Been trying to get back to it for 2 weeks and it hasn't happened.
tintran
victoria bc canada Explorer
About 2 weeks ago, while chanting Amida Buddha's name (in Vietnamese) while laying down I fell into a state of mind that is hard to describe but when I got out of it to get up to go pee, I realized that it was the best feeling that I have ever felt in my life. I asked my uncle what it was and he said it was the beginner's taste of bliss.
Have you felt this before? It was like boundaryless, no thoughts of self, ... if i had to compare i'd say it's better than orgasms.
Since then i hope to get back into that state of mind and possibly go even deeper but no luck so far..maybe the thought of me getting back into it is now a distraction that prevents me from getting back into it.
A little bit about me, my grandmother passed away more than 3 years ago, and since then i have started to chant Amida Buddha's name before falling asleep for about 15 minutes, sometimes 0.5 hour, sometimes 5 minutes. The reason i started chanting because my grandmother used to chant Amida Buddha's name and when she passed, we cremated her and her ashes turned out with many colors, and my uncle from the States were surprised because he's been to many of his friend's funerals and seen their ashes and they were all grayish or white..not multi colored... so I considered it like relics in Buddhism like how some monks leave behind after they're cremated. Because I saw the multi colored ash they were more like colored small gravel with my own eyes and picking the colorful ones out for my aunt to put on her alter.. i started believing stronger. So I would say i have been chanting for about 3.5 years of average 15minutes a day.
When I fell into that state of mind, while in it I didn't realize, but when i got out of it I knew i wanted to be in it. .. like as if a beggar has discovered a diamond...no one told me that i would fall into such state of mind before, or if they did they described it as peace which seemed normal to me ..this state of mind to me was shockingly pleasant like it's a big deal because it's better than anything i have ever felt in my life before. so just wondering if people have felt this before cause if they did, it's definitely worth pursuing.
Comments
No, do not pursue it. Acknowledge it as a positive experience, then move on.
Trying to recapture it, is like trying to turn a butterfly back into a chrysalis.
Clinging to a past experience, will keep you stuck.
Just be glad of it, and keep 'walking'.....
interesting... i'll keep on walking by that i hope you meant chanting.
Whichever way works for you. But don't 'try' to recapture any moment. Just keep practising and experience each experience as it happens, then let it go and move on.
Chanting, meditating, practising daily, Walking the Walk and walking the talk.
Hello
Yes that is all it was.
Well I never. There is something in this Buddhism after all.
Yes, like many here, this is something we are familiar with.
Exactly right. You have a taste and want more ... so what does going deeper entail? Getting instruction, chanting formally, perhaps at a temple, more chanting? Learning bliss induction? Hoping for the best?
Namo Amitaba
Perusing experiences will only hamper growth. Enjoy the moments and let go. Never look forward to it again.
@tintran. If you have an affinity for this form of practice you can find much that will support and nurture you. Honor your beginning experience and at the same time let it fall away.
Keep on 'trying' and eventually it will become apparent it just ain't gonna happen ...
The moment one thinks it's happening again, the grasping, clinging (and somewhat judgemental ) mind will soon put a dampener on it...It is best to just see it for what it is/was "nothing special"
The second Noble Truth cause "Tanha"
I like the term beginner's bliss. Its fairly common for people new to practice that they have a powerful experience. I've heard from lots of people of similar such events and its common enough for your uncle to have a term for it. I haven't had a nice phrase like that to box it up and categorize it before though, so thanks for that.
Like others have said though its a taste of what's possible but trying to chase it will only lead to frustration.
Can't do better than the previous posters, but answering your question yes, I have occasionally had a similar experience, and like you and everyone else I longed for a repeat but discovered it isn't something you can force. It's not even the goal of meditation, only an occasional side effect. A Meditation Teacher in my own type of practice tries to steer you away from getting focused on such altered states of bliss. It sounds like you have a wise uncle.
Yes, it's like the wonder of the small child within. kuhl
The goal of meditation and other such practices is to not have a goal for them
Clinging to even powerful, positive experiences is still clinging.
It sometimes helps me to recall that all spiritual life is just advertising. Nothing snarky or flip about it ... it's just advertising ... good stuff, bad stuff, boring stuff, interesting stuff ... it's just advertising that carries the implicit question, "What is it advertising for?"
@tintran
My dear friend, you may feel from the advice a little like 'Alice down the rabbit hole', if you are familiar with that term ...
Euphoria is cool. Not to be expected but very nice if it happens. Increase your efforts. Everything will be fine.
So I have kept chanting and last time something odd happen was when i noticed a feeling of vast empty space in front of me as i chanted... I have noted the experience and moved on
Nothing much different here than any of the postings above.
Suffering's cause is our attachment to **any **phenomena, whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral and
anything that which we cling to, push away or ignore....will eventually manifest as the cause of our suffering.
Something which you are now expressing an understanding of.
When I first realised emptiness the feeling I got was as close to pure bliss as I can imagine.
I recall bursting out laughing on a train and a few people stared at me.
The feeling went away after about 30 seconds and has never returned.....
Oh, I think it has. But maybe you just didn't realise it was tappin' on your head....
My favourite train. @federica is right. Euphoria and other 'good stuff', does not come or go, it is under the dull clouds always present ...
'Viva Buddha' as we of a euphoric disposition sing ...