How many times a day do you sit?

[effort]

good, but its not always like it, there are times that you wont feel great, but we have to remeber that improvment comes from continunity.
Just notice that tingling sensation, and remember impermanance.

[Kenshou]

Things like that are certainly quite common.

If you continue to cultivate that pleasant sensation, you might get yourself into the first jhana. Really be mindful of the body and relax, allow the pleasantness to seep into every crevice of your awareness, physical and mental. Simply being aware of the good feeling and continuing to relax is enough to spread and increase it. My flaw when I was first doing this was that I could induce very strong pleasure accompanied by mindfulness in patchy areas, what really did it was learning to distribute this throughout the body. (refer to the simile of the bath powder)

A user posted a good succinct method for jhana here: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 427#p55427" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Or look at the anapanasati sutta.

[1] Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' [2] Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' [3] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.'2 He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' [4] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.'3 He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'

"[5] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.' [6] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.'

You've probably already done steps 1-4 naturally in your anapanasati, right? Once a certain level of tranquility has become established then it's possible to establish what they call "rapture"(piti) and "pleasure"(sukha). The "tingly feeling", though that's admittedly a vague term, is something that I find to precede the maturation into a well-developed experience of piti. If you felt nicely relaxed and "deep", I bet you're going in the right direction.

The other half then, is sukha, which in part will develop on it's own as a simple feeling of bodily comfort and mental contentment. You've probably already got this going to some extent. But it can be contrasted to the more "thrilling/delighting" feeling of piti.

I think if you follow your intuition about what is more happy and peaceful for you, you'll get there. There is a particular feeling of mental seclusion and stability that comes when you're really in it that is unmistakable, but also very hard to describe. It also enables a level of mindfulness and focus that's hard to get otherwise. Look at the section in the anapanasati sutta on how the 4 references are developed. In practicing like this they are naturally developed, so it's something worthwhile. It's just that the pleasure of the early jhanas is sort of a carrot on a stick to lead the the mind into it, but by #4 the pleasure is replaced by equanimity and neutrality and only perfect mindfulness remains. Which is a pretty damn useful place to be.

Effort is certainly right, not every session is going to be so pleasant. But you did it once so you can do it again, and if you can do it again you can get better at it.

[effort]

Things like that are certainly quite common.

If you continue to cultivate that pleasant sensation, you might get yourself into the first jhana. Really be mindful of the body and relax, allow the pleasantness to seep into every crevice of your awareness, physical and mental. Simply being aware of the good feeling and continuing to relax is enough to spread and increase it.

I'm interested to know other have a same definition of jhanna?
I never tried to cultivate such a feeling and looked at that as a feeling.

[Kenshou]

My understanding of jhana is largely influenced by Ajahn Dhammadharo and Thanissaro, accompanied by the suttas and correspondence with people on Buddhist forums like this one. It also probably is quite similar to if not the same as Pandita's classification of vipassana jhanas, from what I've read and understood of his texts. I of course don't claim any authority whatsoever.

As for the tingling specifically, weather it is just a heightened awareness of phenomena or something more than that, I find for myself such a feeling is often a harbinger for deeper levels of concentration, something that sometimes happens along the way. The way Collective described is experience (flooding as opposed to random little tinglies) at the time makes me think he was going in a similar direction.

Dhammadharo mentions something like this here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai ... ml#method2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When you reach this point you may find that the breath starts giving rise to various signs (nimitta), such as seeing or feeling hot, cold, or tingling sensations in the head....

Sometimes the breath can send warm, hot, cold, or tingling sensations through the body...

I also realize that I've gone way off topic, sorry!

[Reductor]

Things like that are certainly quite common.

If you continue to cultivate that pleasant sensation, you might get yourself into the first jhana. Really be mindful of the body and relax, allow the pleasantness to seep into every crevice of your awareness, physical and mental. Simply being aware of the good feeling and continuing to relax is enough to spread and increase it.

I'm interested to know other have a same definition of jhanna?
I never tried to cultivate such a feeling and looked at that as a feeling.

For my part, I hold the same definition of Jhana.

The first four steps establish the mindfulness and suppress the hindrances, the next two steps are a matter of taking note of the mental and physical pleasure (or ease, or satisfaction, or joy, or the many words used) and then helping them grow and become steady... when they become strong enough, the mind settles into the body and feelings to stay for a while, which is absorption. The entering into absorption has a quality that needs to be experienced, and is hard to describe.

From there to the fourth Jhana it is a matter of keeping the mind balanced (equanimity) while letting go of the various elements that exist in the mind and body (ironically, they are the same elements that initially allowed the mind to enter into absorption).

[effort]

this is amazing, i mean i never look to jhanna like this, in this way i think many people have some feeling of rapture during a calm afternoon watching the sunset, so they can keep that like a memory to remember what do they have to look for or cultivate during sitting,am i true?

[Ben]

Hi everyone.
I think its time to get back on topic.
Feel free to carry on the jhana conversation in an existing thread on jhanas in the meditation sub-forum or create one.
kind regards

Ben

[Collective]

Just done my second 30 minute sit.

Have to say, although the mental focus is more demanding, the after glow is a lot warmer

[IanAnd]

Just done my second 30 minute sit.

Have to say, although the mental focus is more demanding, the after glow is a lot warmer

If that afterglow includes extended moments of mental calm and tranquility, then you are experiencing passaddhi, which just means "calm" or a "profound inner peace." Overall, this is a good sign of the benefits of your efforts. Don't be afraid to answer the "demand" of the mental focus, as this will become easier and easier as you cultivate this mental calm and mindful activity.

The trick then becomes to extend this mental calmness to become a part of your waking consciousness, meaning the time after the sit. With a calm mind comes the development of sati or mindfulness. When you can add equanimity to that mix, then arising phenomena, whatever it might be, won't bother (or upset) you, as you should be able to identify each event for what it truly is rather than reacting to a knee-jerk impression which may be based upon personal prejudice or bias.

Re-read and follow Kenshou's first post above if you'd like to learn how to go deeper into this calm and tranquility in order to help cultivate a deepening of your concentration ability. Once concentration is well developed, you will be ready for insight work, if you should choose to take advantage of it.

Keep up the good work!

[Joseph]

2 X 1 hour, mornings and evenings.

[elcfa]

2x1 hr (1 morning 1 evening), 3-4 x1 hr on a good day. At least 30'/day if I don't have time.

[locusphor]

it's almost as if I've told myself subconsciously '20 minutes is too long for you to focus - so don't even bother'. Then there's a feeling of restlessness (a classic I know) where I could be doing a million other things instead.

What's up Collective. Sounds like you and I are confronting similar issues. I can't sit still for the appointed 30 minutes. Something happened last night that gave me some insight into this dilemma. Quite by accident my usual timer went missing and so I decided to practice without it. I usually sit for 30 minutes timed, so I tried to emulate my normal practice absent the timer and without obsessing about hitting my 30 minute mark exactly. I just let it go. The difference in terms of quality was noticeable. It was almost as if the timer was a safety net and by taking it down I forced my hand to find some balance for myself. In a very spontaneous way I was in a better position to experience the restlessness as it is, without acting on it. I certainly did not expect the answer to be in less timing.

[jcsuperstar]

once a day b4 work

though once school is out for summer (no work) i'm planning on all sorts of stuff