The first jhāna description starts: “Quite secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters and remains in the first jhāna.” As mentioned previously, this seclusion from sense pleasures, seclusion from unwholesome states, refers to the abandoning of the five hindrances, the five mental states that hinder progress on the spiritual path. The method for setting them aside is generating access concentration. Access concentration gets you to the point where, if there are thoughts occurring, they are wispy and in the background and they are not pulling you away into
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