Traditionally, no. The jhanas are sequential stages requiring mastery of each level before advancing.
The four jhanas (also spelled dhyanas) in Buddhist meditation are presented in the Pali Canon as a progressive sequence. Each jhana builds on the previous one, with increasingly subtle refinement of mental states. The first jhana features applied and sustained attention, the second removes these grosser mental factors, the third withdraws from joy, and the fourth achieves equanimity and mental stability.
The Samyutta Nikaya and Digha Nikaya consistently describe the jhanas as successive stages. A meditator typically gains the first jhana, becomes skilled and comfortable in it, then develops the second, and so on. The texts treat this progression as the normal path.
According to Theravada Buddhist analysis, skipping a jhana would be practically impossible because each jhana depends on the mental qualities cultivated in the previous one. For instance, you cannot reach the second jhana without first mastering the quieting of thinking and reasoning present in the first jhana. Similarly, the refined mental absorption of higher jhanas requires the stable foundation of lower ones.
Mentally, each jhana is characterized by specific factors. The Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification), the authoritative Theravada commentary by Buddhaghosa, details how each jhana refines the coarser mental factors of the preceding one. Without establishing that foundation, the conditions for accessing a higher stage simply are not present.
Theravada Buddhism maintains the strictest position on sequential progression. The Mahayana schools, which often approach meditation less systematically in their surviving texts, give less detailed prescriptive guidance on jhana progression, so the question arises less centrally in those traditions.
Within Theravada itself, there is virtually unanimous agreement among commentarial traditions that the sequence must be followed. Historical accounts of accomplished meditators consistently describe progression through the jhanas in order, never jumping stages.
There is one subtle distinction worth noting: a meditator might briefly taste or glimpse a higher jhana without having fully stabilized lower ones. However, this is not the same as skipping. The Pali texts do recognize that extremely concentrated practitioners might spontaneously access profound states, but this represents a temporary touch, not the established mastery required to claim that jhana as one's attainment.
Full attainment of a jhana involves the ability to enter and exit it at will, sustain it for extended periods, and consciously manipulate its factors. This level of control cannot occur without the prerequisites of lower jhanas.
Contemporary Theravada teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw and modern vipassana traditions emphasize that while some meditators may progress through jhanas quickly, they still traverse each stage. There is no recorded case in authentic Buddhist literature of a meditator legitimately attaining the third or fourth jhana without first thoroughly establishing the first and second.
For practical purposes, teachers advise working systematically. Attempting to force entry into higher jhanas typically produces artificial mental states rather than genuine jhanas, which can lead to psychological strain or confusion about one's actual meditative achievement.
In classical Buddhist teaching, skipping a jhana is not possible. The jhanas are interdependent stages, each requiring mastery of the previous. This principle is consistent across all major Theravada sources and commentaries. While a practitioner might have a brief glimpse of a higher state, genuine attainment requires establishing each jhana in sequence.