If 'access concentration' takes four hours every day then what am I doing?

[u/xjashumonx]

Started meditating again for the first time in years and getting what I consider beneficial results. I've only been doing 30 minutes a day once or twice a day to build up my stamina. I'm going to aggressively avoid any Buddhist terminology and try to explain things in my own words here. After some initial difficulty what's emerged is a much more calm and fairly persistent feeling even after I finish meditating. I sit down and get a kind of stable united feeling in the body that is very pleasant, and to my surprise, compassionate feelings toward myself and others (something much removed from my typical state.) Lately I've had observations about how my senses work. For example Im beginning to regard seeing as more of a flat image as opposed to the typical way which I would say is more like looking out of a window. The phrase I've heard "in the seeing there is only seeing" now seems significant to me. And today after meditating I had a stronger sense that my body is basically empty space except for whatever nerves are being stimulated.

I say all that just to give you a sense of what I get out of my meager practice. And it's not all roses, either. The first ten minutes after sitting down is pretty killer tbh. None of this is what I would call easy or effortless. So this leads to my question, what's going on here? I'm not some genius meditator. I would say I'm probably less inclined than almost anyone. I'm definitely nowhere near jhana or even access concentration by the standards I've been introduced to here. So where are these benefits coming from? How is this ultra elementary stage described in Buddhism? If jhana IS meditation, then that means I'm not even meditating, right? The benefits feel substantial, though.

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[u/JhannySamadhi]

Access concentration doesn’t require four hours. If you meditate 2+ hours per day, you can usually get there within 30 minutes provided your stability has been well established over time. You’ll know when it’s beginning because you’ll feel really good and usually there will be a mind generated light that will gradually increase in brightness.

Jhana is not required to be meditating. You can get plenty of benefits without jhana. True jhana is a high tier attainment. 

[u/Impulse33]

Try being sensitive to the five hindrances and apply the appropriate "antidotes".

Antidotes can be found here in an organized manner, https://www.spiritrock.org/practice-guides/the-five-hindrances.

[u/Diced-sufferable]

So where are these benefits coming from?

You literally calmed down. The mind can be a whirlwind of activity and it takes the body along for the ride.

[u/Turbulent-Food1106]

Your mindstream is becoming more purified even by the small bits of concentration you are doing (not so small I would say!), and insights are then able to arise.

[u/Content_Substance943]

Ime, 2.5 hours is the sweet spot where I will feel elevated all day. Not access though. Been in access a couple times outside of retreats. It is blissful so say the least.

[u/fabkosta]

I would start at the beginning to clarify matters.

When you sit, according to your own assessment, what percentage of time are you spending on the intended meditation object versus being lost somewhere? This is to assess your own level of concentration. Ideally, it should be at minimum 70% of time spent sitting in my opinion, 80% is good to continue from pure concentration to whatever else you do (e.g. mindfulness of something).

[u/xjashumonx → u/fabkosta]

Im probably only mentally focused about two thirds of the sit, but I've gotten close to 75%. Lately I've found it less arduous to bring the mind back, and less discouraging when it does wander off. Are you suggesting to get to 80% stability on the object before employing techniques related to mindfulness?

[u/gwiltl]

These benefits are coming from a degree of stillness of mind. That's all that is required. If you're having insight into "only seeing", it is an indication of that. Jhana is not the elementary stage of meditation. You can say it's the perfection of meditation. So, it's meditation in the truest sense. But that doesn't mean you are not practising meditation. Tangible benefits are the surest sign.

[u/dhammadragon1]

Why do we meditate ? We sit to observe our mind AS IT IS, and not as we want it to be. Wisdom comes from observing whatever the mind throws at us. There is nothing to reach or gain. There is just observing. It doesn't matter if you have access concentration, if you are in a jhana state or if there is a big storm. There are all states of the mind and they should be observed. The way is the goal! Access concentration or the jhanas are not the goal. They also just come and go like everything else. Just walk the walk.

[u/Various-Wallaby4934]

I need a meditation practice that helps my focus at work and brings me clarity and peace... do you lovely people think developing a twice a day one hour each practice can help me? at the moment I struggle deeply with fear, anxiety, stress, and repressed anger, guilt, fear, shame, nearly all the time.

[u/xjashumonx → u/Various-Wallaby4934]

What you describe is exactly how I would describe my state of mind before I decided to try meditating again. It felt absolutely hellish. Just doing 20-30 minutes really took the edge off in a big way. But I wasn't able to dive right in. And there were plenty of times where I had to just quit ten minutes in because I couldn't calm down. Meditating is also very physical and requires its own kind of conditioning. I wanted to do an hour or more right away, but in my case, it just wasn't physically or psychologically feasible. I'm optimistic tho that I'll be at the point soon since things are going pretty well

I personally just sit down and wait until I calm down. I don't apply any method whatsoever until I calm down. Then I just let myself focus on my breathing without trying to control it at all. I let it be shallow, deep, long, short, whatever. If I'm itchy I just scratch it. If I'm uncomfortable, I move. I just kind of have faith that an equilibrium will emerge if I'm patient. Once that happens, I follow the advice to just focus on a pleasant sensation and forget about everything else.

[u/Melancholoholic → u/Various-Wallaby4934]

Even 5 minutes a day can be transformative if you do it every day. Don't try to start at 2 1 hour sessions a day. You'll almost certainly not stick with it.

It's easy to lose perspective when hearing from advanced practioners, but it doesn't take that much for incredible change when you're just an average, spun-out Joe.

Just be consistent and patient

[u/Common_Ad_3134]

It reads like you're doing a sort of homebrew meditation. Is that right? Homebrew meditation is fine – great even – if it gets you where you want to go. But it seems to be leading you to doubt and confusion.

For example, you're referencing this in a post about jhana:

The phrase I've heard "in the seeing there is only seeing" now seems significant to me.

Afaik, the source for that is the Bahiya Sutta. To my knowledge, that sutta is not about jhana.

And again, that's totally fine if it gets you where you want to go. But if you're frustrated, maybe look for some concrete instructions from a trusted teacher and follow those. The sidebar has several links to sources for jhana: Burbea, Brasington, The Mind Illuminated.

Trying to get coherent practice advice on a sub like this is probably counter-productive unless you've identified posters who use the same instructions as you, or at least have similar orientations in their practices. In particular, there are lots of variations in jhana teachings – and plenty of teachers simply don't teach them at all.

[u/xjashumonx → u/Common_Ad_3134]

It's not so much that, but wondering where the state of my practice fits in the Buddhist paradigm. I experience far less frustration and doubt now than I did in past attempts to meditate. I can't say I fully understand what jhana is, but I would be content to just have enough focus to do mindfulness meditation and get closer to stream entry. It's definitely not a preoccupation of mine. I have heard it said tho that you can't get to fruition without being able to reach first jhana.

[u/dave2048]

Ayya Khema’s advice, according to Leigh Brasington: “do it faster.”

[u/xjashumonx → u/dave2048]

Interesting. I've had that thought myself. It seems like once you know the territory, you can get back to where you were much sooner.

[u/adivader → u/xjashumonx]

Yes! So if one is meditating for half an hour every day, and one wants progress, its a good idea to do weekend 'retreats' at home. Clear your schedule so that saturday sunday are free and crank out 4 to 6 hours per day. Lots of progress is possible.

[u/Common_Ad_3134 → u/dave2048]

"do it faster"

For context, afaik, that was only after he'd done all 8 jhanas, right?

[u/dave2048 → u/Common_Ad_3134]

I think it regarding traversing(?) the four rupa jhanas. It was in his book Right Concentration. The book does read more like his journal of notes that he wrote while studying. It’s like a collection of all of his shortcuts.

[u/Common_Ad_3134 → u/dave2048]

I found the exchange in Right Concentration:

A year later I sat with Ayya for five weeks. I learned jhānas six, seven, and eight and was thoroughly enjoying running ’em up (one to eight) and running ’em back down (eight to one). Not too long after I gained some skill at doing this, I was again in an interview with Ayya, and she said, “Now you must do insight practice in the same sitting after you do the jhānas.”

“But it takes me the whole sitting to go up and back down,” I protested.

“Do them faster.”

I thought it was worth mentioning that this happened after he learned the jhanas, because the OP hasn't gotten to jhanas yet. It's not really possible for them to do jhanas any faster. I would guess that if the OP tried to do them faster, it wouldn't be very helpful.

[u/proverbialbunny]

When meditating correctly the effects from the session linger throughout the day falling away slowly. It’s like microdosing.

When in a lingering elevated state from the previous session it becomes quicker to build up, so a 2 hour session turns into a 30 minute session into a 15 minutes.

Isolation makes this easier. Work can pull one out of this making it more challenging. Some people find long 2+ hour sits beneficial. Others find mediating twice a day to work. In my situation I mildly carried the tranquility of my practice throughout the day, a sort of 24/7 meditation which worked well for me. Ymmv.

[u/xjashumonx → u/proverbialbunny]

Interesting. What you say resonates with my own experience a lot.

When in a lingering elevated state from the previous session it becomes quicker to build up, so a 2 hour session turns into a 30 minute session into a 15 minutes.

So you mean that when you meditate longer, you cover the same ground sooner?

[u/proverbialbunny → u/xjashumonx]

In my personal experience the enjoyment and tranquility feels nice so you just keep going without a timer. This builds. If I feel like I have to meditate or I’m not enjoying it longer sessions are worse than shorter sessions. I’d rather work out my issues instead of meditate at that point.