Fruition ( phala in Pali ) is the fruit of all the meditator’s hard work,
the first attainment of
ultimate reality, emptiness, nirvana, nibbana,
ultimate potential, or
whatever extrapolative and relatively inaccurate name
you wish to call something utterly non – sensate.
~~`
In this non – state, there is absolutely
no time, no space, no reference point,
no experience, no mind, no consciousness, no awareness,
no background, no foreground, no nothingness, no somethingness,
no body, no this, no that,
no unity, no duality, and no anything else.
“ Reality ” stops cold and then reappears.
Thus,
this is impossible to comprehend,
as it goes completely and utterly beyond
the rational mind and the universe.
~~~
In “ external time ” ( if we were observing the meditator )
this stage typically lasts only an instant
( though the question of “ duration ” will be addressed below ).
It is like an utter discontinuity of the space – time continuum
with nothing in the unfindable gap, exactly like what happens when
someone edits out a frame or sequence of frames of a movie.
It is not that you see a blank screen for a while where they edited the frames out,
instead that part of the movie is just not there.
~~~
The initial aftershocks following the first time this happens at stream entry
( or the first time it happens at the beginning of a higher level of awakening ),
however, can go on for days, and may be mild or spectacular, fun or unsettling,
or some mixture of these.
There are times when it is fun to show off, and this is one of those times.
Aftershocks I have noticed after paths include but are not limited to:
the brief visceral feeling that sensory reality is so intense that
the nerves in the forehead and upper neck may not be able to handle the strain;
the feeling that new brain pathways are now being infused with vibrant life
they lacked before, as if new nerve channels are tingling into life;
the feeling that we have become diffused into the atmosphere without a center, purpose, function, sense of direction, or even will;
a feeling of joy and gratitude bursting through our being
beyond our usual sense of appreciation;
the sense of having at long last discovered what we most needed;
the profound sense of coming home, a quiet awe like
the stillness after a great storm;
rapturous transcendent highs that make anything that happened after the A & P
seem like dry toast; the profound feeling that
something pressed a reset button on reality, causing it to reboot as new, clean,
clear, bright, pristine, and fresh.
On subsequent passes through Fruition of that path,
the mind tends to be refreshed, bright , quiet, and clear for a while,
and milder forms of the above – listed phenomena may occur.
The afterglow can seem to clear out all the junk for a little while.
There is a nice bliss wave that tends to follow
and may take a few seconds to develop.
You can take that bliss wave as a shamatha object if you wish and intensify it,
as a possible option.
~~~
If you have not learned the concentration states yet,
doing so in the afterglow of a Fruition can make them
much easier to attain and master.
The breath may change on the reappearance of “ reality ”,
being a bit deeper, slower, easier, and more fluid.
The total synchrony of the sense sphere that leads to a Fruition
shows a fun physiological fact:
Fruitions always occur at the end of the out – breath,
and reality always reappears at the beginning of the in – breath,
which is one of the cool reasons that
finding the end of the out – breath can be powerful practice.
This article was Inspired by
Buddha’s step by step instructions to obtain Enlightenment
as refined by The Arahant Daneil M. Ingram.
Buy this book for Full Immersion!
