Login

r/TheMindIlluminated

▲ 10 r/TheMindIlluminated

Stage 7/8 and Jhana etc - will appreciate any advice

I would really appreciate some advice.

I have been meditating (mindfulness breathing/metta) for 11 years. I have been using TMI for a couple of years now and it has been very useful. I am on the cusp of effortless attention to the breath - so end of stage 7/beginning of stage 8. I am effortless with occassional distractions quite early in a meditation. I have started reading seeing that frees as insight practice appears a good addition now. My questions 1. In TMI can one continue with the focus on breath without entering jhnana 2. I am unsure if I have experienced jhana. I get buzzy feelings in next, and body quickly (the neck buzz has stated off cushion when focused on work now as well).

This becomes a kind of overall warm, pleasure throughout the body whilst still focused on the breath. I have tried moving to the pleasant sensation and sitting with it, which is very pleasant - but there is no dramatic change from there. I think I am waiting for some whoosh! or incredible change. But, I am not sure if for me, if this pleasure is actually the 1st jhana or not (Brasingtons). On other occassions I have stayed on the breath and there is a moment where it all changes, a sudden quietness and stillness that is very different.

In summary, I confused around jhana - am I experiencing them; do I need to develop them or not. Many thanks !

reddit.com
u/Automatic-Cattle7190 — 3 days ago
▲ 9 r/TheMindIlluminated

Your Experience with TMI

Zen background here (Shikantaza), thinking about getting back into Vipassana. TMI keeps coming up as one of the best manuals out there, so wanted to ask people who've actually worked through it. Why do you think it's considered so good compared to other meditation books? And what actually changed in your practice? Also curious what the meditation instruction on the basic method he uses in the book. Is is samatha? Thanks.

reddit.com
u/Own-Fox-9613 — 6 days ago
▲ 18 r/TheMindIlluminated

Very Misleading Language Related to Introspective Awareness in Stage 4

Hi all, I've been in the stage 4/5/6 plateau for a while and have gained more understanding regarding the landscape of my own mind. I practice 1-1.5 hours everyday.

What has become clear to me is that the road to exclusive attention involves dropping of effort. The mind has to feel safe and has to stay with the breath on its own more and more without active forcing.

So a general and deep sense of relaxation has to present so that the mind feels safe which allows it to stay with and enjoy the breath. Kind of like how if you have no pending work, no other worries, you can enjoy video games without anything weighing on your mind.

Assuming what I wrote above is correct, then whatever has been said regarding introspective awareness in stage 4 has to be re-interpreted because it is repeatedly emphasized that attention shouldn't be developed at the cost of awareness. Here's a direct quote from the book:

> Your new goal is to monitor the mind and detect distractions more efficiently, so that you don't interrupt attention. You achieve this by developing an intentional, vigilant, and continuous introspective awareness that alerts you to gross distractions while you remain focused on the breath.

When I was first practicing stage 4, reading the words like "intentional", "vigilant", and "continuous", led me into being in a very alert state where I would be paranoid about subtle distractions creeping in. There was a background strain constantly present while my attention would stay on the breath, and it felt like i was practicing correctly, I was "vigilant", "continuously" monitoring what was going on with awareness, and my attention was becoming continuous.

My current understanding after experimenting with relaxation and low effort sits is that introspective awareness is only supposed to be a neutral/chill information delivery mechanism. It should feel neutral and relaxed. The correction procedure for letting go of distractions which requires a little more effort, has to only occasionally fire up when required. Another way to say it is that your default mode has to be of "trusting your mind" and just continuously receiving information regarding what is going on--there is no need for constant "vigilance" or to "stand guard like a sentry" which is another very misleading analogy used in stage 4 if what I'm saying is correct.

You just intend to keep receiving information and when you detect something going wrong you gently correct it and go back to the default trusting mode.

Please let me know if my understanding is correct or not.

reddit.com
u/PrestigiousWafer4179 — 7 days ago
▲ 5 r/TheMindIlluminated

I am doing stage 3 and I feel instructions are getting complex already

Noting all sensations when in and out breathe, connecting (comparing length of in and out breathes eg ) , labelling

Sometimes on a bad day these instructions get pretty stressful to me

Any thoughts how you go about it ?

reddit.com
u/RhubyDifferent3576 — 7 days ago
▲ 8 r/TheMindIlluminated

Concerns about Culadasa's conduct

Hi all,

I am writing this post in all sincerity. I started following TMI since February​/March and yesterday for the first time it crossed my mind to search Culadasa on the internet for his talks/lectures. I came across this ugly revelation that he was involved in unskilled behavior of adultery and seeking sex workers for paid sex since 2015. He has admitted those moral failures.

Have any of you come across that? It has shaken me to the core and made me distrust the process he outlines in the book. Since he couldn't contain his craving after 45 years of meditation, it seems all empty to me.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/16/is-enlightenment-compatible-with-sex-scandals/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/csp1jo/culadasa_aka_john_yates_charged_with_sexual/

Culadasa had taken vows and mastered Buddhist meditation and way of life for almost 45 years. And since Culadasa and many high profile masters have claimed him to be awakened at a level where you surpass physical craving, when I came across this revelation, my heart sank and it appeared to me that meditation has no correlation with morality or mastering one's desire/craving. If the allegations are true (he did accept committing adultery) then he was not enlightened and it makes me distrust any modern day dhamma teacher. I would rather prefer to sift through the Canon myself and do what I can.

It appears to me that we have the following alternatives:

if Culadas was awakened, maybe "awakening" is not what it is cracked up to be, or

that it’s unattainable, and that everyone claiming to be awake is lying or

Get really clear about what we mean by meditation, awakening and enlightenment, their separate benefits and limitations and pitfalls maybe.

Can this be explained by the fact that he Noble Eightfold Path contains sila (ethical conduct), samaadhi (concentration/meditation), and panna (wisdom). Can we say training attention is only part of the project? Someone can therefore become extraordinarily accomplished at concentration, etc., without necessarily having eliminated deeply rooted craving or dishonest behavior?

Wouldn't a truly awakened person develop all the three elements in 45 years of practice?

in other words, if a lifetime of practice is unable to kindle sila in a practitioner, then either his method is wrong or there is no method to cultivating sila. Only samadhi can be cultivated which is more intellectual than ethical/moral.

I had made some progress in last 5 months and it feels all of it has been flushed down the drain with this revelation. Afterall, how effective would this method be when the author himself is unable to control his desire/craving after 45 years in training. There are many other stories of other masters who have been guilty of sexual misconduct after claiming to be enlightened and also certified by their dharma organizations to be the enlightened ones.

I feel empty. I am seeking your counsel here.

Thank you!

EDIT: There is this annoying commenter (LynxMundane 3139) who is spewing ridicule at me by calling my "brain damaged" because I used the phrase "soliciting sex from prostitutes". He is literally unable to have a civil argument and seemed HOSTILE from the beginning for no reason. It felt like i was talking to a person from any abrahamic faith defending their messiah or prophet. From what I know about Buddhism is that we should question idols and teachers and clear up doubts. This guy, sorry to say, kept being defensive for no reason. Never met a Buddhist with such a big ego. ​

He doesn't know the definition of what "soliciting sex" means. And it is also very non Buddhist of him to engage in such a behavior. First he accused me of being brainwashed by my western notions of morality, when I am even not western. I am from the regions where Buddha once lived. Then he called my brain damaged.

May he ease his suffering!!

I sent him links of law firms that define it means offering money or things of value in exchange for sex. then this guy casually brushed it off by asking me did I see Culadasa having sex, like where? I dont see Buddhist Practitioner qualities in this person. repugnant personality. may he find some logic and peace and may he ease his suffering from his arrogance!

u/Actual_Town_3405 — 10 days ago