Formless absorption

arūpa-jhāna

Serenity (samatha) Building on it Stage 6 of 8

Formless absorption (stages 5–8).

On the path: 6 · Mindfulness and immersion — How does the mind become present, steady and penetrating? Satipaṭṭhāna, mindfulness of breathing, the factors of awakening, samādhi, the absorptions, serenity and insight. → to this stage in the learning path

In the map of the teaching: DN 34 · Groups of eight · Realizing · DN 34 · Groups of nine · Seeing directly · DN 33 · dn33:3.1.168

Related & connected

No semantic connections recorded.

Appears in

The nine attainments and entering the fruit Meditation / jhāna (part 4)

Across all traditions

Passages where arūpa-jhāna occurs literally — in the original, and, where a German translation of the same lines exists, in German.

Chan / Zen · 六祖大師法寶壇經 · Chinese Primary passage

但無妄想，性自清淨；起心著淨，却生淨妄。妄無處所，著者是妄。淨無形相，却立淨相，言是工夫。作此見者，障自本性，却被淨縛。善知識！若修不動者，但見一切人時，不見人之是非善惡過患，即是自性不動。善知識！迷人身雖不動！開口便說他人是非長短好惡，與道違背。若著心著淨，即障道也。」師示眾云：「善知識！何名坐禪？此法門中，無障無礙，外於一切善惡境界，心念不起，名為坐；內見自性不動，名為禪。善知識！何名禪定？外離相為禪，內不亂為定。外若著相，內心即亂；外若離相，心即不亂。 …
Kangyur · The Question of Maitreya (1) · English

The final four are called “formless” ( arūpa ) because they take place in the formless spheres (Skt. arūpyadhātu ; Pali arūpaloka ), and are also known as the four attainments ( samāpatti ). For a presentation of the jhāna system followed in the present-day Theravāda, see Gunaratana (1988 pp. 9-20.)

The full search covers all 62 world canons — from Theravāda through Zen and Tibet to Hindu and Sufi:

All key terms · View in the 3D space · Search the canon (full text) · Open in the Dhamma Search (with translation)