Greetings everyone,

I have only just joined here and would like to say a big hello to everybody. I am an absolute newcomer to meditation and have only been practicing a few months. I am practicing the samatha calm abiding method. Even though I have yet to "see" any change or improvement from just sitting, the increasing ability to remember mindfulness during the day has helped greatly.

I wanted to ask a question in regards to some "problems" that have come up now and again in the last couple of weeks. I am only up to about 20-30mins sitting in the morning shortly after waking up. I am not tired at all but sometimes it does feel a little "dull" in that there are not many thought distractions (which is good?) but that may be where my problem is. The problem is, a couple of times now while I have been following the breath a noise or sight (very subtle) has "shocked" me. eg- my daughter dropped some coins together in another room and the sound, although not loud at all, scared the crap out of me in that it seemed to pierce my ears and my body was flooded with that prickly adrenaline rush. Once or twice I had a similar shock with a bird or plane flying by the window which caused a sudden shadow across the floor (I sit with my eyes slightly open). Is this a concentration/awareness problem - too much or not enough, too focused too broad - or maybe I am thinking about thinking about breathing without realising. It has happened a bit fast for me to catch on to any distinct condition.

BestWishes...

That's interesting. I don't know that it matters or not, so no advice. But I did find that at some point several months into meditating sounds became not just aural but physical, and they remain that way. That is, when there is a loud or sharp sound, or even sometimes a smaller sound, I feel it in my body as well as in my ears. Perhaps the sound waves have always been hitting my body and I am just now aware of them (deaf people can feel some sounds this way, for example enjoying music by standing near the speakers and feeling the pressure of the sound waves against their skin). Or perhaps it is more metaphysical. In any case, I personally haven't worried about it.

Absolutely normal. I go through a hypersensitive state during concentration practices also. I'm not doing anything advanced and aren't that good at it, but little noises can startle me. It can be a bit like those dreams you have where you think you're falling and suddenly wake up.

Also, as the second poster, a sound can inspire a definite feeling in my body as a sensation, and also I can see a light that's connected to a sound. The first time it happened I was in a darkened room and someone turned a light switch on the the adjacent room. As soon as I heard it my whole field of vision (behind my closed eyes) lit up and I thought the light had come on in the room I was in, but no, when I opened my eyes I was still in the dark.

I think if anything, it's a sign of early progress (I hope!); it doesn't happen if I'm not very relaxed and at least a little concentrated.

So, not to worry.