Kasiṇa and Jhāna

[Ceisiwr]

Are there any suttas which directly link the Kasiṇas with Jhāna?

[cappuccino]

Jhana is calm


(Peace is not over rated)

[santa100]

Are there any suttas which directly link the Kasiṇas with Jhāna?

The first three emancipations in AN 8.66 are kasina-based jhanas. Ven. Bodhi's note from "Numerical Discourses":

"(1) "One possessing form sees forms. This is the first emancipation"[1777] Rupi rupani passati. Mp: “Here, ‘form’ is the jhana with a form object, which has arisen by way of a blue kasina, etc., based on something internal such as head hairs, etc. One who gains this [jhana] is said to possess form. One might also see forms with the eye of jhana externally, such as a blue kasina, etc. What is indicated by this are the four form-sphere jhanas in the case of a person who has attained jhana through the kasinas with an internal or external basis.”

"(2) "One not percipient of forms internally sees forms externally. This is the second emancipation."[1778] One not percipient of forms internally sees forms externally (ajjhattam arupasaññi, bahiddha rupani passati). Mp: “One who is not percipient of forms internally is one who does not attain form-sphere jhanas based on his own head hairs, etc. What is shown by this are the form-sphere jhanas of one who attains jhana externally, having done the preliminary work externally.”

"(3) "One is focused only on 'beautiful.' This is the third emancipation"[1779] Subhant’eva adhimutto hoti. Mp: “By this what is shown are jhanas based on extremely purified color kasinas, such as blue, etc.

[Zom]

Are there any suttas which directly link the Kasiṇas with Jhāna?

All suttas speak about kasinas in jhanic context, simply because kasina is a [possible] mental state in jhana.

[Ceisiwr]

Are there any suttas which directly link the Kasiṇas with Jhāna?

All suttas speak about kasinas in jhanic context, simply because kasina is a [possible] mental state in jhana.

That is one possibility. Certainly that was the Vaibhāṣika view, as evidenced by the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra where the Kasiṇa are the outcome of Jhāna

In general, the vimokṣas are the gateway into the abhibus, which in turn are the gateway into the kṛtsnas. The vimokṣas are ‘complete emancipation’ (vimokṣamātra) from the object. The abhibhus exert a twofold mastery (abhibhavana) over the object, entailing the view of the object as one wishes it (yatheṣṭam adhimokṣaḥ) and the absence of the negative emotion provoked by the object (kleśānutpatti). The kṛtsnas embrace the object without a gap and in its totality (nirantarakṛtsnaspharaṇa). All are derived from the dhyānas and the samāpattis...

A. Vimokṣas 1–3, eight abhibhus and kṛtsnas 1–8.
1) In nature they are the five skandhas and they have as object the visibles of kāmadhātu.

2) Vimokṣas 1–2 and abhibhus 1–4 are contemplations of the horrible (aśubhabhāvana), i.e., of the decomposing corpse, and are practiced in the 1st and 2nd dhyānas. When practiced in the first, they counteract attachment to color (varṇarāga) of kāmadhātu; when practiced in the second, they counteract attachment to color of the first dhyāna.

3) In vimokṣaṣ 1 and abhibhus 1–2, the ascetic still has the notion of inner visibles, those of his own body; in vimokṣa 2 and abhibhus 3–4, he no longer has them. But in all cases, he contemplates unpleasant outer visibles (amanojñā), less numerous (parītta) in abhibhus 1 and 3, numerous (mahodgata or paramāna) in abhibhus 2 and 4.

4) Vimokṣa 3, abhibhus 5–8 and kṛtsnas 1–8 are contemplations on the beautiful (śubhabhāvana) and are practiced exclusively in the 4th dhyāna. No longer having the notion of inner visibles, the ascetic contemplates the outer pleasant visibles (manojñā) of kāmadhātu: in vimokṣa 3, the beautiful (śubha) in general, which he actualizes (kāyena sākādātkaroti); in abhibhus 5–8 and kṛtsnas 5–8, the four pure colors (blue, yellow, red and white); in kṛtsnas 1–4, the four great elements (earth, water, fire and wind).

https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book ... 25619.html

This is of course similar yet different to the Theravādin teaching on how to practice such things. I've been studying MN 121 again and wondering if Jhāna is needed for the formless at all. In MN 121 there is a singular perception of the forest, empty of other perceptions, but no suggestion that this is Jhāna. The perception of the forest comes up again in a small number of other suttas, such as AN 6.42.

“Take a mendicant in the wilderness who I see sitting nodding in meditation. I think to myself: ‘Now this venerable, having dispelled that sleepiness and weariness, will focus just on the unified perception of wilderness.’ So I’m pleased that that mendicant is living in the wilderness.

Take a mendicant in the wilderness who I see sitting without being immersed in samādhi. I think to myself: ‘Now if this venerable’s mind is not immersed in samādhi they will immerse it, or if it is immersed in samādhi, they will preserve it.’ So I’m pleased that that mendicant is living in the wilderness.

Take a mendicant in the wilderness who I see sitting immersed in samādhi. I think to myself: ‘Now this venerable will free the unfreed mind or preserve the freed mind.’ So I’m pleased that that mendicant is living in the wilderness."

https://suttacentral.net/an6.42/en/than ... ight=false

Here the meditator achieves a unified perception of the forest, which then becomes the basis for samādhi. It looks like the same practice as MN 121 is being alluded too. In fact, I'm sure of it. Now Kasiṇa practice involves a non-dual type of meditation. All you are seeing is Kasiṇa, which is a totality. The Kasiṇa, as we know, include earth etc and also infinite space and conciousness. There is an obvious connection here between them and the 6 elements and element meditation. Now it can be safely said, I think, that all of these practices are meditations of "unity" (ekatta). I think we can all also agree that Jhāna, Kasiṇa and Formless meditations all require some measure of equanimity. What is interesting then is that when we look at a sutta like MN 137 we find the following

And what is equanimity based on diversity? There is equanimity towards sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. This is equanimity based on diversity.

And what is equanimity based on unity? There is equanimity based on the dimensions of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception. This is equanimity based on unity.

https://suttacentral.net/mn137/en/sujat ... ript=latin

So equanimity based on unity involves the formless attainments. The suggestion then is that the equanimity based on Jhāna is one based on the diversity of sense experience. This makes sense, if we accept that the Jhāna are states where the 5 senses can still be experienced in some way (the commentaries seem to accept this, as does the Visuddhimagga rather paradoxically). What about then the 8 rūpa-kasiṇa? I think its possible that they act as some midway point between the 4th Jhāna and the formless. You reach the 4th Jhāna, say via mindfulness of breathing, and then with the high level of equanimity achieved begin subtracting away aspects of experience until you are left with a unified perception. One of the rūpa-kasiṇa is focused on, which then is the condition necessary to reduce experience further to just "space" and so on. The 10 kasiṇa however are listed on their own, and no sutta really establishes a link between them and Jhāna. I think it might be possible then to achieve a meditation on the kasiṇa, both rūpa and arūpa, without having mastered Jhāna first. This is then possibly what MN 121 is outlining. An alternative method of practice, separate from mastering the Jhāna. A practice of equanimity by fixing one's mind on the unity of a singular perception, rather than a practice of equanimity by stilling the mind in relation to the diversity of the 5 senses.

If all of this were true than it would have a further implication. It would help to answer some of the controversy around the Abhidhamma presentation of Jhāna. Theravāda, perhaps more than any other early school, practices heavily with the kasiṇa. If the above is true, then their description of Jhāna is actually a path of pure kasiṇa and formless meditation. A perfectly valid one, but not the Jhāna originally found in the suttas/sutras.

I am of course just musing here, regarding some thoughts I'm entertaining as of late.

[Ceisiwr]

A bit more from our Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika come Madhyamaka monk or nun

Every utilization of these three types of dharmas realizes a mastery over the object (ālambanābhibhavana).

1) The kṛtsnāyatanas are impure (sāsrava).

The first three vimokṣas, the seventh and eighth vimokṣas are impure. The others are sometimes impure (sāsrava), sometimes pure (anāsrava).[1]

2) The first two vimokṣas and the first four abhibhvāyatanas are contained (saṃgṛhīta) in the first and second dhyānas.

The śubhavimokṣa (3rd vimokṣa), the last four abhibhvāyatanas and the first eight kṛtsnāyatanas are contained in the fourth dhyāna.[2]

3) The first two kṛtsnāyatanas are called ākāśāyatana. The ākāśāyatana contains the vijñānāyatana.[3] The vijñānāyatana contains the first three vimokṣas, the eight abhibhvāyatanas and the [first] eight kṛtsnāyatanas, all of which have as object (ālambana) the visibles of the desire realm (kāmadhāturūpa).

The four next vimokṣas (nos. 4–7) have as object the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu), the marvelous qualities of pure dharmas (anāsrvadharma) and the good (kuśala: read chan instead of jo) in [the four] fundamental [absorptions] (maulasammapatti), because the fundamental formless absorptions (ārūpyamaulasamāpatti) do not concern the levels lower than them.

The absorption of the cessation of concepts and feeling (saṃjñāveditanirodhasamāpatti) constituting the eighth vimokṣa), being neither mind (citta) nor mental event (caitasikadharma), has no object (anālambana).

The seventh vimokṣa, namely, the absorption of neither identification nor non-identification (naivasaṃjñānanāsaṃjñāyatana) alone has as its object the four formless aggregates (ārūpyaskandha) and the pure dharmas (anāsravadharma).[4]

https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book ... 25620.html

[Ceisiwr]

Notes from Venerable Anālayo's notes from his book "A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya: Volume 2"

MN 137 at MN III 220,22 contrasts equanimity that is nānatta nānattasita with equanimity that is ekatta ekattasita, while MĀ 163 at T I 693b23 contrasts equanimity “with boundless contacts, with diversified contacts”, 無量更樂, 若干更樂, with equanimity “with a single contact, without diversified contacts”, 一更樂, 不若干 更樂.