beings that enters into that,

they're able to meditate for an insanely
long periods of time,

they go into essentially a meditative
state for weeks,

and basically burn off
all the rest of their karma.

So nobody does that.

So it's like very rare, but it's a
thing, you know.

And some of the the great masters
have experienced that.

So, the convergence is in that total
dropping off of mind and body,

is realizing what remains in that state.

And no one can tell you what remains
in that state, and you have to realize it.

So, this is where, the direct path

and the Jana path converge
is in that final realization.

They're both coming to the same place.

So it ultimately doesn't really matter
if you are just sitting,

if you're just sitting, you're going to
go through all this stuff anyway,

whatever's in the unconscious, is
going to present itself.

Energy will be freed, these stages
of bliss, and all this stuff.

And, some people experience it.
Really strong energy,

and other people have different
phenomena.

they have different 'letting gos' or,
different ways that

letting go pattern will manifest
in experience.

In Buddhism they call it the dry path, the
inside path, where you don't necessarily

go through rapture and this unfolding
of Kundalini and all this stuff.

It's possible for this flip to happen in
just a more direct way,

without this unfolding.

So it's kind of mysterious,
I'm not sure why that is.

Some people have all the bells
and whistles on their path,

this whole unfolding of Jhanas,
and for other people it's not necessary.

Yeah. So any questions about that
before we move on?

[ Participant ]
I have a question about karma...

( inaudible )

[ DAN ] Yeah, but everything that we're
doing, all this purification of Samskaras,

this is all, you could say, purifying or
becoming free of karma.

Yeah, of course. Yeah.

To me, it's all what we're doing, every
time we're seeing a big mind pattern

and we're able to let it go, we're
becoming free of that karma.

And there's an interesting thing
with karma. For me,

when we finally have that flip
to awareness, where we realize,

I'm actually not this character that
is going through this whole process,

the crazy thing is that awareness
was never bound at all by karma.

It was never touched by karma.

So yeah, the whole thing with karma
is kind of a red herring,

it seems like there's something to do
there, but yet when that flip happens,

it's like a awareness was never bound
in the first place.

So, who does karma belong to?
It belongs to the character.

So it's kind of ridiculous, you know?
The whole worry about karma,

And there's this whole thing in Buddhism
about once returners

coming back, and... Who comes back?

It's all awareness playing hide and seek.
It's ONE awareness.

So to me, it's a little bit of a non-issue,
you know?

Yeah, yeah,

[ Participant ]
inaudible

in our meditation practice more easily,
because we're like stuck in the retreat

and, it's no escape for the
mind, and all that

And as the retreat progresses,
the mind is quieter and quieter,

so it goes further in meditation.

My question is, when we get out
of this retreat, like I meditate,

each day for one hour.

It is enough, is this depth,
these profound experiences,

can we just sit an hour a day and then,
all the rest of your life going on,

where you have all your worries?

[Dan] Yeah. That's the question
that always comes up.

The truth is, and this is something
we talk about all the time.

You know, we have awakenings, we put
ourselves in these conditions of no escape

and then go back to life. And the truth is
it doesn't always get easier.

Actually, we get very sensitized to the
patterns.

We can see the patterns so clearly.

When you know who you are, you know
you're not that conditioned mind.

But yeah, there's still Samskaras
or some patterns in play,

still the character goes back to life.

so it becomes very, very clear that
those patterns are there,

and we feel them, fully, when
we go back to life.

So in some ways, I always say
it's the beginning of a

really accelerated purification process.

And when we go back to life, because we
feel and see whatever is remaining

to be purified, it'll be more obvious,
It'll come up more clearly.

But at the same time, the key for coming
to a practice like this, doing this and

finding out the truth; that conditioned
mind that was seeking and doing something

isn't you and that it can't do it.
It has to drop away, and essentially fail.

So so the main difference is the end of
seeking. There's no more seeking.

You don't need to be seeking anything
when you go back to life.

You don't need to be searching for
who you are because

who you are is always right here.

It's that fundamental delusion of the
mind that it has to do something.

That the peace that I'm feeling in this
meditation retreat,

the mind will always go, (it's so sneaky),
it will just say, 'How do I keep it,

how do I hold onto it?'

The mind is saying that, always. Like
how do I hold it, how do I integrate it?

But that's the delusion of the mind,
right? The mind can't do it.

There's nothing the mind needs to do.
So we can go back into life and operate

the same way we're operating in
this retreat. Just let it happen,

just let it unfold. That purification
is going to happen

just by you being you,
just by being.

Yeah, yeah,

So, the truth is not an easy ride always.

We go back, we fall, we get snagged
over and over, we fall into a pattern,

we then we realize who's falling
into pattern or what's happening

and this is part of that
purification process.

And, by coming back into being
over and over,

there's this purification that happens,
and eventually the outer life

will rearrange as a reflection
of more true expression of who we are.

Yeah.

[ Participant ]
inaudible

[ Dan ] Yeah, and that energy, that is
alive as well, that sensitizes you.

A lot of the big patterns that need to
shift in the outer world become so obvious

that you can't go back in that box,
the energy is out now, and it's free.

So it's really obvious, it's not even
a choice anymore.

It's like the energy has made
the choice for you.

Yeah.

It's very, very helpful.
Extremely helpful, thank you.

Thank you.

[ Participant ]
inaudible, commenting on a film...

That's it.

So it's different for everyone,
that flowering of the lotus or whatever

you want to call it, he listen to that
direction, he knew something in him

was saying he had to go to America
and that was clear,

That was his path and he listened,
he aligned with that energy.

And that is enlightenment. Yeah.
When we aligned with that inner direction.

Whereas for somebody else, maybe it is
going in that cave,

maybe that's their path, right?

So we just never know, or it could be
absolutely anything,

it could be, being an artist where
you express what's coming through,

or a musician, or whatever,

Yeah.

So, yeah, it's just that willingness to
follow and trust that inner guidance.

And it's so simple. It's just what
excites us. That's all it is.

You know, It's very childlike, really.

Sometimes people, at the end of the
retreat, they'll be like, okay,

I know who I am, but what's my purpose?

And it's such a burden to have a purpose,
it's like a projection into the future.

Again, that's the mind. That's the trap of
the mind. Like, what's my purpose?

What a what a heavy burden to have,
like some mission that you have to fulfill

So to me is more like, when people look
at my website awakentheworld.com

and think, oh! you've got some big mission
some big purpose or something.

But it's that moment to moment,
following your excitement is it.

Like Joseph Campbell said,
'Follow your Bliss'. That's it.

And it's... like a little kid doesn't,
doesn't say what's my purpose.

they don't try to figure out their mission
in life. They just go and play

with the next toy or,
they're just excited naturally.

And it's that feeling
that is our compass.

[ Participant ]
inaudible

Joseph Campbell.

Yeah. He's famous for that that phrase.
Follow your Bliss. Yeah.

yeah.

All right.

So yeah, I will take a short break
and then come back for a meditation.