Forum: Dharma Overground Discussion Forum

hi everyone,

i'm guessing that a lot of members here have already experienced (or still experiencing) the "dissolution" process. so i think that it's good to have a thread to discuss this experience. this would be useful as reference for those who will come across this experience in the future as they progress in their practice.

to add context to this discussion i'm including links to Shinzen's Youtube videos wherein he sat with one of his students to discuss the dissolution process. in this video a student of Shinzen experienced a harsh form of dissolution (aka Dark Night territory). it's an excellent example of how to conduct the discussion of this topic in a matter-of-fact way between teacher and student, as well as between fellow practitioners.

here are the videos. be sure to watch the videos for more context for this discussion.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUryO_vJT1o
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEit-DtWQ38
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r78uUarpGsI

once you're done watching the videos, feel free to riff on this topic. share your experiences and your strategies for dealing with the dissolution process.

~C

in my case, i'm lucky that most of my glimpses of the dissolution process fall within the pleasant category. i experience the vibrations like champagne bubbles, or sometimes like big waves, as if my body is like a seaweed being blown by underwater current.

however, there were times when i feel a sense of dread (e.g. fear of death) as i experience the vibrations and waves. also, i remember just a couple of nights ago, while i was in between sleeping and waking, i felt that there were creatures (like demons) gnawing my forehead and the back of my neck. that scared the shit out of me. but a part of me knew that it was a dream (or a lucid dream, or in between state) so i just ignored them, let them at it, and i just plunged back and dissolved into deep dreamless sleep

~C

Author: AngelinaChan-Ong

Many people experience different things at different levels of progress. There's a time when I just had to sit down quietly and feel myself bobbing up and down, almost as if I'm shaking. One guy in the Taoist tradition said that a higher Master is right behind me, healing whatever ailments that I have during this process. He even attempted to communicate with this "being". And my Theravada master said, "Concentrate and it will be gone". True enough, it arises, and it goes away.
There was also a time when I was driving and there was a momentary flash of visual that all people on the street had turned into walking skeletons, very briefly. I was informed that I probably had the experience of meditating on dead bodies and skeletons in my previous life.
Of course, those dreaded feelings, it makes everything unbearable. Looked around me and I was not satisfied with anybody, as everybody was so clearly ignorant and clinging to material gains and breaking precepts without regards to kamma... that was really a tough period. During that dread, I shut myself out from everyone, even went to the point of cycling to work (1 hour cycling) so that I can hear myself think alone, and stayed away from everyone because whatever they said caused me much dissatisfaction and irritation. The bubbly me turned into what sociologist would call alienated, withdrawn... and it was not a normally acceptable behavior. Only my Theravada masters could understand me at that time, the rest thought that I was in for schizophrenia or something.
But once you discovered the knowledge, it's all fine. It becomes bearable and manageable.