28. Other Maps of Concentration

Many discourses, when discussing the levels of right concentration, list not only four jhānas but also five additional attainments that the suttas call the “formlessnesses beyond forms.” Modern discussions call these the “formless jhānas.” Because some discourses show how the discernment that leads to awakening can be gained based on any of these formless attainments, these attainments count as right concentration, too. MN 140 explains that these attainments are simply applications of the equanimity found in the fourth jhāna to formless themes.

The standard description of these five levels is this:

“With the complete transcending of perceptions of (physical) form, with the disappearance of perceptions of resistance, and not attending to perceptions of multiplicity, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite space,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of space.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of space, (perceiving,) ‘Infinite consciousness,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, (perceiving,) ‘There is nothing,’ one enters & remains in the dimension of nothingness.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of nothingness, he enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.

“With the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, one enters & remains in the cessation of perception and feeling.” — AN 9:32

Notice that the differences among the four jhānas relate to different ways of relating to the same object: with or without pleasure or rapture, with or without directed thought and evaluation. With the first two formless states, though, the object—the perception—changes, but the way the mind relates to the perception stays the same: You hold to the oneness provided by the perception in a state of equanimity. With the third state, the oneness that has characterized all the concentration attainments beginning with the second jhāna falls away and is replaced by a perception of nothingness. In the fourth, perception becomes so attenuated that it can’t rightly be called perception or devoid of perception. In the fifth, all perceptions and feelings—all mental fabrications—cease.

As for the ways in which you can attain the formless states, the Canon lists four.

The most standard way is through the four jhānas, which offer practice in seeing how the mind fabricates the different levels.

An alternative map lists five levels of jhāna, adding an intermediate level between the first and the second, in which there is no directed thought but there is still a modicum of evaluation (AN 8:70). None of the discourses explain this variant, but apparently it simply reflects the fact that the mind can settle down in a variety of ways.

Two other maps are even more different from the standard definition of the four jhānas. They apply to people whose meditative experience focuses less on the body and more on perceptions of light and forms that appear to the mind’s eye.

In one of these maps, which emphasizes light, there are two steps prior to the infinitude of space:

the property of light

the property of beauty (SN 14:11).

In the other map, which emphasizes the perception of forms, the steps prior to the infinitude of space are three:

Possessed of form, one sees forms.

Not percipient of form internally, one sees forms externally.

One is intent only on the beautiful (DN 15).

MN 128 gives an indication of how these steps relate to the practice of jhāna. There the Buddha discusses how, to master the perception of forms and light, he had to investigate what caused either of those perceptions to vanish against his will. Engaging in a process of commitment and reflection, he came up with the following list of causes: doubt, inattention, sloth-&-drowsiness, panic, excitement, boredom, excess persistence, slack persistence, a perception of multiplicity (focusing on sense objects), and excessive absorption in forms. By fine-tuning his focus to avoid these defilements, he was able to bring his concentration into a state of balanced calm and alertness.

Then he followed the five-stage map of the jhānas and was able to attain full awakening.

This suggests that concentration focused on light and forms can be a good way to improve the focus and steadiness of your concentration if your mind tends toward visual experiences while it settles down, but that the practice of the jhānas is what provides direct insight into the processes of fabrication: bodily, verbal, and mental. For that reason, it’s the ideal foundation for liberating insight to arise.

This point becomes especially clear when we consider the topic of mindfulness and concentration that the Buddha taught most extensively, and that he himself used on the night of his awakening: mindfulness of in-and-out breathing (ānāpānasati)—breath meditation for short.