lotus flower wrote:Hello dear forum members!
I have some questions about the second jhana:
...
Hi lotus flower
how refreshing it is to see some discussion about this.
I have not managed to properly sustain even the first jhana as yet, but for what it's worth, I find the sutta
'To Tapussa' very informative; it sheds some light on how we are to surmount first sensuality (to enter into the first jhana), then when this has been mastered, vitakka-vicara (to enter into second jhana), and so on:
"So it is, Ananda. So it is. Even I myself, before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, thought: 'Renunciation is good. Seclusion is good.' But my heart didn't leap up at renunciation, didn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace. The thought occurred to me: 'What is the cause, what is the reason, why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'I haven't seen the drawback of sensual pleasures; I haven't pursued [that theme]. I haven't understood the reward of renunciation; I haven't familiarized myself with it. That's why my heart doesn't leap up at renunciation, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace.'
[1] "Then the thought occurred to me: 'If, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I were to pursue that theme; and if, having understood the reward of renunciation, I were to familiarize myself with it, there's the possibility that my heart would leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace.'
"So at a later time, having seen the drawback of sensual pleasures, I pursued that theme; having understood the reward of renunciation, I familiarized myself with it. My heart leaped up at renunciation, grew confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. Then, quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation.
"As I remained there, I was beset with attention to perceptions dealing with sensuality. That was an affliction for me. Just as pain arises as an affliction for a healthy person, even so the attention to perceptions dealing with sensuality that beset me was an affliction for me.
[2] "The thought occurred to me: 'What if, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I were to enter & remain in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance.' But my heart didn't leap up at being without directed thought, didn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace. The thought occurred to me: 'What is the cause, what is the reason, why my heart doesn't leap up at being without directed thought, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'I haven't seen the drawback of directed thought; I haven't pursued that theme. I haven't understood the reward of being without directed thought; I haven't familiarized myself with it. That's why my heart doesn't leap up at being without directed thought, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or firm, seeing it as peace.'
"Then the thought occurred to me: 'If, having seen the drawback of directed thought, I were to pursue that theme; and if, having understood the reward of being without directed thought, I were to familiarize myself with it, there's the possibility that my heart would leap up at being without directed thought, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace.'
"So at a later time, having seen the drawback of directed thought, I pursued that theme; having understood the reward of being without directed thought, I familiarized myself with it. My heart leaped up at being without directed thought, grew confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance.
The pleasure of the first jhana seems to flow from the 'seclusion, aloneness' with just one object (eg this body and it's breathing process), with the mind temporarily cleansed of sensual lust, and the other hindrances. Maintaining this seclusion seems to involve a certain kind of thinking, a direction of mental energy again and again to the object (and simultaneously, unconcerned with the rest of the Universe
, aware only of the particular inbreath or outbreath one is taking
at this moment, with the body as a whole
in this moment). So it would seem to me that we might end up getting
attached to that kind of pleasure, and just as it was hard to abandon sensuality (at least for the duration of a sitting) to enter into first jhana, it is now hard to 'let go' of vitakka-vicara, due to one having 'learned' the first jhana and how it works, being able to enter into and sustain it reliably, and savouring it regularly. One might get a bit too cozy with it, and not want to let go.
Once again, I've not gotten this far myself, but from this sutta I take it that you have to see a
drawback in vitakka-vicara. (See the part highlighted in blue above). I have to assume that one ought not to let go of it unless one's first jhana is already very stable, or one would not obtain the second, and even lose the first as a result (see 'Gavi Sutta, 'The Cow'
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html )
Remember though: jhana is a
good state, but it is still
fabricated, it has a beginning and an end, and so use it for what it is good for (gaining insight). Of course there's nothing harmful about savouring it, but I think we ought to remember that it (samma samadhi) is just one limb of the Noble Path, and we need
all eight limbs to reach the ending of all stress. Remember that in your travels.
The entire sutta:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
with metta,
manas