White Kasina...

[ChiForce]

I found this from Google. The description of the white Kasina is very interersting. Is almost like the White Skeleton Meditation but in a more deeper detail. For one thing, after the complete visualization of your skeleton, you can either focus the entire skeleton or any particular point you think you can visualize as white, white. That, I didn't know. Intuitively, I knew there has to be a point one must rest one's thought on. I always try to focus my entire skeleton but my point of focus tends to wandering to various part of my body. Then, it talks about the nimitta, sign as light, you are supposed to be seeing.

 

 

http://www.visuddha-m-c.com/vmc%20sg/books%20doc/Pa%20Auk%20Sayadaw%20Books/Ten%20kasinas%20&%20others.pdf

Edited July 3, 2013 by ChiForce

[Tibetan_Ice]

I found this from Google. The description of the white Kasina is very interersting. Is almost like the White Skeleton Meditation but in a more deeper detail. For one thing, after the complete visualization of your skeleton, you can either focus the entire skeleton or any particular point you think you can visualize as white, white. That, I didn't know. Intuitively, I knew there has to be a point one must rest one's thought on. I always try to focus my entire skeleton but my point of focus tends to wandering to various part of my body. Then, it talks about the nimitta, sign as light, you are supposed to be seeing.

 

 

http://www.visuddha-m-c.com/vmc%20sg/books%20doc/Pa%20Auk%20Sayadaw%20Books/Ten%20kasinas%20&%20others.pdf

Hi ChiForce

that is certainly a great read. Thank you very much. That is what I am into. It is most certainly an easier read than the "Visuddhimagga" (not so many numbers, divisions and explanations).

 

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf

 

Not often do you find such a clear concise set of instructions that reveal much more than just the practice, but how to access previous lives and gain the mundane powers.

 

For anyone wishing to read about the instructions for Anapanasati from Pa Auk Sayadaw (who incidentally was Shaila Catherine's teacher), try this link: http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/know-see.pdf

 

Your post has resonated deeply with my practice and I'm sure will help others gain a new perspective on 'breath meditation'. Thanks again.

 

 

TI

[ChiForce]

Hi ChiForce

that is certainly a great read. Thank you very much. That is what I am into. It is most certainly an easier read than the "Visuddhimagga" (not so many numbers, divisions and explanations).

 

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf

 

Not often do you find such a clear concise set of instructions that reveal much more than just the practice, but how to access previous lives and gain the mundane powers.

 

For anyone wishing to read about the instructions for Anapanasati from Pa Auk Sayadaw (who incidentally was Shaila Catherine's teacher), try this link: http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/know-see.pdf

 

Your post has resonated deeply with my practice and I'm sure will help others gain a new perspective on 'breath meditation'. Thanks again.

 

 

TI

Thanks for the links. Well, I have some success last night in my meditation. After my complete visualization of the skeleton, I focused the back of my skull instead. Until the nimitta (white light in a cotton shape) appeared. Then, I switched my attention to this cotton ball of white light. I was able to achieve a great degree of absorption for about 20 minutes. Then, I switched my attention to my chest, my ribs since I think I should cultivate my center channel. Same thing happened. When I was done, about an hour already, I ended my meditation feeling very, very alert, both my body and my mind. I couldn't really sleep last night. Almost like I was in samadhi the whole time.

[Tibetan_Ice]

Thanks for the links. Well, I have some success last night in my meditation. After my complete visualization of the skeleton, I focused the back of my skull instead. Until the nimitta (white light in a cotton shape) appeared. Then, I switched my attention to this cotton ball of white light. I was able to achieve a great degree of absorption for about 20 minutes. Then, I switched my attention to my chest, my ribs since I think I should cultivate my center channel. Same thing happened. When I was done, about an hour already, I ended my meditation feeling very, very alert, both my body and my mind. I couldn't really sleep last night. Almost like I was in samadhi the whole time.

Hi Chi Force

 

I appreciate hearing about your experience.

 

If you are open to comments, here are a few. If not, then please ignore them.

 

It has been said by a few jhana teachers that focusing on a smaller region is more productive than focusing on a large region. It is easier to keep the mind focused and still on a smaller point than a large surface.

 

When you achieved the 'great degree of absorption for about 20 minutes', did you get engulfed by the nimitta? Did the nimitta wobble around at first, then stabilize, then get bigger and bigger and then POW! Did you experience great amounts of bliss, joy and see vivid color?

 

I've seen lots of lights, stars, all over the body. It seems that anywhere you focus long enough produces a star in the background (above the head, at the brow, the heart, the medulla..). Some places (like the lower dantien) are easier to see the star in than others. I think there is a difference though, at trying to merge with a pre-existing star in the etheric/astral body and the nimitta, as the nimitta represents the mind shining out from the heart. The more calm and stable your mind becomes, the brighter the light and more pronounced. The best nimitta (actually at that point called the counterpart sign) is when it looks like a sun or a moon. (for me, anyway). So far, the best book I've found that talks about nimittas is "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond" by Ajahn Brahm.

 

I don't think focusing on the ribs is going to cultivate the central channel. Focusing on the central channel cultivates the central channel. Or, focusing on balancing and calming ida and pingala through pranayama, helps to collapse them into the central channel. To cultivate the central channel, you should try a practice like kriya yoga breathing or spinal breathing (moving the breath and awareness up and down a straw-like tube of light which exists in front of the spine). Tummo, taking chi-heat up the central channel is another method. Or even, the top down Kunlun method. However, most anapanasati teachers say that breath meditation (shamatha) will still the mind sufficiently so that you really don't have to cultivate the central channel separately. A calm still mind will naturally collapse into the central channel all by itself if you don't grasp or avert your thoughts, sensations etc..

 

Yes, I can sympathize with your lack of sleep. Hitting the jhana states always leaves me unable to shut off too.. I've spent a few weeks spending the whole night watching my body snore, the mind creating dreams, being just a point-of-view, wondering when it would finally shut off..

 

All the best.

 

TI

[ChiForce]

Hi Chi Force

 

I appreciate hearing about your experience.

 

If you are open to comments, here are a few. If not, then please ignore them.

 

It has been said by a few jhana teachers that focusing on a smaller region is more productive than focusing on a large region. It is easier to keep the mind focused and still on a smaller point than a large surface.

 

When you achieved the 'great degree of absorption for about 20 minutes', did you get engulfed by the nimitta? Did the nimitta wobble around at first, then stabilize, then get bigger and bigger and then POW! Did you experience great amounts of bliss, joy and see vivid color?

 

I've seen lots of lights, stars, all over the body. It seems that anywhere you focus long enough produces a star in the background (above the head, at the brow, the heart, the medulla..). Some places (like the lower dantien) are easier to see the star in than others. I think there is a difference though, at trying to merge with a pre-existing star in the etheric/astral body and the nimitta, as the nimitta represents the mind shining out from the heart. The more calm and stable your mind becomes, the brighter the light and more pronounced. The best nimitta (actually at that point called the counterpart sign) is when it looks like a sun or a moon. (for me, anyway). So far, the best book I've found that talks about nimittas is "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond" by Ajahn Brahm.

 

I don't think focusing on the ribs is going to cultivate the central channel. Focusing on the central channel cultivates the central channel. Or, focusing on balancing and calming ida and pingala through pranayama, helps to collapse them into the central channel. To cultivate the central channel, you should try a practice like kriya yoga breathing or spinal breathing (moving the breath and awareness up and down a straw-like tube of light which exists in front of the spine). Tummo, taking chi-heat up the central channel is another method. Or even, the top down Kunlun method. However, most anapanasati teachers say that breath meditation (shamatha) will still the mind sufficiently so that you really don't have to cultivate the central channel separately. A calm still mind will naturally collapse into the central channel all by itself if you don't grasp or avert your thoughts, sensations etc..

 

Yes, I can sympathize with your lack of sleep. Hitting the jhana states always leaves me unable to shut off too.. I've spent a few weeks spending the whole night watching my body snore, the mind creating dreams, being just a point-of-view, wondering when it would finally shut off..

 

All the best.

 

TI

Thanks for the tips. My nimitta does not start small though. However, I would, at times, notice a very small dot of light, kind of like a star. I usually ignore it because it usually happens while I was still visualizing my skeleton. Usually when I am about to visualize up to my chest area, the white haze light nimitta would appear. I always try to finish my visualization of my entire skeleton first before focusing on my nimitta. Initially, some sorts of white haze and kind of flowing in front my third eye. The size is big. Depending on my jing level or if I have or haven't leaked away my jing, the nimitta can get so large that I couldn't see the boundary. Usually, in the morning, the nimitta gets very, very bright. Bright white and blue. Is kind of a half moon shape and it spins and rotates. Whereas at my night meditation, I don't normally have good result. Maybe I eat too much. Maybe throughout the day my mind is busy with things. I tend to fall into the state of oblivion. As with my bodily sensation....you can call it blissful (warm sensation and tingling all over the body). Chakras vibrations get louder. When I was 18, the first time I experienced the Kundalini energy rising, the blissful sensation as well as the intensity of the nimitta were significant. Nowadays, I am in my late 30s, the sensation is mild. I believe I am not sensing as much because maybe I have reached my first jhana and the first state of samadhi. As you enter into a higher state of samadhi, the sense of bliss isn't as strong as in the lower state.

 

Oh, at times, during the initial stage of the meditation, I would notice a streak of light moving up or down though.

Edited July 4, 2013 by ChiForce

[Tibetan_Ice]

Thanks for the tips. My nimitta does not start small though. However, I would, at times, notice a very small dot of light, kind of like a star. I usually ignore it because it usually happens while I was still visualizing my skeleton. Usually when I am about to visualize up to my chest area, the white haze light nimitta would appear. I always try to finish my visualization of my entire skeleton first before focusing on my nimitta. Initially, some sorts of white haze and kind of flowing in front my third eye. The size is big. Depending on my jing level or if I have or haven't leaked away my jing, the nimitta can get so large that I couldn't see the boundary. Usually, in the morning, the nimitta gets very, very bright. Bright white and blue. Is kind of a half moon shape and it spins and rotates. Whereas at my night meditation, I don't normally have good result. Maybe I eat too much. Maybe throughout the day my mind is busy with things. I tend to fall into the state of oblivion. As with my bodily sensation....you can call it blissful (warm sensation and tingling all over the body). Chakras vibrations get louder. When I was 18, the first time I experienced the Kundalini energy rising, the blissful sensation as well as the intensity of the nimitta were significant. Nowadays, I am in my late 30s, the sensation is mild. I believe I am not sensing as much because maybe I have reached my first jhana and the first state of samadhi. As you enter into a higher state of samadhi, the sense of bliss isn't as strong as in the lower state.

 

Oh, at times, during the initial stage of the meditation, I would notice a streak of light moving up or down though.

Hi ChiForce

Perhaps this will help. The light at the brow is not a nimitta. It is part of the third eye light show, which occurs when you hit the right spot and find yourself between the waking and sleeping state.. Kind of like a random visual projector. Your third eye must be very open.

 

I will explain what happens during breath meditation to me.

 

First, you focus on the knowing of the breath. As you increase the knowing, as it becomes more of consecutive stream of knowing, the mind forms a mental representation of the breath. For me, it looks like a dull stream of light moving up and down.

 

Then I concentrate on not losing attention during the gaps or the transitions between in and out breaths. Once I've succeeded in keeping constant attention on one whole cycle of breathing, I try for two consecutive breaths. .. When I can sustain undivided attention on 15 or so breaths, the whole mental field surrounding the mental representation of the breath starts to get brighter and bliss starts to bubble up. It does resemble a large ball of light, but really, it is the background that is getting brighter and clearer. However, that background or that light is not a nimitta..

 

I then keep focus on the dull stream of moving light with each breath and ignore the background.. After a while, the breathing slows right down.. Next, a brilliant white light will break through that background and pierce through like the sun breaking through the clouds. When you first see it, it grabs your attention.. You can't miss it. It is so bright. Then, I focus on it. Most of the time it goes away as quickly as it appears. However, on some days, it stays. The 'sun' wobbles and moves around, indicating I'm still not very stable. I go back to watching the breath (the mental representation).

 

The more you ignore the nimitta, the brighter and more stable it gets. Sometimes the 'sun' has stability and I fix the mind on it. When I do that it gets closer and closer, bigger and bigger, everything gets very bright and it is like it explodes and you are gone. When you come back, you reflect and then you realize that you merged with it. When you come back it feels like you are in a different time zone. However, I don't think it has to explode.. that is just what is happening to me lately. Lately I've noticed that I'm getting many explosions in the head during meditation lately. Sometimes an explosion occurs and then my arms move frantically like I'm trying to crawl out of a tunnel or something.. or like a dog dog-paddling in water. Don't know what that is..