stirling

That is probably more practice than what I would have suggested to you, honestly. In my opinion once a day for 40 minutes is fine. Obviously, the more you sit, the more emptiness penetrates your day to day activities. 40 minutes usually results in students getting a deeper dive in the second half of the sit, often voyaging into a deeper, quieter emptiness, and sometimes losing touch with "self" and body sensation entirely You are also almost half way to a sleep yoga practice with your nighttime activities, which can also be additive and beneficial, though not a necessity. ANY extra sitting, or walking meditation, etc. can be helpful... or just taking 5 minutes every hour to allow the mind to go still and attempting to take that stillness into your activities. _/\_ I didn't have a teacher at the time of Stream Entry, but it DOES help, I agree. I had to scramble and find one!

It is more about motivation and intention than effort, in my experience. Most of the people I meet who are motivated either want to know what the reality of this life truly is, OR are so sick of their suffering/struggle and their mind that they will take 20 or 30 minutes a day to shift it. Still, believe it or not, illumination could happen to you anyway without practice, though the chances are more slim. The offer is open. _/\_

You need an introduction to the "nature of mind', also called "sunyata", emptiness, etc. I capable teacher can help you with this. From a Zen or Dzogchen perspective all that is then required is learning to bring the mind back home over and over, just as you would in meditation. Do you have a teacher? If so, provided you have an established meditation practice, this would be the place to start. If not, feel free to message me. I am a Zen teacher.

Posts have been removed for insulting behaviour, a violation of board policies. Yang, personal insults and disrespect to moderation staff are not tolerated. Yang has been banned for one week.

Just so you are aware: Posting here is a privilege, not a right. Let's keep it civil, yes? Your pal, stirthing

The phenomenal world begins and ends all the time. Every time you open a doorway into another room, fall asleep, wake up, die, or are born... or even blink. Each and every ending is a delusion. One things never ends. What is it?

You've got it here. Nicely done.

In Shikantaza thoughts arise, but they pass, and with some skill more often than not do not create a second thought. While discursive thought might seem to be the province of the "mind", the province of the NATURE of Mind (notice the large M) is actually a clean, simple awareness. That clean, simple awareness is what is rested in... it is what we truly ARE. In Zen or Dzogchen, see above. I actually have already answered that question for you in an post above. You practice being awake, and aware. That is it. If you are looking for more specific instruction feel free to message me. I have been meditating since 1990, and don't have any of those problems. I don't know anyone who has, honestly. The thinking mind isn't "normal". It is an engine of suffering and struggle with the world. When the mind is still it is how it naturally is. The mistake is that most people believe that who they are is their thinking process. It isn't. It is easy to prove to yourself. When the mind is still you can watch thoughts arise and pass. If you are watching them do this, how is it possible that you are your thoughts? What you are is what WATCHES the thoughts. What is that? Find out for yourself. Yes, it leads to detachment, development of COMPASSION (but yes, less empathy), where the definition might be: This doesn't really happen as often because identification with a "self" (or someone elses) gets softened. Lack of responsibility? As a father that raised two children, I can't agree with that. If he had character flaws those were always his. I don't think so. I think he is just a human like so many others. There are endless paths to enlightenment... there isn't a right set of practices that must be done at the right time. Practices (including meditation) don't actually CAUSE enlightenment. As I like to quote: I would suggest doing the practice you are drawn to. If Zen and its practices seem to pull you, try it and see if it motivates you to practice. This shift in practice is very simple. As I say above, watch your thoughts. When you notice there is a gap in them and the mind is quiet, rest in that gap, being aware, but with the mind still. As you continue to rest in that mental stillness, the periods of stillness will come more easily and frequently. When you find yourself lost in thoughts again, start over. Eventually there will be 10's of seconds or more where there is simple presence. This is enough to start with. Feel free to message me with more complex questions... but why not just try it first and see if you can see what I mean, and do it? Message me once you have tried it a few times, and I can tell you more, or suggest some reading... but more reading is not necessarily going to be helpful. It is practice and experimentation that really matter.

Welcome to the board!

"Reality" has always already been enlightened. The illusion is OURS.

The disconnect with the "ultimate" (I prefer "Absolute") always begins NOW, just as enlightenment always begins NOW. We can witness the birthing of many from one also NOW. The moment our thoughts create a duality, for example: "Bob tells Stirling to eat a peach", a universe of things is created. Not only are Bob and Stirling created, but their families, ancestors, belongings, the elements, planets, stars, microbes, peaches... anything imaginable that creates the necessary context for the sentence to make sense, endlessly. Being that all things are interconnected, I would argue that ALL of them are necessary to make the situation in the sentence possible (see Dependent Origination). In the moment there is stillness in the mind, all 10,000 drop away and there is the "absolute", or "emptiness", or "enlightened mind" aware of presence and still. The 10,000 number is common to both Daoism and Buddhism, and probably other traditions in that Gordian Knot interconnected in Norther China. The "10,000 things" is usually intended to be a representation of all of the possible categories of things in the universe.

With enough practice and insight it is actually possible to see that both the conceptual mind's mental constructs are "empty", AND that even the separate objects we mentally assign material reality are too. All dualities - self and other, far and near, yesterday and tomorrow - can eventually been seen as illusory. What IS real is the empty, unlabeled phenomena that appear and disappear in awareness moment to moment, and even a dedicated meditator of only a month or so can be pointed toward this reality, though it will still take plenty of work to have real insight into it. Try this: In those moments where there is a gap and no thoughts are present, don't rush back to your meditation object. Rather, try to just rest, relaxed and without concentration or effort, in those gaps. Let the mind just be spontaneously present with no object or practice except noticing feelings, thoughts and perceptions arise in awareness and pass without engaging the thought process. The more you do it, the more you can rest in awareness. Once you can do this for seconds or 10's of seconds at a time, point awareness, with eyes open, at the objects in your view, or even your "self". Are they separate without the thinking mind? Are there really separate sense doors? What IS "self" without the thought process, or is there one at all? Probably what you were taught was a non-dual pointing. Your mind will NEVER grasp a teaching like that. It can't. It is something you must EXPERIENCE, and the only way to do that is with meditation OR actual insight.

Mr., thank you. Right back at you! It is always a pleasure to see your posts... a little endorphin hit with every missive.

I posted that link (though it could easily have been Forest) and, yes, the Tibetans truly have mastery IMHO where it comes to talking about and understanding this interesting phenomena we are aware of. Yes, I agree.... freedom! It is realization that all of the conceptual ridiculousness we think we might experience is just that. Death? Do you remember dying? I don't... or being born for that matter. Here is a relevant section of the Heart Sutra that addresses this too: The truth or lack of truth of death or extinction (amongst other interesting things) lack intrinsic reality. What lives and dies is not what we think it is. Awareness is not a "dharma". We are 0% here in reality. It means both of those, and more, yes. Identity as a body is a delusion, one amongst many. Awareness is the fabric of reality - what we are.

I love almost everything with Michelle Yeoh! An amazing film. Possible Research Topics: Bardos

See also:

"Everything" always already IS emptiness.

Zazen is meditation with an object. In Zen, the object (breath, concentration on an object, or visualization) is only a way IN. When the mind is sufficiently quiet most meditators find that the object drops out for moments at a time and there is stillness. Shikantaza (like Dzogchen in Tibetan traditions) is just resting in that stillness and complete awareness - meditation with NO object. Another way to think of it is that the ENTIRE field of experience is the object, seen from the still mind. This "no-thing" stillness and "everything" field of experience are the same view... two sides of the same coin. The resulting "state" in both cases is no different from enlightened mind... IS enlightened mind.

I was thinking primarily about this brand of emptiness: https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Emptiness But yes, if science is to be believed, we really understand very little about anything. What a relief. Here are some masters of that discipline. They can even levitate and fly! The Truth About Devolution

Yes! Looking for what is NOT impermanent is the way to go (in Buddhism anyway). The short answer is "emptiness", which can be pointed out in any tradition.

I can see it in this moment. It isn't a question of understanding, though rendering it in language is always difficult. What do you mean by density? What "energy"? All of these things originate in the mind. Are you a meditator? Can you sit until your mind is still and without thoughts? If so, ask yourself how many of the things in your list above are present there. Yes, the illusion of form originates in the Wuji, or "emptiness". Everything inside the circle appears to have separateness, but doesn't really. I'm happy with the one from Wikipedia (above), though I think the word "energy" is a difficult translation. It is more like a natural flowing or motion, like a fountain, or waves churning. It is what generates the delusion of form.

I'm fine with that, although even the idea of a Wuji independent from awareness is still a delusion. Sure you can. You are doing it all the time. It is your conceptual MODEL of reality that is delusion... your thoughts about it. Works for me, though I'm still catching a bit on this "single" part. How about, "There is just Wuji"? Really, the illusion is yours.

Not at all. Definition Source These are all conceptual ideas (I am assuming yours) and therefore aren't real. I could introduce a similar set of abstractions and they would also not be real. A definition? How about "reality" is the unlabeled phenomena that have no existence of their own, but arise in awareness in this moment. Yes, delusions are changeable, as they are impermanent and subject to the perspective of the deluded. My definition of a delusion is: anything that exists in imagination and is constructed of particular subsets of reality. You've got it here. All imagined things apart from (you say 1 dimension, I say 0), or things that appear separate or multi-dimensional are "unreal". The wuji surrounds the yin/yang. The ying/yang are delusions... only appearances. The wuji (in this model) is the absolute reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy)#Definition It is the equivalent of "emptiness" in Buddhism.

Better expressible as NO dimensions. They are mind generated delusions that have no reality of their own.

No dimensions. No concept of dimension. No one to perceive, conceive, or even believe in a dimension. At the same time, countless dimensions, appearing moment to moment, conceived as false divisions, and collapsing into emptiness when stillness is remembered and allowed to well up as the base.