The inner life
Jhana
Direct answer
Jhana is the Pali word for a state of deep meditative absorption; the early Buddhist texts describe four, each quieter than the last.
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At a glance
- Also called
- dhyana, meditative absorption
- Found in
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Related
- Samatha, Vipassana, Zen, Mindfulness
Jhana is the Pali word for a state of deep meditative absorption; the early Buddhist texts describe four, each quieter than the last.
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What does jhana mean?
A jhana is a state in which attention is so collected on its object that the usual stream of sense impressions and thoughts falls away. The Pali discourses describe four. The first has applied and sustained attention, rapture and happiness; in the second the directing of attention drops out; in the third rapture fades into contentment; the fourth is pure equanimity. Four formless attainments are often counted after them.
The Sanskrit form of the word is dhyana. It travelled to China as chan and to Japan as zen, so the name of the Zen school means, at root, meditation.
On the tree of the hidden arts: Meditation.
What sets Jhana apart
The jhanas are unusual in being defined by a checklist. Each is marked by which of five factors are present: applied attention, sustained attention, rapture, happiness and one-pointedness. Moving up is a matter of losing factors, not adding them, so the higher states are plainer. The discourses compare the first to bath powder kneaded through with water and the fourth to a man wrapped head to foot in a white cloth.
- Language: Pali jhana; Sanskrit dhyana
- Number: four, plus four formless attainments in later counts
- Five factors: vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha, ekaggata
- Place on the path: the definition of right concentration in the eightfold path
- Descendant words: Chinese chan, Japanese zen, Korean seon
Often mistaken for something else: Samatha is the practice of calming the mind; a jhana is a particular state that the practice may arrive at.
The story behind Jhana
The four jhanas appear throughout the Pali Canon as the definition of right concentration, the eighth part of the eightfold path. The canon also tells how the Buddha recalled a first jhana from his childhood and took it as the way forward. Buddhaghosa's fifth-century Visuddhimagga set a very high standard for them. Modern teachers disagree on how deep a state must be to earn the name.
Why Jhana matters
Jhana gives a vocabulary for depths of concentration, and explains why Buddhist texts treat calm as a set of distinct stages and not a single mood.
How to read Jhana
The term appears in retreat instructions and in commentaries when a teacher describes how far concentration has gone and which qualities are present.
Jhana in practice: an example
On retreat a meditator finds a spreading pleasure in the breath, and the teacher says only: note it, and keep to the breath.
Where readings of Jhana go wrong
Accounts of who reaches these states, and how easily, vary greatly; chasing them is a fault the traditions name, and intensive practice is best done with a teacher.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Aliases
- jhana meditation, jhanas, dhyana, four jhanas, jhana meaning, meditative absorption
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What does jhana mean?
It is Pali for meditation or absorption, from a root meaning to contemplate. It names states of deep, steady concentration reached through calm meditation.
How many jhanas are there?
Four in the early discourses, often called the form jhanas. Later lists add four formless attainments, such as boundless space, and speak of eight.
Are jhana and dhyana the same word?
Yes. Jhana is the Pali form and dhyana the Sanskrit. Chinese monks rendered dhyana as chan, which became zen in Japanese, seon in Korean and thien in Vietnamese.
