Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

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Kay, modified 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 9:23 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 8:58 AM

Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

Posts: 3 Join Date: 2/6/20 Recent Posts
Hello dharma friends. I have two interconnected questions. As soon as I sit down and close my eyes, I go into a light jhana and I manage to keep it that way if I want to do insight or if I want to stay in access concentration longer to then enter a deeper jhana/s. However, I have been experiencing an unusual phenomenon and no one I have spoken to knows what I’m talking about.
Something tells me one or more of you will. In every sit, I experience energy waves in my head and all throughout my body, up and down my spine….but not just inside of me, I feel them on the outside, too. It began below my buttocks…it’s like there are little waves inside my cushion. At the same time, I would feel them just above my head. Now, I can pretty much feel them in and all around me. It’s as if I were floating underwater in calm waves. My body is not actually moving. I know what piti swaying feels like and it’s not this.  Any thoughts? It feels nice. 
Second part of my question: These wavelike sensations combined with jhana bring me into a state where my body feels like a puff of air, like a cloud, and in my mind, I am aware of a no-thought state. Then, I feel as if this sensation is 'leading' me into a deeper state and suddenly, a very subtle, distant fear arises in me, just enough to make me back off. It's an instinctual fear of the unknown. I don't know if I should work on the fear and then go for it or if I should heed the fear and wait it out. 
I am not a fearful person at all and I have no emotional or psychological baggage that could emerge from the depths.
What to do? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! 
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 1:11 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 1:05 PM

RE: Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
I have had very similar experiences. I don't really have anything smart to say about them, though. Just... enjoy! Don't cling to them. I wrote don't fear them and then I realized that you had already written about fear, so that wasn't helpful... The fear will pass. You can challenge it gently and with much self-compassion. Experiences like this challenge stuff that we tend to take for granted, the very ground we are standing on. It challenges the boundaries between self and the world and other stuff we are used to believing in. Some amount of scare is very natural. It is kind of cool, though, to have all that challenged, isn't it? 
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Bardo, modified 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 2:05 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 2/13/20 2:05 PM

RE: Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

Posts: 263 Join Date: 9/14/19 Recent Posts
Hi and welcome.

These moments are like milestones in a sense but when one finds themselves here there's fear, and so we shift around on our feet not quite knowing whether to head on in or hang out at the entrance a little while longer. Eventually, your curiosity will rein. Something I quite enjoyed about fear is that it came with this funny sort of excitement - "I'm scared but I have to look, I need to see!". It's the sort of fear/excitement you feel when jumping off a rope swing across a sheer drop and when the task is done both the fear and excitement are replaced with exhilaration and a happy story to tell your friends.

If you are able to move more into your curious nature you might find excitement and it will fuel the remainder of the journey.

Fear is like a midget playing a sinister melody on a trumpet. When you face the fear sincerely, when you drop into the fear, you discover that the drop is only 3 feet deep into a beautiful meadow and you wonder what all the fuss was about.

As for the energy movements, these things happen and there are no-end of interpretations but if I was pushed, (and this is the one I use for myself) I would say that it is neurological. The nervous system needs to somehow acclimatize to a new way of operating.

Good luck.
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Kay, modified 4 Years ago at 2/14/20 12:57 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 2/14/20 12:55 AM

RE: Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

Posts: 3 Join Date: 2/6/20 Recent Posts
Thank you, Bardo, for this answer and I can relate to the "I'm scared but I have to look, I need to see!" There was excitement in my fear, an excitement that I recognize because I was a mountain climber for 25 years and before that I paraglided. It's exactly that kind of fear. The main difference is that we're talking about the brain here so, it's pretty much unexplored territory. I feel relieved that others have experienced this and have 'broken on through to the other side' (yes, the The Doors reference was intentional :-)). 

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Kay, modified 4 Years ago at 2/14/20 9:21 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 2/14/20 1:37 AM

RE: Wavelike energy in and around my body…yes, outside my body.

Posts: 3 Join Date: 2/6/20 Recent Posts
Thanks so much for this, Linda. It's reassuring to know that others have passed through this gate and 'survived' ;-) You hear so many stories lately about people having psychotic episodes after meditating deeply, that one can get a little freaked out.
I am so grateful to have more experienced people to share this with. Thanks again 

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