It is in some places interpreted as 'getting rid of evil,' etc., and later as 靜慮 quiet meditation. The meaning is often blurred with that of 定, but this word is more closely associated with samādhi, cf. 禪定. The term also connotes Buddhism and Buddhist things in general, but has special application to the East Asian meditation school of Chan/Seon/Zen 禪宗.

It is one of the six pāramitās, cf. 波. There are numerous methods and subjects of meditation. The eighteen brahmalokas are divided into four dhyāna regions "corresponding to certain frames of mind where individuals might be reborn in strict accordance with their spiritual state." The first three are the first dhyāna, the second three the second dhyāna, the third three the third dhyāna, and the remaining nine the fourth dhyāna. (Eitel). According to Childers' Pāli Dictionary, "The four jhānas are four stages of mystic meditation, whereby the believerʼs mind is purged from all earthly emotions, and detached as it were from his body, which remains plunged in a profound trance." Seated cross-legged, the practitioner "concentrates his mind upon a single thought. Gradually his soul becomes filled with a supernatural ecstasy and serenity," his mind still reasoning: this is the first jhāna. Concentrating his mind on the same subject, he frees it from reasoning, the ecstasy and serenity remaining, which is the second jhāna. Then he divests himself of ecstasy, reaching the third stage of serenity. Lastly, in the fourth stage the mind becomes indifferent to all emotions, being exalted above them and purified. There are differences in the Mahāyāna methods, but similarity of aim.