Branches Upward

My suggestion would be to let experiences come and go of their own accord. While aware of your breath, you can witness the experience without trying to figure it out. It may be far more beneficial in the long run to gain your understanding of an experience through the process of just letting it happen and letting it reveal its “truth” in its own way, as it were, as your learn about it from your repeated experience of it.

Meditation can be like learning to ride a bike – you learn it by doing it. Nevertheless I think it is safe to assure you that you are not about to ride headlong into traffic.

That said, it is not that unusual for the “self” to “disappear” while practicing. At such times the body seems to be empty, you may even be aware of the emptiness of the space around your body. The mind may seem so calm that no thoughts in it arise; no emotions carry you along in their fervorance.

Living continuously as this no-self, one experiences life as though having awoken. And, that one’s previous way of living was like being asleep.

But it is better to let this unfold naturally rather than to try to force it. For it is the self learning to ride the bicycle of the eightfold path in its own good time and its own good way.

Of course, the abode of emptiness can “grow” and you may experience a little more than you expected. But here again, just let whatever you experience “come and go”. This is the wisdom of the way.

On the other hand, if it just feels like your body is disappearing into an ocean of experience or joy, then you might just be exploring the byways and avenues of consciousness. Like a child walks around the neighborhood for the first time, in wonder at all she finds. You might be going for a stroll around the “inside” of reality, just to see what’s there. There’s nothing harmful in itself in this.

But, part of the path of meditation is right concentration, and this can be done by continuing to be aware of one’s breath. Then, if your consciousness goes exploring a little, it will still realize where home is and return to the breath. Again, this is just letting the experiences come and go.