Generate sufficient concentration to move beyond an egocentric perspective, which allows for a better chance of seeing what is actually happening in reality.
To learn Jhana meditation, plan to attend a minimum 10-day residential retreat, leaving behind daily responsibilities like work and family, as this environment is conducive to learning.
Begin meditation practice by generating a basic level of indistractability, known as ‘access concentration,’ which is the sufficient concentration needed to gain access to the Jhanas.
Achieve access concentration by using various methods such as following the breath, systematic body scans, loving-kindness (metta) meditation, or silently repeating a mantra.
After achieving access concentration, shift your attention from your primary meditation object (e.g., breath) to any pleasant sensation in the body, such as a genuine smile, warmth in the hands, the heart center, top of the head, or a tingling in the third eye area.
Once focused on a pleasant sensation, do nothing else but stay with it; this sustained attention will eventually cause the sensation to increase in intensity and propel you into the first Jhana, characterized by glee and joy.
Remain in the first Jhana for a period inversely proportional to its intensity (e.g., 10-30 seconds for strong, 5-10 minutes for mild), being careful not to ‘freak out’ from its power, which can cause it to dissipate.
To move to the second Jhana, take a nice deep breath, exhale to calm the physical glee (Piti), and shift your attention to the emotional component of joy and happiness (Sukha).
To enter the third Jhana, take another deep breath, exhale to further calm the mind, and allow the joy/happiness to transform into a sense of deep contentment and wishlessness, focusing on this very still, pleasant feeling.
To reach the fourth Jhana, let go of the pleasure of contentment, relax any subtle ‘Buddha smile’ to neutral, and allow your mind to drop into a state of quiet stillness, described as beyond pleasure and pain, and emotionally neutral.
From the quiet stillness of the fourth Jhana, get in touch with the boundaries of your being and imagine expanding them without limit (e.g., filling the room, building, town, horizon), focusing on this outward expansion until a vast, empty space appears.
After experiencing infinite space, shift your attention from the space itself to your consciousness of that space, becoming aware of your awareness, which will make your mind feel absolutely huge, as big as the space.
From infinite consciousness, shift your attention to the lack of content within that consciousness; focus on this sense of ’nothing’ or ’no-thingness’ as it stabilizes and gets a bit bigger.
From the seventh Jhana’s nothingness, allow the ’nothing’ to collapse and come to rest in front of your face, observing if your mind enters a state that has no describable characteristics, yet you are aware of being in it.
After experiencing the Jhanas (especially the fourth or higher), stay there for a while, then come out and start doing your insight practice, which is an investigation of reality with a jhanically concentrated mind.
Sit in a comfortable, upright posture that allows you to meditate without fighting physical pain; use pillows or a chair if necessary to avoid straining your back or muscles.
Approach all meditation practice with ‘relaxed diligence,’ meaning you put in consistent effort without forcing or trying too hard, allowing states to arise naturally and most effectively.
When practicing for Jhanas, maintain exclusive attention on your chosen object; if distractions arise, immediately return to the object without labeling or investigating the distraction.
In insight practice, if you get carried away by a distraction (e.g., planning), turn your attention to it, label it, relax any associated tension, and then bring your attention back to your primary object.
Recognize that whatever state of mind you have a tendency to hang out in becomes your default; therefore, intentionally cultivate pleasant and blissful states to enhance your natural mental baseline.