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The Nature of Delusion Ajaan Mahã Boowa doesn’t like talking about jhãna, so I won't say much about it. Instead, Ajaan Mahã Boowa teaches samãdhi. Samãdhi is the method of developing calm that is sufficient to bring insight; that is, it lays a sufficient basis to use wisdom to develop understanding of Dhamma. Because samãdhi is sufficient, I don't think Ajaan Mahã Boowa wants to teach any more than that. He says that people who naturally go the way of jhãna must go that way; but it’s not worthwhile for other people to try to develop it. It seems as though there is something in the way of a natural ability in jhãna. I wouldn’t like to say what it is, because I am not sure of it. It is quite obvious that jhãna can bring about various psychic powers. Because of that, it is a wonderful field for the kilesas to play with. The kilesas can take hold of those results and use them for all sorts of purposes, which don’t do anything to get rid of the kilesas. For that reason, it is far better to keep one’s mind on the process of samãdhi that leads to understanding, insight and the development of wisdom. That practice does what it should do. By doing that, one knows one is on the right path. Also, jhãna is not mentioned in the Eightfold Path, but Right Samãdhi is. At least one knows what one is dealing with there. Jhãna is explained in the suttas, but not thoroughly. Perhaps the Buddha explained it thoroughly, but down through the ages the description has been formalized, so it’s difficult to be sure what’s being talked about. It may have something to do with the ability to go deeply into concentration, but I am not sure. In any case, I don't think it’s necessary. There is a lot in the Dhamma that we can speculate about but, in the end, we don’t know what the truth of it is. It is not so much that it might be untrue, but we just don’t know about how to interpret it. Some aspects of Dhamma are quite difficult to interpret properly. Because of that, we have to keep our eye on the kilesas. Their interpretations are always biased, so they can always cause trouble. More than anywhere else, that is where we must look.