Right Concentration (Leigh Brasington)
Wrong Concentration
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas†by Leigh Brasington.]
The author of this text, Leigh Brasington, is a serious student of Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, and the Pali Canon. I had read an excerpt from the Pali Canon in another Buddhist meditation text that didn’t specify from where in the Canon it was drawn. I included the excerpt in an email I sent to Leigh regarding the jhanas, and he responded promptly, informing me of its location.
This transpired before I had read “Right Concentration,†and it inspired me to immediately get the book, even though, based on what I had read at Leigh’s website and at another Buddhist website critical of his understanding of the jhanas, I wasn’t optimistic about resonating with it. And resonate with it, I didn’t.
Although I appreciate Leigh’s devotion to shedding light on the jhanas, I don’t view them in the same light that he does. Like most contemporary expositors of the jhanas, his exposition on the subject reflects the POVs of Buddhaghosa in “The Path of Purification†(see my two-star review) juxtaposed with those of his Theravada teachers. And I don’t buy these POVs. Rather, I resonate with the contrary (and, to my mind, orthodox) POV espoused by the self-ordained, contemporary Buddhist monk Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks).
I could write pages elaborating my differences with Leigh, but since this is just a review, I’ll focus on just some of them.
First off, unlike Leigh, who says there are eight jhanas, I say there are just four. Whereas Leigh considers the jhanas “altered states†of consciousness, I consider them “infused states.†Leigh, IMO, errs when he labels the 8th limb of of the Eightfold Noble Path, Right Samadhi, as Right Concentration. Right Samadhi, IMO, means infused contemplation. Hence, Right Contemplation, not Right Concentration, is the proper designation for the Eightfold 8th limb. In Sanskrit, which is akin to Pali, “dharana†is the term for concentration, not “jhana†(or Sanskrit “dhyana,†which is commonly, but erroneously, IMO, conflated with the Pali term “jhanaâ€).
Leigh does not consider the jhanas necessary for the first stage of awakening (Stream-entry), whereas I say that Stream-entry commences with the attainment of the first jhana, which commences with “induction†into the Stream (or Spirit)-current.
Although Leigh, to his credit, acknowledges the energetic dimension of Awakening, his descriptions of it are substandard. For example, he erroneously conflates “piti†with Kundalini, when the term simply means rapturous joy, specifically intense enjoyment of the Bliss-current (Sambogakaya, or Stream). But Leigh, in disagreement with me, doesn’t identify awakening to and conducting the Stream as concomitant with entering and progressing through the jhanas.
Leigh views the jhanas like a jungle gym. He writes, “It is also going to be helpful to move up and down through the jhanas: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 or even 1-2-3-2-3-4-3-2-3-1.†I say that this is poppycock, that one can’t simply, volitionally transition between hierarchically distinct levels of samadhi, or contemplatitive absorption.
Leigh has a section titled “Possible Problems Associated with Learning the Fourth Jhana.†Again, this is baloney. One doesn’t “learn†the fourth jhana. One experiences it only by Grace, the Blessing Power of the Stream, or Shakti.
Leigh, in concert with most contemporary mindfulness teachers, bifurcates the practice of the jhanas (the “wet†path) with the practice of insight meditation (the “dry†path). He believes that one must do insight practices after one experiences he the jhanas. He writes, “What the Buddha discovered was that just doing jhana practice wasn’t sufficient.â€
I say that the Buddha did not teach separate jhana and insight practices; he taught a single mindfulness practice called satipatthana, which culminates in the jhanas, which spontaneously awaken spiritual insight (vipassana). The 8th and final limb of Eightfold Path is Right Contemplation, which is the Four Jhanas. I say that when the Heart-knot is cut by the Stream (which the Buddha called attaining “the Heart-releaseâ€), then Nirvana ensues, which is the fourth jhana (tantamount to Hindu yogic Turiya) made permanent, effortless, and unbroken (which is tantamount to Hindu yogic Turiyatita, or Sahaj Samadhi).
Leigh writes: “Perhaps no aspect of the Buddha’s teaching has been more misunderstood and neglected than right concentration [meaning the jhanas].†From my persective, no one is guiltier of this perpetration of misunderstanding than Leigh himself. Moreover, he is also guilty of misinterepting the Buddha’s Anatta teaching. According to Leigh, Anatta means no no Atman. Leigh writes, “Of course the Buddha’s teaching of anatta – ‘no atman’ – denies the existence of any atman.†Leigh is wrong. “Anatta†does not mean “no Self,†it means “not Self,†and the Buddha’s teaching of Anatta only specifies that no Self can be found in the five skandhas. I broached this subject on the telephone with the esteemed Buddhist monk Thanissaro Bhikku, who emphasized that the Buddha neither asserted nor denied the existence of an Atman, or Self.
While I respect the fact that Leigh’s work is bringing attention to the jhanas -- a much-ignored, though most-important Dharma subject – I find myself in major disagreement with many, if not most, of his POVs. With this in mind, I’m not moved to give this book more than two stars.  Â
[My 2-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas†by Leigh Brasington.]
The author of this text, Leigh Brasington, is a serious student of Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, and the Pali Canon. I had read an excerpt from the Pali Canon in another Buddhist meditation text that didn’t specify from where in the Canon it was drawn. I included the excerpt in an email I sent to Leigh regarding the jhanas, and he responded promptly, informing me of its location.
This transpired before I had read “Right Concentration,†and it inspired me to immediately get the book, even though, based on what I had read at Leigh’s website and at another Buddhist website critical of his understanding of the jhanas, I wasn’t optimistic about resonating with it. And resonate with it, I didn’t.
Although I appreciate Leigh’s devotion to shedding light on the jhanas, I don’t view them in the same light that he does. Like most contemporary expositors of the jhanas, his exposition on the subject reflects the POVs of Buddhaghosa in “The Path of Purification†(see my two-star review) juxtaposed with those of his Theravada teachers. And I don’t buy these POVs. Rather, I resonate with the contrary (and, to my mind, orthodox) POV espoused by the self-ordained, contemporary Buddhist monk Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks).
I could write pages elaborating my differences with Leigh, but since this is just a review, I’ll focus on just some of them.
First off, unlike Leigh, who says there are eight jhanas, I say there are just four. Whereas Leigh considers the jhanas “altered states†of consciousness, I consider them “infused states.†Leigh, IMO, errs when he labels the 8th limb of of the Eightfold Noble Path, Right Samadhi, as Right Concentration. Right Samadhi, IMO, means infused contemplation. Hence, Right Contemplation, not Right Concentration, is the proper designation for the Eightfold 8th limb. In Sanskrit, which is akin to Pali, “dharana†is the term for concentration, not “jhana†(or Sanskrit “dhyana,†which is commonly, but erroneously, IMO, conflated with the Pali term “jhanaâ€).
Leigh does not consider the jhanas necessary for the first stage of awakening (Stream-entry), whereas I say that Stream-entry commences with the attainment of the first jhana, which commences with “induction†into the Stream (or Spirit)-current.
Although Leigh, to his credit, acknowledges the energetic dimension of Awakening, his descriptions of it are substandard. For example, he erroneously conflates “piti†with Kundalini, when the term simply means rapturous joy, specifically intense enjoyment of the Bliss-current (Sambogakaya, or Stream). But Leigh, in disagreement with me, doesn’t identify awakening to and conducting the Stream as concomitant with entering and progressing through the jhanas.
Leigh views the jhanas like a jungle gym. He writes, “It is also going to be helpful to move up and down through the jhanas: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 or even 1-2-3-2-3-4-3-2-3-1.†I say that this is poppycock, that one can’t simply, volitionally transition between hierarchically distinct levels of samadhi, or contemplatitive absorption.
Leigh has a section titled “Possible Problems Associated with Learning the Fourth Jhana.†Again, this is baloney. One doesn’t “learn†the fourth jhana. One experiences it only by Grace, the Blessing Power of the Stream, or Shakti.
Leigh, in concert with most contemporary mindfulness teachers, bifurcates the practice of the jhanas (the “wet†path) with the practice of insight meditation (the “dry†path). He believes that one must do insight practices after one experiences he the jhanas. He writes, “What the Buddha discovered was that just doing jhana practice wasn’t sufficient.â€
I say that the Buddha did not teach separate jhana and insight practices; he taught a single mindfulness practice called satipatthana, which culminates in the jhanas, which spontaneously awaken spiritual insight (vipassana). The 8th and final limb of Eightfold Path is Right Contemplation, which is the Four Jhanas. I say that when the Heart-knot is cut by the Stream (which the Buddha called attaining “the Heart-releaseâ€), then Nirvana ensues, which is the fourth jhana (tantamount to Hindu yogic Turiya) made permanent, effortless, and unbroken (which is tantamount to Hindu yogic Turiyatita, or Sahaj Samadhi).
Leigh writes: “Perhaps no aspect of the Buddha’s teaching has been more misunderstood and neglected than right concentration [meaning the jhanas].†From my persective, no one is guiltier of this perpetration of misunderstanding than Leigh himself. Moreover, he is also guilty of misinterepting the Buddha’s Anatta teaching. According to Leigh, Anatta means no no Atman. Leigh writes, “Of course the Buddha’s teaching of anatta – ‘no atman’ – denies the existence of any atman.†Leigh is wrong. “Anatta†does not mean “no Self,†it means “not Self,†and the Buddha’s teaching of Anatta only specifies that no Self can be found in the five skandhas. I broached this subject on the telephone with the esteemed Buddhist monk Thanissaro Bhikku, who emphasized that the Buddha neither asserted nor denied the existence of an Atman, or Self.
While I respect the fact that Leigh’s work is bringing attention to the jhanas -- a much-ignored, though most-important Dharma subject – I find myself in major disagreement with many, if not most, of his POVs. With this in mind, I’m not moved to give this book more than two stars.  Â
