Lars:
Can you get "stuck" in a fractal within a cyle, or at least remain there for a while? For example, when in Misery and subcycling could you remain in Misery.Misery for a while and have a nice miserable time, or move forward and then get stuck in Misery.Equanimity for a while, and have a much more flowing experience of Misery? Essentially I find I can get stuck in a certain nana for a while, so does that also apply to the fractal aspects as well?
Getting "stuck in a nana" could also be described as "learning a nana" or "developing knowledge of the nana". There is something in these mind states that need to be experienced before they are understood and sometimes it takes a while before we understand. The goal is not to bypass nanas but rather to fully experience and understand the nanas. And it's interesting how the mind seems to know where to go to give us the lesson we need.
The fractal nature of a nana is simply the progression of understanding: first there is the basic effort to see the nana, then there is the powering-up of investigation and a fast growth in understanding, then there is the collapse of what we are capable of and a need to develop new ways of thinking about the nana, then there is the mature stage where the simplistic view of the nana is replaced with much more nuanced and wise.
This basic initial, early, middle, and late stage pattern happens throughout practice in many many ways. But if you can notice the basic pattern...
1) we are initially inspired an make an effort
2) the effort bears fruit and we become more able
3) we reach the limit of what we can do with our old approach and need to develop a new skill/view (often the exact opposite of stages 1 and 2, for example if "effort" made 1 and 2 happen now "allowing" will make 3 possible)
4) mature and experienced practice, which exists as a linguistic paradox of sorts (e.g. neither effort nor no effort)
... then you can have a little more confidence to really investigate and participate with what is showing up in the mind, rather than assuming it means we're "stuck".
This applies to almost every skill that humans develop.