Meditation: First Sit to First Jhana

First Sit to First Jhana: A talk by two accomplished meditators

Stephen Snyder & Tina Rasmussen (Summarized from dharmaseed.org)

The Seven Landmarks

1. The Sign (nimitta)
2. Sign increasing, stillness developing
3. Sign solidifying
4. Sign Energizing
5. Sign Moves and Merges with Object
6. Sign Merging
7. First Jhana

The "object of meditation" is the breath. The place we know it is the area between the nostrils and the upper lip, the "Anapana Spot." How? The way we know it is by the movement there.

The first Jhana Factor (vitakka, applied effort) is "consistency of awareness with the object." That means to bring the attention back again, again, and again -- whenever awareness-attention slips or drips from the Anapana Spot. No matter how often we need to bring attention back or how many times it again slips each day. We bring it back. And if possible we do so without judgment, self-criticism, or expressing any anger or frustration about it having slipped.

The object is simple, very simple at this stage. It only takes consistent effort. Lights in the distance may come up. We do not pay them any attention. We just stay with the object. Eventually, the lights move closer, something happens, the Sign (nimitta) starts to form. There is continuity in the practice, and stillness develops. The Jhana Factors begin to strengthen.

First, there is the consistency of knowing the object. As the Jhana Factors increase, the Sign will become more prominent in whatever way it presents. And we stay with the object, which is the breath at the Anapana Spot. Ease, joy, bliss begin to overcome the body, and one develops a love affair with the object (the breath). The object remains the same. The Sign is ignored. Eventually, the breath and the Sign merge. They lock.

Only then does the Sign become the object of meditation; there is no other choice since one always stays with the object of meditation, the breath.

At some point, all at once, for unknown reasons, the Sign merges with the breath and stays. At that point the object is still the same. And now we call it the Anapana Nimitta (the "in-and-out-breath sign"). All of this unfolds very naturally. There is only one thing to do: Stay with the object (the breath) again, again, and again. "Access concentration" and the purity of the Jhana Factors are developing. One is able to stay with the object continuously because of that.

Then the Sign is "energized." It is like a light being turned on. It may crackle with energy and become bright. It is getting larger and moving towards the breath -- towards the Anapana Spot -- and locks in all at once. It may pull away, and come back, pull away, and come back. Throughout all of this, the object remains the same. We do NOT turn attention to the Sign. By looking only at the breath, the Sign and breath will merge. Allow it to be present.

By following the breath in this way, the meditator will be "pulled" into the First Jhana. There is no gulf to cross, no Sign to go to, it's there. There is no reason to do anything, nowhere one needs to cross, and no new object to turn to. We only stay with the same object (the breath), keep the continuity, allow it to be present.

As the Jhana Factors increase, one is in the Jhana. There are Five Masteries:

1. Stability of the Jhana
2. Ability to enter it at will
3. Ability to stay in it for as long as the time resolve
4. To exit at will
5. To review the Jhana Factors

This creates stability in meditation, a purification, and by systematically letting go some of the once-helpful Jhana Factors, one makes movement towards the next higher Jhana.

What does the Sign (nimitta) look like? It differs for everyone, appearing perhaps as a tuft of cotton or a brilliant moon emerging from clouds, either with or without color (Photo: cotton ball cloud in Wyoming from farewelltospring.com)

The Sign

What does the Sign look like? It may be smoky, cottony, or bright, disc shaped, and definite. Everyone will has a different experience of it. It is organic, and like a flower opening, there is no pulling it open. One simply allows it. The purity accompanying the practice that allows consistent sitting gives rise to it and advances seeing it.

It is "seen" by the Wisdom Eye, not the physical eyes. So there is no need to "look" for it or to strain to see it. There are different metaphors that one may apply to better understand what is happening. There are Five Hindrances to abandon, to overcome, to simply move through to the calm of the Jhana. We bear in mind that there is a period from first sit to First Jhana that we only get through to find the peace and calm of the serenity on the other side.

One metaphor is that of scuba diving. If one enters the water from the beach, one has to go through the crashing of waves, trying to put on one's flippers. The surf pulls off one's mask. One swallows sand and saltwater. There is nothing to do but get through it to the diving where it is peaceful and serene. It takes skillful effort. In a sense, a universal energy (like the sea) has to help, and one has to allow it. Part of it is pressing on when it seems too tough. Part of it is, rather than resisting, using the surf and rhythm to be pulled in. Otherwise, if one uses only effort, one will become exhausted by that effort and not be able to reach the goal of being in the deep.

Knowing how to deal with the Five Hindrances (pancha nivarana) may become useful. But the overall message is to simply persist with "yin-yang" effort. That means some initiative and some allowing, some allowing and some initiative. Too much of either will not help. It is the balance of the two that brings one through. Y

• Listen to this talk and more: http://www.dharmaseed.org/
• Talk 2 (Rasmussen) covers the "Jhana Factors"
• Read their Jhanas Advice book: