Bagpuss The Gnome:
Hi everyone,
As I try to figure out my practice for 2013 I have been experimenting with noting (again) while I go through the jhanas to whatever the current peak is. But I find I am most often doing "vibrating, vibrating, vibrating, sound, vibrating, vibrating, itching, changing, gone, vibrating, vibrating, vibrating...." which I think may not be as optimal is it could be.
I also often find myself searching around for something to note...
Do you note the very act of 'searching' at all? That is the tricky thing, it is like at times 'i' must note this and that, and must have somethng to note, and when there appears nothing to note, 'i' believe i have to find something for 'me' to note. The focus is too narrow to include the very act of looking for somethng to note and the looping of the mind creating a self reference point, the sensations being overlayed and read as 'me-ness'. Allow the mind's focus to broaden a bit more to encompass those aspects of experience that are seemingly 1st person and getting frustrated due to 'searching' for soemthing to note. Allow the focus to widen as far as it can so that it is as enclusive of the entire field of experience as possible, including senstions of 'you', the mental movements (such as wanting something to note) seemingly using this habitual 'i'-making process as a base to jump from and whatever else is arising in this very moment. This widening of focus may also trigger the fashioning of 4th jhana/11th nana territory.
Nick