e
BU
DDHANET'SBOOK LIBRA
RY
E-mail: bdea@buddhanet.net
Web site: www.buddhanet.net
Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.
in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
Henepola Gunaratana
A Critical Analysis
of the Jhanas
2
A Critical Analysis of the Jhãnas
in Theravãda Buddhist Meditation
by
Henepola Gunaratana
submitted to the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Science
of the American University
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Philosophy
1980
The American University
Washington, D.C. 20016
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
3
This book is dedicated to my dear parents and teachers.
Bhante Gunaratana was born in 1927 in a small village in Sri Lanka and was ordained
at the age of 12 as a Buddhist monk. At the age of 20 he was given higher ordination
in Kandy in 1947. At the invitation of the Sasana Sevaka Society, Bhante Gunaratana
went to the United States in 1968 to serve as Hon. General Secretary of the Buddhist
Vihara Society of Washington, D.C. He has also pursued his scholarly interests by
earning a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from The American University.
He is the author of Come and See, The Path of Serenity and Insight, The Jhanas and
Mindfulness In Plain English. Venerable Gunaratana is the abbot and the president of
the Bhavana Society, a Forest Monastery and Retreat Centre in West Virginia, U.S.A.
4
A Critical Analysis of the Jhãnas
in Theravãda Buddhist Meditation
by
Henepola Gunaratana
ABSTRACT
This work provides an analytical study of the jhānas, an important set of meditative
attainments in the contemplative discipline of Theravāda Buddhism. Despite their
frequent appearance in the texts, the exact role of the jhānas in the Buddhist path has not
been settled with unanimity by Theravāda scholars, who are still divided over the
question as to whether they are necessary for attaining nibbāna. The primary purpose of
this dissertation is to determine the precise r