I think I’ve gotten Stream Entry. However, I understand how easy it is to make myself think I have, especially since I’ve been working toward Stream Entry, and so I’d appreciate any comments, or better yet, questions.
What happenedOn January 25th, I had an A&P passage that was unusually physical, vivid, and intense. The experience started in A&P, and progressed through the Dark Night nanas, and ended up in Equanimity. When it was over, I found I had meditated for over two hours without realizing it. Based on this, it seems clear that this was the start of a new cycle.
Which meant that I might have gotten path without realizing it.
When I looked back through my meditation journal, I suspected it happened on January 6th, although I discounted it at the time as a bit of self-scripting. Here's my meditation journal entry for the morning:
Jan 6 Woke up a bit early and decided to meditate until the alarm went off. Was concentrated most of the time, and was able to note some of the time. Got a bit of a jerk, then some spreading body warmth. Likely not cessation, but I'll try to keep track of these. Meditated for 10 minutes before work and was able to note continuously. Was able to note continuously in the car on the way to work for 30 minutes. Feel great this morning, energized even though I feel a bit tired. Easy to get concentrated if I think about it, and getting the same bliss in the front of my abdomen if I concentrate a bit on it.The rest of January turned out to be a very emotionally tumultous month in a lot of ways, and I managed to miss signs which are now much more obvious.
See this thread for details on that A&P passage.Why I think this is Stream EntryIn my sits since then, I seem to be getting into Equanimity quite quickly (about 10 minutes or so), and once there, I get this hazy, sleepy, dreamy feeling and I lose track of noting. The next thing I notice is that I’ve caught my head slipping down, my clarity and focus is back, and there is a faint spreading feeling of bliss in my body. After a bit, the clarity fades, I get that same sleepy, dreamy feeling, lose focus, and things repeat. I can get this to reoccur lots of time, and the more times I do it, the stronger the blissful feeling gets. When the sit is over, I am very relaxed, open, laid-back, with sense of satisfaction, peace, and a kind of a physical afterglow. I have been able to reproduce this time after time in my sits. If I do this in bed, the process seems to skip the head jerk, but the rest is exactly the same.
Also, I find that I can get a floaty, blissful feeling in my body if I simply think about it. It’s harder to get it to come I’m very tired, or physically active. In fact, there have been a few times when it wouldn’t go away.
A week ago, I woke up with that floaty, blissful feeling and it blossomed into first jhana. I was astonished to find that I was able to think myself into second, third, and fourth jhanas and back down twice in a row before the alarm went off. I’ve tried to reproduce this without success -- every time I’ve tried, I end up feeling the body rush of the A&P, and before I know it, I’m in Equanimity and off to the races again.
In the two months since the event, my journal shows that I’ve had joy and happiness occurring significantly more often and more regularly since then. In general, I’ve had a lightness in my attitude, and more joy, and wonder, and empathy, and I’ve been laughing more. It seems easier to listen to other people without feeling a need to talk, and I have a sort of a lack of fear of being direct and honest with co-workers.
I’ve noticed a freshness on my drive to work. I can look over a vista I've seen literally thousands of times and see new things in it that I've never noticed. A few times, I’ve been driving along and suddenly the scenery looked different, like I’ve never driven through there before.
Most interestingly, I've had an eager-to-face-the-day attitude in the morning even when I don't get enough sleep, and this NEVER used to be the case.
Why I have doubts- I have not had any fruitions outside of meditation.
- I have tried Kenneth Folk’s eye blink trick, and sometimes seem to get kind of a minor bliss glow, but nothing that screams, “THAT WAS IT!!!!.”
- I don’t seem to have an special insights into subject and object
- I haven’t had any experience of the Three Doors that I recognized.
So what do y’all think?