Jhāna and Lokuttara-jjhāna.pdf

Buddhist Studies Review 24(1) 2007, 75–90

ISSN (print): 0256–2897

doi: 10.1558/bsrv.v24i1.75

ISSN (online): 1747–9681

Jhāna and Lokuttara-jjhāna

BRAHMĀLI BHIKKHU

Bodhinyana Monastery, Perth, Australia

ABSTRACT: The Abhidhamma uses the concept of lokuttara-jjhāna to refer to the

moment one attains any of the four stages of Awakening. In contrast, the Suttas use

the terms jhāna and samādhi to refer to aspects of the path leading to the stages of

Awakening. Therefore, when the commentaries interpret jhāna and samādhi in Sutta

usage as lokuttara-jjhāna , they are imposing an interpretation on the Suttas that is

foreign to them. Directly contradicting the Sutta s, this reinterpretation makes jhāna

dispensable as a path factor leading to Awakening. More generally, this particular

problem highlights the inherent danger of distortion when the commentaries use

later concepts to explain the earliest teachings of the Nikāya s.

1. INTRODUCTION

When reading the Sutta s of the Pāli Canon it is diﬃ cult not to be struck by the

central importance of samādhi and jhāna on the Buddhist path. Samādhi 1 and jhāna

1. By samādhi I generally understand the four jhāna s, sometimes a slightly broader concept.

It might be thought that this is a narrow understanding of samādhi because the Sutta s contain

many instances of samādhi that are clearly not jhāna . These samādhi s can broadly be classi ﬁ ed

into two types: samādhi that can arise prior to jhāna and samādhi that comes after jhāna and

that depends on jhāna . Into the latter category fall the formless attainments, the samādhi that

leads to Arahant ship (see A.II.45, 23–33 ) and also the samādhi that is the result of Arahant ship

(see A.V.7, 7 –10, 2 ). Because these samādhi s are based on jhāna their existence con ﬁ rms the

importance of jhāna on the path.

Into the former category fall such samādhi s as animitta-samādhi , suññata-samādhi and

appaṇihita-samādhi (the signless, emptiness- and undirected- samādhi s; see e.g. D.III.219, 21–22 ),

samādhi gained from walking meditation (see A.III.30) and possibly samādhi in conjunction with

satipaṭṭhāna (see S.V.144, 19 –145, 19 and A.IV.300, 24 –301, 15 ). But even with these samādhi s it is far

from clear that they do not, or at least cannot, rely on jhāna . In the case of A.IV.300, 24 –301, 15 , if

one is to follow the sequential presentation in the Sutta strictly (which presumably one must),

jhāna precedes the samādhi s based on satipaṭṭhāna . The same is quite possibly true of S.V.144, 19 –

145, 19 . As for the three samādhi s of animitta-samādhi, suññata-samādhi and appaṇihita-samādhi ,

it seems that they also are normally practised after jhāna (see M.III.111, 6 –112, 30 ), although the

evidence may not be conclusive that they have to be.

The most important fact about the various types of samādhi , however, is that by far the most

frequently occurring type is jhāna . The three samādhi s of animitta-samādhi , suññata-samādhi and

appaṇihita-samādhi occur very rarely in the Sutta s compared to jhāna , and the same is true for

‘ satipaṭṭhāna samādhi ’. Thus the relative importance of jhāna far outweighs the importance of

BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW

appear in Sutta after Sutta 2 , often as the pivotal condition that allows deep insight

into the nature of existence. In spite of this, there appears to have been an histori-

cal tendency to underestimate the importance of these states. 3 Perhaps the most

potent of the many factors that have led to such underestimation was the early

post- Nikāya rise of the Abhidhamma concept of ‘ lokuttara-jjhāna ’. In this paper

I wish to examine this concept, to investigate whether it has any counterpart

in the Sutta s, to discuss the implications of using it to interpret the Sutta s, and

ﬁ nally to look more closely at the Abhidhamma ’s treatment of lokuttara-jjhāna . I

will argue that the common commentarial practice of using lokuttara-jjhāna to

de ﬁ ne jhāna is misleading.

2. THE CONCEPT OF LOKUTTARA-JJHĀNA

The very name ‘ lokuttara-jjhāna ’ suggests a connection to jhāna and by implication

to sammā-samādhi and samādhi in general. However, whereas jhāna and samādhi

are important doctrinal terms of the Pāli Sutta s, lokuttara-jjhāna ﬁ rst appears in

the Abhidhamma . To avoid any confusion between these various terms it is neces-

sary to look more closely at the Abhidhamma ’s de ﬁ nition. 4

any of the other types of samādhi, and jhāna is therefore the pre-eminent type of samādhi on

the Buddhist path. Thus when the Sutta s only speak of samādhi , without further quali ﬁ cation,

it seems reasonable to conclude that this is predominantly a reference to jhāna .

2. The term ‘ Sutta ’ in this paper generally refers to the four main Nikāya s of the Sutta Piṭaka: the

Dīgha Nikāya , the Majjhima Nikāya , the Saṃyutta Nikāya , and the Aṅguttara Nikāya .

3. By historical tendency, I primarily mean the development in meditation theory from the

Nikāya s to the commentaries, and the consequent eﬀ ect on the practice of meditation. Where

the Nikāya s place great emphasis on samādhi and jhāna , even saying that full Awakening

is impossible without jhāna (see ‘So Vata Sutta’, §4.2), the commentaries also refer to pure

vipassanā practice and in the process invent new terminology such as ‘ sukkha-vipassaka ’ (‘one

who practises dry insight’; see e.g. SA.I.235, 34 ) and ‘suddha-vipassanā’ (‘pure insight’; see e.g.

Vism 588, 6 ). It must be assumed that this new development was a result of a real debate at the

time. The fact that the idea of pure insight has made its way into the commentaries, including

the Visuddhimagga , must mean that it was considered an acceptable part of meditation theory

and practice by the Theravāda establishment. As such, it only seems reasonable to assume that

there were meditators who were practising accordingly.

Unfortunately, there is little historical information on the actual practice of meditation

in the Theravāda tradition. What is certain is that the commentarial idea of pure insight has

gained strong currency in modern times. Vipassanā meditation with little emphasis on samādhi ,

and often no emphasis on jhāna , has been by far the most in ﬂ uential ‘meditation system’ of the

Theravāda tradition worldwide in the second half of the twentieth century.

4. It should be noted that, although the term lokuttara-jjhāna ﬁ rst appears in the Canonical Abhidhamma ,

it is precisely de ﬁ ned only in the Abhidhamma commentaries. Whether the Canonical Abhidhamma

understands lokuttara-jjhāna in the same way as the Abhidhamma commentaries is a moot point.

However, because my main critique in this paper is aimed at the Sutta commentaries, which

presuppose both the Canonical Abhidhamma as well as its commentaries (that is, Buddhaghosa

would have had all the ancient commentarial works, as well as the Canonical works, before him

when he compiled/wrote his commentaries), I have made no distinction between the two.

BRAHMĀLI JHĀNA AND LOKUTTARA-JJHĀNA

According to Abhidhamma theory, each stage of Awakening 5 is experienced

through two types of consciousness, known as magga (path) and phala (fruit). The

ﬁ rst type of consciousness, the magga , which lasts only one mind moment, has

the function of cutting oﬀ mental fetters. The second type, the phala , is the expe-

rience of bliss that results from the cutting oﬀ of the fetters by the magga con-

sciousness. 6 Again according to the Abhidhamma , these two types of consciousness

are experienced together with a particular set of jhāna factors that corresponds

to each of the four jhāna s respectively. 7 Thus they are called ‘ lokuttara-jjhāna s’,

‘transcendent jhāna s’ or ‘supra-mundane jhāna s’, because they combine the jhāna

factors with an Awakening experience.

From this it emerges that the Abhidhamma term lokuttara-jjhāna is a name for

the particular moment one attains one of the various stages of Awakening. The

Sutta s have their own terminology for describing these attainments, terminology

that does not refer to momentary experiences and that never explicitly relates

to samādhi or jhāna . 8 Consequently, it seems from the outset that lokuttara-jjhāna

and jhāna / samādhi refer to very diﬀ erent types of experience. 9

3. ARIYA SAMMĀ-SAMĀDHI

In spite of the above, it has been argued that lokuttara-jjhāna , in its momentary

Abhidhamma sense, is implicitly referred to in the Sutta s but using diﬀ erent ter-

minology. Of all the Sutta terminology, it is perhaps ‘ariya sammā-samādhi ’, ‘noble

right samādhi ’, which is most often identi ﬁ ed as lokuttara-jjhāna . 10 It appears it is

5. Stream-entry, and attainments of the states of Once-returning, Non-returning, and

Arahant ship.

6. According to the Abhidhamma commentaries the fruit consciousness initially lasts two or three

mind moments, although it can subsequently last many moments (Bodhi 1993, 177, 66).

7. And also to a ﬁ vefold classi ﬁ cation of jhāna adopted by the Abhidhamma (cf. Dhs.167–74) but

which is only rarely mentioned in the Sutta s (cf. M.III.162, 15 ).

8. The Sutta s, in contrast with the Abhidhamma , never focus exclusively on the precise moments

that the stages of Awakening are attained. Rather, the Sutta s seem to speak of these stages as

‘ongoing realities’. Typical terminology used in the Sutta s include: ‘ dhammacakkhuṃ udapādi ’,

‘the eye of the Dhamma arose’, (e.g. Vin.I.11, 34 ); ‘ sammādiṭṭhiyā uppadāya ’, ‘the arising of right

view’, (M.I.294, 1 ); ‘ sotāpattiphalaṃ pi sacchikaronti, sakadāgāmī phalaṃ pi sacchikaronti, anāgāmī

phalaṃ pi sacchikaronti, arahattaṃ pi sacchikaronti ’, ‘they realised the fruit of streamentry, they

realised the fruit of once-returner, they realised the fruit of non-returner, they realised the fruit

of Arahant ship’, (D.I.229, 4 ); ‘ anupadāya āsavehi cittāni vimucciṃsu ’, ‘(their) minds were freed from

the out ﬂ owings without grasping’, (e.g. Vin.I.14, 35 ); ‘ āsavānaṃ khayaṃ pāpuṇāti ’, ‘he attained

the destruction of the out ﬂ owings’, (M.I.436, 4 ). Each of these refers to enduring realities.

9. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that the Sutta s on a few occasions

mention types of samādhi that possibly are directly related to the attainment of the four stages

of Awakening. The most important example would seem to be animitta-samādhi , see A.IV.78, 18–

30 and Harvey (1986). However, even these samādhi s do not appear to be momentary in the

sense that lokuttara-jjhāna is said to be, see note 6 above.

10. For example, this is how the commentaries understand ariya sammā-samādhi :

BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW

the quali ﬁ er ‘ariya ’ which has made this identi ﬁ cation common. ‘Ariya ’, ‘noble’, is

a Sutta term usually referring to the persons who have attained one of the stages

of Awakening. Therefore, when it is used as a quali ﬁ er, it is likely to signify some

connection to the stages of Awakening. To discover what this connection is we

need to look at how this phrase is used in the Sutta s.

Ariya sammā-samādhi is only found on ﬁ ve separate occasions in the Sutta s. 11

Three of these occasions are simply the same bare de ﬁ nitions:

There are: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right

livelihood, right eﬀ ort, right mindfulness. The one-pointedness of mind

equipped with these seven factors is called noble right concentration

[ ariya sammā-samādhi ] ‘with its supports’, and also ‘with its accesso-

ries’. 12

This is not enough to give a precise idea of the phrase, but at least it makes it

clear that only a person practising the noble eightfold path can have this kind

of samādhi .

The fourth occasion is found at M.117 where ariya sammā-samādhi is initially

explained in the same way as above, but then expanded on considerably. 13 Of par-

ticular importance here is that the factor of sammā-diṭṭhi , one of the seven ‘equip-

ments’ mentioned above, can be either the noble right view of the Sotāpanna or it

can be ordinary right view possessed by the person who is not yet a Sotāpanna . 14

MA.IV.130,22–24: Tattha ariyan ti niddosaṃ. Lokuttaraṃ niddosaṃ hi ariyan ti vuccati.

Sammāsamādhin ti maggasamādhiṃ : ‘Therein ariya means unde ﬁ led. For ariya is called the

unde ﬁ led which is supramundane. Sammā-samādhi means path- samādhi [i.e. lokuttara-jjhāna ]’.

AA.IV.28,19: Samādhiparikkhārā ti maggasamādhissa sambhārā : ‘Requisite of samādhi means a

constituent of path- samādhi ’.

See also Rupert Gethin (2001, 218): ‘Secondly there is the attainment of right view etc. as

noble, without āsava s, lokuttara , a factor of the path. It is precisely this second stage that must

be understood as ariyo sammā-samādhi sa-upaniso sa-parikkhāro ’.

11. It should be noted that only ﬁ ve occurrences in the four main Nikāya s makes the phrase a

rare one, and as such its importance is limited. There are also three occurrences of a samādhi

(as opposed to sammā-samādhi ) which is said to be ‘ariya ’ (see D.II.122, 19 and D.III.278, 27 and

A.III.24, 15 ).

12. D.II.216, 33 –217, 4 and S.V.21, 13–17 and A.IV.40, 23–27 : Seyyathīdaṃ sammā-diṭṭhi sammāsaṅkappo

sammāvācā sammākammanto sammā-ājīvo sammāvāyāmo sammāsati. Yā kho bhikkhave imehi

sattahaṅgehi cittassa ekaggatā saparikkhārā, ayaṃ vuccati bhikkhave ariyo sammā-samādhi sa-upaniso

iti pi saparikkhāro iti pī ti .

13. M.III.71, 16 –72, 28 .

14. M.III.72, 4–28 : Katamā ca, bhikkhave, sammā-diṭṭhi? Sammā-diṭṭhiṃ p ’ ahaṃ, bhikkhave, dvayaṃ vadāmi.

Atthi, bhikkhave, sammā-diṭṭhi sāsavā puññābhāgiyā upadhivepakkā; atthi, bhikkhave, sammā-diṭṭhi ariyā

anāsavā lokuttarā maggaṅgā . (Then the two types of right view are explained in more detail).

The two views are clearly separate. One is called puññā-bhāgiyā and upadhi-vepakkā , ‘partaking

of merit’ and ‘ripening in the acquisitions’, which means that it does not in itself lead to Nibbāna .

The other view, on the other hand, is called ariyā and lokuttarā , ‘noble’ and ‘supramundane’, clearly

indicating that this is the view of the Sotāpanna who is guaranteed to eventually attain Nibbāna .

The commentary to this Sutta gives an alternative interpretation of the view that is supra-

mundane. (But note that this does not alter the fact that the two types of view are quite

BRAHMĀLI JHĀNA AND LOKUTTARA-JJHĀNA

Thus it seems that it is possible to possess ariya sammā-samādhi without yet hav-

ing attained to Sotāpatti . If this is correct, it is impossible that this samādhi is the

‘lokuttara-jjhāna ’ of the Abhidhamma .

However, it is the ﬁ fth and last occurrence of ariya sammā-samādhi which is

the most interesting: it is a statement of what this samādhi consists of. 15 Not

surprisingly it is said to consist of the four jhāna s and also ‘the reviewing sign

which is well-grasped, well-attended to, well-considered, and well-penetrated by

wisdom’. 16 Note that there is nothing here about attaining any of the stages of

Awakening, just the standard passage on the four jhāna s together with the usual

similes. If there ever was a time for clearly de ﬁ ning ‘lokuttara-jjhāna ’, if that were

what is meant by ariya sammā-samādhi , this would seem to be the ideal opportu-

nity. Each time an obvious opportunity for an explicit de ﬁ nition is missed, any

claim that lokuttara-jjhāna is what is meant is severely undermined. Even the

commentary does not seem to de ﬁ ne ariya sammā-samādhi here as anything but

‘ordinary’ jhāna . 17

separate). According to MA.IV.132, 3–4 the view that is supramundane ( lokuttara ), rather than

referring to the right view of the Sotāpanna , refers to the right view at the moment of the

four paths, i.e. the moment when each of the four stages of Awakening is attained. Thus it is

identical with lokuttara-jjhāna . This interpretation is probably the result of the peculiar vocab-

ulary used to qualify sammā-diṭṭhi in the present Sutta , in particular anāsava and the string

paññā , paññ’indriya , paññā-bala , dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhaṅga and magg’aṅga , which is remi-

niscent of Abhidhamma usage (cf. Dhs.196, 15–17 for the Abhidhamma de ﬁ nition of anāsava and

Vibh.237, 5–7 for its de ﬁ nition of sammā-diṭṭhi ). These terms are never used to qualify sammā-

diṭṭhi anywhere else in the Sutta s, and several of the terms used, such as magg’aṅga , anāsava-

citta and ariya-citta , are never found at all in the Sutta s apart from here. It thus seems possible

that the view that is supramundane is a late addition, a possibility signi ﬁ cantly strengthened

by the fact that the Āgama version of this Sutta (i.e. the Chinese equivalent) only includes the

‘ordinary’ right view. (See Ven. Anālayo’s forthcoming A Comparative Study of the Majjhima

Nikāya ).

15. A.III.25–27.

16. A.III.27,13:… paccavekkhanānimittaṃ suggahitaṃ hoti sumanasikataṃ sūpadhāritaṃ suppaṭividdhaṃ

paññāya . The paccavekkhanā-nimittaṃ does not occur anywhere else in the Sutta s and one

has to look to the Vibhaṅga of the Abhidhamma to ﬁ nd a de ﬁ nition. At Vibh.334,1–8 one

ﬁ nds the following: Tattha katamā sammāsamādhi ? … Tamhā tamhā samādhiṃhā vuṭṭhitassa

paccavekkhanāñāṇaṃ paccavekkhanānimittaṃ : ‘Therein what is the ﬁ ve-factored right samādhi ?

… The reviewing knowledge, the reviewing sign of one who has come out of this or that

samādhi (is the ﬁ ve-factored right samādhi )’. If one is to follow the Vibhaṅga here, then ‘this

or that samādhi ’ would seem to refer to the samādhi s just mentioned in the Sutta prior to the

mentioning of the paccavekkhanā-nimittaṃ , i.e. the four jhāna s. Thus the paccavekkhanā-nimittaṃ

would be based on one or more of the four jhāna s.

The same conclusion is arrived at when one takes account of the ‘gradual’ nature of the

Sutta s: the standard way of exposition of Dhamma , explicitly recommended by the Buddha

(A.III.184, 17 ) and a pattern which is easily recognizable in Sutta after Sutta , is one of natural

progression. It is therefore to be expected that the paccavekkhanā-nimittaṃ is a stage on the

path which comes after the jhāna s and which is based on the jhāna s.

17. AA.III.232,11–12: Ariyassa ti vikkhambhanavasena pahinehi kilesehi ārakā ṭhitassa : ‘(Of) noble

(means): (of) one standing far from the de ﬁ lements which have been abandoned due to

suppression’. ‘Abandoning due to suppression’, ‘ vikkhambhanavasena pahinehi ’, is a commentarial

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