Should I explore the jhana meditation states? What if I’m not a Buddhist?

 

 

Introduction

The jhana meditation states can be defined as eight (my preferred number – see my blog of https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-are-jhanas-and-how-can-they-help.html) progressive states of deep meditative absorption, mainly used in Buddhist, particularly Theravadan, practice. They are characterised by increasing depth and concentration, from initial access concentration and rapture, to subtle, formless awareness beyond perception.

I’ve written several blogs about them as they are a regular part of my meditation practice and have been for several years. However, there are some who say they are not worth including in your practice. In this blog I will describe the main criticisms of the jhanas and then say why I think they are worth including in a practice. I will also add a bit more on how they can be used by those from different spiritual backgrounds, as I first mentioned in https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2025/04/jhana-meditation-extending-and.html because I think that adds a new dimension to the discussion.

Should I explore the jhana meditation states?
Criticisms of the jhana states

Jumping right in then, these states have been criticised, particularly by those in the Insight (Vipassana) branch of Theravada Buddhism and the Zen branch of Mahayana Buddhism. A major criticism is that the jhanas are ultimately transient, pleasant experiences that can distract from, or even hinder, true insight into impermanence, non-self and the causes of suffering. While they may feel good temporarily, they are not seen as essential (or even desirable) for enlightenment and attachment to their pleasure can become a barrier.

Some ‘big names’ associated with these criticisms include Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, who pointed out that Buddha was taught jhanas by Hindu Brahmins before his awakening, but at first rejected them because they did not lead to permanent liberation. Also Vipassana teacher Mahasi Sayadaw, who explicitly taught that full jhanic absorption is not necessary for awakening; that one can go straight to insight practice using only initial access concentration, thus avoiding the risk of getting sidetracked by the pleasantness of the jhanas.

Memorably, the modern teacher Daniel Ingram warns of ‘jhana junkies’ who get ‘hooked’ on the pleasant qualities of the jhanas and forget about insight practice. In fact some contemporary writers such as Sasha Chapin even go so far as to say that, although the jhanas can provide intense bliss, that bliss eventually becomes boring!

Zen provides one more criticism when it advises against actively seeking the bliss of the jhanas, or using techniques to force absorptive states, as this can reinforce a ‘doer’ or goal-oriented mind, which sees awakening as something that happens in the future rather than in the present moment when the practice itself IS enlightenment. The core of zazen is to ‘just sit’. Any arising states (pleasant or not) are observed without clinging.

So, briefly, the criticisms of the jhanas can be summarised as:
    • The Zen approach places the greatest emphasis on ‘sudden awakening’, either through zazen (sitting meditation) or koan (paradoxical questions), whereas the jhanas involve a more gradual, stage approach.
    • The Vipassana or Insight approach says that the best path to liberation is insight practice and you can engage that without going through all the steps of the jhanas first. In other words, they say the jhanas are simply not necessary.
    • Both the above approaches are wary of attachment to pleasant states (bliss, rapture, contentment and so on) and see them as potential hindrances or distractions from the more direct realisation of their own approaches.
    • And both of the above approaches also say that the effects of the jhanas, however blissful, are temporary.

Responding to the criticisms

Ajahn Brahm (Ajahn Brahmavamso) of the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravada Buddhism, presents a very different view to the above. He presents the jhanas as central and as not just beneficial, but necessary for progress toward enlightenment. He draws heavily from the early Buddhist suttas, rather than later commentaries, and emphasises that the Buddha himself rediscovered and relied on jhanas as the path to awakening. I’ll list the main points he makes here and I should say that these are points I agree with:

    • Ajahn Brahm points out that all the positive states of the jhanas arise through gentle awareness, and then letting go into these states as hindrances are overcome and the mind settles. I would add that the experience of the positive states is more like noticing that they are there already rather than something we create.
    • Far from being a distraction or pleasant diversion, Ajahn Brahm says that the jhanas provide the powerful, stable, joyful mind needed for profound insight. The concentrated mind, freed from the five hindrances and sensory distractions, becomes an ideal ‘instrument’ for seeing the true nature of phenomena.
    • He also describes the bliss of some of the jhanas as ‘supramundane’ and far superior to sensual pleasures. Attachment is possible in theory, but he counters that "one cannot be attached to letting go." The jhanas are states of freedom and contentment, not something that one can cling to like ordinary pleasures. In his view, denying oneself these positive states can actually hinder practice.
    • Ajahn Brahm also points out that, before enlightenment, the future Buddha used the bliss and stillness of the jhanas as a foundation, then directed his mind toward insight into reality (impermanence, suffering, and non-self), which culminated in his full awakening under the Bodhi tree. Following this, the Buddha continued to make regular use of the jhanas throughout his life. Those early suttas portray the jhanas not as something he abandoned after enlightenment, but as his preferred “heavenly dwelling” — a blissful, peaceful abiding that he resorted to frequently for rest, refreshment, and living in the present moment. 
    • He also argues that Right Concentration in the Noble Eightfold Path IS the jhanas—that without them, meditation falls short of the Buddha's teaching. This is one of those points of doctrine that is probably best left to the historians to discuss but I thought I ought to mention it… (See Brasington, 2015, for more on this topic.)

Resolution

In his book ‘Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook’ (details in Sources below), Ajahn Brahm outlines what seems to me to be an obvious and logical resolution of this issue: first use the step-by-step jhana practice and then use the resulting unified and stable state of mind for insight. This unified state is usually referred to in Pali as samadhi; what could be called oneness, a state where the distinction between self and other does not exist – a point I’ll say more about later.
I would also add that I think it is perfectly valid for those who mainly rely on just one meditation practice method, to add some variety now and then, by using other techniques such as the jhanas, to help keep their practice fresh.

What if I’m not a Buddhist?
    
Now, having said all that, I would like to take this blog in a different direction, in much the same way as I also take jhana practice in a different direction. I don’t just use the jhanas for the reasons described in Buddhism, good though I see those to be.

When I engage in the jhanas I have the intention of opening to divine will, what some would call an orientation towards theosis, or union with the divine, which is clearly different than those who follow a purely Buddhist path. For me this shares much with the Christian contemplative tradition. I am aware of the Theravada criticism, which says that seeing the jhana states themselves as divine union is an error, but I don’t see the states as union in themselves. Rather, when I practice the jhanas, I begin by opening to the possibility of divine grace. I then let go of everything except the practice itself. I end with acceptance and thanks.

I wondered if I might be the first to use the jhanas in this way so I did a search using Grok AI and discovered that – No! Not by a long way... For example, some writers, such as Daniel Gil (2019), approached this conceptually and drew parallels between the stages of the jhanas and the stages described by Christian mystics such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Others, such as Jeffrey Brooks (2004), Thomas Del Vasto (2025) and Stephen Zerfas (2026), writing from the standpoint of many years of meditation practice, drew the same parallels.

Conclusion

What I hope this blog achieves is to open up some possibilities for meditators. If you prefer, the jhanas can be explored purely in the context of Buddhism and their 2,500 years of development. However, and in addition, I think the jhana states can be usefully explored from other perspectives. Some people approach the states from a Christian perspective, as I described in this blog, but other approaches are possible as well. Jhana practice pre-dates Buddhism, so it will come as no surprise to also find practitioners who explore the states from a Hindu or a Jain perspective.

In the next blog I will explore the variety of people’s subjective experience of jhana states, to give practitioners an idea of where they can take you.


Sources

Ajahn Brahm (2006). Mindfulness, bliss and beyond: A meditator’s Handbook. Boston, Wisdom Publications.
Brasington, L. (2015). Right concentration: A practical guide to the jhanas. Boston and London: Shambhala.
Brooks, J. S. (2004). Absorption states (jhanas) within a theistic context. https://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/theisticjhana.htm
Gil, D. M. (2019). The Buddhist Jhānas and mystical prayer and its degrees. Dialogue
(New Series), International Journal of Inter-Faith Studies, XLV, 235–336. (Available free from the author’s academia.edu site)
Vasto, T. D. (2025). A Christian Instruction for Jhanas: A short experiment on rewording jhana instructions for Christians. https://shapesinthefog.substack.com/p/a-christian-instruction-for-jhanas
Zerfas, S. (2026). Jhanas Are Human, Not Buddhist. https://stephenzerfas.substack.com/p/jhanas-are-human-not-buddhist

Key words

absorption, attachment, awakening, bliss, Brahmin, Buddha, Buddhism, Christianity, concentration, consciousness, contemplation, dhyana, enlightenment, hindrances, Hindu, insight, Jain, jhana, koan, Mahayana, meditation, mindfulness, mystic, samadhi, sutta, theosis, Theravada, Vipassana, zazen, Zen, 

Link

https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2026/04/should-i-explore-jhana-meditation.html