Skip to main content

A robust definition of 'jhāna': meditation with singular focus based on any postive or negative emotion or thought

 (from conversation with digital pāḷi dictionary team)

jhāna jhāyati
I know everyone translates it like what you currently have here:

jhāyati 3

pr. broods; thinks moodily; hangs the head down [√jhā + ya + ti] ✓



but I suspect it has a much more general meaning.
I show all the sutta references where "wrong" types of jhāna can be based on any of the 5 hindrances.
I propose the proper meaning should be 'an obsessive singular focus on any positive or negative emotion or mind state.'

Also, jhāna need not be calm, if it's not wrong jhana.
for example, MN 36 when buddha was trying to hold his breath, or the wrong jhanas of 'brooding' , seeking revenge (jhana based on ill will and harming), tantric sex (jhana based on kama chanda).

What's the need for jhana 1? Dhp 372 is referring to the same as jhana 2.


jhāna 1

nt. state of deep meditative calm; lit. meditating [√jhā + ana] ✓

grammarexampledeclensionroot familycompound familyfrequencyfeedback

n'atthi jhānaṃ apaññassa,
paññā n'atthi ajhāyato,
yamhi jhānañ'ca paññā ca,
sa ve nibbānasantike.

DHP 372 bhikkhuvaggo

Can you think of a better example? Add it here.

jhāna 2

nt. meditation; stage of meditation; lit. meditating [√jhā + ana] ✓

grammarexampledeclensionroot familycompound familyfrequencyfeedback

so ime pañca nīvaraṇe pahāya cetaso upakkilese paññāya dubbalīkaraṇe, vivicc'eva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi, savitakkaṃ savicāraṃ vivekajaṃ pītisukhaṃ paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.

MN 39 mahāassapurasuttaṃ

Can you think of a better example? Add it here.

jhāna 3

adj. having meditation; related to meditation [√jhā + ana] ~

grammardeclensionroot familycompound familyfrequencyfeedback



meditate

verb

med·​i·​tate ˈme-də-ˌtāt 
meditated; meditating
Synonyms of meditate

intransitive verb

1
: to engage in contemplation or reflection
He meditated long and hard before announcing his decision.
2
: to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness

transitive verb

1
: to focus one's thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over
He was meditating his past achievements.
2
: to plan or project in the mind : intend, purpose
He was meditating revenge.
meditator
ˈme-də-ˌtā-tər 
noun



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lucid24.org: What's new?

Link to lucid24.org home page :    4👑☸   Remember, you may have to click the refresh button on your web browser navigation bar at to get updated website. 2024 9-17 Lots of new stuff in the last 2 and a half years.  Too many to list. Main one justifying new blog entry, is redesign of home page. Before, it was designed to please me, super dense with everything in one master control panel. I've redesigned it to be friendly to newbies and everyone really. Clear structure, more use of space.  At someone's request, I added a lucid24.org google site search at top of home page. 2022 4-14 Major update to lucid24.org, easy navigation of suttas, quicklink: the ramifications 4-2 new feature lucid24.org sutta quick link 3-28 A new translation of SN 38.16, and first jhāna is a lot easier than you think 🔗📝notes related to Jhāna force and J.A.S.I. effect AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111: How does Ajahn Brahm and Sujato's "Jhāna" work here? 3-13 Added to EBPedia J.A.S.I. ('Jazzy...
3 comments
Read more

AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111: How does Ajahn Brahm and Sujato's "Jhāna" work here?

What these 3 suttas have in common, AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111, is the very interesting feature of explicitly describing doing vipassana, while one is in the jhāna and the first 3 formless attainments. LBT (late buddhist text) apologists, as well as Sujato, Brahm, claim that the suttas describe a jhāna where one enters a disembodied, frozen state, where vipassana is impossible until one emerges from that 'jhāna'.  Since Sujato translated all the suttas, let's take a look at what he translated, and how it supports his interpretation of 'jhāna'.  AN 9.36: Jhānasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net) ‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’ ‘Paṭhamampāhaṁ,   bhikkhave,   jhānaṁ   nissāya   āsavānaṁ   khayaṁ   vadāmī’ti,   iti   kho   panetaṁ   vuttaṁ. That’s what I said, but why did I say it? Kiñcetaṁ   paṭicca   vuttaṁ? Take a mendicant who, q uite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskill...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pāḷi and Sanskrit definition of Viveka

  'Viveka', Sanskrit dictionary Primary meaning is ‘discrimination’. Other meanings:  (1) true knowledge,  (2) discretion,  (3) right judgement,  (4) the faculty of distinguishing and classifying things according to their real properties’. Wikipedia (sanskrit dictionary entry 'viveka') Viveka (Sanskrit: विवेक, romanized: viveka) is a Sanskrit and Pali term translated into English as discernment or discrimination.[1] According to Rao and Paranjpe, viveka can be explained more fully as: Sense of discrimination; wisdom; discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the self and the non-self, between the permanent and the impermanent; discriminative inquiry; right intuitive discrimination; ever present discrimination between the transient and the permanent.[2]: 348  The Vivekachudamani is an eighth-century Sanskrit poem in dialogue form that addresses the development of viveka. Within the Vedanta tradition, there is also a concept of vichara which is one t...
Post a Comment
Read more