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NON-DUAL AWAKENING AND CESSATION
- AlexWeith
- Topic Author
16 years 3 months ago #52878
by AlexWeith
NON-DUAL AWAKENING AND CESSATION was created by AlexWeith
Dear All
I am interested to know how you see the relationship between non-dual awakening and cessation (or Theravada fruition).
From a Zen point of view, I consider that seeing (and herding) the Ox refers to non-dual awareness or kensho (lit. seeing one's nature in Japanese). This stage, as far as I know, has no equivalent in the Mahasi Sayadaw Theravada map. Nevertheless, once the Ox has been fully mastered there is a stage that is commonly called the Great Death (the "no man, no ox" picture). I am not familiar with the experience of cessation, but suspect that it is precisely what Zen masters like Hakuin or Dogen called "the Great Death'.
We see here that Zen mentions two types of enlightenment. These two steps are sometimes called Entrance and Exit. You first gain an Entrance seeing your original nature and then Exit through cessation.
But there is more to it, namely the stage of Use. Having seen the nature (rigpa, no-mind, primordial awareness) and the essence of the mind (cessation), one must understand the mind's mysterious function. This realization is said to allow one to see the whole universe emerging from the unborn (cessation), like a magical display of the Mind.
Zen training is complete when one is able to integrate ordinary mind with mind's nature, essence and function in what Zen master Huang Po called the One Mind.
Any thoughts about this?
I am interested to know how you see the relationship between non-dual awakening and cessation (or Theravada fruition).
From a Zen point of view, I consider that seeing (and herding) the Ox refers to non-dual awareness or kensho (lit. seeing one's nature in Japanese). This stage, as far as I know, has no equivalent in the Mahasi Sayadaw Theravada map. Nevertheless, once the Ox has been fully mastered there is a stage that is commonly called the Great Death (the "no man, no ox" picture). I am not familiar with the experience of cessation, but suspect that it is precisely what Zen masters like Hakuin or Dogen called "the Great Death'.
We see here that Zen mentions two types of enlightenment. These two steps are sometimes called Entrance and Exit. You first gain an Entrance seeing your original nature and then Exit through cessation.
But there is more to it, namely the stage of Use. Having seen the nature (rigpa, no-mind, primordial awareness) and the essence of the mind (cessation), one must understand the mind's mysterious function. This realization is said to allow one to see the whole universe emerging from the unborn (cessation), like a magical display of the Mind.
Zen training is complete when one is able to integrate ordinary mind with mind's nature, essence and function in what Zen master Huang Po called the One Mind.
Any thoughts about this?
- cmarti
- Topic Author
16 years 3 months ago #52879
by cmarti
Greatl stuff, Alex. By "integrate ordinary mind with Mind's nature" do you mean the ability to balance conceptual/everyday experience with that of the ultimate or non-dual?
Replied by cmarti on topic RE: NON-DUAL AWAKENING AND CESSATION
Greatl stuff, Alex. By "integrate ordinary mind with Mind's nature" do you mean the ability to balance conceptual/everyday experience with that of the ultimate or non-dual?
- AlexWeith
- Topic Author
16 years 3 months ago #52880
by AlexWeith
Replied by AlexWeith on topic RE: NON-DUAL AWAKENING AND CESSATION
Yes Chris. Then, the non-dual state becomes a bridge between Samsara (everyday life, ordinary mind) and Nirvana (cessation).
You mentioned the "reboot" effect following cessation. As I see it, it is a clear insight into the mind's function (using Chinese Zen terminology), namely its dynamic animative nature, creating our sujective universe every second from the unborn. The Platform Sutra (long Ming canon version) describes it when Huineng says "who would have thought that the mind was the source of the miriad things!"
From what a Zen friend tells me, it feel like being in the movie "The Matrix". Everyday life becomes a kind of lucid dream.
You mentioned the "reboot" effect following cessation. As I see it, it is a clear insight into the mind's function (using Chinese Zen terminology), namely its dynamic animative nature, creating our sujective universe every second from the unborn. The Platform Sutra (long Ming canon version) describes it when Huineng says "who would have thought that the mind was the source of the miriad things!"
From what a Zen friend tells me, it feel like being in the movie "The Matrix". Everyday life becomes a kind of lucid dream.