Hey guys,

Instead of writing a new post, I'll edit this one to make it cleaner on the forum. Here is my last post for context:

https://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/view_message/25565079

From the 10th of July to the 21st I basically did not meditate because I binged on the internet after getting SE and riding the post SE high. I still tried meditating off-the-cushion though. On the 14th I had an A&P in Review that lasted 5 minutes and I had Dissolution on the 17th. On the 19th I had another A&P that lasted for 1 hour. This turned out to be the 2nd Path A&P but I wasn't sure. On the 21st I finally broke off the binge and started meditating formally for maybe 2-4 hours a day plus off-the-cushion the whole day. I had 2nd Path Dissolution on the 22nd. It was hard but it still felt better than the average day I had pre meditation. 

At this point I was still meditating "slowly" because I didn't want to accidentally hit Review territory and to progres further. On the 24th I realised that I could actually meditate quickly because slow meditation and quick mediation felt the same so I must've hit those stages earlier in 2nd Path. That's when I went from 1 sensation per second to 10+. I did this for 3 hours and had a cessation on average like every 10 minutes for the first 2 hours and every 5 minutes for the last hour. It was crazy because I was only having a cessation maybe 2-3 times a day prior when I was binging. 

After I went cycling outside, came back and meditated for an hour, and then ate. I was meditating basically exactly the same way off-the-cushion so I was having huge momentum. At 18:09 I had the cessation that gave me 2nd Path. Here's the changes that stood out:

-Thoughts and emotions feel much less "sticky"
-Thoughts and emotions are much, much more quieter. The difference is insane compared how 1st Path.
-Maybe things are slightly more detached overall than before 2nd Path, but maybe that's just the stickylessness aspect extended to everything else
-Not much else

I could feel 3rd Path territory the second I got 2nd Path. I also can't feel 1st Path territory any more, no matter how hard I try. In fact, I can't even feel Review in 2nd Path because it feels like I need to ignore 3rd Path to really feel Review which is difficult because 3rd Path territory is literally right there. I could argue that I got 2nd Path in 3 days of formal meditation but that's a bit of a stretch. I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this but I think it would be useful for some. 

Cheers  

Get a good night’s sleep and see what tomorrow brings.

@chrismarti
@memoryllama

Updated the post completely to give my experience of 2nd Path instead of making a new post about it.

It would be nicer for your readers and respondents to add your new material in a new comment.

Andrew, hopefully your are also open to the idea that you might be overestimating where you are. From just a probability perspective, it's unlikely that you have made such quick progress. Sometimes people really cling to their ideas of attainments and they have an emotional crash when claims fall apart. That is one reason why people are advised to wait a year and a day before making any strong conclusion about what has happened in meditation. 

I'm trying to find a good thread we had here on DhO where Daniel talked about how it's inevitable that we'll overcall our attainments at one point or another... The best I could find was this post on his website: Overcalling Attainments — Integrated Daniel 

Anyway, just wanted to throw this idea out there because your excitement and enthusiasm worries me that if your are wrong in your claims, you'll be especially sad or troubled. Hopefully, you'll see/understand that many people overcall attainments, so it's no big deal and quite a common mistake.

Ah, I found it:

​​​​​​​The Isolation of Blowing It - Discussion - www.dharmaoverground.org

@shargrol

Not having SE is not a chance. 2nd Path maybe but it does feel like things changed massively since yesterday. Obviously I could possibly be overstating achievements but in retrospect I actually underestimate where I am. I always reserve the right to change my mind on where I am, obviously I'm making my best guess, I can't be sure because there is no progress bar visible. If that's the case then I'll obviously adjust. I don't really care how long it takes to get enlightened, at the end of the day there is an end and you can reach that end quite quickly or slowly. But when you reach it, it's irrelevant. So any help along the way that I might get is useful. 

Either way there is no harm done in potentially being wrong. 

@chrismarti 

I already deleted the last post but I'll do that later when I make new posts. 

I got 3rd Path just now, it's actually fucking crazy. Only 8 days. But no one will believe me at the moment so I'll wait till 4th before making a post about both attainments. Meditating on the "centrelessness" or whatever you want to call it was a lot trickier for sure but once I got it yesterday things just felt like more of the usual. 

Until you post something here from your experiences - the phenomenology of what happened - no one will believe you no matter what you just say. Just saying stuff, making idle claims, is not going to convince anyone of anything. Maybe you know this and will soon post reams of detail supporting your recent third path experience. I hope you're interpreting your experiences accurately. Otherwise, it can be embarrassing when the house of cards tumbles down.

I'm confused... Was this the thread where the author said nevermind, it was just a heavy dark night, or was that another similar thread? 

@chrismarti 

Understandable, I'll make a post today.

@pollyester

Yeah my bad, I just didn't want to make a new thread.