Arupa-dhyanas

Arupa-dhyanas

अरूप ध्यान, arūpadhyāna

In the Pali Canon the levels of concentration are described that are above 4 ordinary dhyanas and are called supramundane achievements (later the name arupa – "formless", -dhyanas).

1. The first of these achievements is the state of infinite space. The texts describe it as the practitioner ceases to perceive individual objects and perceives everything as one – as an infinite space, and then his mind becomes equal to it.

2. The next achievement is infinite consciousness. The practitioner sees that even this space is in consciousness and this consciousness is infinite, thus his mind enters into this state.

3. This is followed by the third achievement – the practitioner moves away from the perception of the infinite consciousness and understands that there really is nothing, then this object – the "absence of everything" becomes the dominating one, and consciousness is fixed on it.

4. After that comes the fourth achievement, the state of neither perception nor non-perception. That is, using the mental object of "perception of the absence of everything", the mind of the practitioner goes beyond its boundaries. It is no longer the perception of anything in the usual sense, but it is also not its complete absence.

The last achievement in the Pali Canon is called the cessation of perception and feeling (later the term nirodha-samapatti occurs) and is called by the Buddha the highest achievement, as well as the most pleasant of all.

Once the monk Sariputta (Pali name, in Skt. Shariputra) was asked what could be pleasant when there is no perception and feeling in this achievement, to which he replied that the pleasant thing is that they do not exist. The texts often draw parallels between this achievement and nirvana.