Date: 10/11/2025 10/12/2025
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Sitting Meditation
Breakthrough and Transcendence in Meditative States
Meditative states bring calm, joy, clarity, emptiness, or spaciousness.Yet the true purpose of meditation is not to remain in these states,but to break through them and eventually transcend them entirely.Breakthrough leads to deeper freedom; transcendence frees the mind from all fixation.
1.What Is a “Breakthrough” in Meditation?
1.A shift from experience to insight
Not seeking stronger states,but seeing the truth behind them.
2.Turning from phenomena to awareness
Awareness becomes primary; states become secondary.
3.A deeper relaxation of body–mind structures
The sense of “self” loosens on a fundamental level.
4.A transformation in how one perceives the world
Perspective becomes clearer, lighter, and more awake.
2.Signs Before a Breakthrough
1.Former states feel insufficient
Even pleasant experiences no longer satisfy.
2.A longing for something more real
A subtle sense that “this is not the whole truth.”
3.The self-pattern becomes unstable
Old identity structures begin dissolving.
4.Longstanding issues begin to soften
Insight is approaching.
3.How to Break Through Meditative States
1.Observe the arising and passing of mind phenomena
Deep insight comes from seeing change directly.
2.Let go of the desire to break through
Effort pushes the breakthrough further away.
3.Neither cling to nor reject states
True breakthrough happens through clarity, not force.
4.Rest in steady, open awareness
Breakthrough unfolds naturally in this space.
4.What Breakthrough Feels Like
1.Exceptional clarity
Not excitement, but luminous stillness.
2.A thinning of the sense of self
A shift toward spaciousness and ease.
3.A lighter perception of the world
External pressures lose their heaviness.
4.Awareness becomes the default mode
Natural, effortless, continuous.
5.What Is “Transcendence” in Meditation?
1.Going beyond all states, pleasant or unpleasant
No preference remains.
2.Releasing attachment to meditative achievements
Even deep concentration and non-self experiences are let go.
3.Loosening the subtlest grasping of “I am aware”
The last veil of ego dissolves.
4.Erasing the boundary between practice and daily life
Every moment becomes meditation.
6.Life After Transcendence
1.Natural ease
Life flows without strain or conflict.
2.Non-abiding mind
Awareness rests in openness, not in states.
3.Direct perception
Reality is seen without conceptual distortion.
4.Wise action
Behavior arises from understanding, not habit.
7.Common Misunderstandings
1.Seeking dramatic or mystical breakthroughs
Craving creates obstruction.
2.Mistaking temporary shifts for enlightenment
Breakthrough is progress, not the final stage.
3.Confusing transcendence with detachment
True transcendence is warm, compassionate, and engaged.
4.Believing breakthrough requires force or suffering
It arises from relaxation and clear seeing.
Conclusion
A breakthrough shifts meditation from experience to insight;transcendence returns the mind to its original freedom.By releasing grasping, softening effort, and resting in awareness,breakthrough unfolds naturally and transcendence reveals itself.
