[KenPainter]

Thanks for posting. I've been writing up my own experiences so the only thing I will put in here is that I don't consider these experiences mystical. They are mechanical. Push this button and get this effect.

I think the fifth jhana, the base of infinite space, is explained best in the novel Flatland when he visits Pointland. The point beings know nothing but their own existence and their thoughts radiate a continual blissful stream of relishing infinity and unity. I guess if you're a point in space that's how it would feel. The b-o-i-s is, IMHO, a perceptual illusion that occurs when you successfully exclude external sense data, focusing your attention completely on your own body and thoughts. You become for a time a resident of Pointland. It is quite pleasant, but the life changing stuff does not happen there.