is this gonna help

last SG · 2007-01-10T01:13:10+00:00

i think if i were to get up from bed wanting to meditate with a certain posture i wont be as calm anymore

Eric Cartman SG

I'm calm for the rest of the day or the 2nd or 3rd day.

An Eternal Now SG

Calm in your description probably just means not so agitated.

But there are still a lot of mental activity and thoughts going on, and if you pay attention enough you will know.

In Jhanas it is not like that, absorption is very stable. Like the mind is totally stuck in that state with superglue.

Eric Cartman SG

so if i got into 7th jhana im going to not be able to do anything even after i get up??

An Eternal Now SG

Anyway just to add on: it is impossible to attain samatha jhana when interacting with things. Samatha jhanas can only be attained in deep meditation. There is also a danger of entering chanting samadhi when driving so when driving don't be too concentrated on chanting, maintain awareness of surroundings as well.

Back to jhana and interaction. By typing all these, there are already thoughts. You need to plan and think how to ask me, etc. All these are thoughts. In Samatha jhana the mind is absorbed into a mental state and has no room for interacting in the real world.

Insight is however not the same and even the reality of thoughts can be investigated.

NotFromVenus SG

There is a faster way , but you may not have been just as fated.

Walking with your angel. if you Haven't been there , so you continue to read books.

In life you fantasize about afterlife, in the spiritual world you fantasize about what you can do when you were/are going to life.

Fantasy is nothing, just walk your life(reality).
walk in spirit(reality).

Talk is cheap.

An Eternal Now SG

Except that you can get out of that state eventually. But during the state of jhana the mind is like superglue stuck to the state and not moving.

Eric Cartman SG

ya thats what i got

An Eternal Now SG

Spirit? Angels? All these have nothing to do with the ultimate reality that Buddhism is talking about.

Dealing with spiritual entities are discouraged in Buddhism because almost always dealing with spiritual entities means dealing with the spirit, lower realms. We do not want to create that kind of affinity even though the spirits may provide us with certain benefits. Secondly, all these things are far off, and have nothing to do with gaining insights, liberation, enlightenment, finding the highest bliss of Nirvana.

An Eternal Now SG

That state can only last for a short (maybe a few seconds, less than a minute) while before a thought arise. That is all that the mind can achieve without the strength of at least access concentration (which is even prior to first jhana), especially when there is no sustained effort in maintaining one pointedness in a state of meditation.

Jhana state has the stability of not moving out at all for hours, not moving at all like in a super glue state.

Anyway the state of nothingness is not just a state where thoughts temporarily subside. It is a state where the 5 senses subside, all the mental states of rupture, then joy, equanimity, changing to infinite space, consciousness, etc etc all subside altogether, everything subside and then the mind enters into a state of nothingness. Obviously the jhanas are totally different from just trying to stop your thoughts for a while. Otherwise everyone can do attain jhanas immediately.

So in short, go read up, don't everyday say you got it when obviously you haven't..

Eric Cartman SG

i didnt try to stop my thoughts i just woke up from my dream and then stayed there

An Eternal Now SG

There are fewer thoughts doesn't mean there is no thoughts at all. The calmness is felt relative to our daily living because often in our daily living our minds are highly agitated like bad weather in the sky causes the sea waves to be stronger. Even when there is no wind there is still waves but just lesser and we feel relatively peaceful.

Absorption is a totally different thing and is a completely different dimension from our daily living kind.

Anyway I was saying, for beginners without sustained effort, it would even be more impossible to maintain a state without thought for more than a matter of seconds, like 10 seconds.

Eric Cartman SG

i also cant remember anything when i was in my state

An Eternal Now SG

It simply means you were not mindful when the thoughts arisen.

Eric Cartman SG

no no i mean when i just wake up and i stayed there not remembering anything, the memories come back later slowly

An Eternal Now SG

The thoughts will surface naturally, although vague, even if you do not try to remember anything.

If you are mindful enough you will catch them all the time.

longchen SG

Hi NotFromVenus,

In the ultimate sense, the angels are not separated from you.

If we perceive the angels as separated from oneself... we fail to understand the truth of existence. Wink

In the past, i too assumed that there must be some higher powers communicating with 'oneself'. Now, I knew that all these are just appearance of being such.

The angels must not be viewed as subjective beings... rather they are symbolic representations...

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