Ichigo's Practice Report

[Jhanananda]

Stu and I both had mechanical problems with our respective automobiles, so, if all goes well with our respective repairs, then we plan to meet this Wednesday.

I am trying different approaches to place my attention on different spots as sometimes the previous spot isn't comfortable anymore or my mind loses sense of location to fix my mind there.

Changing the meditation object from time to time can certainly be useful to keep us interested in the focusing aide.

Yesterday I was following the breathing in the throat and felt the urge to explode into bliss.

It sounds like changing your meditation object worked for you.  Maybe this will be where you will find bliss ever time you meditate, but if not, then keep moving your focus to another object.  Just remember the meditation object is just a focusing aide.

For some reason there is something pleasant in following the breath in the throat.. I am not sure why, maybe because the throat chakra is located there.

Yes, perhaps you found bliss by using the through as your meditation object because you were on the verge of opening your through chakra. Eventually 7th and 8th chakras will open, so perhaps you will find it useful some day to shift your focus from the throat to the third eye, and the crown chakras respectively.  Or you might find that meditating upon your heart helps the bliss to occur some time in the future.

To be successful a contemplative just has to follow one's intuition, which is what the term 'vipassana' insight, is all about.  Today it was the throat chakra, maybe in a few weeks it will be the third eye, then maybe the heart chakra.

[Ichigo]

Yesterday I did about 6-7 session of 45-60 minutes.

Without fail almost in every session I managed to be wrapped by intense bliss.
In 1-2 session there was this sensation of something pouring down on my forehead like sparks/rain/snow which was very blissful and cold, it really made me want to scream out of pleasure! if only I could manage holding these state for longer! but even if it's just a few seconds of it it's worth everything!

[Jhanananda]

Yesterday I did about 6-7 session of 45-60 minutes.

Without fail almost in every session I managed to be wrapped by intense bliss.
In 1-2 session there was this sensation of something pouring down on my forehead like sparks/rain/snow which was very blissful and cold, it really made me want to scream out of pleasure! if only I could manage holding these state for longer! but even if it's just a few seconds of it it's worth everything!

Good work Ichigo.  I found the more time I spent in deep meditation the more the blissful and charismatic phenomena penetrated my every moment.  I also found that being mindful of the blissful and charismatic phenomena helps to keep it with me all day long.  And, in so doing then I find I am free of addictive behavior (fetters/sins).

[Ichigo]

Thanks Jhanananda!

How would you describe the sensations of blissful or charismatic phenomena physically when not meditating?

In today's session I felt this cold bliss energy at my feet.. I feel that this cold bliss energy is much more intense then the regular warm kind. it's really unbearable in a good way.

It takes just a few breath cycles before I feel some bliss or whatever bubbling up, I feel that I am really hunting down for the bliss, I think it doesn't even require me as much as concentration as before, but sometimes I think I jump too fast on a nice feeling for the sake of intensity without giving piti enough time to develop so it's stable enough.

[Jhanananda]

Thanks Jhanananda!

How would you describe the sensations of blissful or charismatic phenomena physically when not meditating?

Bliss, or the charisms, or the jhana-nimitta, are all the same regardless of what terms are used in each religion; however, people experience them in different ways.  Also, some people experience charisms just in one sense organ, such as smell, or taste.  Others experience charisms in all of the sense organs.

The descriptions vary.  Some people describe the charisms as electric, or vibratory, or heat, or energy.  Most people do not describe the charisms as cold, but the problem with descriptions is the charisms are nonphysical.  They appear to come from the senses, but they actually come from the immaterial (spiritual) domains.

I am so habituated into attending to the charisms that I feel them 24-7 just in the same way that I feel them when I meditate.  For the most part I hear the high pitched charismatic sounds, and charismatic tactile sensations all over my body that feel a little like a magnetic field.  However, the charismatic tactile sensations are concentrated in the hands, feet and chakras. 

I also have most of the time charismatic kinesthetic sensations, which give me a kind of vertigo, but in the case of the charisms we call it euphoria.

In today's session I felt this cold bliss energy at my feet.. I feel that this cold bliss energy is much more intense then the regular warm kind. it's really unbearable in a good way.

It takes just a few breath cycles before I feel some bliss or whatever bubbling up, I feel that I am really hunting down for the bliss, I think it doesn't even require me as much as concentration as before, but sometimes I think I jump too fast on a nice feeling for the sake of intensity without giving piti enough time to develop so it's stable enough.

Well, I use the charisms as my meditation object.  So, since I have the charisms 24-7, and I maintain a still mind 24-7, then as soon as I sit in meditation I drop right into the 3rd to 4th jhana, and allow myself to go as deep as the meditation session will take me.

[Ichigo]

Today I realized why there are some sessions I fail to enter Jhana..

Lately my inbreath and outbreath have been a bit of rapid, now the shifts to jhana usually happens on the end of the outbreath and on the start of the next inhale.. the trick was to manipulate the breath in such a way that the exhales are much slower and longer with extra attention on the exhale.. this brings jhana fairly quickly.

[Jhanananda]

It is good, Ichigo, that you are paying attention to what works, this is what is needed for success in deep meditation.

[Ichigo]

OK, this is strange..

Lately, I can follow the breath just the whole session and really get absorbed into it and not have any charism arise until I stop following the breath and switching my attention to the hands or feet or any other place (even though I don't feel any sensations there yet, just nothing.. after a while charism start to arise on the place where my attention is put on (hands etc... what's up with that? XD

It's like I can just follow the breath for 10 minutes and when I feel my mind is still enough, move my attention to hands, wait there.. and boom, some charism will start to arise.. of course it doesn't always mean it will be strong enough or develop very far.

BTW, I noticed it's very important to not eat anything late at night!.. it makes my breath for some reason very weak the next day, I feel the breath pattern is different, not strong, and not comfortable to follow.. I actually feel some sort of pressure in the head when the breath is that way. not to talk about fatigue and drowsiness.

[Jhanananda]

OK, this is strange..

Lately, I can follow the breath just the whole session and really get absorbed into it and not have any charism arise until I stop following the breath and switching my attention to the hands or feet or any other place (even though I don't feel any sensations there yet, just nothing.. after a while charism start to arise on the place where my attention is put on (hands etc... what's up with that? XD

Hello Ichigo, it is good to hear from you again.  Well, the explanation for this is attending to the breath is all about vitakka and viccara, so one cannot enter the 2nd stage of the religious experience (2nd jhana) while attending to a meditation object, but one needs one to get there.  So, once you let go of your meditation object, then you can progress deeper into the religious experience.

It's like I can just follow the breath for 10 minutes and when I feel my mind is still enough, move my attention to hands, wait there.. and boom, some charism will start to arise.. of course it doesn't always mean it will be strong enough or develop very far.

This supports my premise.

BTW, I noticed it's very important to not eat anything late at night!.. it makes my breath for some reason very weak the next day, I feel the breath pattern is different, not strong, and not comfortable to follow.. I actually feel some sort of pressure in the head when the breath is that way. not to talk about fatigue and drowsiness.

I too found that eating after dark led to sloth and torpor, so throughout most of my contemplative life I have eaten my last meal before sunset, and I generally do not eat until after sunrise; however, I might have a cup of tea, coffee, or some other light beverage after sunset or before sunrise.