Looking at biographical stories of many enlightened people, I have formed a theory that it takes roughly seven years for a meditator to go from start to complete realisation.
After that, according to Frank Yang, it takes roughly seven years for the realisation to be more or less integrated with everything in life.
Additionally, it turns out that much of your body is replaced within a seven year timeframe. In fact a good chuck gets replaced on a weekly and monthly basis.
There is so much change going on inside. There is a constant death-birth going on all the time. It’s no wonder the body is vibrating all the time.
Now, if the hand-over of sankara from old to new (elements that make up this body) is significantly reduced and eventually stopped, it would take roughly seven years for a whole new you to emerge.
How do we stop this handover?
Perhaps equanimity is the answer? If we stop giving significance to whatever is old and not react to them when they show up, it’s possible that the old elements don’t shift that stuff into the new. The new ones will arise blissfully unaware of the old, eventually leading to a total blank slate. From this blank slate, perhaps new ways of being and acting in the world is possible, until then old habit patterns color and shape the possible ways of being and acting.
That is not to say that burst of newness is not at all possible before. It’s just that when we live unconsciously, we may not be open to new possibilities just yet and mostly just relent to the automatic ways of being and acting.
Meditation, not just formal meditation on the cushion – but even off cushion, can aid the process of cultivating equanimity. The old habit patterns disappear with the dying old elements, leaving you fresh and new.
Disclaimer: Ofcourse this post is a wild conjecture. I am not claiming any scientific research backing anything I share here, or for that matter in any of the other posts on meditation I have on this website. I am simply wondering out loud. I am not asking you to believe it, or agree to it, or prove it, or disprove it or even look at it with wonder like I am. If this post rubs you the wrong way, you should totally feel free to brush it aside as nonsense. I will likely do it myself after sometime.