What are your thoughts about this following passage: > “And what is the path that leads to the unconditioned? Immersion with > placing the mind and keeping it connected. Immersion without placing > the mind, but just keeping it connected. Immersion without placing the > mind or keeping it connected. …” -Savitakkasavicārasutta

In the paper "Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhāna in Convert Theravāda ", Natalie Quli compares what the following teachers have taught about jhana: Ayya Khema, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, Pa-Auk Sayadaw, Ajahn Brahmavamso, Bhante Vimalaramsi, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Leigh Brasington and Shaila Catherine. There seems to be roughly two camps of teachers. The first that depend on Visuddhimagga, Abhidhamma, commentaries and suttas for the teaching on jhanas. The second depends either primarily or solely on the suttas, and not the other sources. Another way to divide them is those who consider *ekaggatā* or very deep one-pointed concentration important, or those who don't. Questions: 1. What's the actual difference between sutta jhana and visuddhimagga jhana? 2. Is *ekaggatā* or very deep one-pointed concentration required for jhana? 3. Would a jhana attainer be able to use his jhana state to reflect on the four foundations of mindfulness as found in the Satipatthana Sutta? Or is jhana simply used to overcome the five hindrances, which aids the four foundations of mindfulness meditation? The paper discussed Ajahn Brahm's view: > Brahmavaṃso argues for a very deep level of > concentration—*ekaggatā*—that other teachers often criticize. He > states that in jhāna the body disappears, so that one can no > longer see or hear. He also states bluntly that jhāna is > not possible during walking meditation, perhaps a statement made > in reference to Vimalaramsi’s light, sutta-based jhānas, discussed > below. Finally, he argues that “some teachers today present a level > of meditation and call it jhāna when it is clearly less than the > real thing.” Among the sources Brahmavaṃso reveres and cites > throughout his work are the Vinaya, the Visuddhimagga, and even the > jātakas — which are very rarely mentioned by Western Insight Meditation > teachers. The paper discussed Bhante Vimalaramsi's view: > Part of this effort to return to the origin of Buddhism has > led Vimalaramsi to revere the suttas and Vinaya but reject the later > commentaries and the Abhidhamma. He is particularly critical of the > Visuddhimagga. For example, he notes: > > > So you have the Visuddhimagga teaching one kind of > > meditation, that doesn’t lead to nibbāna, and you have the sutta, > > that teaches an-other kind of meditation, and it leads directly to > > nibbāna. And now, because we’re so far away from the time of the > > Buddha, there’s a lot of monks that take the Visuddhimagga as the same > > as the teaching of the Buddha, and then there’s other monks that don’t > > take that as the teaching of the Buddha, they take the suttas as the > > true teaching. > > Though Vimalaramsi initially studied in the vipassanā centers in > Burma, he became convinced that this style of meditation was not > authentic because it was based on commentaries rather than the > suttas. In fact, this sutta-based interpretation of meditation has > led him to teaching what he calls “tranquil-wisdom meditation,” a > joint samatha/vipassanā meditation. He teaches mainly from the > Anapanasati-sutta and the Satipaṭṭhāna-sutta, and maintains that jhāna > should not be considered ecstatic or one-pointed (*ekaggatā*). Rather, > it is a light, relaxed state in which various Buddhist insights > are examined. He maintains that (1) those who follow the > commentaries’ descriptions of jhāna are practicing a non-Buddhist > meditation that does not lead to nirvana and (2) those who > follow the commentaries in practicing a separate vipassanā > practice are mistaken in following a non-canonical authority. The paper discussed Thanissaro Bhikkhu's view: > Thanissaro Bhikkhu teaches jhāna exclusively from the suttas and not > from the commentaries. After noting that the jhānas as taught > in the Visuddhimagga include elements not mentioned in the > suttas, Thanissaro Bhikkhu notes, “Some Theravadins insist that > questioning the commentaries is a sign of disrespect for the > tradition, but it seems to be a sign of greater disrespect for the > Buddha—or the compilers of the Canon—to assume that he or they would > have left out something absolutely essential to the practice.” He > concludes that jhāna in the commentaries is “something quite > different” than jhāna in the canon. > > Unlike others who advocate the “deeper” states described in > the Visuddhimagga, **Thanissaro Bhikkhu argues that extremely deep > states of meditation are “wrong concentration.”** One must be > fully aware of the body; powerful *ekaggatā*, as discussed in the > Visuddhimagga, can lead to one losing a sense of sounds, thoughts, or > perceptions, which is not ideal for insight in his opinion. People who > advocate such deep meditation are, according to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, > blocking out certain areas of awareness and are “psychologically adept > at dissociation and denial.” Leigh Brasington, student of Ayya Khema, described sutta jhana vs. visuddhimagga jhana: > Leigh Brasington is an American student of Ayya Khema who now teaches > regularly on the jhānas across the United States, mainly to students > at Insight Meditation centers. Like his teacher, Brasington suggests > that the jhānas are not difficult to learn or practice. He notes > that “The jhānas as discussed in the suttas are accessible to many > people” but maintains that the jhānas presented in the Visuddhimagga > are actually qualitatively different from those described in the > suttas; he speculates that the Visuddhimagga jhānas were developed > during a later period and are more difficult to achieve. In fact, > **Brasington has suggested that we distinguish between “sutta jhānas” > and “Visuddhimagga jhānas,” which he considers quite different from > one another.** Brasington favors the lighter sutta jhānas. A further comment by the paper's author: > Likewise, Thai-trained Thanissaro Bhikkhu completely rejects the > authority of the commentaries in terms of jhāna practice. Both of > these teachers agree that the jhānas are a light state of meditation > because ekaggatā, deep one-pointedness, is mentioned only in the > commentaries. Thanissaro argues that the deep state of meditation > advocated by some Buddhist teachers is “wrong concentration,” while > **Vimalaramsi suggests that the jhāna practices endorsed by > Visuddhimagga followers is “hypnosis,” not jhāna.**

I want to use meditation as a way to deeply concentrate, I always feel as if im in my head and it stops me from doing what I want to do and stops me from getting work done. I want to use meditation. I have been doing meditation, and I understand it a bit. But how can I achieve one pointed focus to help me stop being in my head and focus?

When I breathe there's a certain time gap after the out breath and before the in breath. I find myself being dull or distracted at that time because there's no breath to notice. Do I notice the lack of breath? Do I notice not noticing?

I've been practicing concentration for a while, trying to reach access concentrataion. In the beginning of my practice my mind was very noisy (as I guess anyone else), after a while I began to calm down and thoughts began to slow down enough for me to see the way to concentration. I experienced how tracking the breath and taking in all the texture really changes the state of my consciousness and feels like plunging to a deep water. It seems that this is a window to a wide world I really want to explore. In recent sittings I've been finding myself calming down very much to the point of not focusing on anything at all. No thoughts, no breath. I guess there's still thoughts and activity but my mind is not in tune to any of them in particular. While this can fell quite good, I think its retarding my practice. I notice that its now hard to track the breath in the same way, its like the mind is being lazy and wants to slip into the comfort of being dull. There's no texture to the breath and it now feels more distant. What can I do to overcome this state of torpor and inject some clarity into the practice?

I have heard that a practitioner does not go from first jhana directly to second jhana or from second jhana directly to third jhana and so on. Instead, they go through momentary and access concentration to get to first jhana; then they drop out of first jhana and go through momentary and access concentration to get to second jhana and so on. First of all, is this correct, am I totally wrong or is there debate with regards to this? Secondly, do the factors of access concentration change depending on which jhana someone is trying to enter?

A meditation teacher I once had said that access concentration (the stage before the jhanas) is the same level of concentration that one has when reading a good book or when fully engaged in conversation. However when I've read about it in other places it makes it seem like it is a more special level of concentration, perhaps one that you wouldn't ordinarily experience in your day to day life. Which point of view is more correct? How concentrated is access concentration and how would one recognise it?