Anatta (no-self)

[Maddie]

Is there anything that explains the difficulties that come up after meditating for a while?

[johndoe2012]

which difficulties?

 

please explain.

[Maddie]

which difficulties?

 

please explain.

well in my particular case I've been meditating for a while, and it seems like I'll get to a point where things really begin to seem like they are settling down, and then bam out of no where craving and stuff get very intense.

[Taiji Bum]

well in my particular case I've been meditating for a while, and it seems like I'll get to a point where things really begin to seem like they are settling down, and then bam out of no where craving and stuff get very intense.

That sounds like general withdrawal symptoms.

[Tibetan_Ice]

well in my particular case I've been meditating for a while, and it seems like I'll get to a point where things really begin to seem like they are settling down, and then bam out of no where craving and stuff get very intense.

 

The Vajra Essence emphasizes above all that there is no consistency in the specific experiences from one individual to the next. Everyones mind is so unimaginably complex that there is no way to predict with confidence the types of experiences each person will experience.

 

Here is a list of just some of the kinds of meditative experiences cited in this text that may arise during this training, especially when it is pursued in solitude for many hours each day, for months on end:

 

The impression that all your thoughts are wreaking havoc in your body and mind, like boulders rolling down a steep mountain, crushing and destroying everything in their path

 

A sharp pain in your heart as a result of all your thoughts, as if you had been pierced with the tip of a sword

 

The ecstatic, blissful sense that mental stillness is pleasurable, but movement is painful

 

The perception of all phenomena as brilliant, colored particles

 

Intolerable pain throughout your body from the tips of the hair on your head down to the tips of your toenails

 

The sense that even food and drink are harmful due to your being afflicted by a variety of physical disorders

 

An inexplicable sense of paranoia about meeting other people, visiting their homes, or being in public places

 

Compulsive hope in medical treatment, divinations, and astrology

 

Such unbearable misery that you think your heart will burst

 

Insomnia at night, or fitful sleep like that of someone who is critically ill

 

Grief and disorientation when you wake up

 

The conviction that there is still some decisive understanding or knowledge that you must have, and yearning for it like a thirsty person longing for water

 

The emergence, one after another, of all kinds of afflictive thoughts, and being impelled to pursue them, as painful as that may be

 

Various speech impediments and respiratory ailments

 

The conviction that there is some special meaning in every external sound that you hear and form that you see, and thinking, That must be a sign or omen for me, compulsively speculating about the chirping of birds and everything else you see and feel

 

The sensation of external sounds and voices of humans, dogs, birds, and so on all piercing your heart like thorns

 

Unbearable anger due to the paranoia of thinking that everyone else is gossiping about you and putting you down

 

Negative reactions when you hear and see others joking around and laughing, thinking that they are making fun of you, and retaliating verbally

 

Because of your own experience of suffering, compulsive longing for others happiness when you watch them

 

Fear and terror about weapons and even your own friends because your mind is filled with a constant stream of anxieties

 

Everything around you leading to all kinds of hopes and fears

 

When you get into bed at night, premonitions of others who will come the next day

 

Uncontrollable fear, anger, obsessive attachment, and hatred when images arise, seeing others faces, forms, minds, and conversations, as well as demons and so forth, preventing you from falling asleep

 

Weeping out of reverence and devotion to your gurus, your faith and devotion in the objects of religious devotion, your sense of renunciation and disillusionment with the cycle of existence, and your heartfelt compassion for sentient beings

 

Rough experiences, followed by the disappearance of all your suffering and the saturation of your mind with radiant clarity and ecstasy, like pristine space

 

The experience that gods or demons are actually carrying away your head, limbs, and vital organs, leaving behind only a vapor trail; or merely having the sensation of this happening, or it occurring in a dream

 

A sense of ecstasy as if a stormy sky had become free of clouds While many of us would likely respond to some of those disagreeable experiences by stopping the practice or seeking medical help,

 

Düdjom Lingpa actually called them all signs of progress! It truly is progress when you recognize how cluttered and turbulent your...

 

 

From "The Attention Revolution - Alan Wallace" Edited March 29, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice

[Maddie]

Taiji Bum, yes that occurred to me as well, it does feel like withdraw.

 

TI, thanks for the list. I've been experiencing a few of those exactly as listed. At least its comforting to know its not just me.

[Maddie]

Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm asking the same question a few different ways, but I'm wondering can Vipassana make the issue that your observing seem to flare up?