Eran G:
Using The formless realms to explore while in Equanimity, what do you think? Seems like boundless space and boundless consciousness should be interesting to explore and very much accessible while in equanimity. Thoughts? Ideas? Tips?
using the formless realms to explore what?
if what you mean is that you would like to explore the formless realms while in equanimity (that is, equanimity regarding formations nana/knowledge/stage), then yes, they should be most easily accessible from there. to some extent, their access may even be inevitable depending on the portion of the stage one happens to be in, as a run through equanimity involves elements from those jhanas (and given suitably strong concentration, a practitioner may find his or her experience suffused into such formless states). the question then is how much you want to spend the limited amount of time that your momentum (which gets you to, and keeps you in, equanimity) will last exploring those realms beyond where insight-investigation (read: noting what arises) will take you ... rather than, say, pushing onward toward the next stage of insight.
on pages 34-35 of
practical insight meditation, mahasi wrote:
Mahasi Sayadaw:
If the meditator begins either with the rising and falling of the abdomen or with any other bodily and mental object, he will find that he is gaining momentum. And then the noticing will go on of its own accord smoothly and calmly. It will appear to him that he is watching with ease the ceasing and vanishing of the formations in a clear manner. At this point, his mind is quite free from all the defilements. However pleasant and inviting an object may be, it is no longer so to him. Again, however loathsome an object may be, it is no longer so to him. He simply sees, hears, smells, tastes, feels a touch or cognizes. With six kinds of equanimity described in the Texts he notices all the formations. He is not even aware of the length of time he is engaged in contemplation. Nor does he reflect in any manner. But if he does not develop sufficient progress of insight to gain the “knowledge of the path and its fruition” (magga and phala) within two or three hours, concentration becomes slack and reflection sets in. On the other hand, if he is making good progress he may anticipate further advance. He will become so delighted with the result that he will experience a fall. Then he must dispel such an anticipation or reflection by directing bare noticing to it. A steady contemplation will achieve smooth progress again. But if sufficient strength of insight has not yet been achieved, concentration becomes slack again. In this way, some meditators progress and fall back several times. Those who are acquainted with the stages of the progress of insight by way of study (or by hearing about them) encounter such ups and downs. Hence it is not good for a pupil who meditates under the guidance of a teacher to get acquainted with these stages before meditation begins. But for the benefit of those who have to practice without the guidance of an experienced teacher, these stages have been indicated here.
...
The ups and downs of insight knowledge occurring in the aforesaid manner are comparable to a bird let loose from a sea-going ship. In ancient times the captain of a sea-going ship, finding it difficult to know whether the ship was approaching land, released a bird that he had taken with him. The bird flies in all four directions to look for a shore. Whenever it cannot find any land, it comes back to the ship. As long as insight knowledge is not mature enough to grow into path and fruition knowledge and thereby attain to the realization of nirvana, it becomes lax and retarded, just as the bird returns to the ship.
and then, from the section i omitted above:
Mahasi Sayadaw:
In spite of such fluctuations in his progress the meditator must not allow himself to be overcome by disappointment or despair. He is now, as it were, at the threshold of magga and phala (the entry and the fruition of the stages of sainthood). As soon as the five faculties (indriya) of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom are developed in an even manner, he will soon reach magga and phala and realize nirvana.
all this is to say: if you realised that you were at the threshold of path and fruit, would you wish to tarry?
tarin