avatarUlf Wolf

Summary

The author reflects on the nature of Piti and Sukha, the first two constituents of the First Jhana in Buddhist meditation, distinguishing between an initial misunderstanding of these states as purely energetic experiences and a deeper realization of Jhanic Piti and Sukha as states of stillness and peace that are synonymous with joy.

Abstract

The author, Wolfstuff, delves into the nuanced meanings of Piti and Sukha, terms from Pali used to describe the initial stages of deep meditative states known as Jhanas. Initially, Piti is characterized by intense physical and mental sensations akin to bliss, rapture, or ecstasy, while Sukha is understood as a more subdued form of happiness or joy. The author recounts a profound spiritual experience from 1968, which they initially mistook for these meditative states but now recognize as a temporary surge of energy rather than true Jhanic peace. After fifty years of contemplation, the author concludes that authentic Jhanic Piti and Sukha are marked by a profound stillness and tranquility that, while seemingly empty, are devoid of anything non-joyful, leaving only a serene bliss. This understanding aligns more closely with the Buddha's teachings on the Jhanas.

Opinions

  • Piti and Sukha are often misunderstood; the author initially misinterpreted their own spiritual experience as these states.
  • The author describes their 1968 experience as an overwhelming physical and mental sensation, fitting the description of Piti but lacking the sustained happiness or joy (Sukha) and signs of

Stillness is Joy

The Jhanas

Image by Author

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.

© Wolfstuff

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.

The Jhanas
Buddhism
Meditation
Stillnes
Samadhi
Recommended from ReadMedium