Hello all,
It's been a while since I've posted here, but I've still been lurking around haha.
Anyway, I've been doing samatha practice for about a month now and I think that I'm kinda...stuck.
I'm doing something wrong in getting jhana? I mean when you're in it, is your mind focused on one object for a certain period of time and can't move anywhere else? Can you be aware of anything besides the meditation object in jhana? (e.g. thoughts). I can really focus on the breath for a while (maybe close to 30 minutes or so), but it still doesn't feel like jhana in that most of the time there's not a bunch of piti or sukha going on.
There was this one time when I went hiking and I saw a stream where I got off the trail and decided to sit down for samatha. At that time I focused on how quiet and secluded the place was (my usual practice place is not too quiet but it's kind of secluded plus its all I have to work with), and after just a few minutes I got waves of rapture that were just well, nothing like I had ever experienced before (the best way I can put it). But during this experience I wasn't focusing on anything other than just the pleasure or rapture and there were still thoughts I was still aware of such as "wow". Was this Jhana or something else? I've never gotten anything like that since then. I'll continue practicing, but surely I'm mistaken somewhere. Maybe a simple "do this and this will happen" would be great.
Some clarification and recommendations would be appreciated.
I'll provide more info if needed.
Thanks