Being Happier Than You Ever Realized For No Apparent Reason (Leigh Brasington)

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Dec 23, 2023

Leigh Brasington, a renowned Jhana teacher, discusses how the jhanas can lead to happiness and capital-I Insights. He shares his experiences with entering different jhanas, including the rush of marijuana-like feelings in the first jhana and the happiness experienced in the second jhana. Leigh also emphasizes the malleability of the ego and offers advice for learning jhanas. The podcast includes discussions on meditation techniques, the concept of suka (joy/happiness), the benefits of quiet stillness, altered states of consciousness, exploring the mind, addressing restlessness, and cultivating qualities of joy and stillness.

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INSIGHT

Happiness Can Be Triggered From Within

A central realization from jhana practice is that happiness can be generated internally, not solely triggered by external events.
This insight helps rewire neural pathways so external shared joys can feel even stronger later.

ANECDOTE

From Joy To Stillness Through Letting Go

Leigh describes moving from J2 to J3 by calming sukha into contentment and then letting go into J4's quiet stillness.
He uses facial relaxation and following a sense of 'things dropping' to access equanimity and clarity for insight work.

INSIGHT

Jhanas Turbocharge Insight Work

The fourth jhana yields a concentrated, clear mind that dramatically enhances insight practice.
Jhanas are primarily a warmup to turbocharge investigation into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.

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In this episode, we speak with Leigh Brasington, one of the most famous jhana teachers alive today. Leigh is the author of Right Concentration, a remarkably clear and simple book that is commonly cited by novices who learned to enter jhanas on their own. We discuss how he first learned the jhanas, spent years looking for a teacher to show him how to navigate them, and how the jhanas changed his personality to be happier and more prone to glee over time. He shares how he believes the jhanas can show you it’s possible to be happier than you ever realized for no apparent reason, and most importantly, how they can help you see what Buddhists call capital-I Insights: things like how malleable your ego really is. Leigh visited us during an online jhana retreat, and fields several questions from the audience near the end.

Sections:

0:54 How Leigh got started with meditation
6:42 Quitting marijuana in order meditate clearly
8:54 Leigh’s first jhana
11:49 Discovering how to enter piti (glee) consistently
14:18 Learning what jhanas are
15:44 J1 and piti: like the rush of marijuana
18:19 Moving to the second jhana
21:46 J2 and sukka: happiness
23:04 The effects of J2 on baseline wellbeing
28:53 J3: wishlessness
30:37 J4: stillness and a mind ready for Insight
33:26 Jhanas as a warmup for Insight
37:21 You’re more malleable than you think you are
39:36 Leigh’s advice to his younger self
41:20 What traits in students predict success in learning jhanas?
43:13 Common pitfalls
46:33 How many people are practicing the jhanas today?
47:41 Why aren’t they more popular?
49:31 How Leigh’s teaching philosophy has changed
50:37 What might be done before meditating to make jhana easier?
52:55 Supplements or drugs that might make jhanas easier
54:13 Audience Q&A: lucid dreaming and body scanning
55:31 Insight and changes in values stemming from jhanas
57:42 Does Leigh currently have a sense of self?
58:28 Jhanic experiences in mundane activites, like sports and dating
1:01:15 The value of following instructions in meditation
1:05:13 Asking the “why” behind restlessness
1:07:46 Injecting jhanas into life off the cushion
1:10:31 Learning jhanas via Leigh’s book alone has proven surprisingly doable