19 excerpts, 1:08:39 total duration
“Sometimes when I get concentrated I have spontaneous body and/or facial movements both gross and subtle. Any comments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Meditation/Unusual experiences ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Goodwill]
Metta Retreat (2008), Session 5, Excerpt 8
“Sometimes when I meditate, I have a pleasant sensation similar to goosebumps or light massage on the back of the head....I would be grateful for your advice in understanding it.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Meditation/Unusual experiences ] [Rapture] // [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging] [Impermanence] [Relinquishment] [Characteristics of existence]
Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat (2021), Session 22, Excerpt 2
5. Ajahn Chah was always willing to challenge himself. Recollection by Paul Breiter. [Ascetic practices] [Ardency] [Ajahn Chah] // [Fear] [Ghost] [Sickness] [Culture/Natural environment] [Robes] [Lodging] [Suffering] [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
10. “I have an ongoing problem with certain vibrations. Here the most problematic is the recording device. The trunk of my body feels like it is vibrating.... Any suggestions would be most gratefully received.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Technology] // [Mindfulness of body] [Aversion] [Feeling] [Goodwill] [Worldly Conditions] [Relinquishment]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was this peaceful, happy presence in the center of the universe. Things happened around him all the time...and Ajahn Chah was always happy. You realize that that’s really possible in the human condition. [Ajahn Chah ] [Happiness] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Human]
8. “Sometimes when I get concentrated I have spontaneous body and/or facial movements both gross and subtle. Any comments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Meditation/Unusual experiences ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Goodwill]
3. Comment: You spoke about suffusing the body with extreme well-being. But I’ve been in states like that and my body seems to disappear. [Jhāna] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Mindfulness of body] [Gradual Teaching] [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “It isn’t so much the experience of extreme well-being that is the goal. It’s the ability to gain clarity and stability so that one can see through the experience as something that is uncertain or impermanent, has a changing nature. The mind often wants to disregard that. The tendency to identify self with experience on a refined mental level is tempered by the body experience.” [Clear comprehension] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision] [Impermanence] [Delusion] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
Follow-up: “Are you saying you can become attached to these states?” [Clinging]
2. “I’ve had the experience on retreat of getting to slow, shallow breathing and panicked because I couldn’t find the breath. Could you say more about just going to the knowing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Tranquility] [Fear] [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Investigation of states] [Nimitta] [Faith]
5. “At times during my meditation, my body acts funny, leaning to one side or the other or spinning. What causes this? Is it a good or bad sign?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Kamma] [Teachers] [Mindfulness of body] [Rapture]
3. “This has happened a few times only but I’m puzzled, please help. When my mind was very calm, a sudden sort of energetic feeling is all over the body and my spine feels very cold. And then suddenly I have a flash of memory from childhood of drowning in the tank in our backyard. On a different occasion I saw the dead putrefied face of an old woman, horrific, mouth wide open. How do I deal with all this? I get a shock and concentration stops, sometimes sending shivers.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Concentration] [Rapture] [Recollection/Death]
4. “I’ve enjoyed practicing with connecting the breath to whatever is conditioning the mind. Twice however, when evaluating, I’ve come across something new: a plain, white, fizzy, barrier. It’s not un-friendly and I can feel a faint tug from whatever is behind it but that’s as far as I get. Have my saṅkhāra’s developed a new stealth technology? Are they allowed to do that? Any advice on how to proceed (or secret passwords)? Gratefully appreciated.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Volitional formations]
18. “The other day when I was meditating, my heart started beating very fast. Then I got really cold and my body started shivering. I started breathing very deep to calm the body down but still couldn’t control the shaking. At times like this, is it better to stop and take care of the body or keep meditating through it? Thank you.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
18. “If the body is a sack of grains, my legs after 7 / 7:30pm are electric jumping beans. This has occurred on retreat for 30 years. At first, I assumed it was the usual resistances / saṅkhāras. For a decade, I’ve known it’s a neurological syndrome that many have (R.L.S.) and although it affects other parts of life, e.g., sleep, it’s never so intense as on retreat in the evening. As I calm and cleanse, it actually gets worse, even on longer retreats. If I don’t focus on exhaling calm and mettā, I would drive my neighbors crazy, twitching and squirming like a bored 4 year-old. But I’m not bored and I want to hear the teachings. The level of controlling the legs necessarily, even with calming, creates sometimes a kind of negative pīti—thunderbolts in the body with no delight or rapture! I intuit an ancient root to it but, what to do? Alternative and western guidance have not helped much. From your vast experience of squirming mediators, any advice? Any research on sitting and milder neurological phenomena like this? Right now, besides leaving the hall / tortured endurance / drugs / cutting off my legs, suggestions for a middle way?!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Rapture] [Restlessness and worry]
11. “Thank you so much for these wonderful teachings. Sometimes a very intense light nimitta arises and it feels like all of my energy rushes to my forehead. I try to ignore the nimitta but it gets brighter and undulating. I try to pull it down to my feet but that doesn’t work. I’ve tried all sorts of things but ultimately I just stop sitting; start walking. The nimitta gives me a headache and is draining. 1) Why does it happen? 2) What to do? Deep gratitude.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Nimitta]
13. “Sometimes when I sit I get this really strange feeling that parts of my body (arm for example) are moving but I know in reality I have not moved. It’s usually when I’m in deep concentration. Do you know what is happening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
8. “Toward the end of this morning sitting meditation, my body started shaking from left to right for about a minute or so. While this was happening, I was observing it without getting panicked or trying to stop it and then it stopped shaking. How do you explain this experience?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
1. “When I sit for longer periods, I experience involuntary jerking and shaking. I can suppress it, but in doubt if this is a good idea.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
2. “When I’m following my breathing, sometimes I have a compulsion to breathe deeply into my chest and hold it....Is that something you should recognize as trying to control the breath?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Meditation/Unusual experiences] // [Investigation of states] [Tranquility] [Learning]
2. “Sometimes when I meditate, I have a pleasant sensation similar to goosebumps or light massage on the back of the head....I would be grateful for your advice in understanding it.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Meditation/Unusual experiences ] [Rapture] // [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging] [Impermanence] [Relinquishment] [Characteristics of existence]
1. “When my mind settles, my hands go away from my awareness. Hands feel like they are twisted or in the air. Why is this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Body scanning] [Goodwill] [Mindfulness of feeling]
7. “Upon awakening one morning, I found my mind was locked open in awareness. It seems this was stable as long as I did not do any conceptual thinking. Is this a feature of samādhi? Can it be cultivated?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Present moment awareness] [Spaciousness] [Concentration] // [Right Concentration] [Mindfulness]