Miemie's Experience of Attaining the First Jhāna and Eliminating the View of Self

Miemie: In May 2024, after initiating access concentration (未到地定) and continuing the practice, inverted thoughts (颠倒念) arose in June. He began fantasizing about the state of the first dhyāna (初禅) and the state of enlightenment, which resulted in the loss of meditative stability. After losing this stability, he felt remorse and regret, forming a negative cycle that made it impossible to settle the mind during meditation.

By July, while copying the Lotus Sutra (法华经), he initiated four types of repentance. 1. No longer taking the realms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas seen in the sutras as his own. 2. No longer asking questions while already holding preconceived answers. 3. No longer pretending to understand the realization of the mind and perception of its true nature (明心见性) or prajñā (般若). 4. Vowing to forever eliminate self-conceit (我慢). After repenting and making these vows, a wholesome state (善境界) arose during meditation that night, followed by an auspicious dream. His physical and mental condition improved, and he no longer held excessive expectations (有所求) regarding the fruits of his practice.

In October, he went again to pay homage to the Sixth Patriarch (六祖). During the homage, he was much more sincere than before; the petty calculations in his mind disappeared. He no longer yearned for miraculous experiences, and his thirst for wisdom increased. During this time, a passage from the Platform Sutra (坛经) arose in his mind, roughly meaning: "If one does not practice according to the teachings, why make the effort to come from afar?" He felt great trepidation, realizing he had been too indulgent with arising thoughts and mental activities before.

One day, walking near a temple, he came before a tree and suddenly had the thought: "Only by regarding everything as one's own life can compassion be maximized. May I attain ultimate equality." A few days later, during the evening service at the temple, a tremor passed through his body. After returning, he felt extremely sleepy and slept for almost 24 hours. Upon waking, he felt that many concepts formed after birth had vanished. Walking down the street and seeing objects, he realized that all the names were labels he himself had assigned based on shape, smell, color, use, etc. In that moment, he understood that what he had been discriminating all along were his own five aggregates (五蕴).

Commentary: Miemie's entire account is concise and clear, devoid of the word "I," objective and plain, as if narrating someone else's story. There is not a trace of personal emotion, self-conceit, or boastfulness. Had he not been asked to share his practice experience, he would not have disclosed his attainments. He lacks any desire for self-display and is extremely low-key.

Why is he so low-key, preferring to remain unknown? It is the selfless virtue born from genuine realization and cultivation, the meritorious result of samādhi eliminating afflictions. Of course, it is also due to his past life disposition of being indifferent to fame and gain, laying a good foundation for practice in this life. He forms an extremely sharp contrast with those falsely awakened without genuine cultivation – this is virtue (德行). Because of such virtue and cultivation, he attracted the blessings of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma-protecting deities. At every step, there were points of awakening and hints, silently assisting him to complete the transformation of body and mind, even to the point of rebirth, avoiding wrong paths and detours. It also aided him in eliminating karmic obstacles and afflictions, gradually giving rise to pure vows, and gradually weakening the view of self.

Miemie: In December, on Amitabha Buddha's birthday, while reciting the Buddha's name, after about three hours he felt his strength wane. He generated the thought: "May all living beings be free from suffering and attain eternal bliss. May the true Dharma flourish eternally without discord." Then his strength returned. When he resumed chanting, he found his breath was continuous and unceasing. Feeling strange, he held his breath for several minutes without feeling any discomfort. He then chanted for over ten more hours without needing to change his breath or feeling fatigue. For a period after that, he felt something flowing within his body, as if there was a hollow shell-like body inside.

In April 2025, he traveled to Lhasa on foot with several fellow virtuous friends. After over 20 days, he went directly to Lhasa by bus. At the Jokhang Temple, seeing the people there who prioritize practice over making a living and earning money, he was deeply moved. He gave rise to the thought that it would be good to practice continuously in this place. Then, during meditation, that tremulous sensation arose again, spreading throughout his entire body. The awareness of his whole body became unified, accompanied by a feeling of joy. Subsequently, a force seemed to be tearing his skull apart from both sides. Feeling fear, he withdrew.

In the following days, whether walking, sitting, or lying down, he felt everything around him vibrating along with him, accompanied by a constant, reasonless joy in body and mind. One day while meditating at the entrance of the Jokhang Temple, a doubt arose: "These people practice so diligently yet haven't attained realization. Is it because they have an aim?" As this thought arose, a sense of purpose within his mind vanished, and he simply sat there. Then, it was as if he heard a voice say to him: "Miemie, you must let go of your subjective conceptions about the Buddha, about people, things, and phenomena. Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are not three different things (心佛众生三无差别)." Immediately afterward, he experienced a sense of detachment from his thoughts, feelings, and body, and suddenly understood the meaning of "The five aggregates are not the self, are not different from the self, and do not reside within each other (五蕴非我，不异我，不相在)."

After rising from meditation, he found that the previous sense of a solid, real self had disappeared; he could no longer find an "I." Looking at the surrounding environment, it felt very different. Previously, there was a strong sense of participation in all this, but now it was like watching a picture – there was no sense of purpose in participating, nor any judgment. Moreover, once this sense of detachment appeared, he felt incredibly light and free, far more relaxed than the joy brought by the whole-body vibration. He suddenly understood what "observing feeling as suffering (观受是苦)" meant – that pleasant feeling was essentially still a kind of tension (affliction), incomparable to this feeling of non-attachment.

After returning home, his meditative state receded somewhat, but he still understood very clearly that neither the body nor thoughts and mental activities were the self. His previous view of the Dharma as a kind of religion changed. Now he fully recognizes that what the Buddha taught is the truth of life. It shifted from blind idol worship to the verification of truth, and now his faith in the practice and realization of the Dharma is greater.

Commentary: His account of attaining the state of the first dhyāna is overly concise and sketchy, lacking detail. There may be several reasons: first, a dislike for expression and narration; second, finding it laborious to describe things while in a meditative state; third, personal modesty and aversion to self-display and ostentation; fourth, possibly feeling such states are normal and not particularly special. Whatever the reason, his meditative state meets the criteria for the first dhyāna. Moreover, judging by his described practice process and results, it shows he has severed the view of self. The wisdom of insight during meditation arose spontaneously.

First, he felt the self that could perceive detach from the aggregates of form, feeling, and perception within the five aggregates – this is the meaning of "the five aggregates are not the self." He also perceived that each aggregate is not different from the self, nor do they mutually reside within or fuse with each other. This is the view attained upon severing the view of self. Later, amidst the joy unique to the first dhyāna, he perceived that all feelings are suffering, and the five aggregates are suffering and non-self. At this point, the first step in the practice and realization of the Dharma is complete, ready to embark on the second and third steps. From Miemie's practice process, we see that practice is both difficult and not difficult. The key is to have the resolve, the vow, to have sentient beings in one's heart, and to be willing to liberate them from suffering. Only then can the transformation of body and mind be accomplished.