Meditative Composure Through Mindfulness of Breathing

Meditative Composure Through Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānassatisamādhi)

A monk with a mind at peace,
Gone to an empty place,
Clearly seeing the dhamma thoroughly—
His delight is more than human.

— Dhammapada 373

Jhāna, according to the Buddha, is a stable state of mental unification and composure. This state of unification proceeds through four stages of refinement, characterized by progressively greater suppleness, expansiveness, mental calm and equanimity. But before the first stage of jhāna can be attained, the meditator must be free of the five hindrances of (i) impulsive desire for sensual pleasure, (ii) aversion, (iii) bodily lethargy and mental drowsiness, (iv) restlessness and anxiety, and (v) doubt. If any one of these hindrances are present, we are advised to take up an appropriate antidote to eliminate it.

Mindfulness of breathing can itself serve as an effective antidote for all five hindrances, but if at any time one finds that it isn’t sufficient there are other contemplations which can serve as effective antidotes to each hindrance. AN 1.2 Nīvaraṇappahāṇavagga lists effective remedies to employ for each hindrance:

No other phenomenon do I know, monks, on account of which unarisen desire for sensual pleasure does not arise and arisen desire for sensual pleasure is abandoned as much as on account of this: an unattractive object (asubhanimitta). For one who attends properly to an unattractive object, unarisen desire for sensual pleasure does not arise and arisen desire for sensual pleasure is abandoned.

No other phenomenon do I know, monks, on account of which unarisen aversion does not arise and arisen aversion is abandoned as much as on account of this: the liberation of the mind through loving-kindness (mettācetovimutti). For one who attends properly to the liberation of the mind through loving-kindness, unarisen aversion does not arise and arisen aversion is abandoned.

No other phenomenon do I know, monks, on account of which unarisen lethargy and drowsiness does not arise and arisen lethargy and drowsiness is abandoned as much as on account of this: the component of arousal (ārambhadhātu), the component of persistence (nikkāmadhātu), the component of energetic endeavor (parakkāmadhātu). For one who has aroused energy, unarisen lethargy and drowsiness does not arise and arisen lethargy and drowsiness is abandoned.

No other phenomenon do I know, monks, on account of which unarisen restlessness and anxiety does not arise and arisen restlessness and anxiety is abandoned as much as on account of this: a pacified mind (cetaso vūpasama). For one with a pacified mind, unarisen restlessness and anxiety does not arise and arisen restlessness and anxiety is abandoned.

No other phenomenon do I know, monks, on account of which unarisen doubt does not arise and arisen doubt is abandoned as much as on account of this: thorough reflection (yoniso manasikāra). For one who thoroughly reflects, unarisen doubt does not arise and arisen doubt is abandoned.

The contemplation of unattractiveness is an antidote for desire regarding sensual pleasure in that it instills an attitude of renunciation. Loving-kindness is the primary antidote for aversion, and as such instills an attitude of non-aversion. The arousal of energy for abandoning bodily lethargy and mental drowsiness is straightforward. The suttas also mention other antidotes for abandoning lethargy and drowsiness such as stretching and walking meditation. Contemplating the uncertainty of the moment of death is also a very powerful antidote to re-invigorate our motivation. Regarding the hindrance of mental restlessness and anxiety, mindfulness of breathing is often given as an appropriate antidote. Finally, if doubt about the purpose or efficacy of dhamma practice arises, one can thoroughly reflect on the conditioned arising of phenomena and discern that the Buddha was correct and unerring in what he taught. Alternatively one can engender an attitude of faith by recollecting the qualities of the Buddha to inspire the heart and let go of any doubts.

When our practice has developed and there are no hindrances present we can then proceed towards entry into the first jhāna. DN 2 Samaññaphala Sutta gives us a summary overview of this progression from the abandoning of the hindrances to the entry into jhāna:

Seeing that [the five hindrances] have been abandoned within him, he becomes glad. Glad, he becomes joyful. Joyful, his body grows tranquil. His body tranquil, he experiences pleasure. Feeling pleasure, his mind becomes composed.

The Four Jhānas (Cattāri Jhānāni)

Jhāna is described as “singleness of mind” (cittekaggatā) where the mind is unified with the the inner felt-sense of the body. This mental unification with the inner felt-sense of the body means that awareness completely suffuses the entire body, and that the felt-sense of the body is experienced in its totality. In this way the mind and the inner felt-sense of the body are unified and expand to completely pervade each other. But this in no way means that the internal experience of the body remains fixed in a static state. The inner felt-sense of the body is experienced as a continual flux of subtle vibrational energy-sensations occurring concurrently with various mental fabrications such as mindfulness (sati), attention (manasikāra), feeling (vedanā), recognition (saññā), etc. It’s this unification of the mind with the inner felt-sense of the body that gives rise to the jhāna factors of joy and pleasure (pītisukha). Accordingly, in the four jhānas the aggregates are still experienced, but the mind is internally centered and unified to a level of calm and sensory withdrawal wherein no external sensory phenomena distract the mind from attention to the entire felt-sense of the body and the various concomitant mental factors of jhāna.

The meditative composure of jhāna progresses through four stages of refinement wherein the mind becomes increasingly calmer and the experiential quality of the inner felt-sense of the body becomes increasingly more subtle. The attainment of the first jhāna is signaled by the presence of five mental factors: directed thought (vitakka), evaluation (vicāra), joy (pīti), pleasure (sukha), and singleness of mind (cittekaggatā).

As one’s meditation becomes more refined the coarser of these mental factors begin to fall away and one simply remains attentive to the more subtle concomitant factors that remain. This progression is partly volitional (i.e. one intentionally begins to evaluate the drawbacks of the coarser qualities and the usefulness of the more refined qualities) and partly the spontaneous outcome of the natural calming of the mind (i.e. as the mind becomes more settled it spontaneously abandons the coarser factors). But please remember what was mentioned previously. The volitional intention required here is very subtle, being a nonjudgmental effortless exertion and a non-striving surrender to the practice. It’s an open ended process of opening and unifying and is not goal oriented. Any sort of forceful exertion or expectations of a preconceived result are certainly hindrances and will bear no fruit.

The following discussion is a continuation of what was discussed previously pertaining to calming the body fabrication (the breath) as stated in the Vesālī Sutta. Once awareness of the entire internal felt-sense of the body has been stabilized (the experience of which isn’t dependent upon any external sensory impingement), and the breath has gone from its usual quality to a more subtle quality as a result of unifying the mind with the body, we can begin to shift our frame of reference regarding the inner felt-sense of the body. Now instead of focusing on the bare inner energy-sensation of the body, we can focus on the quality of happiness that the mind is experiencing in relation to its unified contact with the inner felt-sense of the body. Specifically, we can begin to notice the mental factor of joy (pīti) present as the mind begins to settle and become increasingly composed.

The First Jhāna (Paṭhama Jhāna)

The standard jhāna formula in the context of the development of meditative composure through mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānassatisamādhi) is stated in SN 54.8 Padīpopama Sutta:

Therefore, monks, if a monk wishes, “May I, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful phenomena, enter and remain in the first jhāna, which includes directed thought and evaluation, as well as joy and pleasure born of seclusion,” this same meditative composure through mindfulness of breathing should be closely attended to.

The progression from focusing on the internal felt-sense of the body to focusing on the arisen mental factor of joy (pīti) and bodily pleasure (sukha) represents our movement toward and into the first jhāna. As this is a subjective experience, the mental and bodily qualities that we’re about to discuss will vary somewhat from person to person and even from sitting to sitting. Nevertheless, there are some general indicators that we can become aware of as we progress from a discursive mind involved in external sensory impingement, to a unified mind characterized by internal happiness and well-being, and beyond that, an experience of serene tranquility.

While the phenomenal factors of joy and pleasure may seem to be similar, there are subtle and distinctive differences that we can become aware of. And as joy (pīti) is the coarser of the two qualities, we first turn our attention to it.

Remaining unified with the entire internal felt-sense of the body, experienced in its totality, we begin to focus on the mental quality of joy when it arises. This joy is mental (i.e. not bodily) and is more than just the bare mental feeling (vedanā) of pleasure associated with the contact between the settled mind and the inner body sphere. Synonyms for this joy include: gladness (pāmojja), delight (āmodanā), joyfulness (pamodanā), shining mirth (bhāsa pabhāsa), felicity (vitti), elation (odagya), satisfaction (attamantā), and mental uplift (cittassa).¹

So what we’re talking about here is an affective mental quality that can range from a sense of internal satisfaction (openness and joyous ease) to ecstatic bliss. Again, the experience will vary from occasion to occasion and person to person. But whatever this quality is for each of us individually, it arises as a direct result of the unification of mind with the inner felt-sense of the entire body. There’s nothing necessarily ecstatic or blissful about this experience. The mind simply enjoys paying attention to the body and being free from the hindrances and all associated worldly concerns. By breathing mindfully, paying attention and surrendering to the whole felt-sense of the body, and thereby allowing the breath to calm itself, a sense of ease, lightness, and happiness spontaneously arises. It’s the basic goodness of not being preoccupied by any concerns, which then leads to a sense of openness and joy as the mind continues to settle.

That said, powerful experiences of ecstatic bliss and profoundly delightful experiences of the heart area spontaneously opening and being saturated with feelings of universal love, or strong vibrational currents within the body causing it to tremble or spasm uncontrollably, or other similar occurrences can certainly arise. This is usually more common when one sits for long sessions in retreat (1.5 to 4 or more hours per sitting). Although some of these powerful experiences of pīti can be very pleasurable, some of them can be so enticing that the meditator gets stuck trying to recreate the experience in every sitting. Such experiences can also overwhelm one’s mental calm. And so these very powerful types of pīti can actually be more of a hindrance than a help if not worked with skillfully. Therefore, it’s appropriate to consult with an experienced meditation teacher should these types of experience arise.

Returning now to the less extreme experiences of joy: by intentionally focusing on this open sense of internal satisfaction, this quality of joyous happiness, the concomitant experience of the inner felt-sense of the body may begin to intensify into tingling sensations throughout the body (often along the spine and scalp), or the mental happiness itself may open into a sense of either subtle or very profound well-being (the profound type of well-being can feel like passing through an invisible “membrane” wherein all sense of constriction is simply gone). It may be blissful (colored or white lights can appear before the closed eyelids) or it may just be an experience of internal joyous pleasure.

Regardless of what presents itself, the idea is to continue to unify mind and body by paying attention to and acknowledging the mental factor of joyous well-being present, and not trying to manufacture or force something that isn’t there. The suttas describe this joyous ease and pleasure permeating and pervading the entire body in the following terms:

He drenches, steeps, fills, and permeates this very body with the joy and pleasure born of seclusion so that there is no part of his whole body that is not permeated by joy and pleasure born of seclusion.

The Sumaṅgalavilāsinī commentary on the Sāmaññaphala Sutta explains this passage as follows:²

“This very body:” this body born of action [i.e. born of kamma]. “He drenches:” he moistens, he extends joy and pleasure everywhere. “Steeps:” to flow all over. “Fills:” like filling a bellows with air. “Permeates:” to touch all over.

“His whole body:” in this monk’s body, with all its parts, in the place where acquired [material] continuity occurs there is not even the smallest part consisting of skin, flesh, and blood that is not permeated with the pleasure of the first jhāna.

Even though these descriptions make it sound like this practice requires some amount of exertion, experience reveals that this is actually quite a passive process. The only volitional quality required here — over and above attention to the mental factor of joy presently occurring — is to simply attend to this joyous ease and pleasure permeating and pervading the entire body. MN 119 Kāyagatāsati Sutta describes this experience with the following simile:

Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman’s apprentice would heap bath powder into a brass basin and, sprinkling it again and again with water, knead it together so that the moisture wets his ball of bath powder, saturates it and permeates it within and without, yet the ball does not ooze; so too, the monk drenches, steeps, fills, and permeates this very body with the joy and pleasure born of seclusion so that there is no part of his whole body that is not permeated by joy and pleasure born of seclusion.... This too, is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

Here we recognize that this mental joy isn’t something separate from the awareness of the entirety of the felt-sense of the body. As joy pervades the entire mind, it simultaneously permeates the entire body because the mind is aware of the entire body. It’s that straightforward. And with dedicated practice, this experience naturally and spontaneously opens into a much vaster awareness than words can adequately describe.

When mental joy and bodily pleasure are sufficiently developed and refined there spontaneously occurs an opening and vast expansion of the mind. An entirely new panorama of experience opens up. The mind and the concomitant jhāna factors of joy and pleasure expand beyond the limits of one’s physical body. This is what is designated as an expansive liberation of mind (mahaggatā cetovimutti). All the jhāna factors align in complete harmony in what DN 9 refers to as the actual refined recognition of joy and pleasure born of seclusion (vivekajapītisukhasukhumasaccasaññā). Again, it’s difficult to put this experience into words in a text. To say the least, conventional states of awareness are constricted in comparison to this vast, expansive mind filled with joy and pleasure. When this sweet fruit of the ascetic life is experienced one understands what the terms listed as jhāna factors actually refer to.

But this is not a non-perceptive state of trance-like absorption. Employing clear seeing (vipassanā) one still knows the various concomitant mental phenomena arising in jhāna one by one as they occur (anupadadhammavipassanā). As the Buddha says in MN 111 Anupada Sutta (speaking of Ven. Sāriputta’s jhāna practice):

Whatever phenomena there are in the first jhāna: directed thought, evaluation, joy, pleasure, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, recognition, intention, mind, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention; he defined them one by one as they occurred. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided.

And as AN 9.36 informs us, one need progress no further than the first jhāna in order to discern phenomena and thereby give rise to nonfashioning (atammayatā) and incline toward the death-free (amatadhātu).

Nevertheless, if we so choose, we are free to develop jhāna to a more refined stage of unification and calm. To do this we simply continue to intentionally focus on the concomitant mental factors of joy (pīti) and bodily pleasure (sukha). Over time, as we develop this practice, the mental factors of directed thought and evaluation will begin to subside as the mind grows increasingly satisfied and calm. When this stage is reached these factors of thought and evaluation no longer receive the fuel that they need to sustain their operation. This doesn’t necessarily mean that at this point there are never any thoughts arising whatsoever. But it does mean that the mind has reached a state of unification which it realizes is superior to any state of even subtle discursive movement. The mind has abandoned attention to apperceptions associated with directed thought. It has realized the satisfaction, stillness, and internal clarity of the silent mind.

This stilling of directed thought is a natural process and doesn’t need to be intentionally willed during meditation. We just surrender completely to the experience of joy and pleasure and allow the path of practice to take its course. As SN 48.10 Dutiyavibhaṅga Sutta states, the development of the faculty of concentration involves understanding that letting go is our object (vossaggārammaṇa). Over time — weeks, months, years, decades — the mind settles and lets go of discursive conceptualization during sitting meditation. This is aided by our ongoing development of sense restraint (indriya saṃvara), clear seeing (vipassanā), and the increasing integration of the entire eightfold path. Together with a committed daily meditation practice, preferably in conjunction with regular retreat periods, our integrated path allows us to be able to relinquish coarse thoughts which we realize are often a cause of further stress and becoming, and by so doing we begin to enter into the stillness of the silent mind.

And in sitting practice, when directed thought and evaluation subside, what remains is:

The Second Jhāna (Dutiya Jhāna)

Again, returning to the Padīpopama Sutta:

Therefore, monks, if a monk wishes, “May I, with the stilling of directed thought and evaluation enter and remain in the second jhāna, which has internal serene-clarity and unification of mind free from thought and evaluation, and has joy and pleasure born of concentration,” this same concentration through mindfulness of breathing should be closely attended to.

Here the intentional focus remains on the concomitant phenomena of joy and pleasure, but the qualities of joy and pleasurable feeling begin to become more refined as the mind experiences deepening calm through unification and composure. The Kāyagatāsati Sutta supplies the following description:

Just like a lake whose waters well up from below, having no inflow from the east, west, north, or south, and without being replenished by showers from time to time, the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake would drench, steep, fill, and permeate the lake with cool waters, so that there would be no part of the lake that is not permeated by the cool waters; so too, the monk drenches, steeps, fills, and permeates this very body with the joy and pleasure born of concentration so that there is no part of his whole body that is not permeated by joy and pleasure born of concentration.... This too, is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

This image clearly indicates that joy and pleasure aren’t dependent upon any external sensory impingement, but arise from the mind’s composed unification with the internal felt-sense of the body.

At this stage we can begin to shift our attention from the quality of joy to the underlying feeling tone (vedanā) of pleasure (sukha) that is present. What we’re talking about here is the basic quality of bare pleasure arising from our unification of mind and body. This is more basic than any mental fabrications (saṅkhāras) of elation or bliss which may or may not still be be present. We simply remain attentive to the quality of pleasure without trying to manipulate it in any way.

And here too, our experience of the second jhāna isn’t a state of trance-like absorption. Clear seeing (vipassanā) is still able to single out the mental phenomena present in this jhāna. The Anupada Sutta:

Whatever phenomena there are in the second jhāna: internal serene-clarity, joy, pleasure, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, recognition, intention, mind, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention; he defined them one by one as they occurred. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided.

And if the meditator, instead of inclining toward the death-free dhātu at this point, continues to focus on the quality of the entire pleasurable felt-sense of the body, mental joy (pīti) will spontaneously begin to subside, leaving:

The Third Jhāna (Tatiya Jhāna)

The Padīpopama Sutta continues:

Therefore, monks, if a monk wishes, “May I, with the fading away of joy, remain equanimous, mindful and fully aware, and experience pleasure with the body; may I enter and remain in the third jhāna of which the noble ones say, ‘Equanimous and mindful, he abides pleasantly,’” this same concentration through mindfulness of breathing should be closely attended to.

And we continue to attend to the pleasure of equanimity associated with the felt-sense of the entire body. The Kāyagatāsati Sutta adds:

Just as in a pond of blue or white or red lotuses, some of the lotuses, born and growing in the water, thrive immersed in the water without rising up out of the water, and the cool water drenches, steeps, fills, and permeates them from their roots to their tips, so that there is no part of those lotuses which would not be permeated by cool water; so too, the monk drenches, steeps, fills, and permeates this very body with pleasure divested of joy so that there is no part of his whole body that is not permeated by pleasure divested of joy.... This too, is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

What remains at this stage of jhānic unification is simply a pleasurable feeling associated with bodily equanimity and well-being. One continues to intentionally focus on the pleasure of bodily equanimity present, and also fully comprehends that this is a very refined abiding. Mindfulness and full awareness are now incredibly clear. And here too, one can clearly see the concomitant arising of the other mental factors present in this jhāna. The Anupada Sutta:

Whatever phenomena there are in the third jhāna: pleasure, mindfulness, full awareness, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, recognition, intention, mind, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention; he defined them one by one as they occurred. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided.

And finally, if the meditator, instead of inclining toward the death-free dhātu at this point, continues to focus on the quality of the entire felt-sense of the body, the experience of pleasure will eventually spontaneously subside, leaving:

The Fourth Jhāna (Catuttha Jhāna)

The the Padīpopama Sutta:

Therefore, monks, if a monk wishes, “May I, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the earlier passing away of happiness and unhappiness, enter and remain in the fourth jhāna, which is without pleasure or pain, and includes the purity of equanimity and mindfulness,” this same concentration through mindfulness of breathing should be closely attended to.

This is the full unified attainment of jhāna. It’s the complete unification of the whole body with pure, bright awareness. Mindfulness and full awareness are now as clear and refined as possible. This is the purity of mindfulness which is the culmination of the development of right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The Kāyagatāsati Sutta continues:

Just as if a man were sitting covered from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; so too, the monk sits permeating the body with a pure, bright mind so that there is no part of his whole body that is not permeated by this pure, bright mind.

Here too we can clearly see the concomitant mental factors that are present. This requires a very precise balance between calm and clear seeing. If one absorbs too deeply into the quality of calm it will impair the mind’s ability to engage in clear seeing. The Anupada Sutta:

Whatever phenomena there are in the fourth jhāna: equanimity, neither-painful-nor-pleasurable feeling, unconcern due to tranquility of mind, purity of mindfulness, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, recognition, intention, mind, desire, decision, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, and attention; he defined them one by one as they occurred. Known to him they arose, known to him they remained, known to him they subsided.

At this point, or indeed at any point after the stabilization of the first jhāna, we can apply discernment (paññā), according to whichever of the three characteristics we choose to contemplate. This involves clearly seeing conditioned phenomena of body and mind as being impermanent, unsatisfactory, and therefore not-self. The Jhāna Sutta:

Here a monk ... enters and remains in the first ... second ... third ... fourth jhāna.... He sees whatever phenomena there that are connected with form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, and consciousness, as impermanent, as unsatisfactory, as a disease, as a cancer, as a dart, as painful, as an affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as emptiness, as not-self.

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and then directs it towards the death-free component, ‘This is peace, this is excellent: the calming of all fabrications, the release of all acquisitions, the elimination of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbāna.’

Phrased in terms of the discernment of the four noble truths resulting in the ending of the mental outflows (āsavas), this fruitional insight process is articulated in DN 2 Samaññaphala Sutta. After describing the fourth jhāna, and the five mundane higher gnoses (lokiya abhiññā) that can arise from mastering the four jhānas, the discourse goes on to describe the supramundane higher gnosis (lokuttara abhiñña) of complete liberation, which is the extinction of the mental outflows. This liberation is described as occurring while still employing the same level of concentration as the fourth jhāna. It’s important to remember that the first noble truth includes the five aggregates of clinging:

With his mind thus concentrated, purified and cleansed, unblemished, free from impurities, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, the monk directs and inclines it to the knowledge of the elimination of the mental outflows. He understands as it really is that, ‘This is unsatisfactoriness... This is the origination of unsatisfactoriness... This is the cessation of unsatisfactoriness... This is the way leading to the cessation of unsatisfactoriness....’

Thus knowing, thus seeing, his mind is liberated from the mental outflow of sensual pleasure, the mental outflow of becoming, the mental outflow of ignorance. With liberation there is the gnosis, ‘liberated.’ He understands that, ‘Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, done is what had to be done, there is nothing further here.’

Notes

This register of near-synonyms and synonyms for pīti is given in the Paṭisambhidāmagga Ānāpānassatikathā and the Dhammasaṅgaṇī. ↩
Dīghanikāya Sumaṅgalavilāsinī Sīlakkhandhavagga Aṭṭhakathā Sāmaññaphalasuttavaṇṇanā ↩

<< back to contents next page >>