I recently went on my first retreat (10-day Goenka) and fell into a jhana experience twice, once on the 8th day and once on the 9th (my
practice journal has more details). I was using the entire body as an object, viewing subtle tingly/flowy sensations in most of the body. The first experience I recognized a dropping sensation which I first thought was related to fatigue, but after realizing I wasn't tired, I followed the sensation and it hardened into a rock-like sensation in the third eye area, accompanied with a coolness that spread throughout the whole body. I believe there were one or two more 'dropping' sensations. My body got cooler, even ice-like, and the tingly sensaitons in the body calmed down, all there were a few little subtle sensations here and there. The biggest features were the ice-like coolness throughout the body (although no shivering) and immovable rock in my third eye area.
The second experience I decided to try and enter the same state again and was able to do so after taking the entire body and its impermance as an object. Initially I noticed the 3-inch rock in my third eye area was slightly wobbly, but eventually settled into a firmness. The ice-like sensation returned, spreading through the whole body. In both experiences I felt no need to move any body part, staying there for about 2 hours, and could have kept going, but due to tea time or some other break I decided to stop the sit.
Due to the ice-like sensations and my constant focus on equanimity by viewing impermance, I think equanimity may have been the actual object of attention. Also, due to the body sensations calming down, and no real emotional hype either, and the stillness I felt through the entirety of the sit, I think I was in a lite 3rd jhana, but possible 4th, although I don't really know the difference experientially. Can anyone chime in on if these statements sound accurate? Also, has anyone experienced this all pervading ice-like sensation during a samatha jhana? It was probably my body temperature dropping on its own but I can't be sure, and don't know why it happened.
