votthapana-citta (determining), kiriya 9–15. seven javana-cittas (kusala or akusala, if not an arahat) 16–17. two tadārammaṇa-cittas (registering), vipāka
And it is only the number 5 that hearing is experienced. All happening so fast.
The problem is that the four senses are surrounding the face and brain, with the exception of the body sense as the fifth. However, @gregk, you are faithful about jhāna. Where do you check the jhāna mental factors? The instruction is to do that in the heart-base. As you know, many people have finished the Pa-Auk course, but many times more have done jhāna and not gone further. Are all of these people frauds? Even if you say yes, your dream is to have jhāna according to the Pa-Auk method.
Most Westerners believe only in the Pa-Auk method of jhāna, which is also according to the Path to Purification. But many Westerners’ faith ends after samatha, and mostly because they never get there due to lack of faith. Nevertheless, the Pa-Auk method and the Path to Purification have a reviewing method as part of the Five Masteries after jhāna is stable, as determined by the teacher. That emerging and reviewing of the jhāna factors is done in the heart-base.
We also need to remember that the old memes run true. The emotions are seated in the heart. The sound when you hear the birds chirping takes place in the ears. Then it is taken by the mind-door. When you feel an emotion based on sound objects, that takes place in the mind-door. That is in the heart-base. It matches the emotional memes, the days of old, and I think we all agree that the world is less sensitive these days and downright “numb,” and often insensitive, due to the lack of being “in touch” (knowing the vedanā) that arises in the heart-base.
My dream is to have jhana like the Buddha and have 3 knowledges. None of those people i believe have jhana at Pa Auk that I knew well made a big deal about the heart base. I don’t think they are frauds. But I also don’t have a final opinion on validity. The problem is the mind can create all this wonderful illusion.
Well, I guess you don’t know the Pa-Auk method or Sayadawgyi’s standard jhāna teaching. I think you even edited one book under a different title. But this one is Knowing and Seeing. As you know, this is “The Book” in English that represents the method, especially jhāna.
How You Attain Jhāna: When the five controlling faculties—faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding—are sufficiently developed, concentration will go beyond access, up to jhāna (absorption concentration). When you reach jhāna, your mind will know the paṭibhāga-nimitta without interruption. This can continue for several hours, even all night, or for a whole day.
When your mind stays continuously concentrated on the paṭibhāga-nimitta for one or two hours, you should try to discern the area in the heart where the bhavaṅga-consciousness rests, that is, the heart-materiality. The bhavaṅga-consciousness is bright and luminous, and the commentaries explain that it is the mind-door (manodvāra). If you try many times, again and again, you will eventually discern both the mind-door (bhavaṅga) and the paṭibhāga-nimitta as it appears there. You should then discern the five jhāna factors one at a time. With continued practice, you will be able to discern them all at once. In the case of ānāpānasati, the five jhāna factors are:
Applied thought (vitakka): Directing and placing the mind on the ānāpāna paṭibhāga-nimitta.
Sustained thought (vicāra): Maintaining the mind on the ānāpāna paṭibhāga-nimitta.
Joy (pīti): Liking for the ānāpāna paṭibhāga-nimitta.
Bliss (sukha): Happiness about the ānāpāna paṭibhāga-nimitta.
One-pointedness (ekaggatā): One-pointedness of mind on the ānāpāna paṭibhāga-nimitta.