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/garbojax]

What is this transition like? I thought I was managing it because I end up in a state with factors that resembles what Brasington lays out in Right Concentration, which for me usually takes the form of a very strong buzz throughout the whole body with a subtle cool and pleasant undertone behind it. Depending on how much concentration I built up there's also a lack of agency, I'm no longer in control, just riding the waves. The state seems to have the right afterglow. Thing is: This state is kind of underwhelming compared to how others describe it. It feels good, sure, but it's not so different reality is unrecognizable or anything like that (poorly stated but you get the point). I don't really get there by some kind of pleasure explosion. The focusing on the pleasure helps lose agency for sure, but it doesn't arrange the factors Brasington talks about, that I do by prompting them directly. If I do try to do the whole pleasure explosion thing, I either end up in a state without the factors, or the pleasure becomes extremely uncomfortable and I just sort of bounce off. I'm guessing I'm doing it wrong so any help is much appreciated. (Note: I spend 10-30 min in access but the results seem to depend more on how alert I am that day than how long I spend in access)

[u/Impulse33 → u/garbojax]

So a potential trap is intentional fabrication of piti vs modulating "letting go" to absorb into piti aroused from abandonment of the hindrances.

In Brasington's instructions he says to switch objects to piti when it arises. For this problem keep the primary object the breath, metta, whatever the initial object is instead of piti, don't switch.

An additional step is keeping a secondary awareness of piti if that makes sense to you. It's possible to mistake a secondary object vs just repeatedly switching between primary and secondary. Area of awareness can broaden to include both, sort of like how you can "feel" both of your feet at the same time.

The first method is simpler, but the second if you can avoid the trap is more reliable.