By Steven Smith

Question: I'm interested in the role of absorption in Vipassana practice. I've read and heard many descriptions of the practice, by monks and lay people, and they seem to approach the matter from at least three perspectives: (1) Samadhi is a dead end, a seductive curiosity; concentration beyond access level is not only of no ultimate value for practice, but it is a hindrance, since one cannot practice insight while in samadhi and one may become attached to its blissful aspect. (2) Cultivating concentration to absorption is a very useful tool; after one has developed the ability, one can better practice insight. (3) Having the ability to reach absorption is practically a necessity for liberation, and those who deny this have misinterpreted the Buddha's teachings. --Paul Achitoff

Answer: The question on absorption, or "jhana" in the Buddhist Pali language, is a very important and interesting topic of meditation practice and its ultimate goal of liberation.

Jhana is a deep unification and centering of mind, freeing it from proliferating and fabricating thought. There are two kinds of jhana: Samatha and Vipassana.

Samatha jhanas arise from pure concentration meditation practice, which is focusing attention on a single object of concentration with an unwavering awareness until the mind becomes deeply and completely absorbed in that single object. There are numerous objects one can focus on, including candlelight, a mantra, a color disk, an elemental symbol like earth or water, and the sublime spiritual emotions of unconditional love, compassion, empathic joy and equanimity. The aim in Samatha practice is serenity and calm from the purification of mind through deep concentration. Consciousness is temporarily purified of attachment, aversion and other states of unwieldiness or disquietude.

Vipassana jhanas, on the other hand, are actually Insight [Vipassana] stages with the mind absorbed on Dhamma, the true nature of experience arising through the six sense fields of experience: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, the mental/emotive flow of consciousness. Since a Vipassana jhana is an insight, the mind does not become as absorbed as it does when focused unwaveringly on a single object. An insight requires awareness to see the nature of things as they really are, continuously arising and passing away moment-to-moment, an ever-unfolding process empty of a substantial, separate, solid "self."

Although one's mind can become very focused, powerful and bright, the conceit of "I" and ego-centered referencing of experience can become lodged in the mind, hidden by its own deluding nature. If one has not practiced Vipassana previously and developed a deep understanding of the selfless nature of all things, all experience, and all beings, then identification and the delusion of "self" can be increased with these ecstatic, blissful states.

With a clear understanding of the entire path of liberation with its great inner Dhamma pleasures and its subtle pitfalls and a skilled spiritual friend or kalyanamitta, one can successfully navigate through the path with the Samatha jhanas as a powerful foundation for insight. It is only through the liberating insights of wisdom that attachment and the forces that bewilder the mind with ignorance are eliminated.

After one successfully trains in the Samatha jhanas, they can proceed with Vipassana practice to gain the wisdom insights required to truly loosen attachments and lead to authentic liberation of heart/mind. This can be done in various ways. One can cease the Samatha practice and begin Vipassana practice. Or one can interweave the two practices with periods of one or two hours in Samatha jhana, then coming out of the jhana and attuning mindfulness onto the nature of experience as it really is, moment-to-moment.

With the purified, polished, laser-like focus gained from the Samatha jhana practice, the mindful awareness of Vipassana observes the impermanent, ultimately unsatisfactory, and selfless nature of the jhanic consciousness as it dissolves. Then other phenomena of mind and body appear in awareness: sensations, sounds, images, mental states, all arising and passing away as is their nature.

The four fundamental jhanic stages of consciousness are accompanied by increasingly subtle and refined states of bliss, happiness and equanimity. In the Vipassana jhanas, the first jhana occurs with deep insight into the nature of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness of ephemeral phenomena, and the selfless nature of all things. This is the first liberating insight accompanied by seclusion of mind from hindrances, joy, ease and one-pointedness. This is called the Happiness of Seclusion.

The second Vipassana jhana, with deeper insight into the same three characteristics of experience -- change, unreliability and emptiness -- is characterized by strong rapture, five different kinds with ever-subtler sensations of bliss. It is called the Happiness of Concentration.

The third Vipassana jhana is called in the early texts the "sweetest happiness". This jhana comes with a deep sense of comfort, calm and peace throughout the body and mind. The strong jhanic factor here is a very subtle spiritual happiness and ease. Happiness of Contentment is the nature of this jhana.

The fourth Vipassana jhana is the Happiness of Wisdom and Equanimity. The mind here is a very fine symmetry of energy, clarity and deep balance. It is characterized by equanimity toward all formations of mind and body, all experience. Wisdom here is the deepest insight into the nature of reality and the peace of this understanding surpassing everything prior to it. The Ultimate jhana, one could say, is the complete release when the mind lets go entirely and clings to nothing in this world. It touches the Unconditioned, Nibbana, the peace of liberation. This is called the heart's release.