MuMuWu's Practice Journal

Focusing on subtle thoughts last night. These were of the half formed variety, and they seem to start out as a subtle bubbling or movement. Watching this, I began to discern many many little images among it all. It began to look like a 3D pile of trinkets - little bits and pieces, much of it from pop culture (logos, cartoon characters, etc.). It then looked like a large snake or something, just this long pile of stuff swirling about. Very stange.

At some point this 3d thing instantly vanished - and I found myself having a very intense fruition. I had several.

"Mindstreams do not imply 'entities'... There is no entity in the mindstream... the word 'mind STREAM' implies it's a stream rolling on with nothing substantially existing. Of course, each stream doesn't directly affect others (but it does affect others interdependently: they just aren't the same stream). In other words, the karmic deeds of this mind stream wouldn't ripen in another mindstream... i.e. if I killed someone, you won't have to suffer for 'my' karma (even though there is no doer, just a process of volition, action and ripening, etc) It is not the case that 'we are one and the same.

Also, all phenomena are luminous, but luminosity is not a shared essence of all mindstreams (that would be the substantialist non-dual view of 'everything as manifestation of an ultimate Awareness' instead of seeing that Awareness is simply this arising and subsiding sight, sound, thought)... luminosity is the diversity of experience which we do not share (as obviously we all have our unique experiences in life which we do not share), and thus mindstreams remain unique even though non-dual (means in seeing just the seen, in hearing just the heard, no agent/hearer/experiencer can be found).

There is no one universal or cosmic mind which we share. Instead, there are unique streams of minds (mental experiences), but with no center or self to which the streaming occurs to. There are unique mindstreams/unique experiences which we never share, but no independent self/selves or an independent experiencer of experience. Because there is no experiencer, all there is is experience'¦ but experiences are diverse and unique and cannot be equated with one another. The experience of a dog and the experience of a human and the experience of some other realms are vastly different due to different karmic conditionings."

- "Who Am I", An Eternal Now

Michael Laitman discusses in what way our world is only imaginary. He states our world is like a virtual reality, everything that we perceive is a result of our nature, and only by changing our nature can we perceive a different reality.

Taken from the Bnei Baruch weekly lesson "Ask the Kabbalist" of 01-10-2008

This discussion illustrates the view:

Body appears in Mind
Spirit witnesses,

However what happens if the Body and Witness are appearing in the Mind?

What then of Mind even?

Perceiving that the triple existence is by reason of the habit-energy of erroneous discrimination and false reasoning that has been going on since beginningless time, and also thinking of the state of Buddhahood which is imageless and unborn, [the Bodhisattva] will become thoroughly conversant with the noble truth of self-realisation, will become a perfect master of his own mind, will conduct himself without effort, will be like a gem reflecting a variety of colours, will be able to assume the body of transformation, will be able to enter into the subtle minds of all beings, and, because of his firm belief in the truth of Mind-only, will, by gradually ascending the stages, become established in Buddhahood. Therefore, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva be well disciplined in self-realisation.

lirs.ru/do/lanka_eng/lanka-nondiacritical.htm

Having a lot more success with actualizing the jhanas. As I see it now, from a standpoint of equanimity (in which I bring attention to the senses with a panoramic awareness) I attend to the space in which the experience is occuring. I notice that there is a boundless quality to experience that is simply just there, and all I need to do is notice. There is no need to try and maintain a state or focus on this quality. It seems inescapable once noticed.

From here I notice that I am aware of this space. I can still feel the boundless quality but now I notice that I am aware of my experience and there's nothing I need to do to maintain that. I notice that I am aware of everything in my conscious experience all at once. I am aware of my consciousness which includes my entire conscious experience.

I now notice that there is no need to focus attention in any way. I don't need to notice I am aware or focus on anything else. I am not focusing on anything in particular, but I am aware of this. The experience is still occurring and it is still quite boundless.

Next I notice that I can drop all ideas and picking out any signs of individual forms. In fact experience is always empty of meaning and that includes my thoughts.

I then incline toward a PCE (ask How am I Experiencing this Moment of Being Alive) and notice there's nothing I need to do to maintain it. Everything is ok as it is.

I feel rather disoriented after doing this for a while. It feels like there's nothing to grasp!

Villum pointed out this sutta
www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.121.than.html

Seems relevant.



Also good
www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.122.than.html

"If you pay attention to the actual aspects of the arupa jhanas; the mental perspectives of space/compassion, consciousness/appreciation, nothingness/equanimity and neither perception nor non-perception/signlessness; then one is bringing to light/focus the natural structure/perspectives of the mind often covered up/distorted by the flow of affect/attention wave/attention bounce/sense of "being"/sense of existing/sense of "me"-ness/sense of presence/sense of location/sense of inner world/flow of sankhara/flow of becoming. This flow of affect often needs to be absorbed (one-pointed/concentrated) for these actual aspects to come to light, but they are always there for everyone at any given time. You just need to lend attention to them."

"If you get good at recognising these actual aspects, over and over, eyes open/eyes closed, then they become more apparent in day to day experience, and the flow of "me"-ness may begin to step back/fade/dissapear to reveal the PCE, and eventually AF via this continuous recognition of actuality."

thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2011/07/...ualizing-jhanas.html

This is very clearly happening for me now.

"I feel rather disoriented after doing this for a while. It feels like there's nothing to grasp!
"

The disorientation I felt the other day was due to the feeling of vast nothingness/emptiness/voidness becoming very clear. I was sitting in a chair, eyes were open, there was thinking but the solid sense of being in a body was gone and it felt like I was suspended in vast nothingness.

Turning toward the sensate experience of what was happening seemed to re-establish normalcy.

Kenneth has suggested I check out a couple of things. For one, this video by Thomas Metzinger:

Brain, bodily awareness, and the emergence of a conscious self: these entities and their relations are explored by Germanphilosopher and cognitive scientist Metzinger. Extensively working with neuroscientists he has come to the conclusion that, in fact, there is no such thing as a "self" -- that a "self" is simply the content of a model created by our brain - part of a virtual reality we create for ourselves.



And secondly he's suggested I read up on Jean Klein

"Very clear and eloquent descriptions of the problem and what to do about it. (We mistakenly identify ourselves with objects. We must look instead to our true nature, which cannot be objectified."

So I'd like to point out this site: o-meditation.com/2011/06/11/spontaneousl...nd-space-jean-klein/

On it there's a great little intro to his line of thinking as well as a link to a full ebook entitled "The Ease of Being"

"I knew myself in present happening, not as a concept but as a being without localization in time and space. In this non-state there was freedom, full and objectless joy. There was pure thankfulness, thanking without an object. It was not an affective feeling, but a freedom from all affectivity, a coldness close to warmth. My Master had given me an understanding of all this, but now it had become a bright and integrated truth."

I am noticing that if I feel the body as a single chunk and don't divide it up, then that is a return to something closer to a natural state (as the body is present with me all the time, why shouldn't I be aware of it all the time unless distracted)

Noticing that there are painful tensions in the body, in the past I would try to keep my attention on them in order to remain in "direct mode". I notice that this is unnecessary. If I feel the body all at once, then in order to not feel it I need to be distracted by something else. I notice that without any effort the body is present. I ask "is there anything I can do to make it less present."

I allow the body to do whatever it wants and notice that the tension takes on the feel of a looser energy. This eventually dissipates into a cool energy. This requires no effort from me. This becomes quite blissful.

I notice that in doing this the senses are clearer. I notice that nothing is needed for them to be known, only to not be distracted from the fact they are always present.

I notice an openness and boundless quality that is simply there if I am not distracted

I notice that without any effort I am aware of the entire contents of consciousness (the 6 senses) in a wide open, parallel way.

I notice that I can drop attending to anything in particular and things become even clearer and more still

I drop that as well - effortlessly

"I'm not speaking of pain as a concept, but as a perception, a sensation. Usually we resist the pure sensation by constructing some idea of pain. And this refusal is a reaction which contributes to pain. But when you allow pain to be pure sensation, devoid of any psychological reaction, all the energy previously localized as pain is liberated and dissolves back into the ultimate.

Another way to express this is to let the body be body. The body has an organic memory of health. You have the proof of this in the fact that when you cut your finger, it heals itself within a week. The body evidently knows precisely how to heal itself."

- Jean Klein

(posted as an illustration to my previous journal entry regarding the body)

Yes -- I've been calling this dropping away of things"settling." There is one particular place in the body that seems to hold the key for me and attending to that for even a second starts the process. It's the base of the spine.

Wow thanks Chris I'll try that! Settling is quite the fulfilling thing. I don't even have to do it. It's like some big mother bird is taking care of me and I don't have to do anything but allow myself to be healed.

Q: On the path to nonduality, some authorities urge us to use concentration and effort, while others tell us to be effortless. What is the explanation for this apparent contradiction?

"Effort arises when one projects some goal to be attained, but what you fundamentally are can never be attained since you already are it. So why the effort? In the beginning the relaxation techniques may be useful, since the relaxed state enables you to see what you are seeking is found the very instant seeking stops.

Inherent in the stopping is the fore-feeling of fundamental unity. This fore-feeling may well stimulate a kind of effort to have it knowingly, but in this case effort is not a process of volition. Issuing from the effortless, it attracts you to its source, to your real nature."

Q: Are you saying there are two types of effort, a volitional kind and another which transcends the personal will?

"The first type of effort belongs to the "I," the ego. The second flows directly from the effortless, for its origin is Self."

Q: A kind of effortless effort?

"Yes, because the motive behind all effort is to be effortless. The sole desire is for desirelessness. You see this when you look at what happens the moment a desired object is obtained. There is desirelessness but nobody who is desireless, so at this point there is no object as its cause. You live your real non-dual nature. Later, however, you leave it and the "I" enters, saying, "I was happy because I bought a new house, or met a new friend" and so on. But a time comes when this object no longer suffices. So you begin anew to search for some other object. And this vicious cycle continues until you finally see that desirelessness has absolutely nothing to do with any object. It is in you."

- Jean Klein, Ease of Being

"The expanse of naturally occurring timeless awareness -
Beyond effort and achievement.
The expanse in which all phenomenon are mere names -
Beyond imagination and expression.
Within this wholly positive realm, in which nothing need be done,
regardless of what manifests there is still wholly positive basic space.
In this basic space of Samantabhadra, apparent phenomena
and emptiness are not better of worse.
When the ineffable is taken as existent, labeling occurs out of confusion,
yet even while there is labeling, there is no confusion or its opposite.
One comes to a decisive experience of phenomena being completely unnameable:
this is the way of abiding that is natural great perfection."

- Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding.

"yet even while there is labeling, there is no confusion or its opposite."

In the seeing (awareness)
just the seen (the Cyprus tree in the yard)

Speaking from my limited experience with meditation:

As you sit, stilling your mind and body, letting go of everything that arises, a spontaneous uninterrupted awareness of breathing will occur.

This awareness naturally expands to encompass the whole body and every single sensation. At this time you will feel utter stillness of the body... your body is literally stilled, to the point of disappearing, to the point of becoming unhindered, numb-like (for a lack of a better words but don't take it literally).

As your power of mindfulness develops to the point of absorption, a very pleasurable physical sensation will occur. At first the sensation is weak... at this point do not analyze or get mentally excited at this bliss, what is of utmost importance is that you must let go of your sense of self, any sense of subject-object dichotomy and just delight and immerse yourself in that pleasurable sensation to the point that there is ONLY that pleasurable sensation. You will notice the rapture getting more and more intense, spreading all over your body. Your mind stabilizes on this bliss, enters into a state of absorption and mental activities subside. At this point you enter samadhi and jhana.

You have stilled your mind and body.

With this as base, contemplate the nature of your experience until clear comprehension of the nature of experience arises.

- AEN's instructions for tranquil meditation from "Who Am I?"

As I have enough info to work with for the foreseeable future, and after taking some good advice from a friend, I'll be taking a little break from posting for the next little while.

PM/Email/Skype me if anyone needs anything.

The Profound Definitive Meaning

For the mind that masters view the emptiness dawns
In the content seen not even an atom exists
A seer and seen refined until they're gone
This way of realizing view, it works quite well

When meditation is clear light river flow
There is no need to confine it to sessions and breaks
Meditator and object refined until they're gone
This heart bone of meditation, it beats quite well

When you're sure that conducts work is luminous light
And you're sure that interdependence is emptiness
A doer and deed refined until they're gone
This way of working with conduct, it works quite well

When biased thinking has vanished into space
No phony facades, eight dharmas, nor hopes and fears,
A keeper and kept refined until they're gone
This way of keeping samaya, it works quite well

When you've finally discovered your mind is dharmakaya
And you're really doing yourself and others good
A winner and won refined until they're gone
This way of winning results, it works quite well.

wearebuddhamind.blogspot.com/2011/12/mil...at-masters-view.html

Just wanted to check in here.

Things are going pretty well. I am experiencing a lot of clarity and ease as of late, however there's still plenty to work on (so much to work on).

I read through clarifying the natural state over Christmas. I'm particularly interested in furthering my investigation into the emptiness of thoughts.

Good to read about the clarity and ease. I'm curious about that book, so I ordered one.

Omni, it's very pragmatic. I think you'll enjoy it a lot. It covers practice from the first attempts at concentration to buddhahood (in the mahamudra tradition).

Nice! I'm looking forward.

"The word attentiveness articulates a cognitive probity..."
"sensuousness is a word indicating a pre-emotional fidelity"
"the word apperceptiveness denotes a pre-identification integrity"

"they ... describe this actual sensational environment ... the world of the senses."

"Sensuousness and apperceptiveness of themselves are the actuality ascertained with the attentiveness which gives rise to delineation"

"Cognitive Probity" and "the attentiveness which gives rise to delineation" are quite interesting to me at the moment.

I've been spending time just picking out forms within forms and letting the eye dance around on details. It seems to really be a big part of entering into the very cusp of the moment.

"Clear perception is in that instant where one converges one's eyes or ears or nose or tongue or skin on the thing. It is that moment just before one focuses one's feeling-memory on the object. It is the split-second just as one affectively subjectifies it ... which is just prior to clamping down on it viscerally and segregating it from the rest of pure, conscious existence. Pure perception takes place sensitively just before one starts feeling the percept '“ and thus thinking about it affectively '“ which takes place just before one's feeling-fed mind says: '˜It's a man' or: '˜It's a woman' or: '˜It's a steak-burger' or: '˜It's a tofu-burger' ... with all that is implied in this identification and the ramifications that stem from that. This fluid, soft-focused moment of bare awareness, which is not learned, has never been learned, and never will be learned, could be called an aesthetically sensual regardfulness or a consummate sensorial discernibleness or an exquisitely sensuous heedfulness ... in a word: apperceptiveness."

actualfreedom.com.au/richard/articles/at...apperceptiveness.htm