The Enigma of Jhāna and Implications for Neuroscience, Consciousness Studies and Research Methodology

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.

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Abstract

Jhāna meditation was little known in the West before the 1980s, historically shrouded in mystery and mostly confined to monastic traditions in Buddhist countries. In recent years, however, deep states of meditation in general, but particularly the jhānas, have been attracting interest from neuroscience researchers as another avenue to explore neural networks and functions in the human brain. However, the current state of knowledge of those networks is almost entirely related to their functions within our default (sensory) consciousness, researched primarily via task-based studies. Given that in ancient Buddhist texts jhāna is regarded as a uniquely different mode of consciousness, not dependent on the cognitive processes of sensory consciousness, such task-based research methods may not be the best approach to unravel the significance and processes of jhāna consciousness. This article explores the nature of jhāna consciousness in relation to our default consciousness, whether it has its place on a continuum of “altered states of consciousness” (ASC), or whether it is a radically different and unique state of consciousness. The subtleties of establishing jhāna are explored, including the possibility of a cognitively-driven “facsimile” experience created within the default neural networks of sensory consciousness, rather than a radical disruption of those networks towards a previously unknown vertical brain-body axis as recently demonstrated by EEG observations (Dennison, 2019).