Got any tips for not getting stuck in dissolution?

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tOM Anderson, modified 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 9:17 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 9:15 PM

Got any tips for not getting stuck in dissolution?

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/23/16 Recent Posts
Hello all,

I spent September to the end of November 2016 in the Panditarama Lumbini Meditation Retreat Centre in my first Mahasi Style retreat and consequently made most of the classic mistakes of newbies to the practice :-/  (getting lost in content, having too many lapses of mindfulness, not really applying the mind to the object etc.) 

There was no "classic" A&P event complete with fireworks and accompanying profound insight into the arising and passing away of things although the body progressively became lighter. (physical -> wave sensations -> vibrations -> hollow body with just a skin surrounding it -> no perception of the body). My background till then was in samatha meditation with only limited success (as well as many years with all sorts of guru figures, teachers, new age therapy including rebirthing, 5 years in a Buddhist monastery and even a 6 year stint as a born again christian in a christian cult I met in Iran in 1972!)   I can't remember a time when I wasn't trying to somehow scratch the unscratchable itch so I've probably been a Dark Nighter for a long time. :-/  Maybe that or my level of practice affected the intensity of the A&P event??

I don't doubt that I crossed the A&P because I was certainly in Dissolution (seeing even intentions dissolve before they manifested etc.) The teacher Ven Vivekananda knows the territory well and I trust his guidance also. His instructions were to observe things dissolving so that is the stage of the practice he deduced.

From reading Daniels book, I got the impression that a strong A&P event provides a lot of impetus to propel one into the Dark Night nyanas but, in any event, I was stuck in Dissolution for the last 6 weeks of the retreat. Daniels exercises for experiencing impermanence helped but I'd like to hear of any tips you might have learned to help Dissolution to mature. 

I plan on heading back to Lumbini for a similar retreat this year but will at least have a bit more of an idea of the practice by then. Going into the retreat, I only had the two small books by Ven Mahasis Sayadaw and Daniels book to use as a framework but now have some mainstream vipassanna books (Joseph Goldstien etc) to broaden my theoretical understanding.

I am hoping that those of you who have got unstuck from Dissolution will give me some tips I can use.

I wish you well on the Path.

Tom
J C, modified 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 11:52 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 11:52 PM

RE: Got any tips for not getting stuck in dissolution? (Answer)

Posts: 644 Join Date: 4/24/13 Recent Posts
You just have to keep noting. Try noting faster and faster - push your speed to the limit of what you're capable of.

Also - try taking each of the three characteristics, one at a time, focusing on that characteristic for a while and then moving on to the next one. Then try combining them in groups of two, and then all three together.

Finally, make sure to note the more "abstract" phenomena like wondering, searching, feeling stuck, wanting to get out... the answer is in the question, so pay close attention to the feeling of getting stuck, the desire to get out, and the frustration of not getting out.
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tOM Anderson, modified 7 Years ago at 2/13/17 1:04 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/13/17 1:03 AM

RE: Got any tips for not getting stuck in dissolution?

Posts: 2 Join Date: 5/23/16 Recent Posts
Thanks J C.  That makes a lot of sense ... I probably overlooked a lot of the sensations and thoughts associated with the frustration. Hmmm. Thanks for the tips.  *bows*

Tom 

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