---
title: "TWIM Meditation: A Relaxed Path to Deep Insight and Awakening"
url: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/post/twim-meditation-a-relaxed-path-to-deep-insight-and-awakening/
date: 2025-03-12
modified: 2026-08-19
lang: en
author: "Perseus Arcane Academy"
description: "Introduction When it comes to meditation, we often hear about different traditions, techniques, and theories—but what actually works? What truly leads to a shift in how we experience life, beyond..."
categories:
  - "Interviews"
tags:
  - "Jhanna"
  - "Meditation"
  - "vipassana"
image: https://staging13.perseusarcaneacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IMG_3428_JPEG.avif
word_count: 4909
---

# TWIM Meditation: A Relaxed Path to Deep Insight and Awakening

## Introduction

When it comes to meditation, we often hear about different traditions, techniques, and theories—but what actually works? What truly leads to a shift in how we experience life, beyond just feeling calm for a few moments on the cushion?

David Johnson has spent decades exploring these questions firsthand. Starting with rigorous Vipassanā practice in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, he later made a significant shift to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM)—a method that reinterprets ancient teachings through a relaxed, loving-kindness-based approach. What convinced him to abandon the method he had followed for years? What did he discover about meditation, awakening, and the nature of insight along the way?

In this conversation, David shares the pivotal moments of his journey, his deep mentorship with Bhante Vimalaramsi, and the unique perspective that TWIM brings to meditation. If you’ve ever questioned whether effort and struggle are necessary parts of spiritual progress—or wondered if meditation could be both joyful and transformative—his insights may surprise you.

---

## Interview

### Personal Journey and TWIM

**PAA: You have been meditating since age 19, initially in the Mahasi Sayadaw Vipassanā tradition, and then around 2006 you shifted exclusively to Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) (David Johnson). What prompted that major shift in your practice? In what ways did adopting TWIM’s loving-kindness and relaxed awareness approach change your experience of meditation compared to the Mahasi method you practiced for many years?**

I practiced Mahasi Vipassana from the age of 19 after the first year of college in 1973.  I became interested in what the word “enlightenment” possibly could mean for me. What was the meaning of Life??? I started reading books like Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan and Paramahansa's Autobiography of a Yogi and became intrigued with the idea that we could experience states far greater than we ever thought possible. I let go of College at that point and pursued a Vipassana Retreat. 

I found an ad for a book called “Begin To See” which was a collection of epigrams written by an American Buddhist Monk known as Sujata. Later I found that he was teaching Buddhist meditation retreats using Mahasi style mindfulness. I immediately signed up and flew to Colorado from Seattle to attend the 30 day retreat. I continued following this practice because it outlined very clearly the path and the steps to awakening from the book “Practical Insight Meditation”. I did experience what I thought were all the Insight knowledges, but after a while started to wonder if I had had any sort of major personality change in my mind or not. Had “craving” or desire lessened or was I just overestimating myself. I stopped retreating and just read suttas for the time being.

In 2006 I met Bhante Vimalaramsi who I had known earlier but had now become a monk and had, just as I had but way more intensively, meditated using Mahasi Sayadaw method under U Pandita and others in Rangoon, Burma. He had done many retreats and the last being a two-year retreat! They told him he attained stream entry and now he should teach.  He told me he felt that there was something wrong and that he didn’t feel much differently. So he left Burma and went to Malaysia and didn’t teach Vipassana as requested but taught lovingkindness instead and started on his journey to discovering the sutta based Tranquil Wisdom Insight TWIM meditation.

He met a monk in Malaysia Venerable Punnaji who told him that he had the right ideas about meditation but he was using the wrong texts to practice and learn from.  He told him to go back to the earliest sutta texts as in the Majjhima Nikaya and the Samyutta Nikaya and the rest. This completely changed everything because it didn’t match what he had been taught-and these were the actual words of the Buddha in the suttas. His earlier teachers were not teaching from the suttas but from something dated much later called the Visuddhi Magga or Path of Purification.

Bhante Vimalaramsi used Lovingkindness as the object of meditation and reinterpreted the technique using a unique Relax step, actually noted in the suttas, that had been left out by other practice styles. Lovingkindness and a much more relaxed approach created very fast progress and amazing states of mind (Jhana). It took some convincing but after trying this system out for 6 weeks I experienced an all encompassing joy that shook me to my core. I continued and made quick progress and was convinced that this was what the Buddha taught and was THE path. So much so I have documented the practice in my book The Path to Nibbana.

### Mentorship with Bhante Vimalaramsi

**PAA: You trained closely under Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi – even ordaining temporarily as a monk and serving as his executive assistant and center director during his teaching years. What are some of the most important lessons you learned from working so intimately with Bhante Vimalaramsi? How did his mentorship shape your own approach to meditation and teaching?**

I spent from 2010 to 2023 assisting Bhante with everything from organizing retreats to buying plane tickets to taking him to lunch to sitting in on interviews as he taught his students. He was a Maha Thera monk meaning he had decades in as a monk and followed the monastic rules. I grew to learn in depth how those rules were followed by a monk and eventually read the entire Vinaya or Discipline Texts that encompasses 7 volumes. I saw the benefit of the rules and how they mostly were common sense rules to keep one on a wholesome path in the way you treat yourself and all other people.

I learned how to do the daily interviews and eventually led retreats on my own. I used stories I had heard from Bhante to reference in my own teaching. It was as though we put questions through a “What would Bhante answer?” filter. I learned about many of the experiences that he had had as a monk in his 12 years in Asia, both good and bad; how he reacted to various experiences; what happened to him on Alms round, how lay people interacted with him.

He was an incredibly smart outside-the-box person. He also didn’t mind if what he said was controversial…the truth is the truth and that’s the way it is. We don’t have to agree on everything but I am not going to hold back my opinion if I think it might make you think more about what you are saying.

### Life at Dhamma Sukha Center

**PAA: Since 2010 you’ve lived and taught at the Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center, where you are now the Director and senior meditation teacher (Bio David Johnson - THE PATH TO NIBBANA) (David Johnson). How has immersing yourself in a retreat center environment for so long influenced your personal practice and outlook? Can you share an experience from leading retreats at the center that had a profound impact on you as a practitioner or teacher?**

Life at Dhamma Sukha has been very rewarding and also challenging. When I came to volunteer there were only a few cabins with Bhante Vimalaramsi staying in an old trailer. The finances were very shaky and the business infrastructure non-existent. Gradually I was able to not only help with getting Dhamma Sukha into a more business-like environment but also was able to create many videos and talks and upload them to Youtube and our updated website. Students saw these and attended retreats in growing numbers. We started with 3 cabins and now have 25.

It's interesting that the more you guide retreats the more you learn about the very practice that you are teaching. When students ask about this or that experience you might give a rote answer but later ask yourself what really does work and try it in your next meditation center.  I learned while Bhante was here and listened to his interviews and gradually took on the guiding myself. 

It's very rewarding when someone has success in the practice and experiences relief and intense joy and leaves a committed practitioner, and we hope, a changed person.

### Challenges and Insights on the Path

**PAA: Over decades of practice, have you encountered any significant challenges or turning points in meditation – perhaps hitting plateaus or passing through difficult phases (sometimes called “dark nights” by insight meditators)? How did you work through those difficulties, and how have they informed the way you guide students now through their own ups and downs on the path?**

This question is a good one.  When I first started doing Vipassana Meditation this idea of “dark nights of the soul” was not a “thing.”  There are 16 levels of insight knowledge in the Vipassana (Not Goenka style) Insight Meditation. The higher knowledges include “Knowledge of Fear and Terror” and “Knowledge of Danger”  These states are states of Depression and Fear and Panic. They are awful states that one will go through and likely later came to be known as Dark Nights of the Soul. (I believe is a John of the Cross reference.)

These are the levels:

- Knowledge of the difference between mentality and physicality (*namarupa-pariccheda-nana*)

- Knowledge of conditionality (*paccayapariggaha-nana*)

- Knowledge of comprehension (*sammasana*–*nana*)

- Knowledge of arising and passing away (*udayabbaya-nana*)

- Knowledge of dissolution (*bhanga-nana*)

- Knowledge of the fear or terror (*bhaya-nana*)

- Knowledge of danger (*adinava-nana*)

- Knowledge of disenchantment (*nibbida-nana*)

- Knowledge of desire for deliverance (*muncitukamyata-nana*)

- Knowledge of reflective contemplation (*patisankha-nana*)

- Knowledge of equanimity about formations (*sankharupekkha-nana*)

- Knowledge of conformity or adaptation (*anuloma-nana*)

- Knowledge of change of lineage (*gotrabhu-nana*)

- Knowledge of the path (*magga-nana*)

- Knowledge of fruition (*phala-nana*)

- Knowledge of reviewing (*paccavekkhana-nana*) (3)

These do exist (!) and you *will* suffer through them. I can assure you of that!  However in TWIM this is not the case because of the Relax step. If there is fear or terror that arises you are instructed to relax that mental state and let it go. Don’t dwell on it or “try to go through it.”  If craving and suffering arise, let it go and relax. Bhante V. said that the Buddha never would have taught a system that caused the meditator to suffer like this. TWIM is a smiling, relaxing meditation where you are taught to be happy and content. Why is this? Because no craving exists when one is happy and content.  

The only issues I had with TWIM is working with the hindrances in the meditation just like everyone else does. One of the biggest issues is always “trying too hard.” People come expecting to have to put in huge efforts and that isn’t the case. You can’t eliminate craving by using more craving to try and achieve a goal (of not craving!) Getting the students to relax and actually have fun meditating is TWIM’s biggest challenge.

### Jhāna and Enlightenment 

**PAA: TWIM places emphasis on achieving what you call the “tranquil aware jhānas” as part of the journey to awakening (David Johnson). How would you describe a tranquil aware jhāna to someone unfamiliar with the term? In what ways does it differ from the classic description of jhāna as an absorption so deep that awareness of the outside world fades? Why is it important in your method that one remains lightly aware and at ease during jhāna, rather than absorbed in intense concentration?**

I will explain more about the TWIM jhana in the next question but will say that it isn’t so much as it is “lighter” but that it is completely different from absorption. It is achieved by letting go and not holding tightly to an object. Yes, you are aware but collected, not absorbed. You see everything clearly, and gradually let go of more and more to achieve the next jhana. Going through the Jhanas is about first letting go of Hindrances and then letting go of the Jhana Factors and ultimately letting go of awareness itself.

Absorption holds on tightly to a state and holds tighter and tighter to attain a higher level but also uses different techniques to get to the higher levels. You might use breath and then you concentrate on a ight and then you expand a Kasina or circle of light.  This isn’t in the suttas. TWIM just practices one method all the way through the Jhanas. Techniques are never changed.

The suttas never mention Nimmita as a concentration object but it defines Nimmita as a sign.  The sign could be your object of meditation or also sign means a craving sign. The “signless” refers to "without craving" or you can say Nibbana.

**PAA: Combining Samatha and Vipassanā: Traditional Theravāda approaches often separate calm (samatha) and insight (vipassanā) practices, whereas TWIM seems to blend them by using a samatha object (loving-kindness) that also yields insight. Do practitioners in your tradition gain insights during the jhānic state itself, or only after emerging from it and reflecting? In your view, how do these lighter, aware jhānas facilitate insight into phenomena like impermanence or craving, as opposed to treating jhāna and insight as two distinct steps?**

In TWIM Jhanas are seen actually as levels of understanding and in a sense levels of knowledge. Knowledge of what? The knowledge of letting go. These Jhanas, when using the 6Rs process, are not absorbed but “collected” and unified states. You are aware and see the signs of existence or Tilakkhana as you go deeper into the Jhanas. You see Impermance, suffering and No-Self or Anicca, Dukha and Anatta. Your insight deepens as you go through the Jhana. Also your knowledge of the hindrances and how they are craving deepens and you ultimately give up this craving and suffering itself.

Traditionally it is taught that you go into the Jhanas and reflect on what you have seen when you come out. Actually the way the suttas spell out the practice is you go through the Jhanas and then reflect in the last jhana of Neither Perception Nor Non-perception, or what we call “the quiet mind”, on what is left in the mind and how the mind's attention is moving. If the mind moves we relax at that moment and come back to the quiet. Gradually activity completely stops and then the mind simply stops for a moment. It is at this moment Nibbana arises and Magga or Path is experienced. A great relief arises and then joy bubbles up in the background of deep equanimity. Your personality changes and the first 3 fetters are let go.

### Defining Nibbāna (Enlightenment)

**PAA: How do you define enlightenment or Nibbāna in the context of your teaching? Is it a sudden, discrete experience of cessation or an enduring transformation of mind – or both? Do you refer to the traditional four stages of enlightenment (stream-enterer, once-returner, etc.) with your students, or do you frame progress in a different way when guiding someone toward awakening through TWIM practice?**

We define it in TWIM using the traditional 4 stages as is in the suttas. It is a gradual process and the way you continue is you just continue doing what you were doing before, seeing more and more subtle states letting go as you go deeper. Nibbana is a sudden experience in which you don’t know you entered it but you remember “coming back” from it. It is the complete cessation of conditions. For a moment you experience total relief - you have left Samsara and are nowhere to be found. You will experience a Path moment and maybe a sitting later or a day later or a retreat later, a fruition moment of Nibbana.  There is a path and fruition to each stage.  Stream-Entry is Sotapanna which is made up of a Path moment and then a Fruition moment to full enter this stage and rid yourself of the first 3 hindrances of 1) Doubt as to what the path is 2) Knowing Rites and Rituals will not lead you to Nibbana 3) and that ultimately this idea of self we have doesn’t exist.

### Roots in the Suttas

**PAA: The Dhamma Sukha center’s mission stresses the importance of the Buddha’s original teachings in the earliest texts (Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center - Awaken Insight Retreats). What key sutta teachings form the foundation of the TWIM method’s understanding of meditation, jhāna, and enlightenment? For example, are there specific discourses or instructions from the Pāli Canon that you consistently draw upon when teaching TWIM (such as the Satipaṭṭhāna, Ānāpānasati, or Brahmavihāra suttas)? How do those ancient teachings directly inform the techniques and insights** **cultivated in TWIM practice?**

We use all of the suttas as they all have something to offer and all tie together. Sutta means Threads and they all form a complete cloth that is the Dhamma. 

Specifically, In the Satipatthana Sutta it has the note to “Tranquilize the Bodily Formations.”  In the Anapanasati Sutta it also says to "Tranquilize the Mental Formations (thoughts). These are the basis of the 6R process to let go of hindrances. You don’t suppress hindrances, you tranquilize or relax them (in Pali it is *Passambayah). Other practices completely miss this important teaching!*

Also, the suttas stress that the Jhanas are the way to NIbbana and other practices like Insight Meditation or hindu yogic practices do not have Jhanas and even dismiss them. Jhanas are the Path to Nibbana!

In addition, instead of Breath we use Metta or Lovingkindness which is part of the BrahmaViharas (Metta, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha) noted in the suttas.The Buddha mentioned this path quite a bit more often than using breath. We find it is faster and more pleasant than breath. In fact TWIM teaches breath meditation very differently from other practices. If you have practiced the normally taught Anapana you might have a hard time grasping breath taught directly from the suttas using the Tranquilize step properly.

### The Path to Nibbāna and Meditative Approach 

**PAA: Your method uses mettā (loving-kindness) meditation as the basis to develop unity of mind, jhāna, and ultimately insight leading to awakening (streamentry - the practice of awakening). This is the approach you detail in The Path to Nibbāna. How does this loving-kindness based path align with or differ from other well-known meditation approaches you’ve experienced? For instance, classical Theravāda vipassanā often uses mindfulness of breath or body – what convinced you that mindfulness of loving-kindness could be an equally valid (or even more effective) vehicle for reaching Nibbāna?**

The loving-kindness-based path to awakening, as detailed in *The Path to Nibbāna*, aligns with the suttas in a way that differs significantly from classical Theravāda Vipassanā approaches. While traditional Vipassanā methods, such as Mahasi-style noting or mindfulness of breathing (*ānāpānasati*), emphasize observing sensations, thoughts, and mental formations to cultivate insight, TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation) takes a different approach. It uses *mettā* (loving-kindness) as the foundation for developing *jhāna* and deepening insight into the nature of mind.

### How TWIM Differs from Classical Vipassanā

- **A Feeling-Based Meditation vs. a Noting Practice****
**

Traditional Vipassanā methods often involve systematically observing bodily sensations, mental states, or breath without actively cultivating a positive mind state.

- TWIM, on the other hand, **cultivates a wholesome feeling of loving-kindness** from the very start. This feeling becomes the meditation object, leading naturally to a tranquil and unified mind.

- **Jhāna as a Core Component****
**

Many classical Vipassanā traditions downplay *jhāna*, regarding it as optional or even unnecessary for insight.

- TWIM directly incorporates *jhāna* as a crucial step on the path, in accordance with suttas like *Anupada Sutta* (MN 111), where the Buddha describes moving through *jhānas* while observing impermanence, suffering, and non-self.

- **The 6R Process and Relaxation****
**

Traditional Vipassanā often lacks an explicit relaxation component, which can lead to excessive striving or mental tension.

- TWIM integrates the **6R process**, where meditators recognize distraction, release it, relax the tension, re-smile, and return to their object, ensuring that **effort remains light and joyful**.

### Why Mettā is an Effective Vehicle to Nibbāna

- **It Generates Joy and Tranquility Naturally****
**

The Buddha did not avoid happiness in meditation (*DN 29*). *Mettā* creates a light and uplifted mind, free from agitation.

- This joy and tranquility help the meditator enter *jhāna* effortlessly, which in turn supports deep insight.

- **It Softens the Mind and Reduces Tension****
**

Many meditators in strict Vipassanā traditions experience mental strain due to constant noting or effortful observation.

- TWIM’s *mettā* approach gently **opens the mind** and reduces craving by maintaining a relaxed, open awareness.

- **It Follows the Suttas Closely****
**

The Buddha repeatedly emphasized radiating *mettā* and the other *brahmavihāras* as a way to develop *jhāna* and eventually insight (*MN 52*, *AN 10.208*).

- The texts explicitly state that one who fully develops the *brahmavihāras* **attains the destruction of the taints (āsava-khaya), which is Nibbāna**.

### Conclusion: A More Effective Path?

TWIM’s *mettā*-based approach offers **a direct, joyful, and relaxed path to awakening**. Unlike some classical Vipassanā techniques, which can sometimes lead to dryness, tension, or excessive striving, TWIM ensures **a balance between collectedness and insight**. This method directly leads to the cessation of craving (*taṇhā*)—which is the heart of the Buddha’s teaching on Dependent Origination.

This alignment with the suttas, combined with its practical results, convinced Bhante Vimalaramsi (and many TWIM meditators) that *mettā* is not only a valid path to *Nibbāna*—it may be **the most natural and effective way to reach it**.

**PAA: Jhāna Debates and TWIM’s Stance: Within the Theravāda community, there are varying opinions on jhāna – some lineages stress deep absorption jhānas, while others (like the Mahasi tradition) downplay jhāna in favor of “dry” insight. Given that TWIM strongly incorporates jhāna, have you encountered skepticism or debate about your approach from other Buddhist teachers or practitioners? How do you address concerns that practicing loving-kindness jhānas might be “too pleasant” or not the same as the intense concentration jhānas described in the commentaries?**

Yes, within the Theravāda community, there are ongoing debates about the nature of *jhāna* and its role in the path to awakening. Some traditions emphasize deep absorption *jhānas* (also known as *appanā samādhi*), where the meditator is entirely absorbed in a single object, often to the exclusion of external awareness. The Mahasi tradition, on the other hand, prioritizes “dry” insight (*sukkha vipassanā*), downplaying *jhāna* as unnecessary for enlightenment.

TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation) strongly integrates *jhāna*, but in a way that aligns more closely with the suttas rather than the later commentarial interpretations. The *jhānas* in TWIM are described as aware and tranquil states, rather than deep, one-pointed absorption. This approach is based on passages from the suttas, such as the *Anupada Sutta* (MN 111), where the Buddha describes *jhāna* as a progression of understanding rather than as rigid, absorption-based states.

Yes, skepticism from other Buddhist teachers and practitioners is common. Some argue that the *jhānas* cultivated through loving-kindness (*mettā*) are “too pleasant” and not the same as the intense, rigidly concentrated states described in the *Visuddhimagga*. However, TWIM practitioners—including Bhante Vimalaramsi—emphasize that pleasure and happiness are not obstacles to awakening but are actually encouraged in the suttas (*Dīgha Nikāya* 29 states that the Buddha did not fear happiness in meditation). The key difference is that in TWIM, relaxation (the 6R process) ensures that craving does not arise, allowing the mind to remain light, open, and free from attachment.

The Buddha himself describes *jhāna* as a gradual training that leads to insight. In contrast, the absorption-based model often leads to attachment to deep states of concentration without necessarily cultivating wisdom. TWIM practitioners report that loving-kindness *jhāna* leads to direct insights into dependent origination and impermanence, supporting the idea that wisdom (*paññā*) arises naturally from these states.

TWIM’s approach to *jhāna* is not about forcing absorption but about cultivating joyful, relaxed, and mindful states that naturally deepen into wisdom. If skeptics insist that only absorption *jhāna* is valid, we invite them to compare the results: does the practice lead to less craving, more clarity, and deeper insights? If so, then it aligns with the suttas and fulfills the Buddha’s goal of liberation.

**PAA: Comparisons to Other Traditions: How would you compare the experiences and results of TWIM with those of other meditation traditions you’re familiar with? You’ve practiced the Mahasi noting method – how do the insights or stages one reaches via TWIM differ from those in Mahasi-style insight practice? And beyond Theravāda, do you see any parallels between TWIM and practices in other schools (for example, Zen’s emphasis on relaxing into presence, or Tibetan Buddhism’s use of compassion meditations), or is TWIM pointing to a uniquely different route to the same goal?**

In Mahasi Vipassana, there are 16 insights or *ñāṇas*. These knowledges are not found in the suttas; rather, they originate from the *Visuddhimagga* commentaries and are specifically discussed by Mahasi Sayadaw in *Practical Insight Meditation*. The knowledges described in the suttas, however, are the *jhānas*. These are progressive levels of understanding, culminating in the final realization of *Nibbāna*. Each *jhāna* is described in detail, along with its factors, in the *Anupada Sutta*. TWIM meditators experience these states and affirm that their experiences align with what is described in the texts.

I personally experienced the insight knowledges, and while they were certainly interesting, they did not lead to any lasting transformation in my personality. They did not create a permanent positive change that I could recognize. At one point, I believed I was enlightened, but in hindsight, it may have simply been a subtle desire to think so.

Since Vipassana lacks a relaxation step, it generates different states of mind. Some of these, I would even venture to say, could resemble states of psychosis or a kind of unbalanced, drug-induced condition. This includes the knowledge of suffering and the knowledge of fear and terror.

The Buddha would never have taught a system that terrified his students or led to mental distress due to excessive striving. In fact, in *MN 36: Mahāsaccaka Sutta*, the Buddha explicitly rejected extreme concentration and absorption practices, stating that they were either exhausting to the mind or caused excessive restlessness.

There are many yogic systems based on concentration, but since they lack a relaxation step, I must conclude that they do not lead to the ultimate relaxation of *Nibbāna*.

**PAA: “Mindfulness of Loving-Kindness”: The subtitle of your book The Path to Nibbāna references “Mindfulness of Loving-Kindness” (David Johnson), which sounds unique since mindfulness is often associated with breath or body in meditation. What does being mindful of loving-kindness entail in practical terms? Is it maintaining continuous awareness of a feeling of metta or gentleness? How do you advise students to keep their meditation object (the feeling of loving-kindness) in mind without distraction, and what skills does that build compared to traditional breath-focused mindfulness?**

We traditionally think that the Buddha only taught breath meditation, as described in the *Ānāpānasati Sutta*. However, this is not true—he also taught the *Brahmavihāra* practice. The *Brahmavihāras* are the four divine abidings: Loving-Kindness (*Mettā*), Compassion (*Karunā*), Sympathetic Joy (*Muditā*), and Equanimity (*Upekkhā*). In fact, the Buddha mentions the *Brahmavihāra* method far more frequently in the suttas than breath meditation (*Ānāpāna*). He also discusses his experience with ascetic breath practices, which did not lead to awakening but instead caused painful suffering.

*Mettā* meditation is often seen as a gentle practice that helps to calm and soften the mind, while breath meditation is considered the more serious method for attaining enlightenment. However, Bhante Vimalaramsi discovered that concentrated breath meditation often creates tension and tightness in the mind, whereas *Mettā* meditation naturally relaxes and softens it. He questioned: If *Mettā* could calm the mind, why not use it as the path all the way to *Nibbāna*? In fact, the suttas describe pervading *Mettā* and the other three divine abidings in all six directions, ultimately leading to the destruction of the taints.

The *Brahmavihāra* practice takes *Mettā* as the meditation object instead of the breath. It is a **feeling-based meditation**. The practice begins by generating a warm feeling of loving-kindness toward oneself, then extending it to a spiritual friend, and eventually radiating it outward in all directions. As this practice deepens, it leads to the development of the eight *jhānas*. Upon reaching the final *jhāna*, the meditator contemplates the stillness of the exquisitely quiet mind, letting go of any remaining hindrances and distractions. Finally, the mind comes to a complete stop, and *Nibbāna* arises.

**PAA: Insights from Writing The Path to Nibbāna: You first published The Path to Nibbāna in 2017 and later expanded it with new chapters and a revised practice summary in 2021 (David Johnson). What prompted those updates – did you gain new insights or clarity** **about the path that you felt needed to be included? Could you share one or two key additions or changes in the latest edition that you believe are most significant for guiding practitioners (for example, deeper clarifications about the later jhānas or the process of awakening)?**

I released the book in 2017 after working on it with other people for two years. Over the years as I practiced myself and saw more meditators attain different states I updated and clarified the book. Particularly in 2019/20 a meditator came along who could attain cessation on demand and was able to see the links of dependent origination that was far beyond anything we had ever seen. I used many of his insights to update the book. I added examples of his and other’s actual experiences as testimonials to how the Jhanas arose and the process of the attainment of what we understood to be Nibbana.

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## Further Information

##### Dhamma Sukka - David Johnson

##### Start your training in the Dhamma Sukka

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