Rigpa and Jhana

[william]

Hello Jeffrey, and friends,

I would like to ask if there is a parallel Jhana experience to the way in which 'Rigpa' is described in Dzogchen?

This past 1st Jan, I had what appeared to be a very profound seeing; the sense fields became like an assemblage of apparitions - vision was like a cloud floating before me in emptiness. There was no I to be in any of this, there was just seeing, hearing, and so on. I saw how this fictional identity is formed from this assemblage, and how there never has been anyone here.

This would seem to be 3rd or 4th Jhana as I usually experience them, but I have never seen before how there is no one here at all. And I don't think I have ever felt so profoundly free in my life, with a kind of absolute certainty that this was real, the only real! There was only a very deep knowing, thought never interfered.

Since then I have noticed a change, as if some kind of samsaric cycle of behavior had been cut, or just seen through? Quite literally I no longer have certain desires, or I don't feel motivated by them anymore. I saw auras of light in my peripheries, I felt that I was this 'light of pure knowing' as I have often seen described in Dzogchen as Rigpa.

How would this be conceived of in terms of Jhana?

[Jhanananda]

Hello Jeffrey, and friends,

I would like to ask if there is a parallel Jhana experience to the way in which 'Rigpa' is described in Dzogchen?

Rigpa appears to be the same thing as jhana.

This past 1st Jan, I had what appeared to be a very profound seeing; the sense fields became like an assemblage of apparitions - vision was like a cloud floating before me in emptiness. There was no I to be in any of this, there was just seeing, hearing, and so on. I saw how this fictional identity is formed from this assemblage, and how there never has been anyone here.

This would seem to be 3rd or 4th Jhana as I usually experience them, but I have never seen before how there is no one here at all. And I don't think I have ever felt so profoundly free in my life, with a kind of absolute certainty that this was real, the only real! There was only a very deep knowing, thought never interfered.

The 8 stages of samadhi are relative non-dual experiences.  It sounds like you indeed were in either the 3rd or 4th jhana.  We would need more details to nail it down.

Since then I have noticed a change, as if some kind of samsaric cycle of behavior had been cut, or just seen through? Quite literally I no longer have certain desires, or I don't feel motivated by them anymore. I saw auras of light in my peripheries, I felt that I was this 'light of pure knowing' as I have often seen described in Dzogchen as Rigpa.

How would this be conceived of in terms of Jhana?

Yes, the true experience of deep meditation is transformative.  And, the deeper we go, the more transformative the experience.  It is still hard to nail it down from your description, so more details would be needed.  Thanks for posting your meditation experience here.

[william]

Thank you for your reply, Jeffrey.

I didn't want to give too many details, so that was mainly the broad brush strokes. The most shocking revelation from this experience was seeing the apparitional, dream like, nature of experience as it appears to the senses. In that seeing, I also experienced a timeless now, a complete being in the moment, I saw that there was no fixed reference point from which to construct a me. There was, as I mentioned before, quite literally no one here but this assemblage of sensory fields. Or you could say that I was just the emptiness, pure consciousness.

There was no fixed 'me' reference point to which this experiencing was happening. Vision was only that, the aural field was just sound, it was seen that there is nothing beyond those appearings. There was a complete cessation of suffering, no past, no future, no self, only this deep knowing. I felt there was nothing further to do here in this life time.

Since then, something has changed, I feel that something has been cut, or seen through, and I feel little desire for doing the things that used to occupy a great deal of my attention. I feel as though my seeking has come to an end, and perhaps a new phase of integration has begun?   

[Jhanananda]

Excellent work, William.  Your meditation sounds like it was well within the 3rd to 4th jhana, which is transformative, as you reported.  Now, the challenge is to meditate to this depth every time you meditate.  You will find that it will eliminate any obsessive and compulsive behaviors that you might have, which means you will be liberated, as long as you maintain the lifestyle that consistently produces this depth of meditation.

[william]

Thanks, Jeffrey!