Beoman Claudiu Dragon Emu Fire Golem:
can you describe what happened from the moment you sat down to when you got to the 3rd? or were you just in the 3rd all day up to the point when you sat?
I can jump into the 3rd almost at any time. I can basically breath it in and suddenly my head and then my body are filled with that pleasure. If this isn't the 3rd jhana, then whatever it is, I highly recommend it.
Beoman Claudiu Dragon Emu Fire Golem:
could you describe the relaxed pleasure more? how do you distinguish this pleasure from the types of pleasure found in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd jhana?
It's sort of tingly. It's also whole-body, but focused in the forehead. More like relaxation than pleasure. The 3rd is much more pleasurable, like, with little influxes of pleasure on the in-breath, and the rapture of the 1st and 2nd is much more intense; so much so that it can be almost painful sometimes.
Beoman Claudiu Dragon Emu Fire Golem:
do you get any sense of pleasure or rapture in the 5th and 6th?
Not rapture or pleasure, per se, but it's definitely a pleasant sensation. Like I said--awe-inspiring. I guess compared to ordinary consciousness it's pleasurable, but it's not distincively or powerfully so as with the first three jhanas.
Beoman Claudiu Dragon Emu Fire Golem:
Morgan Taylor:
I used to hate the 7th because it was so terrifying compared to the grandeur of the 6th--as if suddenly all the lights went out--but recently I've come to enjoy it more within the interpretation that it's the silence and stillness of God. Most thoughts seem to disappear, or I at least don't register them. It's a profound, quiet peace.
what's the sense of the body like here? any pleasure/rapture?
When I did the 7th the first time, it definitely was not pleasurable; just either terrifying or just completely empty. Now, however, I find that peace pleasurable, but it's a wholly different sort of pleasure from the one I mentioned in regards to the 4th. (No idea which experience is more "correct".) It's more subtle, yet deeper. Definitely not rapturous. It's not a full-body pleasantness either--perhaps some concentration in the heart area, but primarily mental/spiritual.