How important is vividness of sensation in the 4th stage?

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This topic contains 4 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Jordan Hill 10 years, 6 months ago.

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  • #210

    Anonymous

    I’ve been stuck at the 4th stage for a few months despite meditating 1-2 hours every day. I try to observe every sensation of the breath at the nostrils as well as I can, noticing temperature, pressure, and feelings the breath creates. The problem is when I do this, an irritating sensation tends to arise in my throat, above my Adam’s apple. And by focusing so intently on the breath I don’t really feel calm/relaxed/at peace.

    So today I decided I would not care so much about the sensations. I decided to keep the sensation of the breath as my meditation object, but I would make conscious awareness rather than attention my primary goal. It felt like the best meditation I have had in a long time. No strong dullness arose, but I felt a sense of calm and joy, and really enjoyed the sit. There was no pain in my throat. At all times I knew if I was at the beginning/middle/end of inhaling/exhaling. But I don’t know how I knew because the sensations were not vivid. I could not sense temperature or pressure with clarity. But at the same time I did not feel dull.

    So I am wondering if I should stop trying to focus so much on the sensations of the breath. Today the breath was in the foreground about 97% of the time, the other 3% being thoughts about how good the meditation was going. But at the same time the vividness of things like temperature/pressure was not there. Instead a lot more of my mind was dedicated to awareness, so I knew where I was, what I was doing, and my mental state the vast majority of the time. Is it best that I should continue meditating in the way I was today, or another way?

    #211

    Blake Barton
    Keymaster

    Hi Paul,

    Focusing too closely on the details of breath sensations, can cause agitation, and tension. In some of Culadasa’s newer writings, he is emphasizing developing attentional stability and peripheral awareness at the same time. The breath sensations will be in the center of your attention, and sounds, thoughts, body sensations, etc. will be in the background or peripheral awareness.

    People can often develop attention at the expense of this peripheral awareness. Striving to notice too much detail, too soon in your practice, can cause you to lose this awareness.

    As you continue to practice in this way you will be able to notice more details of the breath sensations while still being able to maintain this peripheral awareness, and you can do it without developing tension.

    It sounds like you discovered the benefits of this sort of awareness for yourself in your practice, and that is often the best lesson. It sounds like you are on the right track.

    Blake

    #212

    Anonymous

    Thanks Blake, I really appreciate your advice! In the past few days I’ve still felt stuck at a point where I’m not noticing much improvement, but I think I just need to be persistent. I was at this point a few months ago, but I got frustrated and stopped meditating, which was not a good idea. I stumbled across this “Mastery Curve” a few days ago which I think explains the way I’ve been perceiving my progress:

    http://arsspiritus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Mastery-Curve.png

    #215

    Blake Barton
    Keymaster

    Hi Paul,

    I think you definitely on the right track with the Mastery Curve that you shared. Meditation is a skill like any other, and the progress is not linear, and you will definitely hit plateaus. I have spent a considerable amount of time in certain stages. It helps to try to let go of expectations as best you are able. Just do the practice and let time do its work.

    Good Luck,
    Blake

    #217

    Jordan Hill
    Member

    Hi Paul,

    Thanks for posting your question! First off, I definitely agree with Blake’s perspective. To add to it, a personal note: I have had (and often continue to have) a noticeable, often annoying and distracting, tightening in my throat during meditation. In fact, my mind/body seems to have developed a strange association so that sometimes during the day when I step into a mode of mindfulness, my throat will tighten! That’s gone on for probably a couple a years now and has, in the last 6 months or so, largely subsided (or at least I’ve come to be less and less bothered by it and so it’s easy to ignore)– only to be replaced with other kinds of neck pain during meditation (though that has also subsided in recent weeks). I had read in one place that throat/neck pain that doesn’t have an obvious physical cause is pretty common (in that book, it connected it to the Body and Mind stage of insight, I believe), and Culadasa verified that this was the case– just something to meditate on through.

    That said, it sounds like you’re definitely on to something with buffing up on the introspective awareness and toning back the attention. As Blake said, too much attention can often connect up to added tension in the body, whereas the nature of awareness is that it is more open, relaxed, and joyful. Also, the whole point of focusing closely on details in stage 4/ stage 5 is to increase the power of consciousness such that introspective awareness can get stronger and more continuous. So it sounds like stepping up the awareness at this point is exactly the right direction to be going.

    Good luck riding through this plateau! Like Blake, I’ve definitely spent (and continue to spend) plenty of time in one stage, making incremental improvements but no big climbs (and the climbs often come via retreats for me, anyhow).

    -Jordan

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