stirling

Yes, there are certainly preconditions: Everything that has ever happened in the universe. Even if we believe in "free will", it is based in the causes and conditions that cover this moment... so, not really "free".

It isn't possible for me to read every post here... you just got lucky. I'd rather we ALL kept it civil and left out the insults. If someone is insulting you, please let me know.

Easy there, friend. Let's take deep breath.

No-one manipulates reality. It is just this moment, as it is, where you are. If you find that you have lost joy, and beauty, and life is stale you might be lost in nihilism. If you are a Buddhist practitioner I would suggest getting some training in bodhicitta ASAP. Seek out a teacher if you can, or an easy place to start might be with Norman Fischer's version of the Tibetan Lojong teachings, "Training in Compassion". Also worth a try, this deceptively simple "metta" training: Put on a smile and as go about your day in the world acknowledge each person you encounter and wish each being (or even objects you touch or use) happiness and freedom from suffering. See if you can be thankful for their presence. With this thought, send a warm kind light from the center of your chest in each encounter. Do this as often as possible and see how your life shifts. My sincere hopes for your re-realization of the beauty, loving kindness, and bliss of all appearances. _/\_

Just as Jesus was not a Christian, the Buddha was not a Buddhist. The Buddha was one amongst countless beings that have become realized , dropped their fetters, and seen through their mistaken belief systems. Is Zen Buddhism? I'm not sure why that would matter. It IS a vehicle for realization, but it is a VERY direct one that will not suit all students. Zen DOES throw you into the "deep end", but, really, there IS no deep end. Realization is actually a very simple affair - in one moment you believe that a particular set of bodily sensations represent some kind of reality as a separate person, and then, miraculously, in the next moment you don't. In this respect Zen is far simpler than most vehicles... that simplicity isn't a bug, it is a feature. Nothing is missing in Zen (though there could be more emphasis on compassion training, IMHO), it just may not be meant for you. If one is drawn to follow a particular set of teachings they should, absolutely. Does this mean that there is something wrong with those other paths? No, not really. Having no tradition or path at all awakens "beings" all the time.

This is not a misperception. We have cobbled together a certain set of sensate phenomena and identified those elements as belonging to a "self", but, as you seem to have noticed, whether they are always present, and what they might include changes all the time. Those elements we call "self" are most often where we find our awareness. So, what if we have awareness of a bird chirping in the nearby forest, or of the shadows on the floor moving, or our cat rubbing our leg as it walks by? They are also where awareness finds itself. What we ARE is awareness, not the arbitrary collection of places we create that awareness seems to locate. Awareness is the fabric of all things. Everyone has had the experience of emptiness. It happens naturally all the time, we just need someone to point out what it is. What you describe in the first paragraph above IS emptiness of "self". It is one of many ways to be aware of "emptiness". Another common feeling of "emptiness" is experiencing a sort of WHOLENESS - a loss of feeling separate from the phenomena that surrounds you... finding that "I" is what EVERYTHING is. Awareness is obviously part of everything that is experienced, or you wouldn't experience it. Awareness is what is always present. Pure, clean, silent and still awareness is Buddha Nature, Rigpa, Nirvana, Nirodha, god, etc. etc., and it is ALWAYS right here, underneath your mental story of the world. Does it? I don't think it does. You see that what you are is awareness. You get the intellectual point, but you are still missing the insight... the EXPERIENCE of "being" awareness. When you notice that you are awareness in your practice, rest in that stillness. Do this as often as possible without trying to make or contrive it into happening. Don't grasp at the experience, only patiently notice it when it arises and it will come more and more often. Eventually you will notice that it happens all of the time on its own. Eventually you will see it for what it is.

Welcome to the board!

Is there an improper way to be awake? What does that mean to you?

Welcome to the board! I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for here.

Absolutely! Still, I have yet to read a translation of the DDJ that does not point directly to the Tao with great clarity, though translations seem more clear (IN ENGLISH). This is true for almost almost all representations in all "non-dual" philosophical documents.

There IS this quite useful pointer in there (with a little parsing): Now. Power over Nothing is All U need.

Where are they? Where can I see them? Can you show other people, or do they only exist as ideas? Realizing the source is realizing that you have never been separate... there is nothing to "return" to.

Yes, belief is powerful, but our beliefs are not a legitimate way of knowing how things truly are. There is a difference between reading a recipe and imagining what a cake will be like, and actually baking the cake and tasting it. This experiential way of knowing is "gnosis", and it is what divides religions from mystics, those that have "baked the cake". Only gnosis will demonstrate the deeper reality of things of things. A belief is what we construct when we don't "gnow". Our practice can illuminate the reality of "free will", if we take the time to look. It can also illuminate the reality of what time, space, "self", and separateness are, with some pointing. I can also lay to rest questions about time travel. Gnosis offers the most comforting, loving, relief you can have to our struggle with how "reality "is. No belief will ever relax your ever-questing mind.

From a scientific perspective, absolutely not. It has been shown repeatedly in studies that our thoughts are not the determiner of our actions - our muscles begin to move to pick up a cup LONG before we have the idea or thought to do so. Regular meditators can discover this for themselves. This is not a universe where autonomous "people" decide the next course of action. So, what then? What about looking at this pragmatically? My teacher likes to say, "We are not in charge of the world... what we ARE in charge of is how we RESPOND". If you think about this moment and all of the things happening in your house, your town, your state or province, your country, your world, your galaxy, etc., etc. your actions seemingly have very little impact on what is happening. What is happening was theoretically determined at the moment the singularity of the "big bang" happened and the first new particle hit the second, just as the trajectory of balls on a billiard table are determined the moment the cue balls meets whichever balls it first encounters. Having said that, YOU are on that table. Causes and conditions from the beginning of time have determined what might happen next. No big bang, no apple pie... but also, no YOU present in this moment. Clearly, there is a presence where you are, a part of what unfolds. What, then, is our relationshop, to what is happening? He is saying a lot more than he appears to be here. He is saying (paraphrasing here): "The circumstances of this moment determine what the next will be like. So... how are things going? What is most obviously going to happen next? What are YOU likely to do as part of that unfolding? Covering that, what is YOUR SINCERE, GENUINE INTENTION IN THIS MOMENT and how will that impact what happens next, since you are utterly INSEPARABLE from all other moving parts in this moment? Choose wisely! What does that mean? Choose love, choose kindness, choose compassion... how the next moment plays out LITERALLY depends on how you, an inseparable part of the universe, present your intentions in THIS moment. In this moment you are reading the last paragraph of this text. This text is now part of what happens next. Perhaps you will dismiss it as bullshit and say it doesn't matter. Perhaps you will do your own research to see what science says is real. Maybe, you will decide that working to be kind in the world is worth trying. Ask yourself, what do the conditions of this moment predict for the next moment?

All layers, levels, attainments, etc. only exist in the thinking mind. If you TRULY realize based on Wisdom/prajnaparamita that all distinctions are mental constructs, you are liberated.

Some commentaries are better than the original written piece.