The term samādhi refers to a spectrum of states of deepening consciousness, of which the jhānas may be considered a subset. As a continuum of depth and unification, samādhi may at times involve very subtle senses of well-being, and at other times a more intense and pervasive sense of harmonisation may fill the whole space of mind and body. Senses of beauty and very deep rest come through the practice of samādhi, as well as increasing sensitivity, refinement, and attunement which are necessary for working well with emotions, emptiness, and Soulmaking Dharma.
As we practise, the sense of well-being and unification spreads and stabilizes in samādhi. This can be achieved through practising with one object, through a more open awareness and non-entanglement with phenomena, or by working in many other ways with Rob's concept of the energy body. From there a meditator can open to the jhānas – eight states of deep absorption described by the Buddha that can be tuned into and, with mastery, sustained in any posture. In Rob’s presentation, the jhānas are a resource that allow a practitioner to let go of clinging, to understand the process of the fabrication of perception, and to open to mystical states and beautiful realms, profoundly altering the experience of self, other and world.
"As you go deeper into samādhi, the body sense is more and more involved. There’s a sense that the body is being more and more steeped or bathed in something that’s very, very nourishing, and ultimately very, very still. That literally becomes the more common way that the body feels in life – that openness, that lightness, that sense of strength and steadiness comes into the body, and then that sense is with you more and more of the time."
