THE JHĀNA GUIDE
A Complete Manual for Deep Meditative Absorption
by Isidatta Bhikkhu
Fifteen years of jhāna practice distilled into one guide.
From your first sitting to the formless absorptions and beyond.
What You’ll Learn
🧘 The Complete Path
From access concentration through all eight jhānas — each absorption mapped with precise instructions and clear markers of attainment.
📜 Living History
How jhāna was practiced in the Buddha’s time, what the Visuddhimagga actually teaches, and why the modern revival matters.
⚡ Practical Methods
Breath-based entry techniques, kasina practice, the role of pīti and sukha, and how to navigate the nimitta — with exercises you can use today.
🎯 Insight Integration
Why samatha and vipassanā are not opposed. How deep concentration sharpens insight and accelerates progress toward nibbāna.
Inside the Guide
Part I — Foundations
What Jhāna Really Is · Historical Roots · The Concentration Spectrum
Part II — The Practice
Preparing Body and Mind · Access Concentration · Entering First Jhāna · Rising Through the Form Jhānas
Part III — Advanced Territory
The Formless Absorptions · Jhāna and Insight · Working with the Nimitta
Part IV — Integration
Building a Jhāna Practice · Retreat Planning · The Jhāna Practitioner’s Virtues
Appendix
100 Questions on Jhāna Practice — each answered in depth
Look Inside
Full-page art, clean typography, practical exercises
“The mind in jhāna is not blank. It is not a trance. It is the most vivid, most lucid, most awake you have ever been — awareness gathered to a single bright point, undisturbed by anything, needing nothing.”
— from The Jhāna Guide
Get the Guide
101 pages · PDF + EPUB · Instant download
Secure checkout via Stripe · Both formats included
About the Author
Isidatta Bhikkhu has practiced and taught jhāna meditation for over fifteen years. Drawing on the Pāli Canon, the Visuddhimagga, and extensive personal retreat experience, he guides students through the absorptions with clarity and precision. All proceeds support the continuation of theravadin.org and its mission to make the Buddha's teachings on deep concentration freely accessible.