Material Jhana and Immaterial Jhana

In the traditional factor analysis, Rupa Jhana (Material Jhana) is characterized by five principal factors, which gradually decrease as you progress from the first jhana to the second, third, and fourth. In this simplified factor summary, the fourth jhana is described in terms of one-pointedness and equanimity. The suttas also emphasize neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling and the purity of mindfulness through equanimity. These two, one-pointedness and equanimity, are not confined to the material jhana but continue into the immaterial jhana. In NBEF practice, we begin with the sensation of the breath at the philtrum. This location is a practical instruction, rather than a requirement in the suttas. The suttas describe in-and-out breathing as having ceased in the fourth jhana.

1. Applied thought (Vitakka)

2. Sustained thought (Vicara)

3. Rapture (Piti)

4. Happiness (Sukha)

5. One-pointedness (Ekaggata)

In the same simplified factor summary, equanimity and one-pointedness characterize the four immaterial jhanas or spheres (Arupa Jhana), much like the fourth material jhana. In the four immaterial Jhanas, the object of concentration changes at each stage. The objects of concentration in the four Jhanas are infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception.

1. Equanimity (Upekkha)

2. One-pointedness (Ekaggata)