Is this Nirodha Samapatti?

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fivebells , modified 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 1:22 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 1:22 PM

Is this Nirodha Samapatti?

Posts: 563 Join Date: 2/25/11 Recent Posts
Probably not, because I don't think I am particularly highly attained. But I would be curious to hear what's missing.
I was sitting shortly after it had become clear that [my mother's cancer treatment] had failed, and when I connected with the shame and grief, I started to wail and beat the floor, and when I woke up from that a remarkable thing happened, something that has only happened twice before in over a decade of practice. There was complete disconnection from all sense impressions, and perfect stillness. All three times, this has happened in periods of intense personal loss. I can't reproduce it at will.
This came up because I was looking at MCTB again yesterday (it came up in this Metafilter thread) and came across the appendix for the first time.
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Tommy M, modified 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 4:38 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 4:38 PM

RE: Is this Nirodha Samapatti?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
Hey Fivebells,

Karuna and metta to you at this difficult time, it takes balls to be so upfront about this stuff and your openness on that site says a lot about your commitment to this.

What you've described doesn't sound like nirodha samapatti, however it'd be useful to have more detailed information about what went on from "when I woke up from that" onwards.

Nirodha Samapatti (as described in MCTB[1]), in my experience, is a complete shutdown of the entire mind/body interface. There is no disconnectedness 'cause there's nothing to be connected to or disconnected from, there is no stillness 'cause there's nothing to be still or unstill, it's the complete cessation of perception and feeling which may cause one to realize that there is no"thing" beyond this immediate sensate experience. It's basically like a super-fruition.

Take care and I hope you stay strong through what's going on right now.

Peace.

[1] The reason I make this distinction is because there is currently discussion as to whether or not this "shutdown" is really NS. The sutta descriptions of NS seem to suggest that the yogi remains conscious and aware, but without the faculties of ideation or affect. Sorry if I'm complicating matters here but I think it's worth knowing about.
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fivebells , modified 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 7:46 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 8/1/11 7:46 PM

RE: Is this Nirodha Samapatti?

Posts: 563 Join Date: 2/25/11 Recent Posts
Tommy M:
Nirodha Samapatti (as described in MCTB[1]), in my experience, is a complete shutdown of the entire mind/body interface. There is no disconnectedness 'cause there's nothing to be connected to or disconnected from, there is no stillness 'cause there's nothing to be still or unstill, it's the complete cessation of perception and feeling which may cause one to realize that there is no"thing" beyond this immediate sensate experience.
Thanks, Tommy. I accept that it's probably not NS, if only on the grounds of my skill level, but just to clarify, "complete shutdown" sounds like the right description, better than "disconnection." To be more precise, there was still a visual field, but there was nothing there, not even the usual crap you see when you close your eyes. There was no awareness of physical sensations whatsoever. You might say that there was awareness of awareness, but that's about it.

Tommy M:
Take care and I hope you stay strong through what's going on right now.
Thanks. It's been a few months. I am adjusting to the loss.
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