Silent Joy

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the right word) as <i>Piti </i>which in retrospect strikes me as an accidental detonation of some chakra or other, as if I had stumbled on a bliss trip wire.</p><p id="1ea2">I guess <i>Piti</i> indeed does describe that 1968 rush, but not the <i>Piti</i> of Jhana for no real joy or happiness followed; that’s to say, no <i>Sukha</i>, just the gushing, humming, blissing light which pulsed and pulsed then withdrew as the room returned to a stunned and breathless younger me.</p><p id="a952">Today, I think that for fifty odd years I’ve been barking up the wrong Bodhi tree.</p><p id="f074">My 1968 spiritual orgasm (which is how I described it at the time) was an overwhelmingly energetic physical feeling drowning me in bliss, swimming me in warm ecstasy; it was a five or so minutes long gigantic humming in light, a flood of energy rushing from feet to head and then just everywhere. Yes, it does indeed fit the description of <i>Piti</i>, but, as I said, no happiness or joy followed, no <i>jhana</i> signs. Today, I would still describe it as, yes, an orgasm — a concept that should communicate to 99.99% of humanity puberty and older.</p><p id="ee6a">These days, in meditation, as I am drawing nearer to <i>Jhana</i>, I find this drawing nearer to mean drawing nearer to stillness, nearer to peace, and the nearer I draw the joyer I be. For this stillness, while empty, is empty of all non-joy in the world leaving only a sweetened air of quiet bliss, of <i>Jhana</i> bliss.</p><p id="a0c3">This stilln

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ess, this bliss is not absorption. I am not the willing victim of some overwhelming pleasure, rather, I am the still being of quiet joy — of quiet, discerning joy. And this, yes I am certain, is what the Buddha meant by <i>Jhanic Piti</i> and <i>Sukha</i>.</p><p id="9b06">© Wolfstuff</p><div id="861e" class="link-block"> <a href="http://wolfstuff.com"> <div> <div> <h2>Wolfstuff</h2> <div><h3>So, who am I? Really really. I could tell you that I was born in northern Sweden during a snow storm, and subsequently…</h3></div> <div><p>wolfstuff.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*HvL16IOucyo3wwtE)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="dc1f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/ulfwolf"> <div> <div> <h2>Ulf Wolf — Kindle Store</h2> <div><h3>Ulf is a Swedish name that means Wolf. Well, today, wolf in Swedish is varg. Or, sometimes, if you're old-fashioned…</h3></div> <div><p>www.amazon.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*s9qyXRa_Qw5Ty9AR)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

The Buddhist Jhanas

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The peace we feel when letting go is indistinguishable from joy

I have pondered the Pali terms Piti and Sukha lately. They are the first two constituents of the First Jhana. The Jhanas are states of peace and/or of absorption encountered in Buddhist meditation.

Piti is variously translated as bliss, as rapture, as ecstasy, and other like synonyms. Piti is considered a tangible feeling, sometimes disturbingly so. Sukha is also a positive feeling, though mellower than Piti and is often translated as happiness, joy, delight and such. Some teachers hold that these feelings are purely mental, others that they are a mental and physical blend, others still that they are purely physical. I guess the best word would be psychosomatic — gendered by mind, experienced as body.

For the longest time, well, fifty years or so, which I guess would qualify as a long (if not the longest) time, I’ve taken my 1968 spiritual fountain as Piti or Sukha or both, but as I now see it, on closer look, the joy I sense in meditation when letting go is not as violent (yes, I believe that is the right word) as Piti which in retrospect strikes me as an accidental detonation of some chakra or other, as if I had stumbled on a bliss trip wire.

I guess Piti indeed does describe that 1968 rush, but not the Piti of Jhana for no real joy or happiness followed; that’s to say, no Sukha, just the gushing, humming, blissing light which pulsed and pulsed then withdrew as the room returned to a stunned and breathless younger me.

Today, I think that for fifty odd years I’ve been barking up the wrong Bodhi tree.

My 1968 spiritual orgasm (which is how I described it at the time) was an overwhelmingly energetic physical feeling drowning me in bliss, swimming me in warm ecstasy; it was a five or so minutes long gigantic humming in light, a flood of energy rushing from feet to head and then just everywhere. Yes, it does indeed fit the description of Piti, but, as I said, no happiness or joy followed, no jhana signs. Today, I would still describe it as, yes, an orgasm — a concept that should communicate to 99.99% of humanity puberty and older.

These days, in meditation, as I am drawing nearer to Jhana, I find this drawing nearer to mean drawing nearer to stillness, nearer to peace, and the nearer I draw the joyer I be. For this stillness, while empty, is empty of all non-joy in the world leaving only a sweetened air of quiet bliss, of Jhana bliss.

This stillness, this bliss is not absorption. I am not the willing victim of some overwhelming pleasure, rather, I am the still being of quiet joy — of quiet, discerning joy. And this, yes I am certain, is what the Buddha meant by Jhanic Piti and Sukha.