Someone asked: during long periods of meditation, why does the body suddenly flush hot, as if something were crawling all over the skin, along with sweating?

The Heat Flush Is Simply One Form of Rapture

This crawling sensation and sudden heat is a type of rapture (pīti) that can arise — simply impurity performing its natural function, nothing to be concerned about. It is only a passing experience along the way, much like traveling to Chiang Mai and passing through forests and mountains — sights along the road that come and go. It results from the energy of merit and demerit driving the wholesome and unwholesome systems to produce various effects, all of which are temporary and eventually pass.

The Aim of Continuous Sitting: From Deliberate Effort to Automatic Practice

Pra Ajarn described the approach to sitting continuously throughout an entire day, from morning until evening, rather than stopping after just an hour or two. Sit comfortably and keep going; once sitting comfortably, there's no urge to get up and do something else, because getting up feels less at ease than resting body and mind for nibbana itself to refine and correct. The more one sits, the more at ease one becomes, until it's possible to sit across days and nights. The goal is to keep sitting until the practice becomes automatic — much like how today's devices have all evolved toward automation. Once sitting becomes automatic, one can carry out other activities at the same time, while the inner practice continues refining itself and drawing in merit without interruption. The goal, then, isn't just a few hours of sitting, but developing toward at least eight hours or more — where the wonders that come from such sustained, continuous practice begin to reveal themselves.