Hi,

Following a recent post by Bagpuss about waking up in jhana, I have been trying to ascertain exactly what state I am waking up in, without much success. I recall people writing in other threads about waking up with a "ping", and it occured to me that maybe I am experiencing the same thing.

Unfortunately I am woken often by a wriggling/ snoring partner and an insomniac child, so I am encountering this frequently! On first waking, I experience the familiar groggy, ughh feeling I have always felt, then it seems like that very first moment of mindfulness causes a rapid rising shot of 'energy' into the head. It is a slightly effervescent exhilaration that stays in the middle or top of the head, without much feeling in the body. I find it very difficult to get back to sleep afterwards and it seems like I have gone from deep sleep to totally alert in a split second.

I am not great at diagnosing altered states. I can usually tell where I am when jhanas/ nanas progress in a linear fashion and the transitions are not too quick, but when they just pop up like this I don't have a scooby-doo!

At first I thought it was probably just 1st jhana due to the sense of exhilaration and the fact that it is the first state out of nothing, but I am not so sure. 1st jhana for me has a sense of calm body bliss, whereas this is a wired head-high. So, in the spirit of curiosity I have the following questions:-

- Is this the same as the "pinging" awake thing I have read about?
- Any idea which state this is?
- Is the position of energy within the body determined by the jhana/ nana, or are they independent?
- Does this have any significance?
- Has anyone got a spare cigarette?

Thanks,

Dodge.


edit 02/04/12: I'm pretty sure this is just 1st nana.