Hi Rashed,
I think Eran has offered some solid advice here. However, inquiring minds want to know. . .
The confusion over what is jhana and what is not jhana is part of the reason why it profits one to find someone experienced with whom they can speak face to face when attempting to learn about the practice of jhana. That said, I know from personal experience that it's not always possible to find such a perfect situation. And from there, the best that one can do is to get some meditation experience under their belt in order to be able to speak with some confidence to others more experienced than themselves about what it is they are experiencing and to have some idea about how things go during meditation, and then hope that they can translate the replies they receive into something that they can understand from their own experience.
When I first took up the study and practice of jhana some eleven years or so ago, I had twenty years of meditation practice under my belt as well as having spent 9 years in association with a physical teacher who helped get my meditation practice started and on the road. So, I had plenty of experience behind me in order to be able to come to certain conclusions about what others were advising me to look for in terms of being able to discern a jhana state.
You are probably better off not confusing yourself with trying to discern the difference between what some call "access concentration" and the first jhana until you have more experience in meditation itself. I found myself having a similar confusion, and so I just let it go and practiced and watched what happened, all the while attempting to strengthen my discernment. I figured it would all become clearer later on. And, pretty much, I was right. It has.
Rashed Arafat:
Exactly what is the difference between access concentration and 1st jhana? I know it's probably a stupid/simplistic question, but I don't think I've ever felt a "marked" shift that differentiated the former from the latter.
But just for the record, access concentration
is not as deep a concentrated state as the first jhana. If you're in the first samatha jhana (which is usually what everyone who takes up this practice first aims to achieve) then there is a decided difference in the texture of the experience. You will (or at least you
should)
know when you've reached the first samatha jhana.
I would have to agree with the statement made in Analayo's book
Satipatthana where he states: "The issue at stake, simply stated, is whether the first absorption is a deep state of concentration, achieved only after a prolonged period of practice and seclusion, or a stage of relaxed happy reflection within easy reach of anyone and without much need for meditative proficiency." He then goes on to give examples from the suttas which bolster his impressions about the depth of proficiency needed to be able to recognize the achievement of the first absorption in order to differentiate it from "relaxed happy reflection." He concludes: "These examples suggest the that attainment of the first absorption requires a considerable degree of meditative proficiency."
That said, a samatha jhana (which Analayo is describing here) can differ in texture (at least in my experience of it) from a vipassana jhana. One may not experience
piti and
sukha in a vipassana jhana because the intent of a vipassana contemplation is to gain insight into an object rather than to just calm the mind down. In pursuing insight, the mind necessarily becomes
more active while it pursues the object for insight about it. This pursuit can necessarily negate any calming effect (pleasant sensations) because the mind is in
active pursuit of insight and knowledge rather than a passive pursuit of calm and pleasure.
But just to bring Analayo's descriptions back into this conversation, he continues: "According to the discourses, one who has entered the first absorption is no longer able to speak. This would not apply if the first absorption were merely a state of calm mental reflection. Not only speech, but also hearing does not occur
during the deeper stages of absorption; in fact, sound is a major obstacle to attaining the first absorption. The experience of the first absorption is an unworldly experience; it constitutes another world in the psychological and cosmological sense. To attain the first absorption is to reach a 'superbly extraordinary state.' Already the first absorption 'blindfolds' Mara since on entering this state one goes beyond the range of Mara's vision.
"These passages support an understanding of the first absorption as a deeply absorbed state of mind, beyond mere reflection and conceptual thought. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that, as absorption-factors, initial mental application (
vitakka) and sustained mental application (
vicara) do not imply full-fledged thinking activity. Rather, they refer to the initial and sustained application of attention. Such application of attention can also take place in the domain of thought or verbal communication, when initial mental application directs the mind toward what is to be thought or said, while sustained mental application maintains the coherence of a particular sequence of thoughts or words. In the context of absorption, however, this same activity is nothing more than an intentional deployment of attention, directed towards the object of concentration."
Rashed Arafat:
In what I thought was the 1st jhana, I was aware of the process of concentration -- in other words, I could tell that my mind was certainly concentrated (as opposed to being scattered in thoughts and daydreams). From that, I assumed that I must be in the 1st jhana due to that keen, sustained, focus.
You may very well have been experiencing a vipassana jhana here from the description you have given. It definitely sounds stronger than a "merely happy reflective state."
Rashed Arafat:
However, Daniel talks about how access concentration is something along the lines of being able to stay with your chosen object/kasina at the general exclusion of other things/phenomena. Obviously, there's a degree of concentration involved there -- is 1st jhana merely introducing "rapture" + a deeper state of concentration (that really excludes external phenomena) into the mix?
If you are in pursuit of the first samatha jhana, then yes, rapture (
piti) and joy/pleasure (
sukha) are part of that experience.
Rashed Arafat:
I think I may have been, as of late, trying too hard to go after the higher jhanas. I think it may be a better idea for me to really, really ground myself -- go for "depth and duration" -- on the individual jhanas, cultivate them to the max so to speak...
That is probably a good course of action. That is what I did. It helps to increase discernment. And discernment is what you need to work on here. With stronger concentration ability comes better discernment. These go hand in hand, together.