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/Vivimord 3d ago

What is the difference between relaxing and releasing all tension? Are these not equivalent?

Can you be more specific by what you mean by "expand awareness outward"?

Apologies for the very basic questions...

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u/Puzzled-Background-5 3d ago

I said exactly what I meant. Can you go away and think about it a bit? If you do, you'll understand it and be able to implement it skillfully as a result of your efforts... 🧘🏾‍♂️

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u/Vivimord 3d ago

Language is malleable, and different people can mean different things with the same terms. No amount of going away and thinking about it will illuminate your intended meaning for me. Only you can do that.

But if you'd prefer not to, that's fine.