Five experiences 止修五覺受／體驗

Five experiences (Tib. ཉམས་ལྔ་, nyam nga; Wyl. nyams lnga) – these experiences accompany the development of shamatha:

1. 動念受 At the beginning thoughts will arrive one on top of another, uninterrupted, like a steep mountain waterfall. This is the experience of movement (གཡོ་བའི་ཉམས་, g.yo ba'i nyams).
   
2. 獲得受 Gradually, as you perfect meditation, thoughts become like the water in a deep, narrow gorge. This is the experience of attainment (ཐོབ་པའི་ཉམས་, thob pa'i nyams).
   
3. 串習受 Then it becomes like a great river slowly winding its way down to the sea. This is the experience of familiarity (གོམས་པའི་ཉམས་, goms pa'i nyams).
   
4. 堅固受 The mind then becomes like a still and placid ocean, ruffled by only the occasional ripple or wave. This is the experience of stability (བརྟན་པའི་ཉམས་, brtan pa'i nyams).
   
5. 究竟受 The fifth experience is that of consummation (མཐར་ཕྱིན་པའི་ཉམས་, mthar phyin pa'i nyams) which is described as an oil lamp that is not blown by the wind, resting bright and clear, unmoved by anything.
   

Internal Links

• the Nine ways of resting the mind
• the Five faults
• the Eight antidotes