Lights Out!

Reading through Kenneth's new discussion thread ( kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/thread/31...7s+Case+Study+Thread ) I'm reminded to ask folks here about a recurring experience that I have with some frequency. While observing an object in meditation - let's say the breath entering and leaving my nostrils - I perceive a slow building of energy and focus. The in breath starts to brings a very fine set of vibrations in the top of the head and an almost giddy mental feeling, sort of like a tiny whiff of laughing gas, that grows as the breath is drawn and until it is at its peak. The peak of the breath brings a sharp distinct break and when the outbreath starts that same energetic and finely vibrating giddy feeling resumes (this not a hyperventilation-like gidiness). Each successive breath slowly increases the intensity of these fine vibrations until a kind of crescendo is reached, at which point all the energy that has built up quickly flows to the observed object appears to merge with the object and then FLASH!, an image appears, a complex image, for just a tiny fraction of a second, after which everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - winks out of existence. Pure pitch black silent nothingness ensues (no sound, no light, no feeling, no self, no perception of any kind) and lasts for a second or so. Then awareness reappears anew. The impression after the second or so of nothingness reminds me of the rebooting of a computer. Everything is turned completely off and then restarts.

FWIW - this is very clearly not the same as the experience of the simplest thing.

FWIW#2 - the fraction of a second image always reminds me afterward of a mandala that you see from the Vajrayana tradition or a series of tiny network nodes connected by tiny threads. Coincidence? Meaningful? Meaningless? I really just don't know.

Thanks for your comments in advance!

Hi Chris,

You are describing, very clearly, magga-phala (path and fruition) as detailed in Theravada Buddhism. More accurately, you are describing phala (fruition), as magga (the Path moment) is a one-time event. Congratulations! This means that you are, at the very least, a sotapanna (stream-winner). This is a hugely significant marker of progress in the Theravada system. It is said that a stream-winner will be reborn a maximum of seven more times, after which time he or she will enter nibbana for the final time and not re-emerge. Tradition also has it that you can never again be reborn in the "lower" realms, meaning you can only be reborn as a human or a god. Actually, there are all kinds of really colorful and interesting (and amusing) things that you supposedly can and cannot do now, and I think you'll get a big kick out of the Wikipedia article on sotapannas:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sot%C4%81panna

Mazel tov!

Kenneth

Whoa. This means I've been at that point for quite some time, say about four years. I guess I should pay more attention to the maps!

So... Kenneth, now what? Are there other things I should be carefully paying attention to? I have never paid much attention to tracking my progress thinking that in doing so I might get too bound up in it and that my focus on progress could possibly interfere with just sitting and following the instructions a la Daniel's MCTB. As I said today in Nicole's "surrender" thread, I practice twice daily with one sitting being focused on choiceless awareness and the other sitting being focused on some form of concentration. However, I've been wonderfully sidetracked of late with the unbelievable lightness of being (now I really get that movie title) that is just letting go and surrenduring. It's VASTLY more interesting and compelling than what I described above. If ever forced to choose just one practice I would give up the Lights Out in favor of surrender every time, and for the ten thousand eons. Still, what should I be doing now?

Thanks!

Kenneth, thank you for the wikipedia link. I'm glad I'm now incapable of killing my father, my mother or an arahat. I wasn't contemplating doing so but there's a certain comfort in knowing these things. As for not being able to "successfully create a schism in the monastic community" well, that's true! I don't have any idea how to do that, not being a monastic

Chris, this is fantastic! It does not come as a surprise at all, being that you always post good descriptions of you practice. It has been clear to me since I first met you in the forums that the info you provide in your comments comes from sincere practice

As far as the "Now what?" goes, I think you're on the right track. I would place the 2nd Gear and 3rd Gear practices above any others at this point. If you're working on developing more advance Paths with the Theravada model, I'd work on some samatha practice as well. But, my guess is that it would be better for you to stick to the surrendering practices which you have come to love. Not only is surrendering more fulfilling, it's also a practice that can really catalyze progress. Keep it up!

~Jackson

Hi Chris,

Last night I listened to both parts of the Buddhist Geeks interview with Ken Wilber:

bit.ly/2vR9x0

bit.ly/ddbBi

Wilber is the original and still the best of the modern map-mongers. I read his first book, *The Spectrum of Consciousness* , in 1989 and it really inspired me to get with the program and find out what all those meditation masters and sages where talking about.

According to Wilber, there is a consensus among the world's contemplative traditions as to what the highest understanding is; it is none other than non-dual awareness. This pleases me, of course, as it happens to coincide with my view. With that in mind, you can do no better than to continue to surrender. Your own intuition is unerring on that point.

As to what else you should practice, it is very much a matter of your personal preference and your interests. If you are interested in becoming familiar with jhanas, they provide a fascinating and useful look into how our minds work at the deepest levels. And progressing through the levels of physio-energetic development (a process that is intimately related to the jhanas) to come to the end of "insight disease" is a must-do for some people, whereas for others it seems not to be a goal at all once they have access to the simplest thing. In addition to continuing to train in non-dual awareness, what most calls to you (if anything)?

Kenneth

edit: grammar

Hi, Kenneth and Jackson. My interests, in order of personal importance, are:

1. Non-dual awareness
2. Non-dual awareness
3. Non-dual awareness

That said, I think the jhanas would be an interesting exploration to undertake. Your description that says they are "a fascinating and useful look into how our minds work at the deepest levels" makes me very, very curious so I might go there. I tend to be far more dedicated to those things that follow my curiosity, as I think is true of most people. Maybe you guys can suggest more books or web sites to further that aim?

I'm still digesting this little discovery.

Thanks again!

And Jackson, I appreciate your comments. I've always been impressed with your knowledge and patience, as I think you know.

Warmest regards,

- Chris

PS: I love Vince's Buddhist Geeks podcast material but I've fallen behind on listening to them. Thanks for the head's up on the Ken Wilbur segments, Kenneth. I'm anxiously awaiting Vince's interview with neurologist James Austin, whose books on Zen and the brain I've slogged through over the past few years.