Four Dhyanas: Chatvari dhyanani - Jhana - Sz chan

Four Dhyanas

1) First Dhyana: Bliss Born of Separation

2) Second Dhyana: Bliss Born of Samadhi

3) Third Dhyana: Wonderful Happiness of Being Apart from

Bliss

4) Fourth Dhyana: Clear Purity of Casting Away Thought

The Four Dhyanas are higher states or realms of consciousness (levels of samadhi--see samadhi) reached in two ways: a) temporarily, through correct meditation, and b) on a lifetime basis through rebirth as a god in the dhyana-heavens (see gods).

One enters the First Dhyana by abandoning vitarka ("examination"), which refers to coarse polluted thinking. One is thus separated from one's afflictions. In the First Dhyana a more subtle kind of polluted thinking called vicara ("investigation") still remains, as do priti ("bliss") and sukha ("happiness"). Priti is a type of blissful light ease associated with the body, and sukha is a more subtle and pure happiness or joy. When one enters the Second Dhyana vicara is eliminated, and a finer experience of bliss from one's meditational state remains. In the Third Dhyana priti is eliminated, so that only the pure happiness of sukha remains. And in the Fourth Dhyana sukha, a very subtle cognitive function of the mind, is also eliminated to lead to an even purer state of mind.

"Dhyana is a Sanskrit word meaning 'meditation', . . . the purifying and quieting of cognitive considerations. . . . "When you reach the First Dhyana, your pulse stops, and you can sit for seven days at a time without getting up from your seat, eating or drinking. . . . There is no happier experience in the world--it is the happiness of the heavens, not that of the human realm. When you reach the Second Dhyana, you can sit for forty-nine days at a time without getting up, eating or drinking. While in that samadhi , the joy is far greater than that of the First Dhyana. When you reach the Third Dhyana, you have no thought, and can sit for three years at a sitting. And so you claim that you've . . . become enlightened? Can you even sit for three days at a time? . . . When one reaches the state of the Fourth Dhyana, one can sit for nine years without getting up, eating or drinking. At that time, one doesn't merely stop having thoughts; the thought process stops altogether, and one's consciousness is unmoving. Although without movement, consciousness still exists. . . ." (FAS-PII(1) 35-39)

"In the First Dhyana (The Ground of Bliss Born of Separation), one's pulse stops, but this doesn't mean one is dead. This brings a particular happiness which is unknown to those in the world.

"The Second Dhyana is called the Ground of Bliss Born of Samadhi. . . . In the Second Dhyana, one's breath stops. There is no detectible breathing in and out, but at that time an inner breathing takes over.

"The Third Dhyana is the Ground of the Wonderful Happiness of Being Apart from Bliss. One renounces the dhyana-bliss as food and the happiness of the Dharma that occurs in initial samadhi. One goes beyond that kind of happiness and reaches a sense of wonderful joy. It is something that one has never known before, that is inexpressible in its subtlety, and that is inconceivable.

"At the level of the Third Dhyana, thoughts also stop. There is no active thought process--not a single thought arises.

When not a single thought arises,
The entire substance manifests.
When the six organs suddenly move,
There is a covering of clouds.

At the point when not one thought arises, the entire substance and great function (of your Buddha-nature) are in evidence. But once your six organs suddenly move, then it is obscured. It just takes a slight movement by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind to cause this to happen. Then one is covered over by the clouds of the Five Skandhas.

"The Fourth Dhyana is called the Ground of the Clear Purity of Casting Away Thought. In the Third Dhyana thoughts were stopped--held at bay--but they still had not been renounced altogether. In the heavens of the Fourth Dhyana, not only are thoughts stopped, they are done away with completely. There basically are no more cognitive considerations. This state is extremely pure, subtly wonderful, and particularly blissful.

"However, reaching the Fourth Dhyana is simply a preliminary, expedient state of meditational inquiry reached by beginners. Having reached this state is of no use at all in itself. It is not certification of sagehood. You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that reaching these four levels makes you somehow very special. . . . You've only experienced a bit of the flavor of Ch'an." (LY II 75-76)

1) Chinese Mandarin: sz chan , sz jing chu , 2) Sanskrit: dhyana, catvari dhyanani, 3) Pali: jhana, 4) Alternate translations: trances; initial levels of correct meditation; concentrations.

See also:

Fifth Paramita - Perfection of Mindfulness and Concentration:
Meditation, Polluted Thoughts, Samadhi, Chan School - The Five Schools of Buddhism, Chan,
Shamatha Meditation (Calm Abiding), Dhyana, Dhyana Meditation, Four Dhyanas, Four Formless Realms;

Buddha-recitation Meditation (Pure Land School), Mantra-recitation Meditation (Esoteric School).

Sixth Paramita - Perfection of Wisdom: Prajna Paramita (Perfection of Wisdom), Emptiness, Vipassana Meditation (Insight Meditation)

The Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation) states about cultivation of meditation:

Those who deeply cultivate meditation in Buddhism must take refuge in and rely not only on the Buddha and the Dharma, but also on the Four-Fold Assembly, especially on the Bhikshu and Bhikshuni Sangha. With the Sangha, cultivators of the Way can always practice the Three Non-Outflow Studies (1. Shila, Samadhi, Prajna). Unless you practice daily all three of the Non-Outflow Studies, you will not completely succeed in fully awakening, A Shramana is one who perfects (paramita) Shila-Samadhi-Prajna. To truly be a great Bhikshu or Bhikshuni, not just an ordinary Shramana, not just an ordinary Dharma Master, but to be a Tripitakacharya (Tripitaka Master) and a Kaliyanamitra (Good and Wise Advisor or Guru) you must not a lay person (Upasaka), but must be was a Buddhist Monk or Nun who has extensively studied and ideally mastered the Tripitaka. Only great mastery of the three baskets qualifies one to be called a Tripitaka Master (Tripitakacharya)

Thus as we practice meditation, we must contemplate the wisdom of the Sutras and Shastras. Thus please see also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, Vajracchedika Prajna Paramita Diamond, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, et al. Schools: Hwa-Yen School, Tyan-tai School, Geluk [or Gelug: Nagarjuna-Atisha-Tsongkhapa-Dalai-Lama] School of Tibetan Buddhism

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
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And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
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Updated May 10, 2008