Yesterday I travelled through the Pure Land Jhanas with Kenneth. This is my description of the journey. In quotes you find Kenneth’s views and explanations on the jhanas and how to move from one to the next.
Kenneth told me that he had found the first PL jhana by accident when he tried if saying “Namo Amitabha Buddha” three times will transport the yogi to Pure Lands as told in a story. I did as instructed and found myself in PL1 with no delay or extra steps even though I am very far from being devotional kind of guy.
PL1
“Devotional aspect, feeling of gratitude, feeling of subtle bliss and pleasure”
“Perfect balance of mind and body”
Feeling of relief
Feeling like the roof of the house is blown away
Rapid pulsing at the third eye
Eyes focused at the third eye, attention pointing towards the crown
Body very clearly felt
Warm yellow colour
Moving to the second: “concentrate on the crown”
I felt the brightness increasing and had a feeling like I was rising through the opening of the crown to the light.
PL2
“Like the first one, but more refined”
More subtle and more clarity yet very similar to the first
Feeling of the body less obvious
More energy activity than in the first one, the central channel clearly felt.
Moving to the third: “concentrate on the circuit of chakras from the third eye down, closing the circuit”
PL3
Feeling more heavy, the attention pointing forward a bit above the horizon
Not feeling the top of the head
Less light than in the second, greyish in colour
Pulsing at the third eye, whole space pulsing in a subtle and strange way
Moving to the fourth “concentrate on the whole circuit of chakras”
PL4
“The circuit includes the body and the whole universe”
Energy most active in this one, clearly felt rising energy current without being distracting
Feeling the whole body, top of the head included
Bluish in colour
Moving to the fifth “concentrate on the space around”
PL5
“This one is tricky to maintain, as it falls away easily. One has to surrender to it.”
The space started to become more luminous, very bright
Feeling similar to 6th jhana, a point of consciousness floating in the brightness
The light was pulsing
“Relax the eyes.” I did and the pulsing stopped
Feeling very warm
Bright white light with reddish tones
[Edit: By Kenneth’s definition access to Pure Land jhanas or Nirodha Samapatti means technical third path or 4th Stage of awakening, I must have had the shift sometimes last week, although I did not notice it at the time]