Right Concentration: Practical Guide to Jhanas

Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Leigh Brasington (leighb.com, Amazon)

A practical guide to the absorptions (jhanas)

Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas is a practical guidebook for meditators interested in achieving states of bliss and focus associated with Buddhism's jhānas or "absorptions."

One of the eight elements of the ennobling Eightfold Path is right concentration: the one-pointed unification of mind that -- together with virtue (ethics), livelihood (self support), meditation (cultivation), and more -- leads ultimately to freedom from all suffering by awakening to nirvana.

So how does one achieve samma samadhi or "right concentration"? According to the historical Buddha, the jhānas — a series of eight progressive altered states of consciousness — are an essential method.

But because the absorptions or jhānas can usually be achieved only through a prolonged meditation retreat, they have been shrouded in mystery for years. Not anymore.

In Right Concentration, expert practitioner Leigh Brasington lifts the mystique and gives practical instructions on how to achieve them in plain, accessible English.

He warns of the common pitfalls to avoid along the way and provides a wealth of material on the theory of jhāna practice — all geared toward the meditation practitioner rather than the Buddhist scholar.

As Brasington proves, these states of bliss and mental unification are attainable by anyone who devotes the calm persistence and sincerity of practice necessary to realize these natural features of our human potential. More (Amazon)