| | Hey Guys,
I'm new here, thank you so much for the incredible discussions! I wanted to ask if you had any insight as to what is happening when the feeling of metta that begins in the heart drops from that location and then reappears in the 3rd eye area? When I first did this practice the feeling of metta (for me it was a very cold feeling, like peppermint or menthol) would always start in the heart. When I begin now it immediately shows up either in the third eye or crown chakra area.
Also, at the beginning (first few days) of the metta practice the 'feeling', or energy/chi/menthol sensation, originated in the heart, then passed to the throat, down to the solar plexus, then to the head. This seems to match what the first phase of the Six Yogas of Naropa describe, so I found that interesting. But what I'm confused about is where these feelings of energy in various chakra centers overlay with the maps used to describe the progress of insight - is there a discussion somewhere that hits this?
I'm just trying to get a handle on where I might be in my practice. We've got the chakra, core channel energy flow model, which I can somewhat relate to in my experience, but I'm not sure where this intersects the vipassana jhanas and nanas, if at all. I think I've had at least 2 A&P experiences - the first, which happened December 1 of 1993, absolutely obliterated my then-current personality and made me a complete space cadet for pretty much the next . . . well it's probably still going on. : ) This happened in the context of a VERY radical Pentecostal, green beret style Church and so of course I interpreted this event as being "filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues," which I did, and they weren't the coached kind. At any rate my life has been, I dunno, altered in the extreme since then. I've basically spent the last couple of decades trying to understand what the hell happened to me, why can't I get back to that place, and why, despite having a great, blessed life in so many ways, I'm fundamentally miserable. (I've read enough here to suspect Dark Night symptoms, yes.)
All I know is that about every 1.5 to 2 years I have a total overhaul of whatever belief system I then hold. I get major shifts in awareness and convictions, I always lose all of my friends because I take up the mantle of the heretic at that point and move on, etc. - ya'll know how it goes. I've cycled through almost all possible Christianities until reaching Eastern Orthodoxy and then, right on schedule, leaving it as well.
At any rate I suppose that's a subject for another thread, but as of the last 3 months I've been using metta practice to try and enter jhana. So I was very curious when this thread mentioned that when the energies reach the head they have to be worked with in different ways. Also again, I wonder if there is a thread that might help me map where my metta energy sensations might fall on the insight maps.
I apologize in advance if this has been covered elsewhere as I'm not familiar with all of the content yet. But thanks for taking the time to read this and for the fantastic board!
much respect,
Geoffrey Garland Athens, Ga |