This article by Altair is part of an essay originally posted on http://www.thelightitself.com that explores the relationship between Theravada Buddhist meditation and Thelema, the religion of Aleister Crowley. It attempts to bridge the two traditions together and reveals their similarities. It proposes a clear correspondence between the concepts exposed in Thelema in Buddhist terms so that Thelemites can explore Concentration Meditation and Insight Meditation of the Theravada tradition.
Part 2 brings us deeper into Concentration Meditation at the discovery of Dhyana and more.
Upon repeated basking in the luminous pleasure of Dharana, the practitioner is taken into Dhyana. The term Dhyana or Jhana is usually translated as absorption and it is literally how it feels. The consciousness is absorbed through the cranial suture into a blinding light in the Crown Chakra, spirited away. The transition is often announced by what could be characterized as a sensory overload: bright light, ringing or roaring in the ear, buzzing skin… It can be so overwhelming that one is quickly taken back down into mundane reality. The intimidation can take a while to master and the swinging back and forth of consciousness can mark the end of the meditation session, in frustration or confusion. Every peek in the Light, ever so short, is the discovery of a lifetime. It should be treasured. With practice, the transition gets softer and consciousness adapts itself to the brightness of the Light.
The sine qua non condition of Dhyana is the absence of discursive thought. The brain is still active with non-verbal thoughts and the practitioner is present. Crowley described it in these words: “The condition of thought, time and space are abolished.” (Book 4 Pt.I p.31) If the question “Is this Dhyana?” arises, it isn’t Dhyana. To enter this place, the mind has been surrendered, so to speak. One of the oddities of Dhyana is the ability to decide before-hand how long the practitioner wants to stay. There is no sense of time in Dhyana, but something has a sense of time in there. It is amazing how precise the timing can be. The practitioner will often come out of absorption only a few seconds off the appointed time.
The Dhyana state in Buddhist tradition is constituted of Five Factors of Jhana (in yogic terms, these would of course be premised on the three essential elements of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss or Sat, Chit, Ananda). The Five Factors of Jhana are:
- Applied Concentration
- Sustained Concentration
- Rapture
- Happiness
- One-pointedness.
The Buddhists separate the Jhana into eight individual states, the most important of which are the first four. Each Jhana should be seen as a purer version of the previous one, each Jhana losing some Factors of its predecessor. The First Jhana has all the Five Factors (Applied Concentration, Sustained Concentration, Rapture, Happiness and One-pointedness) and is characterized by a dominant sensation of mental excitement. The Second Jhana loses Applied Concentration and Sustained Concentration and is characterized by the dominant sensation of emotional happiness. Applied Concentration and Sustained Concentration are the precondition for discursive thinking, so it follows that in the First Jhana some small degree of discursive thought is possible, but it is very limited. In the Second Jhana discursive thought is completely gone. Therefore, it could be argued, if we want to be precise, that the Second Jhana is Crowley’s Dhyana. The Third Jhana loses Rapture and is characterized by the dominant sensation of peaceful contentment. The Fourth Jhana only keeps the One-Pointedness and is characterized by the dominant sensation of stability and equanimity. The progress through the Jhanas could be described as going deeper from the mental excitement of Rapture to the emotional Happiness and finally to the pure experiential equanimity; peeling one layer after another, from the mind to the core of consciousness. As mentioned before, there is no conscious thought in Dhyana so these sensations aren’t mentally recognized or labeled. The practitioner feels them without knowing precisely what is felt. However, upon exiting the Dhyana, those sensations will be accessible. They will be remembered and experienced anew. Theravada tradition lists series of attainment aimed at perfecting the Jhana and called them the Five Masteries. They are as follows:
- Mastery in entering the Jhana when one wants to.
- Mastery in remaining in the Jhana for as long as one has determined.
- Mastery in emerging from the Jhana at the determined time.
- Mastery in adverting one’s attention to the factors of the Jhana after one has emerged from it.
- Mastery in reviewing the factors of the Jhana (i.e. practicing Insight Meditation on the factors).
These masteries should be applied to each of the Four Jhana individually. This practice will refine the Dhyana causing the Five Factors to drop one by one and ultimately leading to the equanimity of the Fourth Jhana, which could be equated to Crowley’s Samadhi.
Once the Five Factors of Jhana have subsided, the only thing that remains is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. This is Samadhi as Crowley intended it, the perfected Dhyana. In Theravada Buddhism, Samadhi isn’t specifically considered a state of consciousness. It more or less equates to the fifth of the Five Factors of the Jhana, One-pointedness. The only one that remains once the Fourth Jhana is attained. It is safe to assume that Crowley’s Samadhi corresponds to the Fourth Jhana of Buddhism. The reason why it is the fourth and not the eighths and final one is because the Fifth Jhana to the Eighth Jhana, called Immaterial Jhanas, are considered modes or aspects of the Fourth Jhana. Samadhi being a perfected Dhyana, it shouldn’t be pursued on its own. Dhyana should. Once Dhyana is attained, it will naturally purify itself into Samadhi with practice. The two states are very similar and only differ in intensity and purity. When Crowley talks about the state of Samadhi, it can safely be replaced with the state of Dhyana. The benefits of Dhyana on the practice of magick for example are the same as that of Samadhi. The only difference is the strength. It could be argued that reaching Dhyana is a more important milestone. On a side note regarding Samadhi, it is worth mentioning that Crowley had a bad tendency of using the word Samadhi as a synonym of union (like Buddhist do), not as the actual state. It is confusing and unfortunate. Whenever Crowley spoke of Samadhi in a context where the practitioner is doing something, physically or mentally, he was being poetic, because little can be done in the state devoid of discursive thought that is Samadhi.
To speak further of Samadhi as Aleister Crowley intended it, in Liber AL, Nuit answers the question “Who am I?” with the surprisingly practical answer:
”Thou Knowst! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, and the omnipresence of my body.”
These lines describe Samadhi in no uncertain terms. “Thou Knowst” as the practitioner has the wisdom of who he or she is, from personal experience: GNOSIS. And “the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence“ or Ananda, Chit and Sat. Sat Chit Ananda are presented here in reverse, because that is how they are experienced in Samadhi. First the meditator is overwhelmed by bliss, then comes the realization that the source of that bliss is the consciousness of existence. Samadhi is “The omnipresence of my body” as it is the continuous body of Nuit itself. Samadhi is the state of Nuit. It should also be noted that the Nimitta mentioned earlier means sign.
Beyond Samadhi is the mysterious state of Nirodha Samappati, only accessible to more advanced meditators (the Anagami and the Arahant in Theravada doctrine). Of the three elements of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, at least one disappears: Consciousness. Without consciousness it is impossible to tell whether the other two elements are still present. Can unknown Bliss be said to exist? As for Existence, we can infer that we still exist in Nirodha since we can come out of the elusive state. Nirodha can only be understood by studying the sensations preceding and succeeding it. We know Nirodha from its silhouette. There is a divinely inspired lesson here: to reach for the unknowable and incomprehensible one can observe the negative space around it, which, by definition, can be known and understood. Even though Nirodha is the luxury of the most advanced meditator, there is a similar state that is accessible earlier. Fruition, also characterized by the absence of consciousness, often happens in the context of Insight, when something new has been learned. The practitioner curious to study Fruition will get a glimpse at Nirodha and peek through the fabric of reality. Let’s attempt an overview of the phenomenon of Fruition and Nirodha. An analogy could be made with an operating system needing the computer to shut down to finish installing a new update. Both Fruition and Nirodha feel like reality stops and reboots. They are followed by an exalted vibration in the body. The practitioner coming out is a different person altogether. The peak of the effect wanes quickly leaving room for an afterglow characterized by the ease of spiritual practice. A state without consciousness is unsurprisingly hard to control and only lasts for a split second and rarely more. With practice however, it can last up to six days for the most advanced practitioners. So it follows that the beginner might experience Fruition and Nirodha and be at a loss as to what happened. In truth it doesn’t really matter. Progress is being made. Mastering Nirodha, in the system of the A∴A∴, is the privilege of the Ipsissimus. The reason is unclear. Why would a state of consciousness that can be mastered even before crossing the Abyss (by an Anagami in Theravada tradition) be assigned to the aspirant at the last stage of the work? The grade of Magus is already an outstanding accomplishment on the level of the greatest Prophets. Not many people would practice Nirodha if it was such a feat, yet clearly a few people do. Maybe it was placed there because it could be said that Nirodha is the practice of Pan, the Fool. Nirodha is a great oblivion: existence stripped of knowledge.
One of the benefits of Concentration Meditation for magicians is the development of a view of consciousness that is premised on states. Magicians sometimes talk about entering a trance state without specifying what kind of trance. First of all, a trance is a state of consciousness. Seeing it as such is a key step in recognizing its nature and complexity. Secondly, it follows that there are many types of states of consciousness. Dhyana is one and Samadhi is another. How do they differ? The practitioner will encounter many more such states, some of his or her own making. When that happens, it is well advised to define the experience in order to understand it and find a way to return to the state in question. How does the body feel? What about the mind? Is there anything particular in terms of energy? Are the senses of space, time or self altered in any way? These are the basic questions one must ponder in order to understand the state of one’s own consciousness, which is the essence of being. Insight Meditation, as we will soon see, will give us tools to deepen the analysis. Another major advantage of Concentration Meditation for magicians is the afterglow, the state of exaltation one is left in after a deep meditative experience. Dhyana and Samadhi (as well as Nirodha) have a powerful after effect that sets the meditator in an elevated frame of mind propitious to perform magick or any spiritual practice.[1] These are best discovered by personal experience. Experiment!
For the mystic on another hand, Concentration Meditation is the way to true GNOSIS, a direct experience of the divine. The emotional impact is overwhelming, the spiritual progress ascertained. However, the exaltation is temporary. For a steady, albeit less intense, union with the divine, we must turn to Insight Meditation.
In part 3 we will explore Insight Meditation.
[1] See “Path of Purification: A Critical Analysis of the Jhanas” by Henepola Gunaratana for further exploration on the topic. The book “Mastering the Core Teaching of the Buddha” by Daniel M. Ingram also has a chapter on powers that might interest the reader.
Responses
Thank you for sharing brother! As always a treat to share in your thoughts. Can’t wait for the Book of Attainment to go live!