Absorption

jhāna

Serenity (samatha) Core — needs to be understood Stage 6 of 8

A state of collected attention resting in itself; the canon describes four such stages and names for each the factors that carry it.

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 five · Developing · DN 34 · Groups of eight · Seeing directly · DN 34 · Groups of eight · Realizing · DN 34 · Groups of nine · Seeing directly · DN 33 · dn33:1.11.19 · DN 33 · dn33:3.1.168 · DN 33 · dn33:3.2.72

Related & connected

← practice ofThe nine attainments and entering the fruit

Appears in

Abhidhamma master manual · 89 cittas Abhidhamma
The meditation of the noble ones Theravāda · concentration, insight & the four stages of awakening
The nine attainments and entering the fruit Meditation / jhāna (part 4)
The Noble Eightfold Path & the eight limbs of yoga Bridge · Buddhism ↔ yoga (Patañjali)

Across all traditions

Passages where 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。 …
Vimuttimagga · Vimuttimagga — The Path to Freedom (Upatissa, Kap. 1–12) · English

Jhāna Q. How [should the differences be known] through jhāna (jhānato)? A. Ten meditation subjects are connected to the threshold-jhāna (upacāra- jhāna); eleven meditation subjects are connected to the first jhāna; three meditation subjects are connected to the threefold jhāna (tikajjhānika); one meditation subject is connected to the fourfold jhāna (catukkajjhānika); nine meditation subjects are connected to the fourfold jhāna and the fivefold jhāna (pañcakajjhānika); and four meditation subjects are connected to the four immaterial jhānas.

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

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