Meditation & The Child-Like state

[Guest SirVladimir]

In a short thread, I would like to introduce you to the point where my practice has gotten, and then I would like to hear back from you, those with deeper knowledge.

As a child, I lived in a world of constant immersion. Nothing smelled better than the atmosphere during a rain. Nothing felt more deep than gazing into a puddle of water. I sobered up from that feeling over time, but never quite lost it. 

Nowadays meditation brings me back to the good old days where everything seemed astonishing. But something more peculiar has gotten my attention. During the practice, my eyes usually stare at a tree just outside the window. I see its branches and leaves waving in the wind. My presence deepens. A feeling of familiarity rises up. I am in a state where the present moment is familiar to me, no matter its appearance. I look at the tree but I realize it's many things simultaneously. It wasn't a tree in the first place. The "state of familiarity" absorbs me. I look at the exact formation of the branches - at their tiny tiny leaves at the top - and how they are related to one another, the shadows they cast, their details. Suddenly, though the perception of the tree remains, the feeling of being in the moment merges with looking on a night sky in rural fields, with looking into dark-blue vents in a factory, with walking in a grandeur naval museum. 

At my current peak of meditation (I am not paying attention to holotropic breathing or psychedelics in this thread), my thoughts merge with the most spontaneous, random experiences such as the above. The meaning of the word "tree" also represents the symbol for standing in an open field, for staring down the vents, for the grandeur museum. Somehow, all those moments, experiences, presences, are connected. And I sit quietly and bathe in that moment, wondering whether a greater unification lurks beyond the corner.

Have you gone through a similar stage? I am asking those who are deeper down the rabbit hole for guidance about what comes next, whether I should focus on something specific. I will figure it out alone if not, but my curiosity couldn't resist but to ask. Thank you. 

[Seraphim]

Yes I had the experience that everything feels familiar. I'm guessing you also have the sense of not being the body? That's amazing and it can become even stronger, that familiar feeling of the objects can turn into a never ending "everything is myself" feeling, and the sense of not being the body can also grow so strong that even the most powerful fears disappear, and the addiction to thinking will disappear, you can go for hours without thoughts if you want to at that stage. I think you should contemplate on the objects and that they feel familiar, but don't go into seeking, stay at the self-inquiry state of surrender, contemplate if it feels interesting and fun, also get spiritual transmissions, there are good ones for free on youtube, they enhance the contemplation. Blessing!