So, I found a TM style message board, and asked about jhanas and TM there. I received a response from someone who claims to have been a TM teacher for over twenty years and a TM practioner since 1970.
I will post my original question and the reponse below. But frankly, it doesn't make any sense to me. What really throws me is this line:
""I can state categorically that transcending does not involve any form of concentration." I'd be interested to see what folks here think of it, and what former or current TM practioners think of it. Also, what do TM people mean when they talk about "transcending." Is there a Buddhist correlation?
On their link about "transcending," they again make the claim:
"Transcending is effortless, simple, natural, and innocent. No concentration or contemplation is needed, and anyone who can follow directions can learn how to transcend." The effortless thing seems to be a big part of their pitch. http://www.nsrusa.org/how-it-works.php
My original post:
"All,
I purchased the tutorial on how to use your mantra-style meditation a few years back, and I'm considering giving it another shot.
Since then, I have tried and studied other types of meditation. One such style seeks to develop concentration. Concentration can be develop by focusing on the sensation of the breath as it enters and exits the nostrils, the sensation of the breath at the belly, a kasina disk, a mantra, amongst other things.
The object is to develop the concentration until it deepens. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, there is first access concentration which develops [this can feel like one is sinking into a black, deep ocean, or like one is in the middle of an enormous, quiet cave], then a nimitta appears [A disk of light, the brighter the light the deeper the concentration], and then jhanas [deep concentration states]. Absorbtion into concentration states can bring sensations of joy, rapture, bliss, etc. There are typically described FOUR jhanas. Then there are the formless realm jhanas, where one experiences space, time, etc. One can also experience vipassana jhanas during insight meditation.
My question is: Does mantra meditation, as it is practiced here, lead to jhanas? I am interested in developing deep states of concentration. Concentration is a powerful too with many uses.
Have any practioners here developed jhanas? When, say, David Lynch talks about using TM to achieve bliss, or wide open awareness, might be be referrring to jhanas?
Thank you very much"
The Response
"I have heard the term Jhanas before, but have not found a description that makes the term clear to me. Your descriptions also do not help me to understand these practices. For this reason, I cannot evaluate them or compare them with transcending, either through NSR meditation or Transcendental Meditation.
"I can state categorically that transcending does not involve any form of concentration. When we concentrate on an object, we simply fill our experience with that object. There is no particular value to doing this, except perhaps to interrupt an existing unwanted state of the mind. But note that if something important is going on in consciousness, interrupting it by practicing any form of concentration will only provide temporary relief. Without eliminating the stresses that we have accumulated in our nervous systems, problems cannot be solved, life cannot improve, and our desire for peace and happiness cannot be satisfied.
"We normally live our life on the level of thoughts, feelings, and actions. For most of us, any large experience or challenge, such as a boss yelling at us, will generate a stress that will further limit the functioning of the nervous system and produce problems in life. Concentration can only produce more intense thoughts, feelings, or perceptions, which all occur only in the mind. But this creates nothing new: we already live our life in the mind and world.
"Transcending, at first glance, seems also to use the mind, since it involves the mental use of a mantra. But the mental use of a meaningless sound only uses the mind temporarily as part of the inward stroke of transcending. By keeping the mind active, yet without a direction imposed by a meaning, the mind is free to move in the direction of its fundamental desire for peace and happiness. By the end of the inward stroke, which may only take a few minutes, or less, the mind has been left behind and we enjoy a state of pure awareness, pure consciousness. This has been called absorption in the self in some spiritual traditions.
Note that this inward stroke of transcending is the opposite of concentration: there is no attempt to keep experience focused or unchanging. Instead, the mind is free to move toward greater silence and joy, which is where it really wants to go. It doesn't want to exert energy keeping focused on one point--and such practices are very tiring.
"Another difference with other paths to self improvement is that the deep rest produced by transcending allows the nervous system to begin eliminating its load of stored stresses (http://www.nsrusa.org/about-stress.php). This unusually deep rest generates the outward stroke of transcending, in which the mind naturally fills with thoughts, feelings, and other side effects of stress release. It is this outward stroke and its elimination of stresses that produces the actual improvements we see in our life: deep refreshment, clear perceptions, greater energy, improved sleep, enhanced relationships, greater productivity, and all the rest of the long possible list of benefits. It does this by eliminating our stored stresses. Concentration simply cannot do this.
"I'm sorry that this initial response does not directly answer your questions. If you can provide a detailed and clear explanation of Jhanas, I will be happy to discuss their relationship with transcending. I look forward to your reply. "
