dark night or dark night lite?

jayabodhi joshi, modified 13 Years ago at 1/2/11 11:14 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 1/2/11 11:14 AM

dark night or dark night lite?

Posts: 4 Join Date: 12/29/10 Recent Posts
hi
i posted my first thread in the samatha vipassana section but i have a query which i hope relates to this.
i have practising 12 years , mainly mindfulness, metta and pay cloer attention to ethics.
i have been practising noting and body scan for say 1 month now and have found that i can get into jana very quickly
i sit daily for one hour but ramped up sitting practice over the last two weeks to 2-3 hours sitting. i believe i was sitting in the first nana but outside practice i find myself very aware and able to scan my body in my daily life and notice the changing sensations. i also sadly find my mind reacting and getting irritated very easily. it is a mixed experience of enjoyable practice and certainly investigation and also irriatating moments, note i am not indulging things like anger or irriataion i am able to experience then, trouble is they are more prevalent in my experience which is not easy when i am home- i am married! i appreciate more practice equals more reposibility to manage all of this and i have not done anything regrettable just that this changeable range of states is at best interesting and at worst i think if this is the start, what will dark night be like!?
any suggestions thanks
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Tommy M, modified 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 6:45 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 6:45 AM

RE: dark night or dark night lite?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
Dark Night doesn't have to be a massive emotional crisis, it can sometimes just manifest as an increase in reactivity and a general irritability. Dan's chapter in MCTB goes into quite a lot of detail about this stage and you'll probably find that reading this will give you all the information you need.

From personal experience I've found that it doesn't help to "expect" Dark Night to be some horrendous and painful period although it's always difficult to some degree, but the insights to be gained from it are worth the effort.

Important things to remember are:

1. Don't beat yourself up if you get angry, remember that compassion and lovingkindness should be sent to yourself as well as others. We're all human and we all experience these emotions (AF is another matter...) but as we progress our relationship to them changes so minimizing the impact they have on those around us by becoming aware of when we're in this stage.

2. Dark Night is inevitable. There's no getting away from it so learn to understand it for what it is and know that it, like everything else, will pass.

3. Practice often requires more effort and isn't as enjoyable during this stage but noting the Three Characteristics of each sensation will get you through every time without fail. Even though sometimes it doesn't feel like that, you'll see it for yourself so don't slack and keep the commitment to practice.

You've got so much experience already and a solid base to work from so don't give up, practice well and minimise the bleedthrough, as Dan puts it.
jayabodhi joshi, modified 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 10:02 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 10:02 AM

RE: dark night or dark night lite?

Posts: 4 Join Date: 12/29/10 Recent Posts
Tommy,
i would just like to thank you and rejoice in your encouragement and obvious enthusiasm and quick response to both my posts. i am coming to the conclusion as you righly remind me to also practice metta in tandem the noting practice. it feels like an imbalance. I feel as an image like a super hero with "access to power"! but then am constantly reminded when i exercise this power i need to balance it with responsibly and pay attention to feed back. thank you once again for the advice i am going to re read it and keep going.
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Tommy M, modified 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 3:56 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 1/3/11 3:56 PM

RE: dark night or dark night lite?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
No problem, glad I could be of some help!

As for combining metta practice with vipassana, do you mean bringing metta in while noting? If so, I'd suggest perhaps doing metta practice before or after vipassana rather than during it unless you intend to break metta down to it's bare sensate level. It's not something I've tried myself but there are many more advanced yogis than me on here who could help you with that one.

I know what you mean about imbalance but it's useful that you're aware of it, note the sensations which suggest imbalance and what it is that you're trying to bring balance to. I'm sure you already incorporate metta practice into your daily life anyway but making sure that mindfulness is there before sitting to formally meditate will help immensely.
jayabodhi joshi, modified 13 Years ago at 1/4/11 3:05 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 1/4/11 3:05 AM

RE: dark night or dark night lite?

Posts: 4 Join Date: 12/29/10 Recent Posts
Tommy,
i was thinking metta after the vipassana aspect of meditation. interesting you mention feedback- mine came from meeting my friends, i felt disconnected from what they were saying and internally quite puffed up and proud and and from that my thought "if i have been in dhyana why am i behaving like this!?". attachment obviously is part of it but i shall look at the bare sensations of that as well
the other thing that reminded me of metta was sangharakshita's book "living with awareness" where he mentions connecting with the fact other people are breathing as well as oneself and to bear this in mind so to form a connection with vipassana aspects of mindfulness and just connecting to others. i am sure i need to reflect more on this .

metta
sanjiv