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The characteristic manifestations of absorption

Jhana-Nimitta

October 1, 2004

By the contemplative recluse monk Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)

(copyright 2004 all rights reserved)

In the Discourses of the Buddha the Buddha occasionally mentioned a Pali term "jhana-nimitta" or "samatha-nimittan" (see references below) in reference to the absorption states, which he called jhana. Jhana-nimitta is often rendered into English as the "sign of absorption" (jhana).  I believe it would be better to translate "jhana-nimitta" as the "characteristics of absorption." Or another word in the English language would be "charism" which is a term from contemplative Christianity that generally means the charismatic phenomena that is associated with the personal religious experience (absorption).

Charism n. Theology
and Charismatic adj.
1. Of, relating to, or characterized by charisma: "the warmth of a naturally charismatic leader" (Joyce Carol Oates).
2. Theology. Of, relating to, or being a type of Christianity that emphasizes personal religious experience and divinely inspired powers, as of healing, prophecy, and the gift of tongues. (1)

In the case of a contemplative who has arrived at the absorption states, they have thus arrived at the personal religious experience.  And, by experiencing a personal religious experience the individual knows they are in such an experience because it is typically accompanied by charismatic phenomena.  Sidharta Gotama would have called that charismatic phenomena "jhana-nimitta." 

The Pali term "nimitta," has a broader use than the narrower compound term "jhana-nimitta." Nimitta simply means "characteristics" or "sign" and is often associated with sensory experience, where the contemplative is paying attention to the characteristics of an object of desire.  However, Sidharta Gotama also used nimitta in conjunction with absorption to indicate that there were indeed characteristic phenomena that a contemplative could look for as a sign that absorption had arisen.

While the Pali compound term jhana-nimitta is not used in the Satipatthanasamyutta sutta, this sutta is nonetheless one of the best reference for jhana-nimitta in the Discourses of the Buddha (sutta pitaka).

SN 8 (8) The Competent Cook

"Suppose, monks, a wise, competent (and) skillful cook were to present a king or royal minister with various kinds of curries...that wise...cook observes the sign of his master"s preferences."
"So too, monks, here some wise, competent, skillful monk dwells contemplating the physical body, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world.  While he (or she) dwells contemplating the physical body, his (her) mind becomes absorbed, his (her) corruptions are abandoned, he (she) picks up the sign (nimitta).  He (she) dwells contemplating the sensations...cognition...phenomena, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world.  While he dwells contemplating phenomena, his (her) mind becomes absorbed, his (her) corruptions are abandoned he (she) picks up the sign (nimitta)" of absorption (2).

The orthodox Theravadan belief is the sign of absorption (jhana) only manifest as a residual image from the practice of kasina meditation, which is a type of visual meditation object, however, I believe this is a rather narrow, and thus too restrictive a definition for jhana-nimitta, especially since it does not take into account the subjective quality of absorption. In fact I have found absorption is often accompanied by a wide range of characteristic phenomena.  I believe it is these charismatic phenomena that are the true jhana-nimitta or characteristics of absorption, not just a residual image impressed upon the retina or the visual hemisphere of the brain through the habitual use of a visual meditation object (kasina).  And, I have also found these charismatic phenomena are readily available to all contemplatives, not just those practicing kasina (visual) meditation, or just Buddhists.  And, Siddharta Gotama assures of the importance of recognizing the sign of absorption and the need to grasp at that sign in the Sangiti Sutta (DN 33).

Sangiti Sutta (DN 33.1.9.24)
"There are [sets of] two things that were perfectly proclaimed by the Lord"
(24) "The sign of calm and grasping the sign (samatha-nimittan ca paggaha-nimittan ca)."
Sangiti Sutta (DN 33.2.1.25)
"There are [sets of] five things that were perfectly proclaimed by the Lord"
(25)(e) "when he (she) has properly grasped some (absorption)-sign (samadhi-nimittam), has well considered it, applied his (her) mind to it (supadharitam) and has penetrated it with wisdom (suppatividdham pannaya).  At this joy arises in him (her), and from this joy, delight; and by this delight his (her) senses are calmed, he (she) feels happiness as a result, and with this happiness his (her) mind is established." (3)

I have found that these charismatic phenomena can manifest in any of the senses, not just the visual sense.  In the Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN 20) we are in fact instructed that there are five signs (nimitta) of absorption.  While we are not told what these five signs are, I believe it is nonetheless implied that it is in the five senses.

Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN 20)
2. "Monks, when a monk is pursuing the higher mind, from time to time he (she) should give attention to five signs (nimitta)." (4)

Charismatic ringing seems to be a far more common charismatic manifestation than visual hallucination, and it is a classic example of auditory jhana-nimitta.  Many of the members of the Jhana Support Group (5) have reported charismatic ringing, which is typically an omnidirectional whirring, buzzing, ringing, rushing or whistling that seems to originate from the center of the head, and is a consequence of a rigorous meditation practice.

Some people discount charismatic ringing as simply a case of tinnitus.  The problem with this critique is tinnitus occurs as a consequence of a specific physical condition, such as an ear infection, the use of certain drugs, a blocked auditory tube or canal, or a head injury.  Where as charismatic ringing, or auditory jhana-nimitta, is a consequence of a rigorous meditation practice, and it typically intensifies during meditation practice.

tinnitus  n.
A sound in one ear or both ears, such as buzzing, ringing, or whistling, occurring without an external stimulus and usually caused by a specific condition, such as an ear infection, the use of certain drugs, a blocked auditory tube or canal, or a head injury. [Latin tinnhtus, from past participle of tinnhre, to ring, of imitative origin. (1)

I have found there are however other charismatic phenomena (jhana-nimitta) that are associated with absorption.  In fact it seems that every sense field can produce its own characteristic charismatic phenomena.  The tactile field has actually several phenomena.  The first is usually an increase of sensation in the area of any of the higher chakras (heart, throat, between the eye brows, crown of head).  Then there is a sensation in the hands and feet that are very much like the classic stigmata, and can even become painful in advanced stages of absorption.  Then there is a sensation as though one is wearing a cloak. This manifestation I believe is feeling one"s aura.  There are other tactile sensations as well.

There is even charismatic (jhana-nimitta) of smell and taste. Charismatic smell typically manifest as the smelling of a fragrance, such as incense or flowers not in season.  And, charismatic taste is typically tasting something sweet, such as honey, in the mouth without having eaten something to produce that sweat taste.

Charismatic visual manifestations are most typically hallucinations, such as waking dreams, but it can also manifest as a glow around objects, to even patterns of light in a darkened room.  These hallucinations can be vivid or semi-transparent, it just depends on one"s depth of absorption.

Finally there is also charismatic kinesthetic manifestation, which most often manifests as Out-of-Body (OOB) experiences.  This manifestation is so common among contemplatives that most who have given rise to the absorption states (jhanas) will have OOBs.  There are other manifestations of kinesthetic charisms as well.  The most common of which is a slight case of dizziness or vertigo, however charismatic vertigo is usually not accompanied by the nausea of vertigo.

So what value does the sign of absorption have other than to tell us that we are in absorption?  In the Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN 20) we are told that it is the very sign of absorption (jhana-nimitta) that will help us leave the unwholesome states and abide in the wholesome states, and that once one learns to do this he (she) is considered a "master of the courses of thought."

Vitakkasanthana Sutta (MN 20)
3. (i) "Here, monks, when a monk is giving attention to some sign, and owing to that sign there arise in him evil unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, with hate, and with delusion, then he (she) should give attention to some other sign connected with what is wholesome.  When he (she) give attention to...(the sign of)...what is wholesome, then any evil unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, with hate, and with delusion are abandoned in him (her) and subdued.  With the abandoning of them his (her) mind becomes steadied internally, quieted, brought to singleness, and (absorption)."
8. When "such evil unwholesome thoughts are abandoned in him (her)...and his (her) mind becomes steadied internally, quiet, brought to singleness, and (absorption) this monk is then called a master of the courses of thought." (4)

Finally in the Mahasaccaka Sutta (MN 36) we have the very key canonical support not only for the sign of absorption (jhana-nimitta) but the very best canonical support that the Buddha in fact used the absorption states (jhanas), and their characteristic phenomena (jhana-nimitta) as his means of enlightenment, and that he considered it the very "path to enlightenment."

Mahasaccaka Sutta (MN 36.30-32)
30. "I thought by this racking practice of austerities I have not attained any superhuman states, any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.  Could there be another path to enlightenment?"
31. "I considered (a recollection) when my father the Sakayan was occupied, while I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered upon and abided in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained (concentration/vitakka & vicára) with bliss (piiti) and pleasure (sukha) born of seclusion.  Could that be the path to enlightenment?  Then following on that memory, came the realization: That is the path of enlightenment."
32. "I thought: Why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensual pleasure and unwholesome states?  And, I thought: I am not afraid of that pleasure since it has nothing to do with sensual pleasure and unwholesome states."
34. "Now when I had eaten solid food and regained my strength, then quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered upon and abided in the first jhana...fourth jhana."
43. "When I knew and saw thus, my mind was liberated from the taints of sensual desire, from the taints of being, and from the taint of ignorance.  When it was liberated there came the knowledge: It is liberated.  I directly knew: Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being." (4)

later in this same sutta Sidharta Gotama also says that he continues to return and sustain his concentration upon the sign of absorption (jhana-nimitta) in his daily life.

45. "The Tathagata teaches the dhamma to others only to give them knowledge.  When the talk is finished, Aggivessana, then I steady my mind internally, quieten it, bring it to singleness, and (absorb) it on that same sign of absorption as before, in which I constantly abide." (4)

What is the consequence of being mindful all of the time of the charisms of absorption?  I have found after being with these charisms almost every day for 30 years that every waking moment this body is now saturated with the signs of absorption.  The consequence is I have become more happy (sukha) and fulfilled than I can ever recall being, and I feel this way every moment of every day.  And, when I sit down to meditate I drop into deeper absorption immediately. 

Sidharta Gotama in fact spoke of the importance of becoming saturated with absorption (jhana) in several suttas, such as the Samadhanga Sutta AN V. 28.  However what was it that he was speaking of that the monk would become saturated with?  I think it was the charisms, or characteristics of absorption (jhana-nimitta).

Samadhanga Sutta AN V. 28
"He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the bliss (piiti) and joy (sukha) born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by bliss (piiti) and joy (sukha) born from withdrawal." (6)

The characteristic phenomena or 'jhana-nimitta" of the contemplative often includes the various psychic powers as well.  I have too often found a rejection of the psychic powers within various Buddhist traditions to the point that charismatics are often shunned, rejected or dismissed because they have given rise to these various psychic powers spontaneously.

Through reading the record of numerous contemplatives on the Jhana Support Group I have found that most people who manifest any one of the charismatic phenomena (jhana-nimitta) typically manifest other characteristic charismatic phenomena, as well as various psychic abilities.  I understand my use of jhana-nimitta as charism has been highly contentious, however I believe translating jhana-nimitta only as 'sign' does not leave us with a clear understanding of the word. Since contemplatives who give rise to jhana always have at least one of a series of manifestations or symptoms that are characteristic of absorption (jhana), then I believe it is reasonable to extend the meaning of the Pali term 'jhana-nimitta' to mean the "characteristics of absorption" or charisms, and we should include the various psychic abilities as well.

In stark contrast to the common misconception among Buddhists that the psychic powers are to be rejected or ignored, the historic Buddha, as recorded in the Pali canon, spoke openly and freely about them, and even instructing his students in their use.  Here is a short glossary of charismatic phenomena, psychic abilities and absorption states the Buddha spoke about in the three published volumes of the Discourses of the Buddha with their references:

Canonical references for Supramundane Powers (lokuttara balani) Ecstatic and Charismatic Phenomena in the Sutta Pitaka

Absorption (jhana)

DN 42, 1.3.21f., n.79, n.50, n.57, n.76f., 2.75ff., 4.33, n.168, 9.10ff., 16.6.8f., 17.2.3, n.583, n.611, 26.28, 29.24, 33.3.3(6), n.1118, n.1127, n.1143
Absorption (samadhi) MN 38f., 4.18, 7.8, 16.26, 19.8, 20.3ff., 24.2, 32.7, 36.45, 40.8, 44.11, 44.12, n.464, 69.15, 77.17, 122.7ff., 128.31, nn.1195-96

Bliss (piiti)

MN 22.3, 66.21, 122.3, 139.9
Charism, (jhana-nimitta) DN 33.24, 33.3.2.1(25).  MN 20,
Characteristics or Sign of absorption, (samatha-nimittan) 36.45. SN pg 1634, 1899-1900, n.54, 1919
Delight (nandi)  
Divine eye, (dibba-cakkhu) DN 2.95, n.253, 8.3, 14.1.36, 16.1.27, 17.1.16, 23.11, 25.19, 28.17, 33.1.10(46)
Divine ear, (dibba-sota) DN 2.83, n.130

Extra-sensory perception

DN 33

Happiness, Sukha

DN 1.3.21, n.82,

Miracles

DN, 11.1ff., 24.1.4ff., 24.2.13, n.736, n.749, n.750

Out-of-Body (OOB) (manomaya) Mind-made body, manomaya

DN 1.2.2, n.49, 1.3.12, n76, 24.2.15, 27.10

Past lives

DN 1.1.31ff, 2.93, 24.2.18ff, 25.18ff, 28.15ff, 33.1.10(58), 33.1.11(30), 34.1.7(10)
Powers, balani,                                16.3.51, n.413, 33.2.3(9), 34.1.8(10), n.1150
Psychic power, miracle of DN 11.3ff, n.231
Psychic powers, iddhi, DN 2.87, n.128, 11.5, n.231, 17.1.18, n.481, 28.18

Roads to Power, iddhipada,

DN n.270, 16.3.3, 18.22, n.526, 26.28, 28.3, 33.1.11(3)
Sign of absorption, jhana-Nimitta, samatha-nimittan DN 33.24, 33.3.2.1(25).  MN 20, 36.45. SN pg 1634, 1899-1900, n.54,1919

Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, Vinnananaacayatana,

DN 1.3.14, 9.15, 15.33, 33.1.11(7)
Sphere of Infinite Space, Akasanancayatana, DN 1.3.13, 9.14, 15.33, 33.1.11(7)
Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, nevasannanasannnayatana DN 1.3.16, 15.33f, 33.1.11(7)

Sphere of No-Thingness, akincannayatana

DN 1.3.13, 9.14, 15.33, 33.1.11(7)

Supramundane, lokuttara

 DN 38

Telepathy

33.11.3, n.232, n.660, n.671, n.1059, n.1140

Wisdom, pannna

 DN 4.23, n.168, 15.34, n.355, 33.1.10(42, 43), n.56

Wisdom Eye, pannna-cakkhu

 DN n140, 33.1.10(46)

Note: DN=Digha Nikaya; MN=Majjhima Nikaya; SN=Samyutta Nikaya.

The Eleven “fruits” (phala) of the contemplative life are Supranormal Powers (lokuttara balani) or higher types of wisdom, "knowledges."

1 Upekkha Equanimity
2   Fearlessness
3 Adukkha Beyond Pain and Discomfort
4 Jhana Meditative absorption
5 Manomaya lit. "mind-made body" (OOB), "wields manifold supranormal powers"
6 Dibba-sota "divine ear-element" (Clairaudience)
7   knows the awareness of other beings (mental telepathy)
8 s. patisandhi, paticca samuppada lit. “rethinking” or "dependent origination" or recollection of manifold past lives
9 Dibba-cakkhu lit. "Divine eye" or "sees beings passing away & re-appearing" (Clairvoyance)
10   ending of mental agitation
11 Nanadassana lit “knowledge" (nana) and "vision" (dassana)

See the Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) or the Kayagata-sati Sutta (MN 119). The claim that some of these "fruits" are "mundane" is pure dogma with no suttic support.  They are all "supramundane" according to the Buddha.

Bibliography:

(1)           American Heritage Dictionary, 1992

(2)           Translated Bhikkhu Bodhi, Samyutta Nikaya, V Mahavagga 47 Satipatthanasamyutta, page 1635. Wisdom Publishing, Boston, 2000.

(3)           Translated by Maurice Walshe, "The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya), Wisdom Publishing, Boston, 1987, 1995

(4)           Translated by Bhikkhus Nanamoli and Bodhi, "The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikaya), Wisdom Publishing, Boston, 1995, 2001

(5)           Jhana Support Group, A dialog support group for ecstatic contemplatives in a Buddhist context

(6)           Samadhanga Sutta (AN V. 28) translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

(7)           Buddhist Dictionary, third revision, by Nyanatiloka edited by Nyanaponika, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre regarding JHANA-NIMITTA.

May you become enlightened in this very lifetime,

Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)

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