Question about the Gears

1) Kenneth writes about 2nd Gear: "This is the most precious jewel of all the Buddhas, but does not lend itself to productivity or even functionality in modern daily life; we can only practice the non-dual when we don't have any other cognitively demanding tasks to attend to."

But on the 3rd Gear page Kenneth clearly seem to intend that while in 3rd gear you are completely "functional", especially since he also relates it to AF and similar practices (which imply that you are). I thought maybe he meant only while practicing but he also mentions techniques for practicing 3rd Gear/direct mode during daily life (grounding in the body etc.).

2) In 1st Gear you see the attention wave, in 3rd Gear you *are* the attention wave, how does 2nd Gear relate to the attention wave?

3) Can stream entry and above yogis remember if the attention wave becomes (not sure how to say this) clearer/more detailed/easier to recognize, as you develop more and more insight, get stream entry, 2nd path, and beyond?

Hi Mudstick,

1/ 3rd Gear is an umbrella term for at least two practices yogis can do. The first is awareness becoming aware of itself, sometimes called the clear light. A yogi can rest momentarily in this awareness. The other practice is the direct perception mode.

In the former practice, the Witness drops away momentarily. Although, it may be argued that one could possibly dwell without any Witness (sensations at the back of the head/eyeballs/space in head) arising. Being aware of awareness while attempting to attain nirodha samapatti, can result in a state where it seems that it is without a Witness for extended periods. When I did this, I was completely functional. But this is because I played around with nirodha samapatti. Pre-path, this practice seems only to be momentary and not sure if it's really possible to function properly while experiencing awareness of awareness. I never practiced it pre-path. Direct perception mode is grounding the emotions in the body, and perhaps triggering a PCE, which is basically senses being experienced without any self contraction interrupting the flow of perception. You can be equally functional in this mode too.

2/ The "attention wave" is some new language that has made its way into some yogi's descriptions of their experiences, including myself. It comes from Daniel Ingram's descriptions of attempting to attain PCE's. As far as I know, not everyone here agrees with the description of what the "attention wave" really is, if it is something at all. In my own personal opinion, the "attention wave" sets the patterns of what is perceived within the mind and body. THe jhanas, for example have certain sensations and focus set patterns. And in 2nd gear it is set into the pattern of the sensations within the head to give the impression that there is some Witnessing perspective. But this is my own unproven opinion. Subject to change of course.

3/ I never really became aware of anything like an "attention wave" or sense of perception being influenced by energy in the body until 4th path after experiencing some strong PCEs where there was an absence of something. That something , when it came back up to influence perception, was what I believe to be the "attention wave". I would speculate that it would become clearer with each path. But again, I have to repeat, I am expressing my own interpretations of my experience using language borrowed from Dr Ingram. No absolutes. I could be talking out my arse All the same, go for 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th path and see for yourself. It is worth it and you will be able to see if there is something to this "attention wave" or not.