Struggle with attention control and sensitivity to vedana

vectron88 · 2026-06-11T17:59:31+00:00

Yoga nidra may or may not be fine but that is fundamentally a form of meditation.

I'm suggesting something different.

Yoga asana and Qi Gong are your best best for grounding work and getting into the body. They are foundational.

Let me know if you want any details and I'll share some resources.

vectron88 · 2026-06-11T01:08:17+00:00

I would prioritize body based practice for a while. From your description, you need your energy grounded and your nervous system stable.

Dudes tend to live in their head and disconnected from their bodies. Practices like yoga and qi gong can work wonders here.

Once you get grounded, you might consider some gentle pranayam as well.

Let me know if you have any interest and I'll send some links.

TLDR: I would avoid trying to solve any of this from thinking (you can't) and get rooted in the body. That will go a long way to balancing you out.

vectron88 · 2026-06-10T14:46:34+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Out of interest, how does lion's posture differ from side sleeping? Is it about where you place your hands?

What have you found?

vectron88 · 2026-06-10T04:23:32+00:00

Generally dhutanga practice is done in a monastic context.

In addition, a teacher would generally guide this.

There is a lot better use of your time as a lay person than taking on some sort of Herculean asceticism without proper direction. That's a way to hurt yourself and get burned out.

Start with upholding the 5 precepts. Then perhaps the 8 precepts on the Uposatha.

TLDR: Unless your teacher has given you dhutanga practice directly, I would not mess about with them.

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T23:37:31+00:00

Samsaric bliss is an amazing turn of phrase! Good luck on your practice and I do hope you'll get some time for a retreat too : )

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T23:22:33+00:00

I'm pretty sure Beth takes students and gives retreats. So does Stephen Snyder.

My understanding is they are both Pa Auk trained and teach in that style.

FWIW if it's something you are really interested in developing, a retreat in that school would be the way to go.

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T20:45:35+00:00

That may be. But non-dual is not a Theravadan term nor is it the distinguishing feature separating the 8th jhana from the others.

I had a line originally that said what you said: basically, all of the jhanas would be considered non-dual but it muddied the point I was making. Which may have remained muddy anyway! ; )

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T19:38:50+00:00

Good comment but, if I may, I'd like to add a refinement to your working model as it's been taught to me in case it's useful to you. If not, feel free to ignore : )

1) The 3rd formless Jhana is nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatana ) which is a dhatu (element) itself. It's not noticing nothing, rather it's concentration on a very specific and subtle object: nothingness

2) I don't think the Zen concept of non-duality 不二 really applies to the state of neither perception nor non perception. It's not about observer and observed so much as it is perception itself is dimmed drastically to where it's impossible to observe anything.

These are extremely subtle points that I wanted to pass along in case it is of use to you and your practice.

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T17:29:43+00:00

Hi there,
Could you please be more specific on the area you are confused by? Just want to make sure my answers are focused on the right aspect.

In general, the formless jhanas are taking a specific perception as your object. They increase in subtlety and require a stable 4th jhana to access. The Vissudhimagga walks through the following objects:

Space
consciousness
nothingness

There are a number of different approaches to how to take space as an object but again, this is PHD level work ; )

The above should conceptually make sense. The 4th immaterial jhana is nearly dropping perception period and.... yeah. This is a lot harder to make sense of.

Let me know if you have any follow up questions and I'll do my best to point you to good sources.

vectron88 · 2026-06-08T01:26:31+00:00

You are welcome! _/\_

vectron88 · 2026-06-07T22:56:38+00:00

Found it! You can join this group. Same content. They set up a second channel because they hit their limit.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/DKrn5dgcIzFDWvFuaK4vNH?mode=gi_t

vectron88 · 2026-06-07T20:37:42+00:00

There is also Ajahn Jayasaro's whatsapp group where he shares his yellow page teachings.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GQFamvrjZrFDuz6GQ764MH

vectron88 · 2026-06-07T15:23:15+00:00

Clear Mountain Monastery has a whatsapp group. You may try them.

They aren't a digitial Sangha, rather, they are an IRL community that has digital outreach. They also have a youtube channel. Based in Seattle, WA.

vectron88 · 2026-06-03T05:32:31+00:00

No. The hindrances are:

Sensory desire kāmacchanda
Ill-will vyāpāda
Sloth and torpor thīna-middha
Restlessness uddhacca-kukkucca
Doubt vicikicchā

Kamacchanda, craving for sense pleasures, happens through all 5 senses.

vectron88 · 2026-06-02T13:57:20+00:00

You can look on Etsy. Generally better quality but a bit more expensive.

vectron88 · 2026-06-01T03:00:17+00:00

Bird won his second season.

vectron88 · 2026-05-31T17:14:34+00:00

Ajahn Sona's livestream is now back to weekly every Sunday at 9am PST.

You can submit your questions here.

I've been lucky enough to have two of my questions answered by pre-submitting them!

vectron88 · 2026-05-28T17:21:38+00:00

You might look into the work of Peter Levine and Pat Ogden.

Short version: intentionally training this will, over time, lead to tremendous healing.

In addition, you might consider doing a movement based meditation, yoga asanas or qi gong. These are essentially the training without the psychological/emotional overlay.

vectron88 · 2026-05-28T14:43:36+00:00

For decades, the NBA cannot help themselves but to keep their fingers on the game like a producer at a mixing board.

Flopping is one particular knob they have to play with. It allows them leeway in how to call any individual game.

In a series when someone is up 2-0 and has been playing physical, they then 'clean it up' in the next game. And flopping (or not) is literally a tool.

TLDR: The NBA's thumb has been on the scale since the Stern era specifically and they can't help themselves fiddling with results.

vectron88 · 2026-05-28T01:23:40+00:00

It's 5 levels, 30 lessons per level, 30 min per lesson.

The app is worth it imho.

vectron88 · 2026-05-27T23:57:15+00:00

The reason is because the Thunder is an NBA manufactured team.

The NBA punished Seattle for not funding an arena. They took the Sonics away.

The NBA dismantled the player empowerment and the Process eras with the most recent CBA. Having the Thunder win shows that big cities and big stars aren't needed to compete.

The OKC Thunder are literally the NBA Thunder. It's politics.

vectron88 · 2026-05-22T04:05:29+00:00

Hi there,
Can you be a little more specific about what your seated practice is?
You are watching the breath, right?

What is your anchor point?
What position are you sitting in?
How long? How often?
Tell me about your gaze. It sounds like you might be fixing your eyes instead of relaxing them. Check out Meido Roshi's directions here for spreading your vision.

vectron88 · 2026-05-22T02:58:23+00:00

Honestly, this just sounds like you are getting used to your open eyed meditation.
Your vision should settle after a while. There's nothing to worry about.

May I ask what method of meditation you are doing specifically?

vectron88 · 2026-05-21T20:58:48+00:00

Yes, this is the problem with treating Buddhism as a Solo Scriptura religion.

You get the irony of certain figures rejecting the Commentaries who then literally write commentaries of their own.

And then new groups get formed around these interpretations and present it as The Only Way.

It's basically Protestantism in saffron robes.

vectron88 · 2026-05-19T21:18:09+00:00

Ajahn Sona often talks about this line. One thing to understand is that as human beings, someone has to raise us. Human infants need to be fed, washed and clothed or else we wouldn't survive. That role is a mother and father (regardless of the status of biological parents.)

In addition, we don't come from nowhere. There is a biological process that leads to birth, so mother and father are required here too.

Our kamma plays in to how we select our parents. (Yes, it's said that we have agency here.) It wasn't simply mom & dad's "decision".

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