Keith's first meditation notes, ever!

Ha! I love complicated metaphors. Good luck netting santa fish. : )

Though there's the old buddhist idea that mind is a sense organ, just like the eyes, ears, nose, etc... Perhaps thoughts are simply another form of sense input. But from where? I've always wondered...

60 min sit eyes open for 20 noting not aloud but catching thoughts.
Witnessed a sensation last night that I wanted to try and explain.
It was a type of sensation that I've had before I call them pinches.
Very focused type of pin prick, intense but a very small area like a
needle. A very sharp sensation and usually very short lived. Tends to fade quickly.
I sensed one on the sole of my foot and it was very loud, it crescendoed in intensity and then faded. They don't hang around long enough to build up an aversion but I'd say they are unpleasant in nature.
The rest of my sit this morning was very pleasant the " sweet spot " eye posture was a bit more relaxed and I sank into concentration and the outline of my body started to fade a bit. It's boarders roughly marked by sensations in different areas
that were being watched.

Cheers

Yeah, I think I get the same pinching sensations. I've been thinking of them as small energetic openings. They tend to happen in the same place (for me, often under the left side of the ribs) . I'd say very similar to a pin prick, like I'm being stabbed very briefly.

Traveled to Germany yesterday fro a friends wedding.
tried to sit on the plane and note.
Sat 60 min eyes open noting. Found that when I open my eyes I can dis-embedd if I've managed to get drawn into the thought movie or Kopf Kino as the Germans like to call it.

60 min sit
I tried counting exhales to 10 before my sit, to set up some concentration and this was just the first test but the resulting sit seemed fruitful. I also refrained from drinking a really strong coffee before the session which I was doing on a regular basis, don't laugh. Very fine vibrations, full body there seemed to be a pulsing to them like a cycling I then started with the sweet spot eye position and it seemed to kinda sync up a bit then I had an audio flutter thing as well. The audio flutter was new and the quality and pulsing and the fact that this was all kinda syncing was new. Not alot else going on in the way of sensations a very strong sit not a lot of wandering but there none the less
So i'll keep going trying to stay aware during the day to at least the body sensations feeling tones and mind states. Oh I also tried a bit of a resolve before meditating which I've read alot about here. Seemed to help as well though my formulation of what I'm resolving to do is vague, maybe I'll try this one from MCTOB

'I resolve that for this hour I will consistently investigate
the sensations that make up reality so as to attain to liberating insights
for the benefit of myself and all beings.'
quote from MCTOB by D. Ingram page 78
Cheers

"Very fine vibrations, full body there seemed to be a pulsing to them like a cycling I then started with the sweet spot eye position and it seemed to kinda sync up a bit then I had an audio flutter thing as well. The audio flutter was new and the quality and pulsing and the fact that this was all kinda syncing was new." -KeithStrand

I sure like the sound of this, Keith. Keep it up! Will we see you on Tuesday at the Manhattan class?

Kenneth

Hi Kenneth,
Thanks for the encouragement and this site in general which helps me keep my practice gong when it slows down on it's own.
I currently start work at 5pm so I can't really swing the 7pm thing.
I'll email you about a Skype session soon.

Cheers

60 min sit starting with noting a loud for a few minutes then the sensation that my hearing was closing down.
I think this is access concentration, focus goes in and sounds are muted.
This happens in waves does not stick in that state but goes in and out somewhat with the eye posture.
Ringing in the ears very faint and high pitched Kenneth had a term for this not sure any more.
All in all a very similar sit to the one on quoted below from Friday:

"Very fine vibrations, full body there seemed to be a pulsing to them like a cycling I then started with the sweet spot eye position and it seemed to kinda sync up a bit then I had an audio flutter thing as well. The audio flutter was new and the quality and pulsing and the fact that this was all kinda syncing was new. Not alot else going on in the way of sensations a very strong sit not a lot of wandering but there none the less "
tonight O had in addition a lot of image thoughts visuals, kinda trippy masks very vivid tried to note them. Sat well into the timer going off felt like I could just keep siting.
Should I up the time when this happens set it for 1.5 hrs or just let it ride out.

Also wondering if it's suggested to have a cool down period I remember reading that Owen and Nik describe a reverse order of the arch.


Cheers

Anybody have experience with Lucid dreams and loud crack / snap sounds?
This is an experience I had last night during what I'll call a lucid dream.
I use to have these years ago where it would feel like my spirit / soul whatever was raising up out of my body kinda feet first like it was being pulled by something.
While going to sleep recently I've been following the breath and then dosing off into sleep well I awoke last night in the middle of some very intensive sensations like having waves rushing over your body while laying on my back. Very intense energy vibrations pulling sensations on my legs then a really loud cracking sound. Just one but I remember thinking WTF was that? It was loud in the middle of my head not painful but scary I could hear ambient sounds around me while being aware of the other sensations I stayed with this for a while maybe a min or 2 When I thought I heard someone coming into my apartment I lost concentration and slipped out of it. I also remember a feeling of not being able to move my arms or my body at all which is why I got a bit concerned that someone was coming into my room. So not sure what that was all about but it was freaky.
cheers

Weird. Once again we seem to be having the same symptoms... The loud cracking sound happened to me a few weeks ago, though it seemed to come from my abdomen, not the center of my head.

The buzzing and crackling have been going on for a while as well, usually when I'm about to fall asleep at night or if I doz off during the day. Had something like that happen yesterday with a large zap above my left ear. I was half asleep on my couch when I felt some chest pains. I tried to call out to my girlfriend who was in the next room, but I couldn't move and felt like I almost make a sound (though I probably couldn't). Eventually the chest pains went away, I relaxed, and that zap happened. I could feel energy moving over the top of my skull and down the left side of my body. I'd felt awake at the time, but after actually waking up, I realized that some of my surroundings in the dream didn't match to the layout of the room.

I've had head-to-toe buzzing vibrations. A little research has informed me they're associated with out of body stuff. They supposedly the first sign that one is coming on. I've never had any lucid dreams or out-of-body type stuff, but the key in all cases seems to be to relax into them.

Whether it's really OOBE or just energetic stuff brought on by the meditation, who knows. The best thing, I'd say, is to just stay as calm as possible and let whatever is going on to play itself out through you. The less you worry, the better off things will go.

Ian... look!

kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/thread/39...ic+Lightning+Flashes

Keith,
It's the entrance to an OOBE, or from the western scientific perspective it is called sleep paralysis.

It seems to happen to me when I retain too much awareness into the sleep state. Normally, he body will naturally produce some chemistry that shuts down movement so you don't thrash around in your dreams. Sleepwalking is when this process malfunctions. If you have enough concentration momentum and you can wander into this easily. You can also get a ton of auditory stuff, I typically get a loud rushing water sound in that space. If you want to use it as a launchpad into an OOBE/lucid dream, try to vividly picture yourself outside your house. That usually does the trick.

"Whether it's really OOBE or just energetic stuff brought on by the meditation, who knows. "

I guess Owen knows. : )

And Mu, I remember reading that now, I should have linked to it. Thanks!

Keith, any chance we'll see you tomorrow? How's the work stuff going?

Thanks guys,
good to know we are all going crazy at once. Just kidding but seriously I was glad I can bring this experience here and not to someone who might really think I was losing it.
This in regards to the thread I started about dating and Stream Entry.

Cheers

Hey Ian yeah my shift changed to 5pm so even less chance of mee getting down there.

Wow what a difference 2 hrs makes. 45 min this morning. trying to get back into reporting.

sat 60 min with timer. asked who am i. chased sensations for observation of impermanence, selflessness,
suffering. bit of eye positions vipassana. getting back into the groove.

cheers

30min last night 2am, 60min this morning super lazy bout notes getting back in the swing of things.
as it is, so it is

Good stuff Keith. Great to see you posting regularly again.

Thanks : )

30 min cushion sit last night , 60 min this morning and 60 min tonight. Much of tonights 60 was spent trying to catch a mouse from my cushion the idea being if I'm still enough he might wander into my hand as he almost did the other night. No avail but the very concentrated movements and the observation of breath became very focused with the hunt : )

30 min sit this morning very unfocused trying to use the thoughts as fodder. I'm very tired as well the night shift still imposing the need for real discipline in regards to sleep patterns. didn't sit last night after work. Very lame reporting i know.

30 min last night. eyes closed noted fatigue , some sensations 60 min this morning deeper concentration
observing many thoughts, working the not i the thought noting the beginning and end of the thoughts.

frustrated a bit with the ebb and flow of practice I'd like to get back to my steady two hours of formal sit time but I guess this is part of the path get it when u can and work it into other aspects staying aware at ALL times.

cheers

60 min noting eyes open and later closed. noting a loud for just a few minutes. Noting itching, humor, thoughts coming and going. tension, unpleasant sensations, tension.
planning thoughts, focusing on chest area, notice heavy - ness, tried to apply eye posture for a few minuets noting bubbling in left arm, tension in neck, itching.
where does this come from? These sensations. I do not call them into being.
Is this the nature of suffering? I'm simply awareness of sensations and then I either like or dislike. What cruel device this mortal coil : )

After listening to you guys on the conference call it became clear once again that this is an opportunity I should not pass up.
60 min sit this morning eyes open noting aloud for what seemed like a vey short time
continued noting internally eyes open. itching unpleasant, planning thoughts, hands clasping neutral, tension in back unpleasant aversion, sensations on top of head neutral, space opening up in chest area, twitching, eyes close and vipassana eye positioning is tried with varied results. Did not seem to hit the sweet spot with that today. noted impatience with the sit, mind wandering planning. tracking multiple sensations at once. very calm posture no swaying or trembling. The high frequency sound that Kenneth has mentioned to me before was present
which I think I'm suppose to note as neutral and not spend time on as an object of concentration but I'm mentioning it anyway. I resolve to get back in the loop over here, participate in the liberation of myself and others.

Cheers