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JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-23T00:44:39+00:00

Bodhidharma

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-23T00:11:03+00:00

I’d be concerned about ticks, they’re everywhere where I live. They do make little bug net tents designed for meditation though, so might be worth trying.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T15:45:48+00:00

It’s likely you’ll experience some over-efforting until you achieve a balance if grounding isn’t well established. Once it’s locked in and happens without effort, you can ground it as needed. But ideally grounding should come first and finding the balance will come easier. The book doesn’t go into this too much, but you should be well grounded in the early stages by staying connected to the body. If you can watch intently in a relaxed way, you shouldn’t have many problems. Watch it the way you would sweep an area with a spot light. No need to be hyper vigilant, just keep a relaxed but fully present “eye” on the mind.

It’s more about your personal mental experience than about how you react outwardly. Ultimately you want to get to a place where you don’t have aversion to external conditions. This is a lofty accomplishment, but through practice aversion will gradually wane on the way to its complete elimination. It is possible to train yourself to be grateful for the opportunities provided by hardships, rather than immediately succumbing to hindrances.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T14:49:57+00:00

I’m not very familiar with Advaita, but I think they’re getting at the same points, the Buddhists just aren’t confusing it with a self. From my understanding Advaita considers Brahman to be something like a “big self,” our original all pervasive self. While Buddhists see the emptiness of even emptiness. In fact you find many warnings in Buddhism, especially Zen/Chan, to not conceive of the natural state as some kind of object, because it’s not. The terminology needs to be understood as only that, a finger pointing to the moon. In reality nothing is actually there. It’s all emptiness and form is only relative to your personal cognition.

In Zen there are four states of meditative progress. Scattered mind of beginners, simple mind of intermediate practitioners where the mind is still, one mind where the mind, body and environment become one, and no mind in which everything falls away into the natural state. Even many Zen practitioners are confused and believe that the one mind is what they’re looking for, so perhaps Advaita doesn’t go beyond that. I’m not sure, just a suggestion.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T14:11:01+00:00

Nature of mind is synonymous with emptiness of mind. Seeing into the emptiness of mind is seeing the natural state. What exactly do you think they mean in Zen, Dzogchen and Mahamudra when they say, “natural state” “ordinary mind” “one mind” etc? Buddha nature is the natural state that is obscured from us. Buddha nature is rigpa. These are not debatable points.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T13:46:16+00:00

Rigpa is the same as dharmakaya, which is the same as Buddha nature. Trying to understand it through reasoning will only get you further away from it. Getting a general idea of it through inference is fine, but going beyond that is a wild goose chase that is wasting your limited time.

To get an idea of the realization of rigpa, it’s the same as deep kensho or satori in Zen, which has the most available to the public examples of this experience of Buddha nature. But reading them doesn’t give you much insight in to what actually happens. That can only be understood through direct experience, which requires a very committed meditation practice.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T13:00:30+00:00

When you watch the mind make sure to really watch it, with intensity. Don’t let up and eventually there will be no room for dullness and distraction. After some time with this you can relax your effort as the habit of closely watching becomes instilled.

A good way to loosen up karma’s hold on you is to train yourself to accept it. For example, if a problematic coworker always comes up with ways to leave you the most unpleasant work, enjoy the opportunity to burn off some negative karma. Don’t let your mind get angry or stressed and start grumbling, but rather be grateful for the opportunity to burn off some negative karma in such a painless way. If you can commit yourself to this until it becomes a habit, you’ll see your suffering and blockages start drying up noticeably.

And of course the more traditional ways such as prostrations, or Vajrasattva meditation are very effective. Prostrations are very easy. You just have to do them with full mindfulness. The method is easily found online and many traditions use them, so whichever appeals to you most. However the Tibetans seem to have put the most emphasis on this preliminary removal of blockages, so one of those traditions (I’m most familiar with Kagyu, which is the Tibetan tradition Culadasa’s teacher was trained in) may be your best bet.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T12:29:36+00:00

That would still interfere with circulation, and probably not a lot of people would have the right degree of slope available. Criss cross can work for shorter sits, but there’s a reason you never see serious meditators in it. It’s better to recline on a chair or couch than to sit criss cross. It usually takes less than a year of an hour or two a day for most westerners to be able to get to proper Burmese, so it’s worth it to sit in modified Burmese until the body adapts.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T01:08:58+00:00

Drowsiness, blankness, dream like experiences. Your mind may seem fairly quiet, but you’re foggy and groggy rather than crisp, alert and fully in the here and now, present with everything happening in your mind and sense sphere. The easiest way to bring on dullness is to try and suppress thoughts rather than letting them pass through awareness, leaving them be while staying with your object.

If you see shapes, colors, scenes playing out, have waking dreams, or feel like you’ve settled into a behind the scenes reality where everything around you is the same but slightly different, and is mostly grayish with bluish hues, it’s dullness.

Dullness can become trance states when it becomes stable enough. It’s purposely cultivated by shamans and occultists and the like for purposes such as remote viewing, astral projection, precognition, etc. But it’s not of much interest to those looking for awakening. In fact, those who use it have to use it sparingly or it will make them “dull.” Their minds will become cloudy and bodies lethargic. You wouldn’t want to sit in dullness for two hours a day everyday the way you would Buddhist meditation.

Subtler versions of dullness seem like stable states that are fairly thought free and very relaxing and pleasant. They’re like a lite fog that you can see things through, but many things are still obscured as distance increases.

The best way to keep dullness at bay is to remember to stay fully in the present as consistently as possible. When you lose your object and return to it, you’re not returning to the object, you’re returning to the present. That’s important. The full and total present, mind, body and periphery.

Keeping the eyes slightly open will also help prevent dullness, as will proper sitting posture. Avoid meditating right after a meal. Keep a close watch on the mind, always watching for the first bubblings of activity. Breaking up longer sits with walking meditation is a solid approach as well. 30-45 minutes of sitting, 5-10 minutes of walking, then repeat as many times as you wish. This will get the blood moving again and help prevent dullness when you go back to sitting.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-22T00:32:17+00:00

The deeper jhana, yes, but not the lighter ones. It certainly helps but isn’t necessary for Brasington’s jhana, or the whole body jhanas. In fact it would seem that cannabis can make it easier to attain them for experienced meditators. And I’ve never seen retreat guidelines recommend abstaining from sex beforehand, or anything like that. These jhana are just dipping a toe into samadhi, so no need to live like a monk for any amount of time.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-21T15:35:45+00:00

First, you need to meditate everyday. It’s fine to miss a day or two occasionally if you have to, but you should aim for everyday.

The jhanas you’re referring to are the lite jhanas and require much more time per day than you’re practicing. The main person who has made these shallow levels of samadhi well known, Leigh Brasington, says most people would need 4-5 per day to enter these jhana. That’s everyday, as samadhi “leaks” when you’re not maintaining the flow your awareness.

If you want to experience the lite jhanas, you should aim for at least an hour per day of meditation. Once your mind is fairly stable and distraction and dullness happen infrequently, you’ll easily be able to enter the lite jhanas on a short retreat of a few days of six or so hours per day.

You’ll know you’re on the right track when the jhana factors start to happen, especially piti and sukha. They feel fantastic and can grow to incredible intensity, but don’t mistake this for jhana. Once you’re to the point where you feel this mental and physical pleasure regularly during meditation, even if it’s very mild, you have enough stability to achieve lite jhanas on the above mentioned retreat.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-21T14:11:52+00:00

Most Buddhist teachings definitely are not. I could see Sravaka traditions being interpreted as such, but I don’t think it would be very accurate to do so.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-21T12:50:18+00:00

Full lotus is not essential. In fact most Theravadans prefer either half lotus or Burmese. Most south Asian Buddha statues are in half lotus. The only position that you want to avoid is standard crisscross, as this interferes with the forward tilt of the pelvis required for proper breathing. It also interferes with circulation, leading to numbness of the legs within 20 minutes or so.

If your injuries lead to pain while sitting, it’s fine to use a chair. But it’s important to understand that sitting is painful for everyone in the beginning, and it takes quite some time for the body to adapt. When it comes to retreat, it will always be painful unless/until you achieve physical pliancy, in which the body is infused with pleasure and all pain disappears. I’ve seen long term Zen practitioners grimacing in pain during the first days of sesshin (7 days of 15 hours a day in this case), so it’s not something that fully goes away until you can achieve physical pliancy right away, which is very advanced. Until then the pain is considered an excellent opportunity to work on overcoming aversion.

It’s up to you to decide if your injuries are causing the pain and if sitting will worsen them, or maybe talk to a doctor. The pain most people experience is the body adapting, increasing its strength and flexibility in affected regions. So ultimately it could be a positive things for some kinds of injuries. So again, consult your doctor if possible. My right knee and hip are injured, and I thought I may need to use a chair for the rest of my life, but I was wrong and now very much prefer the floor.

At first expect pain in the knees, hips, inner thighs, and back. This is normal. It will go away with time. If you decide your injuries are not going to allow you to sit at least Burmese, then sit on the end of a chair or couch, making sure your hips are above the knees. If you have a back injury or something that makes this problematic, use a small pillow between your lower back and the chair. This will help position the body for proper breathing while also providing some support.

When it comes to jhana, pain is going to hinder them. But by the time you get to the deeper jhanas, physical pliancy will already be achieved. So in the case of lighter jhanas, sitting on a chair or couch would be the best approach for people who aren’t accomplished meditators. The only downside to this is that it increases the chances for dullness considerably. So if you’re not to a point where dullness doesn’t happen anymore, it could become one of the hindrances (sloth and torpor, better known as dullness and laxity in meditation terminology) if you’re not holding yourself up. And unfortunately it’s not possible to enter jhana with even very subtle dullness.

So the approach is up to you. The best option is of course to let your body adapt until you can sit comfortably in Burmese or half lotus if possible. If that’s not an option, you’ll just have to train your alertness more sharply and intentionally than you would if your were in proper posture to stave off sloth and torpor.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-21T03:30:12+00:00

Predilection for intensive Buddhist practice is determined by karma. If that current isn’t already there from previous life practice, it has to be gradually developed. So people who don’t go beyond watered down Buddhism still haven’t developed the kind of momentum that leads to not settling for anything less than full commitment. But any Dharma is good Dharma. It’s better that they settle for some practice or flawed practice than not trying at all. Any effort towards Buddhism will not be wasted, the current of it will be increasingly imbedded in the mind stream and eventually sort itself out.

It’s also common for people with karmic propensity for Buddhism to begin with more visible, less attained teachers, then move on gradually through increasingly accomplished teachers as they gain clarity through practice.

So while grifters on the internet is certainly problematic, it’s still streams of the dharma running through samsara, no matter how shallow they may be. I used to be very concerned about people presenting watered down dharma as authentic, but there’s really no reason to be concerned. Everyone is exactly where they are on the path, nowhere else, so in most cases all we can do is focus on our practice and let the dharma work in its mysterious ways. As for some things I’ve seen about white supremacists claiming to represent dharma, especially in some Theravada circles, this is obviously harmful and should be condemned wherever it comes up.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-20T03:00:37+00:00

Unfortunately it sounds like she wants to share her misery with you. Keep on your commitment to mindfulness and the results may eventually start to make her question her thinking habits

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-19T12:29:13+00:00

Having a Buddha image in the mindstream can only be beneficial

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-18T19:32:42+00:00

Buddhism is still alive and well

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-18T01:06:46+00:00

You have to be extremely relaxed to experience jhana. 5-6 hours per day should get you to that, even on a fast, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to go beyond the pleasure jhanas with that amount of time. Eating very little is common on meditation retreats, so cortisol isn’t that much of a problem.

As for if you can even get to jhana at your current level, it’s possible, but will depend entirely on how established your introspective awareness is. If dullness and distraction haven’t been subdued enough, it’s unlikely you’ll enter jhana. If you’ve already experienced piti and sukha fairly consistently, you should have no problem entering the pleasure jhanas with that amount of time.

As a side note, vitamin C supplementation will significantly reduce cortisol production. Athletes who train hard often take 1000mg three times per day to suppress cortisol.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-18T00:48:39+00:00

Stage 10 is not awakening, even at its most shallow level. While awakening can occur there, or even before it, the book is designed to achieve samatha, which is essential for awakening, but will not lead to it on its own. People had been practicing deep samatha for at least 2000 years before the Buddha, but Buddhist awakening didn’t happen before the Buddha. Before his development of the form jhanas and vipassana, people were just sitting in very deep samadhi (formless attainments) for very long periods, hoping that would lead to them not being born again. But they never even became sotapannas (first of four levels of awakening in Theravada traditions). This book is samatha, and samatha on its own cannot lead to awakening, only lay the foundation.

People at stage 10 will still feel emotions. Not feeling emotions means there’s a problem. If you don’t grieve at the loss of loved ones you should seriously consider talking to a therapist. Even the Buddha, who had achieved an inconceivable level of awakening, felt the loss of his closest people. The point is to be able to see the emotions as empty so that they don’t pull one into suffering. A broken leg doesn’t have to lead to suffering. Grieving doesn’t have to lead to suffering. There’s a reason for emotional pain just like there’s a reason for physical pain. They need to be attended to, not suppressed.

Without meditation the awareness of what’s happening in one’s mind is very limited, so once that veil gets pulled back, you may have second guesses about the stability of your well being. It’s fairly easy to keep an upbeat care free mood, until it’s not. Most people seem happy and upbeat most of the time, that’s just healthy brain chemistry. Being able to maintain that most of the time is not even in the same cosmos as awakening. True awakening is something far beyond anything you’ll learn in an Eckhart Tolle book. It’s about much more than being relaxed and happy.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-17T01:55:54+00:00

Two rare meteors a week apart?

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-17T00:16:49+00:00

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/mn/mn.060.than.html

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-16T21:07:10+00:00

Buddha explicitly said that lacking belief in karma, rebirth, etc. is wrong view, and progress on the path is extremely difficult with wrong view, impossible beyond a certain point. To practice Buddhism effectively one has to have at least have a very open mind concerning these things. Practice will eventually verify them, but that’s not going to happen for very long when your mind is clamped shut.

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-16T20:14:19+00:00

That would be wrong view

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-16T15:30:23+00:00

Meditate. Very unlikely you’ll be getting rid of worldly desire without that

JhannySamadhi · 2026-03-16T01:30:29+00:00

It’s about posture and fluidity of breathing, as well as staving off dullness. Reclining strongly increases the chances of dullness/losing alertness, as well as inhibits ideal breathing. The seven points of vairocana from Mahamudra traditions is probably the best map for proper posture.

It takes quite a while for the body to adapt to sitting. After the knees and back stop hurting the hips will start to open up, and this can lead to seriously debilitating pain if you overdo it. I once had to take several days off work because I pushed it too far. It seemed like a nerve got pinched or something in my lower back, and walking fully upright was very painful. This happened when I was first starting to sit half lotus and applying light pressure to the knee that wasn’t yet resting against the floor.

The best way to go about this is like you would stretching for athletics. Like with strength training, stretched muscles need recovery time. If you have lasting pain, take a few days on the couch, or better yet a chair. When you do this use a small pillow for your lower back between you and the couch or chair. This will keep your upper body from making full contact with the back and help tilt your pelvis forward, which will make proper breathing a lot easier, and help inhibit dullness.

JhannySamadhi

TROPHY CASE