Hello Not Tao,
Non-duality is quite the red herring when it comes to PCEs. You can easily have a non-dual experience which is affective - the outer world is filtered through 'being' and is thus made of the same stuff that the 'inner world' is, hence "no separation" between those, yet still you are not experiencing actuality.
Focusing on the senses is also a non-starter as once again, you can be experiencing very clear and sharp senses, yet if 'being' is still around, they are affective nonetheless. You cannot get to a PCE by focusing very intently on the senses. Or rather, it is very unlikely, and if it does happen the main reason is not that you were focusing on the senses, but because of something else.
I could easily see someone describing a PCE as the "outer world" because of how different it is from regular self-centered consciousness. Also the "stepping out of thoughts and emotions" description into something that is "very still" could ring true. However you mention that what is still is an "awareness". The stillness of the actual world is not the stillness of awareness, however. It's more that you are aware of the stillness - the actual world is what is still, and you are thus aware of it. If there is a "still awareness" then that would be a point against it being a PCE in my book.
That it shares qualities with jhanas is also perhaps a point against, since in my experience jhanas and PCEs are really, really different. Maybe extremely superficially one could say they share some qualities, but a jhana is so laden with affect, and a PCE so bereft of it, that one can hardly draw a meaningful comparison.
A sense of space being predominant... well one remarkable aspect of a PCE is how *there* everything is, how everything is actually there. And the world does have a certain depth to it that it doesn't when experienced via regular consciousness. So here is a point for.
As to making a distinction between the two modes of perception, of course there is a distinction. If there weren't they would be the same would they not?
I can relate to feeling "a bit like I've gone blind it fades away". Mostly I wonder why on earth I can't experience pure intent when I am not experiencing it. It is as if the affect completely blocks the perception of it. Well not "as if", that's exactly what 'I' do.
About it becoming almost effortless to switch between them, that is a bit strange to me, especially switching from feeling emotions so strongly that they are noticed as physical symptoms in the body, right into a PCE. The PCE has to be allowed to happen and 'I' (as emotions) prevent that from happening. This is perhaps a point to indicate that you are still 'being' and just switching between different affect-based modes of perception.
Also the phrase "the feelings attached to emotional thoughts disappear instantly" is a bit peculiar. This probably comes from not having realized that 'I' am 'my' feelings and 'my' feelings are 'me', and that feelings come before thoughts. Well here's a question: do thoughts still appear about what they usually would be about with regular consciousness, except it is as if some 'charge' is gone from them? If so that is certainly not a PCE since those sorts of thoughts don't arise at all in a PCE.
That you mention that emotions manifest as "tightness with vibrations" definitely indicates you are on the wrong track, as the primary component of an emotion is the affective component, which is non-sensate. If you want to make any progress along these lines you will have to stop reducing emotions to physical sensations, as to do that is in effect to ignore and/or repress them.
About placing all of your awareness outside of your body - I can perhaps relate as for me it is much easier to experience pure intent in an open space, when I look at something far-off. That helps me find it, but when I do it transforms *everything* - including 'my' 'inner world' by making it more felicitous - it is not limited to just "out there". And I don't really "place my awareness" anywhere, as such. I do notice a tendency to not allow pure intent to go 'inside', so to speak, but in a PCE it is noticed everywhere, including all over the body.
As to agency causing the "inner world" to form, not quite. The 'inner world' forms automatically with the 'outer world' as a result of 'being', and 'being' does not form from a sense of agency, but rather a sense of agency forms from it, I would say. 'Being' is just what you are born with, it isn't a result of any mental habit or anything like that, and it does take effort to eliminate it, as many have found.
But above all, you didn't make any mention of pure intent whatsoever. Pure intent is the single most important thing about a PCE, and the best way to find yourself in one, I find. You also didn't indicate the experience tells you anything about actual existence. You didn't mention that as if for the first time, you experience actual objects and people and things as
actually being there. There was nothing about the intrinsic benevolence of the universe. And your words don't really indicate that it was anything that amazing. The most glowing thing you wrote about it is that it is "very preferable, even though it could be described as emotionless". A PCE is an astounding experience that blows everything else out of the water. Whenever I get close or am experiencing one, truly I cannot get over how amazing it is. And though it is devoid of emotion that never even comes close to being a consideration against it, as what is there instead of emotions - pure intent, sheer enjoyment, and actuality - is far better.
What have you been using as your source to determine what a PCE is? Here are some
descriptions of PCEs from others which might also help you.
Thanks for sharing, and I hope this was informative!
Cheers,
- Claudiu