Jason R:
Once recently I did feel this subtle rising feeling of joy and happiness--but I lost it. Otherwise, the body buzz just gets stronger and stronger while I get distracted by these occasional sounds.
So sounds, smells, taste, and feeling are rather suppressed, but louder sounds tend to very briefly throws off the breath. And I can smell, taste and feel if I direct my mind to intentionally arouse those faculties
Any guidance? Just keep being mindful and observing the breath?
If you finding that you become easily distracted by loud sounds, this is just an indication that your concentration is weak. It's okay to become momentarily startled by loud sounds for brief moments until you are able to satisfy yourself that it is nothing dangerous, just a distracting noise, and can resume your concentration. The fact that you are not able to resume concentration tells you right then and there what is happening. Make sense so far?
Jason R:
For the last four weeks I've been earnestly meditating and studying all day long. Lately I keep hitting this one stage and unable to progress beyond it. I have an idea what it is, but never mind that--I'm not concerned with naming the stage. I just want to hear your thoughts on piti-sukha on relation to my situation.
This state has an extremely strong "body buzz", and a seemingly still mind, with the exception that loud sounds like a crow cawing or door shutting keep distracting me. I return to the breath, but no matter how long I stay, piti-sukha never arises. Or rather, I don't think it does.
In relation to
dhyana meditation, if you are using this (the arising of
piti-sukha) as a guideline for attaining to
dhyana, then you must become aware that the instructions for attaining
dhyana meditation were given in light of the fact that you, the meditator, are making
that happen (fabricating an experience) by way of internal phenomena that you personally relate to as being pleasant and soothing, bringing the mind to a tranquil but alert state wherein mental phenomena may be examined outside the normal mental conditioning in order to "see things just as they are" without bringing in any preconceived notions or prejudices. Reaching this state of mental quietude is what
dhyana meditation is meant to help facilitate. It is also meant to help facilitate stronger states of concentration (or the state of
appana samadhi, which refers to "fixed concentration"), but realizing this is usually farther down the road from where you are.
The fact that
piti and sukha don't seem to arise and subside at this point (after having become distracted by a loud sound) is, for all intents and purposes, irrelevant. The fact that you are unable to return (relatively quickly) to a stable and concentrated state has to do with how you are allowing the mind to react to these disturbances. Your mind is still in training, and you have not yet gained control over it.
You must become aware (through insight into what is currently happening) that an untrained mind is like a jumpy animal in the wild (like a cottontail rabbit fearing for its life at the hands of a predator). The untrained mind will move very quickly and instinctively, like that rabbit, when it senses danger nearby. It doesn't stop to analyze the situation; it just runs. A mind that is running is not settled or tranquil, not concentrated and fixed.
You need to be able quickly to stop and analyze the situation when loud noises distract you in order to calm yourself down so that you may resume concentration. The fact that you are not able to do this shows you graphically that your mind is not in your control. How do you correct this?
One method is the one recommended by Richard Zen, by bringing the mind back, again and again, to the object of meditation and refocusing on that object after the distraction has passed. Over time, after having done this many, many times, your mind will eventually begin to automatically obey your first impulse that it stop and refocus on the object. And then this won't be a problem any longer.