Meditation Question

meh_

I'm not an experienced meditator, or a regular one - but I decided to give it a go today. I'm not sure how long I kept it up for in the end - but midway through I felt a very strange sensation. I'm not quite sure how best to describe it - but you know how you feel confined to the space occupied by your body - it was as if this space expanded completely and I lost track of where I was exactly. I felt a fuzzy warm feeling, and my field of vision was filled with a hazy white light. Obviously this was very interesting, and I started thinking about it too much, and it faded after about 3 or 4 seconds.

What is the cause of this? Is this a common experience?

Citta

All sorts of experiences arise. Many of them are probably arising all the time, but its when we sit down to still our minds that we notice them.
In any case whether they are new experiences or simply our noticing them more vividly they are best noted...and then the attention placed back on the breath or whatever the object is.
Its all ok..just continue.

blu3ree

Let it be and it wont leave.

Jason

Yes, this feeling or perception of expansive space is something that many people experience at one point or another, and it can even be developed into what's called the "dimension of the infinitude of space" (AN 9.36). At this point, however, my advice is to just ignore things like this and stick with the breath or whatever your meditation object is. Or, if you're able to easily cultivate meditative states like this, try developing them and then slightly 'lifting' out without destroying your concentration in order to evaluate them and see what levels of stress are still present in the concentration and let them go (see "Jhana Not by the Numbers").

Sabre

This sounds like the perception of the senses doing funny things. It happens to some often, to others not so much, to some not at all, as it seems. But these things are not to be worried about or chased after. When the mind is not used to sitting still for a long time, it can start to throw up these strange perceptions. It can create a perception of expanding body, or just the same make it shrink, tilt, glow or whatever. You may feel like floating, sinking into the ground. Even with eyes open, walls seem to wobble or made of gel. Floors tilting at an angle. It can create some insight into how untrustworthy our perceptions are, but don't let them become distractions, as others have said.

Further on, the mind will not be interested in the body and sight anymore and these perceptions stay away, or if they do appear you can simply turn the attention away from them. So not wanting to disappoint or offend anybody, but no way this has something to do with the formless attainment of infinite space. That'll be something very unlike this experience, nothing to do with perceptions of body or vision.

With metta,
Sabre

meh_

Thank-you for all of your responses. It hasn't happened again since, it was probably just a sense perception issue.

Jeffrey

I would think to myself 'what is this space'? Rather than thinking what it means for the future try and think what your experience is now. But it should be a light hearted searching and not monkey mind.

It might not be the infinitude of space ala as Jason said, rather it might just be feeling the pervading nature of your true Self. Can you see true Self or just a part of a part of a part? In depression people feel this pervading space as everything is colored by the lack of good feeling. Cutting in and noticing that actually helps depression. But you have an opportunity of noticing the nature of mind without horrible suffering burdening you.

The difference between what Jason said about the infinite space jhana and what I am talking about is that the Jhana is a temporary experience whereas noticing the pervading spacious nature of mind is like finding money in your pocket that has been there all along; it is to just notice what your mind does which is just space, sensitivity, and clarity.