Kriyas?

I know there's a prejudice against talking about our 'stuff' on these 'pragmatic' type boards, but during (what I took to be) the review phase of first path I had all this intensely vivid imagery from the time of my parents divorce come up followed by all this incredibly cathartic full body shaking. (glad this didn't happen at work!). Is that what Shinzen calls 'kriyas'? Is this really a path of 'purification?' At the time of the intense shaking I had the line 'live through this and you won't look back' from a Stars song playing in my head which really spooked me. Is there 'darker' material waiting for me further down the path? Or does stream entry clear out the grossest stuff?

Sounds like a lucid dream to me. When I was deep into jhana last summer (post 2nd path), I began reliving my early childhood, back when I was four. I had Beethoven's piano music going through my head the whole time. It was like a reel from a movie. I was in tears at the end of it, but feeling a sense of exaltation. From what I gather, the mind will create these images for us. They may or may not include deep insights into our stuff, but on the whole, they are temporary and they pass. We are not to become fascinated with it, to fear it, to hope for it, or attach to it. Make a note of it and move on. So much will unfold over the course of your practice that you will not be able to recognize your earlier self even a short time after.

I have kriyas off and on at various times, usually without any content attached. These also are ways our mind/bodies are reorganizing themselves, shaking stuff out. There may be "darker" stuff waiting for you, or maybe not. Pre stream entry I had dreams of being shut in a coffin. That was fun. I really would rather not go there again, but who knows?

"Sounds like a lucid dream to me. When I was deep into jhana last summer (post 2nd path), I began reliving my early childhood, back when I was four. I had Beethoven's piano music going through my head the whole time. It was like a reel from a movie. I was in tears at the end of it, but feeling a sense of exaltation. From what I gather, the mind will create these images for us. They may or may not include deep insights into our stuff, but on the whole, they are temporary and they pass. We are not to become fascinated with it, to fear it, to hope for it, or attach to it. Make a note of it and move on. So much will unfold over the course of your practice that you will not be able to recognize your earlier self even a short time after.

I have kriyas off and on at various times, usually without any content attached. These also are ways our mind/bodies are reorganizing themselves, shaking stuff out. There may be "darker" stuff waiting for you, or maybe not. Pre stream entry I had dreams of being shut in a coffin. That was fun. I really would rather not go there again, but who knows? "

Thanks Laurel. Although because I've had episodes of psychosis in the past and am starting to wonder if I should've ever got involved in this business at all (sent on a mindfulness course by my presumably Dark Night 'ignorant' psychiatrist) I never would have got Stream Entry without figuring out where I was based on your journal. And I do feel much better and more confident; for now, at least....

One usually works through all ones "stuff" over time, as part of the process, but as one goes along one gets more experienced at being with various thoughts, memories, attachments and habits that are uncomfortable, too. It's often quite a relief, as you experienced, to let go of old memories and sorrows like that. One learns so much from it and is unburdened.

I find kriyas can be associated with releases of tension, which can include emotional tension as well as physical tension (and can have content/imagery or not). I also find I rarely have strong kriyas in front of other people (such as at a group meditation session or retreat) - perhaps I unconsciously have repressed them in those instances, or that I don't tend to go as deep in meditation when in the slightly more distracting atmosphere of a group setting?

Kriyas are any energetic movement that work on clearing out blockages in your energetic field. Shaking, crying, automatic movements, laughing, grimacing, eye flickering, spontaneous deep breathing. These may be accompanied by emotional and visual material or not. They happen at every path, though my experience is that they decreased fairly significantly at 4th path. I haven't practiced very much since then, but my sense is that 4th path breaks down a lot of the energetic resistance that leads to kriyas - since 4th path is technically the completion of the full energetic circuit, this makes sense. My experience was that kriyas did not decrease from 1st to 3rd. They stayed the same or were more intense.

When it comes to "stuff," I would also say that 4th path revealed a tremendous amount of dark material that was not related to "the ride." Indeed, I've had enormous experiences of stored trauma since 4th path which make great sense to me now, and feel very different from the suffering related to cycling through the nanas or dark night stuff. I wouldn't have known the difference before, but they "taste" different - these different forms of suffering.

That said, each path also also gives one a lot more space to hold. So it was good news, bad news in this sense. My sense is that 4th path is very worth it and very useful for dealing with mental health issues. It removes a certain form of suffering and clears up what other suffering (not ride related per se) needs to be addressed. Get off the ride, then compassionately address what is left.