I finally got around to opening my own practice thread, being inspired by some of the other great threads like Rasheds'.

Just as a short overview, I have been doing formal concentration practice for a few months now (maybe 4, but I am not really counting), doing mostly 40-60 min sits in the morning and a few extra sits when I get the time. I do the good old anapanasati (breath awareness) and have tried some kasina practice as well. Still, I somehow feel drawn to the breath as meditation object, so I just stick with it.

I don't think I have reached any states of high concentration yet (i.e. jhanas), at least not for longer than a few seconds. Once, I had a feeling of a very strong upsurge in the body all of a sudden, and a different time my body felt kinda distorted (like my head was way up and the rest of the body very long), followed by a feeling of spinning/slight dizziness. Other than those very rare incidents, it's usually always the same though: trying to stay aware of the breath, thoughts dragging me away, pain in the shoulders, feet getting numb etc.


Recently, I have tried to follow End In Sights recommendations of trying to generate pleasure as the foremost goal, and focusing more on relaxation than on supertight concentration on the breath.

Today's sit was very interesting. Although I got distracted by thoughts quite a bit, in the end my posture felt really rock solid, especially in the base/legs, which I haven't had a lot in the past. Also, my hands felt kind of tingly (I would even say SLIGHTLY pleasurable ;) ). I wasn't sure though if I should keep my focus on the nostrils or switch it to that feeling in the hands. Since I didn't know, I kept it at the nose, with nothing special happening anymore after that. Also, I didn't really have the strong sense of pressure in the head (temples and forehead) today, which is very unusual for me these days.


Anyone who wants to share and participate in this thread, I slightly encourage you to do so. Please be as honest and direct as you wish, I am open to every kind of feedback and will try to update often.

Thanks for reading

Christian

Regarding generating pleasure (piti), give this lecture and guided meditation by Rick Hanson. It is exactly about your subject and the guided meditation is designed to try and generation piti. I just listened to this last night. It addresses a number of the questions you've asked in your post. He gives tips regarding how to produce pleasure, where to focus, etc.
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/312/talk/11614/

Also, there is a very interesting article on pdf at this site by Upakasa Culadasa on this subject called Meditation and Joy. http://dharmatreasure.com/writings/

If your butt or legs are hurting you and/or distracting you, sit in a chair or in a bed. I meditate in chairs and beds all the time. Just watch out for sleepiness and/or laxity. Other than that, I am of the belief that sitting in a way which is restful (but allows for good energy and alertness) is what is needed for concentration meditation, otherwise your just creating another distraction for yourself. All you need is something else to ruin your concentration.

Hi Alan,
thanks a lot for joining in and posting this material. I haven't listened to the audio yet, but I will do so tonight.

The pdf was really interesting, the main thing that I took away from it was that apparently piti is created as a kind of reward by the body/brain for finally being able to succeed with the task of staying with the object. I never thought about it that way, but it certainly makes a lot of sense to me (release of hormones or something).
Have you been succesful using that kind of approach in general?


About today's sit, there is nothing much to say other than it was really crappy and probably one of the worst sits in a long time. I was tired as hell, not able to stay with the breath even for 30 seconds, my posture was weak and uneven, and halfway through I just decided to continue in bed lying down. I don't really feel bad about it, I actually had gotten very little sleep the night before, and the overall trend of my sits seem to be slightly(!) upwards lately. I'm sure tomorrow will be a lot better again.

I have not managed to obtain stage 8 on the Kamalasila map (which is when bliss appears). Generally, I am operating around stages 3 or 4, and therefore I have a ways to go as yet. That being said I did one time leap to what I believe was stage 7 and I felt waves of blissful tingles rise up and around my chest. Also, a few times I have experienced energy surges in my groin that felt blissful (I know, a little weird). It is apparently quite normal to leap to a higher stage from time to time, thought the real trick is getting to that stage constantly and reproducably.

I think I have to read up on these maps a little more, I flew over the descriptions in the other thread, but don't feel really like having a strong grip on them.
These upwards surges sound a lot like what I had once, but it feels like that was soo long ago. I never had that lately even though I think my concentration overall is much better now.

Bliss in the groin, ey? Sign me up for that one

Upasaka Culadasa describes the occassional jumps in stages in the following way: "The occasional, periodic, or even frequent occurrence of a meditative experience corresponding to any of the stages, including advanced stages, is common. The point of practice, however, should be mastery, such that a particular stage can be arrived at easily and consistently. It is not unusual for a beginner to experience stage 4 or even 7, but it is not repeatable, so is therefore without significance except that it makes the meditator aware of what they are capable of."

He is clear that it isn't something to be sought for, since it is essentially a kind of freak accident. Its only conceivable benefit is that it can assuage some degree of doubt by showing that you are capable of these higher states. Otherwise, they aren't to be sought for. Concentration practice is a long, slow grind, building concentration slowly over time. With a couple hours of practice per day, Upasaka Culadasa suggests jhana can be accomplished in 1 - 3 years. However, since bliss occurs at stage 8, there should be some discernable, awesome results well before hitting jhana.

By the way, the bliss of jhanas and pre-jhanas has many times been compared to orgasms, but superior (not reliant on conditions). That is why people are frequently warned about becoming bliss "junkies." The piti can be so powerful and overpowering people eventually seek to drop it and that is what propels the meditator into 2nd jhana (which has happiness as its primary factor)...

Had a pretty good sit today.

Took me only about 10mins when I got a feeling of the body seething. All I can say is that it was a pretty general feeling, distributed over the whole body, and it felt a damn lot like having to give up control of it (the body). Of course I got just a little too excited and blew it by starting to think about it, who knows what else might have happened.
The rest of the sit was pretty eventless, however my hand feel pretty darn relaxed lately. Like they are really just lying in the lap pulled down by gravity and not a single muscle tension working against it from the shoulders down to the fingertips.

Also, that feeling was not really "sweet", it had more of a "dark" taste, like a sound in minor or something (for lack of better analogies). Not unpleasant though. The feeling that these sensations are somehow taking away my conscious control of the body were something else though, could take a little getting used to it if it happens again..