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  1. A Winding Path of Progress/

Doing what feels right

·4 mins·
Challenge Jhana
Table of Contents
Me in the forest

Hi 🙂,
something I started doing recently was engaging with strangers much more positively. Saying hello with a big smile makes both of our lives better. It’s literally spreading positive vibes. (I don’t do this on the streets of Berlin, only in my small town, around the office and with cashiers.)

In the past I would have apprehensions about saying hello first to people in the forest. I had no problem to respond, but it mostly felt unnatural to be on the offensive. Now it feels completely natural to me. This is not something I decided to change. It just happened as a side-effect of the other things I did in my life. In this same way many other previous “problems” have also gone away.

Commitments #

My ongoing commitments are:

What I’m working on #

For context, see /now.

  • Looked into German politics in preparation for the elections. Resume of the Ampel coalition, current hot topics and likely future outlook.
  • Various continued unfocused research on nutrition and health.

Challenges #

Applying a specific learning or philosophy for a week (see project.)

Last one #

Last weeks challenge was: Keep doing the jhanas every morning.

I was able to get into a deep meditation most days. Each day I sat primarily in one jhana.1 The dominant vibration of the jhana would stay with me for practically the whole day2 after the meditation. This was hugely impactful. In 20 minutes I could set a constructive mood, which would carry through the entire day. Past meditation and relaxation exercises only brought a temporary release. A good measure for sure, but no discernible effect, which I could still detect 8 hours later. With jhanas it’s different. They’re that strong for me.

I will keep working toward jhana mastery.

Next one #

Usually my mind sets a schedule, decides what I eat, when I go to bed and much more. The last months I have developed a greater awareness of what would be good for me at any moment. What feels right. That feeling is routinely overruled by my mind though. I enact this self-control all the time. Even when there isn’t any need for it.

The jhanas have also demonstrated to me the power of aligned action. In J3 my body would shake itself just in the way needed, to fix any physical imbalances. One arm is tense? 10s of wild shaking later everything would be nice and relaxed and balanced. So for this week:

Do what feels right. What my body and intuition tell me.

Where this will be useful

Here are some instances where I went against my instinct:

  • Stayed awake for two more hours even though I’m already very tired
  • Ate based on appetite, not hunger
  • Got hung up and work on an unimportant topic based on some irrational fear
  • Worked past my limits without a break
  • Stayed inside, even though the sun way very enticing

The above will be improved with this challenge. A disconnect from my body also denies me opportunity for very aligned action like:

  • Eat this
  • Move like that
  • Go outside
  • Take a break
  • Drink some water
  • Time to work
  • Spend time with my partner

I also want to further develop this sensitivity.

Both the coordinated and directed actions of my mind and the sensitive and balanced actions of my intuition have their place. Currently I’m skewed too much towards planning and thinking. This challenge intends to bring about a better balance.

All the best,
Jonathan


PS: Please let me know if you have any comments, feedback or criticism.

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  1. This was in line with my goals. To gain a better understanding of the jhanas and perhaps even mastery, I would need to sit in each individual jhana for a long time. I got my definition of jhana mastery from this retreat (specifically in “An Introduction to the Jhānas.”) Among other things, it is a thorough familiarity with all of a jhana’s aspects. ↩︎

  2. It only waned as I got tired in the evenings. ↩︎

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