Developing the Jhana Factors in Daily Life

An online meditation course with Sarah Shaw

The five jhana factors

Application

Exploration

Joy

Happiness

Unification

Find true calm

The jhana factors are wholesome qualities of mind that arise in everyday situations and can be developed through reflection and mindfulness of breathing. These five factors are application of mind, exploration, joy, happiness, and unification. When the jhana factors are present the mind feels unburdened, tranquil, and happy. We find greater ease and well-being both on the cushion and in our lives.

Join Sarah Shaw for an exploration of how these qualities can be developed and appreciated in our daily lives and then deepened and refined in formal meditation. This is a rare chance to learn a traditional samatha breathing mindfulness technique as a way to develop calm and stillness of mind.

Class begins on July 6. A new unit will be released each week and you are welcome to study at your own pace.

Enroll today

$179

Standard enrollment

One-time payment includes ongoing access to the course

3 payments of $60/month

Pay in installments

Standard enrollment paid for in three monthly installments

**Learn the ancient samatha technique**

This style of meditation develops the jhana factors and can produce experiences of profound stillness and calm. Here is one example sequence.

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A unique opportunity

An expert teacher

Sarah Shaw is both a scholar and a devoted practitioner of the Buddhist path. There are few guides that share her knowledge and meditative experience. Through this offering, Sarah hopes to share the benefits of samatha (calm) and the development of the jhana factors.

**Learn samatha breathing mindfulness**

There is an ancient meditation technique that was once common in Thailand. This technique has been passed on from teacher to student for generations and can engender profound states of meditative calm.

Statue of a meditator, possibly the Buddha, in deep meditation

**Develop the jhana factors**

The mind has a propensity toward peace and happiness, but it often needs a little guidance. This course will show you how to develop and enjoy the five jhana factors in your everyday life, even when conditions are challenging.

Live Q&As

Enroll now to join two bonus live sessions with Sarah, hosted on Zoom.

Session 1

Thursday

July 23

1:00 p.m. EDT
6:00 p.m. GMT

Session 2

Tuesday

Aug 11

1:00 p.m. EDT
6:00 p.m. GMT

Sarah Shaw

Dr. Sarah Shaw is a faculty member and tutor at the University of Oxford and a visiting contemplative mentor at Brown University.

Sarah first encountered meditation as a student. After initially finding meditation difficult, it eventually clicked. She feels grateful to have found the technique of samatha breathing mindfulness and a home in the Samatha Trust community.

Sarah is the author of Breathing Mindfulness: Discovering the Riches at the Heart of the Buddhist Path, The Art of Listening: A Guide to the Early Teachings of Buddhism, and Mindfulness: Where It Comes From and What It Means.

Getting to know the jhana factors

Sarah Shaw introduces us to the five jhana factors in this introductory talk and meditation.

Editor's note

It's often thought that the jhāna factors are a teaching only relevant for retreat, when there is time to deepen in stillness over many days and perhaps weeks. Yet these factors are at work repeatedly in our lives whenever we settle down to a task, explore the facets of a problem, find a moment of joy or happiness, or restfully allow our minds to gather in the present.

In this course, Dr. Sarah Shaw shows how the jhāna factors can be developed for deep practice in lay life. One aspect of this process is samatha breathing mindfulness. This ancient Thai meditation technique is unlike any I have encountered, and was nearly lost in the reforms of the past century. It is particularly conducive to the arising of joy and deep states of stillness and concentration.

Developing the Jhana Factors in Daily Life offers a unique opportunity to learn from the Samatha Trust tradition and to continue on this path beyond the course. If you are interested in refining your mindfulness and concentration, and deepening your understanding of jhāna, I highly recommend a close look at this offering.

—Mark Cooper, Course Developer

How this program unfolds

Learn in a way that works for you. Each unit contains around 90 minutes of video presentations and guided meditations. The material is also available as a PDF or audio download for learning on the go.

Unit 1 | Starting the practice

In this first session, we'll look at how the mind can be restored by the five jhana factors: applying the mind, exploring, joy, happiness, and unification of mind. We'll look at examples in daily life where we can see those factors operating, and also in meditation when the mind is directed towards a single meditation object.

Unit 2 | Applying and exploring

In this session, we'll look particularly at vitakka: how we apply the mind; and vicara: how we explore and sustain attention on objects and tasks.

As we look at vitakka and vicara, we're first of all going to look at some aspects of how we can recognize health, wholesomeness, and cheerfulness in our own minds. This is something we can feel for ourselves and recognize in our own experience.

Unit 3 | Joy

In this unit, we're looking at piti, joy, and the various depths and levels of joy. We'll be looking at the joy we can experience in daily life, and the joy that arises in meditation.

Joy is considered essential for awakening. As Walpola Rahula said, "Without joy, there is no Buddhist path".

Unit 4 | Happiness

Alongside joy, we find a calmer and more refined happiness, sukha. In many ways it is rather more subtle, more mellow, and perhaps more sustainable. It's an enduring quality. We may experience this as a contentment that is less dependent on conditions being just right.

Unit 5 | Unification of mind

We now come on to our last jhana factor, unification. We'll explore this factor in the light of the other four—how stillness and concentration can come together in daily life with mindfulness. This becomes a mindful stillness. In the meditation, we find that mindfulness deepens and increases as the stillness does.

Unit 6 | Deeper into stillness

When the jhana factors are strong, a shift in consciousness known as jhana becomes possible. In this unit we're going to look at the state of jhana—if it is a state—and explore some ways it's described and how it fits into the larger Buddhist path. We might think of jhana as like coming home: arriving somewhere familiar that is peaceful, restful, and still.

Jhana needs nourishing and a good soil to grow in. We practice with some humility and a willingness to open ourselves to what is offered.

Praise for Sarah Shaw's Mindfulness: Where It Comes From and What It Means

A brilliant and precise introduction to the deep roots of mindfulness.
—Joan Halifax, Founder and Abbot of Upaya Zen Center

Full contents

Here is a detailed overview of the course.

Click the arrow below to see all six units.

Introduction

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Unit 1: Starting the practice

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Unit 2: Applying and exploring

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Unit 3: Joy

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Unit 4: Happiness

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Unit 5: Unification of Mind

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Unit 6: Deeper Into Stillness

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