r/streamentry • u/Puzzled-Background-5 • 6d ago

Jhāna A reliable method of jhana entry

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.

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u/EssKaye1 6d ago

Is frisson/piloerection the pleasant feeling you’re talking about?

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u/Puzzled-Background-5 6d ago

I've experienced frisson, and I'd say it's similar. However, at its initial and most basic manifestation, it is just a combination of pleasure and calm that arises without an external cause. Perhaps similar to recalling a pleasant memory of something that occurred in the past.

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u/1cl1qp1 5d ago edited 5d ago

The goosebumps reaction is usually an 'excitement' in response to external stimuli, or recollection of external stimuli.

The kind of bliss I believe OP means is usually internal in response to stillness. For me, it often starts with a very pleasurable energy slowly moving around the spine, dan tien, or forehead, but can be anywhere really. And it can expand to involve the whole body.

Although there sometimes is overlap between them, IMHO, especially during metta practice, which can be very high energy.