Reddit reviews Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory guide to Deeper States of Meditation
We found 10 Reddit comments about Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory guide to Deeper States of Meditation. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Wisdom Publications MA
With Each and Every Breath by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond by Ajahn Brahm
Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas by Leigh Brasington
Wisdom Wide and Deep by Shaila Catherine
Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana
Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana
Yeah, Ingram does a great job covering the jhanas. You might also want to check out:
I discourage you from these other practices while doing samatha-vipassana meditation. For those who do mix, it's a common complaint to have these electrical sensations, often accompanied by the sense that everything is spinning.
The physical organism will react in surprising ways, including non-sexual erections, when something new is on the horizon. I used to have non-sexual erections when I was approaching 1st jhana. At the time I started worrying that I was possibly approaching death. (Almost twenty years later. I am still alive.)
Sounds like pīti.
pīti: rapture, enthusiasm (rendered also by joy, happiness); interest it is one of the mental factors or concomitants (cetasika) and belongs to the group of mental formations (saṅkhāra-kkhandha). As, in Sutta texts, it is often linked in a compound word. with 'gladness' (pāmojja) or 'happiness' (sukha), some Western translations have wrongly taken it as a synonym of these two terms. Pīti, however, is not a feeling or a sensation, and hence does not belong to the feeling-group (vedanā-kkhandha), but may be described psychologically as 'joyful interest'. As such it may be associated with wholesome as well as with unwholesome and neutral states of consciousness.
A high degree of rapture is characteristic of certain stages in meditative concentration, in insight practice (vipassanā) as well as in the first two absorptions (jhāna, q.v.). In the latter it appears as one of the factors of absorption (jhānaṅga; s. jhāna) and is strongest in the 2nd absorption. Five degrees of intensity in meditative rapture are described in Vis.M. IV. 94ff. It is one of the factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅga, q.v.). - Nyanatiloka Mahathera ~ Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines
I have assumed you are practicing either anapanasati or mindfulness of the breath at the abdomen. Whenever your concentration strengthens there will be a shallowing and softening effect on the breath, even until the point where it will seem as if you are not breathing at all. I think your rapid breathing is an anxiety response, similar to the erections, except in this case more to do with surface anxiety.
Michael Dorfman's comment about seeing a qualified teacher is important for any meditator, but doubly important for you, if you are experiencing these sensations. (I am familiar with some of these.)
In meditation there are not many bodily sensations that are to be cultivated. In the great majority of instances a sensation or a phenomenon is to be got beyond. There's an easy way to do this but I can't really explain it except to tell you that when you are sufficiently concentrated you will experience all arising phenomenon at the nexus of contact-and-feeling (phassa<->vedana) and from there arising phenomena are easy enough to deal with because one could say that they haven't ripened.
So find a sangha (if you haven't already.) Attend a three day or a ten day retreat. Sit for longer periods.
And redouble your commitment to the Noble Eightfold Path
Wings to Awakening
Ayya Khema has a good series of videos on jhana and meditation.
You might also have a look at Bhante Gunaratana's Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory guide to Deeper States of Meditation
I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. In my opinion you should:
Even though your limbs ache do not give up.
Know that wise people of the past
have walked on the same path. - Venerable Webu Sayadaw
I enjoy reading books, playing video games, ocassionally going out to a really good restaurant, and smoking weed. I also find meditation is very useful for living a happy life. Check out; https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Mindfulness-Plain-English-Introductory/dp/0861715292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1511017268&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=beyond+mindfulness+in+plain+english
Thanks for the recommendation!
Do you have any thoughts on this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0861715292/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1382151376&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
Well I'm no meditation instructor, so the best I can do is describe and provide resources.
Śamatha, typically translated as "calm abiding," is all about bringing the mind to a calm point. Rather than a mindful-awareness practice, it is based on deep concentration. The deep states of concentration, typically on a suitable object (generally simple, like a color or one of the divine abodes), are intended to bring the mind to a point where dharmic-insight occurs spontaneously or without effort.
Advanced practice can lead to absorption, which is said to be how the Gautama Buddha delayed his death. Among the traditions that teach this method, there is some disagreement about how much depth is needed. Some say access-concentration is all that is needed to prepare for insight, others will point to any of the four rupa-jhanas as a "minimum" point. The arupa-jhanas are considered achievements; they aren't necessary.
For in-person instructions: varies by tradition. I know Tibetan and Theravada sects will teach shamatha (it's fallen out of favor for the most popular Thai teachers). If they aren't an option, I would suggest either "With Each & Every Breath" or "Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English," which will be more familiar for anyone who read "Mindfulness in Plain English" by Bhante G.
edit: totally unrelated, but I had a lot of fun recently volunteering at a local temple's Obon festival.
Interesting, but I was thinking of this one
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Mindfulness-Plain-English-Introductory/dp/0861715292
I think this book is a good guide to gain deeper concentration. It's a little heavy on the Buddhism but if you don't mind that then it gives some excellent strategies for being able to deepen your concentration.
Buddhists have been practicing meditation for thousands of years. They know a thing or two about it.
They're related. Check out the eight jhana states. I recommend this book Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory guide to Deeper States of Meditation.
Astral projection is exploration of different consciousness states. They don't have to be visual, auditory, or tactile experiences. The jhana states are more or less "feelings" but not in the perceiving sense. From personal experiences, you may feel boundless happiness, joy, peace, and love and you don't know why. You feel like you understand stuff more and you don't know why. Previously strong desires disappear and you don't know why. There is an effect without a cause.
If you ever attempt astral projection before, this state is the void or blackness at the start of your very first astral projection. It's right after the vibrational state. For me, it also occur during the transitions between consciousness states. All I know is that something happened but I can't remember it in the sense of conceptualizing it.
Okay. Something that worked well for me was doing cognitive behavioral therapy. It's similar to meditation in some ways, and works well with it. The best way would be able to find a therapist who works with CBT, but if that's not an option for you there are do-it-yourself books. With CBT you're working to identify and modify certain common thought patterns that reinforce depression. Depending on your situation that might be helpful.
Something else that comes to mind reading your post is a book that helped someone close to me, The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction. It's geared towards substance addiction, but I think there's some general carry-over to what you're talking about.
Moving more in the direction towards mindfulness practices, there's a two CD set with instruction and guided meditations called Break Through Difficult Emotions that could help. The guy who made that, Shinzen Young, also has a more broad array of mindfulness practices that do a good job of presenting techniques across the range of mindfulness stuff. That said, he's mostly about techniques and not much about teachings, and the talks he does give are mostly secular.
He has resources online like a manual [PDF], or relevant videos, and phone retreats. A positive here is that you'll at least be able to call or email a teacher of some kind to get some feedback or help in a crisis, even if the practice isn't explicitly Buddhist.
As for mindfulness practices that are centered around the breath specifically, Mindfulness in Plain English is available online or as a physical book. It presents a more narrow or focused system. There's also a follow up book with more advanced material called Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English.
I think the best thing of all would be to have contact with a teacher of some kind, even if it meant driving an hour or two only once a month, if there's anyone available further off.