actualising jhanas

8/4/2019 Actualising Jhanas

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Actualising Jhanas/Nanas/any old state of being\

Link to Khemaka sutta.

If you see it in a certain way, a shift may occur which is causally noticed which isindicative of the lower 5 fetters being chipped away at.Anonymous Help

This is my current practice. Its aim is chip away at the fetters that remain. It was

inspired and introduced by an anonymous contact. I have been putting it into use

for the past few weeks. It is highly recommended for any yogi who has access to

the arupa jhanas, especially post MCTB 4th path.

I see this practice to be virtually the same process that is expressed in the

Khemaka sutta:

"In the same way, friends, even though a noble disciple has abandonedthe five lower fetters, he still has with regard to the five clinging-aggregates a lingering residual 'I am' conceit, an 'I am' desire, an 'I am'obsession. But at a later time he keeps focusing on the phenomena ofarising & passing away with regard to the five clinging-aggregates: 'Suchis form, such its origin, such its disappearance. Such is feeling... Such isperception... Such are fabrications... Such is consciousness, such itsorigin, such its disappearance.' As he keeps focusing on the arising &passing away of these five clinging-aggregates, the lingering residual 'Iam' conceit, 'I am' desire, 'I am' obsession is fully obliterated."

We are going right for the I am obsession/desire/conceit, which I wouldequate to the sense of being/presence/inner world that arises as anyaffective feeling. Taking on the notion that I am my feelings and myfeelings are me will aid one in seeing that the arising and passing of the

I am obsession/desire/conceit, which still persists even after MCTB 4thpath.

Previous to doing this one might familiarise themselves with the AF

Approach to Jhanas I blogged about previously. This practice has worked

very well for myself so far. I have coupled it with other PCE/AF practices like the

cultivation of felicity and the HAIETMOBA (How am I experiencing this momentof being alive?). Essentially , it is the practice of attentiveness to sensuousness

applied to the jhanas. It is applied particularly to the formless (arupa) jhanas.

Each arupa jhanas has certain characteristics or aspects that can be seen to be

actual. That is, they do not need to be seen as support for a sense of being. Theycan be seen without any affect attaching to them. These actual aspects of the

arupa jhanas allows for the possibility to really juxtapose the sense of beingwith those actual characteristics. What one is essentially doing is paying

attention to the actual aspects of an arupa jhana and then paying attention to the

aspect within the field of experience which seems to be a conditioning factor for

the arising of being. This will generally be the grossest sensation that is

sensed. For myself, these gross sensations seem to flow at different points up


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and down the body often referred to as the chakra spots i.e. the gut, solar plexus,

heart, throat etc. When the sense of being is seen to seemingly overlay aparticular aspect of experience i.e. certain gross sensations, one is then mashes

the actual aspects up against those gross sensations and, in a sense, actualises

those gross sensations. That means to see those sensations as just actual

sensations. Juxtaposing the minds tendency to overlay certain sensations with asense of being with actual aspects seems to act as an interference signal

towards that tendency. The sense of being will drop away as the grossensations which where seemingly acting as a conditioning factor for that sense

are seen as just actual aspects too. The arupa jhana aspects of sensations of

space, infinite consciousness, no-thingness and neither perception nor non-

perception are all actual aspects which are present if one pays attention within

the PCE itself. So taking them as objects allows for the clear juxtaposing of what

is actual and what is being seemingly overlayed with the sense of being. Onecould do this with the lower rupa jhanas, but the actual aspects of those jhanas

are not so easily juxtaposed with the aspects supporting the sense of being.

One particular technique to perhaps keep in mind when actualising jhanasis Tarins instructions to cut out any proliferating tendencies. This mightbe more useful for when walking around with eyes open as the jhanasversions are usually very soft. If one is sitting doing this technique, onecould keep the eyes open or closed. I advise taking ones time andperhaps spending a little time in each of the lower rupa jhanas getting a

feel for the sense of being. See the AF Approach To Jhanas blogpostfor more details.

Tarins Instructions for cutting off mental proliferation

"What I mean by 'the sense of seeing' is, literally, what it is to experience seeing directly;

to perceive is to be engaged in a lively activity and is what is meant by paying attention.

Yet, such attention is likely to tend toward proliferating stories and fabrications, from

persistent reflection and mental commentary on one hand (when concentration is weak

and/or scattered) to outright hallucination on the other (when concentration is powerful

and/or focused). Those proliferations are to be avoided. How may these proliferations be

avoided? By otherwise engaging the proliferating tendency. How may the proliferating

tendency be otherwise engaged? By applying the mind further. To what further apply the

mind? To the apprehension (of more) of what is happening. What more is happening

(that is not yet engaged)? The apprehension of (the apprehension of) perception itself.To apprehend perception directly is necessarily also to apprehend that apprehension is

occurring, and to experience in such a manner is to experience cleanly and clearly,

entirely engagedly and encompassedly, incuding the bodily sense of such experience. To

see not just what the eye sees but what it is to see is therefore to see cleanly and clearly,

entirely engagedly and encompassedly, including the bodily sense of such seeing.

Seeing in this manner engages the energies which otherwise fuel the proliferating

tendency, and so avoids such proliferation. Further, experiencing seeing as a bodily

sense leads to deeper insight into what the body is, and what perceiving is."Tarin

Ok, here is the set up:


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Enter the 5th jhana. Focus on the sense of space. You might pick up thesubtle sensations at the top of the head if you are sensitive enough. Ifyour eyes are open, notice how the space around the body may be theobject of this jhana. It has an up and out feel in my own experience.

Focus on these aspects for a bit. Get used to seeing them like so. Ifwalking around with eyes open, keep Tarins instructions above in mind.Take the actual aspects of space as the primary object. This may occurnaturally for those with easy access to the arupa jhanas.

After spending some time familiarising oneself with the actual aspect ofthe 5th jhana, now let the mind widen and take the whole body as itsfocus. Notice where the grossest sensation on or within the body islocated. Let the mind just fall on it. Notice how it may feel like it is aconditioning factor for the way one feels. In other words for the way onesense of feeling of being. There is some sort of misreading going on in

perception which is giving off the impression of a sense of being, whicharises via any affect, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

Once the minds focus has fallen on the grossest sensation, spend sometime there familiarising and just plain looking at that sense of being andhow it is seemingly being overlayed on or read as being supported bythose gross sensations.

Then, move back to the actual aspects of space that one was focused oninitially. Now widen the focus from the sensations of space to includeother sensations in the body, perhaps the sensations at the top of the

head then make the mental focus become more panoramic to eventuallyinclude the grossest sensation already supporting the arising of a sense ofbeing. The instructions given to me were to mash up the actualaspects with the aspect supporting the sense of being. This may seemvague, but that is what you need to suss out for yourself viaexperimenting.

For me, it is in a sense looking at the aspect supporting the arising of thesense of being keeping the actual aspects of the arupa jhana at theforefront of the mind. There is awareness of the actual aspect, thensuddenly the being aspect is seen next to it. Then focus shifts more tothe actual aspects of both aspects, and this interferes with the mentalsense of being. The actual aspect thatunderlies the being aspect willcome to the forefront of the mind as it is mashed up against the actualaspect of the jhana. Those gross sensations will be actualised and thusthe perception of a sense of being will drop away.

One can do the same for the 6th , 7th and 8th jhanas. The 8th jhana seems to have a

soft and hard version. For myself, the soft version is much easier to actualise.

In the 6th jhana, the actual aspects are the way consciousness seems to become

aware of consciousness as object. This and the sensations within the middle of

the head can be taken as the actual aspect of this jhana. Like the sense of space

of the 5th

jhana, the actual aspects of the 6th

jhana can be present in a PCE.


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In the 7th jhana, there seems to be a shifting to the notion of no-thingness. Thiscan also be seen as an aspect of the PCE. I also am aware of sblte sensations that

imply nothingness that surround whole head, and neck and upper shoulders. It

is a more encompassing focus than the previous two arupa jhanas. The 8th jhana

can be tricky to describe. In my experience, the soft version has very sublte

vibrations activated flowing at the third eye spot within the brain. This flowseems to influence the dropping in and out of perception or ideation. The sense

of being may be sensed then not sensed then sensed and not sensed, extremelyquickly which makes it hard to describe what is going on. Focusing on the calm

restful quality can help see the actual aspect, which can be seen within a PCE.

You might have to experiment yourself to see what exactly is the actual aspect in

this jhana. Like the instructions for the 5th, let the mind focus on the grossest

sensations which is then actualised.

In my own experience this practice has led to fast progress towards the

eradication of the remaining fetters. One is essentially seeing in real time, that'Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance. Such is feeling...Such is perception... Such are fabrications... Such is consciousness, suchits origin, such its disappearance.

If you see it in a certain way, a shift may occur which is causally noticed which isindicative of the lower 5 fetters being chipped away at.Anonymous Contact

NS

Cultivating dispassion/using annica/annata/dukkha as a viewpoint.

Ways to trigger PCEs , Fruition PCE

actualising jhanas

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