Jhana 1

• See also Jhana 2

What Jhourney say about Jhana 1

• The first jhana is described as a state where a practitioner continuously embraces their direct experience with unconditional delight. It is considered one of four distinct “flavours of friendliness” that can be brought to moment-to-moment experience.
• According to the sources, the key characteristics and descriptions of the first jhana include:

Emotional and Physical Qualities

• Primary Emotions: The state is defined by delight, glee, euphoria, and rapture.
• Physical Sensations: It is often more physical than emotional, starting as a warm response to generous intent. It may pervade the upper body and, if not experienced recently, can feel explosive, as if burning off a store of energy.
• Physical Reactions: Some practitioners may experience shaking, getting hot, or crying when entering this state.

The “Map” of Jhana 1

• The sources provide several metaphors and specific markers to help practitioners locate the experience:
• Location in the Body: It is primarily felt in the head (though sometimes the heart).
• Size: Its source or focus is described as being the size of a pebble.
• Oasis Metaphor: It is compared to “seeing the oasis”.
• Clubbing Metaphor: It is described as “dancing on MDMA”.

Mechanics and Transition

• Jhana as Subtraction: From the perspective of “subtraction,” the first jhana arises when a threshold of mental tension is spotted and released.
• The Phase Change: Moving into jhana involves a “phase shift” where the practitioner feels less in control; rather than “doing” the jhana, the jhana “does” you. It may feel as though the feeling is “pulling you in,” similar to a fire growing into a bonfire, prompting a desire to sink in or surrender to it.
• Collectedness: Once in the state, attention becomes significantly more stable. While beginners may mind-wander every minute, those in jhana may go several minutes or more between mind-wanderings.

Purpose and Impact

• Place of Refuge: It serves as a refuge from conditioned craving behaviour, as the pleasure of the state actually stems from a reduction in craving.
• Afterglow: The experience typically leaves an afterglow, meaning the impacts of the state continue to be felt even after the meditation session has ended.
• Litmus Test: Effective practice leading toward this state should leave the meditator feeling substantially more relaxed, in a better mood, and more empathic than at the start of their sit.

Putting MCTB and Leigh B’s “Right Concentration” into NotebookLM

Both Daniel Ingram and Leigh Brasington describe the first jhāna as a foundational altered state of consciousness, though they offer different practical methods for entering it and varying interpretations of its mental factors.

Entering the First Jhāna

According to the sources, the primary prerequisite for the first jhāna is access concentration, a state where the mind is steady on an object and free from hindrances.

• Brasington’s Method: Once access concentration is stable (maintained for five to fifteen minutes), the meditator should shift their attention away from the meditation object (such as the breath) to a pleasant physical sensation. Common places to find this pleasure include the hands, a “Buddha smile” on the face, or the heart centre. By focusing exclusively on the pleasantness of the sensation, the practitioner triggers a positive feedback loop that intensifies into the first jhāna.

• Ingram’s Method: Ingram emphasizes laser-like precision on the meditation object. He suggests that the first jhāna is reached by developing the ability to stay with a chosen object (like a candle-flame kasina or the breath) for several minutes to an hour until the mind “grabs on” to the state.

Defining Characteristics and Factors

The first jhāna is traditionally characterised by five factors: initial application (vitakka), sustained effort (vicāra), rapture (pīti), happiness (sukha), and single-pointedness (ekaggatā).

• Thinking and Examining (Vitakka and Vicāra): Brasington argues that in the original suttas, these terms actually refer to background thinking that has not yet subsided, rather than “initial and sustained attention”. Ingram notes that the first jhāna is “narrow” and requires active effort to sustain, which can feel coarse or annoying as the state matures.

• Rapture (Pīti) and Happiness (Sukha): Pīti is described as an exhilarating physical energy or “glee,” while sukha is the emotional joy or happiness that accompanies it. Ingram notes that pīti can be incredibly intense, sometimes described as “finger-in-the-electrical-socket” intense.

The Experience of the State

Both authors use the traditional bath-man simile from the suttas: like a bath-man kneading water into soap flakes until the entire ball is “suffused with moisture,” the practitioner suffuses and saturates their whole body with rapture and happiness.

• Intensity: Brasington stresses that the first jhāna is not a calm state, but is instead filled with “frenetic energy” and an effervescent quality.

• Focus: Ingram describes the focus of the first jhāna as centralized and narrow. If using a visualization, the object appears small, bright, and clear at the centre of attention.

The First “Vipassanā” Jhāna

Ingram provides an additional framework called the vipassanā jhānas, which align the stages of insight with the jhāna states.

• The first vipassanā jhāna encompasses the first three stages of insight: Mind and Body, Cause and Effect, and The Three Characteristics.

• In this mode, the practitioner investigates the impermanence of the sensations making up the jhāna factors. This can lead to “hard pain” or physical tensions (known as kriyas), such as a stiff neck or jaw pain, as the mind begins to deconstruct the sense of a solid self.

Common Pitfalls

• Jumping Too Soon: Shifting to the pleasant sensation before access concentration is truly stable is the most common reason for failure.

• Attachment: The bliss of the first jhāna can become a “golden chain” if the meditator becomes a “jhāna junkie” and refuses to investigate the state for insight.

• Wired State: The energy of the first jhāna can leave a practitioner feeling “wired” or unable to sleep if practiced late at night.

• Breath Changes: It is normal for the breath to become rough or involve gasps during the first jhāna; Brasington advises ignoring these changes rather than trying to fix the breath.