Eric wrote:
Qs for Kenneth
Hi Kenneth,
I have some questions for you regarding your current attitudes towards practice, the truth of things, etc. I realize that this may be a bit personal, but I can't help but be curious.
Some context-- I recall stumbling upon KFD around 2012 or so. I had recently read MCTB and crossed the A&P. I found myself confused by the "third gear" and "primordial awareness" stuff, as this all seemed pretty different from the 4 Path model. The actualism stuff was big at the time as well, and I seem to recall you posting on the Dho about experiencing a PCE and finding it interesting.
I was a bumbling newbie at the time (still am, actually), so I found myself rather confused. I never did manage to sort it all out in my brain.
Now, three years later, you seem to have "reverted" (for lack of a better word) to the more traditional 4 Path model espoused by the Theravada school. This is a very curious turn of events, so I am inclinced to inquire...
Was there any particular experience that brought about this return to the 4 Path Model?
Does the notion of Primordial Awareness promoted by various other Budhist schools have any merit?
Did all that actualism stuff benefit your practice in any way?
Why does skim milk cost less than whole milk, despite requiring a greater degree of refinement?
Are you happy?
Again, I realize this is personal stuff. You don't have to chime in if you don't feel inclined.
Peace,
Eric
re models:
An enduring interest through the years has been development along some sort of continuum that seems to correlate pretty well with contemplative practice, and variously results in something called enlightenment, awakening, etc., or in psychological circles, higher levels of ego development, self-realization, etc. Maps are important in finding one's place on a continuum and crafting a practice regimen that will move one further along. But all maps are a work in progress. They are never complete, and never entirely accurate. So you use the one that seems most useful at the time. You can even use several maps at the same time, understanding that each one may have value within its own sphere, as viewed through a particular lens. As I go through my own process, different maps become most interesting at different times. Currently, I think the Four Paths map is a reasonably good one. I also appreciate a binary model in which there is either an awakened moment or not. For awhile, I worked on a model of my own, with up to nine stages. Lately, I've been finding Suzanne Cook-Greuter's model useful. Ken Wilber has had a lot to say about mapping, and I use that. If someone creates another useful map, I'll use it too.
Perhaps even more relevant than the value of different maps is the concept of different lenses. There are many different lenses for making meaning of experience, and most of us have access to at least a handful. Some of us have access to quite a number of lenses, each of which has value whithin its sphere. One might say that the point of developmental awakening is to access and cultivate a series of new lenses, each of which builds on those that came before. Paradoxically, one of the lenses that comes online for some people is one from which the idea of development through time is not relevant, and the idea of a person who could develop through time is a non-issue. This is a postpersonal, postautonomous lens, and some would say is the very essence of enlightenment. The paradox is that through time and effort one can develop access to a lens that does not feature time, effort, or an individual.
A common misconception is that upon mastery of a new lens, the old lenses never come online again. This is where we get the idea that a sage wouldn't be able to think of himself or herself as "I", or would lose the ability to feel emotions. A more accurate understanding is the well-known "transcend and include" concept in which earlier lenses continue to arise from time to time even after a new lens has become baseline. Anyone who has ever stubbed a toe will understand this; for a moment, you are back to the perspective of a toddler, where the body is you, and pain is a threat to your being. Similarly, when you become enraged at another driver for cutting you off in afternoon traffic, you have momentarily entered a lens that first came online when your were a teenager.
Lenses and maps are a tidy package, and the fact that by judicious triangulation using many different maps you can gain access to a lens that is so mofo enlightened that it doesn't need maps is one of the real treats of developmental enlightenment.