Questions from a recent stream enterer.

Hey there. I got stream entry last December 17th, and life has never been so great, can't tell you why. I'm just very interested in some questions that other people might find interesting:

I have trouble relating to 'witnessing' as this site puts it, but I am familiar with the fourth way "self remembering", ( www.endlesssearch.co.uk/philo_selfremember.htm ). The part that really sticks out to me is about seing yourself objectively as just another person in the room, almost like an out of body experience witnessing of the events. Here's a quote:

"Here is another description of Self Remembering from Mme Ouspensky - "What is the first characteristic of self-remembering? In this state is not center. He is not separate. Sitting in a room, he is aware of the whole room, of himself as only one of the objects in it. He is likewise aware of others and does not put himself above them or criticize or judge. This is not love, but it is the beginning of love. In this state a man has no self as he is usually aware of it. It is quite impossible for him to consider or become negative, for the moment he does so the state will vanish." (Robert de Ropp; Conversations with Mme Ouspensky: 1939-40 at Lyme; Farwest Press, 1974)"

This I can do with some intense concentration, and I'm going to assume this is witnessing? I'm putting this out there to just get a quick confirmation and in case anyone else is lost.


Second question: In MTCB it sounds like there is a jhanac phase shift at the end of review and you start at the first nana again. I know there was a jhaniac state shift at stream entry, does this happen again after I'm done with the review cycle? I wouldn't complain, the state shift seems to account for much of my increased happiness.

I guess that's all my questions. Thanks so much. I'm about ready to go second path
Jeff

Hello Jeff. Thanks for dropping by with an excellent question.

The description of "self remembering" that you provided may be a description of what we at the KFDh call "dwelling as the Witness," but I can't tell for sure without looking into it further.

The instructions for accessing Witnessing consciousness on Kenneth's 2nd Gear page are very effective. What you'll want to do is ask, "Who am I?" until the sense of I Am is clarified. What is the sense of I Am? Just that. It's the one thing we can all know for sure - that we in some form exist and are present right now. When this sense of I Am is clarified, simply direct all attention to this I Amness and let it be.

Another aspect of the Witness is that it is trans-jhanic and trans-ñanic - meaning it can be remembered while one simultaneously moves through either the samatha jhanas (concentration states) or the vipassna ñanas (insight stages). That's another thing to check for when attempting to validate the experience of dwelling as the Witness.

After doing the above, let us know how if it's the as "self remembering" in your experience.

Helpful?

~Jackson