Meditation experence, Dhyana?
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93,
During my meditation practice I have been having an odd experience as of late. I will sit in asana, regulate my breath to a 5 count in, hold, out, hold until it retains without counting. Then will focus my attention and perform Dhrana upon the breath.
All well and good, but as of late a sense of tension will leave my body usually around my chest region, then a sense of peace and calm will settle over me. Following this is a very physical sense of euphoria and pleasure that hit me all over. A very strong and pleasurable experience.
My question is what exactly is happening? The experience keeps reoccurring so something is going on. I do not believe it is dhyana because from Crowley's descriptions I should become one with the breath etc, that doesn't seem to happen.
Any ideas?
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@Ner said
"...but as of late a sense of tension will leave my body usually around my chest region, then a sense of peace and calm will settle over me. Following this is a very physical sense of euphoria and pleasure that hit me all over. A very strong and pleasurable experience."
I agree that this isn't dhyana.
I'm not sure the phenomena-set has a name. What you describe is a fairly common consequence of meditation. I've never particularly thought about whatis going on at that point, except that it's a distinctive threshold in really meditating.
Joseph Nolen used to call this "the opening of the unitive experience," or words to that effect. I think it is primarily neurological, i.e., a shift in brain function representing the early stages of falling asleep but without ceasing to be awake (that is, self-consciousness awareness remains the central focus). Therefore, the body starts to relax, intellectual preoccupations key out, the field of subconsciousness is more perceptibly accessible, etc.
In fact, that last line alerts me to what this state is (as I said, I've never thought this through before): It's a self-hypnotic state. It feels the same as hypnotic induction, has a similar lead-in, so I'm pretty sure that someone measuring brain functions would find it to be the same thing.
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