Hello Beautiful People,

I have a quick question. After years of meditating with a mixture of Mahasi and Goenka style, I would like to ask the following.

Very often when I sit to mediate, it is a matter of seconds to experience a subtle sense of pleasure and/or spaciousness. But more interestingly, is that after meditating a bit more there comes a feeling that my eyes want to move upwards, almost like if they want to see behind my head/brain. 

The first times this eye movemet happened, years ago, there was fear in me because this was unusual and unexpected - it was even a bit painful. But after letting this movement happen I realized that the traditional lights, pleasure, and spaciousness became more present, leading to a very focalized pleasure spot at the top of my head and sometimes to the feeling that from that spot a very strong and interesting sense of pleasure would come from it (like if there is a cascade of pleasure emanating from the top of my head).

The eye movement I am describing is not like REM. It is rather slow, soft and it is directed upwards.

So, I guess my question is: what is this eye movement thing? Is it anywhere described? Is it a Jhana thing? a symptom of any stage of the path?

Thanks!
​​​​​​​G.

You might like this: 

Guided Tour to 13 Jhanas (Part 1) - YouTube

And this:

Kenneth walked me through accessing the 1st four jhanas via eye position during one of our first meetings.

Briefly:

1. To access Jhana one, stare at a circle (kasina) with your eyes fixed in position on it. Staring at the disc will bring up feelings associated with 1st Jhana

2. Allow your eyes to cross slightly so that you get something that looks pretty much exactly like the mastercard logo ( www.peoplestrust.com/images/mastercard_logo.jpg ). Keep your focus on the wedge in the middle. This will put you into 2nd Jhana territory

3. Allow your eyes to completely cross/defocus so that you get two circles far apart and everything is unfocused. You don't want to be looking at anything in particular, but again allow your eyes to stay in this position. This will bring up feelings associated with 3rd Jhana. I typically notice cool sensations on the skin, moving air, etc. at this point.

4. Bring the eyes back to a normal position but don't focus on the disc. Instead notice that you can hear distant sounds and your awareness is panoramic. Again, allow your eyes to remain in a static position but notice that you are aware of everything sort of at once, rather than having your focus fixed on the circle as in the 1st example.

Accessing Jhanas 1-4 via Eye Focus - AwakeNetwork Forum

I think it is worth mentioning that what is being described in Guided Tour to 13 Jhanas (Part 1) is an extremely light version of the jhanas. It could helpful to know that other types of jhana practice make talking, or for that matter, any access to language-based thought, impossible, involve complete absorption with nothing but the jhana state present, and last for much longer. Don't get me wrong, I think the super-light approach can be useful, but it should be kept in mind that the other end of the spectrum is very distant, in terms of intensity and impact, from what is described here. So if you are starting to develop some brightening light and pleasure, that is excellent, but you will be happy to know that this, and the description given in the video, are just the dipping of one toe into the vast and profoundly deep ocean. 

Let the jhana definition wars (round #239,394) commence! And perhaps let us schism!!!!!!

:-)

My Jhana is the best jhana. Nobody can jhana as well as I can jhana! .... so there!!!



​​​​​​​I meant to ask you for quite a while sir, have you made any progress with the book you were going to write?