Dark night question

Is a Dark Night yogi, by definition, somebody who has never reached Equanimity?
Or could the leading edge of your practice be a situation where you reach Equanimity but fail to get Path?
If the latter case is possible, are there any clear reasons why someone would reach Equanimity but fail to break through to Path?
Thanks for any thoughts on this!

I believe it's common to go back and forth between the dukkha nanas and equanimity before breaking through. One reason is that with the pain of the dukkha nanas gone, it's easy to become complacent and practice less diligently - because it feels like the "problem" has been solved!

Right. Seems like there's something in one of the Mahasi texts along the lines of "at this point, the yogi will want to stop noting. Instead, he should continue with even more diligence." I was reading Ron's description of the Progress of Insight yesterday and started to have doubts as to whether I'd ever even broken through to Equanimity. Probably I'm familiar with a 'soft' version that isn't quite as vivid and dramatic as Ron described.
OK--enough 'making love to ideas'... Thanks, Nadav!

A DN yogi can and probably has reached low EQ.

My theory in a nutshell:

During DN a yogi develops a bunch of strategies/fantasies, other than surrender/observe, to deal with negative sensations/thoughts. Despite being imperfect meditations, we can have enough insight to move through the nanas... But at EQ, the pressure is off. The mind is creative. The yogi >uses< the openness to act on some of his plans/fantasies during EQ. The yogi gets wrapped up in "doing" again...which essentially sends them back down the nana arc to start all over again. Basically, the struggle of the DN gets to be a bad habit of a DN yogi and it becomes harder and harder to just hang out in EQ and experience it.

Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) the yogi sees that they aren't really a DN yogi, they are a future stream enter with a few bad habits. The habits are dealt with by simply recognizing the worthiness and richness of oneself (metta for one self) and simply recognizing that all these struggles can be seen as different nuances of a general "ill will" one has for their existance -- a bad habit of ill will.

Balancing out the metta for oneself and being gently aware of this ill will... neither indulging in either, nor being lazy in either... one hits EQ.

Remembering to note the relief of EQ (space, calm, clarity, freedom, joy, relief, metta, wonder) while also noting the faintest "tint" of ill will (confusion, doubt, concern, trying, hoping, lost, needing, wanting, looking, searching, lazyiness) one gets closer and closer to path.

Soon the sensations of just being a being are seen as both the gentlest metta and the gentlest form of ill will.

And regardless of path or not, the more time spent in EQ will erase the bad habits of being a DN yogi. Which I think pays such a huge dividen off the cushion and on future paths that it should be seen as its own reward.

Oh, man. Thanks very much for this, Betawave.
The ill will/bad habits you're describing are very familiar.
Metta and appreciation for myself, bringing an acute awareness to the ill will--NOT familiar. Seems like a pretty strong clue...
Thanks again!

"Or could the leading edge of your practice be a situation where you reach Equanimity but fail to get Path?"
Seems that way to me - I have periods where things seem open, Im OK with what arises and thoughts are seen as not self for a bit but I have things I still havent unstuck very well that I get caught in, so for me, EQ isnt very clear, lasts a very short while and yes I get off the cushion and an hour later find myself doing a full round of dukkhaville... I just need to *note everything* and let the progress sort itself out

I see the same stuff upstairs JGroove - In fact I didnt know it was there until I did a guided sit with a teacher one day which ended with self-metta and I noticed my mind violently resisting....

"I see the same stuff upstairs JGroove - In fact I didnt know it was there until I did a guided sit with a teacher one day which ended with self-metta and I noticed my mind violently resisting.... "

Yes. I just did 45 minutes of noting, following 15 minutes of metta/whole-body breathing.
Having a more relaxed, easy, just-one-object-at-a-time approach to the noting practice has been on my radar screen for awhile now. But this sit had a different feel. I was more conscious of sitting back and just observing, even as the noting continued.
Some spontaneous metta as well at points when the ill will/habits became noticeable.
Did note the relief and space, the contentment.
Lots of spontaneous amusement--verging on outright laughter; noted it. Hmmm...