Does this sound somewhat like what you experienced somehow?
It sounds familiar, yes. Maybe try looking at what's still implying "effort" or anything which suggest that you're "trying"; look at how the mind labels sensation as "unpleasant" or "difficult", there's a definite mental movement towards such sensations which seems to involve a sort of paradoxical grasping, as if "I" am so desperate for any sort of stability that "I" will even cling to shit sensations rather than acknowledging them and letting them go.
I wonder if you can elaborate a little bit on what you mean by "distance".
Basically, try looking at the sensations which imply a space or distance between any object and your perception of it; there seems to be a 'space' between the two, but if you look more closely you can see how "distance" between you and this object is merely implied. If you look for things like dimensionality, space, distance, volume and other subtle spatial factors, especially when you're in Equanimity, it becomes apparent that there's no such object as "space" or "distance", just more sensations implying some sort of 'other' when, on closer inspection, you can't actually find these things outwith the mental projection of them.
Does techniques and what I notice really matter anyway?
In my opinion, yes.
Technique-wise, I recommend bare sensate attention as opposed to "noting", and would recommend the same thing to anyone post-1st path 'cause the mind is already accustomed to seeing the whole arising and passing of sensation by that point. What worked for me was to fully experience the 3C's in every sensation possible, like I said, it's like a game of hide and seek, but if you can stay attentive to what's occurring then the 'thing' unravels by itself.
As for "what" you notice, again it's just a matter of seeing everything and anything for what it is: Transient, empty and inherently unsatisfactory. There's only a finite amount of possible sensations and combinations thereof, so just stay with whatever's appearing and experience it clearly.
I feel that no matter how I practice and what techniques I use, things unfold in a pre-determining manner with respect to place and time.
That's not incorrect to say since things do seem to unfold of their own accord, so go for consistency and accuracy in your investigations over sheer volume. It
will happen if you've gotten this far anyway, it's just a matter of seeing things in just the right way to allow the knot to untie itself. Investigate "place" and "time" too, see how, even though it may seem otherwise, there's no "place", no "here", no "now" which you can rest on or in so don't cling to
anything. There can be a lot of distractions and cool stuff to play around with at 3rd Path so don't get lazy, or get stuck in the pure lands or trying to hit nirodha samapatti, just continue as you have but with an eye for the subtle aspects of experience which still imply some sort of space or super-space, or anything that seems to be "awareness".
It seems techniques and letting things be simply just make it less painful to deal with these dark night stages and what I'm caught with.
If it works for you, do it. Whether it's techniques, maps and models or whatever, they're all just tools to be utilized and then dropped when they cease to be of use. Don't get hung on technicalities as it's not required.