mirror mirror on the wall
15 years 6 months ago #61970
by NikolaiStephenHalay
Replied by NikolaiStephenHalay on topic RE: mirror mirror on the wall
Hi sparqi,
Yeh,I sat once in front of a large mirror and used my refelction as a kasina. Interesting results as I went up to the 8th jhana. Check my notes on page one or two for an explanation. Haven't done it since.
Edited to save you the trouble
"About an hour ago, I decided to do something different and meditate sitting infront of a large mirror looking at my reflection. I was able to see my entire body in the mirror. I entered each jhana and observed how my reflection shifted and moved around, in focus, out of focus.
Then as I got to the formless jhanas, it got really trippy. The 5th jhana made the focus be on all the space around my reflection and I felt I was floating on air. The 6th one got even tippier with the focus being directly bewteen my eyes. And the feeling felt like I was getting drawn into that point endlessly. My reflection seemed to be, at times, superimposed with another face and at times with what looked like a skull with deep black holes where the eyes were. At one moment I felt like I was dwellling 100 percent as the witness. Then my reflection seemed to dissapear and reappear as the reflection of someone else. Hard to explain. A really interesting experience. I felt like I was disidentifying with the image of myself. It wasn't me I was looking at. Worthy of more investigation.
The 7th one was strange as well. The focus came back on to the entire body...but then the eyes unfocused and ...this one is too hard to explain. The 8th one then got trippier and the skull superimposed over my face got clearer and then my entire reflection would dissapear and reappear, at times I seemed to be seeing myself and at others i wasn't aware of what i was actually doing. Very interesting experience. I came out of it thinking about how attached I was to my image and the way i looked. But also not identifying fully with it. Weird but worthy of more exploration. "
Nick
Yeh,I sat once in front of a large mirror and used my refelction as a kasina. Interesting results as I went up to the 8th jhana. Check my notes on page one or two for an explanation. Haven't done it since.
Edited to save you the trouble
"About an hour ago, I decided to do something different and meditate sitting infront of a large mirror looking at my reflection. I was able to see my entire body in the mirror. I entered each jhana and observed how my reflection shifted and moved around, in focus, out of focus.
Then as I got to the formless jhanas, it got really trippy. The 5th jhana made the focus be on all the space around my reflection and I felt I was floating on air. The 6th one got even tippier with the focus being directly bewteen my eyes. And the feeling felt like I was getting drawn into that point endlessly. My reflection seemed to be, at times, superimposed with another face and at times with what looked like a skull with deep black holes where the eyes were. At one moment I felt like I was dwellling 100 percent as the witness. Then my reflection seemed to dissapear and reappear as the reflection of someone else. Hard to explain. A really interesting experience. I felt like I was disidentifying with the image of myself. It wasn't me I was looking at. Worthy of more investigation.
The 7th one was strange as well. The focus came back on to the entire body...but then the eyes unfocused and ...this one is too hard to explain. The 8th one then got trippier and the skull superimposed over my face got clearer and then my entire reflection would dissapear and reappear, at times I seemed to be seeing myself and at others i wasn't aware of what i was actually doing. Very interesting experience. I came out of it thinking about how attached I was to my image and the way i looked. But also not identifying fully with it. Weird but worthy of more exploration. "
Nick
15 years 6 months ago #61971
by sparqi
Replied by sparqi on topic RE: mirror mirror on the wall
Thanks Nick....you way surpassed my hopes for a reply! 
I did it as a 'tantra' exercise a couple of years ago...I saw an image of myself sitting in a 50's american hotel room staring out the window at vintage cars passing by below. Didnt know what to make of it. Others described amazing experiences...so I'd agree definitely worth experimenting with.
Ive bought myself a mirror...I shall report!!
I did it as a 'tantra' exercise a couple of years ago...I saw an image of myself sitting in a 50's american hotel room staring out the window at vintage cars passing by below. Didnt know what to make of it. Others described amazing experiences...so I'd agree definitely worth experimenting with.
Ive bought myself a mirror...I shall report!!