Advice on tactile "nimittas", and how best to use them?

[AdvaitaJ]

I can't really say though yet what "works", since I have no idea if I've gotten to jhana yet. I get to points where focus becomes very strong, piti and sukha are so strong that they almost seem to drown out the defined position of the body, and the the fuzzy-head/face-pressure-nimitta-thing that is powered by the breath seems to start to envelop/draw in my awareness (though mindfulness of the breath -still- remains at the peak of it all). It really feels pretty interesting, but I'm hesitant to claim that it's a jhana. Certainly feels like it could be close, though, maybe.

Kenshou,

When you attain the first jhana, there won't be any doubt about it. I think Ajahn Brahm and Catherine both mention the "bounce" that is possible from the intensity of the sensation. Also remember their advice about holding on to the breath too tightly. A hard and fast "grip" on the breath is counterproductive. I believe it's necessary to maintain resolve over time, pay attention to what works and what doesn't, and expect to "burn through" more than a few sittings simply experimenting.

Regards: AdvaitaJ

[Kenshou]

AdvaitaJ-

Also remember their advice about holding on to the breath too tightly. A hard and fast "grip" on the breath is counterproductive.

True, I do try to avoid that. I allow the sensations to grow and push their way further into dominance nautrally, but I've yet to come to a point where they become strong enough, strong as they may feel, that I can allow them to fully take dominance over the breath and not topple down shortly. But practice makes perfect.

expect to "burn through" more than a few sittings simply experimenting.

Yeah, no doubt about that.

[Oleksandr]

If you ask me it is a typical "energy" sensation as used in yoga. Tibetan Buddhism describes it in detail and also has specific techniques for them. One basically moves this energy (your breezy soft feeling and pressure) around the whole body, and even outside, until it all is "purified". When you start moving it you will notice that there are places that you can move it to easily and those that seem closed to it. The closed ones are so called "blocks", they need to be "purged", meaning one has to practice moving the element there, too. Full purification is reached when not only your head is filled with "air" but the whole body and then the whole world around.

Hello Freawaru,

Can you please tell me, where did you learn this from? Is it from a certain book or instructions of a certain Tibetan teacher?

[Freawaru]

Hello Oleksandr,

Can you please tell me, where did you learn this from? Is it from a certain book or instructions of a certain Tibetan teacher?

Both. I learned it from a teacher, who was a student of the late Tarab Tulku Rinpoche http://www.tarab-institute.org/ We practiced what the Tibetans consider preliminaries such as Tara meditation or Golden Light meditation. They are basically samatha meditation with the object a specific "energy" linked to a certain Bodhisattva such as Tara. These kind of "energy" meditation are always similar: one visualizes a light of a certain color above one's head, and then have it enter the head at the top (crown chakra) into the central channel sushumna. From there it is supposed to spread through the whole body and finally leaving it into the whole universe. The central channel sushumna is here of supreme importance. In the Tibetan lore there are the main channels Ida, Pingala and Sushumna (just like in Hatha Yoga), when the energy moves mainly through Ida and Pingala we are conceptual and emotional, when it moves through the Sushumna we are mystics.

The Sushumna plays an important role in Tibetan Buddhism. To activate and purify specific chakras such as the heart chakra is one of the main basic practices.

There are different practices presented in Sutrayana and Tantrayana to purify mind’s obscurations. And the purpose of meditating White Tara is to purify one’s mind of the conceptual and emotional veils that conceal its true nature.
http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings/whitetara.htm

As to books I can recommend books by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (technically he is Bön but the whole energy lore is identical to what Tarab Tuluk Rinpoche taught as far as I can tell.) It is also described in detail in the book "Clear Light of Bliss" by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (from the Kadampa linage, just as HH Dalai Lama) but I am not sure if I can recommend it as of late there have been differences between HHDL and Geshe Gyatso - still, I expect that these basics remain the same.

[Freawaru]

Hi Dmytro,

thank you for the quote and the link. I also read chapter 7, a good read. I will go through the rest later.

I think this is something I was getting confused about at first. The air element itself isn't the object, the feeling of the air-contact is. (don't know if those are the same thing)

In Sri Lanka, the traditional samatha practice is well preserved, and you can find in the book by Ven.Dhammajiva, In This Very Life, on page 23, the appropriate focus of attention for samatha practice - air element.

http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/dha ... /index.php

Yes - and I will have some more questions (as usual ). But I think the question was more whether the sensation IS the element or just the sensation of the element. Ven. Dhammajiva calls it (in chapter 7) the "manifestation of the element". So I suppose one does not really discern between sensing it and an element itself. Is this right ?

[Dmytro]

Hi Freawaru,

Yes - and I will have some more questions (as usual ).

You are welcome :^)

But I think the question was more whether the sensation IS the element or just the sensation of the element. Ven. Dhammajiva calls it (in chapter 7) the "manifestation of the element". So I suppose one does not really discern between sensing it and an element itself. Is this right ?

To be exact, I'll give a quote from Patisambhidamagga-Atthakatha (2.509):

Pakatiassāsapakatipassāse nissāya uppannanimittampi assāsapassāsāti nāmaṃ labhati. Upaṭṭhānaṃ satīti taṃ ārammaṇaṃ upecca tiṭṭhatīti sati upaṭṭhānaṃ nāma.

""Sati upatthana" means that sati, having approached, is established on that basis of concentration (arammana) (namely, the perceptual image (nimitta), that has emerged on the basis of inbreath and outbreath)."

Thus the element itself is known through the touch or visual appearance. The tactile sensation or visual appearance are incorporated into the perceptual image (nimitta), which serves as a basis of concentration (arammana).

The four elements are form (rupa), the tactile sensations are probably contact (phassa).

Metta, Dmytro

[appicchato]

I didn't wade through this entire thread, but my understanding is we don't use them at all...note them and move on...

[IanAnd]

I didn't wade through this entire thread, but my understanding is we don't use them at all...note them and move on...

Pleased understand that this response in no way casts a negative light on the person who delivered this message. The response is meant to address the substantive issue brought to light by the message, viz. nimittas and their use in meditation. Someone who tells others not to use them at all and to only note them and move on is doing that person a grave disservice.

Misguided advice as expressed above is an example of the kind of advice that is given in order to disrupt or preclude a person's ability to enter into absorption. If a person follows it, they likely will never understand or experience absorption. Absorption helps the mind increase its ability of concentration so that the mind can become stable, settled, and at ease in order to more easily and clearly "see what is there" in terms of its observation of phenomena, both material and immaterial.

For people learning to enter into absorption, the observation of a nimitta is there in order to help them understand where they are at in terms of their ability to induce absorption. It lets them know that they are succeeding. Because the subtle state of absorption can be, in the beginning at least, a little tricky for the novice practitioner to recognize, the nimitta helps give them a guidepost to "hold onto," so to speak, until their practice matures and they are more able to identify their entry into absorption more easily.

[imagemarie]

As a samatha practitioner of several years who experiences tactile nimitta, I think striking a balance between being observer, and being an active participant in jhana meditation, is pretty subtle stuff. It's a bit like the "objectivity" of the scientific method - impossible to abstract the contribution made by the scientist to the experiment..what is active..what is "letting go"...what is "just" observing?
I would say, FWIW, that "using" is not so much an appropriate description, as being given an alternative object to "investigate". A gift, if you like. But not one in which any investment is made. That seems to defeat the object (groan )
Again, from my perspective, it's subtle stuff - requiring a balance of active/passive processes. And no investment, clinging, craving..
"Things" have a tendency to move on, anyway. And "noting" can be more "active"

[appicchato]

I didn't wade through this entire thread, but my understanding is we don't use them at all...note them and move on...

Someone who tells others not to use them at all and to only note them and move on is doing that person a grave disservice.

I don't believe anyone told anybody to do anything...

Be well...

[IanAnd]

I didn't wade through this entire thread, but my understanding is we don't use them at all...note them and move on...

Someone who tells others not to use them at all and to only note them and move on is doing that person a grave disservice.

I don't believe anyone told anybody to do anything...

I agree, venerable. Did you assume a reference was being made to yourself?

If so, you did yourself a disservice.