17 – THE EIGHTH JHANA, NEITHER PERCEPTION NOR NON-PERCEPTION
If meditators wish to attain the eighth jhana,
they can simply hang out in Nothingness until
they get bored with perception entirely and understand that
even the profoundly subtle perception that is Nothingness
is subtly disconcerting or dissatisfying.
Thus,
the mind will eventually shift on its own to the state with the
perplexing but thoroughly appropriate title of
“Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception”,
hereafter
“the eighth jhana” or “j8” for the sake of brevity.
This state is largely incomprehensible.
There is no reasonable way to attempt to describe it,
save that it is a mind state.
I am tempted to say that in it we are
simultaneously focused so narrowly
that we notice nothing and yet
so broadly focused that we don’t notice even that.
~~~
While I recommend the traditional way to attain the formless realms,
cultivating each one, then, after mastering it, attempting to get to the next,
that is not how I attained to them the first time.
I was on a retreat and my momentary concentration had gotten quite strong
through doing insight practices and,
having gotten what I was gunning for on that retreat,
I finally decided to take a break and see what the jhanas were about.
I simply made a resolution for the jhanas to arise,
inclined my mind in the direction of the smooth and peaceful,
and stayed with what happened, and
jhanas one through eight showed up over about forty-five minutes.
This is not the typical path by which people attain them,
but it is worth mentioning in order to make a general point,
which is that if you get your concentration strong by any method,
including momentary concentration,
just inclining to the shamatha jhanas
might be enough for them to occur.
So,
if you are having a hard time getting into jhanas,
set yourself up to succeed, meaning:
give yourself some high-quality protected time,
pick a technique you really enjoy
that has a demonstrated track record of producing strong concentration states,
such as the standard kasina practices,
of which a candle flame is my favorite.
Finally,
I should add that there is something I call the “post-eighth junction point”
which is the state of mind created when we have just been in the eighth jhana, left it, and now rest in its afterglow.
this refers to the fact that once we leave the eighth jhana,
all sorts of options may be open to the meditator
that weren’t open in the same way before.
Refers to investigating your experience in the afterglow of the eighth jhana.
This article was Inspired by
Buddha’s step by step instructions to obtain Enlightenment
as refined by The Arahant Daneil M. Ingram.