As I have mentioned in my introduction post. I want to be able to develop the jhanas to apply them in daily life to excel in career and relationships. One of the major problems I have right now is limiting beliefs. I tend to have limiting beliefs that make me feel that I am not good enough and not worthy of good things. This manifests strongly in my love life and at times can cause me a lot of depression. I don't know where these feelings came from as I come from a loving household but they are there.
Cal's response was quite good so I will try not to cover the important points that he made. However, I will tell you my career with jhana led me through a 40 year technical career in a number of disciplines, getting married, and fathering children, who grew up to be reasonable functional people in the world. So, there is no reason why you cannot do the same thing.
While you may have come from a wholesome family, I did not. I too had very poor self esteem, but I found I shed all of my neuroses through simply meditating 2-3 times per day to depth. So, if I can, then you can as well; because I was not born of a virgin, nor do I walk on water, but I am free of addictions, neuroses, and attachments for the world.
Will developing a jhana practice be able to help me change internal beliefs and become the kind of person I want to be? If so how would I proceed about this? Do I enter deeper states of meditation and visualize or affirm positive statements?
As I said above, yes you can be radically changed for the better by cultivating deep meditation practice. Here we have discussed the methodology several time.
1] One begins by practicing a meditation technique at least twice a day, for at least 30 minutes per session. Increasing the time, as one grows accustomed to long meditation practice. The most common method that those who have success in deep meditation practice is breath observation.
2] There are two goals to become skilled with. 1) Learning to relax deeply while meditating. 2) Stilling the mind.
3] Do not get attached to your meditation object because it is just a vehicle to deep meditation. So, when deep meditation begins, then be prepared to dump the meditation technique.
4] The stilling of the mind is where the meditation technique comes to an end. Here one just sits savoring the pleasantness of a still mind. And, no, there are no visualizations or positive affirmation statements. More follows in response to your questions.
My current meditation practice is 1.5 hours straight in the evening after work. Is this a good amount of time? I can probably add in one or two more smaller sessions in there as well. I feel myself going deeper the more I meditate but am not experiencing the levels of bliss I have read about yet. However I do think I am closing in on the first jhana.
Your 1.5 hour session at night is quite good. I assume you are doing it just before bed. You could add in a session in the morning upon rising, because I found bracketing my day with meditation sessions helped me.
EDIT: From what I have read the charisms are pleasant sensations that arise during meditation right? And once you feel it you focus on it until it grows?
Correct.
When I started meditating a long time ago I would feel a pressure on my forehead between my eye(third eye area). Sometimes as my concentration increased this would spread to all over head. This is not pleasant nor unpleasant so I am not sure if I should consider this a charism? Should I focus on this pressure and let this grow? Also sometimes I feel a cool peaceful feeling inside my head. It feeld like a cool breeze flowing through my head. Could this be considered a charism?
Yes, the pressure on your forehead between your eyes (third eye area) is a charism. Yes, it can grow to cover your face, and head, and entire body. And, yes, the cool peaceful feeling inside of your head is also a charism.
Yes, you focus your attention while meditating upon these charisms when they arise. When you become skilled with attending to these charisms during your meditation sessions, then you may find these charisms present during the rest of your day. This is a good sign of development, and if you can keep them present throughout the day, then you will find your meditation sessions will become deeper.
If these charisms do not feel blissful to you, then you have not recognized the significance of the charisms. In Acts in the Christian Gospels various phenomena are described. They are called by the Greek term 'charism.' They are often translated into English as 'sign gifts.' In the Christian Gospels they are the signs of the Holy Spirit.
In Buddhism the charisms are called 'jhana-nimitta' and 'samadhi-nimitta.' These terms mean "signs of absorption," which is the 8th fold of the Noble Eightfold Path.
So, your reaction to the arsing of these charisms should be to feel that you are blessed by the presence of god, as experienced in samadhi. After all so few Christians and Buddhists have these experiences that you are truly one in millions to have such experiences. But, don't get puffed up about it. Just feel blessed when they arise, and you will be giving proper honor to your interior experience.
