Post by zendancer on Jul 17, 2014 13:23:58 GMT -5
I'll start this thread by listing the kinds of experiences that I think are relatively uncommon, and then other people can add any experiences to the list that they think should be included.
1. Out of body experiences. These are experiences in which awareness is clearly located outside of the body. I've only had this kind of experience one time, but it is well reported in medical literature. The best examples that I've read about involved patients who were under anesthesia during an operation and witnessed the operation from overhead. People reporting this experience are often able to report precisely what they saw and heard from a position near the ceiling of the room. In all of the cases I have read about, and the one experience I personally had, awareness was located within 15 feet of the body but outside of it. In some cases, awareness sees the body from an exterior position, and in some cases awareness sees the world from an exterior position.
2. Absolute Samadhi. This is part of a class of experiences that we can call "unity-consciousness" experiences because selfhood (self-consciousness) totally disappears but awareness remains extant. This experience and/or state of mind usually occurs during sitting meditation. The disappearance of selfhood can be felt as a kind of transition into an alert state of awareness with no content. Nothing is known in this state other than the presence of awareness, and that presence is not known conceptually; it is known directly. As one enters Samadhi, there are usually accompanying somatic phenomena called by Zen meditators "the off sensation"---a kind of skin surface numbness that spreads over and gradually encases the body. It feels as if one is solidifying into something like a block of ice, and there is a sense of coolness associated with it. This experience usually follows a period of intense non-thinking concentration, such as an intense focus upon the breathing process. Thoughts usually cease during Samadhi, and if more than one or two thoughts arise, Samadhi soon dissipates and selfhood returns.
3. Kundalini experiences. These experiences vary tremendously in variety and severity, but seem to involve the activation of energy pathways within the body. Some people discuss them as if they are positive experiences, but the majority of material I've read indicated that there were many negative aspects to these experiences. At least a few people have stated that their bodies felt like they were on fire, and the burning sensation was extremely unpleasant. Enigma can write more about this because he's had experiences with kundalini, and he has described his experiences as a continuing condition.
4. Cosmic consciousness or kensho experiences. I'll write more about this class of experiences later, but in general these are experiences during which selfhood disappears, intellection ceases, and there is a direct self-evident sense of oneness. These experiences sometimes involve a kind of direct intellectual illumination, as if some vast cosmic computer downloaded information directly into the brain or as if the brain somehow became directly connected with some sort of universal intelligence that replaced or reorganized previously-conceived ideas about the cosmos. These experiences often include, or result in, a wide array of different realizations concerning the ultimate nature of reality.
5. Hearing voices that explain something or tell someone what to do. Although hearing voices is common among schizophrenics, there seems to be another class of experiences that are not psychotic in nature. I'm thinking of experiences like the one Zen Master Barbara Rhodes reported where a voice woke her in the middle of the night and told her to take a look at a nearby cabin. She was facing away from the cabin at the time, and tried to ignore the voice, but it returned and was even more persistent in its demand that she take a look. When she turned over, and looked at the cabin, she discovered that it was on fire.
6. Relative Samadhi. Sometimes call "flow," this is probably the most common of the uncommon experiences on this list. Flow is a unity-consciousness-type experience because self-consciousness is absent, but one is fully conscious of whatever is happening. It is a non-reflective mode of mind in which a person gets so engrossed in an activity that time later is felt to have stopped. Flow is often experienced by top-level athletes and mountain-climbers, but it can happen to ordinary people who totally "get into" some activity. Most people who experience flow deeply later describe it like a mystical experience. They only become conscious that they were in an unusual state of mind after the experience has ended because that sort of reflectivity does not occur during the time period of total engrossment.
7. Experiences of chi. These are experiences in which energy pathways in the body have become activated and can be felt. They may be related to kundalini, but if so, they are milder than what the word "kundalini" usually describes. Many martial artists, acupuncturists, and other body workers become aware of chi, and even Eckhart Tolle has described certain body sensing that seems to be related to chi.
I know nothing about channeling experiences, astral travel, seeing angels or demons, etc., so I'll leave it up to others to describe any other kinds of uncommon experiences they've had that might need to be added to the above list.
Although many people may have had experiences of unity-consciousness similar to "flow," which would give them some sense of what a unity-consciousness experience is like, I doubt that many people (other than long-time meditators) have had experiences such as absolute samadhi, cosmic consciousness, OOB experiences, or kundalini. It will be interesting to see how common, or uncommon, these experiences have been for people on this forum.
1. Out of body experiences. These are experiences in which awareness is clearly located outside of the body. I've only had this kind of experience one time, but it is well reported in medical literature. The best examples that I've read about involved patients who were under anesthesia during an operation and witnessed the operation from overhead. People reporting this experience are often able to report precisely what they saw and heard from a position near the ceiling of the room. In all of the cases I have read about, and the one experience I personally had, awareness was located within 15 feet of the body but outside of it. In some cases, awareness sees the body from an exterior position, and in some cases awareness sees the world from an exterior position.
2. Absolute Samadhi. This is part of a class of experiences that we can call "unity-consciousness" experiences because selfhood (self-consciousness) totally disappears but awareness remains extant. This experience and/or state of mind usually occurs during sitting meditation. The disappearance of selfhood can be felt as a kind of transition into an alert state of awareness with no content. Nothing is known in this state other than the presence of awareness, and that presence is not known conceptually; it is known directly. As one enters Samadhi, there are usually accompanying somatic phenomena called by Zen meditators "the off sensation"---a kind of skin surface numbness that spreads over and gradually encases the body. It feels as if one is solidifying into something like a block of ice, and there is a sense of coolness associated with it. This experience usually follows a period of intense non-thinking concentration, such as an intense focus upon the breathing process. Thoughts usually cease during Samadhi, and if more than one or two thoughts arise, Samadhi soon dissipates and selfhood returns.
3. Kundalini experiences. These experiences vary tremendously in variety and severity, but seem to involve the activation of energy pathways within the body. Some people discuss them as if they are positive experiences, but the majority of material I've read indicated that there were many negative aspects to these experiences. At least a few people have stated that their bodies felt like they were on fire, and the burning sensation was extremely unpleasant. Enigma can write more about this because he's had experiences with kundalini, and he has described his experiences as a continuing condition.
4. Cosmic consciousness or kensho experiences. I'll write more about this class of experiences later, but in general these are experiences during which selfhood disappears, intellection ceases, and there is a direct self-evident sense of oneness. These experiences sometimes involve a kind of direct intellectual illumination, as if some vast cosmic computer downloaded information directly into the brain or as if the brain somehow became directly connected with some sort of universal intelligence that replaced or reorganized previously-conceived ideas about the cosmos. These experiences often include, or result in, a wide array of different realizations concerning the ultimate nature of reality.
5. Hearing voices that explain something or tell someone what to do. Although hearing voices is common among schizophrenics, there seems to be another class of experiences that are not psychotic in nature. I'm thinking of experiences like the one Zen Master Barbara Rhodes reported where a voice woke her in the middle of the night and told her to take a look at a nearby cabin. She was facing away from the cabin at the time, and tried to ignore the voice, but it returned and was even more persistent in its demand that she take a look. When she turned over, and looked at the cabin, she discovered that it was on fire.
6. Relative Samadhi. Sometimes call "flow," this is probably the most common of the uncommon experiences on this list. Flow is a unity-consciousness-type experience because self-consciousness is absent, but one is fully conscious of whatever is happening. It is a non-reflective mode of mind in which a person gets so engrossed in an activity that time later is felt to have stopped. Flow is often experienced by top-level athletes and mountain-climbers, but it can happen to ordinary people who totally "get into" some activity. Most people who experience flow deeply later describe it like a mystical experience. They only become conscious that they were in an unusual state of mind after the experience has ended because that sort of reflectivity does not occur during the time period of total engrossment.
7. Experiences of chi. These are experiences in which energy pathways in the body have become activated and can be felt. They may be related to kundalini, but if so, they are milder than what the word "kundalini" usually describes. Many martial artists, acupuncturists, and other body workers become aware of chi, and even Eckhart Tolle has described certain body sensing that seems to be related to chi.
I know nothing about channeling experiences, astral travel, seeing angels or demons, etc., so I'll leave it up to others to describe any other kinds of uncommon experiences they've had that might need to be added to the above list.
Although many people may have had experiences of unity-consciousness similar to "flow," which would give them some sense of what a unity-consciousness experience is like, I doubt that many people (other than long-time meditators) have had experiences such as absolute samadhi, cosmic consciousness, OOB experiences, or kundalini. It will be interesting to see how common, or uncommon, these experiences have been for people on this forum.