After hearing yet another coaching student of mine mention Pa Auk Sayadaw of Burma, I did a little research and found the following key points about his practice leading to Jhana. I don’t disagree with much at all which is really interesting because typically I can’t get past the first few points without disagreeing with someone’s method of reaching Jhana.

In Pa Auk’s view, it is the very Deep Jhanas that must be reached for profound change in the mind. I couldn’t agree more.

Here are a number of key points in his method. I’ll comment with a light blue background if there’s anything I either disagree with or want to comment about. 🙂

Pa-Auk Sayadaw’s Method for Reaching Jhāna

Pa-Auk Sayadaw teaches commentarial Theravāda jhāna, primarily following the Visuddhimagga, Abhidhamma, and related Pāli commentaries. This is the deep-absorption model, not the lighter approach in which a meditator remains broadly aware of the body, sounds, and surroundings.

His usual route is:

ethical purification → mindfulness of breathing → stable breath nimitta → access concentration → absorption → mastery of the four rūpa-jhānas

Although Pa-Auk teaches forty samatha meditation subjects, mindfulness of breathing — ānāpānasati — is the standard starting method for most meditators seeking jhāna. (Pa Auk Forest Monastery)

1. Purification of conduct comes first

Pa-Auk does not treat morality as optional religious decoration. In his system, ethical conduct is a practical condition for concentration.

A lay meditator at a Pa-Auk retreat normally observes eight precepts. The broader framework includes:

Restraint from harmful conduct
Restraint of the senses
Right livelihood
Moderation and reflection concerning food, shelter, clothing, and medicine
Seclusion
Noble silence
Reduced social activity and responsibilities

The underlying principle is simple. Remorse, desire, agitation, conflict, excessive sensory stimulation, and uncontrolled behavior destabilize the mind. Pa-Auk therefore starts with sīla, then develops samādhi, and uses samādhi as the basis for paññā.

This is important because people sometimes extract his nimitta instructions from the rest of the system. That misses the point. Pa-Auk considers purification of conduct part of the concentration technique itself.

Vern’s Comment: I disagree with this idea. Outside of your meditation session, there is no need to purify yourself ethically before you can reach the Deep Jhanas. This is entirely unnecessary for someone wanting to enter the Jhanas. However, within the meditation session itself, you may need to let go of any hindrances or issues that pop up and get in the way of your attaining Perfect Concentration (Perfect Samadhi). Interestingly, once you are entering Deep Jhana, it is as if the purification takes place without any effort of your own.

2. Sit upright, comfortably, and remain physically still

The basic posture is upright but not rigid.

The eyes are closed. The body should be comfortable enough that pain does not continually pull attention away, but alert enough that dullness does not dominate.

Pa-Auk monasteries traditionally use long daily schedules. A normal intensive schedule may involve roughly seven or more hours of formal sitting, supported by walking meditation between sittings. This level of repetition matters because Pa-Auk’s system depends heavily on continuity of attention, not occasional impressive meditation sessions.

You do not necessarily need a Burmese-monastery schedule, but his method assumes much more practice than twenty distracted minutes before breakfast.

Vern’s Comment: Ok, I didn’t think I would be disagreeing so much, but as I read these I have to say something. Seven hours of practice daily for what will probably be at the minimum weeks and more like months at a time as you study under Pa Auk, is going WAY over the limit of what most people can even stand. Know before you go, this is the expectation and in my view, it’s completely unnecessary to spend seven hours a day in seated meditation. If you have the time and motivation, sit for a couple or few hours a day maximum. Preserve your motivation, it’s crucial because most people just stop out of frustration.

3. Breathe naturally

The meditator does not deliberately control the breath.

Do not intentionally make it:

Longer
Shorter
Deeper
Shallower
Smoother
Slower
More pleasant

Allow breathing to occur naturally and know that it is occurring.

Pa-Auk’s approach is not breathwork. It is not pranayama. It is not an attempt to produce altered states through oxygen or carbon-dioxide manipulation.

Trying to improve the breath usually divides the mind into an observer and controller. The goal is to know the breath continuously, not engineer it.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this.

4. Attend to the breath where it touches

The primary object is the breath as it is experienced around:

The nostrils
The entrance of the nose
The area immediately beneath the nostrils
The upper lip

The meditator chooses the place where the breath is most obvious and remains there.

Pa-Auk specifically advises against following the breath inside the body. You do not trace it into the lungs, chest, abdomen, throat, or nasal passage. You maintain attention at the limited area where the breath touches or passes.

This creates a stable perceptual location. Following the breath inward and outward makes attention move around and can prevent the degree of unification required for absorption.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this. But… if you are beginning in meditation, there is some value in practicing or experimenting with many different techniques of focusing on the breath or feeling of the breath. Feel free to experiment at first. However, the rock solid focus on one tiny feeling of sensation of the breath in/at the nose is crucial for attaining Perfect Concentration.

5. Know the breath as a whole, continuous breath

“Whole breath” does not mean scanning the entire respiratory system.

It means knowing the breath continuously from the beginning of an inhalation through its end, and from the beginning of an exhalation through its end, while remaining at the chosen contact area.

Attention becomes continuous rather than intermittent:

Beginning
Middle
End
Pause
Next breath

The attention does not need to verbally label these phases. The point is uninterrupted knowing.

Vern’s Comment: The point is uninterrupted focus, I wouldn’t say ‘knowing.’ I would say keeping 100% uninterrupted focus of attention at the one spot is essential.

6. Do not analyze the breath’s physical characteristics

This is one of Pa-Auk’s most important technical distinctions.

For ānāpānasati leading to jhāna, the meditator should not concentrate on:

Hardness
Softness
Pressure
Temperature
Movement
Pushing
Roughness
Smoothness
The elemental properties of the air

Those belong to analysis of the four elements.

The meditator should also not contemplate the breath as:

Impermanent
Unsatisfactory
Non-self

Those are insight-meditation perspectives.

During samatha, Pa-Auk says to know the breath as a concept or conventional object, rather than analyzing its elemental qualities or applying the three characteristics to it.

This is a major difference between Pa-Auk’s method and some vipassanā systems. You are not trying to break the breath into sensations or observe its momentary dissolution. You are stabilizing the mind on a unified object.

Vern’s Comment: I would say don’t even call it breath. The point of your focus is simply the on and off feeling – sensation – of the breath as it tickles/vibrates the hairs in the nose. That’s it. Don’t make it more complicated than perfect focus on the on and off states at that exact location.

7. Keep returning without frustration

At first, the mind wanders.

When it does:

Recognize that attention has left.
Do not become angry or disappointed.
Return to the breath at the contact area.
Continue.

The repetition of returning is part of the training.

Pa-Auk emphasizes persistent continuity. A practitioner who spends hours wondering whether a nimitta will appear is no longer practicing mindfulness of breathing. The expectation has replaced the breath as the object.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this. And, never note anything. It stirs up the mind, it doesn’t allow it to be absolutely relaxed.

8. Counting may be used as temporary support

When attention is extremely unstable, Pa-Auk permits counting breaths.

The traditional Pa-Auk presentation commonly uses counting as a temporary device, not as the final meditation object. The meditator may count a series of breaths and restart, using the count to prevent long periods of unconscious wandering.

The count must remain secondary.

Once attention can stay with the breath adequately, counting is dropped. Otherwise, the numbers themselves become the object.

Counting is scaffolding. It is not the building.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this. It’s interesting that he agrees with this. I read somewhere that counting could help develop the 100% uninterrupted focus on the feeling of the breath in the nose so I used that for a while. Eventually I chose to eliminate it totally because even at a very subtle level, it is adding more to the mind that is necessary.

9. Do not use verbal noting indefinitely

Mental labels such as:

“In”
“Out”
“Breathing”
“Long”
“Short”

may help a beginner establish attention, but eventually they become interference.

For deep concentration, the mind must know the breath directly without continually generating words about it.

Pa-Auk’s jhāna practice is not a noting method.

Vern’s Comment: It’s best to never use noting.

10. Long and short breaths are simply known

Early in practice, the meditator knows when breathing is long and knows when it is short.

This does not mean mentally measuring each breath or forcing a particular length. It means the mind clearly recognizes the character of the breathing that is already occurring.

Over time, breathing normally becomes:

Finer
Gentler
Quieter
Less obvious
More subtle

The practitioner should not become alarmed when this happens.

Vern’s Comment: This adds something that isn’t necessary at all. What is interesting later after you are getting into or nearly entering Perfect Concentration is that you will notice that the breath slows down noticeably in some situations.

11. When the breath becomes subtle, do not search for it

This is a crucial Pa-Auk instruction.

As concentration improves, the breath may become so subtle that it appears to disappear. Beginners often react by:

Taking a deliberate deep breath
Searching the body
Checking whether they are still breathing
Becoming frightened
Moving attention around
Trying to recreate a stronger breath sensation

All of those reactions disturb concentration.

Pa-Auk’s advice is essentially to remain calmly attentive at the same contact area. The body is still breathing. The breath has become subtle because the body and mind have become tranquil.

Faith, patience, and steady attention are required at this stage.

The practitioner should not manufacture a coarse breath merely to have something obvious to observe.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this. Fear creeps in quickly when you aren’t sure if you’re breathing enough to sustain consciousness. I feared many times that I might just pass out there on the rug. After some sessions involving this very feint breath I decided that I would let go of the fear and see what happened. I never passed out from it. Sitting in perfect stillness, perfectly relaxed, with a mind that is near perfectly without activity doesn’t require much oxygen.

12. Continuity outside formal sits matters

Pa-Auk places enormous importance on maintaining the meditation object beyond the formal sitting period.

During an intensive retreat, one tries to preserve collectedness while:

Walking
Eating
Standing
Preparing to sit
Returning to the meditation hall
Performing simple daily tasks

This does not necessarily mean holding the nostril sensation every second. It means avoiding needless conversations, entertainment, planning, fantasy, and sensory indulgence that scatter the mind.

The monastery therefore emphasizes seclusion, silence, few responsibilities, restrained conduct, and regular teacher interviews.

The deepest concentration is usually built across the entire day, not generated from zero at the beginning of every sit.

Vern’s Comment: Sort of this. I think in a monastery setting where someone is staying for months to attempt to learn the Pa Auk system, they are trying to optimize every minute of your day toward reaching Deep Jhana. However, practicing on your own at home as 99% of you will be, you need not attampt to maintain this constant state of mind. Do your work. Enjoy your kids. Exercise. If you’re practicing meditation for 20 minutes a day and mindfulness for another hour a day, you’re doing amazing. If you can do more and maintain your motivation to keep doing it, then great. Eventually, as you start reaching Deep Jhana states, you will naturally spend hours after your meditation sessions in the right state of mind.

13. The five controlling faculties must be balanced

Pa-Auk repeatedly discusses balancing the five faculties:

Faith — saddhā
Energy — viriya
Mindfulness — sati
Concentration — samādhi
Understanding — paññā

The key balances are:

Faith and understanding

Too much faith without understanding can produce gullibility, excitement, fantasy, or unquestioned interpretation.

Too much analysis without faith can produce doubt, intellectualization, and inability to commit fully to the practice.

Energy and concentration

Too much energy produces:

Agitation
Forcing
Restlessness
Tension
Overexcitement about progress

Too much concentration without sufficient energy produces:

Dullness
Sleepiness
Heaviness
Mental sinking
Lack of clarity

Mindfulness monitors everything

Mindfulness recognizes:

Whether the object has been lost
Whether the mind is dull
Whether the mind is agitated
Whether effort is excessive
Whether effort is insufficient
Whether concentration is becoming stable

Pa-Auk’s breathing manuals explicitly include detailed instruction on balancing these faculties and the seven enlightenment factors.

14. Balance the seven enlightenment factors

Pa-Auk also uses the seven factors of enlightenment diagnostically.

The activating factors are:

Investigation
Energy
Joy

These are strengthened when the mind is dull, weak, sleepy, or collapsing.

The calming factors are:

Tranquillity
Concentration
Equanimity

These are strengthened when the mind is agitated, excited, tense, or overenergized.

Mindfulness is appropriate under all conditions because it recognizes what correction is needed.

The practical lesson is that meditation is not always “more effort.” Sometimes increased effort is exactly the wrong medicine.

Vern’s Comment: I’d say “more effort” is not usually the problem. Monks who tell you to practice 2, 3, 5 hours a day are giving bad advice.

15. The nimitta arises from sustained concentration

As concentration deepens, a meditation sign called a nimitta may appear.

Pa-Auk usually explains three stages:

Parikamma-nimitta

The preliminary sign.

In breath meditation, the ordinary breath itself may initially function as the preliminary meditation sign.

Uggaha-nimitta

The acquired or learning sign.

This may appear unstable, uneven, cloudy, coarse, moving, flickering, smoky, or otherwise imperfect.

Paṭibhāga-nimitta

The counterpart sign.

This is the purified mental representation used as the object for access concentration and jhāna. It is typically much clearer, more stable, refined, and luminous than the earlier sign.

The official Pa-Auk description states that the practitioner develops concentration until the light of wisdom and the sign of concentration appear, then develops that concentration through the fourth jhāna.

Vern’s Comment: I’d say for the first line, as Perfect Concentration is attained, the conditions are right for a nimitta to arise. It may or may not. It may take seconds or many minutes or not arise at all.

16. Nimittas differ among people

Pa-Auk says the breath nimitta does not look identical for everyone.

Practitioners have reported it as resembling:

A star
A pearl
A jewel
A wheel
A cloud
Cotton
Smoke
A disk
A bright light
The moon
The sun
A luminous field
A line or stream of light

These differences do not necessarily indicate different levels of attainment.

The appearance may be affected by differences in perception. The meditator should not build a metaphysical theory around the nimitta’s shape.

The critical characteristics are increasingly:

Stability
Clarity
Uniformity
Brightness
Continuity
Suitability as an object of concentration

Vern’s Comment: My main nimitta is a tingling in the hands that feels almost as if my hands are falling asleep but slightly different. The feeling extends up the arms and across the entire body as I focus on it and merge with it.

17. Do not deliberately create or visualize the nimitta

The Pa-Auk breath nimitta is not supposed to be an intentionally imagined light.

The meditator should not:

Visualize a white disk
Imagine a lamp
Construct a star
Project light in front of the face
Manipulate visual imagery
Stare physically into darkness
Force something to appear

The nimitta is understood to arise naturally from the concentrated perception of the breath.

This distinction matters because people with strong visualization ability can manufacture extremely vivid internal images. Vividness alone does not make such imagery a Pa-Auk breath nimitta.

Vern’s Comment: Agree. Nimittas arise naturally and shouldn’t be thought of first or grasped at.

18. Do not focus on the nimitta too early

When light or imagery first appears, the practitioner should generally remain with the breath rather than immediately abandoning it.

Early signs are often unstable. Chasing them makes them disappear.

Pa-Auk’s basic logic is:

Breath becomes stable.
A sign associated with the breath develops.
The sign becomes increasingly clear and stable.
Only when appropriate does the sign become the primary object.

Shifting prematurely from breath to light can produce agitation and expectation.

Vern’s Comment: First is Perfect Concentration on the feeling of the breath in the nose. Only then can a proper and strong and viable nimitta arise. AND, the best way to have it arise is to remain locked into Perfect Concentration for a while – minutes or hours, then switch your focus to ‘nothing.’ This triggers a nimitta as the mind is not ready to focus on nothing, it wants to create something for you to focus on. It creates a nimitta.

19. The nimitta and breath must become closely connected

Eventually, the breath and nimitta are experienced as connected or unified.

The practitioner does not alternate anxiously:

Breath
Light
Breath
Light

Attention settles on the purified counterpart sign associated with the breath.

At this point, the nimitta is not merely an interesting event occurring beside the meditation object. It becomes the object upon which the mind unifies.

Vern’s Comment: This is awkwardly said. I teach that Perfect Concentration comes first. Letting go of all focus on anything comes next. Nimitta then arises. It need not be connected with breath as is stated here.

20. Do not investigate the nimitta’s color or physical nature

Pa-Auk warns meditators not to analyze the color or elemental qualities of the nimitta.

For example, do not think:

“This is white.”
“This is transparent.”
“This is fire.”
“This is radiant matter.”
“This is energy.”
“This is consciousness.”
“This must be a chakra.”
“This must be supernatural light.”

Analyzing its color may unintentionally shift the meditation toward a color kasiṇa.

The task is concentration, not interpretation.

This is particularly relevant in a modern setting, where meditators can become obsessed with explaining every luminous phenomenon.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this. The quality of the nimitta doesn’t mean anything. When it does arise, switch your entire focus to it and look with your mind. Don’t attempt to think about it in any way.

21. Stabilize the counterpart sign for long periods

Pa-Auk does not regard a momentary flash of light as sufficient.

The paṭibhāga-nimitta must become stable enough that attention remains with it continuously.

The practitioner gradually develops the ability to remain with it for:

Several minutes
Thirty minutes
One hour
Two hours
Longer periods

Pa-Auk says that when the five faculties are sufficiently developed, concentration passes beyond access into absorption. In jhāna, the mind knows the counterpart sign without interruption, potentially for several hours.

This is one of the clearest differences between Pa-Auk jhāna and looser modern definitions. A pleasant, still, joyful sit is not automatically first jhāna.

Vern’s Comment: No. The nimitta is focused on with attention until it grows and envelops the mind completely. It is as if it merges with the ‘you’ and you are in a different state as it does so.

22. Access concentration comes before absorption

When the mind remains steadily with the counterpart sign and the hindrances are suppressed, it reaches access concentration — upacāra-samādhi.

The five hindrances are:

Sensual desire
Ill will
Sloth and torpor
Restlessness and remorse
Doubt

Access concentration is close to jhāna but not yet full absorption.

In Pa-Auk’s system, access concentration may include:

Strong luminosity
Joy
Tranquillity
Stability
Reduced bodily awareness
Suppression of the hindrances
A very clear nimitta

But powerful experiences around the threshold still do not prove absorption.

Vern’s Comment: Ok, there are differences here. I disagree with how access concentration is defined. Access concentration is Perfect Concentration on the feeling of the breath in the nose. Access concentration may be said to occur during PC and the transition to nimitta and merging with the nimitta, but the nimitta is not where access concentration starts. By definition, it’s concentration that is the important factor. In Perfect Concentation, the state is one of absorption and seclusion from the outside world. Tranquility, stability, zero body awareness, suppression of all hindrances, is already experienced in Perfect Concentration. Teaching that remaining with the mind sign (nimitta) is necessary is strange to me because that means on some level you’re controlling it. Instead, focus on it and it naturally grows to encompass all that is you.

23. First jhāna must contain the five jhāna factors

Pa-Auk identifies five factors of first jhāna:

Applied thought — vitakka
Sustained thought — vicāra
Joy or rapture — pīti
Bliss or happiness — sukha
One-pointedness — ekaggatā

These terms do not mean ordinary verbal thinking.

In this context:

Vitakka applies or directs the mind to the counterpart sign.
Vicāra maintains the mind on the sign.
Pīti is joyful interest or rapture.
Sukha is pleasant mental happiness or bliss.
Ekaggatā is unification on one object.

The nimitta is the object. The factors describe how consciousness relates to it.

Vern’s Comment: Exactly this.

24. Jhāna is verified after emerging

Pa-Auk does not advise a practitioner to sit inside a possible absorption repeatedly asking:

“Is this first jhāna?”
“Is pīti present?”
“Can I find vitakka?”
“How deep am I?”
“Has the body vanished?”

That discursive checking disrupts concentration.

Instead, the practitioner enters, remains, emerges, and then reviews the experience and its factors.

In Pa-Auk’s full system, this review includes discerning the mental process and jhāna factors at the mind door, associated in his Abhidhamma framework with heart materiality.

This part is considerably more technical than ordinary meditation self-assessment and is normally done under a qualified teacher.

Vern’s Comment: Yes basically. The First Jhana experience is to focus on the joy and bliss and it grows in a feedback loop to remarkable levels unimagined. Thoughts about the experience while in the experience are quite muted. You’re incapable of higher thought in the state.

25. First jhāna must be mastered, not merely touched

A single apparent absorption is not mastery.

Pa-Auk follows the traditional five masteries:

Mastery of adverting

The ability to direct attention toward the jhāna factors after emerging.

Mastery of attainment

The ability to enter jhāna when intended.

Mastery of resolving

The ability to determine beforehand how long the absorption will last.

Mastery of emerging

The ability to emerge at the intended time.

Mastery of reviewing

The ability to review the jhāna and its factors clearly.

A practitioner is expected to master one jhāna before deliberately proceeding to the next. Pa-Auk’s training materials explicitly treat mastery as a prerequisite for systematic progression.

Vern’s Comment: Mastery implies control. I don’t believe in any of this. I do believe that it’s helpful and necessary to progress to experience the first jhana multiple times. Anytime the word ‘mastery’ is involved in this process, I disagree.

26. Higher jhānas are reached by abandoning progressively coarser factors

After mastering first jhāna, the meditator reflects on its relative coarseness.

Second jhāna

Applied and sustained thought are seen as coarse.

The meditator enters absorption on the same counterpart sign without vitakka and vicāra.

The principal remaining factors are:

Pīti
Sukha
Ekaggatā

Third jhāna

Joy or rapture is seen as relatively agitating.

Pīti is relinquished.

The prominent factors become:

Sukha
Ekaggatā

Fourth jhāna

Even happiness is understood as comparatively coarse.

Sukha is replaced by neutral feeling, and equanimity becomes fully purified.

The fourth jhāna is characterized by:

Equanimity
Neutral feeling
One-pointedness
Purified mindfulness

Pa-Auk’s instructions describe emerging from the lower jhāna, reviewing its defects and the greater peacefulness of the next, and then returning to the same counterpart sign with the intention of reaching the more refined absorption.

Vern’s Comment: I would take a different approach to moving through the Deep Jhanas. First, I would experience the Jhana many times over different sessions before getting the idea to change something. Second, I would look at the state while in the state and see if there are any more options of where to direct attention. You can move attention and see what happens. Experiment. You can also let go of attention on the major factor in the state and see what else is there.

27. Do not rush through the sequence

Pa-Auk strongly favors depth and mastery over collecting altered states.

Common mistakes include:

Declaring first jhāna after strong pīti
Trying for second jhāna before first is stable
Attempting to remove factors intellectually
Continually changing techniques
Hunting for spectacular nimittas
Comparing experiences with other meditators
Reinterpreting every light as attainment
Practicing without qualified feedback

The system is deliberately methodical.

You establish one object, stabilize it, enter absorption, verify it, master it, and only then refine it.

Vern’s Comment: There’s the mastery idea again.

28. The teacher is considered important

Pa-Auk’s method includes regular interviews with a meditation teacher.

At the monastery, meditators are required to attend interviews on the teacher’s schedule.

This is not just hierarchy. The method contains numerous places where misinterpretation is easy:

Subtle breath versus dullness
Real continuity versus blankness
Nimitta versus visualization
Access concentration versus absorption
Pīti versus emotional excitement
Equanimity versus indifference
Brightness versus clarity
A pleasant state versus verified jhāna

A teacher adjusts instructions according to the report.

Pa-Auk’s system is therefore not truly designed as a completely self-guided method learned from a checklist.

Vern’s Comment: Agreed. A teacher is valuable on this journey.

29. The four protective meditations are added afterward

Once strong concentration has been established, Pa-Auk commonly teaches four protective practices:

Lovingkindness — mettā
Recollection of the Buddha — Buddhānussati
Foulness or repulsiveness of the body — asubha
Recollection of death — maraṇānussati

They are called protective because they counter particular tendencies:

Mettā counters ill will.
Recollection of the Buddha supports faith.
Asubha counters sensual attachment.
Recollection of death counters complacency and negligence.

The official monastery outline places these after development of samatha and before the detailed transition into vipassanā.

Vern’s Comment: This is unnecessary Buddhist stuff.

30. Breath jhāna becomes the platform for other samatha practices

Pa-Auk does not teach breath jhāna merely as an isolated achievement.

Once a practitioner has mastered the four breath jhānas, that concentration can support development of:

The ten kasiṇas
Thirty-two body parts
Skeleton meditation
Repulsiveness meditation
Lovingkindness
Compassion
Appreciative joy
Equanimity
The four immaterial attainments
Other traditional samatha objects

His official materials describe the breath jhānas as the foundation for a much broader concentration curriculum.

Vern’s Comment: More Buddhist fluff.

31. The four immaterial attainments come after mastery of form jhāna

The arūpa attainments are:

Infinite space
Infinite consciousness
Nothingness
Neither-perception-nor-non-perception

In Pa-Auk’s system, these are not casually entered by merely contemplating philosophical ideas.

They are based on mastery of the rūpa-jhānas and usually involve using a kasiṇa-derived object, expanding or removing the kasiṇa, and progressively refining the object of consciousness.

This comes considerably later than basic breath jhāna.

Vern’s Comment: No, there’s no mastery of the first 4 Jhanas necessary before entering the higher Jhanas. You can do it anytime you can let go enough to get through them. Pa Auk appears to teach kasinas as useful for reaching the higher Jhanas. They are completely unnecessary.

32. Jhāna is powerful, but it is not liberation

This point matters.

Pa-Auk regards jhāna as:

A profound purification of mind
Suppression of the hindrances
A source of strong, stable concentration
A basis for other samatha attainments
A basis for detailed insight meditation
A way to produce what he calls the “light of wisdom”

But jhāna alone does not permanently eradicate greed, hatred, or delusion.

After samatha, the meditator uses concentrated consciousness to discern:

Materiality
Mentality
Causes and conditions
Dependent origination
Past, present, and future processes
Impermanence
Suffering
Non-self

The official Pa-Auk curriculum explicitly moves from jhāna to analysis of mentality and materiality and then into vipassanā.

A person may therefore master jhāna and still not be awakened in Pa-Auk’s doctrinal framework.

Vern’s Comment: Agree, someone isn’t fully enlightened after having gone through the 8 Jhanas. However, there are substantial changes to the ego that change the person from the inside. These are permanent changes and are not sought out, they just happen as a result of spending a lot of time in the Jhanas and in the states that follow which may last for hours or days. The statement “But jhāna alone does not permanently eradicate greed, hatred, or delusion.” is of course true, but there is also NOTHING that permanently erases these things. Full enlightenment doesn’t mean someone without greed, hatred, delusion, and ego. If that’s the definition, there is nobody alive that fits that definition. Many people are said to be enlightened by their followers but these individuals have ego as evidenced by the things they do every day that support the ego.

Pa-Auk’s most important practical principles

Reduced to the essentials, the method is:

Live cleanly enough that remorse and craving do not continually destabilize the mind.
Reduce stimulation, speech, responsibilities, and unnecessary activity.
Practice for substantial periods with strong continuity.
Allow the breath to remain natural.
Attend only where the breath touches the nostrils or upper lip.
Do not follow the breath through the body.
Know the entire breath continuously at that location.
Do not analyze pressure, temperature, movement, or the four elements.
Do not contemplate impermanence, suffering, or non-self during the samatha phase.
Do not panic or search when the breath becomes extremely subtle.
Balance energy with concentration and faith with understanding.
Let the nimitta arise rather than visualizing it.
Do not chase the nimitta prematurely.
Do not analyze its color, shape, substance, or supposed metaphysical meaning.
Stabilize the counterpart sign for long periods.
Distinguish access concentration from full absorption.
Verify the jhāna factors after emerging.
Master each jhāna before progressing.
Use a competent teacher because self-diagnosis is unreliable.
Remember that jhāna is a foundation for wisdom, not the final liberation.

Should You Follow Pa Auk’s Jhana Teaching?

Pa Auk’s threshold is intentionally high. In practical terms, many experiences called “jhāna” by modern teachers would probably be classified by Pa-Auk as preliminary concentration, access concentration, strong pīti, or an unstable nimitta—not full absorption.

Though I disagreed above many times, I just see and know that some things that are taught are not essential. However, I do think they work for some people. Pa Auk’s teachings are really the only ones I can say I mostly agree with in Theory and Practice. I can’t say that about any monk or other teacher I’ve ever been exposed to.

Vern