2nd Jhana, Arising and Passing

So after going up to the 4th Jhana for the first time today under Kenneth's wonderful guidance, I was re-reading the Jhana and Ñana page and it looks like 2nd Jhana is this revered A&P thing... But I can't really grok any specifically special characteristics of it as 1st and 3rd were way more surprising to me to be in for the first time and 4th felt kind of like home. Not that 2nd wasn't nice too. But I guess I must be missing some aspect of the wisdom component of what is going on here because even the term "Arising and Passing" doesn't even make that much sense to me. I guess I am trying to figure out if this is a conceptual misunderstanding or some aspect of the experience of 2nd Jhana that I'm not seeing.

I mean, even in 1st Jhana, stuff is moving all around and its hard to get a hold of whats going on, so there is tons of phenomena happening faster than I can look at it, so I guess to me this means that the phenomena is "arising and passing" annoyingly fast. All I really noticed about 2nd Jhana was that it was less annoying.

I also felt that in 4th Jhana things felt quite similar to my open awareness, but with less "curiosity" and more "being". Is there a link between 4th Jhana and other states?

I'm sure this territory has been well covered, so links to threads would be very appreciated if anyone can recall previous discussion about this.

I feel such immense genuine gratitude to all of you. Thank you.

-Justin

Yeah, the A&P is an important landmark BUT subsequent passes through it during practice, in my experience, are generally less impactful than crossing it during a cycle through the progress of insight. If I were to suggest anything it would be to pay attention to what's happening rather than looking for anything specific, this all plays out very naturally. In 2nd jhana, you're able to see the beginning, middle and end of each sensation in a very clear way by paying attention to it and remaining present i.e. noting sensations accurately.

As for 4th jhana, it feels very spacious and the focus is wide but effortless so I can see where you're coming from. Try becoming more curious about what's happening and this may help a bit. This jhana is also where you can begin to investigate the arupa jhanas, and other interesting concentration states so, in a sense, you're correct about the connection to other states.

This is just my two cents worth so don't take it as gospel or anything, I just saw that this thread hadn't been responded to so hopefully others will be able to add something and perhaps clarify, or correct what I've said so far.

Practice well and ask questions!!
- Tommy