Hi there,

i havent found any thread about this topic so im openig this one.

I know the opinions differ on this topic, but i would like to here some reports/opinions on whether or not u where abel to make it to stream entry without being abel to do the samatha Jhana(s). And also interesting would be what u think is the faster way. 1st managing samatha Jhanas and then starting with Vipassana or doing vipassana straight away.

for myself, im not abel to do samatha jahnas. i was considering to go on concentration Retreat or on a Mahasi Retreat. I decided to go on 3weeks Mahasi retreat soon, coz it just feels to be the right thing to do at the moment.

thanks a lot for ur answers. Stefan

I got Steam Entry while reading a book. while I did have jhana, the actual fruition was in normal activity, via the no self door, sure the other two were in there but, no self was most prominent. I really cant answer whats faster or slower. it all depends on "your" effort. although the effect are reproducible, they are not exactly the same, far from it, when it comes to progression of insight. try to let go of what you thing enlightenment should be, and focus on your present experience of reality, with an emphasis on the 3 characteristics. whatever is going to happen is going to happen now, maybe not right now as related to time, but now that is not affected by time. the biggest surprise of it all was how absolutely simple the truth was. my proliferations/fantasies of what it should look like were blocking the way. heres a hint it looks like NOTHING!

yeah you can definitely do it without practicing the samatha jhanas first. i got stream entry after 3 months of bare bones mahasi style noting practice, with no retreat time. i practiced at home for 1-3 hours each day during the week and then longer each day on the weekend (and also maintained as much awareness of the 3 characteristics as i could throughout responsibilities of daily life). a 3 week mahasi retreat is definitely enough time to get it done because you can have non-stop every waking moment practice time - this seems obvious maybe, but i'm pointing it out so you take advantage of the fact that retreats are specifically designed for supercharged practice. milk that environment for all its worth!

what has been your practice experience so far? what methods have you practiced with?

Hey Steph,
thanks for ur reply.
my Practice so far was about 4 month of retreat time in mahasi style, but that was before i read the MCTB which gave me a new perspective on that practice, so i think the next time going on retreat will be different. I think the biggest mistake i did was trying to calm my mind instead of noting FAST!
And i was on a 4 month retreat in Burma doing concentration practice.

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Hi Stefan,

I got SE via Mahasi noting after about 3 months solid of non-stop practice (2 a day and ramped it up a month before a retreat where SE occured). It naturally led to a very concentrated mind especially via the way I approached it (fast noting-choiceless). In fact, I stumbled into the first 4 samatha jhanas because of it. I wrote about it here: http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/yogi-toolbox-noting-part-1-nicks.html

And

http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/yogi-toolbox-fast-noting.html

Hey Nick,
i just read ur block, really interesting that u acessed the samatha Jahnas "accidentally" !
Are u now also able to acess them intentionally?
greets

Hi Stefan. Yes, I can, although these days they have no absorption quality to them as what needed to get absorbed is no longer arising.

Here are some old vids from last year where I went in and out of the jhanas by will of mind. Post stream entry, it can get real easy to access jhanas by will of mind. Forgive my unkempt morning hair and taxi door ears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRdiOoTZC3A

Nick

Hi Nick,

im a bit confused after watched the Video. It seems that i have a different understanding of the samatha jahnas. I spend some month in the pa auk Monastery in Burma and also listened to dharma talks from ajahn brahm. And when they describing the Jahnas they said omong other things that u lose the sense of ur body completly. so that its no longer possible to feel ur body or move or speak.



what do u mean by that?

greetings

Hi Stefan,

There are many different 'takes' on what jhana is and is not, how absorbed one must be, how not so absorbed one must be. I was going more so into vipassana jhana in those videos. Here is an explanation for it:
http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/talking-in-jhanas.html



Nick