[russmodel]

I respect Leigh Brasington's opinions.

Leigh's opinion below does not represent the 1st jhana or how to attain it. instead, it is a kind of self-induced 'laughing yoga'

Once access concentration has been established, you now induce the next factor of the first Jhana. This third factor is called Piti and is variously translated as delight, euphoria, rapture and ecstasy. By shifting your attention from the meditation subject to a pleasant sensation, particularly a pleasant physical sensation, and doing nothing more than not becoming distracted from the pleasant sensation, you will "automatically" enter the first Jhana. As far as I have been able to determine, based on my own experience, the entry into the first Jhana from a physiological perspective proceeds something like this:

1) You quiet your mind with sustained attention to the meditation subject. I suspect that brain wave activity shows a noticeable decrease during access concentration.

2) By shifting your attention to a pleasant sensation, you set up a positive reinforcement feedback loop within your quiet mind. For example, one of the most useful pleasant sensations to focus on is a smile. The act of smiling generates endorphins, which make you feel good, which makes you smile more, which generates more endorphins, etc.

3) The final and most difficult part of entering the first Jhana is to not do anything but observe the pleasure. Any attempt to increase the pleasure, even any thoughts of wanting to increase the pleasure, interrupt the feedback loop and drop you into a less quiet state of mind. But by doing nothing but focusing intently on the pleasure, you are propelled into an unmistakably altered state of consciousness. jhana is not attained via 'sustained attention' on a meditation object, such as breathing or a pleasant sensation. although such methods can certainly induce rapture, this kind of rapture is called momentary rapture because it does not arise from jhanic concentration

jhana is attained via letting go; that is, making letting go the object of meditation.

any wilful attempt to 'sustain attention' on an object or 'shift attention' is simply too gross an activity to lead to jhana

buddha taught:

There is the case where a monk, a noble disciple, making it his object to let go, attains concentration, attains singleness of mind.

SN 48.10 kind regards