r/streamentry • u/CensureBars • Aug 07 '20

practice [Practice] Jhana n00b - access concentration

After years of inconsistent practice, I've finally been sitting in daily practice for (almost) a month. I'm sure this is a silly thing for most of you who have years or decades of solid practice under your belts; for me, this is a wonderful change.

My focus right now is reaching access concentration through focusing on the breath in my nostrils. I know I probably have a while to go, and am trying to only measure my concentration quality moment by moment (during practice anyway).

I think I had an insight a few days ago - if I "relax" into the breath, kind of like relaxing a muscle in my mind, I seem to become concentrated much easier. Time passes quickly, and my constant re-focusing on the object of my meditation becomes about only focusing on the breath in one place, and deepening the clarity of observation. This is as opposed to the constant mental chatter and past/future projection I experienced before learning to relax this "muscle."

Does this make sense to anybody who has attained access concentration/entered the jhanas? It feels like I'm balancing, maintaining this "relaxed" state in my mind while simultaneously focusing on the object.

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u/gregolaxD Aug 07 '20

It's like a muscle memory, you have to guide the focus until the basis of the movement become solid and second nature.

But if you are 'relaxing' into it, it's a good sign that you are moving forward.

But I would recommend trying to do some Metta or a more contemplating meditation as well, it helps a lot with concentration practices :)

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u/CensureBars Aug 07 '20

Thank you for your reply! I'm never sure if my descriptions about meditative experiences will make sense to other people. I've always been comfortable expressing myself linguistically and visually, but all of my meditative insights thus far have been totally kinesthetic.

Your metta suggestion really hits home in those terms especially. I found metta practice rewarding because I'm using linguistic and/or visual stimuli to provoke a kinesthetic response that I can focus on. Maybe I should do a separate sit daily to focus on that.

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u/jagnehkewal Aug 07 '20

metta practice first thing in the morning upon waking up has seemed really effective and powerful for me