New member, Jeff Brooks

[Guest guest]

"The bird has its nest, and the dog has its den,

but the son of man has no place to rest."

 

Hello my name is Jeff Brooks and I am relatively new to your list. I am a

charismatic or ecstatic Buddhist. Frequently people ask me to explain what an

ecstatic Buddhism is, because they too often think it as an oxymoron, because

Buddhist seem to be anything but ecstatic.

 

Ecstatic Buddhism looks to the Pali canon for its support and there we have

found ample evidence that the historic Buddha was most likely an ecstatic

contemplative. How we know this is because in the canon he frequently referred

to

something called jhana (Pali). Jhana translates as dhyana in Sanskrit and

therefore Chan in Chinese and Zen in Japanese. But, while Zen and Chan do not

seem to refer to ecstatic states, jhana definitely does. In the Pali canon

there are describe 8 states of ecstatic absorption (jhana).

 

Too often in every religion and tradition, the ecstatics are marginalized and

even demonized. For instance I have been told by well known meditation

teachers to ignore the manifestations of ecstasy that arise during my meditation

practices. If I could I would, but they are not something that I can ignore,

because they are too dominant. This is true for many ecstatic contemplatives,

and asking us to just ignore that, is like asking us to ignore that suffering

exists.

 

Therefore the reason for this post is to let any ecstatic contemplatives out

there know that they are not alone, and that there is a community of ecstatic

contemplatives forming on several , perhaps even this one.

 

Who am I, and how I did I arrived at this understanding of meditation, the

absorption states they produce, and the various charisms that accompany those

states? This rather lengthy history and description of my contemplative

experience is my answer to that question. You will see that I have had many

influences.

 

I should really begin with the proto-contemplative part of my life. That is

my dream world. As a child I had a very rich and lucid dream world that I

enjoyed pretty much everyday. And, therefore it should not be surprising that

my

earliest memory is of a lucid dream I had in my crib at about 18 months of

age.

 

One of the common themes in my lucid dream-space was annihilation in a flash

of white light. At the time I associated those dreams with the Cold War and

the nuclear threat. When I was an adolescent I began to have what appeared to

be a shift in those lucid dreams, in which I would not notice the passage into

sleep. At that time I began to have either paralysis dreams, engulfment by a

terrifying blackness, or I would find myself falling or whirling madly across

the landscape.

 

At that time these dreams were very frequent and they worried me

considerably. I now realize that they were proto-out-of-body experiences, but

there was

no conversation in my world in the late 60s about out-of-body experiences, so

at the time I had no idea OOB experiences, as they are more commonly known,

were even possible.

 

At about the age of twenty I began journaling my dream-world which I still do

today. I am certain that this journaling practice contributed to an

increasing awareness of my dream state, and thus being at least a partial cause

to my

out-of-body experiences.

 

That same year I happened to visit an old woman who had at one time been a

boarder in my mother's house. Since that year she spent with us, in 1959, she

became my surrogate grandmother. She happened to be health conscious and an

amateur homeopath as well. It was her rather unique lifestyle and subsequent

health, dedication to a spiritual life, and positive outlook that inspired me to

follow in her footsteps.

 

In conversation with her that year I happened to tell her I thought I was

going crazy because of the frequent "weird" dreams I was having.

 

After I described some of them to her, she said, "Oh dear. You are just

having out-of-body experiences."

 

She then explained to me the process of the OOB experience, and, as far

fetched as it may sound, she revealed to me that she was a crypto-Coptic

Christian

who had been initiated into out-of-body travel in the 30s by an Egyptian

immigrant. She then initiated me into the same tradition. Over the next few

months she instructed me in out-of-body practices, and in about 3 months I had

mastered the experience to the point I could leave my body at will, which I did

several times a day. I found I could fly any where and any when I wanted to.

That included different planets and solar systems as well.

 

That same year I attended a Silva Mind Control workshop, and a year later I

attended the advanced Silva Mind Control course taught by Jose Silva himself.

For me, the mental exercises and the distant healing technique of Silva Mind

Control filled in some of the gaps in the Coptic out-of-body work I was doing

with Francis. In 1973 I also began a twice a day meditation practice, that I

am sure empowered me to accomplish the mastery I achieved in out-of-body travel

so quickly.

 

Now that 30 years have past, my daily meditation practice has become Three

one to two hour sessions a day. And, as a product of that practice I have been

experiencing a series of subjective experiences for decades that I had

difficulty finding support for in my tradition, Theravadan Buddhism. However I

have

found a excellent support in the literature of the Pali canon and various

Hindu scriptures. These subjective experiences have produced regular ecstatic

experiences, that conform to the descriptions of jhana in the Pali canon.

 

In addition to studying Coptic out-of-body techniques, as well as the mind

penetration techniques of Silva Mind Control, in 1973 I also began a study of

dharma, and I began a daily meditation practice. For the first few years my

practice was primarily in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta.

 

A year and a half later I was introduced to the practice of Vipassana in a

ten day retreat lead by Robert Hover, who was a student of the Burmese teacher

Sayagi U Ba Khin, and a peer of SN Goenka. I have attended about 15 ten day

meditation retreats, and about 45 three to five day retreats from a number of

excellent teachers in various traditions. Recently I have also attended two 28

day Vajrayanist retreats, and I spent 90 days in a Kundalini yoga ashram in

1974.

 

I have had a twice daily meditation practice for almost the whole of the

intervening 30 years. The contemplative traditions that I have practiced have

been

primarily Advaita Vedanta and Theravadan Buddhism, in spite of my early

initiation into Egyptian mysticism. I have recently found an excellent

complement

to these traditions in Mahamudra and Dzogchen for which I have received the

various transmissions and empowerments at several 10 and 28 day retreats.

 

The decades of daily meditation practice have produced a series of symptoms,

or charisms, as they are called in Christian mysticism. The symptoms that I

am experiencing in meditation are: within a few minutes of engaging myself in

the observation of the breath, my mind begins to settle to stillness. I

understand this state is called shamata, or calm abiding, in Buddhism.

 

This stillness is stable and unmoved by sensory or mental state variations.

I have found this state consistent with the equanimity discussed in the Pali

canon.

 

During my meditation practice, my awareness expands, and my concentration

becomes more focused. A kind of energy builds gently along my spine, as my

meditation deepens. This "energy" seems to correspond to the descriptions I

have

read in Hindu texts (Vivekananda) about kundalini.

 

Soon after the calm is established I bring my awareness to the tactile field.

A series of sensations follow soon after. Typically the sensations I have -

other than full body awareness of the surface of my body and the internal

organ functions, muscles, circulatory system and connective tissue - are

primarily

a general full-body vibrator sensation, which is often concentrated in my

hands, chest, throat, forehead and top of the head. With the noteworthy

exception of the phenomena in the hands, I have found these sensations are

coincident w

ith the four upper chakras in the chakra system of the Yogas. And, I have

found the generalized full-body vibratory sensation is consistent with the

concept of an aura, or a "magnetic" field around the body.

 

These vibratory sensations become the most dominant tactile sensations and

soon overwhelm my physical awareness domain. Once the tactile field is resonant

with "energy" or sensation, I bring my awareness domain to the sense of

hearing. I typically have a light omnidirectional ringing in my ears at all

times

as an apparent consequence of my daily practice regimen, but when I am in

meditation, and I bring my awareness to the ringing, it becomes very loud. This

ringing is often sufficiently intense as to be nearly deafening. The sound

often goes through a series of frequency changes from a cicada-like chirping, to

ringing, to a roaring, like rain, or a water fall, or perhaps the ocean at a

distance.

 

I have found that there is often a very gentle bobbing of my head and a

gentle swaying of my torso to accompany the above sensations. The bobbing and

swaying seems purely autonomic, and appears to be an elastic response in the

frame

of the body caused by blood pulsing in my legs, torso and neck without the

counter balancing effect of muscles, which have become relaxed due to

meditation,

and therefore don't hold the neck and torso in check.

 

Often shock waves like a deep shiver also run up my spine at intermittent

intervals, at which time my fingers and lips may twitch and my torso becomes

very

erect This sudden increase in energy often causes the period of the

oscillations of my torso and neck to become more rapid in the same way a guitar

string

oscillates more rapidly if drawn taught. In company with the shock waves is

usually a sensation of intense ecstasy, which culminates in a sense of

luminosity. I have found the shock up the spine has been described as the

classic

kundalini phenomena in the yoga literature, and the luminosity seems to

correspond

with the absorption state called in the yogas samadhi.

 

Since I practiced Vipassana meditation in the tradition of Sayagi U Ba Khin,

I was introduced to contemplative practice in various forms of body scanning

in the tactile field. Over the years I have modified my meditation practice as

a consequence of experience, deepening concentration and broadening awareness.

I've found that scanning is no longer necessary for me. I now follow the

full practice set that is described in the Satipatthana Sutta, within which the

classic Vipassana practice regimen is a subset.

 

I have found body scanning, like any other concentration technique, seems to

serve the primary purpose of occupying the mind until it comes to rest. Since

I can settle my mind fairly quickly in calm abiding (shamata), I have found I

can simply observe the tactile field as a totality. Once I'm observing the

whole of the tactile field, then this whole-body vibratory sensation soon

emerges.

 

Once I am established in calm abiding through observing the tactile field, I

begin to observe the other sense fields simultaneously. I usually add the

sense field of sound next which eventually becomes, as I have said, a ringing.

The

ringing is really much more a combination of sounds such as ringing,

whirring, buzzing, chirping, and a rushing sound all at the same time.

 

I believe the ringing in the ears is to the auditory gate, as the vibrations

are to the tactile gate. I have found through the international dialog that is

taking place on the Jhana Support Group that both of these manifestations are

classic charisms (nimitta) in their respective sense fields.

 

During these deep absorption states I have found the other senses have their

own manifestations of unique expression, or charisms, as well. Therefore the

charisms appear to manifest in their own unique ways in each sense gate.

 

In the progression of my daily sit I eventually observe all of the senses at

once. Simultaneously observing the manifestations of charisms in all of the

sense fields becomes something like witnessing a symphony of pleasant sensations

in all 7 senses.

 

Upon examining a translation of the Potthapada Sutta DN 9 a chapter of the

Pali cannon that describes the absorption states (jhanas). I found it describes

how the aspirant becomes progressively more soaked, or saturated in ecstasy in

each of 8 successive absorption states (jhanas/samadhis/dhyanas). In

interpreting this sutta, it seems that ecstasy (jhana) is the manifestation of

charisms, or the Pali term 'nimitta', in its various unique forms in the sense

fields. My conclusion is, I have experienced all of the absorption states

(jhanas/samadhis/dhyanas). And, since equanimity is the underlying and dominant

condition of my 'mind,' and equanimity is the telltale factor for determining

the

fourth and highest material absorption (jhana), it appears that I have arrived

at

and sustain the fourth jhana on a daily basis.

 

>From reading the Visuddhimagga, the 5th century commentary on the Pali canon

as well as both the Digha Nikaya and the Majjhima Nikaya (2 volumes of the

Pali canon), it seems that the trajectory toward enlightenment is to go through

these ecstatic absorption states (jhanas) on one's way to the subjective

experiences the Buddha described as "unification of consciousness." These

states

are typified by the lucid subjective experience of merging with infinite time,

space, consciousness and the non-dualist (neither this nor that), which are

called the arupa jhanas, or non-material absorptions.

 

The descriptions of spiritual ecstasy and enlightenment in the Pali canon

seem to indicate the absorption states are altered states of consciousness

through which we must pass to arrive at nibbana. Nibbana (nirvana in Sanskrit)

is

an annihilation, or cessation, of the self in the infinite. I have found when I

just go with the surges of energy (kundalini) and other manifestations (jhana

nimitta), then I pass through the various unification and cessation stages,

which occur to me at random intervals, but many times each year.

 

To go deeper into equanimity I have found relinquishing grasping is

essential. I have found that grasping clearly hinders the progression of the

absorption

states, so relinquishing grasping is central to my practice at this time.

 

In fact I have found that a grasping "event" immediately precedes a mind

event, or ripple of disturbance on the otherwise quiet flow of my awareness

(equanimity). Consequently, my mindfulness practice for many years now has been

primarily focused on observing the rising and falling of grasping and aversion

in

response to the senses. In this way I have endeavored to relinquish any hold

or obstruction on the senses.

 

During the deepening of my meditation I notice a progression of increasing

concentration and corresponding expanding awareness, which often causes a bit of

a shift in my focus and my breathing at discrete moments. I have found if I

flow spontaneously with these shifts, then the various absorption states

arise.

 

These shifts in focus and breathing seem to precede the surges up my spine

(kundalini), which can be of sufficient force as to give me the sensation as

though I'm going to be lifted off the zafu. It does seem at times, that if the

energy rising up my spine got anymore intense, my brain would pop out of the top

of my head. It can be a bit disconcerting at times, but that is when I have

found it is best to practice non-grasping to even the body.

 

As this energy surges up my spine I undergo this series of shifts in focus,

which eventually concludes in a wall of light that impinges on my psyche to the

point of overwhelming my identity. At that moment it seems even identity must

be relinquished as well (anatta). It seems that the trajectory is to get to a

place where one doesn't cling to anything, not even to identity. It is this

experience that seems to be what the historic Buddha called cessation (nibbana).

 

I have been meditating 3 to 4 hours a day for several years now. Every time I

sit I enjoy some part or all of the above described sensations. I have found

that when I begin and end each day with these pleasant sensations my days and

nights are filled with charisms (nimitta), as well as pleasant thoughts and

feelings.

 

Everyday I fill each moment with mindful observation of these sensations, and

I attentively avoid grasping and aversion. Consequently equanimity pervades

or permeates my waking and sleep state. In fact from the moment I first become

aware of this body, until the moment that sleep overcomes this body, I am

filled with more happiness and contentment than I can recall ever having. And I

am

always filled with the sweetest sensation of love, as though I have a new

romance, but there is no object to my love, therefore I should assume it is

compassion or loving-kindness two of the Brahma Viharas, or known as Bodhichitta

in

Vajrayana.

 

This practice and these sensations have even pervaded my sleep state, because

I no longer seem to go unconscious when I rest at night, As I rest the body

at night I observe mindfuly the progression of my repose, which is a succession

of deepening relaxation, and lengthening or slowing breath, until there is a

flash of blackness and a timelessness in which I lose awareness of the body.

Eventually dreams arise and move one from the next throughout the night.

These dreams by the way are as lucid as the waking reality. Eventually around 4

AM each morning I become aware of the body again. I sit to meditate for an

hour or two before my son awakes and I begin my day.

 

The pervasion of my awareness into my sleep domain has also produced a kind

of shattering of my sense of reality, as well as producing a lack of dependence

on a linear time/space domain. My dreams are often so lucid as to be

indistinguishable from what we call "waking reality." Consequently, even though

I

"awake" every morning to this "reality, I frequently "awaken" to other

seamlessly

real and equally engaging realities. But these "realities" are not in this

space/time domain. The consequence is that I cannot with conviction state that

this reality is any more real than the other realities that I encounter. I

believe this is the realization of much of the material within Advaita Vedanta

and

Mahamudra, in which the very nature of the subject-object reality is called

into question.

 

It is a bit disconcerting not knowing to which reality I can "rely" on, or to

which I will find myself in the next moment. This lack of reliance on a

time/space domain has produced a lack of dependence on external references.

Thus a

great ambivalence toward the objects of the senses has arisen in me. As a

consequence I seem to have no ambition for anything in life. I have no interest

in a career. I do not care for a relationship. I have no interest in acquiring

anything, such as land or a home. I have no thought toward acquiring wealth,

or a retirement. I do not even care if I get sick, or how long I live. Death

could come in the next moment, and it would mean nothing to me. And,

interestingly enough, I have no fear of the dark.

 

Another interesting property of my life, is I can't seem to gain my balance.

I often feel ever so slightly off balance. I believe this "vertigo" is related

to the heightened awareness I have developed for my senses. One of the most

over looked senses is our sense of balance, which comes from sensors in the

inner ear. It is this sense of balance though that is critical to our species

method of bipedal locomotion. I believe the sense of euphoria one experiences

during the ecstasies is a charism characteristic of a heightened awareness the

sense of balance. It is this, perhaps overly acute, awareness of the sense of

balance that keeps me feeling slightly off balance, almost as though I am

drunk, or in euphoria.

 

I am 50 years old and a single parent of two children. My spiritual practice

has been something that I have arranged in the quiet times after the children

and spouse have gone off to sleep. The spouse left long ago. My oldest has

already graduated from college, and my youngest is 6 months from leaving home

for

college. Once he has left I plan to dedicate the whole of my energies to my

spiritual practice, the furthering of the dharma, and the teaching of students.

 

I am now wanting to spend all of my time in meditation, so I seek retreat

opportunities wherever I can find them. I spend all of my vacation time at

meditation retreats, which amounts to about 60 days of retreat time each year.

My

only interest in life is maintaining these subjective experiences, and directing

others in their practice.

 

I originally sent this description of my subjective experiences out as a

letter to every dharma teacher, Bhikkhu and lama I could find an address for. I

received only a few replies back. From Shinzen Young, of the Vipassana Support

Institute, I found out the Pali name for these experiences is 'Jhana'. From

Leigh Brasington I found out Satipatthana is the practice tradition within

Theravadan Buddhism that supports these experiences. From Bhante Gunaratana of

the Bhavana Society I acquired an excellent list of suttas that support the

experience. And, from Joseph Goldstein of Insight Meditation Society (IMS) I

learned that it is common for their students attending the IMS three month

intensive retreat to have vertigo problems.

 

But, since I have found few Buddhists who can speak on these subjects

authoritatively , or support the Buddhist ecstatic contemplative, I have started

a

to support people who have these experiences. It is a peer-level

group, because I have found quite a few people, like myself, have had some or

all of these same experiences. And, among the personal records on the Jhana

Support Group I have found there is an authentic commonality in our subjective

experiences to warrant some generalizations. The JSG forum has attracted over

300 people in a peer level community of contemplatives who support each other

in their meditation practices..

 

Please excuse my rather long story. I can only hope that I have been of even

a small help to a few of you. My only wish is to benefit all beings with

every thought, word, action and resource.

 

May you begin each day and end each day with bliss, and may your days and

nights be filled with joy.

 

Jeff Brooks

December, 2003

 

S O U R C E S Jhana and the Tipitaka, P A L I Canon

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

BHAVANA SOCIETY

Maháthera Henepola Gunaratana

http://www.bhavanasociety.org/

Articles on Jhana by Maháthera Henepola Gunaratana

http://www.palikanon.com/english/the_jhanas/jhanas00.htm

 

JHANA SUPPORT GROUP

A support group for ecstatic contemplatives

website Jhanas/

Subscribe: Jhanas-

 

LEIGH BRASINGTON's Web site:

http://home.attbi.com/~leighb/

 

METTA FOREST MONASTERY (WAT METTAVANARAM)

Thanissarro Bhikku (Tan Geoffrey)

http://here-and-now.org/watmetta.html

 

ACCESS TO INSIGHT

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/

 

The Tipitaka and other valuable Pali sources

http://www.palikanon.com/english/english_web.htm

 

The PALI TEXT SOCIETY

http://www.palitext.demon.co.uk/

 

METTANET - LANKA

http://www.metta.lk/

 

The Buddha's three discourses on meditation and other referenced suttas are

available at these URLs:

 

Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn118.html

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN. 22)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/digha/dn22.html

Potthapada Sutta (DN 9)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/digha/dn09.html

Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn010.html

[Guest guest]

Back in the days when I used to read Buddhist books,

the best book I ever read on the subject of

the eight stages of absorbtion was:

 

"Who Is My Self" by Ayya Khema.

 

She wrote from her own experience and she also included

teachings from the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

 

I mention this only for Jeff because so much of his message was on

the subject of the stages of absorbtion found in the

Theravada tradition.

 

Having read a few hundred books from the Zen, Tibetan and Theravada

tradition, including the thousands and thousands of pages in the

English translation of the Nikayas,

I do not recommend that anyone read any Buddhist book.

 

You can read the Teachings of the Direct Path as taught by

Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Sadhu Om, Sri Muruganar,

and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj by clicking this link Jeff:

 

http://uarelove.com

 

Take care,

 

with Love,

 

Michael L.

[Guest guest]

Hello Michael, I have read Sri Ramana Maharshi, and value his

teaching, I have also read Sri Ramakrishna and many other teachers as

well. The reason why I refer to the Pali canon is its weight of

authority, not that the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi are perhaps

even better. I seek the weight of authority because I am endeavoring

to provide canonical support for the path of the ecstatic. It so

happens the Nikayas provide excellent support for the ecstatic.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeff Brooks

 

moderator, Ecstatic Buddhism

A newsletter for ecstatic Buddhists

website: Ecstatic_Buddhism/

Subscribe: Ecstatic_Buddhism-

 

RamanaMaharshi, "uarelove" <uarelove> wrote:

> Back in the days when I used to read Buddhist books,

> the best book I ever read on the subject of

> the eight stages of absorbtion was:

>

> "Who Is My Self" by Ayya Khema.

>

> She wrote from her own experience and she also included

> teachings from the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

>

> I mention this only for Jeff because so much of his message was on

> the subject of the stages of absorbtion found in the

> Theravada tradition.

>

> Having read a few hundred books from the Zen, Tibetan and Theravada

> tradition, including the thousands and thousands of pages in the

> English translation of the Nikayas,

> I do not recommend that anyone read any Buddhist book.

>

> You can read the Teachings of the Direct Path as taught by

> Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Sadhu Om, Sri Muruganar,

> and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj by clicking this link Jeff:

>

> http://uarelove.com

>

> Take care,

>

> with Love,

>

> Michael L.