RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method? - Discussion
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Calamus B, modified 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 2:30 PM
Created 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 2:09 PM
What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 3 Join Date: 11/30/22 Recent Posts
I'm getting back into meditation after a few years' hiatus and the last practice I did with some intensity was Kenneth Folk`s "riding the jhanic arc". This takes advantage of the natural cycling through the insight stages and can be quite deep and powerful.I also like that it's kind of middle way betrween samatha and vipassana. But I also feel that it`s quite time consuming - back in the day I did 45 minutes twice a day, while now I have less than an hour daily for practice. Is this still a recommended way of practicing? Are there any more recent versions of this practice? Any other ideas on how to do some concentration and some insight together in a limited timeframe?
Cheers
C
Cheers
C
Chris M, modified 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 2:17 PM
Created 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 2:17 PM
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Fokus "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 5164 Join Date: 1/26/13 Recent Posts
I practice the jhanic arc all the time. It's not Kenneth Folk's jhanic arc, though. It's the human being jhanic arc. It seems to work for everyone who is capable. Kenneth wasn't the first to discover it, and I know he doesn't claim to have invented it or named it.
Calamus B, modified 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 3:31 PM
Created 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 3:31 PM
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 3 Join Date: 11/30/22 Recent Posts
Didn't mean to imply that it was invented or somehow branded by Kenneth Folk, it's just where I was introduced to the practice. Can you share other sources where this is practiced?
Matt Jon Rousseau, modified 1 Year ago at 1/8/23 4:54 PM
Created 1 Year ago at 11/30/22 10:58 PM
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 138 Join Date: 5/1/22 Recent PostsCalamus B, modified 1 Year ago at 12/1/22 12:37 AM
Created 1 Year ago at 12/1/22 12:37 AM
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 3 Join Date: 11/30/22 Recent Posts
The idea is to become aware of the mind's natural tendency to cycle through the insight stages. I can kind of intend for the first (vipassana) jhana to arise and then let things develop from there. Usually, I move into the next stages without having to do much, specifically without explicit noting or concentration on a certain object. The states that I reach in this way are very light jhanas and I think of them as more on the vipassana side of things. But the classical markers of the jhanas are still discernible and the practice has the usual effects of meditation (more focus, less irritability, higher dream recall, etc). When I did this in higher doses there were at times drastic psychedelic aftereffects - walking in nature I was completely blown away by the pristine beauty and perfection of the world...
let me see if I can find a link...
let me see if I can find a link...
Chris M, modified 1 Year ago at 12/1/22 8:06 AM
Created 1 Year ago at 12/1/22 7:59 AM
RE: What's the current view on Kenneth Folk's "jhanic arc" method?
Posts: 5164 Join Date: 1/26/13 Recent Posts
Here's a relevant link from the Kenneth Folk Dharma website:
https://kennethfolkdharma.com/2017/05/hello-world/
Kenneth Folk:
https://kennethfolkdharma.com/2017/05/hello-world/
Kenneth Folk:
"And I certainly talk a lot about jhanas and moving up and down through 20 strata of mind and noticing where you are in real time on the jhanic arc as you go up and down through these states. There are all these recognizable phenomena and the mind apparently is set up in layers, because every time I go up and down through this jhanic arc these phenomena arise in invariable order. It’s all very interesting. It’s fascinating and worth learning. And so as long as we keep a healthy perspective on it, that we are exploring our own mind and that if you can access these various strata of mind and explore them at various levels of depth and resolution, this is very worthwhile doing–I teach this and it can be done.In some sense it should be thought of in a slightly different way from satipatthana [the four foundations of mindfulness], because satipatthana is something that I can do with almost anyone on the first phone call and we can continue to take it deeper. Learning jhana–and that is what we are talking about with all of these states–is something more like learning to play a musical instrument. This is something we develop over a period of years and the skills involved are very high-level skills that don’t come easily."