Abhinna Experiences - Direct Accounts

Here is a bit about my Background Related to Experiences with Abhinna (Abijna, Abhinnanana)…

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In 1998 I began meditating loosely based on a vipassana type style of focusing on the breath. I had little knowledge of Buddhism at the time. Even today I would say I have little knowledge of Buddhism. I had no group to sit with. I had no teacher to lead or inform me. All I had was a subset of instructions I pulled from S.N. Goenka’s idea of vipassana meditation as explained in the book, “The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation: As Taught by S. N. Goenka.”

I had no attachment to any ideas of reaching deep states of meditation, and I began meditation initially just as a way to relax after stressful days of working in an office and doing something I didn’t enjoy. I had no knowledge of what happened to people that practiced meditation on the breath in earnest with regular practice.

I didn’t care. I wasn’t in it for that. I wanted to find some peace of mind for 20 minutes after work and dinner each day. I found that… and more.

Levels of Jhana came quickly to me. I see now how rare it is to have this happen. At the time – I hadn’t a clue what was going on. I had read that strange experiences may occur during meditation. The book told me not to focus on them, not to become immersed in them, and not to become attached to them.

I didn’t. I let them go as they came. Sure they were amazing sometimes and “i” couldn’t help but attach on some level. I noticed that when I attached to them – they wouldn’t come anymore. Eventually, I was able to stop attaching to the experiences of Jhana entirely – and they progressed right through the levels.

Somewhere around the 8th month after beginning meditation and getting into the higher Jhanas I realized something. I knew people. It’s strange to say it to you because you probably don’t have any sort of knowledge coming from direct experiences about this.

I knew people from the inside that I’d never met before. After a certain point – I’m guessing on the time frame – it was always operating, this special knowledge about the people I was physically present with.

I try to explain deeper about knowing people here. I also did a video about it here.

The experience of knowing someone’s motivations before I had met them was a little odd once I realized it, but it was as natural as knowing the multiplication table. It wasn’t as if I felt it was odd… but, when I compared the new knowledge to the memory of me in the past – I knew I didn’t have that before.

Along with the changes happening due to spending a lot of time in Jhana realms, it was a bit disconcerting at times. It is probably not too much unlike losing one’s mind when it happens and you don’t know why or where it came from. I was truly clueless about what it was all about, but I figured that meditation had started the ability in me.

I didn’t know whether it would last or go away. I didn’t go out and practice it… it just was, and it was just there when I was with other people. I didn’t pay that much attention to it. Quite hard to explain. I’ll try to explain more in the link above and the video if you care to watch them.

If you have also had experience of Abhinna or something else that came to you during meditation – please write and share it with me. Contact me here.

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My experiences with Abhinna (Abijna, Abhinnanana) articles (links below)

The most extraordinary experiences I’ve ever had in my life were Jhana and Abhinna. Of these, Abhinna was by far the most impactful. See more about Abhinna on these pages:

Abhinna Experiences – Direct Accounts

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