Dhyāna
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	禪
Simplified Chinese	禅
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chán Wade–Giles Ch’an Yue: Cantonese Jyutping sim4
Tibetan name
Tibetan	བསམ་གཏན
Transcriptions Wylie bsam gtan
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Thiền
Hán-Nôm	禪
Korean name
Hangul	선
Hanja	禪
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Seon McCune–Reischauer Sŏn
Japanese name
Kanji	禅定 or 静慮
Transcriptions Romanization Zenjyō or Jyōryo
Filipino name
Tagalog	Dhyana
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	ध्यान (in Devanagari) Dhyāna (Romanised)
Pāli name
Pāli	𑀛𑀸𑀦 (in Brāhmī) ඣාන (in Sinhala) ឈាន/ធ្យាន (in Khmer) ဈာန် (in Burmese) ၛာန် (in Mon) Jhāna (Romanised) ฌาน (in Thai)

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In the oldest texts of Buddhism, dhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान) or jhāna (Pali: 𑀛𑀸𑀦) is a component of the training of the mind (bhavana), commonly translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions, "burn up" the defilements, and leading to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)."^[1] Dhyāna may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, in combination with several related practices which together lead to perfected mindfulness and detachment.^[2][3][4]

In the later commentarial tradition, which has survived in present-day Theravāda, dhyāna is equated with "concentration", a state of one-pointed absorption in which there is a diminished awareness of the surroundings. In the contemporary Theravāda-based Vipassana movement, this absorbed state of mind is regarded as unnecessary and even non-beneficial for the first stage of awakening, which has to be reached by mindfulness of the body and Vipassanā (insight into impermanence). Since the 1980s, scholars and practitioners have started to question these positions, arguing for a more comprehensive and integrated understanding and approach, based on the oldest descriptions of dhyāna in the suttas.^[5][6][7][8]

In Buddhist traditions of Chán and Zen (the names of which are, respectively, the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations of dhyāna), as in Theravada and Tiantai, anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing), which is transmitted in the Buddhist tradition as a means to develop dhyana, is a central practice. In the Chan/Zen-tradition this practice is ultimately based on Sarvastivāda meditation techniques transmitted since the beginning of the Common Era.

Etymology

Dhyāna, Pali jhana, from Proto-Indo-European root *√dheie-, "to see, to look", "to show".^[9][10] Developed into Sanskrit root √dhī and n. dhī,^[10] which in the earliest layer of text of the Vedas refers to "imaginative vision" and associated with goddess Saraswati with powers of knowledge, wisdom and poetic eloquence.^[11][12] This term developed into the variant √dhyā, "to contemplate, meditate, think",^[13][10] from which dhyāna is derived.^[11]

According to Buddhaghosa (5th century CE Theravāda exegete), the term jhāna (Skt. dhyāna) is derived from the verb jhayati, "to think or meditate", while the verb jhapeti, "to burn up", explicates its function, namely burning up opposing states, burning up or destroying "the mental defilements preventing the development of serenity and insight."^{[14][note 1]}

Commonly translated as meditation, and often equated with "concentration", though meditation may refer to a wider scale of exercises for bhāvanā, development. Dhyāna can also mean "attention, thought, reflection".^[17]

The jhāna/dhyana-stages

The Pāḷi Canon describes four progressive states of jhāna called rūpa jhāna ("form jhāna"),^{[note 2]} and four additional meditative attainments called arūpa ("without form").

Integrated set of practices

Meditation and contemplation form an integrated set of practices with several other practices, which are fully realized with the onset of dhyāna.^[2][4] As described in the Noble Eightfold Path, right view leads to leaving the household life and becoming a wandering monk. Sīla (morality) comprises the rules for right conduct. Right effort, or the four right efforts, which already contains elements of dhyana,^{[18][note 3]} aim to prevent the arising of unwholesome states, and to generate wholesome states. This includes indriya samvara (sense restraint), controlling the response to sensual perceptions, not giving in to lust and aversion but simply noticing the objects of perception as they appear.^[20] Right effort and mindfulness ("to remember to observe"^[21]), notably mindfulness of breathing, calm the mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns, and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non-automatic responses.^[7] By following these cumulative steps and practices, the mind becomes set, almost naturally, for the equanimity of dhyāna,^{[22][7][note 4]} reinforcing the development of wholesome states, which in return further reinforces equanimity and mindfulness.^[7][8]

The rūpa jhānas

In the sutras, jhāna is entered when one 'sits down cross-legged and establishes mindfulness'. According to Buddhist tradition, it may be supported by ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breathing, a core meditative practice which can be found in almost all schools of Buddhism. The Suttapiṭaka and the Agamas describe four stages of rūpa jhāna. Rūpa refers to the material realm, in a neutral stance, as different from the kāma-realm (lust, desire) and the arūpa-realm (non-material realm).^[23] While interpreted in the Theravada-tradition as describing a deepening concentration and one-pointedness, originally the jhānas seem to describe a development from investigating body and mind and abandoning unwholesome states, to perfected equanimity and watchfulness,^[24] an understanding which is retained in Zen and Dzogchen.^[7][24] The stock description of the jhānas, with traditional and alternative interpretations, is as follows:^{[24][note 5]}

1. First jhāna:

   Separated (vivicceva) from desire for sensual pleasures, separated (vivicca) from unwholesome states (akusalehi dhammehi, unwholesome dhammas^[25]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is pīti ("rapture," "joy") and sukha ("pleasure") "born of viveka" (traditionally, "seclusion"; alternatively, "discrimination" (of dhamma's)^{[26][note 6]}), accompanied by vitarka-vicara (traditionallly, initial and sustained attention to a meditative object; alternatively, initial inquiry and subsequent investigation^[29][30][31] of dhammas (defilements^[32] and wholesome thoughts^{[33][note 7]}); also: "discursive thought"^{[note 8]}).

2. Second jhāna:

   Again, with the stilling of vitarka-vicara, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which is pīti and sukha "born of samadhi" (samadhi-ji; trad. born of "concentration"; altern. "knowing but non-discursive awareness,"^[41] "bringing the buried latencies or samskaras into full view"^{[42][note 9]}), and has sampasadana ("stillness,"^[44] "inner tranquility"^{[39][note 10]}) and ekaggata (unification of mind,^[44] awareness) without vitarka-vicara;

3. Third jhāna:

   With the fading away of pīti, a bhikkhu abides in upekkhā (equanimity," "affective detachment"^{[39][note 11]}), sato (mindful) and sampajañña ("fully knowing,"^[45] "discerning awareness"^[46]). experiencing sukha with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which the noble ones announce, "abiding in pleasure, one is equanimous and mindful".

4. Fourth jhāna:

   With the abandoning of sukha ("pleasure") and dukkha ("pain"^[47][46]) and with the previous disappearance of somanassa ("gladness,"^[48]) and domanassa ("discontent"^[48]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which is adukkham asukham ("neither-painful-nor-pleasurable,"^[47] "freedom from pleasure and pain"^[49]) and has upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi (complete purity of equanimity and mindfulness).^{[note 12]}

The arūpa āyatanas

Grouped into the jhāna-scheme are four meditative states referred to in the early texts as arūpa-āyatanas.^[51] These are also referred to in commentarial literature as arūpa-jhānas ("formless" or "immaterial" jhānas), corresponding to the arūpa-loka (translated as the "formless realm" or the "formless dimensions"), to be distinguished from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them; they are instead referred to as āyatana. However, they are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas (other texts, e.g. MN 121, treat them as a distinct set of attainments) and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhānas.^[24]

The four arūpa-āyatanas/arūpa-jhānas are:

• Fifth jhāna: infinite space (Pāḷi ākāsānañcāyatana, Skt. ākāśānantyāyatana)
• Sixth jhāna: infinite consciousness (Pāḷi viññāṇañcāyatana, Skt. vijñānānantyāyatana)
• Seventh jhāna: infinite nothingness (Pāḷi ākiñcaññāyatana, Skt. ākiṃcanyāyatana)
• Eighth jhāna: neither perception nor non-perception (Pāḷi nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, Skt. naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana)

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine jhānas taught by the Buddha (see section on nirodha-samāpatti below), they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Truth number eight is sammā samādhi (Right Concentration), and only the first four jhānas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the jhānas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".^{[citation needed]}

Nirodha-samāpatti

Beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception lies a state called nirodha samāpatti, the "cessation of perception, feelings and consciousness".^[52] Only in commentarial and scholarly literature, this is sometimes called the "ninth jhāna".^[53][54] Another name for this state is saññāvedayitanirodha ("cessation of perception and feeling"). According to Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga (XXIII, 18), it is characterized by the temporary suppression of consciousness and its concomitant mental factors, so the contemplative reaches a state unconscious (acittaka) for a week at most. In the nirodha remain unically some elementary physiological process designated, in the Mahāvedalla-sutta, by the terms āyu and usmā.^{[citation needed]} Neuroscientists have recently studied this phenomena empirically and proposed a model for its neural-substrate. ^[55]

Broader dhyana-practices

While dhyana typically refers to the four jhanas/dhyanas, the term also refers to a set of practices which seem to go back to a very early stage of the Buddhist tradition. These practices are the contemplation on the body-parts and their repulsiveness (patikulamanasikara); contemplation on the elements of which the body is composed; contemplation on the stages of decay of a dead body; and mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati).^[56] These practices are described in the Satipatthana Sutta of the Pali canon and the equivalent texts of the Chinese agamas, in which they are interwoven with the factors of the four dhyanas or the seven factors of awakening (bojjhanga). This set of practices was also transmitted via the Dhyana sutras, which are based on the Sarvastivada-tradition, forming the basis of the Chan/Zen-tradition.^[57]

Early Buddhism

The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of jhāna.^{[3][page needed]} There is a tradition that stresses attaining insight (vipassanā) as the means to awakening (bodhi, prajñā, kenshō) and liberation (vimutti, nibbāna).^{[note 13]} But the Buddhist tradition has also incorporated the yogic tradition, as reflected in the use of jhāna as a concentrative practice, which is rejected in other sūtras as not resulting in the final result of liberation. One solution to this contradiction is the conjunctive use of vipassanā and samatha.^{[60][note 14]}

Origins of the jhana/dhyana-stages

Textual accounts

The Mahasaccaka Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 36, narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening. According to this story, he learned two kinds of meditation from two teachers, Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma. These forms of meditation did not lead to liberation, and he then underwent harsh ascetic practices, with which he eventually also became disillusioned. The Buddha then recalled a meditative state he entered by chance as a child:^{[3][page needed]}

I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then—quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities—I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.'^[62]

Originally, the practice of dhyāna itself may have constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, since in this state all "pleasure and pain" had waned.^[63] According to Vetter,

Probably the word "immortality" (a-mata) was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the Four Noble Truths ... the Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the Four Noble Truths and/or other data. But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation "achieving immortality".^[64]

Possible Buddhist transformation of yogic practicesedit

The time of the Buddha saw the rise of the śramaṇa movement, ascetic practitioners with a body of shared teachings and practices.^{[65][full citation needed]} The strict delineation of this movement into Jainism, Buddhism and brahmanical/Upanishadic traditions is a later development.^{[65][full citation needed][note 15]} According to Crangle, the development of meditative practices in ancient India was a complex interplay between Vedic and non-Vedic traditions.^[69] According to Bronkhorst, the four rūpa jhāna may be an original contribution of the Buddha to the religious practices of ancient India, forming an alternative to the ascetic practices of the Jains and similar śramaṇa traditions, while the arūpa āyatanas were incorporated from non-Buddhist ascetic traditions.^[70]

Kalupahana argues that the Buddha "reverted to the meditational practices" he had learned from Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, "directed at the appeasement of mind rather than the development of insight." Moving beyond these initial practices, reflection gave him the essential insight into conditioning, and learned him how to appease his "dispostional tendencies", without either being dominated by them, nor completely annihilating them.^[72]

Wynne argues that the attainment of the formless meditative absorption was incorporated from Brahmanical practices, and have Brahmnanical cosmogenies as their doctrinal background.^{[73][note 16]} Wynne therefore concludes that these practices were borrowed from a Brahminic source, namely Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma.^[76] Yet, the Buddha rejected their goals, as they were not liberating, and discovered his own path to awakening,^[73] which "consisted of the adaptation of the old yogic techniques to the practice of mindfulness and attainment of insight." Thus "radically transformed" application of yogic practices was conceptualized in the scheme of the four jhānas.^[73]

Yet, according to Bronkhorst, the Buddha's teachings developed primarily in response to Jain teachings, not Brahmanical teachings,^[3]and the account of the Buddha practicing under Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma is entirely fictitious, and meant to flesh out the mentioning of those names in the post-enlightenment narrative in Majjhima Nikaya 36.^[3][77] Vishvapani notes that the Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final form long after the Buddha's lifetime, with the Mokshadharma postdating him. Vishvapani further notes that Uddaka Rāmaputta and Āḷāra Kālāma may well have been sramanic teachers, as the Buddhist tradition asserts, not Brahmins.^[77]

Five possibilities regarding jhāna and liberationedit

A stock phrase in the canon states that one develops the four rupa dhyanas and then attains liberating insight. While the texts often refer to comprehending the four noble truths as constituting this "liberating insight", Schmithausen notes that the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight" (here referring to paññā^[78]) is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.^{[79][3][page needed][2][page needed]}

Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility, while the attainment of nirodha-samāpatti may constitute a fifth possibility:^[80]

1. Mastering the four jhānas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;
2. Mastering the four jhānas and the four arūpas, whereafter "liberating insight" is attained;
3. Liberating insight itself suffices;
4. The four jhānas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the Buddha;^[81]
5. Liberation is attained in nirodha-samāpatti.^[82]

Rūpa jhāna followed by liberating insightedit

According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhāna state to bring the mind to rest, and to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self. According to the Theravada-tradition, the arahant is aware that the jhānas are ultimately unsatisfactory, realizing that the meditative attainments are also anicca, impermanent.^[83]

In the Mahasaccaka Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 36), which narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening, dhyāna is followed by insight into the four noble truths. The mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight" is probably a later addition.^{[79][64][3][page needed]} Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyāna, when interpreted as concentration, since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state.^[84] He also notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an expression of what this "liberating insight" constituted.^[85] In time, other expressions took over this function, such as pratītyasamutpāda and the emptiness of the self.^[86]

Rūpa jhāna and the arūpas, followed by liberating insightedit

This scheme is rejected by scholars as a later development, since the arūpas are akin to non-Buddhist practices, and rejected elsewhere in the canon.

Insight alone sufficesedit

The emphasis on "liberating insight" alone seems to be a later development, in response to developments in Indian religious thought, which saw "liberating insight" as essential to liberation.^[87][81] This may also have been due to an over-literal interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha,^[88] and to the problems involved with the practice of dhyana, and the need to develop an easier method.^[89]

Contemporary scholars have discerned a broader application of jhāna in historical Buddhist practice. According to Alexander Wynne, the ultimate aim of dhyāna was the attainment of insight,^[90] and the application of the meditative state to the practice of mindfulness.^[90] According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner, this may have been the Buddha's original idea.^[91] According to Wynne, this stress on mindfulness may have led to the intellectualism which favoured insight over the practice of dhyāna.^[92]

Jhāna itself is liberatingedit

Both Schmithausen and Bronkhorst note that the attainment of insight, which is a cognitive activity, cannot be possible in a state wherein all cognitive activity has ceased.^[3] According to Vetter, the practice of Rupa Jhāna itself may have constituted the core practice of early Buddhism, with practices such as sila and mindfulness aiding its development.^[81] It is the "middle way" between self-mortification, ascribed by Bronkhorst to Jainism,^[3] and indulgence in sensual pleasure.^[93] Vetter emphasizes that dhyana is a form of non-sensual happiness.^[94] The eightfold path can be seen as a path of preparation which leads to the practice of samadhi.^[95]

Liberation in nirodha-samāpattiedit

According to some texts, after progressing through the eight jhānas and the stage of nirodha-samāpatti, a person is liberated.^[52] According to some traditions someone attaining the state of nirodha-samāpatti is an anagami or an arahant.^[82] In the Anupadda sutra, the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant upon reaching it.^[96]

Theravadaedit

The five hindrancesedit

In the commentarial tradition, the development of jhāna is described as the development of five mental factors (Sanskrit: caitasika; Pali: cetasika) that counteract the five hindrances:^{[note 17]}

Table: Rūpa jhāna
Cetasika (mental factors)	First jhāna	Second jhāna	Third jhāna	Fourth jhāna
Kāma / Akusala dhamma (sensuality / unskillful qualities)	secluded from; withdrawn	does not occur	does not occur	does not occur
Pīti (rapture)	seclusion-born; pervades body	samādhi-born; pervades body	fades away (along with distress)	does not occur
Sukha (non-sensual pleasure)			pervades physical body	abandoned (no pleasure nor pain)
Vitakka ("applied thought")	accompanies jhāna	unification of awareness free from vitakka and vicāra	does not occur	does not occur
Vicāra ("sustained thought")
Upekkhāsatipārisuddhi (pure, mindful equanimity)	does not occur	internal confidence	equanimous; mindful	purity of equanimity and mindfulness
Sources:[97][98][99] This box: view talk edit

1. vitakka ("applied thought") counteracts sloth and torpor (lethargy and drowsiness)
2. vicāra ("sustained thought") counteracts doubt (uncertainty)
3. pīti (rapture) counteracts ill-will (malice)
4. sukha (non-sensual pleasure) counteracts restlessness-worry (excitation and anxiety)
5. ekaggata (one-pointedness) counteracts sensory desire

Jhana as concentrationedit

Buddhagosa's Visuddhimagga considers jhana to be an exercise in concentration-meditation. His views, together with the Satipatthana Sutta, inspired the development, in the 19th and 20th century, of new meditation techniques which gained a great popularity among lay audiences in the second half of the 20th century.^[100]

Samadhiedit

According to Henepola Gunaratana, the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration". The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha", serenity.^[14] According to Gunaratana, in the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning.^{[note 18]} Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical, since "certain differences in their suggested and contextual meanings prevent unqualified identification of the two terms." Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness, "or at least the whole group of mental factors individuating that meditative state as a jhana."^[14] Furthermore, according to Gunaratana, samadhi involves "a wider range of reference than jhana", noting that "the Pali exegetical tradition recognizes three levels of samadhi: preliminary concentration (parikammasamadhi) ... access concentration (upacarasamadhi) ... and absorption concentration (appanasamadhi)."^[14]

Development and application of concentrationedit

According to the Pāli canon commentary, access/neighbourhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi) is a stage of meditation that the meditator reaches before entering into jhāna. The overcoming of the five hindrances^{[note 19]} mark the entry into access concentration.^{[citation needed]} Access concentration is not mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha, but there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma on hearing a teaching from the Buddha.^{[note 20][note 21]}

According to Tse-fu Kuan, at the state of access concentration, some meditators may experience vivid mental imagery,^{[note 22]} which is similar to a vivid dream. They are as vivid as if seen by the eye, but in this case the meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images. According to Tse-fu Kuan, this is discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravāda commentaries.^[102]

According to Venerable Sujivo, as the concentration becomes stronger, the feelings of breathing and of having a physical body will completely disappear, leaving only pure awareness. At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid, thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration, because the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has completely disappeared. They should not be so afraid and should continue their concentration in order to reach "full concentration" (jhāna).^[103]

A meditator should first master the lower jhānas, before they can go into the higher jhānas. According to Nathan Katz, the early suttas state that "the most exquisite of recluses" is able to attain any of the jhānas and abide in them without difficulty.^{[83][note 23]}

According to the contemporary Vipassana-movement, the jhāna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses the defilements. Meditators must use the jhāna state as an instrument for developing wisdom by cultivating insight, and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana.^{[citation needed]}

According to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access concentration. In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.^{[citation needed]}

Criticismedit

While the jhānas are often understood as deepening states of concentration, due to its description as such in the Abhidhamma,^[105] and the Visuddhimagga,^[39] since the 1980s both academic scholars and contemporary Theravādins have started to question this understanding, raising questions about the interpretation of the jhanas as being states of absorption which are not necessary for the attainment of liberation. While groundbreaking research on this topic has been done by Bareau, Schmithausen, Stuart-Fox, Bucknell, Vetter, Bronkhorst, and Wynne, Theravada practitioners have also scrutinized and criticised the samatha-vipassana distinction.^[106] Reassessments of the description of jhana in the suttas consider jhana and vipassana to be an integrated practice, leading to a "tranquil and equanimous awareness of whatever arises in the field of experience."^[5][6][7][8]

Scholarly criticismedit

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