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Writer's pictureTomás Morales y Durán

Inside The First Jhāna


Copyright © 2023 Tomas Morales Duran. All rights reserved


If you have arrived here and you have not succeeded, go back and restart. I don't know what you're doing here. If you did, congratulations. You have meditated. And if it's the first time, for the first time. You can already begin to see what this meditating is about and how little it has to do with the annoying torment of going through minutes with the distant hope of reaching the damn hour. You already saw that meditating is not about trying to pretend to meditate.


And you saw that, while meditating, you don't breathe, and it's not just because of rudeness.


You already saw that meditation is something totally personal and not a social activity in a "meditation factory". You already saw that it is gratifying, much more than the feeling of happiness when you drink your tea after managing to overcome, one more day, your hour of punishment. You also saw that time runs differently. And that the world does not draw words when you return, that everything is new as for the eyes of the newborn.


And that everything happens after meditation. And it changes you. As natural as eating or sleeping, it restores you. Turning off the brain, getting rid of brain parasites is health. Pure Life.


Now you realize that, for the first time, you think only if you want to think. The run-run is gone. That verbiage that accompanied you all your life is not you. That it was pure noise. It was not your mind, nor was it you because you have never controlled it. How good it is to live in silence in the midst of the maelstrom of daily life when you can disconnect from your human life and ascend to other spheres, to other dimensions.


When you acquire practice, when your brain dusts off its abandoned circuits due to lack of use, you will see that it is becoming easier, that it takes less time to do more. And the day will come when you sit down and the unexpected happens. Just by sitting, without further exercise, you will go into jhāna, a much deeper jhāna.


It is the second jhāna… and so on.


Take the opportunity to find a place worthy of the devas, look for them and make friends. But don't get attached either, because his cell, even though it's prettier than yours, is in the conditioned prison, in Samsara itself.


You have just learned how to go out and now it is your turn to search and explore. You have left the world and now you can contemplate it, even if you do not have words in your backpack to express it, you see for yourself what Wittgenstein speculated.


There you have it. Here you are: out of the world, out of language.

Congratulations.


And don't forget this:



MN 120: Rebirth by a Certain Disposition

This I have heard.

At one time, the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta Grove, in the Anāthapiṇḍika Monastery. There the Buddha addressed the bhikkhus:

“Bhikkhus!

"Venerable sir," they replied.

The Buddha said this:

"I will teach you rebirth by a certain disposition." Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.

"Yes, sir," they replied.

The Buddha said this:

—Take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He thinks: "If, at least, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of wealthy chatrias!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He thinks, "If only when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of well-to-do Brahmins... well-to-do householders."

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, take a bhikkhu who has faith, ethics, preparation, generosity and wisdom. He heard: "The Devas of the Four Great Kings are long-lived, beautiful and very happy." He thinks: "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the Devas of the Four Great Kings!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard: “The Devas of the Thirty-Three... the Devas of Yama... the Blissful Devas... the Devas who Love to Create... the Devas who Control the Creations of Others are long-lived, beautiful and very happy. ». He thinks: "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the Devas who Control the Creations of Others!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard: "The Brahma who rules over a thousand world systems is long-lived, beautiful and very happy." Now the Brahmā who rules over a thousand world systems beholds determined to invade a galaxy of a thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. Just as a person can take a nut in his hand and examine it, so also the Brahmā who rules over a thousand world systems beholds determined to invade a galaxy of a thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. He thinks, "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of Brahmā who rules over a thousand world systems!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard, "The Brahmā of two thousand... the Brahmā of three thousand... the Brahmā of four thousand... the Brahmā of five thousand is long-lived, beautiful and very happy." Now the five thousand Brahmā contemplates determined to invade a galaxy of five thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. Just as a person can take five nuts in his hand and examine them, so too the Brahmā of five thousand beholds determined to invade a galaxy of five thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. He thinks, "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the Brahmā of five thousand!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard: "The Brahmā of ten thousand is long-lived, beautiful and very happy." Now the Brahmā of ten thousand contemplates determined to invade a galaxy of ten thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. Suppose there were a beryl gem that was naturally beautiful, eight-faceted, and well-treated lowered. When placed on a cream colored rug it will shimmer and shine and radiate. In the same way, the Brahmā of ten thousand contemplates determined to penetrate a galaxy of ten thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. He thinks, "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the Brahmā of ten thousand!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard, "The hundred thousand Brahmā is long-lived, beautiful and very happy." Now the Brahmā of a hundred thousand contemplates determined to penetrate a galaxy of a hundred thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings that are reborn there. Suppose there was a rare gold ornament, crafted by a skilled blacksmith, well worked in the forge. When placed on a cream colored rug it will shimmer and shine and radiate. In the same way, the Brahmā of a hundred thousand beholds determined to invade a galaxy of a hundred thousand solar systems, as well as the living beings who are reborn there. He thinks, "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the hundred thousand Brahmā!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He heard: "The Radiant Devas... the Devas of Limited Radiance... the Devas of Limitless Radiance... the Brilliant Devas... the Devas of Limited Glory... the Devas of Limitless Glory... the Devas of Efulgent Beauty... the Devas of Abundant Results... the Vehapphala Devas... the Aviha Devas... the Atappa Devas... the Sudassa Devas... the Sudassi Devas... the Akanittha Devas... the Devas of an Empty Place... the Devas of a Place Without Known Limits... the Devas of Nowhere... the Devas of the Absence of the Clinging Factors to Existence are long-lived, beautiful and very happy». He thinks: "If only, when my body disintegrates, after death, I were reborn in the company of the devas of the Absence of the Clinging Factors to Existence!"

He settles in that disposition, stabilizes it and develops it. That disposition and that training of yours, thus developed and cultivated, leads to rebirth there. This is the path and practice that leads to rebirth there.

Also, let us take the case of a bhikkhu endowed with faith, ethics, training, frugality and wisdom. He thinks: "If only I could achieve the liberation of consciousness through the episteme in this very lifetime, and live having achieved it with my own paranormal abilities due to the eradication of the underlying tendencies." He achieves the liberation of consciousness through the episteme in this very life. And he lives having achieved it with his own episteme due to the eradication of the underlying tendencies. And, bhikkhus, that bhikkhu is not reborn anywhere.

That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the bhikkhus were happy with what the Buddha said.


And finally, a warning:


AN 4.123: Difference (I)

“Bhikkhus, these four people are in the world.

"What four?"

—First of all, a bhikkhu, completely aloof from sense pleasures, aloof from harmful qualities, enters and merges into the first jhāna, having the pleasure, happiness and joy arising from recollection, while directing the mind and keeps her focused.

He enjoys it and likes it and finds it satisfying. If he remains in it, he commits himself to it and contemplates often without losing it, when he dies he is reborn in the company of the Devas of Brahmā's retinue. The lifespan of the Devas of Brahmā's retinue is one aeon. An ordinary person stays there until the life of those devas is exhausted, then he goes to hell or the animal kingdom or the kingdom of hungry spirits. But a disciple of the Buddha remains there until the life of those devas is exhausted, then he is extinguished in that very life.

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