taoteching99

Greetings everyone reading the post, Want to ask something here, Anyone familiar of practice that will give rise to the insight of emptiness (sunnyata)? How to give rise to emptiness? [ am i deluded? Is emptiness only arise when one has far advanced in the path? ] My currently understanding is this : 1. Any authentic cultivation must always return to this very moment,in the here ; (sounds crazy isnt it? for where else can it/attention go :-) , i guest what im trying to say is not being distracted by any thoughts,imagination,memories etc...being drifted into future or past), 2. And the awareness that is being here ,that is to say,in the present moment ( one should not fall into stupor/dull state),that awareness must be very alert , so that any insights can arise .Wisdom wont arise in dull ,'stupid' state. 3.If alert seems to imply energetic,or effortful,and its better to relax,then perhaps the word 'alert' can be substituted with 'clarity'.(Very)CLEAR AWARENESS and yet, RELAX. Simply stated, CLEAR(CLARITY),VERY ALERT(NOT SLEEPY,DULL ETC...) and RELAX (this part is my main obstacle) awareness grounded in the present moment. Another condition (in this practice )that one must has is : Investigative attitude : this is the strong desire to know the nature of experience (in this case emptiness -groundlessness of experience/phenomena) What else is important/missing? Thanks

Greetings everyone reading the post, Want to ask something here, Anyone familiar of practice that will give rise to the insight of emptiness (sunnyata)? How to give rise to emptiness? [ am i deluded? Is emptiness only arise when one has far advanced in the path? ] My currently understanding is this : 1. Any authentic cultivation must always return to this very moment,in the here ; (sounds crazy isnt it? for where else can it/attention go :-) , i guest what im trying to say is not being distracted by any thoughts,imagination,memories etc...being drifted into future or past), 2. And the awareness that is being here ,that is to say,in the present moment ( one should not fall into stupor/dull state),that awareness must be very alert , so that any insights can arise .Wisdom wont arise in dull ,'stupid' state. 3.If alert seems to imply energetic,or effortful,and its better to relax,then perhaps the word 'alert' can be substituted with 'clarity'.(Very)CLEAR AWARENESS and yet, RELAX. Simply stated, CLEAR(CLARITY),VERY ALERT(NOT SLEEPY,DULL ETC...) and RELAX (this part is my main obstacle) awareness grounded in the present moment. Another condition (in this practice )that one must has is : Investigative attitude : this is the strong desire to know the nature of experience (in this case emptiness -groundlessness of experience/phenomena) What else is important/missing? Thanks

This is someones explanation on the difference between 'Experience of Self' vs Authentic Self realization (as im not promoting the website or author of this article,theres no need to mention the source of it.) Currious.... 1. Anyone experiences this 'eureka ' , this 'a ha! ' (read what the author mentioned/describe in the article) before ?What does it feels like? 2. Does it (the a ha'/ unshakable realization) stays permanently? " One of the direct and immediate response I get after reading the articles by Rob Burbea and Rupert is that they missed one very and most important point when talking about the Eternal Witness Experience -- The Realization. They focus too much on the experience but overlook the realization. Honestly I do not like to make this distinction as I see realization also as a form of experience. However in this particular case, it seems appropriate as it could better illustrate what I am trying to convey. It also relates to the few occasions where you described to me your space-like experiences of Awareness and asked whether they correspond to the phase one insight of Eternal Witness. While your experiences are there, I told you ‘not exactly’ even though you told me you clearly experienced a pure sense of presence. So what is lacking? You do not lack the experience, you lack the realization. You may have the blissful sensation or feeling of vast and open spaciousness; you may experience a non-conceptual and objectless state; you may experience the mirror like clarity but all these experiences are not Realization. There is no ‘eureka’, no ‘aha’, no moment of immediate and intuitive illumination that you understood something undeniable and unshakable -- a conviction so powerful that no one, not even Buddha can sway you from this realization because the practitioner so clearly sees the truth of it. It is the direct and unshakable insight of ‘You’. This is the realization that a practitioner must have in order to realize the Zen satori. You will understand clearly why it is so difficult for those practitioners to forgo this ‘I AMness’ and accept the doctrine of anatta. Actually there is no forgoing of this ‘Witness’, it is rather a deepening of insight to include the non-dual, groundlessness and interconnectedness of our luminous nature. Like what Rob said, "keep the experience but refine the views". Lastly this realization is not an end by itself, it is the beginning. If we are truthful and not over exaggerate and get carried away by this initial glimpse, we will realize that we do not gain liberation from this realization; contrary we suffer more after this realization. However it is a powerful condition that motivates a practitioner to embark on a spiritual journey in search of true freedom. "

This is something ive been thinking , " How do you forsake yourself day by day , (or everytime this idea comes to conscious mind,how do you do it?) even moment to moment ? " The idea comes from a recorded talk i listened some time ago,( dont recalled the specifics of the talk) the talk is abt the practice of selflessness. 1. How do you practice selflessness? Not just in some external ways (donating money to beggar,social service,humanitarian work etc...),that is how you ACT selfless,but how you BE selfless? 2. How to BE selfless as much as possible,so that over time it becomes natural ? Not just selfless in social situation,but in all,such as when you are walking alone in the park,driving, how do you (try to )be selfless? DAOISM speak abt natural ,effortless living(action), is this the same thing?that is to say,the giving up of ego/self and live moment to moment from the point of view of 'reduced'self as much as possible. For a fully realized sage (or long time practitioner) this is natural, but for most of us, this may be 'effortful'?

Got a comment now; I would titled this : Why should we blindly belief in no self? .......... Drop " A certain way of relating to the world " . I'm thinking not of detachment, but of self centeredness, and how we relate our ' centeredness' (selfishness) to the world. Well, the world certainly means the social world (other people).But what if I try to apply this not my relation to the social world, but my very immediate experience as it is happening now.In other words, the world now means my subjective experience . Why this subjective experience always self-centered? And how should relate to it? One answer given by the traditions (Buddhism )is that Ignorance runs deep, can cannot be done away with easily.Thats why not many can breakthrough this and see through the reality of anatta (i.e. in truth there has never been a self to begin with). So , one way to break through this bond of ignorance is by holding strongly (blind faith if u would, ) the contrary point of view,the point of view that there is no me,no self, no I. Because if one does not do this,the momentum of ignorance will always carried one back towards this I. But this fixed view that there is no self (which is at this point only blind belief) must be complemented with virogous investigation into why there is no self, why truly, there is no separate individual here (and there). By vigorous investigation means an investigative attitude, a strong desire to really know the nature of reality (which is no individual self) ,and not mere curiosity.

This is an old topic, but as something im currently going through,like to repost here ; No comment yet though :-) Thanks SoW

This is something ive been thinking , " How do you forsake yourself day by day , (or everytime this idea comes to conscious mind,how do you do it?) even moment to moment ? " The idea comes from a recorded talk i listened some time ago,( dont recalled the specifics of the talk) the talk is abt the practice of selflessness. 1. How do you practice selflessness? Not just in some external ways (donating money to beggar,social service,humanitarian work etc...),that is how you ACT selfless,but how you BE selfless? 2. How to BE selfless as much as possible,so that over time it becomes natural ? Not just selfless in social situation,but in all,such as when you are walking alone in the park,driving, how do you (try to )be selfless? DAOISM speak abt natural ,effortless living(action), is this the same thing?that is to say,the giving up of ego/self and live moment to moment from the point of view of 'reduced'self as much as possible. For a fully realized sage (or long time practitioner) this is natural, but for most of us, this may be 'effortful'?

" While it certainly is indeed possible to have your world "drop out from below you" in such a way that your very being itself is forced to change radically " Curious as why such thing happened to Ramana Maharshi , past lives dedication and (past lives)hard practice? Thanks for the insights, appreciate it

Shortcut or longcut, i would like to hear both :-)

Having This ,a few times in the past.... Cannot remember now when the last time it happened, has not occured for many many months , or even a year or two ,or more .. The experience is always brief Lasting just a few seconds everytime it happen.... And what is it? Some trick played by the brain? Happened in a variety of situations ; (again, unable to recall the specifics of it),but just mundane situations.... Eg.. was reading a book, and boom (!) , for a few seconds, there is this sense of familiarity,that this experience "im now sitting here on this particular floor,reading this book... ," has happened before... The experience is not some vague dreaming condition,always happened in real waking state,and with a revelation(if i can use such word) " hey,this has happened to me before! " Again, what is this (experience of )deja vu?

1. Feel ( by the mind) " Something bad is going to happen " , didnt have that . 2. Memories of chain of events - dont experience that either.... Thanks for sharing

Beautiful quote ☺

Irrelevant..

Nobody had this before?

Sorry if I was a little self conscious and obsessed with the topic of sanity, I was recently diagnosed with mild psychosis and I'm a little self conscious. But at least I'm feeling a lot better physically and mentally even though I'm a bit mentally unrestrained/uncoordinated. Glad u r feeling better and my hope is u will continue to be so(getting better). Theres a lot we can learn from each other in this forum,and i believe many can second me on this ☺ Oopps,another thing : my saying of "its all about linking things together " ,my meaning is how before taking any serious spiritual practice,one has to intellectually understand them better and see their connections(philosophical,path of practice,end goal)

Hi, Welcome to TDB, Would like to make some comment ☺, Why modern science cannot answer concept of awareness? Because awareness CANNOT be understood in a scientific,objective way.Its purely subjective.perhaps my view of ' awareness' is different from yours. " I have few theories of how meditative arts work " - Agree wholly.but i would like to add, its equally important,if not more, to after considering the theories,find one that can be "practiced" so as to lead oneself to better understanding. Thanks

" its all about linking things together " - ☺

Just some random thoughts,out of curiosity, I dont feel good abt those spiritual teachers from whatever tradition who advertised themselves.Perhaps in subtler ways.Maybe indirectly through students etc.. For a truly realised sage,already beyond like/dislike,gain and loss,what is there to advertised about? They dont care much about teaching,helping and enlightened others. Their point of view is this : If you come my way and need help,i give(provided u r ready for it).Nobody comes,no matter.World war 3 explodes,im unaffected. I dont think they will consciously go to help and wanting to 'saved ' the world. What do you think?

Could be the integration that is hellish ☺

Would like to add : the moment of deja vu has such 'revelatory' quality to it ,a quality that is perplexing to the mind(perhaps such perplexing is why it become a memorable experience, but memorable not in the sense of remembering the specifics of the situation/ moment) , the mind that says this experience is not possible, how can what is happening in the here/now possibly has happened before? Anyone who has experienced deja vu before can relate to the perplexion :-)

Struggle , push through and don't give up?

One has to be prepared to struggle and face hardship on the path . I'm guilty of this in that there isn't enough seriousness in me yet.

Is the way to heaven through hell ? Such seems to be common ground to so many of the great masters, saints, sages, etc.. and their personal stories and lives of struggle. .......... That's very true , for ...

Fellow dharma friends, I would like to have better understanding of this ( note : its just some beautiful quote that feels true to me, theres no deep understanding of it) : At the moment of the attainment of Buddhahood, the Buddha uttered the following two verses: Verse 153: I, who have been seeking the builder of this house (body), failing to attain Enlightenment (Bodhi nana or Sabbannuta nana) which would enable me to find him, have wandered through innumerable births in samsara. To be born again and again is, indeed, dukkha! Verse 154: Oh house-builder! You are seen, you shall build no house (for me) again. All your rafters are broken, your roof-tree is destroyed. My mind has reached the unconditioned (i.e., Nibbana); the end of craving (Arahatta Phala) has been attained. * Kamasukhallikanuyoga and Attakiamathanuyoga. Metta