Hello Seekers
I would like to pick the brain's of the group and ask a few questions.
Is it possible that the stages of meditation that lead into Jhana can be different from what is stated by the Buddha in the suttas (my English and terminology is not good so please be patient)
(The Four Jhanas)
"Furthermore, quite withdrawn from sensual pleasures, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities, he enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this very body with the rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal. Just as ifa skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again & again with water, so that his ball of bath powder -- saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within & without -- would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates...this very body with the rapture & pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
"And furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation -- internal assurance. He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this very body with the rapture & pleasure born of composure.Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within, having no inflow from the east, west, north, or south, and with the skies supplying abundant showers time & again, so that the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake would permeate & pervade, suffuse & fill it with cool waters, there being no part of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters; even so, the monk permeates...this very body with the rapture & pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture & pleasure born of composure. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
"And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful & alert, and physically sensitive of pleasure. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.' He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture.Just as in a lotus pond, some of the lotuses, born & growing in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish without standing up out of the water, so that they are permeated & pervaded, suffused & filled with cool water from their roots to their tips, and nothing of those lotuses would be unpervaded with cool water; even so, the monk permeates...this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
"And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure & pain -- as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress -- he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness. Just as if a man were sitting covered from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the monk sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
To me it seems quite obvious that the meditation taught by Ajahn Brahm is basically a way of entering sleep while maintaining awareness, (relax body-quiet mind-rest awareness on breath-breath becomes blissful/joyful to watch-breath ceases-awareness is aware of the bliss/joy that was present when being aware of the breath---------------nimmita arises-single pointed awareness of nimmita leads into jhana)
I must admit, that using this technique, it appears to me that you are calming the mind and body by having gentle awareness upon the breath which is leading into the stages of sleep with awareness, this nimmita that arises is just like a hypnogoci hallucination (as he mentions that the nimmita could arise as a person, a landscape etc and not just as a light), he also mentions that the awareness of the body is gone too (which one would expect in deep hypnagogic state), but as you read the suttas giving the description of the 4 jhanas(above) it is obvious that the body is still in the field of awareness of the meditator.
In fact given that the Buddha encourages us to be awareness of the body as much as possible in MN 119 and mentions the 4 jhanas while giving the discourse of awareness of body (mindfulness of body) It would seem logical that the body is part of the awareness field of the meditator during meditation that leads to Jhana?
In the teachings of Ayya Khema and Leigh Brasington awareness of pleasant sensations in the body are taken as a object of awareness and this pleasant feeling is eventually felt throughout the whole body and that awareness of the pleasant feeling of the whole body is taken as the meditation object, which would correspond more with what mn 119 mindfulness of body (above) is saying.
How do Seekers of the Forum feel there meditation progresses when reviewed against the description of the jhanas above?
Also I find it interesting that the 1st Jhana according to mn119 is "born" of withdrawal?
? what is this withdrawal?
Thanks
