The Arupa Jhānas (Formless realm)
The second four dhyanās are also called the FOUR FORMLESS ABSORPTIONS. Taught by Udraka Ramaputra. At this point the meditator begins the samāpattis (or the higher jhānic attainments).
Fifth
Beyond all perception of form, withdrawn from the influence of perception, immune to the perception of plurality, concentrating on infinite space, the meditator reposes in the condition of spatial infinity.
METHOD: Shift awareness “out beyond its boundaries”—from intentional pointedness to the vastness of space.
PROBLEM: This is also a fixation and dependency on an imputed terminal.
MEDITATIVE: Infinite space
TYPE OF HEAVEN: Gods embodying infinite space
Sixth
Going beyond this stage, the meditator concentrates on the limitlessness of consciousness and attains it.
METHOD: Shift from space to the consciousness perceiving it.
PROBLEM: You are still burdened with particularity—consciousness is qualified (and limited) as perception. Suchness is confined to the role of perceiver.
MEDITATIVE: Infinite consciousness
TYPE OF HEAVEN: Gods embodying infinite consciousness
Seventh
Proceeding further and concentrating on the nonexistence of everything whatsoever, he achieves a state in which there is absolutely nothing.
METHOD: Shift from the consciousness of the perceiver to self-voiding emptiness.
PROBLEM: This state is imbalanced because it negated consciousness. This is the false (one-sided) emptiness, reached not through transcendence but through denial of perception in favor of non-perception.
MEDITATIVE: Nothingness
TYPE OF HEAVEN: Gods embodying nothingness
Eighth
Even further on, the meditator attains the highest level of realization in which there is neither perception nor non-perception. This is the peak of cyclic existence.
METHOD: Taught by Udraka Rāmaputra. Go beyond the one-sidedness (and duality/vulnerability) of non-perception to the über-state of neither perception nor non-perception. LEADS TO temporary freedom from saṃsāra. However, the Watcher remains as a seed (a repository of karma and saṃskāras) and will cause rebirth.
PROBLEM: There is still an imbalance: there is still a watcher of neither perception nor non-perception.
MEDITATIVE: Neither perception nor non-perception
TYPE OF HEAVEN: Gods embodying neither perception nor non-perception