Fitter Stoke:
I'm curious to know where the advanced (above stream-entry) meditators here are in terms of their attainments, current practice, and goals. Answer these questions if you're so inclined:
How many of the technical/MCTB paths have you completed?
By the standards of the
Simple Model:
The first understanding is that sensations are sensations, thoughts are thoughts, and this forms the basis of further inquiry. When the universal characteristics of these sensations begin to be seen, this represents growth in understanding. When the whole sense field is known directly and completely as it is, this can cause an entrance into Fruition through one of the Three Doors, and represents the first stage of awakening. - yes.
When one appreciates the cycles of the process of awakening and has completed at least one more new progress cycle, this is the next stage. - yes.
When one begins to appreciate the emptiness, luminosity, centerlessness, agentlessness, etc. of phenomena in real-time and this becomes the focus of practice rather than Fruition, this is the next stage. - yes.
When the sense of the watcher, observer, subject, controller, doer, etc. is seen completely as it is and the knot of perception untangles, that simple, fundamental way of perceiving things is the next stage of awakening. - yes.
When that untangling stays untangled, that is the next stage. - yes.
As that understanding is integrated into our lives, that is the next phase, though it is more an ongoing process than a stage. - yes.
Please note that this model
does not map neatly onto the fetters model. Also, see below for the class of sensate phenomena called "emotions".
How many of the 8 standard (4 rupa and 4 arupa) jhanas have you attained?
I get all of them, but I'm a family man, so I don't do Jhana practice as an olympic discipline. Hence, while I can identify the states, and enter them and exit them, I'm nowhere at the level of mastery where they are cast-in-concrete solid, for hours and hours on end.
How many of the 5 Pure Land jhanas have you attained?
I don't know. I've seen other mental states, though, which were stable, and which did not match these descriptions.
Have you attained Nirodha Samāpatti?
Again, I don't know. I've found a way to tickle the mind into going very blank, which felt different from a fruition, but it may have been one of weird jhana-like states that don't match the Pure Land states. I agree with Nikolai on this: there are a lot of ways to configure, combine, mix and match formless states. Getting 4th jhana seems to be a good base for further exploration and experimentation.
Has your progress been evaluated/monitored by a teacher?
No, but by good, critical, and accomplished friends, each an expert in their own way and field of expertise.
If you have completed all four technical/MCTB paths, have you also attained or mastered any territory that you think is “above” those paths? If so, describe in detail.
Leaving it to readers to match my Simple Model claims to the four paths, I'll add this: in my case, cutting through the knot of perception or whatever you want to call ignorance (in the spiritual sense), was just the beginning. There was a recognizable emotional follow-up shift, a "heart release" that followed the "mind release". I don't think this is "above" the paths at all, but the two are definitely closely associated.
My even-simpler simple model/definition of enlightenment goes like this: "Not fooling my self". This includes fooling myself over identity, ownership, self-image, control, certainty, and so on - and it includes both the mental and emotional aspects of these.
Do you have attainments or mastery in traditions other than Buddhism?
I experienced Being Reborn as a Christian, decades ago.
I realized I had no gods, (how do you call the Atheist attainment?), again, decades ago.
A couple of years ago, I "crossed the abyss", which is symbolized by the strange rank of 8=3 in the Western Mystery Tradition.
What does your current practice consist in, and how long have you been at it?
I meditate twice a day, mainly in a "surrender/include/just sit" sort of way, but sometimes doing breath or mantra meditation. I keep a meditation word running whenever I remember to do so during the day. I practice devotion to the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha.
What are some of your current goals, and when do you think you'll accomplish them?
Not really a goal, more of a strong preference: being a good father, husband, neighbor, co-worker - i.e. living in a way that makes it safe and nice for me and others who are around.
Anything else you’d like to add?
To anyone who reads this, not as a reply to Fitter in particular:
Surrender is a severely underestimated mental posture. Try it!
Taboos are hideouts for (spiritual) ignorance, thus it can be good to examine them closely.
For example, there is a lot of truth to the much-maligned and misapplied invitation to "stop seeking". The thing is,
who will do the stopping, and how is stopping
done without actually doing anything (which would not be stopping since there'd be doing...). If you can use this paradox to smash through "fooling yourself", go for it. Otherwise, there are plenty of tried-and-proven practices with fewer opportunities for fooling yourself, so please give those a good try.
Cheers,
Florian