Hi Sean,
Before I get to your questions, Sean, from what I can gather overall, based on your descriptions, you are in good territory with your practice. The only thing you're lacking is good, competent guidance that will assist you in beginning to confidently make some of these determinations for yourself. Hopefully, a few of my comments can help out with this latter.
Sean Lindsay:
The recent occurrence of that unusual mind state has made me begin to wonder whether my 1st jhana-pitti/2nd jhana-calm thinking has just been variants of access concentration, with the unusual mind state indicating *real* jhana. It raises a couple of questions:
Am I on the right concentration path? Is the latter condition something that there are techniques to practice toward directly? Is greater depth just a function of more constant and steady practice (which a retreat will help with)?
From your description, it sounds as though you are on a fruitful path in concentration.
If by the reference to "the latter condition" you are referring to the second state that you describe as "jhana-calm thinking," the techniques that work to maintain such states all have their basis in the establishment of mindfulness. I would recommend practicing equanimity when you contact that state in the future, and just try to stay with it. As your
sati becomes stronger, your natural ability to remain in that state on a more constant basis will increase proportionally. You will likely understand what I'm suggesting here once you gain more experience with this, i.e. with more maturity in your practice.
As for the third question above, the short answer is "yes." Greater depth is just a function of more constant and steady practice with being able to maintain mindfulness (
sati) while in contact with these states.
Now on to some comments regarding the descriptions you provided.
Sean Lindsay:
One follow-up question in preparation for the solo:
In recent weeks, I've converted my daily practice into 75-100% concentration practice, the remainder (if any) vipassana.
While I have ready access to jhana-style access concentration, typically that's followed by 2-10 minutes of moderate-to-very-strong pitti. Typically, that's followed by a quieter state that can last from 5-35 minutes.
Your description here is typical of beginners learning to practice jhana according to the way it has been described in the suttas. While I cannot comment on the method you are using in order to contact these states, the description you provide might well suggest a difference between the first, second and third jhanas as opposed to the fourth jhana. There's really not enough to go on here in the description to be sure.
That "quieter state" is usually indicative of fourth jhana (as it is described in the suttas). And the following comments should help shed some light on why this is.
Sean Lindsay:
In the past, I've thought of the pitti-heavy state as 1st jhana, the quieter state as 2nd jhana, even though the second state usually doesn't have any strong feelings of joy.
But while I find both states easy to access at this point, in neither of them are external sensory input completely absent -- only diminished -- like they're a bit farther away than they are in off-the-cushion mind frames.
First sentence: Trying to figure out the difference between first, second, and third jhana in the beginning of my practice gave me a problem, too. The difference between first and second, once you gain some perspective, is fairly easy to determine. It has to do with the amount of effort being expended to maintain the jhana. In second jhana, typically, the amount of effort is less because the jhana evolves into a "positive reinforcement feedback loop" which maintains one's ability to remain in 2nd, 3rd and 4th jhanas effortlessly. So, look for that positive reinforcement feedback loop which becomes established in the second jhana. In this regard, Leigh Brasington's description should suffice to provide you with a better model to follow:
Brasington:
Entry into the first Jhana from a physiological perspective proceeds something like this:
1. You quiet your mind with the initial and sustained attention to the meditation subject (vitakka and vicara).
2. By shifting your attention to a pleasant sensation (piti), you set up a positive reinforcement feedback loop within your quiet mind. For example, one of the most useful pleasant sensations to focus on is a smile. The act of smiling generates endorphins, which make you feel good, which makes you smile more, which generates more endorphins, etc.
3. The final and most difficult part of entering the First Jhana is to not do anything but observe the pleasure (sukkha). Any attempt to increase the pleasure, even any thoughts of wanting to increase the pleasure, interrupt the feedback loop and drop you into a less quiet state of mind. But by doing nothing but focusing intently on the pleasure, you are propelled into an unmistakably altered state of consciousness (ekaggata).
Your comment about external sensory input not being absent is a good observation. Sometimes they can "seem" to be absent, and other times they remain present in the background or on the periphery of awareness. The difference between these two perspectives depends on the depth of the absorption in the object of meditation. Generally speaking, you don't want much depth in terms of absorption in the object when practicing an insight type of meditation. What you want to cultivate in insight meditation is concentration: the imperturbable nature of the mind to remain focused on its object of observation in order to see it more clearly. Clear seeing is where liberating insight is born.
Sean Lindsay:
But every now and again while I'm in the second state, the mind will *very briefly* experience a highly distinctive mind state in which the mind's quality of focus seems orders of magnitude stronger, but which disappears as rapidly as it arises, and it seems as different from the second state I mention above as ice is different from water. I've never successfully been able to stay in that state, nor to will myself back into it after it's passed.
That emphasized passage above is indicative of fourth jhana, a state in which the mind is unified, clearly aware, mindful, and imperturbably focused on whatever object is in its view, all of which lends itself to the unfolding of insight.
The way to maintain that state is to practice equanimity about it once it is entered. After more experience, this will become a second hand ability, and easily achieved. Equanimity attenuates any excess emotion that might cloud the mind resulting in a dissipation of the state. So, remain equanimous.
Hopefully this discussion has provided some useful food for thought and reflection.
Be well,
Ian