Directly Visible Nibbāna Spoken by The Perfectly Enlightened One (Shared by the Venerable Ānanda)

‘It is said, friend, ‘directly visible Nibbāna (Enlightenment), directly visible Nibbāna.’ In what way has The Perfectly Enlightened One spoken of directly visible Nibbāna?’

Here, friend, distant from sense-desires, distant from unwholesome mental states, enters and resides in the first Jhāna, which is with thinking and pondering, based in seclusion, filled with excitement and joy.

To this extent, too, The Perfectly Enlightened One has spoken of directly visible Nibbāna (Enlightenment) in a provisional (temporary) sense…

(In reference to the second Jhāna, the third Jhāna, the fourth Jhāna, the base of the infinite of space, the base of the infinite of consciousness, the base of nothingness, the base of neither perception-nor-non-perception, identical aspects correlating to the first Jhāna were spoken. Also the state of ‘directly visible Nibbāna’ is provisionally (temporarily) revealed.

‘The elimination of perception and feeling’ as is ‘the destruction of the taints’ is non-provisionally (permanent) explained to be ‘directly visible Nibbāna’ as in the following passages.)

Again, friend, by completely overcoming the base of neither perception‑nor‑non‑perception, a Monk enters and resides in the elimination of perception and feeling, and having seen with wisdom, his taints (fetters) are completely destroyed.

To this extent, friend, The Perfectly Enlightened One has spoken of directly visible Nibbāna in a non‑provisional (permanent) sense.

(Reference: AN 9.44)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, shared by one of his closer Students Ānanda, he explains that the Jhānas and other attainments are preliminary phases that the mind moves through prior to attaining Enlightenment and they are temporary.

As the mind enters and resides in the Jhānas, a Practitioner will experience glimpses of Enlightenment. The mind will experience temporary mental states that help a Practitioner understand what Enlightenment feels like, but the mind is not yet Enlightened.

It is not until a Practitioner fully eliminates all of The Ten Fetters moving through the Jhānas and the Stages of Enlightenment, that they will experience Enlightenment, which is permanent.

Detailed explanation of The Ten Fetters and The Four Stages of Enlightenment is available in this same book series found in Chapter 3 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).