Conclusion

The jhanas are not easy. Just reaching the first jhana is a huge meditative success that only some meditators will achieve. The good news is that understanding the determinants of success—the key factors for attaining jhana—enables working more effectively toward fulfilling the three of the four you can influence. That’s the purpose of this manual—to help make jhana training as effective as possible. Effort alone, even if persistent, is not enough. Trying harder doesn’t always imply better results. To bear fruit, the effort needs to be smart and rightly directed.

 

In this manual, I’ve shared the most relevant “tips and tricks” I’m aware of for developing samadhi from the most basic practice of mindfulness of breathing, through the four jhanas, all the way to the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha samapatti)—the highest meditative attainment possible according to the early Buddhist scriptures. It combines an ancient tradition (the meditative states are based on texts dating back over 2,000 years), a pragmatic analytical approach, and practical knowledge gained through personal experience with all the meditative states discussed, not learned from any book or scripture.

 

The fact that formal meditation instructions do not take up the lion’s share of the manual illustrates the importance of everything surrounding the formal meditation techniques. It’s a holistic approach.

 

I wish all those on the path of meditation a smooth journey from mindfulness toward the utmost peace of cessation.

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What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

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                    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe[1]

 

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[1] Paraphrased by John Anster. For details, see Quote Investigator, February 9, 2016, https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/02/09/boldness/.