Eric Bause:
Keep you attention on the sensation of the breath in the area right underneath the nose, somtimes called the anapana spot. When piti arises, do not shift your attention to the piti, keep it on the sensation of the breath at the anapana spot. You can try these instruction in conjunction with what Ajahn Br. says in his book. If memory serves, he is not too particular about where one puts one's attention.
Eventually some light will begin to emerge, and there may even be the perception of steady consistant light, and eventually after that the countepart sign, which is the nimitta you want to take as an object.
How long can this take? A long time under ideal conditions. Can it be done outside a retreat environment? I don't know. Does having path facilitate what you are trying to do? I don't know.
Eric, my understanding, or lack thereof, is that for the 'right' nimitta to arise, one that would take me to hard Jhana, I need to have have two factors, right concentration on object (stillness, minimal thought, etc), and enough built-up piti. In order to get both, I have to concentrate both on a single object like the breath, and build up happy/joy/pleasure sensation. For me, it doesn't come by itself and effort must be made to induce and accumulate piti. Are you saying all I need is concentration on single object as the breath? I will give this a try and just focus on the anapana spot.
Morgan Gunnarsson:
A hard jhana is jhana with a lot of mindfulness, nothing else. It's a continuum, not two discrete versions. The hard/soft distinction is either an MCTB invention or scriptural. My experience is that jhana with no thoughts (= no images or self talk) does not exist, but the frequency of 'distracting' thoughts can be reduced. You can have shorter or longer periods of 'no thoughts' while in jhana, and you could of course define that as 'hard' if you like. The purpose with jhana is to experience sensations (feel/touch, image, talk, etc) with less effort, so you can investigate their true nature (3Cs). To be fully absorbed in jhana, as you describe, has no purpose and is not "right concentration", even if it was possible.
Morgan, are you sure that a hard Jhana is not fundamentally different than a soft jhana? I understand that one can be extremely aware of the soft Jhana and replicate the experience of hard jhana.
However, my understanding is that in a hard jhana, the concentration is incredibly strong without the effort to maintain it. The awareness becomes automatically nearly absolute. The chance of getting lost in thought even slightly pulled is zero. There is no choice but to be concentrated. In my soft jhanas I had to make the effort and maintain the effort, even at 4th jhana. I can do this without being in jhana, and indeed, when I make the effort to be super concentrated on my object, its like I'm not even in jhana.
My aim is to develop as full concentration as possible before 2nd Path begins and, if possible, I want to do it effortlessly inside the Jhanas. It's like "free" concentration development. Just get in for a few hours and get out. The Jhanas take care of it for you. I could be wrong, but I think this is possible. The Pa Auk school is based on this method.