Another Jhourney attendee, Nadia Asparouhova, has done a writeup of her experiences with some instructions for hopefully achieving the jhanas, which seems potentially helpful; the instructions are nicely succinct and concrete.
Nadia later worked with Jhourney to write the most extensive report yet (tweetstorm summary) on how jhanas improve the well-being of meditators, including claims like “2x more likely to report changes in lifestyle (84% vs. 41%), 1.5x more likely to report changes in thoughts + beliefs (92% vs. 59%), more kindness, awareness of pleasure, and reduced cravings”. I find Nadia’s claims somewhat more believable because, to quote her:
I am not a meditator. (Even after experiencing the jhanas, I still have no desire to develop a meditation practice.) Nor am I a “spiritual seeker” of the sort you might find at Burning Man or a Vipassana retreat. …
If you’re raising an eyebrow right now, I must once again stress that I, too, did not believe this was a thing. I arrived at the retreat feeling rather silly for being there. I left astonished, and perplexed, as to why barely anyone has studied the jhanas at all. …
I am less interested in making the argument that everyone should try the jhanas. But it seems to me that if people can access these experiences with relatively little mental effort – and to do so legally, for free – more ought to know that such a thing exists. At the very least, shouldn’t there be more than three published studies about it?
Another Jhourney attendee, Nadia Asparouhova, has done a writeup of her experiences with some instructions for hopefully achieving the jhanas, which seems potentially helpful; the instructions are nicely succinct and concrete.
Nadia later worked with Jhourney to write the most extensive report yet (tweetstorm summary) on how jhanas improve the well-being of meditators, including claims like “2x more likely to report changes in lifestyle (84% vs. 41%), 1.5x more likely to report changes in thoughts + beliefs (92% vs. 59%), more kindness, awareness of pleasure, and reduced cravings”. I find Nadia’s claims somewhat more believable because, to quote her: