| | Firstly I want to say, I first discovered Dharma Overground two years ago after my first experience of the the stage of Arising Passing away. Because of this site, I was able to accelerate my practice all the way through the Paths. For this I am thankful to everyone here, especially to Daniel for his hard work on MCTB.
Recently I believe that I attained 4th Path and want check against other’s experience by listing what I “can” do and what I “cannot” do or what has happened and share some thoughts about the whole thing as well. I noticed that people seem quite dissatisfied with 4th Path especially when put against the ideals of the Arahat and many are moving on to PCE. At least I want to establish what we do gain from 4th Path. So let’s get started…
What I have experienced:
1) Probably the biggest fruit of attaining 4th Path, and root of my gratitude, is that I can objectively say that my defilements, that is, all desire, attachment, aversions, anger, pride, jealousy, and all negative mind states in general, have been reduced to only 10% of what it was before I started Vipassana. Defilements is one of the measures of progress and enlightenment.This is based on watching my mind and my reactions very carefully without interference and comparing it to my past reactions and habits. After attaining 1st Path, my defilements seemed to decreased by ~30%, then another ~25% after 2nd, another ~20% again, then 15% after 4th with 10% remaining. And this is across the board on all attachments and aversions. If I had a great attachment to pizza during retreat, it is only 10% of what it was. If I have a small pet peeve with someone at work, it is only 10% of that. It doesn’t seem to matter the original defilement or magnitude, it is still 10% of whatever was there. Speaking of magnitude, this reduction is across the board in terms of different dimensions of the defilements as well. For example, if an explosion of anger arises, the depth or bite of the anger, how long it lasts, its “broadness”, and the range of triggers are all reduced to… 10%. To me this is absolutely amazing and I cannot be more grateful.
Don’t get me wrong, 10% of ginormous defilements is still 10% too much. And I still have all that. I liken this to at first having $100,000 worth of defilements in your savings account. It’s a lot of money without going overboard. Cutting that down to $10,000 is only 10% left. But $10,000 is still a lot of money if you happen to lose it. So even 10% defilements is still too much and I won’t stop until I cut it all to zero. I just want to be clear that by no means am I even near done.
2) Besides defilements, something interesting I am able to do (when my mind is pure) is cognize the formation of conceptions and experience the bare field of sensations of the 6 senses at the same time. This experience is amazing because not only do you truly witness the mind forming conceptions of the reality around you that you normally perceived as real, you get to compare it to the bare sensations it is attempting to define, and see how wrong it is! If there was an experience of “emptiness” this would be it. You get to see exactly what is empty, and empty of what all at once, and see exactly how it is your mind tells you lies through those mental formations. This holds true for the sense of self as well. When in this state, nothing affects me because I truly perceive all as self-created illusions trying to grasp at the 6 sense objects.
3) Another measure of progress is the presence of the sense of self. Nowadays, my sense of self has been permanently (seemingly) reduced, probably again, to 10% of what it was before. It is not completely gone by any means, except possibly during a good sitting. In fact, it feels like I, or my sense of self, survives only as a fragment of its former self somewhere inside this body/mind which is not mine. It is as if, during each Path attainment, my “I” withdrew more and more, like the tide receding from the beach. Even now, these hands typing away seem like just another animated object in my visual awareness.
Speaking of the “I”, I can say that it is directly proportionate to the amount of suffering or defilements I experience. If it is not present, I do not suffer no matter what happens. If it is present then I am susceptible in proportion to the magnitude of its presence. From this, I can infer that if I can 100% be without an “I”, I will not suffer.
4) Another thing that arises is, when my mind is pure (with minimal self), there is a general sense of peace and joy that naturally arises. Sometimes I am just sitting there being in my default state, and I notice that it is already present. I suppose I can describe this feeling as an undercurrent of the Four Abodes. There is joy and there is equanimity. The other two, compassion and loving-kindness does arise easily with external triggers. There is just a general sense of peace, that things are known, and all is alright. Again if there are defilements or a strong “I” present, this state does not arise.
What I did not experience:
1) First, I want to make clear that I am still uncertain of my Path attainment because, without a doubt, I have not experienced cessation or any of the stages beyond Stage 11 Equanimity except for Review. I made a post about it when I first made 1st Path over a year ago and it still stands. After I go past Stage 11, I experience these unknown stages not previously described anywhere including MCTB, before arriving at Stage 16 where the stages begin to cycle. However, the psychological effects are clear and valid. And the stages take 10-15 weeks of cycling to reset before I can start on the next Path. But I do not experience Stages 12 – 15 the way MCTB or anyone else describes, including cessation. This still puzzles me to this day. But I cannot complain about the effects of whatever I got to my mind, and it gets better with each retreat. To further verify that the stages do not reset after 4th Path, I am currently waiting a few more months to confirm as the stages today are still currently cycling.
2) Something else that I cannot attain is good concentration. For all that I experienced, my concentration ability is still amateurish. At times I cannot count past 20 breaths without a thought arising unchecked. This leads to the subject of the Jhanas. Still, I can only attain soft Jhanas as I posted nearly two years ago. But I cannot get hard Jhanas or go to any other non-traditional jhanic states like the “Pureland” Jhanas. This puzzles me because, based on posts, this is somewhat a requirement for attaining 3rd or 4th Path. Regardless, I cannot do this, and plan to devote an entire retreat just to concentration practice.
3) Also, MCTB mentions most people on their way to 4th and beyond experience some kind of siddhi (magick) experience. I have absolutely not experienced any of this, probably due to my lack of concentration ability.
So there it is, this is what I’ve been able to do and not do after getting through 4th Path.
For me overall, the amount of suffering and anguish in life is just reduced to a minimum. I can say, unlike any other time in my adult life, I am “satisfied” and at peace, something I have never felt before. And if my life were to end here, I would be satisfied with my attainment. I suppose this is why I am puzzled that people are going to PCE. Isn’t there more we can follow according to the Buddha’s teachings if the results so far have been promising? Or am I missing something entirely? I will definitely give PCE a try one day.
If it is true that there is nothing more Vipassana can provide after 4th, I will switch over to Tibetan Buddhism and see what they have to offer in there neck of the woods. So far, emptiness meditation seems promising, further reducing the “self” which, seems to be the root misery and defiling mind states.
Please provide comments on your experience of 4th and after. Does it match up with mine? What is different? How much defilements have been reduced? What about overall suffering? How is your sense of self or "I"? Is it significantly reduced like mine, or is it gone completely? Have I missed something else I should mention?
Lastly, has anyone continued to make progress beyond 4th Path by continuing with Buddhist meditation? |