Decrease in awareness with the pleasure of momentary piti

[Alex KMember]

Hello,

I am currently working with stage 5 practice and getting repeated occurrences of what I think is minor and momentary piti. This usually happens at the beginning of the sit as the attention becomes more stable and before body scanning practice. It is also occurring in walking practice when attention becomes stable and peripheral awareness is relatively strong. It manifests as a strong feeling of pleasure in the pit of the stomach and surges upwards into the head. The problem is that the pleasure associated with the piti is so overwhelming it makes me feel ‘dizzy’ that peripheral/introspective awareness collapses. It is quite disturbing, and I am not sure how to tackle it. My attention also goes straight to the pleasure – no surprise there I guess 🙂 I also sometimes feel the potential for piti to arise even before I begin to sit and at other times throughout the day.

My understanding is that piti is simply the excess mental energy that becomes available when attention and awareness are not being fritted away so much.

Any help or pointers appreciated.

Thank you,
Alex

[Blake BartonKeymaster]

Hi Alex,

You might take a look at these threads where this topic is discussed.

https://dharmatreasurecommunity.org/forums/topic/piti-arising-earlier-in-practice
https://dharmatreasurecommunity.org/forums/topic/agitating-piti-and-confusion-of-the-object
https://dharmatreasurecommunity.org/forums/topic/time-to-switch-to-other-practices

Best Wishes,
Blake – DT Teacher

[Alex KMember]

Hi Blake,

Thanks for the links, they are very helpful.

Kind regards,
Alex

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