Introduction

The mind (citta-state of consciousness), by its nature, is a form of energy.  Once it arises, it lasts only as long as a snap of a finger before rapidly dissolving.  It is like the spark of light that occurs when two pieces of wood are rubbed together.  The mind process is a very complicated matter because the mind is composed of different elements and related to various factors.  According to the mind’s specific function at any one moment energy arises together with ignorance: This gives rise to a form of force, called a cetasika1 (the mind component) that pulls and encircles the mind.  Whenever the ignorant mind has contact with outside factors, this pulling force, cetasika, accumulatively encircles the mind with more and more layers. Previously accumulated cetasikas are called anusaya (latent tendencies).These anusaya provide the necessary driving force which prevent the complete dissolution of mind states and cause new forms of energy to arise as the mind continues to function.

Anusaya affect the mind in two ways:

Firstly, the force of anusaya encircles and influences the ignorant mind and so gives rise to a mind with a new cetasika. And there is another force, called tanhā which affects the ignorant mind as a result of      one’s own particular desires which arise according to the accumulated anusaya within oneself. It is this is tanhā force that impels one to act so as to fulfill one’s desires. The force of tanhā acts by pulling new cetasika into a chain-like force which also accumulates in different parts of the body as āsava.  So, the more one acts according to one’s own desire or tanhā, the more anusaya one creates.  In turn, the more accumulated anusaya one has, the more tanhā force is within oneself.

Secondly, anusaya cultivates the ignorant mind to give rise to thoughts, feelings, emotions, and memories.  The previous anusaya gives rise to new anusaya.  The new anusaya accumulatively returns to the old stock of anusaya. So the old anusaya successively gives rise to new anusaya.  This is an on-going phenomenon continually arising within less time than it takes to snap one’s fingers; so this process repeats itself endlessly.  The ignorant mind is unable to be aware of this very subtle and spontaneously natural process.

The accumulated anusaya enclose and trick the ignorant mind to cling tightly onto the five aggregates or khandhas. These five are (1) form (ru – pa), (2) feeling (vedanā), (3) perception (sa๑๑a), (4) mental formations (sankhāra), and (5) consciousness (vi๑๑āna). The ignorant mind perceives them as real phenomenon. This illusion is called upadāna (clinging which is an intensified form of craving) and it causes the mind to attach to the five aggregates.  With upadāna, the mind accepts the five aggregates as one whole unit which is then considered to be the real “I.” Thus the mind wrongfully perceives each aggregate – and their combination – as static and unchangeable phenomenon. Thus the ‘I’ really exists and it is “I” who sees, thinks, feels, imagines, has emotions, and so on.  The stronger the upadāna, the greater the sense of ‘I.’ So long as one perceives the five aggregates as a whole, real static being, one will unavoidably encounter suffering or dhukka.

Vipassanā Meditation (Insight Meditation)

Vipassanā meditation enables one to see the causes of suffering after the mind first acquires a calm and tranquil base which is built upon samatha meditation.  During vipassanā meditation, the mind can contemplate the mechanism of suffering in great detail. The meditator can clearly understand what the “knower” and the “known” are; and whether suffering arises from the “knower” or the “known?”

During vipassanā meditation, one can clearly comprehend the nature of mind and what santati (the illusion of continuity) is. Suffering arises and remains because the ignorant mind holds onto either the knower or the known from moment to moment.  The force of Santati exists both between the mind and the knower, and the mind and the known.  So, santati is the connecting force for the mind to hold onto uninterruptedly.  Yet, santati also exist in-between the knower and the known.  The ignorant (avijjā) mind thus falls under the influence of this santati force.  Therefore, the santati force is a kind of continuity pulling force which holds, binds and connects all things together. The whole universe relies on this santati force to hold itself together.  (So, within this context, tanhā (desire) is also one of a combination of natural pulling forces).

The next step to practicing vipassanā is to observe what this santati force is, and how it pulls the mind which attaches to the knower and the known.  It is clear at the experiential level that the santati force has a very constant rhythm with a specific frequency. The fact is that the mind cannot easily come out of suffering because the frequency of the mind energy is lower than that of the existing pulling force within oneself.  Hence, in order to free the mind from suffering, the frequency level of the mind energy must be higher than that of one’s existing pulling force.

So, the most important goal for practicing vipassanā meditation is to strengthen up the mind energy to a higher level in order to overcome the pulling force.  The frequency level of the mind energy is equal to the quality of one’s mindfulness.  Thus, there are various frequency levels of mind energy depending on the different qualitative level of mindfulness i.e. from gross to subtle or from weak to strong. The highest state of mindfulness is called sambojjhanga2 mindfulness (one of the seven essential qualities leading to liberation). Thus the ultimate aim for practicing vipassanā meditation is to strengthen the energy level of the mind until it reaches a level of full-cycled mindfulness3 and where its quality ultimately achieves sambojjhanga.  This state can be acquired only by observing satipatthāna4.

The full-cycled mindfulness has the frequency level equal to the level of the existing santati force within oneself. In this state of mind, one is able to perceive the constant force as a wave form, or as various types of vibrations arising and passing away within one’s own body.  From such perception, wisdom arises. Because of this wisdom, the mind will be clearly aware of the true characteristics of the five aggregates. Thus sights, tastes, smells, sounds, contacts, and feelings previously perceived as experienced by the real ‘I’ – and viewed as static and unchangeable forms – are now understood as merely phenomena which are constantly arising and passing away.

This phenomenon of arising and passing away is called anattā – because it is void of a permanent self and is thus uncontrollable, all such phenomena are also impermanent. But because the ignorant mind still holds and attaches to the five aggregates as a real ‘I’, a real ‘my’ and a real sense of ‘mine’.  With such a mind dhukka (suffering) inevitably remains.  Nevertheless, with the wisdom to realize the truth, the mind gradually detaches itself from all forms of misconceptions and misperceptions. The mind then moves away from suffering.

The more one practices vipassanā meditation, the more one strengthens the energy level of the mind. So, the stronger the energy level is, the more the mind detaches from the five aggregates of body and mind.

Once one continues meditation development until the energy level is higher than that of all naturally existing pulling forces – including the santati force - within oneself, the mind will be free from all the existing forces that formerly imprisoned it.

VIMUTTI

Liberation is the state of mind free from suffering; free from any distinction between knower and the known; and free from and all pulling forces. In this state, the mind is beyond time and matter.  This is the true original state of mind.  This state of mind is beyond dualism and identification.  One who achieves this state for the first time is called a sotāpanna, or stream-enterer. Such a person no longer has any doubts on the essence of the Triple Gem; clearly understands the Universal Law underlying the causes and effects of all existing phenomena and conditions; and thoroughly earns insight of both the conventional (Sammuti-sacca) and ultimate truth (Paramattha-sacca).

With this state of mind, one acquires wisdom to comprehend more on the true Buddha nature.  One can clearly see the essence of life and the correct path to follow.  A new way to live one’s life is developed with more insight; and it becomes much easier and quicker to detach oneself from internal and external things than in former times.

However, once the state of liberation arises, it remains for a while and then moves back to the pre-liberated state of mind.  Therefore, the further essential point is how to maintain this vimutti state.

Maintenance of the state of liberation

Up to this level, the aim is to continue practicing so as to develop more insight than that of the first liberation; this will enable one to comprehend higher liberation states. There is still much ignorance left in the mind, so without further practice one cannot achieve full liberation. 

The next step is to develop even sharper insight so as to be able to see clearly how the state of liberation arises and passes away. Also a deeper understanding is needed and on the truth of the original state of mind which is selfless i.e. without any ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘mine’.  The illusion of selfness exists because of the influence of the energy force emitted from the previous ignorant mind; this mind was also made up from residual energy that has arisen from the interaction between external causes (sounds, sights, tastes, smell, and contact) which came in contact with the six sense doors (ears, eyes, tongue, nose, body and mind) and the internal factors of the five aggregates. This residual energy force is interchangeably called kilesa, āsava, and samyojana. Sometimes it is also called āsava kilesa. As long as one has not reached full liberation, this energy force still accumulates throughout the body.

The force emitted from āsava kilesa influences the ignorant mind to hold onto, and attach to, the santati force. Whoever has a lot of kilesa will experience a very strong vibratory force.  Then the state of liberation might arise in a very limited way and last for a very short period of time.  Therefore, the most important thing for maintaining the liberated state is to increasingly eliminate the left-over old kilesa and, in addition, not create any new kilesa. The less old kilesa there is remaining, the more one is further away from suffering and getting closer to complete liberation.

The technique for increasingly eliminating old āsava kilesa and to guard against accumulating new kilesa, is to observe the makka (the Holy Middle Path). This means one must continue daily living with a state of mind that is beyond dualism and comparison. This means fully understanding that there is no difference between the knower and the known; the seer and the seen; the thinker and the thought; the speaker and what is spoken; the doer and the deed; the past and the future; the speaker and the listener; the eater and the eaten; the ‘we’ and ‘they’; the ‘I’ and the ‘you’.  Once one continues to maintain this state of mind for longer and longer periods – thus practicing meditation continually – then one will assuredly reach full liberation.

ัānadassana (Deep Insight)

Once one maintains the state of the makka until one is very skillful, one will become very clear and free from all forms of interactive forces for longer periods of time. During these periods of time, one experiences the moving state from full-cycled mindfulness to the incompleted state; repeatedly from very slow arising to faster and faster; from full-cycled mindfulness to the incomplete state – and all arising from moment to moment. With such a state of mind, one already achieves the very high level of mindfulness called incomplete-cycled mindfulness.5 (Sati-wen-rob).

The incomplete-cycled mindfulness arises out of the truly original state of mind.  It does not arise whilst one is training their mind by observing sattipatāna. This state of mindfulness arises by itself. This truly original state of mind is free of thoughts.  The mind absolutely detaches from all phenomena arising through the six sense doors and is just aware of the presence at every moment.  Every contact between external and internal factors is merely perceived as phenomena that are arising and passing away.  All interactions arise for only the first and last time.  Nothing is left over.  The mind is very steady at every moment and stays beyond all phenomena and conventional truths; also beyond all emotions, feelings, imaginations, and thoughts which are completely eliminated.

Upon this state vijjā (wisdom) of deep insight spontaneously and automatically arises free of thought.  This level of insight arises according to the very true nature of the mind with no distinction between the knower and what is known.  It also arises free of connection with the knowing elements of mind, of memory (sa๑๑a) and brain, and of feeling (vedanā).  This kind of insight knowledge is a transcendental state of mind.  Indeed, this is the highest and the most supreme transcendental knowledge.

Once this transcendental state arises, the mind is able to acknowledge all things as they truly are because this supreme knowledge eliminates all ignorance altogether.  The mind is able to see with true insight the past, the future and the connection between the past, present and future. This is Paticcasamuppāda (the law of causes and effects).  However, at first, one starts truly comprehending the whole of one’s own life, and then the lives of others; finally all natural things, one after another, are understood as an endlessly chain.

It can be said that, at this level, one has raised one’s state of being to a level where one acquires transcendental knowledge which will serve as a tool to guide and guard one’s life. One will know exactly how to think, speak and act at the highest and most mindful level.

Vimutti-๑ānadassana (Ultimate insight of full liberation)

Up to this state, the acquired transcendental knowledge enables one to contemplate the cause and effect of all phenomena and how things proceed endlessly and repeatedly as if there were no origin and ending point.  It is all merely a continual flow of phenomena arising, prevailing and passing away: One thing after another and all depending on their causes and effects. One effect becomes a cause and induces another thing to happen – the effect. This latter effect becomes a cause and induces another further thing to occur.  This timeless interplay of interdependence comes into being – like an unbroken and unending chain – because of the power of the santati force.

Eventually, all kinds of misperceptions and misconceptions will be completely eliminated.  Here, the very supreme transcendental knowledge arises, called Vimutti-๑ānadassana.  With this very supreme knowledge, āsava kilesa are absolutely extinguished forever. This is full liberation which is forever free of any kind of suffering.

1 Cetasika means mind component which includes both positive (e.g. intentions to do good deeds) and negative elements (e.g. all evil volitions).  Anusaya are the residue of the negative elements of cetasika which give rise to three states of mind; namely desire, anger and ignorance.

2 Sambojjhanga are factors that enhance and lead the mind to enlightenment. They comprise mindfulness, investigation of Dhamma, effort, rapture, tranquility, concentration and equanimity. In order to attain liberation, the strength of each factor has to be developed to the utmost level.

3 The word ‘cycle’ here denotes the circle of the mindfulness development.  It can be explained as follows:  once our eyes see things, the cognizant element at the eye base immediately sends data to the knowing element of the mind. The ignorant mind that takes things en bloc begins to think, judge, feel, and react and hence construe things as ‘persons’ and ‘things.’ Such ingrained habit enables the next contact to repeat the same circle. This happens because mindfulness within the ignorant mind is too weak to be able to aware in the circle of its naturally subtle state. Therefore, the term full-cycled mindfulness describes the utmost sharpness and alertness of the mind that can rapidly observe with, at least the same speed and frequency of the movement of this circle. Such state of mindfulness can yield understanding of this phenomenon as it really is.  At this state, the mind perceives only vibrations and frequencies of the energy level instead of ‘persons’ or ‘things’.

4 Satipatthāna refers to the application of mindfulness.  The Buddha instructs the monk how to give attention, with increasing subtlety, to his physical body, to its dynamic qualities, and finally to his own feeling, thought processes, and thought content under the aspect of their impermanence, painfulness, and impersonality.  This is to be the only way to enlightenment.  It becomes a mode of direct access to the Highest Goal without encumbrance and the clear cut and effectiveness method.

5 Incomplete-cycled mindfulness denotes how the mechanism of ego construction is interrupted. For normal people, the creation of ego is completed when the ignorant mind reacts to contact of external and internal factors and perceives it as the real “I” whereas, for the successful meditator with this state of mind, there are merely contacts and movements of vibration. Therefore, the cycle is incomplete.

Every type of learning must have the right introduction and this is also true for training the mind. The introduction to mind training is samatha meditation and its goal is to stabilize and calm the mind.  Stability and calmness are great contribution factors for increasing mind power.  The increasing mental power derives from the attempt to reduce the amount of energy used up in mundane pursuits, and from training the mind to concentrate one-pointedly.  In daily life, most of the mind power is purposelessly used up in the process of thinking, feeling, and changing moods constantly which causes it to become feeble and weak. It is necessary for the mind to have a resting period to replenish the energy used up throughout the day.
A resumed energy from rest is enough to perform daily activities but not to study the subtle mental processes which are very delicate and complicated matter related to various energy levels.

Therefore, it requires a stronger power of the mind than what is necessary for daily activities.  The increase of energy will be generated when we are fully awake and when the mind is concentrated one-pointedly, without letting it disperse, diffuse or wander from thoughts to thoughts, and feelings to feelings.  The more stable and calm the mind becomes, the more power it will acquire.  By doing so, one already increases one’s mental power.

A more powerful mind enables us to increase the acknowledging ability of the mental energy levels.  This acknowledgement is very useful to comprehend how the mind works, and its energy levels.  We can make use of this understanding to find out which energy level and what mechanisms are necessary to develop the wisdom that can free us from suffering.

Prior to the Lord Buddha’s time, there were already a number of techniques known and taught to develop concentration. Before his enlightenment, Buddha himself had learned all these techniques from various schools.  Therefore, samadha meditation, a way of training the mind to be stable and calm, includes ancient techniques existing before Buddha’s enlightenment as well as ones discovered by Buddha himself and later by his disciples.  We can classify all these techniques into two broad categories:
(1) Concentration on external phenomenon, and

(2) Concentration on internal phenomenon

Concentration on External Phenomenon

This technique is to train the mind to concentrate on a chosen phenomenon outside the body.  One has to memorize the characteristics of a selected external phenomenon and use its exact image as object for the mind to concentrate upon until it becomes still and calm.  There is a wide variety of subjects that one can select to develop concentration.   Firstly, we have the 10 kasina (meditation device), which take as object the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air; the four colors: green, yellow, red, and white; space and light.  Secondly, asubha meditation takes as object the 9 different states of corpse, and the foulness of the body.  Thirdly, arupa takes as object the 4 immaterial states: infinity of space, consciousness, the sphere of nothingness and neither perception nor non-perception.  Finally, ahare patikulasa๑๑a takes as object the repulsiveness of food.

2. Concentration on Internal Phenomenon

This technique is to train the mind to concentrate on certain thoughts and feelings, and different parts of the body until the mind becomes stable and calm.  Concentration can be developed using one of the following internal phenomena as object. The first is deep contemplation on how the body is made up of four elements.  The second is the concentration on certain kinds of feelings such as metta (loving kindness), karuna (compassion), mudhita (sympathetic joy), and upekkha (equanimity).  The third are the 10 anussati (mindfulness or reflection on 10 types of entities) including Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, sila, deva, death, generosity, impurity, breath, and nirvana.  The fourth is the concentration on respiration, breathing in and out along with using a mantra.  The last is the concentration
on different bodily parts such as abdomen, chest, neck, forehead, head, hands, bones, heart, etc.

Throughout the body, there are vi๑๑ana dhatus (knowing elements). These dhatus function is to enable us to acknowledge things around.  Within one’s body structure, there are seven areas where the vi๑๑ana dhatus can be found in high density. The first six correspond to the six sense-faculties, namely eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, and brain.  It is at those points (or doors) that dhatus form into the six respective consciousnesses:

eye consciousness;

ear consciousness;

smell consciousness;

taste consciousness;

touch consciousness;

and brain consciousness.
The dhatus located at the six sense-faculties doors function as outer knowing dhatus.  The seventh one is located at the heart.  Here, the knowing dhatus are called manovi๑๑ana, heart consciousness or the inner knowing dhatu.   Manovi๑๑ana is the center point of all the knowing dhatus. Both outer and inner knowing dhatus are continuously connected.  For example, when an outside object appears in front of the eyes, eye consciousness is aroused, and transmits a message to manovi๑๑ana at the heart.  When the two come together, the state of knowing is complete. Once the first state of knowing arises in the eye consciousness, a message is sent directly to the heart and then again back to the eye in a cycle.  It occurs much faster than a finger snap.  Actually, one is unable to acknowledge its mechanism unless one consistently and persistently trains the mind by the method of vipassana meditation.

Scientifically speaking, a knowing process occurs   through the nervous system.
All knowing dhatus are nerve cells.  However, if we go into details, this is not the case.  Nerve cells are hosts for the knowing dhatus.  They are located in the smallest part of the cell and network with each other.

As for the mind, it is not manovi๑๑ana. The mind actually uses manovi๑๑ana or the heart consciousness, to create thoughts, feelings, etc. That is why we have to learn how to train the mind to become stable and calm. According to what was mentioned before, a major   goal of samatha meditation is to train the mind to adhere to the knowing dhatus at a certain point in the body.  This is the way to unite the mind with the knowing dhatus so that it is able to concentrate one-pointedly and not wander and disperse with thoughts and feelings.  If we keep training the mind in this way, it will gradually become stable and calm.  Thoughts and feelings will decrease, and will be less able to distract the mind.  Finally, the original characteristic of the knowing dhatu which is free from all mental constructions will naturally appear.

This is the process of returning to the knower rather than the known.
In daily life, the untrained mind is, most of the time, preoccupied with the known        such as thoughts, rather than being conscious of knowing the process itself.

Such a process of focusing on the known consistently uses up our mental energy.
In contrast, if the mind concentrates one-pointedly only on the process of knowing and unites with the knowing dhatus, mind power will not run out, but instead will increase.  This practice of concentration on the knowing dhatus is a way to detach the mind from its tendency to cling to the known, and this will result in changing our mental energy from a coarse and lower level to a more refine and higher level.

Noteworthily, knowing dhatu comprises of various layers of energy.The Buddhists refer to these different energy levels as jhanas. The knowledge of jhanas itself can be claimed as a magnificent development of wisdom by Eastern people because this is a discovery of a very subtle energy of an existing entity, namely the knowing dhatu by using
our own body as an experimenting tool. This is a result of human curiosity in the search for answers on: what is the ultimate truth, the origin and the end? What is the absolute, permanent and indivisible state which can be held on to as a valuable way of living?

In the Western world, historically, people have also investigated such similar questions.  Scientifically, these questions led to the discovery of the atom, atomic structure, energy state of the atom, and Quantum—a discrete quantity of energy (heat and light) in magnitude to a particular frequency of radiation emitted by atoms. The atom is the smallest particle of a chemical element, consisting of a positively charged nucleus (containing protons and typically also neutrons) surrounded by negatively charged electrons.  An atom is made up of energy levels.  And there are tremendous amount of atoms comprising one cell, including a nerve one where knowing dhatus reside.  Naturally, every entity existing in the universe, either in a macro or micro scale, has a core principle to bring balance in its shape, structure and energy state.  The most balanced shape of all forms of entities is the sphere.  And of course, an atom is initself a spheric shape consisting of different layers of energy.  Hence, if we think about an atom, seemingly we think about its energy levels.

Therefore, studying samadha meditation and jhanas is similar to learning about atoms and their energy levels. All knowing dhatus reside in atoms, and different jhanas correspond to different energy levels of an atomic particle.

In the following sections, I am going to teach samadha meditation by using specific focus-points in the body.  There are two major focus-points or bases:

(1) the respiration base and

(2) the heart base.

The main principle for practicing on these two bases is that the mind should be focused on the selected base until it can unite and become one with the knowing dhatu. The training procedure is as follows:

(1) On the Respiration Base

This practice is called anapana meditation. It trains the mind to be aware of respiration—breathing in and out.  You should not pay attention to any arising thought.  Breathing rhythm should be your own natural rhythm, not too long, not too short, not too fast, not too slow, not too rough or not too fine. Do not force or control its rhythm.  You can see whether you are taking the right direction by checking your feeling.  You should constantly feel comfortable during breathing in and out, and it must be accompanied with mindfulness or awareness.  In the process, you will be able to acknowledge a single respiration—breathing in and out.  Repeating any mantra or words while practicing is not required.

At a more advanced state, the respiration will be slower and gentler. Simultaneously, thoughts arise lesser and lesser. The mind is being transformed from a coarse to a refined state.  The state of mind directly varies according to how gentle the respiration is: the gentler the respiration, the more refined the mind.  Gradually, the mind will become stable and calm.  If you can maintain this state for some period of time, you will reach a point where the respiration seems to cease or disappear from your awareness.   At the same time, thoughts also stop arising.  At this stage, you are inclined to sleep. Once you get into this state, you have to alert the mind by means of breathing in and out again.

The respiration base is a point where mindfulness can be maintained easily.  This base is also easy to locate because it is not too deep inside the body.  If you are a beginner and you use a focus-point deeper inside the body, you will find that it is harder to keep the mind concentrated there. It may take longer to calm the mind.

Having arrived at the stage where you are breathing comfortably with your own natural rhythm and when you are aware of your respiration, start observing the place in the nostrils where you can clearly acknowledge the meeting point of air flow.  During the breathing in, air flows in through both nostrils and meets at a certain meeting point inside the nostrils.  The same can be said of the breathing out; air returns from the lungs and meets at the same point before it separates into the left and the right nostrils.  If you are well aware of this point, you should feel cool on the in-breath and warm on the out-breath.  This is the key spot of the respiration base.  Once you have found this meeting-point, direct your mind to focus on it as gently as possible.  Maintain an absolute awareness on this point, and try to unite your awareness completely with it.   If you have difficulties to focus on this spot and feel uncomfortable in your breathing, it means you put your awareness too fast or too hard on it.  In this case, you have to start all over again by lightening your intention and working more gently.

When you clearly focus on this point, you will be able to feel the flow of air touching this spot.  Now,   acknowledge solely what is going on at this spot and ignore all other things.  Do not follow the movement of the respiration.  Let your respiration naturally work at its own pace.
If thoughts arise, do not follow them.  Try to remain aware exclusively on the spot as long as you can.  Then, you will have to gradually decrease the volume of your respiration, shorten its rhythm until it comes to a finer state.  All this has to be done slowly and gently.  If you do it too fast you will feel uncomfortable because at this state, respiration is still coarse, and cannot be forcefully put under control.  Therefore, you should do it as gently and naturally as possible.  Eventually, there will be lesser and lesser amount of air passing through the focus-point.  At this moment, the respiration becomes gentler and slower and you will no longer feel uncomfortable.

Why do we have to decrease the amount of air passing through the observed spot?  The answer is: the more air volume is taken in, the more difficult the mind will be to remain stable and calm.  An untrained mind has a tendency to cling on thoughts.  The process of creating thoughts consumes mental energy.  The more thoughts arise, the more energy is used up.  How is this related to respiration rhythm?  Energy is a by-product of chemical reaction between oxygen and food. The amount of energy produced is closely related to the oxygen volume that we breathe in.   More energy can catalyze a process of thought creation.  To decrease arising thoughts, it is very necessary to cut down chemical factors such as oxygen and food to a minimum.  Therefore, if you keep breathing at your normal rhythm, it will be very difficult to calm the mind.  The less oxygen is consumed, the easier and faster the mind will be stable and calm.

Different Jhanas

If you come to the point where you feel the breathing has stopped-, the air doesn’t flow in and out. Don’t be alarmed. It is only the coarse type of breathing which disappears.  The very refined breath is still there.  Air can flow in and out through your skin pores.  Air consumption is still going on, not stopping.  Your body doesn’t need much air at this stage.  All thoughts which used to disturb the mind now disappear. Here, you have achieved the first jhana.

Right before the breathing disappears, you may feel sharply tight at the respiration base.  Don’t be afraid.  It’s just a reaction of the mind which is now moving into a deeper level of tranquility.  You feel the breath vanishing because the mind now reaches a subtler state than the respiration.  The mind is now at the margin, the outmost energy layer of the atom, the knowing dhatu, at the respiration base. The state of mind is so refined that it cannot be distracted by a regular respiration rhythm.  You will feel as if you are falling down into something, and everything around you gets darker and darker, quieter and quieter.  Don’t be alarmed, now the mind has moved from the margin into the first energy level of the atom. Try to maintain this state, the first jhana.

If you can further maintain the state of the first jhana, after a while, the mind will be able to move into a deeper level of tranquility, namely the second energy level of the atom.  The mind will become more tranquil.  What you will find here, at the second layer, is the gravity force emitted from the center of the atom,   the nucleus.  The characteristic of this force is wave-like pattern.  It consists of light and heavy nodes.  You will be able to acknowledge this force only when your mind is in such a refined state.

In a normal state, we are well aware of the place where we are sitting, our posture and the physical outline of our body.  The wave-like force from the nucleus affects our physical sensations.  You may feel that your body is swaying, or become borderless, or bigger, smaller, taller, or shorter.    You may feel as if your face is twisting or you are sitting in a different direction from where you started.  You may get goose bumps or other strange bodily sensations.  Or you may feel spiritually uplifted, delighted, etc.

All these phenomena are called piti (deep rapture).  They are in the realm of the second jhana. Maintain your mindfulness on the focus-point and observe the phenomenon of piti continuously until it passes away.

At the end of this state, the mind will enter an even deeper level of calmness.  The mind is getting subtler and subtler and moving from the level of gravity force deep into the third energy layer.  Here is the light energy level.  Light will gradually arise, not too bright at the beginning.  The color of the light depends on each individual state of mind.  It can be yellow, with a luminous distant quality.  When the mind gets deeper, the light will become brighter and the color may change, within the seven colors spectrum of the sun (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet).

The light and color that arise are the result of the energy created by mental activities which is stored within the atom. Color indicates one’s physical healthiness.  If the body is in healthy condition, the light will be bright and yellow. The yellow color also demonstrates the quality of metta (loving-kindness).  If one wishes to live a long and healthy life, one should practice metta. Other colors are not mentioned here.  In fact, light can also radiate out around one’s body. People with subtle mind can notice them and be able to tell how healthy you are; what kind of person you are; or what kind of mood you are in.

Once the state of mind is at the third energy level, you are able to acknowledge the arising light because all mentioned lights are located here, at the margin of the third energy level.  Remain equanimous and be fully aware of the focus-point as long as possible.  Your mind will achieve the state of absolute calmness.   If one wishes to progress further in the training, one must detach one’s mind from clinging to the nimitta. To achieve the detachment, equanimity is essential.  Just observe all nimittas as they arise and pass away.  Don’t be aware of the known but the knower. When you are mindful and equanimous, nimitta will disappear. Only the white light remains.

Now, keep focusing on the observed point until the mind achieves an even deeper level of tranquility. The mind will detach itself from the white light.  Eventually, you will arrive at the original and deepest state of the knowing dhatu, whose quality is emptiness.

Prior to this state, you will feel as if you are plunging into something.  At that moment, your self-awareness of what is going on might not be so clear.  It will become clearer once you achieve the state of emptiness.  You will feel that you are penetrating through the white light.  The intensity of the light will decrease until you arrive at the point where there is no light, no color, and no nimitta.  It is just very quiet, calm and peaceful as if you are the only one in the world. It is an experience of infinite borderlessness, and absolute quietness.  Nothing moves.  The mind is extremely one-pointed and solid.  There is no feeling of happiness or sadness but absolute equanimity. The mind is extremely powerful because it unites with the vi๑๑ana dhatu (knowing element).  This mental state is called ekaggatarom. The absolute equanimity is called upekkha. Now, the mind has arrived at the fourth jhana. 

The advantage of practicing samadha meditation by focusing on the respiration base is that it is easy for a beginner.  This selected spot is not too deep inside our body and it is not too difficult to concentrate one-pointedly.  This method can facilitate the mind to arrive at the first jhana. If one selects a point deeper in the body, it will be more difficult for the mind to focus upon.

The disadvantage of training the mind on the respiration base is that its location is too shallow to get into a deeper tranquility in the higher jhanas. The mind can be easily distracted by outside stimuli such as sound which can prevent it from maintaining stability and calmness for a long period.  This could affect one’s progress into the third and fourth jhanas. The way to by-pass this potential obstacle is to train the mind on the heart-base.

(2) On the Heart Base

The First Method

To find out the location of our heart place one hand on the left side of your chest. Once you clearly know the heart’s location, move your hand away, and close your eyes. Now locate the heart by feeling the heart beat.  You must be sure that by doing this its location is the same.

Next, observe the rising and passing away of thoughts and feelings until they gradually diminish and are finally gone.  There are no more thoughts and feelings distracting the mind at this stage. You may feel very sleepy.  You must alert the mind by breathing in and out regularly.   No mantra is required.  Locate the meeting point of respiration (this point is the same as explained in the section on the respiration base).  Then, gently lay your awareness down on this spot.  Gradually regulate your respiration from faster to slower, longer to shorter, from course to refine until you feel the respiration disappears.   At this stage, no thoughts disturb the mind. It is stable and calm.

Now, gently and slowly move your awareness down to the heart base.  Once it gets there, maintain your awareness solely on this area.  For further progress, gradually bring your awareness into the inner and deeper part of the heart.  Remain in this state for a while.  At this moment, you are able to acknowledge a kind of pressure in the heart.  You may feel uncomfortable because the concentrated awareness will increase the air pressure on that spot.  Air inside the heart is being driven out. You will feel heat evaporating out from the heart and through the skin.  This is a mechanism to release the coarse energy from the heart.  Your heartbeat will be slower and gentler until you no longer feel it. At the same time, pressure in the heart decreases until it stops.  Heat also stops evaporating. Your body cools down.  This reaction of heat in the heart can cause some people to sweat profusely.  The flow of air and heat varies depending on individuals.  Now, your mind has achieved the first jhana.

The Second Method

Locate your heart base. Having found it, discard thoughts and feelings by observing their arising and passing away. Maintain this state for a while. In case of sleepiness, alert your mind to be aware of respiration again.  Respiration must be at its natural rhythm. While breathing in, keep your awareness at the heart and stay there until the end of the breath.  Right at the end, hold your breath for a brief moment before breathing out. Keep your awareness at the heart until the end of the out breath.  By doing so, pressure inside the heart is released through the outbreath.  You may feel heat in your heart, chest, face and skin.  Heat evaporates out from the body.  When heat disappears, respiration will become more refined. Now, it means coarse air inside the heart is released out completely.

Try to keep your awareness on the heart area and do not follow the respiration.  When there is no turbulent pressure inside the heart, the heartbeat will turn soft and slow until you cannot feel it.  You may not be aware of your own breathing, seemingly it disappears. Your mind now has arrived at the first jhana.

The quality of tranquility here at the heart base is the same as that which is experienced at the respiration base. The difference is that the former lasts longer. Therefore, it is more advantageous to achieve the first jhana by focusing on the heart base, since you are able to acknowledge the jhana phenomenon more clearly than at the respiration base.  If you want to know jhanas in detail, you should practice samatha meditation at the heart base.

To draw yourself out of a state of deep calmness, you have to move your awareness back to the respiration and prolong each breath-in and out.  By that means, the mind will gradually turn from the refined state to the normal state.

The Benefits of Training the Mind

As previously stated, stability and calmness contribute to enhance mental power. The more tranquil the mind is, the more powerful it becomes.   We already know that there are four levels of mental energy.   But we don’t know yet at which mental level or by which process we can be absolutely free from suffering. These four jhanic states are not yet the answer to this concern.  Rather they are merely a process of suppressing all forms of suffering by means of mental power.  When you are in one of these jhanas, suffering will be temporarily obliterated.  But once you come out of the jhanic state, they will resume.  Although the jhanic state is not the state of being absolutely free from suffering, we can use jhanas as a way to free ourselves from suffering.  This is what we will discuss later.  Suffice it to say that it is very necessary to comprehend the process of getting out of suffering.  Otherwise, the state of jhanas in itself can hinder us from reaching the ideal goal of nirvana.

In the time of the Buddha, there were many belief systems.  Their leaders were utterly confident in their own beliefs and practices. They claimed that their belief systems were superior to others and should be held on to since they lead to the realization of the ultimate truth. Buddha pointed out that there were 62 groups of false doctrines.  Some equated the jhana state they achieved with nirvana, even though some only achieved the first jhana, while others the second, the third or the fourth. Some even equated sensual pleasures with nirvana. None of these belief systems are right. The mind is not the vi๑๑ana.  The vi๑๑ana is not the mind.  The mind is not the knower.  The knower is the vi๑๑ana.

In the present era, it is about time for those who have actually trained the mind and experienced some forms of mental phenomena to question themselves as to whether they have come along the right direction. It is even more so for those who have trained the mind to be calm either at the respiration or heart base.  One may think that one has already achieved a state of being absolutely free from suffering or a phenomenon indicating the state of nirvana.  In fact, this may only be one of the phenomena that characterize the jhanic states. Unfortunately, the mind can easily cling to the third and fourth jhanas, and entertains the illusion that they are nirvana.  In brief, there are four misconceptions related to this point.

1. The First Misconception

In the third jhana, the yellow and white light represent brightness and purity respectively.  In the fourth jhana, emptiness represents peace.  From this, it can be concluded that Dhamma is brightness, purity, and peacefulness.  But in fact, Dhamma is none of these. Nirvana is the state in which the mind detaches itself completely from all energy levels.  It is completely free from the five khandhas (5 aggregates).  Actually, brightness, purity, and peacefulness are just the qualities of energy within the atom.  These characteristics are features of the refined vi๑๑ana dhatu, which is still one of the five aggregates.  How can the mind be free if it still clings to one of the aggregates?

2. The Second Misconception

In the third jhana, when pleasant nimitta appears such as images of The Buddha or an arahant; it may make one believe that one has achieved nirvana.  In fact, these nimittas are just light energy.  How can the mind be free if it still clings to light energy?  The enlightened mind is supposed to cling to nothing.

3. The Third Misconception

In the third jhana, the knowing dhatu is very powerful.  It works in its full power.  At this state, one is able to expand one’s scope of knowing ability, because the mind completely unites with the knowing dhatu. For example, if one wants to know something, one just thinks about it and images will simply arise.  One can know one’s and others’ past and future and thoughts, or even see into other realms of existence.   Some misbelieve that the mind is the knower but, in fact, it is not.  The knowing dhatu or vi๑๑ana dhatu is the knower.  If we do not understand this distinction, we will never be able to experience what it is really like when our mind is absolutely free from the knower, the vi๑๑ana dhatu.

4. The Fourth Misconception

The technique of uniting the mind with the vi๑๑ana dhatu at the heart, in the advanced stage, brings brightness, purity, and peacefulness. It can mislead one to conclude that nirvana can be found in the heart.  One may also confuse the heart with the mind. This way of practice will prevent one to separate the mind from the heart.

Eventually, the mind reaches the inner-most part of the third layer where knowing dhatu resides.   Energy at this level is so pure, and radiates in a clear white light.  This is an extremely subtle level.  At this stage, you feel extremely peaceful, light, fine, clean, and gentle.   No thoughts disturb the mind.  Such state is called sukha (happiness) which accompanies the third jhana.  Of this, Lord Buddha said:

“There is no other happiness comparable to peace.”

Only when one has an actual experience of this state of mind, can one truely appreciate this saying. For sukha in the third jhana is a transcendental form of happiness, superior to all other happiness in the mundane life.  All ariyas have praised such sukha.

If one can maintain this state of mind for a while and if the mind does not yet enter into an even subtler level, the light will become brighter and brighter.  You will then experience, nimitta (a sign, product of a concentrated mind).

The Phenomenon of Nimitta

There are three different ways causing nimittas to occur.  Firstly, they can come from stored images or memories in the brain. Knowing dhatus inside the brain and mind are of the same energy level.  So, the two can mutually transmit. The mind reaches the energy level of the knowing dhatus at the respiration base, and light from other sources such as heart base can flow into the same streamline. Images emerge like pictures on a slide projector, or a motion picture.  The characteristics of the images projected by knowing dhatu are the same as that which appear on a slide.  In the third jhana, the image appears far brighter and clearer than an image you have in your mind in daily life.

Secondly, nimittas can be caused by extra mental power at that moment, and are of two types.  The first type is pure imagination. When the mind becomes fascinated, it clings to the light and transforms it into nimittas. The second type is  nimittas that emerge from collective images stored in the mind.  These images may derive from past nimittas. If one focuses on the
images, one may enlarge, minimize, multiply and increase their clarity as one prefers.

Thirdly, when the mind arrives at the energy level of the knowing dhatu, the mind and the knowing dhatu will become very powerful. At this stage, the knowing dhatus, residing inside or outside the body and
having reached the same energy level, are able to communicate with one another. Due to the universal characteristics of these knowing dhatus, one can expand the scope of knowing ability by sending it out.  For example, if one wishes to know something, one just thinks about it.  Nimittas will flash in just like turning on a TV.  One is able to see things far away, the past and the future or even into other realms of existence. One has the ability to know what another is thinking, or even to see through an object.

These nimittas can be real or unreal, true or untrue depending on what is stored in the mind and the power of one’s imagination.  If the mind gets trapped into nimittas, it will not be able to become subtler and subtler.  In this practice, though one may achieve clarity and calmness, the clinging force of love and hatred can still be there, only temporarily hidden.  Therefore, if we keep training the mind in this way, we will not be able to see the difference between the mind and the heart.  To achieve nirvana, the mind must be free from heart consciousness or manovi๑๑ana which is merely one of the five aggregates. 

Before his enlightenment, Buddha practiced the jhanas from different schools.  If jhanas could have taken him to nirvana, he wouldn’t have had to search for and discover the path to absolute liberation and there wouldn’t have been Buddhism in this world.  In those days, there was only samatha meditation. It is Buddhism that found vipassana meditation as a unique mental practice. Only in this way can one separate the mind from the heart.

Notwithstanding its limitations, jhanas are very useful if one applies them correctly to one’s daily life.  In addition to being a technique of achieving nirvana, jhanas can also be a resting place for the mind regardless of the levels of jhanas one achieves. At the end of a hard working day, the mind loses its brightness, peacefulness, purity and clarity. Besides the mundane forms of rest, training the mind to achieve jhanas is a very good way for resting and energizing it to benefit oneself and others.