[wardMember]

It seems to me that the teaching’s emphasis on strengthening peripheral awareness would be more of a challenge to some meditators than to others.

As someone with a neurotic, anxious nature, peripheral awareness is a given for me. The slightest change in my external or internal environment almost never goes unnoticed and usually stimulates a feeling of alarm, more or less. While this quality has served me well when it comes to physical and psychic survival, I have also viewed it as a curse when it comes to the induction of altered states such as trance, ecstasy, flow, and ordinary sleep. So it was a relief to finally hear Culadasa’s affirmation that peripheral awareness is not only OK, but essential.

I would guess that peripheral awareness is more of a challenge to those who can naturally drop into states of absorption or trance, though of course I cannot speak for them. And, of course, I could be deluded about the usefulness of my own awareness; it does tend to scan for threats and annoyances.

[wardMember]

Thanks for the encouragement, Jeremy.

Today I was able to meditate for an hour without nodding off. There was strong dullness, but I was able to overcome it enough such that I would lose track of the breath only momentarily (not much vividness, though). After an hour, the struggle was so fierce that I decided to “quit while ahead” and end on a note of success.

It seems that I’m able to achieve stage-3 ability at least some of the time; today there was little or no mind wandering after I got settled in. The main obstacle is the hypnagogic content that springs forth and captures my attention.

Another obstacle is the numerous itching/tickling sensations that arise when I sit. Today I was able to refrain from scratching, and the sensations either faded or receded into the background. Occasionally another itch would arise, though, and I had the odd notion that a sub-mind was doing this deliberately to help me stay awake.

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