Rapture is joyously emotional. Tranquility is spatial & peaceful.

The effort to concentrate awareness on the origination & dissolution of objects without clinging seems to get progressively easier for me on retreat. The 1st days can be difficult as the mind resists settling into steady observation. Invariably I arrive with unacknowledged fatigue that must be slowly rested into silence. As energy collects, observation without clinging may trigger rapture or a deeper state which is a vast calmness known as tranquility.

It is as if the gaps between origination & dissolution widen -- hence the spatious quality of tranquility. I seem to catch myself more quickly moving toward an originating object. Because awareness is so quick, the origination takes place without ownership or "inhabiting" the object. The fireworks of origination is in clinging to the object as I or mine. Without the clinging, objects arise & dissolve in a calm flow of consciousness. It is very peaceful.

The dazzle that goes with rapture fades to fascination. The only word allowed on a silent retreat is "wow!" That drops away as observation deepens. I only wonder with greater & greater calm focus, "what's next?" The originating objects get more subtle & the clinging more intricately hidden & mysterious. Seeing through a veil may trigger revelation & rapture but they are themselves seen through quickly. Disturbances to noting become more & more rare.