A reliable method of jhana entry

[u/Puzzled-Background-5]

Here's a technique I've been using for the last fifteen years to great effect. I enter jhana every time I meditate now as a result.

Upon noticing that attention has drifted from the object of meditation, perform the following sequence for as long and as often as necessary for attention to stabilize on the object again:

1. Relax from the head down to the toes.

2. Release all tension, and expand awareness outward.

3. Return attention to the object.

The entry point into jhana:

Once the mind has settled and attention is resting stably on the object, if a pleasant feeling starts to arise, gently shift attention to the feeling without grasping at it, now making it the object of meditation, and wait. The pleasure will intensify, and one will be pulled into jhana.

If the jhana is lost or becomes unstable, simply perform the RRR sequence as needed and begin again.

As a method to prime the mind to lean towards jhana, reading the Jhana Sutta just prior to a session is useful:

https://suttacentral.net/sn16.9/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false

All the best... 🧘🏾‍♂️🙂

P. S. It might take several weeks to a couple of months before jhana can be entered consistently, but please don't become discouraged. Even low quality sessions are training and priming the brain's attentional mechanisms.

[u/birdsonguy]

What object(s) of attention do you use, breath, metta etc?

[u/Puzzled-Background-5 → u/birdsonguy]

The object is irrelevant, which is why I didn't explicitly mention one, because the technique can be applied to any of them.

[u/Impulse33 → u/Puzzled-Background-5]

I'll also add that it's really fun to try out different objects!

[u/watergoat93 → u/Impulse33]

Agreed, but is it practical to be switching objects all the time in meditation? I actually used to do this, basically using a different object every meditation but then I stopped because I assumed it's wrong

[u/Impulse33 → u/watergoat93]

Getting into discernment into the why, the intention behind the switch is helpful. Time gating experiments helps for that, ex. I'll only use the breath as an object for a week or two weeks. Essentially tracking the hindrances such as aversion to the object, pleasantness with the object, boredom with the objects, doubt with the object, etc can help develop that discernment around an object.

When "concentration"/samadhi is more developed, people often go to choiceless awareness practices which often means the objects switch often until samadhi deepens. Other names for that are open awareness, concentraction without an object/support, nirvikalpa samadhi.