Hello ,i just completed my first month since i restarted noting practice ,and i think i am in 3rd nana ,and i need some advise,encouragement and motivation ,Let me write down what i feel ,please have a look

1) Intense Pain is been the feature ,i have pain in one side of the body,either at head (it will spread to whole of the head at times) ,or at shoulder ,or chest

2) The 3 characteristics are really dominant ,like the pain is always unsatisfactory ,its changing,and i am trying to see no-self on those with no luck

3) At Morning times ,i am pretty comfortable ,i have high equanimity and bliss ,and i do my formal sitting at that time,and when the day progress i tend to be on an anxiety side as the pain described above will affect my mind . At the time of evening i feel bit relaxed (not that high equanimity as morning time) and i do the formal sitting or walking practice

***my practice is like starting with samatha ,and investigating the sensations after 15 minutes or so***

4) Apart from formal sittings ,i tends to note my pain which is dominant in my body (these days more of a head ache ,which was succeeded by chest pain and shoulder pain)

i tend to watch the feeling ,trying to split the physical and mental component of the pain ,hacking vedana method by Nickolai etc,but the pain dominates ,and i surrender to it (or tries to)

Now like 6 months back (at that time i didn't had that much idea about the maps) ,i tried noting practice (not intense or aggressive) ,and i reached a similar stage with intense headache ,which was diagnosed as sinus headache and i developed a small rise in hypertension ,so unconsciously i stopped practice,and my pain eventually gone away .

So all these sensations re -appearing after i re-started my practice

What i initially thought the experiences i had 6 month's back was dark night (After reading MCTB clearly,and since i had lucid dreams ,out of the body experience etc i thought i passed A&P) ,and when i restarted my practice i was in a high bliss ,equanimity state where i thought it would be an end of re-observation and starting of Knowledge of Equanimity of Formations

But soon the old monkey came up ,and i am passing through all sorts of similar physical/mental pain i passed through 6 months back,and while going through some old posts in DhO i really starting to think like am in Three Characteristics State

So i really need help to get past ,My urge to realize is here as it is,but this physical/mental stuff is really hurting

Do i need to do any specific noting in this stage?,and i would like to hear what kind of stuff you guys had in this stage,so that i will feel like i am not alone ,Thanks r0ny

The first time I distinctly remember crossing the A&P during formal meditation, I had just switched from attempting jhana practice to attempting vipassana. I was having trouble trying to do jhana because I was experiencing a lot of pain, aches, and itches. After reading Daniel Ingram's book, I gave vipassana a shot. When I got to that point of pains and aches, I took a "bring it on" type attitude to the sensations, basically trying to completely surrender to them, and watch them carefully. I also made a work of noting faster than normal, basically trying to increase effort and energy. The sensations of pain and itching increased at first for awhile, but as I stuck with it and kept noting at a fast pace, all those sensations started to turn to a more bare, electric tingling feeling. They spread throughout my body, most noticeably through my spine and up to the middle of my head, and then the typical energetic, rapturous A&P stuff started happening.

So, based on what worked for me, I'd recommend practicing pushing the limit of the speed of your noting, which seems to help the impermanence of things be apparent. It also seems like noting intently and rapidly directly increases effort, and it seems like lots of effort can get people over the hump. Combine that with a playful, "bring it on" type determination with the unpleasant sensations, and you might find it easier to get past that stuff. As for the pain and unpleasant sensations, I find from the A&P to dissolution, the body can feel quite pleasant and calm, which is a good opportunity for accessing 3rd jhana if you wish.

I hope that's helpful

Stay with the sensations as they arise and pass. How fast are you noting? As your mind becomes more sensitive, you will want to start looking "in between" the sensations you're noting. In other words, make awareness continuous so you can begin to experience the sensations rising and falling on an even finer level. Then at some point it will click, and your body will atomize and start to disappear. From there you just continue to pay attention and let the experience unfold.

@Mind over easy ,It is really helpful

@Fitter Stoke ,My Noting is not that fast

As both of you suggest,i have to increase the speed of noting,a continuous awareness should be kept

Now do i need to attend more on the unpleasant sensations? ,or just noting everything around ,so that my mind uses its max processing power?

Edit..

Also in the background i have aversion/carving towards the pain.how to deal with it ?

Basically i am noting it,but still an aversion in background