Re: Jhana Thorn
Post by frank k » Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:04 am
Have you ever been pricked by a thorn?
It's a different sensation than for example brushing your hand against an unexpected object.
It's a more accute, sharper sensation.
You can hear sounds in all four jhānas.
All 6 senses are operative in all four jhānas.
That's what it means to be percipient of internal rūpa. (See 8 vimokkha, 8 abhibhayatana, etc.)
AN 10.72 says that sound is a thorn in all 4 jhānas, not just the first one.
https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/8samadhi/sound/index.html
The experience of sound in first jhāna is different than fourth jhāna.
But even the experience of sound in any jhāna is going to vary depending on our physical condition, how charged up your jhāna battery is.
For example, someone who has eaten a nutritious and balanced diet to capacity, is well rested, is much more resistant to stress and pressure than
someone who is starving, sleep deprived, irritable.
Jhāna is like you're on a 5 lane freeway in rush hour, all the ordinary people are in rush hour traffic driving at 10% of their maximum speed limit.
The jhāna meditators are in the carpool fast lane, going 100% of their speed limit.
Sound being a thorn in jhāna, is like the jhāna driver in the fast lane, suddenly has an ordinary driver going 10% of the max speed cut into the jhāna fast lane in front of them,
and then the jhāna driver has to slam on the brakes to not ram into the slow driver cutting in.
That's kind of how it feels like when sound hits you in jhāna, it's like your body suddenly has gears locked up for a moment, it's a strange sensation and can be accutely painful.
But if your jhāna battery is charged up really high, the less stessful that thorn feels.
It varies according to your health and the charge capacity of your jhāna battery.
Imperturbable fourth jhāna you can hear sound, and it may feel strange but not painful like a thorn.
You can even hear super loud sounds like sudden thunder that came out of nowhere and it won't scare you or cause painful sensations.
It's only in formless attainments where internal rūpa sensations, including ability to hear sounds or feel mosquito bites with the body, are disabled.
all the known sutta references to hearing sound in jhāna (and not in formless attainments) are here.
https://lucid24.org/sted/8aam/8samadhi/sound/index.html
Re: Jhana Thorn
Post by frank k » Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:14 am
The reason I make the freeway analogy for jhāna,
is because when you go into jhāna, you can viscerally sense your body's currents of energy, those internal jhānic forces instantly ramp up to super speeds, causing your body to feel like it's being inflated like a balloon in some parts, or most parts,
kind of going on the autobahn and being able to driver even faster than the ordinary person's speed limit.
The body and mind in jhāna are operating at different energetic frequencies than ordinary consciousness.
Then when sound hits your ear,
it feels like the body suddenly has to slam on the brakes, shift into lower frequencies to process sound.
There's a reason the Buddha made the analogy of sound being a thorn in jhāna, because it literally can feel accutely painful like being pricked by a thorn.
If sound was an unsurmountable obstacle preventing one from entering jhāna, then you'd think the Buddha would make a more sensible simile, like sound is a gate or a moat that prevents entry into the fortress.
See "jazzy" effect:
https://lucid24.org/tped/j/jasi/index.html
J.A.S.I. ('Jazzy')
JASI = Jhānic Automatic Spinal Inflation
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