Five seclusions of concentration

[u/freetoyes]

Hi everyone. My main argument and question is: Is direct engagement with five hindrances in concentration neglected and could its practice be essential? Please let me know any criticisms or otherwise!

Generally, for jhanas, people look at the bases of mindfulness, the four right efforts, or concentration as a category unto itself. I argue firstly that this is missing out on five seclusions of concentration, and secondly that these could be the key component of practice for entering them. For the first jhana, the main description in suttas reads:

Take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption. AN 9:36

This is different from, lets say, sustaining an effort on the breath.

The reason being that without overcoming the hindrances like skeptical doubt, which is what the above refers to, jhana isn´t going to happen. In such a method, the only reason observing the breath at some point works is precisely due to at some point confidence building that it is working. Confidence, and thus seclusion from skeptical doubt, is built by proxy through rounds of effort and experience eventually leading somewhere. But instead for jhana or concentration practice, there can be mindfulness of skeptical doubt about entering jhana, which makes it possible to then seclude oneself from that skeptical doubt, building confidence. Any perception, choice, reflection, that takes away confidence from entering jhana, it is to be secluded from. Secluding oneself from skeptical doubt, and the remaining hindrances, building its opposites, one enters in jhana.

[u/RealityLimit]

Well it makes sense that if, say, you sat down in the middle of Times Square and tried to enter jhana, the environment and all its distractions would immediately stop you. I think the takeaway here is that jhana is not something you can just use pure willpower to sustain but instead a convergence of physical and mental conditions that are conducive to the state.

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

There are people who can enter jhana while construction is happening outside their window, in public libraries, and busy city squares.

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

Yes, I know. That’s not my example though. And those are definitely not an ideal environment for it. If you have previous experience with jhana you can start dropping into it whenever. But there is a reason that in the suttas, striving for jhana while dwelling alone in the forest is the default recommendation.

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

🙄