Some quick notes about my practice before I get into it.

I’ve been meditating off and on since 2015 and fairly seriously from 2017-2020 (my practice fell off some during COVID).

At the beginning of the year I set an intention to work through Ven. Bhikkhu Analayo’s Satipatthana and Anapanasati guided meditations as well as his accompanying practice manuals (Satipatthana, The Direct Path to Realization and Mindfulness of Breathing: A Practice Guide and Translations).

My practice went in fits and starts this year, but I worked through all seven weeks of Satipatthana and recently have been really enjoying practicing with the Anapanasati meditations. Which has been a huge shift for me.

Last night, while working through the fourth tetrad (contemplation of impermanence, arousing dispassion, contemplation of cessation, and letting go), after having aroused the seven factors of awakening by working through the first three tetrads, I had a insight into impermanence of all five aggregates. This was while listening to the fifth out of six guided meditations.

All sense of a solid self dissolved into the flow of impermanence. I felt not like a solid object in space, but like four rivers flowing in a larger river (first four aggregates flowing in the river of consciousness).

This persisted for quite awhile. And after getting up to tell my girlfriend about it I wanted to meditate more (usually after one session I get distracted or tell myself, okay that’s my practice for today, but this time I wanted to try to repeat the experiment).

So I put on the last guided meditation for the first time. In this meditation he teaches you how to skillfully shift from one tetrad to another in order to energize or calm the mind through the awakening factors.

Again I entered this flow state. Just a river of aggregates. Contemplating cessation it was like watching the flow of experience bounce from the end of the out breath, to the end of the in breath, back and forth. And this was accompanied by supreme joy and contentment. The feeling of freedom and peace. Just letting go into this flow of awareness.

I feel like I have found the great joy in meditation and want to practice. It no longer feels like a chore. And it feels like now that I’ve traced my way up the path, and been shown how to get there, that I can do it again and again and again, as long as I keep practicing and learning the way.

So I guess my question is this. Is direct insight into the impermanent nature of all five aggregates Stream Entry? It feels like being a stream. Like all experience is this stream. No separate observer. Just the flow of impermanence.

Feedback, insights, questions, and advice on how to deepen my understanding all appreciated.