| | Hey everyone, I am new here and I have a few questions if you don't mind. I have always been interested in Buddhism as a philosophy for a long time but it wasn't until the last 6 months that I really started to dive into it. I started with reading some simple "overview" type books from Tibetan teachers like Lama Surya Das, Sogyal Rinpoche, and Yongey Mingur Rinpoche, and while these book gave me an understanding of some fundamental concepts, they really never go into how to really approach and progress in meditiation. I am an analytical guy and I like to really look into how things work so I dug deeper and found Daniel Horn and buddhistgeeks and via some of the podcasts I found Daniel and you guys.
Anyways I love the practical approach and I am starting to apply this to my practice. Really for six months I was sitting 30 min a day at best and watching my breath. From what I have read now, I feel I have access concentration as I can really get into my breath now. I can still see thoughts arise but they do not distract me when I am really into it. They seem more in the background.
Now just recently, especially last night, I feel I have caught a glimpse of the 1st jhana. Let me explain: First, I began to feel like I was smiling slightly, even though I am not sure if I actually was. I shifted my focus slightly to any feeling of 'pleasure' such as the tingly feeling in my hands and the smile. Suddenly, space seemed to open up a bit. It is hard to explain, almost like I could see further in the darkness when my eyes were closed and then things got bright for a moment. I then felt a growing tingling starting in my legs and rising and my breath begain to almost studder. I assume this is piti, because it was very pleasurable. However, I kind of freaked out and tried to hold on to it and cultivate it and it just flat out went away.
So, am I correct in my assumptions that I got my first glimpse of jhana? Do you have any suggestions on how I can stay with it next time something like this arises?
Thanks for all of your insights. |