Jhāna Meditation #

Entering Absorption States

🧠 Included as background theory only – no guide for this one.

🧘‍♂️ Teacher Recommended
This method may not be easily accessible through written instruction. Direct guidance can dramatically improve your progress (like saving you thousands of hours...) and prevent common pitfalls.

Overview #

Jhāna refers to a series of deep meditative absorptions described in early Buddhist texts. These are not metaphorical states — they are highly consistent, altered states of consciousness that radically transform perception, body awareness, and mental activity.

Entering the Jhānas requires sustained concentration, often using metta (the feeling of love, kindness, joy, pleasure) as the object of concentration. The reward is access to progressively subtler layers of absorption, marked by rapture, stillness, inner light, and spacious equanimity.

Putting some of the technical discussion aside, entering the first Jhana is one of the most blissful, ecstatic, experiences it is possible to have. To create the feeling of MDMA without taking any substances is a paradigm-shifting event.

This path is well-suited to serious psychonauts, as it trains entry into precise altered states without substances, with a phenomenology as rich as any entheogen.

Theory #

The first four Jhānas (form-based) are states of absorption where the mind is unified on a single object, often accompanied by physical and emotional rapture:

1. First Jhāna: Applied attention, joy, and bodily rapture
2. Second Jhāna: Joy and rapture deepen as thought drops away
3. Third Jhāna: Calm happiness, fading of excitement
4. Fourth Jhāna: Pure equanimity, no pleasure or pain

Beyond these are the formless Jhānas, which explore increasingly subtle dimensions:

5. Infinite Space
6. Infinite Consciousness
7. Nothingness
8. Neither Perception nor Non-Perception

Each stage requires precise balance — too much effort or too little mindfulness and the state collapses.

Functional MRI (fMRI) and EEG studies have shown that experienced meditators capable of entering deep absorption states exhibit reduced default mode network activity, enhanced gamma synchronization, and changes in parietal lobe function associated with self-referential processing and spatial boundaries.¹,² Some studies have documented meditative states that meet the criteria of altered traits, including shifts in baseline emotional regulation and attentional capacity.³

Practice Considerations #

While incredibly powerful, Jhāna meditation is notoriously difficult to achieve without expert guidance. It requires sustained effort, a refined understanding of meditative progression, and often the support of a qualified teacher or retreat setting. For solo practitioners, access concentration itself might not be possible.

That said, learning about the Jhānas — and observing how your own concentration practice evolves — can help illuminate your path and provide inspiration. To be honest, I only included Jhāna meditation because I felt I had to, and because I felt some more knowledgeable readers might expect it.

If you want to explore the Jhānas, then the best way is to check out Jhourney and go on one of their retreats.

The focus of this site is on self-experimentation, but sometimes it helps to find people who’ve been there beforehand and can show you the way.

Further Reading & Research #

• Ajahn Brahm. Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond — one of the clearest modern manuals on Jhānas
• The Visuddhimagga — the classical Theravāda source on Jhāna stages
• Goleman, D., & Davidson, R. (2017). Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body — includes references to Jhānic states in experienced practitioners
• Lutz, A., Dunne, J.D., & Davidson, R.J. (2007). Meditation and the neuroscience of consciousness. In The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness