Hello seekers
part of the 1st jhana according to the middle length discourses "he enters & remains in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by
directed thought & evaluation" I would take this as applied and sustained attention to the object of awareness ( we are keeping our awearness upon the object of awareness i.e breath etc, and if we get distracted we put our awareness back on the object of awareness i.e breath etc)
The discription of the second Jhana according to the middle length discourses "And furthermore,
with the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he enters & remains in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness
free from directed thought & evaluation"
To my understanding this translation is saying there is no longer an active process of keeing the our awareness upon the object of awareness i.e breath etc.
So what are we doing when we are aware of the charisms??? (ringing in ears, nice feelings in the body etc) is this still not classed as a active process (we are aware of the Charisms) or would we just class it as thou we cannot ignore such phenomena as the Charisms appearing to our mind?
?? is it just a case of the charisms being self evident if we just let them arise?
I have noticed in my own practice if after a short while I turn my attention from the initial object of awareness to the charisms (pleasant feeling in hands feet, buzzing sound etc) then the awareness is flooded with many phenomena to my mind (ringing in ears, plesant feelings etc), untill later when the charisms subside into a subtle stillness..........
I have also noticed that if I stay with the intital object of awareness ( the breath at the tip of the nose) then the charisms do not arise as my awarness is fully absorbed into this one object ( thou the charisms are self evident if i let my awareness fall from my intial object of awareness (the breath) and onto the charisms, the end result is the same i still get to a subtle stillness, though have missed out on the good times of the pleasant charisms.
would you class this as????skipping some levels of jhana?
?
I apprechiate that maybe the translations quoted could be inaccurate, I am just trying to link in my own experience with the suttas and also the stages of concentration according to Tibetian Buddhism.
It appears in Tibetian Buddhism from what I have read that the practice of single pointed placement of awearness (concntration) is used to develop and be in control of the mind, to be in charge of the mind and develop a still mind to investigate phenomen is a more stable manner than a gross awareness would allow, the example given is if you want to fell a big tree with an axe (realise the true nature of the inquired subject, or bring prana within a certain channel in the subtle body) then you need an Arm like Arnold Schwarznegger (a mind that you are in charge of that do what you want, when you want, the mind could be placed on a single object no matter how small or big, subtle or gross for as long as you want) to make is possible/easier.
Any comments or reflection upon one's own personal experience is apprechated.
