I have been experimenting with staying with the breath @ the nose VS shifting focus to it etc. It generally tends to either merge with the breath if I maintain fairly strong concentration (without gross distractions etc) or dissipate if gross distractions come up from what I have observed.

Generally yes – I am…[Read more]

Again he translates nimitta as sign… but in this instance it…[Read more]

Yes, I am defiantly not experiencing single pointed attention. Though some type of lesser “absorption” seems to be occurring.

Generally yes distractions are reduced after I come out of it. But I am defiantly not fully overcoming subtle distractions. Generally when it is present when I am focusing on it or not, distractions are reduced. I…[Read more]

After further investigation… as the nimitta becomes more pronounced I am able to shift to it as the object (though as below often this shift occurs through a merging of the breath and the nimitta or the sheer intensity of the nimitta see note [1] below) and become absorbed in the illumination and the bliss/joy sensations that…[Read more]

I have been practicing with Culadasa’s TMI system for the past year (I have previously practiced with various approaches ranging from Zen to Burmese Vipassana etc). Generally speaking I would see myself as being at Stage Five within TMI’s schema. Recently though I have been increasingly experiencing phenomena that given the outline in…[Read more]