The Fact of Being is not propped up or verified by any concepts. This
indisputable, undeniable certainty, is obviously present and already
beyond that tireless radio station (the mind). Though experiences,
sensations and thoughts come and go, where are the divisions between
experiences and Awareness?
If limitations cannot be found, could "other" truly exist?
Certainty of Being
-
Found some quotations by Indian teacher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, and wrote some comments in red:
"Now the consciousness, when it gets involved with the body-mind, is the individual. It is conditioned by body and mind. Mind is concepts. Whatever it receives through the five senses, and is stored, that is the mind. And whatever the words that flow out, that is also mind. So when that consciousness is conditioned by the body and the mind, it is individualistic, a personality."
Comments: this is the normal state of ordinary sentient beings, identified totally with their stories, mind, body, "I am this and that".
"And I always tell people, you depersonify yourself by not identifying with the body-mind. When you do that, you are that manifest principle; you are no more a personality, you are only consciousness. When you are in that consciousness state, you are in a position to observe the mind flow, any thoughts occurring to you - you are apart from thought. You don't identify with that thought. Since you observe the body and its actions, you are not one with those; you are apart from that body. Thus, you are now in consciousness; this is the first stage. So when you are only consciousness, you are all manifest; this is to be realized. Then, provided you are, everything is, your world is, and your god is. You are the primary cause, the prerequisite for anything else to exist, whether it be your god or your world. You abide only in consciousness. In your attention, only consciousness should be there. That is the meditation."
Comments: this is one of the four aspects of I AM: the impersonality aspect (see first page for more info on the four aspects). It is seen here that everything is the manifestation of the Universal Source, the Consciousness, and no individual persons is involved in the doing/creating/manifesting/perceiving of life and phenomena: Impersonal Consciousness alone is that which manifests and animates all lives. A personal self as such is non-operational and non-existent.
"Now the next step is - the question raised in the morning - are you in a position to observe consciousness? This is also the final step. When you are in a position to observe or witness consciousness - and, of course, the vital breath, body and its actions - then by virtue of that very observation, you are apart from the consciousness.
So when you are in a position to observe consciousness, you are out of consciousness. Then you are what we call 'the awareness state,' the vijnana or jnana state. Is it firmly stabilized in you, or are you still wavering, vacillating?"
Comments: this is the Realization of I AM. The realization of the True Essence of Being that transcends and is prior to all manifest. It is that Existence, that Self-Existing, Self-Shining Awareness, that stands prior to and witnesses manifest-consciousness. IT does not come and go, it is Pure Existence-Awareness that is Still, Unmoving, Abiding - the non-objective Principle of Awareness alone that witnesses the coming and going of consciousness, as well as dream, and deep sleep.
For my case, impersonality is experienced only after the Realization of I AM - but why is Nisargadatta talking about impersonality first? I asked Thusness this question and he said the order does not matter. And yes, it makes sense - I remember in the past I had episodes of experiencing the 'Intensity of Luminosity' (one of the four aspects of I AM) even before Realization of I AM. Also, Thusness mentioned how Christians can experience the Impersonality aspect and have the experience of 'being lived' through prayer and submission to God alone (without going through the I AM realization). So there is no particular order, they are all important insights and complements each other. There is no 'higher' or 'lower' realizations, they are all necessary.
The reason why Nisargadatta spoke of Impersonality as 'first step' is probably because that is how it unfolded for him, just as I would speak of the realization of I AM as 'first step' because this is how it unfolded for me. It does not have to apply for everyone. The important thing isn't about how it 'unfolds', since these are just some timeless facts that can be discovered/verified at any 'time' (actually, only discovered in timeless Now) with no particular necessary order. Stories of 'unfolding' are simply relative truths.
-
Nowadays, in daily living, I try to experience the intensity of luminosity. In some ways it is pretty much like mindfulness practice.
It may sound like I am doing a very dualistic practice... as if awareness is not here, and I am trying to 'reach' a state of awareness.
This is not what I mean.
Awareness is already shining in full view Right Here, Right Now, couldn't be anywhere else... It is what you already are, so stop looking elsewhere. It is just about relaxing the focus on the mind and letting Luminosity/Presence-Awareness reveal itself in its fullness and richness.
Just that our focus (by habit) goes so often into mental stories and mental noise that we totally miss out the aliveness and wonder of life itself. We have overlooked the power and intensity of Presence to put it in Eckhart Tolle's terms...
You cannot experience intensity of Presence by trying to seek a 'better' state... it is not about having a 'better' state... it is about experiencing Presence-Awareness in its fullness in the Here-Now (as it cannot be anywhere else)... be careful not to fall into subtle traps of thinking there is a better experience in the future.
Simply be brightly aware of what is... Whatever Is, Is! You just have to be brightly aware of it. Even if you are feeling sleepy, being brightly aware of that sensation of sleepiness will bring you back into the intensity of Presence... Whatever you are experiencing at that moment, whether it is apparent clarity or non-clarity, you can always be brightly aware of What Is and bring the intensity of Presence into focus. In sports term, it is 'being in the zone' - except that you don't have to be doing something dangerous to be 'in the zone', it can simply (and only) be Right Here, Right Now!
Life becomes miraculous, wonderful, 'paradisiacal' (yes this is how it feels like - like walking in a magical wonderland even in your ordinary neighbourhood), radiating all over...
p.s. here's an excerpt from Ch'an Master Wei Chueh:
http://ctzen.org/sunnyvale/enUS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=219&Itemid=59
Five kinds of bodhi
The ancients say, “One may cultivate for billions of kalpas, but enlightenment takes only an instant.” Knowing this, we still need to make efforts everyday to bring forth the bodhi mind. To fully realize the bodhi mind there are five stages: “give rise to the bodhi mind,” “taming the mind,” “awaken to the bodhi mind,” “progressive realization of the bodhi mind,” and “ultimate bodhi mind.”
The first stage is “give rise to the bodhi mind.” This means we make a great resolve to cultivate the Way, vow to realize the bodhi mind, attain buddhahood, and liberate all sentient beings. We constantly work in this direction, to do no evil, to perform all good, and to purify our mind. Whether practicing gradual cultivation or sudden enlightenment, in motion or in stillness, busy or idle, our every thought must be clear and in command. We should adhere to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s great vows, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara’s great compassion, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s great conduct, Bodhisattva Manjushri’s great wisdom, and incorporate these into our daily lives. This is the beginning of the bodhisattva way.
The second stage is “taming the mind” – this means we resolve to study hard, constantly examine and reflect inwardly, harbor a mind of repentance, and work to gradually gain a control of our delusive thoughts and afflictions. For example, if we reflect and find that we have been angry, we can immediately subdue it and not create bad karma. If greed arises, we can also detect it and subdue it. Or, as soon as sensual desires and lust arise, we immediately subdue them. This is “taming the mind.”
The third stage is “awaken to the bodhi mind.” Due to the power resulting from practicing “taming the mind,” we can finally attain awakening. “Awakening” is to awaken the deluded mind and see its true nature. When we see our original self, we will realize that our mind is inherent, unborn, and undying.
A Chan patriarch said, “The darkness of a thousand years is shattered instantly by a single lamp.” If we awaken to this present mind, always abide in right mindfulness, all our past karmic obstacles can be totally swept away. For example, after a thousand years in a dark room, if we suddenly turn on the light, the room is instantly filled with brightness. But if we lose our right mindfulness, it is like turning the light off; then everything will again be filled with darkness. Therefore, once we are enlightened, we still must constantly maintain right mindfulness in our daily lives, abide in pure awareness, be totally clear in every thought, and always be master of ourselves.
The ancient sages say, “When hungry, eat; when drowsy, sleep.” Also, “Eating all day, one has not chewed a single grain of rice; fully dressed, one has not put on a single thread.” What does this mean? It means to know yet not cling, and to firmly abide in right mindfulness. For example, when eating, do not daydream. The “knowing” that can differentiate among the sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy always exists. Neither overeat when the food is tasty, nor complain when it is unsavory. Whether facing pleasant or unpleasant circumstances, we know yet do not cling, and do not give rise to greed or anger. This is to truly abide in right mindfulness.
The aim of cultivation is to attain right mindfulness. Right mindfulness is a mind of clarity and purity; it is liberation; it is the buddha. Right mindfulness is the place of enlightenment; it is also the Pure Land. Therefore, “Hauling wood and carrying rice is the Way.” In our daily lives, in our eating, dressing, working, and moving, always maintain right mindfulness. Maintain the existence of this “knowing” mind. Thus maintaining inner peace and rightful conduct in life is to cultivate the Way.
The fourth stage is “progressive realization of the bodhi mind.” After we know where our mind is, we must continue to practice after enlightenment, continue to abide firmly in right mindfulness, and maintain our pure awareness, so that ignorance is totally eradicated and the Dharma body fully manifests. This process is the progressive realization of the ultimate bodhi mind.
After we have eradicated the last traces of ignorance, afflictions, and delusions, we arrive at “ultimate bodhi mind.” This is the perfection of our awareness and conduct, the perfection of benefiting others and ourselves. This is the ultimate stage. -
It doesn't take even a moment of practice to Dive into your Self.
Because you never left and can never be other than Who You Are.
Without moving a step forward (or backward), You Are - Self-Shining, Self-Certain/Doubtless, Still, Unmoved, Abiding Existence-Awareness.
All frustrations exist because you are moving forward and backward to find your Self. Stop, pause, You Are, full-stop.
What's next, you say? Notice that the 'what's next' is simply a thought desiring to move forward or backward again in search of something (which presumes separation between 'you' and 'Source'), but leading nowhere - because even as you are apparently moving forward and backward towards your illusory goal, your True Self remains ever unmoved but by being lost in your seeking you are overlooking that simplicity. See the erroneous-ness of conceptual thoughts which presumes separation and goal instead of the completeness and perfection of your Self which is your direct experience.
There is no next except to Abide as You Are. It is an effortless abiding, because you cannot not be Who You Are - just stop believing in false thoughts and simply rest in the non-conceptual and non-dual authentication of your innate nature, pure being-consciousness.
-
A friend asked me: If Awareness is the true nature, then how come effort/willpower is necessary to realize it?
My answer: This is because we are always lost and chasing after thoughts and outer things that we have become totally ignorant of our true identity. We confuse ourselves with those stories, mind, body, objects and experiences.
For example, when we turn off the lights, one might claim "I no longer see!" But that statement is made because one has misidentified oneself with the object of sight, in which case darkness implies 'no seeing' and light implies 'seeing'.
But in actual fact, your true identity as the all-perceiving Awareness is still present, only that you have misidentified yourself with objects (e.g. light or dark), that one experience implies the presence of seeing and the other implies the absence of seeing. In actual fact, 'seeing'/'awareness' is equally present to perceive the darkness! You have utterly confused the ever-present luminosity which is your true essence, with the comings and goings of objects, light or darkness. In actual fact, luminosity is never lost, never comes, never goes. But sentient beings are utterly confused and have become totally fixated on objects and experiences, falling into a dream of being a separate self, and thus lost sight of their essence.
That is why effort is required, to turn the light around and investigate the Source of everything... the source of radiance... the source of all seeing, all hearing, etc.
Who am I? What hears? Then... eventually you realize your true identity and realize that Awareness never ceases even after sounds and sights and thoughts have gone... the position of your true identity as Pure Awareness is then 'restored' (or rather, 'realized'), and you no longer confuse or misidentify yourself in the face of experiences. You realize you are indestructible, untouched by light or darkness, fire or ice, knife or water... yet the basis of all such illusory experiences.
'Willpower' is important, it is more of an 'intense desire to know the truth of who I really am'. And this is absolutely important in Self Inquiry and determines the success of your practice... why? Because if you do not give rise to this doubt and intense desire to find out who you truly are, then you are simply verbally reciting 'Who am I' like a mantra without true investigation.
The intense desire to resolve the question of who you truly are is that which allows you to challenge and cut through all notions of who you think you are, cut through all conceptual thoughts, to truly touch the essence of your being... without which your notions are not challenged and your true being is not revealed.
-
Yesterday I was dancing and just letting the seen be the seen, the heard be the heard, and suddenly my perspective changed... suddenly all there is is the shapes and sounds and colours... everything presenting/experiencing by itself... there is only THAT.. there is no self...and its seen that these shapes and sounds and colours are the only actuality there is... there is nothing else... everywhere i look, there is only that - shapes, sounds, colours... in the seen only the seen, in the heard only the heard..... no distance... only IS.... even the notion 'there is no seer just scenery' is more mental stories... in actuality there is only THAT... an inescapable reality and that alone is extremely blissful even though totally ordinary.
Somehow the experience was not as dramatic as some of my previous nondual experience, but its full of vividness and a sense of 'inescapableness' like whatever i experience, there it is, complete, nondual as it is. And its like I dont even know who I am anymore... now i know why when Bodhidharma was asked by the emperor who he was, he simply answered 'I dont know'. Existence is undeniably present everywhere and yet all mental proclamations of self are an illusion.. A separate self is unfindable. Actuality: sceneries, sounds, taste, touch, smell, thoughts..... so obvious I wonder why it wasn't noticed from the beginning!
Even when I woke up the physical/sensate actuality is pretty obvious to me even though not as intense as yesterday. More involvement in contents thoughts today, whereas yesterday all contents of thoughts are just dropped immediately in favour of just pure delighting in the sensuous actualities.
Thusness said that experience I described was 'not bad' but told me to avoid alcohol (and it is my experience that alcohol doesn't affect my clarity but is detrimental to samadhi) and have proper practice. Incidentally, while I told him about this, he has just written a related article for me which I will post next.
p.s. somehow my experience yesterday was different from the other times. It's like less dramatic and much more continuous... and in the previous non-dual experiences, I do not know how to 'repeat' them... but this time it's like whatever I experience, there it is - even now.
Thusness informed me that it is a good sign, however, that sense of self still hovers. The access is not so much of a problem now... as the 'how' is seen clearly. And that I might think I have already directly accessed to it... as in here and now the experience, but it will be gone in few months time.
-
Hi AEN,
Good luck with your enlistment.
Perhaps, during the course of the NS days, one may sometimes feel that military life is incompatible with our cultivation.
There will be times you want to express this feeling... but there is no outlet...Don't feel odd... i will feel the same if thrusted into the same situation. :)
Good luck
-
Originally posted by simpo_:
Hi AEN,
Good luck with your enlistment.
Perhaps, during the course of the NS days, one may sometimes feel that military life is incompatible with our cultivation.
There will be times you want to express this feeling... but there is no outlet...Don't feel odd... i will feel the same if thrusted into the same situation. :)
Good luck
Hi, thanks... I also think cultivation in NS will be difficult and frustrating. In civilian world it would be much easier... perhaps in monastic community it will be best.
That is why the Buddha said,
http://buddhism.sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/407898
12. “Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu is one with taints destroyed...and is completely liberated through final knowledge, this is the nature of his answer:
“‘Friends, formerly when I lived the home life I was ignorant. Then the TathÄ�gata or his disciple taught me the Dhamma. On hearing the Dhamma I acquired faith in the TathÄ�gata. Possessing that faith, I considered thus: “Household life is crowded and dusty; life gone forth is wide open. It is not easy while living in a home to lead the holy life utterly perfect and pure as a polished shell. Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness.” On a later occasion, abandoning a small or a large fortune, abandoning a small or a large circle of relations, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness.
13-17. “‘Having thus gone forth and possessing the bhikkhus’ training and way of life...(as Sutta 51, §§14-19)...I purified my mind from doubt.
-
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Hi, thanks... I also think cultivation in NS will be difficult and frustrating. In civilian world it would be much easier... perhaps in monastic community it will be best.
That is why the Buddha said,
http://buddhism.sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/407898
12. “Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu is one with taints destroyed...and is completely liberated through final knowledge, this is the nature of his answer:
“‘Friends, formerly when I lived the home life I was ignorant. Then the TathÄ�gata or his disciple taught me the Dhamma. On hearing the Dhamma I acquired faith in the TathÄ�gata. Possessing that faith, I considered thus: “Household life is crowded and dusty; life gone forth is wide open. It is not easy while living in a home to lead the holy life utterly perfect and pure as a polished shell. Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness.” On a later occasion, abandoning a small or a large fortune, abandoning a small or a large circle of relations, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness.
13-17. “‘Having thus gone forth and possessing the bhikkhus’ training and way of life...(as Sutta 51, §§14-19)...I purified my mind from doubt.
Good luck for ur NS.Now then see. I will pray for u. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Hi, thanks... I also think cultivation in NS will be difficult and frustrating. In civilian world it would be much easier... perhaps in monastic community it will be best.
That is why the Buddha said,
http://buddhism.sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/407898
12. “Bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu is one with taints destroyed...and is completely liberated through final knowledge, this is the nature of his answer:
“‘Friends, formerly when I lived the home life I was ignorant. Then the TathÄ�gata or his disciple taught me the Dhamma. On hearing the Dhamma I acquired faith in the TathÄ�gata. Possessing that faith, I considered thus: “Household life is crowded and dusty; life gone forth is wide open. It is not easy while living in a home to lead the holy life utterly perfect and pure as a polished shell. Suppose I shave off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life into homelessness.” On a later occasion, abandoning a small or a large fortune, abandoning a small or a large circle of relations, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on the yellow robe, and went forth from the home life into homelessness.
13-17. “‘Having thus gone forth and possessing the bhikkhus’ training and way of life...(as Sutta 51, §§14-19)...I purified my mind from doubt.
Wow! Going to NS soon. Young man, Good Luck and Take Care !
-
Thanks :)
-
Take it easy ! Hope you have a fruitful experience !
-
eh, you enter NS quite late isn't it? I thought u 20 already...
I don't think NS is definitely going to be incompatible with cultivation. I had more leisure and relaxed mindset to go deeper into cultivation during NS. Before that, there was too much thinking and tension due to studies etc. and NS provides alot of manual stuff that one can use to work together with the practice and compared to studies and work.
i think NS is point in life when one can let go of the fast drive of life in general... depends on your particular posting and so on... maybe u can't sit for hours everyday in there but still in daily life should be ok.
Remember the mahasiddhas like Tilopa worked with mind nature while grinding sesame or something like that...
Good luck and take care!!!
-
Originally posted by wisdomeye:
eh, you enter NS quite late isn't it? I thought u 20 already...
I don't think NS is definitely going to be incompatible with cultivation. I had more leisure and relaxed mindset to go deeper into cultivation during NS. Before that, there was too much thinking and tension due to studies etc. and NS provides alot of manual stuff that one can use to work together with the practice and compared to studies and work.
i think NS is point in life when one can let go of the fast drive of life in general... depends on your particular posting and so on... maybe u can't sit for hours everyday in there but still in daily life should be ok.
Remember the mahasiddhas like Tilopa worked with mind nature while grinding sesame or something like that...
Good luck and take care!!!
Yeah, I turned 20 this year. JC students go in when 18~19, poly students 20+.
Thanks for the sharing and advice! Interesting that you also started cultivating quite young... sorry for being kp but how old are you now? You can pm me if you wish..
-
Great to know more people around my age who's interested in these stuff! I'm 20 from Singapore.Quote:Originally Posted by p3d3r
Hi everyone, my name is Peder and I am 19 year old boy from Norway.
My opinion and observation is that some people are simply not inclined towards the spiritual. This does not mean they do not have a potential to awaken because everyone have Buddha Nature, the potential to awaken. We are all equal in that sense. However... many may not be at that level of 'evolution' (which spans many lifetimes!) to truly be interested in spiritual things.Quote:I have some questions though.
...
Do you guys believe some people just are meant to wake up and become conscious and aware in life, and some just aren´t/can´t?
Quote:It seems to me it is like that, because all of my life I have been asking questions about many aspects of life and wondering about stuff, always curios and ready to learn something new from others about life. Some people on the other hand just do not care about things life that, or not some people but most people. That is something I think is so strange... they are just robots at times. It's like they are so obsessed with outward seeking that they have overlooked something fundamental, something that is what they are in their very essence... It's like looking all over the world for riches whereas they forgotten and overlooked the diamond that is right there all along in his/her pocket.
This is the case for most people in the world... having lost sight of their pure luminous essence, they looked for peace, happiness, fulfillment, contentment, love, etc... on the 'outside'. They have forgotten that true happiness, peace, etc, is to be found in your very true nature and by overlooking it.. we are finding peace, happiness, love, in temporary things that are ultimately dissatisfactory (what satisfaction can be found in something that comes and goes?) For as the Buddha said, all transient phenomena are characterized by unsatisfactoriness (dukkha)! And the sooner they found this out, the sooner they awaken... (think about many people who had spontaneous awakenings after a period of depression and suffering: Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, etc) For some people, like us... who are beginning to awaken even without necessarily going through such awful experiences... it's probably because we don't totally believe in/give in to the notions of self and reality and be willing to inquire, question, and find out things for ourselves... unfortunately not many find value or interest in them because they have very fixed ideas and notions about what their reality and identity and life is and what they want from life and how to get them. They'd rather spend their time finding happiness in other things, than to investigate their notions and experience of reality. But we know better... because we have glimpses of the bliss and clarity, i.e. what's possible, if we truly live life awakened.
Most of all, they are totally identified with the world of experiences... they have identified themselves to be their own body and mind, and their own concepts and images of who they are over the years 'I am a successful businessman', 'I am ...'. Totally identified unconsciously with their conceptual images, thoughts, stories... and they seek to 'find themselves' through the world of experiences, by becoming richer, more famous, more successful, etc, so that they can make a nicer story of themselves to feel good about it. In this way they seek to find their identity through stories, through past and future... and through this, lose sight of themselves completely. As Eckhart Tolle says, "You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You can find yourself by coming into the present." ~Eckhart Tolle - I would also include "You cannot find yourself in the future".
So as you can see... whether it is spiritual or non-spiritual persons, we all seek happiness. We all have the same goals... it's just that spiritual seekers don't completely seek/grasp after happiness and peace in what is inherently transient and dissatisfactory. We realise that true Bliss, Happiness, Peace, is in our very Essence itself. Doesn't mean spiritual people all retreat into the mountains with no aims in life... just that they abide in/as their true essence and source as Pure Consciousness even as they live their ordinary lives, free of the suffering and unhappiness due to their false identifications and grasping. Non-spiritual seekers, unaware of their spiritual nature... continue searching and identifying unconsciously in the world confused... not knowing the great importance of learning to 'take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward'. But it does not become apparent to them that the spiritual path is what they (everyone) really wanted... it may appear contrary to their life aims (they have many ideas and desires in life, everything except to have more spiritual awareness), until eventually of course they find out how relevant and essential it is to live spiritually/with spiritual awareness or rather to discover their spiritual essence. If they knew better... they would find spiritual practice appealing.
'Robots' is a very good way of describing such people... totally lost sight of themselves and directions, simply following their own programming of doing whatever they want to/have been doing without any deeper awareness of their own minds and nature.A common notion is that enlightenment is a one final event thingy... however this is far from truth, as many can attest that there are in fact many stages of enlightenment/awakening. For example, my friend 'Thusness' writes about his experience of enlightenment in the article Thusness/PasserBy's Seven Stages of Enlightenment - there are also other maps of enlightenment that are related. It has been 25 years since his first awakening at the age of 17... and he spoke of many stages of unfoldment in realizations, many of which are still beyond my experience.Quote:Anyway, what do you think enlightenment is or represents in a dream world?
Is enlightenment the ultimate state you can reach and what everyone should strive for? What is enlightenment like...?
I have my own experiences of awakening (particularly since 9th February this year, but it is not exactly a 'one-time-event' but an on-going thing). Enlightenment, at my current level of awareness, is a pure certainty of being-existence-consciousness, a realization of Who I Truly Am... beyond any doubts.
Yes, definitely awakening is something achievable! It just takes a mind who is interested in waking up... in investigating and clarifying all his false notions and misconceptions... in truly getting down and resolving the true nature of his identity... For me, self-inquiry would be the direct path towards self-realization. I personally think it would be bullshit to say that enlightenment takes decades or perhaps not even in this lifetime: I'd say, from personal experience and observation of others, the initial awakening takes only months or a few years (for me 1+ year from the time I started self-inquiry), but there is a subsequent process of deepening insights.Quote:Is it perhaps something we all will reach someday, given enough time (yes I believe we will always be). And what are the levels of consciousness, what does it all mean if we are in a dream world? Do you guys know a better way to view life through than SR?
It's not exactly a dream world, it is only a dream mind! The mind (thoughts/concepts) that mis-identifies with thoughts, mind, body, and losing sight of your true Essence...
As I wrote in my self-inquiry journal 'Who am I', In that moment of awakening, Consciousness awakens/withdraws its identification from the dream of being a separate person, to its true identity as ItSelf
I can certainly attest both personally and observations of lay-men friends and teachers... that awakening does not require renouncing as a Buddhist monk. I know of enlightened (as well as unenlightened) monks and lay-men.Quote:Do you think that there are many different roads to enlightenment? That both being a buddhist monk in tempel far away and PD both lead to enlightenment?
Sounds good, read good reviews about JKZ but haven't read his books.Quote:Btw, when i read the book by Jon Kabat-Zinn I started meditating a lot (well, not more than an hour a day, that´s was a lot for me though)
TTC is definitely full of deep insights and written from a very awakened state!Quote:and thinking about all the things in life so on, and I really concentrated on being in the present moment. I also read the Tao Te Ching which I believe has very deep insights written in it.
The Buddha path isn't about getting rid of your ego. Yes, you may have moments of 'egolessness', but those experiences (which are all impermanent) are not ultimately what the Buddha wants us to experience: rather, he want us to have realizations, which are permanent.Quote:At times I was on the level joy ( referring to steve´s article "levels of consciousness"), but i think my natural state was reason/love. At that time I was walking the "buddha path", I was trying to get rid of my ego and just let everything flow in the moment.
It's about investigating and finding whether the "ego" truly even exist in the first place! This separate individual self that I think I am, can I find it right now in my experience? Where is it? Or is it just a figment of my imagination without any substance? If it cannot be located to begin, what is there to relinquish? To say I want to 'get rid of my ego' is giving your ego too much reality/solidity than it deserves, because it doesn't truly exist!
It's all about a deeper insight and wisdom of the nature of your experience... First realize (a direct and time-tested way would be via self-inquiry) your true essence as Pure Consciousness, then investigate to dissolve any remaining notions of an individual person, doer, or experiencer of life... what remains is impersonal, universal, all-pervasive Awareness itself, expressing in the myriads of life and experiences...
Before you think 'are they projections of your own thoughts', why don't you find out 'am I a projection of my own thought?' If you drop all thoughts right now... in that gap of no-thought, can you deny your own Existence, Presence, Consciousness? The answer is definitely no - your Existence-Consciousness is vividly self-shining, self-knowing, and self-evident even in that absence of thoughts! It is the most undeniable and irrefutible fact of Existence Itself. By asking yourself 'Who am I' and tracing all perceptions to the Source... you will touch the innermost reality of our own core being where thoughts play absolutely no role in that moment of experience and have a powerful conviction of Who You Truly Are in Essence.Quote:How do you see people in SR? Are they just projections of your own thoughts, or do you believe that all people are conscious (well most are going on auto-pilot...) like you, but you all still come from the same consciousness? I can never know if any one else is conscious but myself, but one way to see it is that maybe everyone are experiencing their own reality, but we still come from the same consciousness. And since most people are on automatic pilot, they seem to be just projections of your own thoughts since they walk around like robots (no offense 
), and therefore you also have a lot of power to make your own reality, since there are so few others who use it...? 
If you figure this one out, you'll discover the true essence of Consciousness, then you'll realize you're nothing like a machine, and you'll realize that nobody is like a machine. You are not a mere body/lifeless corpse. The body is simply an instrument, it is run by the One Consciousness... like various electrical instruments in your room are run by the same electrical power source. You (and everybody) are Life, utterly real and undeniable!
As Buddhist monk/teacher Ajahn Brahmavamso says (note: in this excerpt, his term 'mind' means 'consciousness' and not thoughts),
Meditation: The Heart of Buddhism- Ajahn Brahm
When you know that mind, when you see it for yourself, one of the results will be an insight that the mind is independent of this body. Independence means that when this body breaks up and dies, when it's cremated or when it's buried, or however it's destroyed after death, it will not affect the mind. You know this because you see the nature of the mind. That mind which you see will transcend bodily death. The first thing which you will see for yourself, the insight which is as clear as the nose on your face, is that there is something more to life than this physical body that we take to be me. Secondly you can recognise that that mind, essentially, is no different than that process of consciousness which is in all beings. Whether it's human beings or animals or even insects, of any gender, age or race, you see that that which is in common to all life is this mind, this consciousness, the source of doing.
Yes! Our feeling (of Being) is mutual and certainly is the same throughout the entire universe! We are all manifestations/lived expressions of One Universal Life...Quote:I just want to make one thing clear: I am definitely not a projection of your thoughts, I am alive and conscious, experiencing my own reality. 
But then again, I have no real way to prove that to you. If you could
just step into my consciousness and body for awhile I could show you... 
Perhaps that is something we just have to accept, that we can never be
100% sure of anything, that we cannot truly know anything... Somehow, i
have the feeling I will get my answers one day though 
-
Abiding as what you already are... whatever transformations that appear are simply appearances... doesn't change Being itself. Don't seek after experiences, simply rest in the already completeness and perfection of your nature. There is no development, only realization and (natural) abidance.
The bubble-like thought of 'I' pops... the 'I' is seen to be just that: an arising thought, nothing substantial. The whole notion of 'me' as a separate self is just this bubble like thought. There is no entity called 'me'.
In the absence of that, is simply the pure space of wakefulness, with no particular location but pervading all spaces, reflecting everything as it is. It is the natural, effortless, ever-present activity of knowing that is present independent of contrived attention: it just IS.
-
Instead of being fully identified with or engaging in the contents of thoughts... if you simply step back and witness the arising of thoughts and the body and everything... you will see how thoughts arise totally spontaneously on its own according to imprints and habits. There is absolutely no thinker involved! Thoughts simply arise, they just happen, and you are simply this non-interfering witness. You are not a thinker, or a doer, or a controller, but the witness. Even apparent choices are simply thoughts spontaneously happening due to conditioning and imprints. Just notice next time how thoughts arise! Watch!
This is an absolutely essential element to your daily practice or your meditation (without which your practice/meditation will utterly fail): because otherwise you will either be 1) lost in your thinking (the contents/stories of your thoughts), or 2) lost in trying to get rid of thinking (because you think you're the controller/thinker) which is just more false thinking and thus never works. The third alternative here is to realize your true identity not as a thinker or controller of thoughts, but as this Awareness that witnesses and allows thoughts but never grasps on them. Same goes for bodily movements... from the position of Witnessing Awareness, they simply arise due to certain mental and bodily programming, habits, and subtle intentions. They just happen on its own accord... there is no doer.
Simply resting as Awareness, allow everything to unfold on its own and eventually these stuff subside into the background while Pure Consciousness-Existence 'comes' into the foreground of your experience. Simply abiding in just This.
But notice that the stuff arising in awareness is really nothing but the manifestation of awareness... there is no separation or division anywhere whatsoever. If Awareness is limitless and borderless, how can you say that Awareness is here, and the sound is over there? Isn't the 'over there' also 'here', as Awareness? Where does Awareness end and manifestation begin? There are no borders, no boundaries, no divisions, no limits, no center and no circumference...
Baby crying vividly heard. Just this, is Awareness. Why even call it Awareness then if there is nothing other than Awareness?
-
Are you dead right now? Are you just a machine, or a corpse? Obviously not. Aliveness, awareness, consciousness, whatever you want to call it... is utterly undeniable. You can't say you are unconscious, or you are dead, because you are not 6 feet under in the cemetery, but you are in front of your computer reading these words right now. Yet this is just logic, just inference.... check your experience. Can you deny your own livingness and awareness? The answer from your direct experience is a definite no! Pause your thoughts for a moment, aren't you still aware, perceiving, hearing, seeing, etc? Isn't consciousness instantly obvious without a second-thought, or without even a moment of pondering necessary? Imagine if you were a baby without a single word or idea in your head, wouldn't aliveness still be obvious and present? Isn't this what babies 'do': simply living in a state of wonder of aliveness?
Aliveness is seamless presence awareness without subject object division. Right now, you are alive and present. But is aliveness confined anywhere? Is it only located in the body? This is an assumption, an assumption that aliveness is confined only to 'my' body, in contrast to other experiences or objects. Yes, undeniably, your body is a field of aliveness, and the skin covering the body is a sensitive organ capable of allowing the perception and feeling (not that it is in and of itself a 'feeler') of the air, the wind blowing on the skin, the warmth and heat, the sensations on the fingertips now touching the keyboard, the sensation of your back leaning against the chair, the feet on the floor, etc... but ultimately it is not the body that feels, the eyes that sees, the ears that hears. Why? A corpse cannot feel even though it has skin, a corpse cannot see though it has eyes, a corpse cannot hear though it has ears. What is lacking in the corpse? Aliveness! Consciousness!
But it is not that 'aliveness' is 'located in my body'... rather, it is that 'aliveness' is currently expressing through and as this body-mind, while this body is still alive. When the body goes through death, consciousness gradually stops expressing through and as this body-mind. And according to Buddhism, rebirth takes place (if you are not liberated): which means dependent on the wholesome and unwholesome karma of the 'individual', a new birth of consciousness takes place in and as another body-mind. But not so much on this now... my point of this paragraph is this: The body is not the feeler, the eyes are not the seer, the ears is not the hearer. You are not the eyes looking outwards, the ears hearing outwards, etc... rather, sights and sounds manifest through consciousness, and not only 'through' consciousness but those sights and sounds precisely IS aliveness, awareness, consciousness... there is no duality. The bodily organ is simply one of the conditions for a particular manifestation of aliveness, but there is no separate feeler located behind the sense organ, rather, there is only direct experience/consciousness, there is only aliveness vividly manifesting everywhere without a subject/object dichotomy present! (more on that later) Our entire field of experience is just one seamless field of consciousness with no divisions whatsoever.
As I was saying, the body is a field of aliveness. However, aliveness is not just confined to bodily sensations. And it is not just a sense of aliveness or existence confined to a space behind everything. Initially, aliveness may appear to be this background sense of existence, livingness, knowing... but notice when a sound suddenly arises in the field of consciousness... what is it? Pure consciousness, pure aliveness too! Utterly present and undeniable and vivid. There is no other. There is this sense that aliveness/consciousness/awareness has infinite potentiality and has no fixed forms/formlessness - whatever arises is another form and expression of aliveness. Aliveness is this dynamic manifestation.... and there is no center, no boundary, no circumference to aliveness... whatever arises IS aliveness. Consciousness is without any (fixed, inherent) traits, essence, attributes... but precisely because there is no fixed traits and attributes, aliveness manifests as literally everything - in all kinds of manifestations with all kinds of (apparent) traits. What I'm getting to is this: aliveness is nothing static at all - it is dynamic and ungraspable: luminosity is ever-present and can never be lost, and yet is unique and fresh in expression every single moment. And being dynamic, there is no place to abide in - there is no static place of consciousness for you to abide in, for consciousness is this momentary, flowing luminous reflection. This is why the Buddha taught mindfulness instead of sustaining any particular meditative state of absorption – mindfulness being an ingenious way of being intimate with our moment-to-moment experience, to experience the mirror-like clarity in all manifestation. Any sense of a self, a centerpoint, simply dissolves into the luminous mirror bright clarity shining in all directions without a border.
But don't take my word for it! My words if taken for granted as 'the truth' will ultimately become utterly useless and fail to deliver it's intended purpose, instead, you must make a perceptual shift in your direct experience via contemplation. To challenge the subject-object division, the sense of a center, border and circumference to awareness, always ask yourself these questions with regards to whatever you are experiencing, and contemplate, 'Is there anything other [than awareness/being the forms of awareness]?', 'What is this?', 'Where does Awareness end and manifestation begin?' And always go by direct experience, not some insignificant thought or concept (no matter how clever or convincing the theory may sound - they are ultimately a bunch of words without any substance) that pops up in your head! Having a contemplation practice is very important. But more on that later on.*
Sound arising, sight, sensations on the skin, the smells perceived through the nose, the taste of ice cream, thoughts manifesting, isn't it a whole seamless field of aliveness not separable in terms of subject and object? Are you something in your body, in your head, looking outwards through your eyes, or is everything simply self-present as consciousness not dividable in terms of inside and outside? Doesn't everything have a single taste of pure luminosity and emptiness? Yet aren't they also the various variety of 'forms' of aliveness, a sound being radically different from say, a smell? Aren't these various forms of aliveness different in variations and forms, and yet having the same intensity and quality of livingness and perceivingness?
Isn't it all Pure Consciousness itself? The pure sense of a background presence and pure beingness, apparently solidifying the position of a Subject... now collapses into seamlessness without a subject and object. It is not Aliveness or Presence (I use these words synonymously, some may have distinguished meanings for each) that is denied, it is the denial of a border, a center, a confinement, a location, an inside or an outside/subject-object separation to Consciousness... what remains is a field of seamless consciousness manifesting in various forms.
Lastly... isn't the full intensity of Consciousness already shining in plain sight effortlessly, with the only apparent obscuration being our constant 'ignoring' and blocking out Wholeness by dualizing and attaching (to a particular point of view, including the attachment to a sense of self) and rejecting (the other points of views*)?
*Points of view: any particular sensation, thought, feeling, etc. Any particular constituents of the field of experience.
*On contemplation practices: Some neo-advaitin teachers emphasize on 'description' instead of 'prescription', but I say, this is useless and will be incapable of bringing about a real shift in perception in the seeker, because the descriptions simply become more concepts that the seeker collects and stores it somewhere, without any real direct experiential insight of what the pointers point to. It's like giving verbal descriptions of the moon to a person without curing the person's blindness, even if that person can memorize the description, it is utterly useless. What's the use of saying things like 'all there is is consciousness' when that person doesn't even know with direct realization what 'Consciousness' is? Both 'description' and 'prescription' are necessary, in particular the 'prescription' (the contemplation on your part). The 'prescription', the type of contemplation, also differs depending on what insight you want to arise: for example for an initial glimpse and realization of I AMness, I recommend investigating 'Who am I?' instead. As Thusness wrote before: Therefore we must understand in Zen tradition, different koans were meant for different purposes. The experience derived from the koan “before birth who are you?” only allows an initial glimpse of our nature. It is not the same as the Hakuin’s koan of “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” The five categories of koan in Zen ranges from hosshin that give practitioner the first glimpse of ultimate reality to five-ranks that aims to awaken practitioner the spontaneous unity of relative and absolute (non-duality). The 'description' is also necessary as a guide which otherwise you will be totally blind to what you'll be looking for, the 'description' being what I call the 'view'.
On View ('description') and Meditation ('prescription', aka contemplation, investigation):
When one meditates with this view
It is like a garuda soaring through space
Untroubled by fear or doubt.
One who meditates without this view
Is like a blind man wandering the plains.
One who holds this view but does not meditate
Is like a rich man tethered by stinginess
Who cannot bring fruition to himself or others.
Joining the view with meditation is the holy tradition.
~ Lodro Thaye, a great Mahamudra master of the eighteenth century
-
Aliveness is bliss. Or rather, being absorbed in aliveness, in reality, is bliss. The falling away of the sense of subject-object dichotomy is bliss.
I'm laughing... blissing out... tears rolling down my face for no apparent reasons (in bliss and laughter, not sadness)... I'm totally lost! I don't know what all these means. It doesn't mean anything. LOL! Anyway, I just heard a word 'personal consciousness' and broke out into laughter. Sometimes one just has to laugh at the ridiculousness of some of the human concepts.
Nothing ever means anything. Just forms of aliveness. Dynamic... never stays... never graspable... yet always Just This. Humans like to find meaning and concepts and overlook direct perception... This actuality... the Only Isness there IS... and every word it comes up is from this perspective so silly, so funny. Just stay with This. Bliss comes, bliss goes, still, THIS thought-free wakefulness IS.
-
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Aliveness is bliss. Or rather, being absorbed in aliveness, in reality, is bliss. The falling away of the sense of subject-object dichotomy is bliss.
I'm laughing... blissing out... tears rolling down my face for no apparent reasons (in bliss and laughter, not sadness)... I'm totally lost! I don't know what all these means. It doesn't mean anything. LOL! Anyway, I just heard a word 'personal consciousness' and broke out into laughter. Sometimes one just has to laugh at the ridiculousness of some of the human concepts.
Nothing ever means anything. Just forms of aliveness. Dynamic... never stays... never graspable... yet always Just This. Humans like to find meaning and concepts and overlook direct perception... This actuality... the Only Isness there IS... and every word it comes up is from this perspective so silly, so funny. Just stay with This. Bliss comes, bliss goes, still, THIS thought-free wakefulness IS.
Thanks for sharing :)
Understand how you feel and why you laugh. Sometimes, the bliss come and i laugh, my wife will then say 'what are you doing.. that is so funny.'
She doesn't understand. But she is taking Vipassana class now. Hope she can understand eventually too:)
Sometimes, there are no laughter, but just an expressionless stone-face ;)
-
Originally posted by simpo_:
Thanks for sharing :)
Understand how you feel and why you laugh. Sometimes, the bliss come and i laugh, my wife will then say 'what are you doing.. that is so funny.'
She doesn't understand. But she is taking Vipassana class now. Hope she can understand eventually too:)
Sometimes, there are no laughter, but just an expressionless stone-face ;)
Haha.. I sometimes have that stone face too. It's great your wife is learning Vipassana! Where is the class held?
-
Hi Simpo and AEN,
Yet we cannot get carried away by all these blissful experiences. Blissfulness is the result of luminosity whereas liberation is due to prajna wisdom. :)
To AEN,
For intense luminosity in the foreground, you will not only have vivid experience of ‘brilliant aliveness’, ‘you’ must also completely disappear. It is an experience of being totally ‘transparent’ and without boundaries. These experiences are quite obvious, u will not miss it. However the body-mind will not rest in great content due to an experience of intense luminosity. Contrary it can make a practitioner more attach to a non-dual ultimate luminous state.
For the mind to rest, it must have an experience of ‘great dissolve’ that whatever arises perpetually self liberates. It is not about phenomena dissolving into some great void but it is the empty nature of whatever arises that self-liberates. It is the direct experience of groundlessness and non –abiding due to direct insight of the empty nature of phenomena and that includes the non-dual luminous essence.
Therefore In addition to bringing this ‘taste’ to the foreground, u must also ‘realize’ the difference between wrong and right view. There is also a difference in saying “Different forms of Aliveness” and “There is just breath, sound, scenery...magical display that is utterly unfindable, ungraspable and without essence- empty.”
In the former case, realize how the mind is manifesting a subtle tendency of attempting to ‘pin’ and locate something that inherently exists. The mind feels uneasy and needs to seek for something due to its existing paradigm. It is not simply a matter of expression for communication sake but a habit that runs deep because it lacks a ‘view’ that is able to cater for reality that is dynamic, ungraspable, non-local , center-less and interdependent.
After direct realization of the non-dual essence and empty nature, the mind can then have a direct glimpse of what is meant by being ‘natural’, otherwise there will always be a ‘sense of contrivance’.
My 2 cents and have fun with ur army life. :-)
-
Originally posted by Thusness:
Hi Simpo and AEN,
Yet we cannot get carried away by all these blissful experiences. Blissfulness is the result of luminosity whereas liberation is due to prajna wisdom. :)
To AEN,
For intense luminosity in the foreground, you will not only have vivid experience of ‘brilliant aliveness’, ‘you’ must also completely disappear. It is an experience of being totally ‘transparent’ and without boundaries. These experiences are quite obvious, u will not miss it. However the body-mind will not rest in great content due to an experience of intense luminosity. Contrary it can make a practitioner more attach to a non-dual ultimate luminous state.
For the mind to rest, it must have an experience of ‘great dissolve’ that whatever arises perpetually self liberates. It is not about phenomena dissolving into some great void but it is the empty nature of whatever arises that self-liberates. It is the direct experience of groundlessness and non –abiding due to direct insight of the empty nature of phenomena and that includes the non-dual luminous essence.
Therefore In addition to bringing this ‘taste’ to the foreground, u must also ‘realize’ the difference between wrong and right view. There is also a difference in saying “Different forms of Aliveness” and “There is just breath, sound, scenery...magical display that is utterly unfindable, ungraspable and without essence- empty.”
In the former case, realize how the mind is manifesting a subtle tendency of attempting to ‘pin’ and locate something that inherently exists. The mind feels uneasy and needs to seek for something due to its existing paradigm. It is not simply a matter of expression for communication sake but a habit that runs deep because it lacks a ‘view’ that is able to cater for reality that is dynamic, ungraspable, non-local , center-less and interdependent.
After direct realization of the non-dual essence and empty nature, the mind can then have a direct glimpse of what is meant by being ‘natural’, otherwise there will always be a ‘sense of contrivance’.
My 2 cents and have fun with ur army life. :-)
I see... thanks!
-
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Haha.. I sometimes have that stone face too. It's great your wife is learning Vipassana! Where is the class held?
The class in held every friday.
