Meditation

How long does it really take to attain jhana? The honest answer is longer than the popular ones — and it points to a deeper kind of jhana than what often goes by the name today. On where the suttas actually set the bar.

Theravada orthodoxy says only non-returners and arahants can reach nirodha samapatti, the cessation of perception and feeling — and many believe reaching it carries you to awakening. I disagree with both claims. Here is what the suttas do and don't say about who can attain it and what follows, alongside what I found in my own practice.