first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
User1249x
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by User1249x »

Pondera wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:10 am Nimitta is a mental projection of an inner chakra.

Red, blue, yellow, and white ... these all exist along the spine and at the crown of the head.

If and when you see them while cultivating samatha bhavana - it is because you have opened a chakra.

Cross cultural study into the nature of jhana can drastically lessen the intensity and struggle one commonly associates with attaining or even remotely approaching jhana.
im not sure about the chakra but i guess it's just a color and nothing much to it. I just mentioned it because i found it to be a peculiar circumstance myself but apparently it's common. I've talked to a monk and he said that in his experience mindfulness of the body produces various nimitta and just because one uses breath it does not follow that perception of white will be the inclination.
Inedible
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by Inedible »

Let's say I went to a cooking website and talked on the forum about how it is easy to make a crepe. Let's say I tell them that it shouldn't be hard to make a crepe for anyone. Naturally they are going to ask how many crepes I have made. Maybe even ask how many before I got good at it. Same thing here, but jhana.
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Pondera
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by Pondera »

User1249x wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:42 am
Pondera wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:10 am Nimitta is a mental projection of an inner chakra.

Red, blue, yellow, and white ... these all exist along the spine and at the crown of the head.

If and when you see them while cultivating samatha bhavana - it is because you have opened a chakra.

Cross cultural study into the nature of jhana can drastically lessen the intensity and struggle one commonly associates with attaining or even remotely approaching jhana.
im not sure about the chakra but i guess it's just a color and nothing much to it. I just mentioned it because i found it to be a peculiar circumstance myself but apparently it's common. I've talked to a monk and he said that in his experience mindfulness of the body produces various nimitta and just because one uses breath it does not follow that perception of white will be the inclination.
If you’re breathing and your ajna (brow chakra) is open, then you’ll achieve sustained focus rather easily. Your visual field will quite possibly fill with “hallucinations” of interchanging blue and orange colours.

The colours themselves do not indicate that you are in jhana.

The FEELING of the colour is an indication that you’ve amounted upon SUKKHA. IMO ...
Like the three marks of conditioned existence, this world in itself is filthy, hostile, and crowded
coconut
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by coconut »

Inedible wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 4:11 am Let's say I went to a cooking website and talked on the forum about how it is easy to make a crepe. Let's say I tell them that it shouldn't be hard to make a crepe for anyone. Naturally they are going to ask how many crepes I have made. Maybe even ask how many before I got good at it. Same thing here, but jhana.
Ok, let's say I told you I made 1000 crepes, now what? How does that help you become a crepe maker other than motivation? Even if you had a skype session with Gordon Ramsay, your first crepe is going to turn out mediocre or crappy.

In the end you're going to have to go through your own trial and error process to actually learn it. Theory itself can only take you so far, the rest is hard work and accepting failure.

Seems like you're overly relying on someone to guide you, when jhana is simply about learning to stop and the incremental levels of stopping. It's simply the order of stopping, and it starts with stopping unwholesome thinking and removing contact from unwholesome things.

Now to know what is unwholesome you need right view, so read the samma ditthi sutta.
Inedible
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by Inedible »

At this point in my life I have over thirty years of experience in how not to attain jhana. So if I start talking about meditation anyone should keep in mind that I am only repeating stuff from books I have read. Many of the authors of those books disagree with each other. I just prefer to listen to people who know what they are talking about because they are doing it and it is working. Even I have had my moments over the years with glimpses of deeper states. They just don't stick or build up to anything.

A tip I read about making crepes is to use cooking spray on the bottom of a skillet and get it hot and dip it into your batter. You then just slide it off fully formed. But I haven't tried it and I'm not really sure how to actually do it that way.
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Assaji
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by Assaji »

Hi Frank,
frank k wrote: Fri Nov 20, 2020 5:00 pm first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)
http://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/20 ... to-do.html
Thank you for your post. It helped me to understand the experience better.

:anjali:
form
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Re: first jhāna is easy. all you need to do is relax (passaddhi/pacification)

Post by form »

Easy, provided one can temporarily overcome the 5 hindrances
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