What a pleasant surprise! I met my ex-colleague one morning just at the doorstep! He had come over to see my niece and when I opened the door, I was confronted by a bald man with a familiar face. Well, my ex-colleague had just shaved his head, having returned from being a novice monk for a week in Nandaka Monastery in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. He had been meditating and had shared his experience with nimitta. Nimitta is Pali for signs; signs to identify an experience in meditation which will help to assess the success or failure of the corresponding concentration attainments. In the Visuddhimagga, under Mindfulness of Breathing, it is stated the nimitta appears in different form to different people; some like a light touch like cotton or silk cotton or a draught; others like a star or a cluster of gems or a cluster of pearls, etc. My ex-colleague said that it felt pleasant when the nimitta appeared. Now, I wonder if that's the reason for meditating.
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