Are the physical senses fully effaced during jhana? By Jhananda, Tucson, 02/07/2008
There has been considerable debate over what exactly is jhana. In fact that debate has been most bitter between the various schools of jhana. However, if we do not deconstruct our religion and our beliefs it is not likely that we will ever become enlightened.
If we examine the literature that has been published on the topic of jhana in the last five years we find a wide spectrum of beliefs and interpretations that very often times disagree on key issues. These disagreements are so fundamental to the experience of jhana it would suggest that at best, most of the people who are writing on the subject of jhana have most probably no experience with it at all.
There are two basic schools of Buddhism that refer to jhana. They are distinguished by the source of their interpretation. While all schools of jhana say they look to the Discourses of the Buddha (suttas) for their guidance, we find that this is not true, because most of what is said about jhana today simply does not come from the suttas. Thus the distinguishing characteristic that divides the schools into two broad categories is those that seek their interpretation from the Discourses of the Buddha, who are called 'Canonical,' 'Suttic' or 'Nikayan' schools. The other schools get their major premises from the commentaries, which are primarily the Visuddhimagga, thus they are called the 'Commentarial Schools.' The GWV is a Nikayan school, because we support our experience of jhana with direct references from the Discourses of the Buddha, which are either called the 'Suttas' or 'Nikayas.'
One of the most fundamental conflicts between the two major divisions of jhana-oriented schools of Buddhism is whether one's physical senses are fully effaced, or only partially effaced, during the first four levels of meditative absorption, which the Buddha called 'jhana.' The Commentarial Schools claim the senses are fully effaced during all four levels of jhana, whereas the Nikayan Schools tend to claim they are not.
The difference between the two schools has spawned the terms 'jhana-lite' verses 'jhana-heavy' for the two schools. These two terms suggest that the contemplatives of the Commentarial Schools meditate deeper than the contemplatives of the Nikayan Schools. However, we should not forget that this difference is only in interpreting the experience of absorption and is not at all a value judgment upon the contemplative skills of the followers of either school.
What follows is a series of canonical references that support the Nikaya interpretation. The classic description of jhana comes from the Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.22) (see below), where you will see there is no clear indication, one way or the other, as to whether the senses are fully effaced or not.
(1st Jhana)
[22]"And what (Katamo ca) seekers of Buddhahood (Bhikkhus) is right absorption (sammàsamàdhi)? There is the case where (Idha) a contemplative (bhikkhave bhikkhu) renounces (vivicceva) sensuality (kàmehi), renounces unwholesome mental states and beliefs (akusalehi dhammehi) with applied and sustained attention (savitakkaü savicàraü) and bliss and joy (pãtisukhaü) one resides (viharati) in the clarity (upasampajja) of the first ecstasy (pañhamaü jhànaü).
The classic misunderstanding of this sutta begins with a phrase in the third line where the Pali term 'vivicceva kàmehi' appears. The Pali phrase 'vivicceva kàmehi' is commonly translated as 'abandoned' or 'withdrawn' from "the five strings of sensuality." This phrase is often interpreted as one having entered a no-sensory domain; however the phrase in question does not mean to enter into a non-sensory domain, because the Pali term 'vivicceva' actually comes from the Sanskrit term Viveka, which means discrimination, or discernment; which is the ability or power to see or make fine distinctions. In this term there is a suggestion of actual renunciation, relinquishment, withdraw, or detachment, which means to turn away from, to detach from, or the giving up of, sensuality. Thus discrimination (vivicceva) just means one is engaged in a cognitive activity of discrimination, in which one is no longer being drawn to, or paying attention, to the senses, but that does not mean that the senses are fully effaced quite yet.
Just for clarity, the translation of the Pali term 'kàmehi' means sensuality. Sensuality here does not really mean "a state of being sensual or lascivious; or excessive devotion to sensual pleasures. It just means attention to or perhaps excessive attention to the senses.
We can check our interpretation of the Pali term 'vivicceva' by confirming it from the suttas. If we examine the Greater Discourse on Emptiness (Maha-suññata Sutta MN-122) (see below) we find a clear exposition on the cognitive activity that is involved in discrimination (vivicceva), which is simply to avert ones attention away from the senses and toward one's meditation object, which is precisely what one does when one engages in most practices of meditation, which is to stop paying attention to all of the sensory distraction in our environment and to bring all of one's attention to a meditation object in a single sensory domain, such as observing the breath in the tactile field, which is called Anapana-sati (MN-118).
The Greater Discourse on Emptiness
"Ananda, there are these five strings of sensuality. Which five? Forms cognizable via the eye — agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. Sounds cognizable via the ear... Aromas cognizable via the nose... Flavors cognizable via the tongue... Tactile sensations cognizable via the body — agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. These are the five strings of sensuality where a monk should reflect on his mind repeatedly: 'Is there within me, in any circumstance or another, any engagement of awareness that arises with regard to these five strings of sensuality?' If, on reflection, the monk discerns, 'There is within me, in one circumstance or another, an engagement of awareness that arises with regard to these five strings of sensuality,' then — this being the case — he discerns that 'Desire-passion for the five strings of sensuality has not been abandoned by me.' But if, on reflection, he discerns, 'There is not within me, in any circumstance or another, any engagement of awareness that arises with regard to these five strings of sensuality,' then — this being the case — he discerns that 'Desire-passion for the five strings of sensuality has been abandoned by me.' In this way he is alert there.
Now we can provide further evidence that the senses are still active during the first jhana. First of all, the Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN-22.22) does not specifically say one has indeed entered a non-sensory domain. In fact none of the sutta quotes specifically say the senses have been effaced, and some of the sutta quote refer specifically to the body, such as the Samaññaphala Sutta (DN-2), where it states "Originating from dispassion, his body is filled to overflowing with bliss, joy and fulfillment" (see below). How can one know one's body is filled to overflowing with bliss, etc. if one is not aware of the body at that time?
The Fruit of the Contemplative Life
Samaññaphala Sutta (DN-2) "With the renunciation of sensuality, and renunciation of unwholesome mental states, and with applied and sustained attention he resides in the clarity of the first absorption (jhana); originating from dispassion, bliss and joy. Originating from dispassion, his body is filled to overflowing with bliss, joy and fulfillment in every way destroying evil that sticks to his character. Bliss and joy pervades, his body originating from dispassion.
"Just as, oh Great King of the south, a bath attendant or his assistant sprinkled water upon bath powder until it is saturated and pervaded, kneading it and working it, so that it is permeated inside and out without a drop trickling from it, just so, Great King, originating from dispassion a seeker of Buddhahood causes this body to be filled to overflowing with bliss and joy, in every way destroying evil things that stick to the character. Originating from dispassion there is nothing in this body that is not pervaded with bliss and joy.
"Surely, Great King, this is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible in the present, and more sublime than the previous ones."
Avarice flows out of one's own body like seafaring fish
There is yet another sutta quote that clearly states one can be engaged in walking or standing meditation while one is in the first four stages of absorption, which the Buddha called jhana 1-4 (Venàgapura sutta Ý In Venaga AN 1-3-tikanipata) (see below). If it is true that one can enter absorption while in walking or standing meditation, then the senses must still be active, or otherwise one could not be in jhana while engaged in walking and standing meditation without falling over.
Venàgapura sutta Ý In Venaga (AN 1-3-tikanipata) Finding a heap of grass or leaves, I collect them and sit on them making a cross-legged position, keeping the body erect and establishing mindfulness before. Then with renouncing sensual and evil thoughts, with applied and sustained attention and with bliss and joy born of renunciation I attain to the first ecstasy (jhana). With putting aside applied and sustained attention and the mind internally appeased and brought to one point, without applied and sustained attention and with bliss and joy born of absorption I attain to the second ecstasy (jhana). With detachment to joy I abide in equanimity. Mindful and aware I experience bliss too with the body. This is the third ecstasy (jhana), to this the noble ones say mindfully abiding in bliss with equanimity. Giving up manic depression and earlier gone beyond unhappiness and anxiety and experiencing neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant by purifying mindfulness with equanimity I attain to the forth ecstasy (jhana).
Brahmin, [if] in that abiding I walk, then my walking is divine. [If] In that abiding I stand, then my standing is divine. {If] In that abiding I sit, then my sitting is divine. {If] In that abiding I lie, then my lying is divine on a high and lofty bed. Brahmin, these are the high and lofty seats of divinity for which I am a quick gainer without difficulty, a gainer for nothing now.
A quote from the Maha-Parinibbana Sutta (DN-16) has been used to support the premise that the senses are fully effaced in all stages of absorption (samadhi 1-9), because in that quote (below) the Buddha was in meditation in a barn when lightning struck outside and killed two people, but he did not hear the clap of thunder, which would have been defining since it was so close. Certainly we can say whatever stage of absorption the Buddha was in fully effaced his senses; however, the sutta did not specify which stage of absorption he was in, so we cannot draw any hard conclusions from this sutta in this regard. Clearly if he did not hear a nearby lightning strike he was indeed in a level of absorption that fully effaced the senses, so we can conclude that he was not in jhana-level of absorption (samadhi 1-4), or he would have heard the thunder, thus he must have been in a non-material level of absorption, which is samadhi 5-9.
Maha-Parinibbana Sutta (DN-16) 37. "Now what do you think, Pukkusa? What is more difficult to do, more difficult to meet with — that a man, while conscious and awake, should not see a great number of carts, even five hundred carts, that passed him by one after another, nor hear the noise, or that one conscious and awake, in the midst of a heavy rain, with thunder rolling, lightning flashing, and thunderbolts crashing, should neither see it nor hear the noise?"
38. "What, O Lord, are five hundred carts — nay, six, seven, eight, nine hundred, or a thousand or even hundreds of thousands of carts — compared with this?"
39. "Now one time, Pukkusa, I was staying at Atuma, and had my abode in a barn there. And at that time there was a heavy rain, with thunder rolling, lightning flashing, and thunderbolts crashing. And two farmers who were brothers were killed close to the barn, together with four oxen, and a great crowd came forth from Atuma to the spot where they were killed.
40. "Now at that time, Pukkusa, I had come out of the barn and was walking up and down in thought before the door. And a certain man from the great crowd approached me, respectfully greeted me, and stood at one side.
41. "And I asked him: 'Why, brother, has this great crowd gathered together?' And he answered me: 'Just now, Lord, there was a heavy rain, with thunder rolling, lightning flashing, and thunderbolts crashing. And two farmers who were brothers were killed close by, together with four oxen. It is because of this that the great crowd has gathered. But where, Lord, were you?'
"'I was here, brother.' 'Yet, Lord, did you not see it?' 'I did not see it, brother.' 'But the noise, Lord, you surely heard?' 'I did not hear it, brother.' Then that man asked me: 'Then, Lord, perhaps you slept?' 'No, brother, I was not sleeping.' 'Then, Lord, you were conscious?' 'I was, brother.' Then that man said: 'Then, Lord, while conscious and awake, in the midst of a heavy rain, with thunder rolling, lightning flashing, and thunderbolts crashing, you neither saw it nor heard the noise?' And I answered him, saying: 'I did not, brother.'
42. "And to that man, Pukkusa, came the thought: 'Marvellous it is, most wonderful indeed it is, the state of calmness wherein abide those who have gone forth from the world!' And there arose in him great faith in me, and he respectfully saluted me, and keeping his right side towards me, he went his way."
43. When this had been said, Pukkusa of the Malla clan said to the Blessed One: "The faith, Lord, that I had in Alara Kalama I now scatter to the mighty wind, I let it be carried away as by a flowing stream! Excellent, O Lord, most excellent, O Lord! It is as if, Lord, one were to set upright what had been overthrown, or to reveal what had been hidden, or to show the path to one who had gone astray, or to light a lamp in the darkness so that those having eyes might see — even so has the Blessed One set forth the Dhamma in many ways. And so, O Lord, I take my refuge in the Blessed One, the Dhamma, and the Community of Bhikkhus. May the Blessed One accept me as his disciple, one who has taken refuge until the end of life."
There are other sutta quotes that clearly refer to the body, such as the Saccavibhanga Sutta (MN-141). In this sutta the contemplative who has given rise to the jhana-level of absorption (samadhi) will "enjoy bliss in body." How can anyone "enjoy bliss in body" without being aware of the body?
"By detachment from joy he dwells in equanimity, mindful, and with clear comprehension and enjoys bliss in body, and attains to and abides in the third jhana which the noble ones (ariyas) call: 'Dwelling in equanimity, mindfulness, and bliss.'
There is yet another way by which we can confirm our interpretation of the Buddha's description of the first four stages of absorption (jhana) occurring when the senses were not fully effaced. In the suttas the Buddha described another group of absorption states that follow the four jhanas. They are the four ayatanas, which means domain or plane. We know these are the start of the non-material attainments, because in the first stanza that deals with the four ayatanas in the Ariyapariyesana Sutta (MN-26.28), the Buddha says "Sabbaso råpasaññànaü," which means "with the complete transcendence of perceptions of the physical domain" (MN-26.28) (see below).
The Noble Search
The Nonmaterial attainments
First Arupa Samadhi
Astral plane (àkàsànañcàyatanaü)
"Then again (Puna ca paraü) seekers of Buddhahood (bhikkhave bhikkhu), with complete (Sabbaso) transcendence of perceptions of the physical domain (råpasaññànaü), passing beyond (samatikkama) the rapacious material world (pañighasaññànaü), extinguishing (atthagamà) the variety of sensory perceptions (nànattasaññànaü), without the endless pull of mental activity (amanasikàrà ananto àkàsoti), one travels near (upasampajja viharati) the astral plane (àkàsànañcàyatanaü). It is said (vuccati) this seeker of Buddhahood (bhikkhave bhikkhu) has blinded ('andhamakàsi) Mara (màraü). Trackless (apadaü) he has destroyed (vadhitvà) Mara's vision (màracakkhuü). He has disappeared from (adassanaü) and surpassed (gato) the Evil One (pàpimato).
We can now conclude that to the Buddha the four jhanas occurred at a level of absorption that did not fully efface the physical senses; however, he described another set of four stages of absorption that he called 'ayatanas' that do fully efface the physical senses, because of the story of the nearby lightning strike that he did not hear while he was in meditative absorption (DN-16).
Further, the Commentarial Schools of jhana 1,500 years ago recognizing that altered states of consciousness do arise before what they believed was the first jhana, so they invented two terms to describe these states of consciousness, they are: "momentary concentration" (khanikka-samadhi) and "access concentration" (uppacara-samadhi). It is worth pointing out that these commentarial terms do not have a canonical reference. Thus the Buddha most probably did not use these terms, and it further suggests that if the Buddha did not express the concept of a level of absorption that falls below the first jhana, then the first jhana must really be a level of absorption that occurs while one is still aware of the senses. Because, the concept of "access concentration" was most probably invented because people were indeed aware that there was an observable level of absorption that occurs prior to the level of absorption where the senses are fully effaced.
From experience there are shades of gray in meditative absorption (jhana, samadhi) that begin with a simple pleasure (pãti) and joy (sukha). We experience 4 distinct and successive stages of absorption where the physical senses are still observable. These four stages of absorption arise prior to the trance-level of absorption in the non-material domains (ayatanas) where the physical senses are fully effaced. And it is in the four jhanas, while the senses are still active and before the non-material domains, that bliss (Pãti), joy (Sukha), tranquility (Passaddhi), equanimity (Upekkha) and release from suffering and anxiety (Asukhacaadukkha) occur. We know this, because we examined 7 suttas, 6 of which came from the major collections of suttas, in which the Buddha did not say the jhanas efface the senses, and we found 3 suttas where the Buddha is quoted specifically referring to the body in his description of the four jhanas (DN-2, MN-141, AN 1-3-tikanipata, 7. Mahavaggo), and one sutta where Buddha described the ayatanas in terms of the effacement of the physical senses (MN-26).
Kindest regards, Jhananda
Sources:
The Larger Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.22)
Translated from the Pali by Jhananda
The Greater Discourse on Emptiness
Maha-suññata Sutta- (MN 122)
The Fruit of the Contemplative Life
Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2)
Translated from the Pali by Jhananda
3. Venàgapura sutta Ý In Venaga (AN 1-3-tikanipata, 7. Mahavaggo)
Maha-Parinibbana Sutta (DN-16)
Saccavibhanga Sutta (MN-141):
The Noble Search
Ariyapariyesana Sutta (MN-26.28)
Translated from the Pali by Jhananda
