The Attainment of the Jhāna
Having achieved the fivefold mastery over the third jhāna, the meditator enters it, emerges from it, and reviews its constituting factors. When he reviews the factors the meditator sees that the attainment is threatened by the nearness of rapture (pīti); this is the fault of proximate corruption. The inherent defect is the presence of happiness (sukha), which he sees to be a relatively gross factor that weakens the entire attainment.
As he reflects equanimous feeling and one-pointedness appear more subtle, peaceful, and secure, and thus more desirable.
Because of their proximity, happiness in the third jhāna is threatened by the possibility of a re-arising of rapture. Rapture was suppressed with the attainment of the third jhāna, but threatens to swell up again due to its natural association with happiness. Therefore if the meditator is not mindful his meditation can fall back to a lower level conjoined with rapture. The attainment of the fourth jhāna appears valuable as a protection from such a fall. It is also desired because of its more profound peacefulness and subtlety, stemming from its factors of equanimous feeling and one-pointedness of mind.
Then, taking as his object the same counterpart sign he took for the earlier attainments, the meditator repeats his concentration with the purpose of abandoning the gross factor of happiness and attaining the higher jhāna. When his practice matures the mind enters upon the thought-process culminating in absorption of the fourth jhāna. First the stream of consciousness (bhava/ga) vibrates and gets cut off, after which there arises the mind-door adverting with the counterpart sign as object. This is followed by four or five impulsions (javana) on the same object, the last of which is an impulsion of the fourth jhāna. The three or four impulsions of the preliminary stage (parikamma) retain vitakka and vicāra, but because the jhāna to follow involves neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, the preliminary impulsions, too, involve the same feeling. Thus they are devoid of rapture and happiness, as these are incompatible with neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.1
The Four Conditions
The standard suttanta description of the fourth jhāna is as follows:
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappear-ance of joy and grief, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.2 (Wr. tr.).
1. PP., pp. 170-71.
2. “Sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaJ atthaKgamā adukkhamasukhaJ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiJ catutthaJ jhānaJ upasampajja viharati.” DN. 1:75.
The first part of this formula, explaining the preliminaries to the attainment of the jhāna, is said in the Mahāvedalla Sutta to express the four conditions needed for the fourth jhāna:
There are four conditions, friend, for the attainment of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance. Here, friend, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna… These are the four conditions for the attainment of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant mind-deliverance.1
The four conditions referred to by the sutta are 1. the abandoning of pleasure;
2. the abandoning of pain;
3. the disappearance of joy; and 4. the disappearance of grief.
Before we can discuss these four conditions it is first necessary to determine the precise meaning of their terms.
1. Pleasure (sukha)
In our analysis of the word sukha in our discussion of the first jhāna, we noted that sukha has both a general and a narrow application. In a general sense sukha signifies happiness or pleasant feeling, covering both bodily pleasant feeling (kāyika sukha) and mental pleasant feeling (cetasika sukha). In a narrow sense sukha is used to signify exclusively bodily pleasant feeling; it is then contrasted with mental pleasant feeling, which is denoted by another word, somanassa, here translated “joy.”2
Now the sukha spoken of as a factor of the first three jhānas is mental pleasant feeling, that is somanassa or joy. As we saw, the VibhaKga defines the sukha of the first jhāna as
“mental pleasure, mental happiness, the felt pleasure and happiness born of mind-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of mind-contact.”3 (Wr. tr.). The same holds true of the sukha mentioned in the formulas for the second and third jhāna. But in the fourth jhāna description, the sukha which is said to be abandoned as a pre-requisite for entering the jhāna undergoes a shift in meaning: it now signifies bodily pleasure or physical happiness (kāyikasukha). Thus the VibhaKga defines the sukha intended in the phrase sukhassa ca pahānā, “with the abandoning of pleasure,” as follows:
1. PP., p. 174. “Cattāro kho āvuso paccayā adukkhamasukhāya cetovimuttiyā samāpattiyā. Idh’āvuso bhikkhu sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaJ atthaKgamā adukkhamasukhaJ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiJ catutthaJ jhānaJ upasampajja viharati. Ime kho āvuso cattāro paccayā adukkhamasukhāya cetovimuttiyā samāpattiyā’ti.” MN. 1:296.
2. See Chapter IV, p. 140.
3. “CetasikaJ sātaJ cetasikaJ sukhaJ cetosamphassajaJ sātaJ sukhaJ vedayitaJ cetosamphassajā sātā sukhā vedanā.” Vibh., p. 267.
Therein, what is happiness [pleasure]? Bodily pleasure; bodily happiness, the felt pleasure and happiness born of body-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of body-contact – this is called ‘happiness’ [pleasure].1 (Wr. tr.).
Mental pleasure, or happiness, will be indicated later in the formula by the word somanassa.
2. Pain (dukkha)
We see from the formula that the attainment of the fourth jhāna presupposes the prior abandonment of dukkha or pain. Like the word sukha the word dukkha has, besides its broader philosophical meaning dealt with in the Four Noble Truths, a twofold meaning in relation to feelings: on the one side it signifies all unpleasurable feeling, physical and mental; on the other it signifies exclusively bodily pain. When it is used to signify bodily pain it is contrasted with domanassa, “grief”, which then means mental unpleasurable feeling. In the present context dukkha bears the narrower meaning. As the VibhaKga explains, it is bodily painful feeling:
Therein, what is pain? Bodily displeasure, bodily pain, the felt displeasure and pain born of body-contact, unpleasurable and painful feeling born of body-contact – this is called pain.2 (Wr. tr.).
3. Joy (somanassa)
The joy that is made to disappear prior to the attainment of the fourth jhāna is mental happiness, the feeling present as sukha in the first three jhānas. The VibhaKga says:
Therein, what is joy? Mental pleasure, mental happiness, the felt pleasure and happiness born of mind-contact, pleasurable and happy feeling born of mind contact – this is called joy.3 (Wr. tr.).
4. Grief (domanassa)
Grief is the opposite of joy, that is, it is mental unpleasurable feeling. The VibhaKga defines the term occurring in the fourth jhāna formula thus:
Therein, what is grief? Mental displeasure, mental pain, the felt displeasure and pain born of mind-contact, the unpleasurable and painful feeling born of mind-contact – this is called grief.4 (Wr. tr.).
The fourth jhāna is said to arise following the abandonment of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of joy and grief. This statement seems to suggest that all four feelings first disappear prior to the attainment of the fourth jhāna. Such an interpretation,
1. “Tattha katamaJ sukhaJ? YaJ kāyikaJ sataJ kāyikaJ sukhaJ kāyasamphassajaJ sātaJ sukhaJ vedayitaJ kāyasamphassajā sātā sukhā vedanā. IdaJ vuccati sukhaJ.” Vibh., p. 270.
2. “Tattha katamaJ dukkhaJ? YaJ kāyikaJ asātaJ kāyikaJ dukkhaJ kāyasamphassajaJ asātaJ dukkhaJ vedayitaJ kāyasamphassajā asātā dukkhā vedanā. IdaJ vuccati dukkhaJ.” Vibh., p. 271.
3. “Tattha katamaJ somanassaJ? YaJ cetasikaJ sātaJ cetasikaJ sukhaJ cetosamphassajaJ sātaJ sukhaJ vedayitaJ cetosamphassajā sātā sukhā vedanā. IdaJ vuccati somanassaJ.” Vibh., p. 271.
4. Ibid.
however, is not correct. In the SaJyutta Nikāya the Buddha says that the faculty of pain (dukkhindriya) ceases without remainder when the first jhāna is attained, the faculty of grief (domanassindriya) when the second jhāna is attained, the faculty of pleasure (sukhindriya) when the third jhāna is attained, and the faculty of joy (somanassindriya) when the fourth jhāna is attained.1 Thus three of the four conditions for the fourth jhāna are fulfilled with the attainment of the first three jhānas, and only the fourth, the dis-appearance of joy, with the actual entrance upon the fourth jhāna.
The Visuddhimagga qualifies the Buddha’s statement further and says that the four feelings – pain, grief, pleasure, and joy – actually cease at the moments of access to the first, second, third, and fourth jhānas, respectively. However, they only undergo
“reinforced cessation” (atisayanirodhattā) with the attainment of the jhāna itself, which is why the Buddha says that in the jhāna they “cease without remainder” (aparisesa.
nirujjhati).2 Thus bodily pain, which ceases in the first jhāna access, can arise again prior to jhāna on account of insect bites, an uncomfortable seat, cold, heat, etc. But in the jhāna the whole body is suffused with bliss due to pervasion by rapture, and the pain-faculty then completely ceases, beaten out by opposition. Therefore the reinforced cessation of the pain-faculty takes place only with absorption in the first jhāna, not with access.3
Similarly, the grief faculty initially ceases in the second jhāna access, but can arise again when the body is weary and the mind vexed, due to the presence of applied and sustained thought. But at the level of second jhāna absorption, where applied and sustained thought are absent, mental grief does not reappear. The bodily pleasure-faculty, which ceases in the third jhāna access, can reappear when the meditator’s body is pervaded by the subtle materiality originated by consciousness, but it does not arise in the third jhāna absorption where the rapture producing such materiality has ceased.
Likewise, the faculty of joy which has ceased in the fourth jhāna access could be reawakened due to the proximity of the third jhānic happiness, but not in the fourth jhāna absorption where it is fully suppressed by equanimity.4
When three other feelings have been abandoned earlier, the question comes up why all four feelings are collected together and negated here, in the description of the fourth jhāna. The Visuddhimagga gives four reasons for grouping them. The first is to make it easier to grasp the nature of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. The latter, being subtle and difficult to recognize, has to be apprehended by negating the alternatives, like a refractory cow that has to be caught by gathering all the cows in a pen and releasing the others one by one. The second reason is to show the condition for the neither-painful-nor-pleasurable mind-deliverance, which is the abandonment of the other four feelings.
A third reason is to recommend this jhāna by showing its freedom from the grosser types of feeling. And a fourth is to show that greed and hatred are very far away.
1. SN. 5:2l3-15.
2. Vism., p. 134. PP., p. 172.
3. Vism., p. 134. PP., pp. 172-73.
4. PP., pp. l73-74. Vism., p. 135.
Pleasure is a condition for joy, which causes greed to possess the object producing pleasure, so when there is no pleasure greed is far away. Pain is a condition for grief, which causes hatred, so when there is no pain, hatred is far away.1
New Elements in the Jhāna
The fourth jhāna formula introduces several new terms and phrases which have not been used in the formulas for the preceding jhānas. First of all, it introduces a new feeling.
This is the feeling of neither-pain-nor-pleasure (adukkhamasukha), which remains after the other four types of feeling have been eliminated. The VibhaKga explains adukk-hamasukha as follows:
Neither-pain-nor-pleasure: that mental concomitant which is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, felt pain-nor-pleasure born of mind-contact, neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling born of mind-contact – this is called neither-pain-nor-pleasure.2 (Wr. tr.).
Neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, also called equanimous feeling (upekkhāvedanā), replaces sukha as the concomitant feeling of the jhāna. It also figures as an actual jhāna-factor. Thus this jhāna has two factors: neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling and one-pointedness of mind. Previously the ascent from one jhāna to the next was marked by the progressive elimination of the coarser jhāna-factors without any replacement. But in the move from the third to fourth jhāna there takes place a substitution. While one-pointedness remains constant, equanimous feeling enters to replace happiness, which has been abandoned.
Simultaneously with the progressive elimination and refinement of jhāna factors, there has occurred in the description of each succeeding jhāna the introduction of several new and complex elements. The second formula introduced confidence and mental unification, the third jhāna formula equanimity, mindfulness, and discernment.
Consistent with this we now find in the move to the fourth jhāna, besides the abandonment of the grosser feelings and the augmentation of a new feeling, a new phrase composed of already familiar terms suggesting a new element – “purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.” The Pāli compound upekkhāsatipārisuddhi is explained by the VibhaKga in a way that makes it plain that the relation between the two terms is causal, not merely copulative: “This mindfulness is cleared, purified, clarified by equanimity; hence it is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.”3 (Wr. tr.).
The Visuddhimagga also supports this interpretation: “For the mindfulness in this jhāna is quite purified, and its purification is effected by equanimity, not by anything else.”4
1. Ibid.
2. “Adukkhamasukhanti yaJ cetasikaJ neva sātaJ nāsātaJ cetosamphassajaJ adukkhamasukhaJ vedayitaJ ceto samphassajā adukkhamasukhā vedanā. Tena vuccati adukkhamasukhanti.” Vibh., p. 271.
3. Vibh., p. 271.
4. PP., p. 174. Vism., p. 136.
The equanimity which purifies the mindfulness, according to the VibhaKga, is not neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, but mental neutrality (majjhattatā cittassa), the same as “specific neutrality” (tatramajjhattatā) discussed above.1 Thus this jhāna has two kinds of eqanimity – [1] equanimous feeling, the affective tone which inclines neither towards pleasure nor pain, and [2] specific neutrality, the mental attitude of sublime impartiality free from attachment and aversion. Though the two are different factors, the one belonging to the aggregate of feelings (vedanākkhandha) and the other to the aggregate of mental formations (sankhārakkhandha), their concomitance is not fortuitous; for as specific neutrality becomes more and more refined it naturally tends to come into association with equanimous feeling, its hedonic counterpart.
Of the two, as we have seen, it is equanimity as specific neutrality that purifies mindfulness. Though both equanimity as specific neutrality and mindfulness are present in the earlier three jhānas, none among these is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. The reason is that the equanimity in the preceding jhānas is not purified, and thus cannot purify mindfulness and the other conascent states. In the other jhānas equanimity lacks clarity and distinctness because it is overshadowed by the opposing states and because it lacks association with equanimous feeling. The Visuddhimagga illustrates this with a vivid simile:
…just as, although a crescent moon exists by day but is not purified or clear since it is outshone by the sun’s radiance in the daytime or since it is deprived of the night, which is its ally owing to gentleness and owing to helpfulness to it, so too, this crescent moon of equanimity consisting in specific neutrality exists in the first jhāna, etc., but it is not purified since it is outshone by the glare of the opposing states consisting in applied thought, etc., and since it is deprived of the night of equanimity as feeling for its ally; and because it is not purified, the conascent mindfulness and other states are not purified either, like the unpurified crescent moon’s radiance by day. That is why no one among these [first three jhānas] is said to have purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.2
But in the fourth jhāna the “crescent moon of specific neutrality” is completely pure because it is not outshone by the opposing states and because it appears against the background of equanimous feeling. Since it is pure, it is able to purify mindfulness and the other associated factors, just as a purified crescent moon is able to send forth a purified radiance.
So pervasive is the degree of purity reached in the fourth jhāna that to illustrate it the Buddha no longer uses the image of one thing suffusing another, as he did for the happiness and rapture of the earlier jhānas. Instead he employs the image of one thing covering another, that is, a white cloth covering a man’s whole body from top to bottom:
1. Vibh., p. 271.
2. PP, p. 175. Vism., p. 136. Expositor, l:238.
Suppose a man were sitting wrapped in white cloth covering his whole body from head to toes, so that there were not a single spot of his body that is not covered by the white cloth. Similarly the bhikkhu sits pervading his whole body with a pure and lucid mind so that not a single spot of his entire body is left unpervaded by that pure and lucid mind.1 (Wr. tr.).
The Abhidhammic system counts thirty factors in the fourth jhāna. From the original set of thirty-three, vitakka, vicāra and pīti are excluded, and the feeling is changed to adukkhamasukha. Compassion and sympathetic joy do not unite with this jhāna, as they require association with pleasant feeling while this jhāna has neutral feeling.