Going Further Inwards
I'd like to share a recent meditation experience. It is a natural development of my Buddhist meditation in which I focus on the in and out breaths. There are various ways to do this with the goal being to develop concentration while using the breath as the main meditation object.
On this day I was meditating with a Western Buddhist Dharma group on Zoom. We zoom in for 50 minutes of meditation, followed by chanting of prayers, a book reading and discussion, and end with sharing the merits of our practice with all beings.
In this session, I began by focusing on breathing in and out, watching, feeling and noting each inhalation and exhalation. Then I shifted the focus onto the intention to breath. As an inhale reaches its natural ending, an urge emerges to exhale. Similarly, as an exhale reaches the natural ending, the urge to inhale arises. I watched for and tracked these "urges to inhale and exhale." Within these I perceived an underlying tension. I watched this tension and experienced it in the broad realm of feeling. After doing this for around 30 minutes, there was a distinctive shift in awareness and a definitive shift inwards. Awareness withdrew into a singular point. Simultaneously, the tension associated with the urge to inhale and exhale, swirled in a psychic wind and vanished.
In this spontaneous shift, focus on breathing transformed into a singular point of seeing and knowing. Feeling transformed into serene stillness, free of vibration. The inner landscape, what it was reduced to, was distinct and clear even though the experience lasted seconds and not even minutes.
I did share this experience with my Buddhist preceptor and in response to my query he advised that I try to see mindfulness, intention, feeling and noting as impermanent. I share on this Forum also, since it touches on the relationship with the psychic adjuncts.
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This is from the post:
In this spontaneous shift, focus on breathing transformed into a singular point of seeing and knowing.
Query:
Seeing what?
Knowing what?
And there is no hint as to the observer.
The teacher mentioned what he termed as impermanent features, which Buddhism is known to condemn. In contrast what is listed as permanent, if anything is that?
I would add that in inSelf Yoga™ this state of
a singular point of seeing and knowing
is an experience of the coreSelf (atma - limited spiritual being). But it is an experience of that self when it loses track of its sense of identity and other adjuncts like the intellect, kundalini lifeForce and memory. It is an experience of the condition of what is termed as brahman in the Upanishad literature.
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Marcia Beloved Thanks for sharing Marcia!
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In response to Michael Beloved's comments and queries....
Seeing what? Knowing what?It's hard to put in words. There was seeing and knowing, but of a different nature. I knew the absence of feelings. It was more like knowing something truly through its absence. Seeing is closely related. I glimpsed the swirling of feelings and also felt it being suctioned away. Silent stillness was unveiled as feeling swirled out of sight. It was all objectively subjective. When I was situated as a point of seeing and knowing, there was nothing left to see. If I had continued in the experience longer, I would speculate that I would have seen and known the arising of mental and bodily sensations/activity.
And there is no hint as to the observer.
Using Buddhist terminology, there was mindfulness accompanied by awareness. I would not go as far as to say there was an observer as the semantics regarding that tend to create confusion.
The teacher mentioned what he termed as impermanent features, which Buddhism is known to condemn. In contrast what is listed as permanent, if anything is that?In Buddhism, impermanence is not condemned. It is acknowledged as one of the three characteristics of the material aggregates which comprise our existence in samsara, namely:
- form
- feeling
- perception
- mental formations
- consciousness
The other characteristics are unsatisfactoriness (stressfulness/suffering)) and insubstantiality (not self). Nibbana is that state which does not feature change, stress or an enduring self/soul.
I did lose track of a sense of identity, and the point of seeing and knowing seemed to lack any type of personality. It seemed to be a bare mental function.
There is still work to do but the practice continues to lead.
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Quote from the previous post:
"There is still work to do but the practice continues to lead."
IMO such practice, that is powerfully introspective in nature and seriously adhered to will bear fruits. Very advanced and subtle level of practice or realization.
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Surya, it's fortunate for me that I received this practice because I was not able to develop even the preliminary subtle body awareness and dream awareness required by inSelf Yoga. Introspection can certainly be undertaken from different vantage points, and I think that is influenced by the motivation for practice which, of course, changes as one develops in the practice.
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Yes, I'd also say that it is about the student, the one experiencing the path.Indeed, it is fortunate to find that practice, that is in a position to fulfill our needs for spiritual elevation or consciousness purification.
Where there is genuine introspection, there is also the preliminary subtle awareness. At least the past life tendency for practice is re-manifested.
The realization of the subtle realities may have many aspects and different requirements depending on the path, and each practitioner will also experience an aspect of subtle realities in a particular way.
I also concur that "motivation" (and perhaps intention - if not the same), influences the outcome. Therefore, I also see the relationship of the practitioner to their path(s) as a serious commitment, like matrimony in a way.
