36. “Is jhāna more alert or more trance-like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Translation] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]
12. “Since the suttas indicate that ‘dry insight’ meditators were a relative rarity, and both anger and greedy personalities would need a certain amount of samādhi or jhāna before being capable of deep insight, can it be assumed that jhāna is a prerequisite for stream entry for a majority of yogis? Did the Buddha recommend a certain amount of jhāna in part because the letting go that allows that state to aries also supports letting go of the self to drop into the stream of Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta] [Insight meditation] [Jhāna] [Stream entry] [Relinquishment] // [Commentaries] [Right Concentration] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Virtue] [Right View]
8. “In that talk he [Ajahn Sim] seemed to stress doing samatha meditation before practicing vipassana. Is that strictly held within this tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sim] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Tranquility] [Knowing itself] [Concentration] [Language]
Quote: “The qualities of the one pointed mind are vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā....It’s not one pointed excluding. It works together, it harmonizes, it’s balanced.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Unification ] [Right Concentration]
5. “Related to the need to emerge from neither-perception-nor-non-perception and cessation of perception to contemplate the five khandhas [in AN 9.36], don’t some of the commentaries imply that that’s what you do with first jhāna; that insight is not possible even in first jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Aggregates] [Insight meditation] [Commentaries] [Jhāna] // [Views]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah emphasized that every step of the way there has to be awareness. Awareness has to form the basis of the whole practice. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Right Concentration] [Right View]
2. “I’m thinking that not all samādhi is wholesome, but all jhāna is wholesome.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Skillful qualities] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
5. “Is jhāna only in meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
Quote: “Only farangs [Westerners] go into meditation rock climbing! Does he contemplate the Four Noble Truths?” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Four Noble Truths] [Right Concentration] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Relinquishment]
17. “Does jhāna exclusively contain the five mental states?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
Sutta: MN 111 Anupada Sutta
1. “What is the difference between ekaggatā and vitakka?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unification] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Pāli] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
2. “Could we say that it [unification] is expansive?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unification] [Spaciousness] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
4. “Before the Buddha practiced the ascetic way, he already learned the seventh and eighth levels of jhāna. Why didn’t that lead to his awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Formless attainments] [Liberation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Right View] [Suffering] [Middle Path] [Characteristics of existence]
6. “The jhānas seem foundational to the practice, yet Ajahn Chah was reluctant to talk about them. Is this a view that was pervasive among the other Krooba Ajahns?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna ] // [Desire]
Follow-up: “If the jhānas aren’t accessible to everyone, can you still go far along the path without them?” [Eightfold Path] [Right Effort] [Right Concentration] [Self-identity view]
7. “Upon awakening one morning, I found my mind was locked open in awareness. It seems this was stable as long as I did not do any conceptual thinking. Is this a feature of samādhi? Can it be cultivated?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Present moment awareness] [Spaciousness] [Concentration] // [Right Concentration] [Mindfulness]