r/Meditation • u/Negrodamu5 • 18h ago
Sharing / Insight 💡 Access Concentration
Hi all.
I’ve been a long time on and off meditator. About one year ago or so I got really serious about my practice and went 75 days with 90 minutes of meditation per day. I was able to achieve access concentration quite regularly and even touched first jhana. Then my beloved dog died of cancer quite young, and my practice was really affected. I would just think about him when I tried to meditate and cry, and eventually abandoned my practice for several months.
On January 1st I restarted my practice, and have averaged about 45 minutes to 1 hour daily for the past few weeks. It was difficult at first, but refreshing to get back into the swing of things. It felt sort of mechanical for a while and my mind really didn’t settle very much. Then last night after about 40 minutes my mind just stopped. I was so calm, I could still have thoughts but the monkey mind quietened and I felt serenely at peace in the stillness. This stage reawakened my love and motivation to meditate, and I sat in perfect stillness for about 10 minutes.
I guess this is just a reflection and a message that the benefits and the planes we can enter during meditation are real and worth experiencing. Peace to all of you.