Recently on a Goenka retreat I was spending time in equanimity/high equanimity, and when openning myself up to whatever my body would show me next, I went through very strong but brief full-body experiences of first loving-kindness, then compassion, then joy, then nothingness extending in all directions. Is this a common experience when in or around high equanimity? It was so clear to me at the time, I thought for sure when I returned home I would read about them as some sub-stage of the fourth vipassana jhana, but was surprised to not find them there. Maybe others have experienced a similar progression when hanging out in equanimity?

High eq frequently offer various trippy and magical effects for different folks, but it varies person-to-person.  It sounds like experiencing the Brahma Viharas in sequence was just what your brain wanted to do with all that energy, at that time.  My experience was lots of jhana, lightness, and I also had all these memories and old emotions bubbling up from childhood.  It kind of felt like I was numb with a pleasant buzz as I went about my daily life, but could fall into the vast nothingness of my subconscious at any time.  There are definitely parallels across these eq experiences though.

Hi Noah, I appreciate the response. Makes sense, and makes me excited about exploring high eq a little bit more this next time around.

Have fun surfing!