stirling

That isn't exactly obvious to me, but does resemble some terminology I would agree with - that working to drop beliefs and ideas that obscure the underlying reality of how things are makes enlightenment more of a possibility. The ideal would be to drop ALL beliefs or tightly held ideas, but that is a tall order in this world. Would you agree?

The three doors are: Emptiness, Signlessness, and Aimlessness. https://www.lionsroar.com/the-doors-of-liberation-may-2014/ Gautama's door may have been one or another, but that doesn't mean it will be YOUR door. There is no one way into to enlightenment, there are countless.... or maybe 84,000. https://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php/84,000_Dhamma_doors Personally, I am convinced dharma doors are countless.

The back of Blanche's rakusu: It says: "Finished". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakusu

Emptiness/Unity/One is the underlying quality of all appearances and is always present. The absolute doesn't experience "itself", it is the experiencing. It is a verb. The "relative", what you might think of a your "manifested existence" is like the water flowing from a fountain. It just continuously comes forth, but is non-dual so is only now and has no future or past, it has no subject/object qualities, and there is no real distance between "here" and "there", or "this" and "that". In this sense it is holographic, much like Indra's Net. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra's_net or David's Bohm's Holographic Universe: https://futurism.com/david-bohm-and-the-holographic-universe Both of these are only pointers, only conceptual constructs. No conceptual contract (including Buddhism) properly represents this understanding completely, because the understanding itself cannot be modeled. *Just to clarify this* The understanding Emptiness/Unity/One as the underlying quality of all appearances, and the commensurate ability to see the moment to moment the truth of this understanding ARE enlightenment. It is completely possible to realize this in any moment, and see that it is how things are moment to moment. This insight reveals the empty/signless/aimless qualities of all observed phenomena, AND the underlying reality of EVERY dharma door regardless of the possible number.

Blanche is a lineage teacher for me. My first Zen teacher was Blanche's only transmitted teacher. Blanche's teachings are greatly under utilized and poorly served by the single book extant. Nice to see her name-checked.

My experience is that the Relative reality is binary (or infinitely variegated), but the Absolute is unity and is featureless. So, sure, all of the appearances in consciousness, INCLUDING gods, planets, witches, ghosts, etc. etc. have a relative reality and can be experienced, BUT those appearances don't ultimately have a reality that is separate from anything else. Parsing what this means for reality as a whole is a daunting task, but suffice to say that the provisional reality that supernatural entities inhabit means that they are ultimately toothless, and no more in charge of anything than you are... which is not in charge at all. The theory of this isn't helpful, it is the experiential understanding we are after. Feel free to ask me privately about this.

Absolutely. I see where you are going here, but I would just say that anyone who tries to just do meditation lite will discover that the process absolutely begin to bring up all of their unprocessed karma. The underlying reality in all moments is the absolute, and you can't hide it. We are always surrounded by dharma. It wants to come out.

Suffering is the result of lacking Wisdom (Prajna) about the nature of reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajñā_(Buddhism) Suffering happens where there is attachment or aversion to what is happening in this moment. Seeing things as they really are alleviates suffering. There may be - but that would be a RELATIVE story about reality, not the absolute.

IMHO, the best way forward is to joyfully practice like every day could be the last, with as little attachment or aversion to death as possible.

It's worth looking at this concise little gem on Wikipedia. I keep it handy for such occasions. :

The place to start IS observation, but we aren't looking to establish a new story, theory, or cosmology for the universe. Observation helps us to establish the facts. Meditation is the "laboratory" for that observation. Meditation is the place where we can come to see that what "we" are is not the "thinking mind", but instead, that which OBSERVES it. Ultimately NO-ONE eliminates anything. There IS no error, just a misunderstanding or belief that can be dispelled. Most non-dual traditions have slightly different practices and terminology, and occasionally create belief systems around the insight, but at its core there is usually deeper "absolute" layer where the insight IMHO is precisely the same. This is true in Buddhism, Daoism, Sufism, and the mystical traditions of Christianity and Judaism amongst others. I find all of this fascinating too.

This would be akin to shooting the Santa at the mall to halt Christmas. The "self" is an illusion. There is nothing to annihilate, there is just your belief in the story of your "self". Once "self" is seen through it is like unplugging an electric fan - the part that causes suffering begins to slowly grind to a halt, and the patterns of "self" generated by the effort to the thinking mind drop away because they are no longer being energized. Do you still choose a particular kind of ice cream, or music, or vacation? Yes, - only you know that it isn't "you" that chooses.

The moment of insight, or "awakening" isn't subtle. An experienced realized teacher can recognize it in a student, but it is really it is the what happens over a course of years that matters. Awakening itself isn't the complete understanding of no-self more often than not. It is the product of deepening and the dropping of more and more delusion. The insight deepens over time. Wisdom affects the character of the "person". If you think you have gained insight, ask yourself if you can see the emptiness of things moment to moment. How does what you think you know change how you understand reality? If you understand "emptiness" what does this mean about "self"? "Space"? "Time"?

The precepts are a good place to start. These are the Soto Zen version of the Bodhisattva vows and precepts: My personal recommendation would be a book from the Vajrayana traditions "Lojong" trainings, the "Seven Point Mind Training": https://www.amazon.com/Great-Path-Awakening-Commentary-Mahayana/dp/0877734208 There is also a Westernized version by Norman Fischer, which is also available as an audio book that might interest some readers: https://www.amazon.com/Training-Compassion-Teachings-Practice-Lojong/dp/1611800404/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1677718320&sr=1-1 Both are different from a commandment-style list, and are intended to shift one's perspective away from self-cherishing to a more Wisdom (Prajna) based way of relating to the world. Some of the instructions will be shocking and challenging to Western ideas of what is "fair" or how to act, but all instructions are in complete alignment with the principles of the "Noble Eightfold Path", and direct our behavior toward perfected that outward approach to the world.

Absolutely, BUT the method of complete liberation is seeing through the "self", which is complete understanding of "no-self". This does not mean to subjugate, annihilate, or control in some way, but simply to have insight into what it really is, and therefore what "you" really are.

I think Buddhists, and the world at large, owe a significant debt to Thanissaro Bhikku for making these teachings so available AND so digestible. As far as his attainment, I personally haven't met him or watched interviews of him, so couldn't say what I think for sure, BUT it isn't at all outlandish to believe that he has some level of attainment. I would think his teacher would insist on that before he translated these works. Among the other great living scholars of Buddhism, for example, certainly Robert Thurman and Ken McLeod have insight and could be considered "enlightened" in my opinion. If you know what you are looking for, you start to see that enlightened "beings" are all over the place. Certainly there are a handful in any decent sized city. There are at least 3 in the little Northwestern United States town I inhabit, for example. Speaking for myself, post Satori/Stream Entry "stages" were much more segmented. Than the Four Path Model. Tracking the fetters dropping away rather than path shifts made a lot more sense. I also found the "Progress of Insight" stages spotty at best, and cycling not really much of a feature of progress. What I have discovered in conversation with other practitioners of different sects of Buddhism, or even other non-dual traditions, is that these two models appear to have more to do with the way enlightenment openings presents themselves as the product of Theravada practices than other practices, specifically heavy vipassana practice. Mahayana and Vajrayana practitioners seem to have very different experiences. Added on to this - no two "persons" deepening processes seem to be the same. The INSIGHT into the nature of reality is essentially the same, though the jargon around it may be different. One might say that all appearances in consciousness are empty of intrinsic reality. Another might say that everything is God. Both hint at a unity. Anyone truly interested in models of enlightenment should give Daniel Ingram's survey of them in his book "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha" a read: https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-v-awakening/37-models-of-the-stages-of-awakening/ Like all good dharma it is available for free.

The best compiled version of Nagarjuna's work with commentary I have encountered is "Meditation on Emptiness" translated by Jeffrey Hopkins. It's a classic. How good is it? It's on the table next to me.

A belief is a story we construct in our thinking minds. It is merely a placeholder before we gnow (through gnosis) experientially how things are. Buddhism is somewhat unique amongst philosophies and religions. The intention is to find out for yourself how things are, not believe something or adopt a belief system. You are encouraged to take on propositions and explore them until they are understood experientially, NOT just accepted as beliefs. What ends up being found (insight into the nature of mind and reality) doesn't really fit into any of the "mologies" or "isms". The non-dual nature of reality has no time, space, self, or subject/object relationships. It is seen that the world of separate things is a illusion, yet the world of separate things is still visible, just demonstrably, moment-to-moment unreal in the way we had always imagined and accepted it. Ideas like unity, monism, and non duality all point at it, but really only represent ideas about its conceptual aspects, not the wholeness of understanding it.

Maybe I'm not explaining myself very well. What I mean is that there are a handful of what you might think of as "enlightened beings" in most decent sized cities that have complete understanding of the teachings, or what you might call "Right View" or understanding of the "nature of mind'. These are most often teachers that are authorized to teach by their lineage holders. It isn't about credentials or implied authority, it is about having the perspective explained by one that embodies it. There are a number of aspects of Buddhist study that NEED pointing out. It isn't an intellectual pursuit. Ones beliefs or imagined understanding on the topic of aspects like "no-self" are always wrong, because they are only beliefs or ideas. The understanding isn't a conceptual knowledge. An example: Part of the text I shared above in the Heart Sutra says: The plural term "dharmas" is used to describe the interrelated elements that make up the empirical world... so, everything, including the illusory "self" and all appearances in the world are included here. They are empty of any existence of their own, and thus non-dual. You may have read the text, but missed out on the subtleties of the meaning. If you are truly curious, a teacher who can see that all dharmas are empty and point out how that is would be invaluable.

I'd read those a little more carefully if you are curious. No-self is really just the first deepening into complete understanding. The implications of no-self cascade and deepen, and never stop deepening. Self is recognized in all appearances and dropped. Not sure if you are a committed Buddhist, but finding a realized lineage teacher to ask questions of could clear this up for you.

For more examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism#Buddhism Buddhism is a well-known non-dual practice.

At Rohatsu Sesshin a few years ago, the topic of the Hara came up in discussion after a dharma talk. There were two Rinzai students (now realized teachers) of Harada's, and one of the original SF Zen Center Soto teachers present. (Yes, I am lucky!) Amongst us, only one of the Rinzai teachers had been given any instruction on the Hara early on in his training. The Hara is an interesting idea, but I think it must be considered a Relative teaching, like all other meridian or energy system teachings. I don't think there is anything wrong with the practice. If a teacher assigns it, I'd consider it "skillful means". A realized teacher will understand that the Hara itself has no intrinsic nature. I myself found that there was a hot "knot" in the frontal lobe area of my head while sitting, late in the process of trying to completely dissolve my "self". Like all persistent phenomena (pain or discomfort, for example) I put my attention on it and it felt as though it "untied". It was definitely in my way, as the process completed itself a day later, BUT working with it doesn't change its Absolute nature. There is no practice that precipitates enlightenment.

This is beautifully done, Steve. _/\_

Dependent origination when completely understood IS non-dual. The concept of dependent origination is probably Buddhisms most powerful teaching tool and conceptual framework that points to the non-dual "Wisdom" (Prajna) aspect of the Two Truths doctrine. If you want a deep dive into non-dual Buddhist philosophy you can't go wrong with Buddhism's Einstein, Nagarjuna. Also read the Heart Sutra, Diamond Cutter Sutra, Bahiya Sutra, or the Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, amongst others. Many religions have a non dual component: Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism - there are even non dual elements in Christianity and Western philosophy if you know where to look. Different religions and philosophies look at non-duality through different lenses and come from different perspectives. The core underlying reality is the same. Once understood it easy to see everywhere.

The beauty of open awareness meditation is that we can explore these questions for ourselves. If you can sit with your mind quiet and empty it is possible to see how, without the thinking mind, there are just sensations, arising and passing away with no labels, or stories. This is the baseline of experiencing available to anyone who invests the time to see it. Honestly, it doesn't take that long. It's not hard, if you have someone who can point it out. When it is seen that sensations arise and pass in this moment we can see that the things we would normally label as "itch" or "joy" or "fear" are actually complexes of sensations that we compile into complex multilayered concepts with our thinking minds. Seeing that there is a layer of "us" that can watch this process of thought construction helps us realize that those multilayered concepts are not what "we" are. The thinking mind is merely something that conceptualizes raw perception. What we are is what watches thinking mind generate the relative "world". So: Purpose is a mental construct that requires a subject, an object, the space for them to act in, and a timeline to operate within. Complete realization is the understanding that those elements are illusory, generated by the thinking mind. In reality there is just this moment, and the discrete events in the sense field that arise and pass. This doesn't mean we can't also assemble ourselves with the thinking mind into people, events etc., but it DOES mean (once the underlying reality is experienced as true insight) that we will never buy into delusion wholly ever again. The unity/emptiness (or All) has purpose, but it isn't a cosmology or timeline, it is the clear, loving, beautiful arising of this moment. Everything arising is intimately interconnected and inseparable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra's_net The meaning is all generated in AND referencing this moment, including your memories of the past and thoughts about the future, because subject/object/space/time/self are all non-dual. The have no reality or existence of their own. Cosmologies in most non-dual teaching are eventually understood to be Relative - teaching tools nested within the Absolute. Gods, demons, buddhas, etc. can all appear to you, but they AREN'T the underlying reality, they are relative constructs. The dharmakaya/brahma/satchitananda/trinity - the "ALL" is the underlying reality. Just like what you think of as "you", the seemingly separate entities (including the gods) are illusory, symbolizing illusory aspects of the underlying wholeness. Human suffering is entirely caused by the delusion of having intrinsic reality. The delusion of intrinsic reality (belief in an "I" as a separate "self") is constantly being pointed to by relative reality. This is why many tantric paths use daily experience as they path - the Tibetan Buddhist and Bon traditions, for example. There is ultimately no "returning to the source". The delusion is that what we are has EVER BEEN separated from the source. Where is the source? Where almost all religions say it is. Everywhere. Right here. Just this is it. The only thing lacking is the realization that what you are presently experiencing has always been what you seek. In my experience it isn't about how fast or how hard you work. It is about making yourself accident prone. Getting lost in our stories about how the universe is, the structure, our clinging to our beliefs, all works to simply become more entrenched. Dropping to the basic level of experiencing gives us the opportunity to take apart all of that. Being present as often as possible is actualizing enlightenment in this moment. This is my experience and understanding of how things are.