stirling

Is your cat having or not having a "golden age"? Why, or why not?

Ask yourself: "How are things in a 10 foot/10 second radius?" Without recourse to stories about your past or the possible future, or imaginings about how things in far off places are going, how are things now/here? Suffering is always our resistance to what is happening in this moment, and our clinging and aversion around our stories about the past and future. It IS possible to feel compassion for those that suffer in non-local locations without identifying with that suffering locally. It is worth exploring: Is it possible that our stories about what is happening in the world outside of our now/here bubble are the principle drivers of our dour or hopeful prognostications, rather than our more tangible local observations?

...and also "Empty Avenues" by John Foxx and the Belbury Circle.

Ken McLeod's "Wake Up Your Life". He won me in the 90's with his translation of the Lojong practice: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Path-Awakening-Cultivating-Compassion/dp/1590302141 A sampling of his audiobook: This guy is the real deal, and has the education, training AND depth of understanding about the nature of reality WITH a natural ability to communicate it that few have. Some of this audio book is available, above, on Youtube. Listen and see what I mean. Followed carefully, this is a very real guide into where to look for insight into the nature of reality - nothing is left out.

These are the teachers you actually want. If you understood the underlying nature of reality, do you think cash would still be something you get caught up in? You are looking for something more transformative. The practices that matter are free, and relatively simple.

Here is a deceptively short book that ISN'T religious or secular, and is FULL of surrender and other practices that might just lead you across the river. If there was ANY book for someone either very ill or dying, I think this is it. I teach this one every few years in my little sangha, and it is always well received: https://untetheredsoul.com/untethered-soul

Agreed. From a Buddhist point of view, "Experiences" are just that, impermanent manifestations, like anything else. It is seeing into the "emptiness"/unity that is important. Once perceived, the "emptiness"/unity is ALWAYS visible. There is no energetic "fuel" that enables this, in fact (as you say) quite the opposite. It is immediately understood on Stream Entry that the idea that anything ever precipitated the understanding is quite impossible, and that all appearances, are ultimately not separate phenomena. I'd be very surprised if enlightened Taoists wouldn't agree. Many teachings, like "techniques", cosmologies, and energy teachings are what you might think of as "relative" teachings, not "absolute" teachings - a common feature in many eastern spiritual philosophies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_truths_doctrine

Thank you for the link. _/\_ What I mean by normal is that the WORLD doesn't change (with some notable exceptions in my case) - the way it is apprehended shifts.

Surrender - of ideas, of opinions, of clinging, of muscle tension... to what is really happening - this is probably one of the highest, and simplest paths, no doubt about it.

Maps are generally an impediment in Buddhism, and I'm sure anywhere. I'm not curious because I am trying to track my progress, I am more interested in how different non-dual traditions identify and label themselves. There are expressions, and metaphors in Advaita Vedanta, for example, that I think have great usefulness and clarity. I'd be interested in hearing about the byproducts too. Some things that are thought of as "woo woo" make perfect sense seen from a different perspective... and some of them are folklore, no doubt intended to separate the pretenders from those that gnow (gnosis). Real enlightenment famously ordinary in its strange way.

This is because of a misunderstanding about what the "self" is and its importance in experiencing. You are ALREADY always operating without a "self". The "self" is just a mistaken perspective on how things are or happen.

Is your primary practice Tai Chi? That is where I started, aged 17. I still have great respect for it... could even see myself coming back to it as a body movement adjunct.

Soto is the school, founded by Dogen. I am in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage. Jhana isn't prescribed as primary practice, just optional. There are a few experts in the school you can seek out. The school is very open to exploring and adopting practices from other lineages. I would say that I dissolved the "witness" consciousness. I also finally identified it as a visualized a "knot" and "pressure" behind my eyes that I "untied" one night while sitting - one of the few insight moments that have occurred on the cushion. It is no longer there. Now all sensations are not "I" or "mine", but arise and pass away where they are. Reality is experienced as centerless and self-less. What traditions/schools do you work in?

I understand how that could be. I'd recommend less concentrated meditation and connecting with a teacher who can help you to process and put into perspective what comes up. It's hard work, no doubt about it.

The illusion of being a "self" is dropped. Arhats are no longer "selves" but the patterns (favorite flavor of ice cream, etc.) linked with the story of the self still play out, they are just not chosen by a "self", or owned by an "I".

Once understood, it truly doesn't get simpler than this.

Definitely. You struggle because of your craving or aversion around remembered past or projected future events. This is because you are operating from a mistaken idea about who or what you are. You believe in a "self" that is an illusory construct of the mind that causes you to struggle with the realities of your life. It is possible to have insight that dispels this misunderstanding. This is accomplished by working on shifting to right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi. This is the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold path. That's it! Its easy to get lost in which practices etc. but the variations aren't that important. Meditation-wise, learning to meditate with the breath, then dropping that for samadhi is all that is necessary. Truly anyone can do it - but few will.

Digging up your attachment and aversion is precisely what meditation SHOULD do. You are attempting to disabuse you mind of the mistaken idea that it is a "self' and all of the attachment and aversion that CAUSES that your suffering. Your meditation was actually WORKING. It creates space for that stuff to come up, and to process it. You can use your meditation to process that crap (or gold!) in a far less painful way. Having support from a teacher or counselor to process that stuff is highly recommended.

In Soto Zen (the school I currently work in) jhana is taught and used, if there is an inclination toward it. However, the jhanas are merely "states" of mind, not seeing into any deeper insight. They are LIKE deeper insights, not the actual experience of them, so can be considered an impediment, or attachment. Zazen is an open awareness, technique-free meditation discipline, like Dzogchen, and, practiced correctly, is free of all delusions or attachments. It is literally actualizing enlightenment, though without the realization that accompanies enlightenment.

In Buddhism I would say this maps to: Wu = Sotapanna (Stream Enterer) A glimpse of the true, non-dual nature of mind/reality. This begins the winding down of the mental pattern of the "self"/other, time, and space dualities. Like pulling the plug of a fan, and watching the blades slowly come to a halt. Shengren = Arhat Finally dropping away and seeing through the illusion of "self". This is not to say that the patterns of selfhood are gone, just that the illusion has been permanently shattered. Zhenren = Buddha I agree that this is very similar to Buddhahood, except that a Buddha has no further karmic obscurations, and so sees the emptiness of all dualities or any imagined deeper reality of physicality, and this just continues. Honestly, I am entirely sure that there ARE no real differences, only in how they are discussed, and generally would agree that it isn't productive for a student thoroughly entrenched in the dualities of self/other, space, time to think too much about, as it just seems like nonsense. I certainly wouldn't bring it up to my sangha, but I AM curious about how these things are represented in other traditions I am less versed in. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge. _/\_

I expect to find general teachings on Daoism, and Daoists who truly understand them and are able to discuss them articulately, I guess. I will certainly agree with you about esoterica, in general. There is enough in the commonly available Dhaozang, Tao Te Chi, and Zhuangzi of any translation to enlighten anyone who truly gets it. There is nothing esoteric needed in the Buddhist canon either.

Don't be disheartened... enlightenment is not solely Buddhist, and happens all the time, with our without monasteries, energy work, or training of any kind. There is no need to complicate things with worrying about adding other practices if it is Buddhism you are interested in. Buddhism generally pushes to have some balance of vipassana as well as samadhi practice. Which practices have you explored? Be sure to check out simplified the direct path samadhi-centric traditions and practices too. I would pick a tradition, teacher, or practice you are most drawn to and stick with that.

Hahahaha! Well... I appreciate honesty. Thank you. So... there aren't any really knowledgeable "teachers" here that might be willing to share their experience? I guess I find that hard to believe. For what it is worth, my experience is that "hidden teachings" are always in plain sight, just not understood because it is always thought that there is something complicated that must be done to understand them properly. Yes, I have had access to them in both the Dzogchen and Bon traditions.

This doesn't sound much like my (admittedly) limited readings in the Daoist canon. Setting aside the "secret teachings" where are these principles best read about and explored?

That is interesting. So, in this sense, though abstractly, Buddhism would agree - except that it is impossible for any "person" to become immortal. It is non-dual awareness, which consciousness at its basis is, that is empty of time/space/self, and thus unitive and without past or future. What do you know about the unitive principle of the dao? Is the immorality the result of going beyond manifestations? Are you suggesting a person becomes immortal? Would I be mistaken in saying that Daoism is a non-dual philosophy? In the context of Daoism, what does that mean? Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. _/\_