Part 2: More about the meditative absorptions

by Caroline | Apr 13, 2026 | Meditation

In a previous article, we spoke about the first four Jhanas, or meditative absorptions. In this article we discuss in brief the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Jhanas.

The first four absorptions are called rupa-jhanas in Pali where rupa means body and jhana means absorption – this means that whilst the experience we may have is familiar to us, such as joy and contentment, it would feel more refined.

The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Jhanas are referred to as arupa-jhanas, where the “a” is translated as “not” which means that the experience in these jhanas is not like what we have consciously experienced before and are purely spiritual in nature.

Ayya Khema in her book 'Visible Here and Now' 2001, pg.116, said that, “the jhanas are comparable to a house with eight rooms. While staying in one room of the house, we may decide to visit another one, but we can also stay put. The decision to go into another room means inclining and aiming the mind in that direction. This decision opens up our consciousness to something new and prevents the rejection of what can’t be grasped by the senses.”

The Buddha said that while we shouldn’t force anything, we can continuously open ourselves up to the next stage.

The Fifth Jhana – infinite space
This is where there is an expansion of the body until there are no more limits. One can visualise this perhaps as a camera zooming out from a person, to a house, to a suburb, a country, the earth, the solar system, the universe, the multiverse to infinity.
This can lead to a feeling that worldly things are not that important and don’t affect us so much. In this infinity, one can start to feel the sense of no “I”.

The Sixth Jhana – infinite consciousness
The experience of infinite space moves into infinite consciousness. This is where we become aware of the consciousness in us that is aware of the infinite space.

This is the realisation that the “I” is not separate and there is only a whole that the “I” is a part of. The droplet becomes aware that it is a part of, and not separate to, the ocean.

Of course, we still need to live in the material world with this awareness, but being aware of the oneness and that everything passes away can help us with clinging to things too tightly which can cause suffering.

The Seventh Jhana – the “sphere of no-thingness”
Science and physics indicate that matter is energy vibrating at a different level and matter is interchangeable with energy (Albert Einstein’s famous E=mc2 equation).

So energy comes together and disperses. We (and everything else) is merely a movement of energy, contracting and expanding. Even our body regenerates cells and does not stay the same.

Some people have been reported as being able to levitate or pass through walls - they have truly understood that “there is nothing but particles of energy that come together and disperse”. (Ayya Khema “Visible Here and Now” 2001, pg. 119). This is a deep understanding that there is really nothing to cling to.

The Eighth Jhana – the “sphere of neither perception or non-perception”
The eighth jhana is a profound infinite depth of rest and stillness in body and mind that excludes perception. It is not a trance like state where one emerges feeling groggy and tired, but rather where one emerges full of energy and awake.

What can this mean for us…

If we continue with our practice and experience these different levels of consciousness, it is impossible not to have a changed consciousness in everyday life.

The Buddha said about the jhanas: "It is impossible to calculate the breadth of influence of a person who practices the jhanas".

Even if a person sits in a cave and pays no attention to worldly matters, he or she has a powerful influence on what takes place in the world (Ayya Khema “Visible Here and Now” 2001, pg. 120).

Reference: Visible Here and Now, 2001 by Ayya Khema

Part 1: The aim of meditation

by Caroline | Apr 9, 2026 | Meditation

The aim of meditation is to calm the mind, be more effective, less stressed and more focused, right? Yes, and so much more…

Meditation has become a bussword in corporate circles for its potential to help executives raise their performance. Advertisements for corporate meditation programs include comments such as… 

“Executive meditation offers a potent toolkit for leaders aiming to refine their decision-making ability and overall leadership excellence. By dedicating a few minutes each day to mindfulness practices, you can significantly boost focus, emotional balance, and cognitive flexibility.”

“Mindfulness meditation increased performance on all executive functioning tasks”

So is that what it’s all about? I’m sure it does as advertised, but that is just the surface, meditation can be so much more.

Buddha spoke of the 8 Jhanas (meditative absorptions). What did he mean by this? Let’s briefly explore the first 4 Jhanas:

There’s quite a bit to it and It’s a journey, not a destination… Buddha said that, “growth, which ultimately leads to perfect freedom, is a gradual process”.

The First Jhana – Building Contentment and Patience

We firstly build contentment by learning to become aware of and let go of our expectations, e.g. if we start out our meditation with an expectation of how it should go and then it doesn’t met expectations, we become disappointed and discontented. But if we started our meditation indifferent to how it will go, we are able to gain a sense of satisfaction however it turns out. This expands into letting go of daily excessive demands and expectations of self and others which can result in greater peace and contentment in day-to-day life.

Secondly, it is to build patience especially firstly with ourselves in our meditation practice. It is all part of a journey, and it is okay to not have the perfect meditation session. The Buddha said, “Intention is kharma”, so just by setting out with the intent to meditate you progress on your spiritual path.

The Second Jhana – building feelings of happiness

With more practice we come to understand how impermanent everything is, nothing stays the same, everything changes, including ourselves. We will stop being dependent on anyone or anything to make us happy anymore. We have developed our own self confidence and don’t need to buy, eat, consume, possess anything external to be happy. We will understand deeply that both positive and negative experiences come and go, and we can face both with peace and serenity.

The Third and Fourth Jhana’s – a peaceful mind

If we reach this point, we are grateful to have acquired a great deal of good kamma.

Sometimes this altered state of mind may be created by chemical or other mind-altering substances, but the mind isn’t prepared for this and can’t gain any deep insights. When achieving this inner peace through the third jhana, we can carry over some of this insight into everyday life.

Up until the beginning of the fourth jhana, the ego is still the observer. In the fourth jhana we move into a state of equanimity (defined as a state of mental balance and even mindedness, or immeasurable peace). We realise that the purpose and end of meditation is not to find inner peace (when we manage to hold onto this peace for long enough, we become clear that this can’t be all there is). We lose sense of the “I”, have absolute clarity of mind and understand that people’s problems are caused by thinking and reacting.  We attain a level of consciousness without dukkha (suffering).

We have a taste of letting go of self/ego. The more we practice the easier it becomes. Everyone has a different experience with this path, but all can do it. 

This is just a very brief explanation of the 4 Jhanas. 

More about the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Jhanas next time!