After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Shanmugam P, modified 6 Years ago at 6/8/17 4:50 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/8/17 4:50 PM

After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 32 Join Date: 3/4/17 Recent Posts
I read from Daniels book that stream enterers are constantly cycling through the ñanas from the 4th to the 11th and then to Fruition.  I would lke to know the experience of others who have gone through stream entry.. How often and how long do you go through dark night?
Dom Stone, modified 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 3:53 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 3:53 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 118 Join Date: 3/21/17 Recent Posts
I think people's experiences may vary so I can only give you my perspective, which I found didn't fully reflect what I was expecting, even though it was close enough to consider MCTB a worthwhile guide through the various stages. My dark night was mostly dealt with before my formal Vipassana meditation, so I had already trodden some sort of path through the dukkha ñanas. It wasn't until 2nd path that the dark  night in review was really noticeable. That being said, there was still an experiential understanding that they were more transparent. It was as if, allowing my mind to let go of that level of suffering made me aware of the emptiness that underlies this experience.

For me, during review, I rested at A&P for the most part, with the dark night primarily being a stepping stone to remove defilements and hinderances leading to the clarity of equanamity.

Why do you ask? Have you reached stream entry yourself, or are you concerned about how the dark night night affect you?

It can be easy to get caught up over states of mind, especially if we have built up opinions of them beforehand. Remember that it is only the ego that suffers from such experiences, and the lessons they teach truely show the ego for what it is.
Shanmugam P, modified 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 4:12 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 4:12 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 32 Join Date: 3/4/17 Recent Posts
Yes, I have reached stream entry but went through a great deal of suffering about two and a half years after my stream entry... That was something totally unexpected. I just wanted to know if that was normal.. 
Dom Stone, modified 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 5:01 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 5:01 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night? (Answer)

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I'd say it's normal! 

The first of the 4 noble truths says that life is dukkha. Once wrong view is eradicated from stream entry, it's no longer possible to hide from it like beforehand. We become experientially aware that our desires are the cause of all this suffering, even if we get a perceived relief as our desires are met.

There is only one way the stream travels, so alignment with it is surely the route with the least suffering.

Regular concentration meditation is good to keep things chill while you are dealing with this backlog of karmic mess you've been picking up for your whole life.

This is all valuable insight fodder, and an embracing of all that is (noting reactions to feelings and situations etc, and realising that you never were in control to begin with), will help propel you through the dark night into equanamity.

I found that my main barrier to reaching second path was morality. It was morality that conditioned my mind to react a certain way, so to truely stop the petty thoughts doing what they did, I needed to give them as little control as possible. This involved questioning why I liked something, or not.

Second path will significantly lower the need to fulfill gross desires as you see the emptiness behind them, but the process leading to path is where all the magic happens, path just solidifies it.

This is a bit of a diverse reply, but I feel there is so much that can be said on the subject, and you may well already know most of this, so I hope to illuminate some perspective.
Shanmugam P, modified 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 5:09 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 5:09 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 32 Join Date: 3/4/17 Recent Posts
Thank you Dom Stone..
Mettafore, modified 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 10:55 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/9/17 10:55 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 171 Join Date: 3/24/14 Recent Posts
I feel ya, man. The last 2.5 years have been quite rough for me, too. Good luck on your pratice. I am giving the Brahmaviharas a shot; so far it's been good.
Derek2, modified 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 9:05 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 9:05 AM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 231 Join Date: 9/21/16 Recent Posts
The suffering is normal.

St. John of the Cross was the first to write about the "dark night." He views it as a kind of purging of impurities from the mind. As to duration, he says, "if it is to be really effectual, it will last for some years" (Dark Night of the Soul, book 2, chapter VII, paragraph 4). He also talks about periods where the suffering gets worse, punctuated by periods of relief.

The author known as "Jed McKenna" estimates "two years of gut-wrenching purging" (Spiritual Warfare, "Live Free or Die" chapter).

Bernadette Roberts has a section "Transformative Process of Dark Night of the Spirit" in her book What Is Self? She writes: "This final unitive revelation, which came almost two years after the falling away of the self center, marked the end of the transforming (or acclimating) process and the beginning of a new life." I think (though it's hard to tell) that that two years represents her dark night.

Of course, all these writers write primarily based on their own experience. I've never heard of anyone carrying out a large-scale survey. So while for the three mentioned above it was a few years, it's possible that for others it's much less or much more. We don't have the data to say.
Mettafore, modified 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 11:32 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 11:32 AM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 171 Join Date: 3/24/14 Recent Posts
I am quite sure Dr. Britton of Brown U has done some work on this:
https://www.brown.edu/research/labs/britton/research/varieties-contemplative-experience
neko, modified 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 1:53 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/10/17 1:52 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 762 Join Date: 11/26/14 Recent Posts
I have very clear cycles when I practice Mahasi noting or Goenka body scanning. If my practice shifts to different techniques, I stop cycling --- it can take weeks or months, but cycles eventually stop. If I practice Theravadin-style techniques, cycles come back immeditely. Briefly if I practice them occasionally (hours/days), more lastingly if I practice them intensively.

Not sure what this means.
Mettafore, modified 6 Years ago at 6/13/17 12:56 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/13/17 12:56 PM

RE: After stream entry, how often and how long one goes through Dark night?

Posts: 171 Join Date: 3/24/14 Recent Posts
Interesting.
Would you describe your life as being better without cycling? What are the non-Theravadin practices you follow?

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