Tried to enter first jhana

Christian, modified 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 4:32 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 4:23 AM

Tried to enter first jhana

Posts: 10 Join Date: 9/14/16 Recent Posts
Hi,

I'm recently trying to get back into a more consistent meditation practice and tried to achieve first jhana for starters. So I re-read the instructions for entering jhana by Leigh Brasington (http://www.leighb.com/jhana3.htm) and did those.

I started by sitting cross-legged and concentrating on the breath. I also tried to maintain a smile (as instructed) so I can find a pleasant sensation easier later on. However, in hindsight, that smile wasn't necessary. After a few breaths, pleasant tingling sensations started to appear and got stronger and weaker with the breath, periodically. I still maintained my concentration on the breath for a little while until the breath became very faint. I then tried to focus on the pleasantness of the tingling sensations. The tingling sensations started to get stronger and weaker again, like ebb and flow, like when I still concentrated on the breath, but the peak was stronger/they got more intense at its maximum.
After a while of this, the tingling sensations just vanished and I entered a state where everything was just quiet, there were no thoughts and also no more pleasant sensations. My hands started to feel less distinct and more like a "blob", as if they were somehow numb. My legs weren't perfectly comfortable, they were aching slightly. Also, I found this state to be kind of "boring" as nothing was happening.
At this point I tried to switch to noting and noted those exact things ("boring", "nothing happening", "getting impatient"), but to no avail, as I stopped a few minutes after. (Sidenote: I have little experience in noting practice)

Also, somewhere in there (before the quiet state), I somehow got the feeling as if my perceptions of my breath came from outside of my body, to the left (as if there was another body?). Or, from another perspective, maybe my "location of awareness" was shifted outside of the body to the right, so that it felt like my perceptions came from the left. Sorry if this is vague, it's hard to explain emoticon

Another more unusual experience was (after entering the quiet state) a short moment where there was a subtle light flashing in my eyelids. This came very suddenly, lasted for not even a second, and was gone again.

I have two main questions: 1) What was that?
2) If I understand correctly, the more I enter that state again and again and try to note everything, I will identify less with the boredom/getting impatient and actually manage to practice longer, right?
neko, modified 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 5:55 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 5:53 AM

RE: Tried to enter first jhana

Posts: 762 Join Date: 11/26/14 Recent Posts
Christian:

I started by sitting cross-legged and concentrating on the breath. I also tried to maintain a smile (as instructed) so I can find a pleasant sensation easier later on. However, in hindsight, that smile wasn't necessary. After a few breaths, pleasant tingling sensations started to appear and got stronger and weaker with the breath, periodically. I still maintained my concentration on the breath for a little while until the breath became very faint. I then tried to focus on the pleasantness of the tingling sensations. The tingling sensations started to get stronger and weaker again, like ebb and flow, like when I still concentrated on the breath, but the peak was stronger/they got more intense at its maximum.

Well done, that is the idea for entering (soft) jhana as described in MCTB and by othes.



My hands started to feel less distinct and more like a "blob", as if they were somehow numb.



Distortions like these in perception are quite common. Basically, your mind is learning to separate the different components of one solid sensation and starts to turn some of them 'off' while keeping others 'on'. In this case, proprioception and sensations at the level of the skin were tuned off by the brain and not "sent" to your consciousness.



My legs weren't perfectly comfortable, they were aching slightly. Also, I found this state to be kind of "boring" as nothing was happening. At this point I tried to switch to noting and noted those exact things ("boring", "nothing happening", "getting impatient"), but to no avail, as I stopped a few minutes after. (Sidenote: I have little experience in noting practice)

Probably just a bit of dullness. 




Also, somewhere in there (before the quiet state), I somehow got the feeling as if my perceptions of my breath came from outside of my body, to the left (as if there was another body?). Or, from another perspective, maybe my "location of awareness" was shifted outside of the body to the right, so that it felt like my perceptions came from the left. Sorry if this is vague, it's hard to explain emoticon

See above in the hands bit.



Another more unusual experience was (after entering the quiet state) a short moment where there was a subtle light flashing in my eyelids. This came very suddenly, lasted for not even a second, and was gone again.
It happens. You could see it as a fleeting glimpse of piti.




2) If I understand correctly, the more I enter that state again and again and try to note everything, I will identify less with the boredom/getting impatient and actually manage to practice longer, right?
If you are doing noting, you are doing vipassana. When you do vipassana, you generally do not want to voluntarily enter a specific state. You just note whatever is happening at the moment. Voluntarily entering specific states is what we do when we do concentration / samatha. I suggest you keep these two things separate for the moment. (For advanced practitioners it is different.)

To manage to practice for longer, you just practice for longer. There is no need to "identify less" with anything: You just sit down and keep doing the technique to the best of your ability. The thing is that it can become unpleasant, even extremely so. So if you want to practice for longer, just practice for longer! emoticon 

If you want to practice for longer without it becoming an ordeal, it is like physical training: Your mind and body will gradually get used to the practice, and sitting for longer will become more and more natural

Keep up the good work emoticon

(Did you get my pm? Not sure whom I replied to.)
Banned For waht?, modified 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 7:57 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 6:32 AM

RE: Tried to enter first jhana

Posts: 500 Join Date: 7/14/13 Recent Posts
The thing with the noting or labeling is its sensual practice like drinking, talking; great ideas will rise in those states. These aren't correct insights.
When you drink coffee or something then you are drunk and not able to cultivate proper suffering as long there is the coffeine induced good feelings. Tho if channels closed, it doesn't make difference anyway. 

Also practice or meditation doesn't evolve it goes round in round, at somepoint you need to see it and then switch away to void, but that waht sees is not the surface you, but the inner you and it kind of reveals to you that you circle.

also when your subtle body ends up being lost in void you need find the source by yourself but not at first, you will hear the call back to reality and when you one time get it how its done you are then on your own.

And there are lots of stuff and openings, with signs and they are shaped by laws not hypnagogic imaginary or vizualized..still its not all there is waht rises in mediation.

edit:were reactive and aggressive, now got pass that point and feeling alright..
Christian, modified 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 9:47 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 9/17/16 9:47 AM

RE: Tried to enter first jhana

Posts: 10 Join Date: 9/14/16 Recent Posts
@Neko: Thanks for your detailed answer, really helpful! emoticon
I know the difference between vipassana and samatha practice and that I don't try to reach a specific state with noting. Are you saying I shouldn't have switched to noting and instead kept on going with concentration meditation? I guess I switched because I didn't know what else to do. There was not really much to concentrate on (very faint breath, no pleasant sensations). Maybe concentrate on more "meta" feelings?
I'm a bit confused here. Also, I started with the intention to reach first jhana (although I know that you shouldn't crave it or else it will only make it harder to get to first jhana), but instead of somehow amplifying the pleasant sensations, I got to a state where everything seemed so quiet, as explained above. This is far from what is supposed to be jhana, isn't it?
Don't get me wrong, I know that finally entering jhana may take some time and regular practice, but I guess I didn't expect to come to this quiet state instead.

So for further practice, I just do what I did before. But what am I supposed to concentrate on when all pleasant sensations are gone? Back to the (very subtle) breath?

Also, yes, I did get your PM, thanks! Getting specific help is so ... helpful ;) , I don't know why I haven't posted in any buddhism/meditation forum before! emoticon

@Rist Ei: Thanks for your answer, although I didn't get that much out of it, other than "Meditation is an up and down process"
David S, modified 7 Years ago at 9/18/16 5:53 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 9/18/16 5:39 PM

RE: Tried to enter first jhana

Posts: 66 Join Date: 6/13/16 Recent Posts
Hi Christian. I am unfamiliar with 'soft' jhana, but in general jhana comes from concentration. Sorry for emphasizing this. But it has within it more than it might appear to.

I've only had experience with 'hard' jhana and that occurred during focused concentration upon some sensory object. It came without my willing or desiring it. Concentration was just part of the conditions for it to occur. So my advice would be to simply know when your attention is on an object like the touch of breath at the nostrils, and when the activity of the mind is involved in anything else. Noting to me is nothing more than this knowing what is occurring at any moment (it doesn't have to be verbal) and this involves knowing what a sensation is in experience, or when one is adding to it with imagining, visualizing, thinking, combining senses, etc. So focusing down upon a sensation without drifting or adding to it is concentration. This is not something that comes easily given how active our minds usually are, where many sorts of mind 'events' occur. Pretty normal conscious experience.

So all I wish to say is to get to know when your attention is on an object of concentration and when it is adding to it or has moved away. And don't worry or struggle about how the mind creates and changes perceptions. It is normal. Just let it be. See how much you can focus on a sensation. And see how/when the mind leaves the object of concentration. Where did it go to?  Then, let that go, and return to the object of concentration. Can the mind become quiet enough to stay on the object? It may not. Oh, well, just a sit watching the mind do its thing.

But I am unfamiliar with 'soft' jhana so take what I said in context. I have much to learn about what that is.