The Enigma of Jhāna and Implications for Neuroscience, Consciousness Studies and Research Methodology
April 8, 2024 P. A. Dennison 1 citation preprint
Jhāna meditation, historically confined to Buddhist monastic traditions and little known in the West before the 1980s, is gaining neuroscience interest for exploring brain networks. Current knowledge of those networks comes almost entirely from task-based studies of default sensory consciousness. Ancient Buddhist texts describe jhāna as a uniquely different mode of consciousness, not dependent on sensory cognitive processes, suggesting task-based methods may be inadequate. This article examines whether jhāna consciousness lies on a continuum of altered states of consciousness or is radically distinct. It discusses the possibility of a cognitively-driven facsimile experience within default neural networks versus a radical disruption toward a vertical brain-body axis observed in EEG research.