Can Makyos Ever Be Dangerous?

[fdrakely]

I read a good bit of the book "Three Pillars of Zen" and they talk about Makyos, or hallucinations during meditation. My question is, can they ever be physically dangerous? 

 

I was just doing a strong determination sit with my eyes closed, and was focusing very hard on dropping any resistance I had to the current moment. About 15 minutes in there was a wonderful feeling of peace that began to grow stronger from my stomach. It was growing rapidly and although my eyes were closed it seemed like the room was getting lighter. This was so unfamiliar to me I was frightened & opened my eyes to stop the meditation. It almost felt like if I didn't open my eyes, I would have left my body. Or the energy would have overwhelmed me and physically hurt me. 

 

Was this a Makyo? Should I have sat through it? I was legit scared. Is there some kind of tolerance we're supposed to be building up before reaching deeper states of meditation? I didn't think I was ready for what was about to happen, which I believe is why I opened my eyes. Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[Leo Gura]

Physically it will not hurt you. But psychologically, of course, you could have a freak out or full mental breakdown -- at least in theory. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you have some serious history of mental disorder.

The ego's only way to defend itself is through trickery and deception. So it will lie, cheat, distract, criticize, get angry, and/or throw tamper tantrums, and stinkbombs of fear.

What you succumbed to here is a mild stinkbomb of fear.

The solution is ALWAYS to just push through and keep meditating until your period is over. Don't let little things like this faze you.

A true Makyo would be something like hallucinating a totally life-like giant hairy spider crawling towards you to eat your head off.

[Ayla]

5 minutes ago, fdrakely said:

was focusing very hard on dropping any resistance

This sounds a bit like the "fighting for peace"  

[fdrakely]

@Leo Gura Thanks. Next time I'll remember it's just an Ego trick. Giant spider 


@Ayla do you mean focusing too hard is a form of resistance? 

[Ayla]

Just now, fdrakely said:

@Ayla do you mean focusing too hard is a form of resistance? 

Yes  

[theinevitableandi]

I stopped meditating once for like weeks because i had some crazy MAKYOs and i thought meditation was letting the devil in or demons ... all this bullshit because of FEAR !! thats what religion did to me it freaked me out about demons entering my body and blah blah blah! bull shit bull shit!

Thoughts are scary! if you really believe they are scary! Ego defense mechanism.!

If you are scared its ok to be scared ... there is a reason why you fear / there are some underlying assumptions , keep inquiring and stay present! 

 

 

[Fishy]

Nothing to be afraid of