The ‘Jhana’ and the illusion of ‘One-pointed mind’

[Bradley West]

Is Buddhism the ‘Word of Siddhartha?
The ‘Jhana’ and the illusion of ‘One-pointed mind’

“The inherent nature of ‘Chitta’ is duality. It cannot be stilled or purified but it can be neutralized”.


‘Jhana’ an ascetic meditation practice that predates Siddartha is a concept that has no significance to the unique ‘Way’ of a seeker of Dhamma. However, with the founding of Buddhism or Buddha-agama a religion after the passing away of Siddhartha by making a mockery of the ‘Dhamma’ the ‘Dependent Origination’ he revealed but never understood, it was amalgamated into Buddhism hoping to capitalize on the respect and veneration its practitioners known as ‘Sadhus’ commanded among the unassuming common folks in India who were awe inspired by their ability to remain seated motionless without food or water for days on end. For them, it was a miracle.

The warped minds of the authors of Buddhism saw in ‘Jhana’ and other similar meaningless religious and ascetic practices popular at the time to jump-start their new religion to establish themselves as a dominant force to be reckoned with in the society to claim the coveted prize all religions aspire to, the royal patronage. To accomplish this goal, the perpetrators of Buddhism saw a spanner in the works in both the ‘Mental Factor’ the concomitance Sila, Samadhi, Wisdom and the ‘Middle Way’ the very essence in the way of a seeker to go beyond mind and matter. Thus they discreetly eliminated both as they did not fit their narrative to advance their agenda.

‘Jhana’ is auto-hypnotism achieved by directing one’s uninterrupted concentration on a single object for a long period of time. It helps to temporarily silence the brain an organ but not the ‘Chitta’ which continues to react to the conditions unhindered and unbeknown to the practitioner who in fact is in a dormant state similar to hibernation in the animal world. However, what concerned Siddhartha was the source of ‘Chitta’ the ‘Dhamma’ the Dependent Origination the creator of ‘self’. As an ascetic Siddhartha himself experienced ‘Jhana’ and other popular methods of ‘meditation’ popular at the time but abandoned them as not tending to the ‘Way’ he was seeking. Therefore, Jhana obviously is a worthless exercise akin to taking painkillers a self-deception.

‘In the world of duality ‘Reality’ is an illusion. Therefore, all that we perceive as reality with our five senses are nothing but illusions’.