Jhana

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Jh¤na, Catt¤ri jh¤n¤ni

PTS: Dialogs of the Buddha III, #33: The Recital, T.W. and C.A.F. Rhys Davids, trans., pp201

PTS: The Book of the Kindred Sayings, III: The Khandha Book: Kindred Sayings on Jhana, Woodward, trans. = WP: The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, I, iii: The Book of the Aggregates, #34: Connected Discourses on Meditation, pp 1034, Bodhi trans.

WP: The Long Discourses of the Buddha, #33: The Chanting Together, M. Walshe, trans., pp479

Pali	MO	Hare	Horner	Punnaji	Bodhi	Nanamoli	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	Thanissaro	Walshe	Woodward
jh¤na	Burning, Shining	musing	concentration, meditation	ecstasy, jhana	jhana	jhana	jhana	jhana	mental absorption; a state of strong concentration focused on a single sensation or mental notion; jhana	jhana	jhana

**Pali Text Society, Pali English Dictionary (edited entry):**
Jh¤na: (nt.) [from jh¤yati,¹ BSk. dhy¤na. The (popular etym-) expln of jh¤na is given by Bdhgh at Vism 150 as follows: "¤ramma¼' ¬panijjh¤nato paccan¨ka-jh¤panato v¤ jhana¸," i.e. called jh. from meditation on objects & from burning up anything adverse] literally meditation. But it never means vaguely meditation. It is the technical term for a special religious experience, reached in a certain order of mental states. It was originally divided into four such states. These may be summarized: 1. The mystic, with his mind free from sensuous and worldly ideas, concentrates his thoughts on some special subject (for instance, the impermanence of all things). This he thinks out by attention to the facts, and by reasoning. 2. Then uplifted above attention & reasoning, he experiences joy & ease both of body and mind. 3. Then the bliss passes away, & he becomes suffused with a sense of ease, and 4. he becomes aware of pure lucidity of mind & equanimity of heart. The whole really forms one series of mental states, & the stages might have been fixed at other points in the series. So the Dhamma-sa¸gani makes a second list of five stages, by calling, in the second jh¤na, the fading away of observation one stage, & the giving up of sustained thinking another stage (Dhs 167-175). And the Vibha¸ga calls the first jh¤na the pa¾ca¸gika-jh¤na because it, by itself, can be divided into five parts (Vbh 267). The state of mind left after the experience of the four jh¤nas is described as follows at D I.76: "with his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured, void of evil, supple, ready to act, firm and imperturbable." It will be seen that there is no suggestion of trance, but rather of an enhanced vitality. In the descriptions of the crises in the religious experiences of Christian saints and mystics, expressions similar to those used in the jh¤nas are frequent... Laymen could pass through the four jhanas (S IV.301). The jh¤nas are only a means, not the end. To imagine that experiencing them was equivalent to Arahantship (and was therefore the end aimed at) is condemned (D I.37 ff.) as a deadly heresy. In late Pali we find the phrase ar¤pajjh¤n¤. This is merely a new name for the last four of the eight Vimokkh¤, which culminate in trance. It was because they made this the aim of their teaching that Gotama rejected the doctrines of his two teachers. £²¤ra-K¤²¤ma & Uddaka-R¤maputta (M I.164 f.). -- The jh¤nas are discussed in extenso & in various combinations as regards theory & practice at: D I.34 sq.; 73 sq.; S II. 210 sq.; IV.217 sq., 263 sq.; V.213 sq.; M I.276 sq., 350 sq., 454 sq.; A I.53, 163; II.126; III.394 sq.; IV.409 sq.; V.157 sq.; Vin III.4...

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The Pali:
Catt¤ri jh¤n¤ni:
idh¤vuso bhikkhu vivicceva k¤mehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaµ savic¤raµ vivekajaµ p¨tisukhaµ paÂhamaµ jh¤naµ upasampajja viharati.
Vitakkavic¤r¤naµ v¬pasam¤ ajjhattaµ sampas¤danaµ cetaso ekodibh¤vaµ avitakkaµ avic¤raµ sam¤dhijaµ p¨tisukhaµ dutiyaµ jh¤naµ upasampajja viharati.
P¨tiy¤ ca vir¤g¤ upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampaj¤no sukhaµ ca k¤yena paÂisaµvedeti, yan taµ ariy¤ ¤cikkhanti 'upekkhako satim¤ sukhavih¤r¨'ti taµ tatiyaµ jh¤naµ upasampajja viharati.
Sukhassa ca pah¤¼¤ dukkhassa ca pah¤¼¤ pubbeva somanassadomanass¤naµ attha¸gam¤ adukkhamasukhaµ upekkh¤satip¤risuddhiµ catutthaµ jh¤naµ4 upasampajja viharati.

Walshe:
Here a monk, detached from all sense-desires, detached from unwholesome mental states, enters and remains in the first jhana, which is with thinking and pondering, born of detachment, filled with delight and joy.
And with the subsiding of thinking and pondering, by gaining inner tranquillity and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without thinking and pondering, born of concentration, filled with delight and joy.
And with the fading away of delight, remaining imperturbable, mindful and clearly aware, he experiences inhimself that joy of which the Noble Ones say: "Happy is he who dwells with equanimity and mindfulness", he enters and remains in the third jhana.
And, having given up pleasure and pain, and with the disappearance of former gladness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana which is beyond pleasure and pain, and purified by equanimity and mindfulness.

Rhys Davids:
Here a brother, aloof from sensuous appetites, aloof from evil ideas, enters into and abides in the First Jhana wherein there is initiative and sustained thought which is born of solitude and is full of zest and ease.
suppressing initiative and sustained thought, he enters into and abides in the Second Jhana, which is self-evoked, born of concentration, full of zest and ese, in that, set free from initial and sustained thought, the mind grows calm and sure, dwelling on high,
no longer fired with zest, abides calmly contemplative, while mindful and self-possessed he feels in his body that ease whereof Ariyans declare: He that is calmly contemplative and aware, he dwelleth at ease, so does he enter into and abide in the Third Jhana.
Fourthly, by putting aside ease and by putting aside mal-aise, by the passing away of the joy and the sorrow he used to feel, he enters into and abides in the Fourth Jhana, raputre of utter purity of mindfulness and equanimity, wherein neither ease is felt nor any ill.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu:
[First jhana]
"There is the case where a monk -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities -- enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
[Second jhana]
"Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation, he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation -- internal assurance. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture
[Third jhana]
"And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful and alert, and physically sensitive to pleasure. He enters and remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous and mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture.
[Fourth jhana]
"And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress -- he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.

Bhante Punnaji(not a translation): To begin with, you have the five hindrances. When the hindrances disappear there are five things in the mind: vitakka, vic¤ra, p¨ti, sukha, and ekaggat¤. Vitakka and vic¤ra constitute the formation of concepts. That is, vitakka and vic¤ra refer to conceptual thinking. P¨ti is mental happiness. Sukkha is physical comfort. Ekaggat¤ is stillness of mind. Those are the five components of the first jh¤na. Now when you enter the second jh¤na, the first two components disappear, and what remains is p¨ti, sukha and ekaggat¤. That means there is rapture, physical comfort and stillness of mind. When you enter the third jh¤na, p¨ti also disappears and you find only comfort and the mental stillness. And then when you enter the fourth jh¤na, sukha also disappears and what remains is only stillness of mind. It is not concentration and not one-pointedness. It is stillness of mind.

Horner:
(The Buddha is speaking):
"So I, brahman, aloof from pleasures of the senses, aloof from unskilled states of mind, entered into the first meditation which is accompanied by initial thought and discursive thought, is born of aloofness, and is rapturous and joyful.
By allaying initial and discursive thought, with the mind subjectively tranquillised and fixed on one point, I entered into and abided in the second meditation which is devoid of initial and discursive thought, is born of concentration, and is rapturous and joyful.
By the fading out of rapture, I dwelt with equanimity, attentive, and clearly conscious; and I experienced in my person that joy of which the ariyans say: 'Joyful lives he who has equanimity and is mindful,' and I entered into and abided in the third meditation.
By getting rid of joy, by getting rid of anguish, by the going down of my former pleasures and sorrows, I entered into and abided in the fourth meditation which has neither anguish nor joy, and which is entirely purified by equanimity and mindfulness.

Nanamoli/Bodhi:
(Same as above, The Buddha is speaking):
"Quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered upon and abided in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion.
With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, I entered upon and abided in the second jhana, which has self-confidence and singleness of mind without applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration.
With the fading away as well of rapture, I abided in equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, I entered upon and abided in the third jhana, on account of whichnoble ones announce: 'He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.'
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, I entered upon and abided in the fourth jhana, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity."