history: been dabbling with Buddhist meditation since 1998. Goenka courses every few years since 2001. about 7 courses in the last 9 months under another teacher

1) Pre-Goenka: sitting short (20-30m) anapana one day, found myself floating in endless space. only awareness of the body, zero awareness of physical environment/everyday mental processes

sounds to me like a formless jhana, yet i'm told by several teachers that they must happen in order

2) recent teacher: vipassana being given on course, i lazily attend. awareness of body divides to an upper and lower version, high above and deep in the floor, similtaneously. as sitting progresses, the versions move closer together, until prior to merging, they are vibrating closer together extremely rapidly. alot of energy. fear arose in first 1/3 of experience

3) recent teacher: during anapana sit, pleasure in the body, attention easily on object, looks behind eyelids like sun just came out from behind clouds. access concentration?

​​​​​​​forgive my ignorance ... so grateful there is a community like this now, at a time in this life when i can devote more hours to formal practice

Sounds like the kinds of experiences that give a boost of confidence! 

Best wishes for your practice!!

exactly! which is good for me, i'm one of those who fail to maintain daily practice.

these kind of 'confirmation of path' experiences give much-needed reassurance and support

​​​​​​​thank you  : ) 

I stumbled directly into 5th jhana several times before I had ever heard of jhanas. I now know that was 5th because I can now go there in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 order. I think it happens. I also think your concentration is probably strong. 

it's good to hear, as that confirms the possibility of it being 5th jhana, as it was clearly an experience of limitless space ​​​​​​​i consider my concentration poor, but have little to compare it to. lack of daily practice erodes quickly any concentration gains from retreat. but my calmness of mind is always improving