Fruits of the path?

Che, modified 9 Years ago at 5/16/14 7:47 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 5/16/14 7:44 AM

Fruits of the path?

Posts: 35 Join Date: 3/20/14 Recent Posts
Between two and five times a day on most days I have blips of physical and/or spatial abnormality for a few seconds. There are four distinct kinds of such events.

Kriya 1 - a violent or forceful exhalation of air through both nostrils followed by stress relief - happens when I am tired
Kriya 2 - a mildly orgasmic bliss translated as a physical shudder that has me jump up when seated - visible to people around me
Kriya 3 - a shudder or shiver followed by a seemingly orchestrated hand or leg movement - like a single hand that comes up in a half namaste, or a few other specific gestures . It is always only one limb, usually the right hand. Never both hands and legs or left and right limbs.
Kriya? 4 - a very mild weightless sensation that starts at the bottom of my spine near the tail bone and travels up to the head where it lingers for a second intensifying the weightless feeling and leading me to bob my head. This is not visible to people around me other than a slight rocking back of my head for a moment.

The first started 3 years ago when I started to meditate; the second about a year and a half or two ago; and the third about the same time; and the fourth and most recent is since a month.

The first kriya rarely happens these days, I guess because I am never nearly as stressed or tired, but if I go without meditating for a few days; or get very stressed or tired it can still happen - the effect is to degauss me. Removes gross negative stress from my being.

The second kriya is more common these days, especially when I am engaged in not too deep meditation, like I am likely to slip into when I am doing nothing. At the doctor's office, or at the bank, or while waiting at a traffic signal. Again the effect is stress removal, but at a subtler level.

The third is rarer, and occurs when as far as I can tell only when I am alone, so it maybe an elaborate version of Kriya #2 because there are similarities in the beginning shiver.

The fourth is the most recent, and something I have difficulty labeling as a kriya. It started when I was trying to consciously perform OBEs that have till now only occured in me spontaneously without provocation.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriy%C4%81
Another meaning of Kriya is an outward physical manifestation of awakened kundalini, such as a spontaneous body movement related to Kundalini energy flow. 
It appears to me these are fruits of the path, at least in the Hindu / Yoga sense of the term; though the Theravada system seems to mainly call the 4 stages of enlightenment fruits of the path.

Can anyone shed light on what these might be? Are they connected with other experiences that happen occasionally like visions? What is their significance? Should I care or not care about these?
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Jake , modified 9 Years ago at 5/16/14 9:42 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 5/16/14 9:42 AM

RE: Fruits of the path?

Posts: 695 Join Date: 5/22/10 Recent Posts
Well, it's helpful to recognize that among the 'fruits' of the path many are low-hanging and it's a shame to spend a lot of time sidetracked by them. In the end, it depends on what sort of pie you plan on cooking I suppose ;)
Che, modified 9 Years ago at 5/17/14 8:37 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 5/17/14 8:37 AM

RE: Fruits of the path?

Posts: 35 Join Date: 3/20/14 Recent Posts
Thank you, that is quite true.

All the same, I'd like to confirm that these are meditative attainments and not some physical disorder. Especially the last one, the disequilibrium while seated is interesting, because a few neurological diseases begin this way too.

I've had a few cases of suspicious physical symptoms that turned out to be meditative attainments as best as I can guess. I had bilateral ear pain that was quite excruiciating last year; but after a bunch of expensive medical tests to rule out menengeal cancers found nothing wrong I could only surmise that my meditation was perhaps the cause of it. The pain stopped in a few weeks on its own accord.
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Jake , modified 9 Years ago at 5/18/14 9:46 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 5/18/14 9:46 AM

RE: Fruits of the path?

Posts: 695 Join Date: 5/22/10 Recent Posts
I've found feelings of lightness in the head to be a common side effect of meditation, and I've observed lots of folks report them. Including sensations of rising up the spine, head bobs, etc. I think it's pretty common. That said, you won't find out if what you are experiencing is the onset of a neurological disorder by querying folks on an online forum.