Fear is just a defilement. Don't let it take over. The real you is not afraid. The problem isn't losing yourself, the problem is the fear coming up blocking you from making progress.walker8476 wrote:I've been meditating for about ten years now but lately I get to a point where I have a very still mind, no thoughts and no awareness of my body. There's a feeling of losing myself, like there is no me anymore. It's very disconcerting. Just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.
Where Did I Go?
- TreeSleeper
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Re: Where Did I Go?
Re: Where Did I Go?
Yes, and in general spending much more time in them. You need more familiarity.walker8476 wrote:Do you mean investigating these states of awareness in more detail to understand their nature?CedarTree wrote:You may have to start spending considerable more time in them to start finding elements of construction within the mind. At this point of the practice if you are there it becomes subtle work.
Practice, Practice, Practice
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Re: Where Did I Go?
I agree. I think the disconcerting feeling is fear. I didn't recognise it as fear at the beginning.TreeSleeper wrote:Fear is just a defilement. Don't let it take over. The real you is not afraid. The problem isn't losing yourself, the problem is the fear coming up blocking you from making progress.
Now that I know what it is, I've been more open and allowed the fear to arise and fall away naturally and I'm finding that I no longer have the disconcerting feeling and I can spend more time with the feeling of no-self for longer.
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Re: Where Did I Go?
Walker, my feeling, and I can be wrong, is that you are fabricating a state of mind, stillness and a loss of self. Anything that arises, be it a concept or phenomenon, is to be seen as empty of self and impermanent. You are still observing all of this taking place but 'toying' with it as something 'meaningful'. It is just what you have associated in your thinking as being in a 'higher' state. Progress is not landing in or on something. It is not a measurable thing. This is why jhanas, meditative absorptions, can be misleading if there is not the right view accompanying them. They can lead to a form of nihilism. Balance is very important.walker8476 wrote:I agree. I think the disconcerting feeling is fear. I didn't recognise it as fear at the beginning.TreeSleeper wrote:Fear is just a defilement. Don't let it take over. The real you is not afraid. The problem isn't losing yourself, the problem is the fear coming up blocking you from making progress.
Now that I know what it is, I've been more open and allowed the fear to arise and fall away naturally and I'm finding that I no longer have the disconcerting feeling and I can spend more time with the feeling of no-self for longer.