Seth Ananda

Please describe your experience in great detail, demonstrating clearly when the brain is not involved... and as great claims require great evidence, you should volunteer to be scanned, while 'willing'... That should be very interesting...

some science perspective: http://exploringthemind.com/the-mind/brain-scans-can-reveal-your-decisions-7-seconds-before-you-decide It appears the 'me' parts of the brain reverse engineer why it has 'decided' or 'chosen' to do whatever was already in the process of happening... So there is no real self making decisions and all that, just a figment self taking responsibility for actions that were going to happen anyway, to convince itself of its reality.... :lol: :lol:

I see consciousness as ongoing myself, as nothing interupts it. A pause in thinking, falling asleep, getting put under anesthetic, eating breakfast, beating off in front of a pegasus or anything you can name. Consciousness was there before it began, was there during it, and is there when it ends... Tibetan Buddhism calls it the Alaya vijnana, and has many ways of describing how a Yogi might get stuck there, as it feels and seems eternal, which it pretty much is. It is with you from life to life, and contains all previous memories and if full of bliss and beingness and so on. That all makes it pretty easy to get there and go Wow! I Made it! One of the ways they get around this fact is with decontruction {a thought process within awareness} of awareness/consciousness. they come up with complex arguments, showing that hearing awareness is different to seeing awareness, and that each moment of awareness is karmicly tied to whatever it is percieving, and thus awareness is not 'really' ongoing, but as each moment passess it seamlessly flows into a new 'moment' of awareness, and thus seems to be ongoing. I personally don't think it really matters if you see awareness as really ongoing and eternal, or if you see it as being an ongoing eternal string of Impermanent moments of awareness [that lasts forever lol]. For me the Important thing is to not set up camp there with a "WooHoo! Now I have got it!" but if you do have it, thats exellent work so far by the way, so Gratz! That awareness is actually part of our Buddha mind. Rigpa for instance is described as 'Seeing the Inseperability of Awareness, Emptiness and Luminosity. Buddha Mind is not destroyed by Death. One is now Immortal. free to send out emenations, into different realms to help ease the suffering of sentient beings everywhere...

For a debate like this I like the direct path style of Krishna Menon. Consciousness is the basic fact of our entire experience. Thinking, Feeling, perceiving, believing, personing {acting upon the sense that we are a person}, and anything else we can think of, all happen within consciousness. So Consciousness is the actual ground of everything. What does Consciousness do? It experiences... and that is it. Waking life, is an experience within consciousness of lots of stuff happening. Dreaming is an experience within consciousness of other stuff happening. Deep sleep or unconsciousness or death are an experience of nothing happening till after death experiences start. Consciousness is prior to and behind all experience, and is completely untouched by those experiences. having ones leg chopped off, having an orgasm, waking up in the morning, disproving consciousness is eternal or having ones head blown off... all these things happen within a consciousness that was already there, that does not change or alter in the least, no matter what it is that goes on... We are not actually even a person. Being a person is also just an experience next to lots of other experiences within consciousness... What is consciousness? Who knows? Knowing itself is an experience within consciousness. Including meditation stages of 'oneness' with consciousness...

Me! Lived with sanyassins for a few years! Read tons of his books. He was quite brilliant at telling rich white people and white hippies what they wanted to hear so that they would give him tons of money. He was a drug dependent F%*k wit in my book! The stories I have heard form people who knew him personally... wow. On the good side at least he did promote meditation, and a few, very few, of his disciples took that on, in an in depth manner. No one of note have been produced by his teachings. But there are tens of thousands of self satisfied baby boomers, who have his picture on their walls, while they get fat and rich on real estate, or as CEO's and live in narcissistic bubbles, where having a weekly colonic followed by a cranial-sacral body work session after which they scream out any trauma of the day, and consider it to be the height of spiritual living. I know he said to drop all mantras, but in reality he taught one: Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me....

Am I missing something... didn't Anamatva just give you a very specific description of the process? If so, can't you see for yourself how it is different to other practices?

Isn't it... And they are such amazing books too.

Hmm Interesting questions... I think I get where you are coming from... I heard a Dzogchen teacher say something along the lines of Rigpa takes only a second to realize, but a life time to stabalize... If I am right, you are saying something like "Ok so I have dropped into the present moment, and see the open perfection, and transience of things as they are right now, and frankly whats the big deal?" I went through this as well. Especially after meeting Norbu's students. I didn't feel any attainment at all from them. Then I would see Vippashna practitioners and other serious meditators who had that samahdic buzz to them, and a sense of Insight into things, even if only slight... They at least seemed like they were getting 'somewhere'... Then that quote I heard clicked into place. Rigpa will always be Rigpa, no matter what level of insight or how penetrating ones view of existence actually is. Its like a slow burn technology, it only takes a second to get, but in the stabilizing of it, all the other cool stuff will start to happen. For me the reason is that, once ones mind is resting continuously in the Natural state, ones mind is focused [sort of] in the present, and that is shamatha practice, but spread out over as long as it took to get there and over the rest of your life. Shamatha reveals the Siddhis, or external Nimmitas, which include non local consciousness and all that other stuff. Also it is Vippashna practice [in a non conceptual way] in that Insight will be slowly sinking in from Rigpa, into the mess of delusion we 'seem' to carry... So each moment appears as a magical illusory display... Thats Emptiness and Impermanence being viewed, but rather than doing it on a cushion its taking a life time to unfold... I really like this approach as I have a busy life, and it gives me something to practice through the day which has tangible results for me - more relaxed, more enjoyment of the moment... Yet I too sometimes struggle with questions about the path... Stabilizing Rigpa is no easy feat. For that reason I am picking up the Soto Zen practice at a nearby community, as their injunction of 'just sit' is very in alignment with Dzogchen philosophy. I will do as many of their retreats as I can till I can until I am fortunate enough to be able to do a Dzogchen retreat. And I will still do other studies and support practices from the 'lower' Yanas where I feel naturally called. I don't know if any of this was even close to your concerns, but regardless, Best wishes on your path

lol, but that would make you Bad ass!

lol, they just haven't trained in Iron Nose technique. Hmm maybe I should invent it, I'd make a fortune...

I seem to recall a central Dzogchen teaching being: Rest in Natural great peace. Contemplate for a minuet the correlations between 'Rest' and 'Soothed'. Now contemplate this... "Pleasure is timelessly free, free in the evenness that is the true nature of phenomena. Pain is timelessly free, free in the uniform spaciousness of the ground of being. Neutral sensations are timelessly free, free in dharmakaya, equal to space. Purity is timelessly free, free in the emptiness of underlying purity. Impurity is timelessly free, free in the supreme state of total freedom." ~ "A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission" by Longchen Rabjam Sounds very soothed to me... what is there to get in the way of each experience as it comes? What is there to be agitated or tense? ~Natural Meditative Stability~ Awakened mind is by nature primordially pure. The true nature of phenomena is such that there is nothing to discard or adopt, nothing that comes or goes, nothing to achieve by trying. Rather, the sun and moon of utter lucidity arise when one rests naturally in the spacious expanse that is the true nature of phenomena. ~ "A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission" by Longchen Rabjam :wub:

No, watch it, its a brilliant social experiment. Docco, not Mocco...

Wow, this is one of the worst threads i have ever seen. Zoose thinks he has the right to abuse women in his house because he is bigger and stronger?!? And here it reads like you think women are just a life support system for their vaginas Are you seriously that twisted? If a woman is screaming at you, how about offering her your presence, and hearing what she has to say. She is screaming because she doesn't feel heard, and it has become her fall back strategy when nothing else gets through your thick head. As soon as she feels heard things will tone down. The other option is that she gets a drama fix that she is addicted too and doesnt really care about the issue she is screaming about. If it turns out that that is the case, move out. Feeling seriously pissed off...

Aaron's attitude correctional facility is in full swing! Knockin out fools, keepin the streets clean! Respek! Having grown up with violence, I have seen its destructive power, But I also got to see plenty of examples where it helped {knock} someone down off their high horse. Situations where nothing but violence would could have brought about a necessary change. Your story reminds me of footage of a Lion, where its cubs are at it and at it, and when they go to far, then Whap! No lasting damage, but respect has been instilled. lol.

I am a big fan of this as well, although I have always thought of it as a subtle form of shaking. I am still a fan of the wilder shaking, especially for new students who often have expression issues and blocked in emotions, but in sessions i regularly prompt students to see how subtle they can get, and when I see a student go almost imperceptibly vibrating, into those more ecstatic 'tremors' i know good things are happening for them. I also dont try to do the more intense subtle shaking for too long as I become ecstatically dysfunctional. But I can carry myself around in a very mild inner pulsing/swaying/tremoring state which I can maintained indefinitely. That is blissful as well, but not like the vibrating you are referring too, [as long as I am understanding correctly what you mean when you describe it].

lol, I was not referring to him, and he is not my patient. I was responding to your And yes I am telling you to take your ignorant perspective about someone who is obviously having a hard time mentally, somewhere else. If you stand up for his delusional perspectives, and tell him that, "no, its not you, its society that is labeling you as mentally ill" Then you are colluding with him, and his delusions, and will be in part responsible for any possible tragic outcomes. DTHE needs to leave this forum for a while, and seek professional help. There is no malice or ill will in saying that.

Sure, we can go on about how every one is a bit 'crazy' sometimes, or question who are we to decide what crazy is, but outside of all that mental BS, there are people with genuine mental health concerns, and the severity of their condition gets belittled or swept under the carpet with such flippant statements.

How old are you? You seem to have a whinge whenever someone voices something even mildly confrontational. DTHE's post read serious levels of delusion. I study mental health, and have known many 'crazys' and people in his position are suffering and are in a state that is potentially dangerous to themselves and possibly even to others. I am seriously worried for his health and safety, as psychosis if left unchecked for too long, can become schizophrenia a little to easily. Religious beliefs or Interest are not considered indicative of psychosis in any mental health model, and in the new DSM, spiritual experience itself has been declassified as a pathology, except where spiritual emergence turns into psychosis. But Interest is spirit or chi is left far behind by statements like: And this: You obviously know nothing about the seriousness of mental health issues so get back in your box, and leave your complaining to people having disagreements about religious perspectives.

Do you really believe that its just as simple as knowing a technique? Visualize disolving into light, spin a chakra like this, focus on that body, and Presto! Now you have a light body, and so does anyone who follows the routine! Its not like that. This only becomes possible through deep wisdom, after a lifetime of successful practice, as its achievement is tied to the Insight gained from mastering the basics. 2012 won't help you. Killing yourself wont help you. Death will not help you. Only you can help you, under the guidance of a good teacher. Cultivate deep peace, and detachment. Cultivate the quiet joy that allows the mind to be still, so you may Inquire deeply into the nature of things undistracted. Why be hostile to the world, or Maya, or Ignorance. Hostility does not affect them in any way whatsoever. But Hostility does affect You. It agitates your mind. It ruins your clear thought and peace. Your meditation becomes pointless. Cultivate lack of stress, and profound peace like all the great masters did, as that is where you can start to gain Insight and wisdom.

I just want to make sure that you are aware that there is a form of psychosis known as spiritual emergence, where the sufferer has elements of genuine spiritual awakening but mixed with psychotic or florid perceptions. One of the delusions common to people going through this, Is that they are somehow 'central' to massive massive world events and situations, and sometimes that they have huge power, and very Important world events hang on their personal decision making processes. It has been suggested that when a fragile ego that felt like it was nothing, has broken down, it needs to feel Important and so massively Inflates its sense of Importance. To me it sounds like what you are going through. Please get professional help, and be kind to yourself. Don't use a permanent solution to a temporary situation. Seth. I hope you are getting

What are you going to do when nothing happens, and you are left with the reality that only through personal hard work, can you gain your freedom? Your life is what you have now, and it will be as well come 2014.

This is not you publicly saying you never posted here under the name Tulku, so in all honesty please do, or we will probably keep calling you Tulku. As you talk the same, and even manage to mix archangels into Buddhism and Taoism, along with world and relationship hating and some 2012. I might be wrong but I seem to remember Tulku being pissed off at this as well... But it is wise of them to do this. Those advanced teachings will do nothing but cause endless distraction, and obsession with abilities, in someone who does not have the foundation to use or even understand them. A child comes to a teacher to learn maths. The teacher gives the child a quantum calculations manual and says "These are some of the most amazing calculations ever." The child says "cool!" but quickly gets bored and askes for something more simple. No harm done. Unfortunately it does not work like this with spiritual matters. A student asks a teacher for spiritual Instruction, who says yes. Learn to sit, allowing everything to pass, attaching to nothing, hiding from nothing, without becoming drousy, in restful alert awareness... Then learn to walk around, Interacting normally with others and the world, and maintain this state... Boring! The studently quickly hears about 'higher' teachings. Fast tracks. And what is the first thing they do? They attach to them. Obsess about them. They may even manage to get a few of them but always they want more. What they have is not working quickly enough, or maybe it does produce profound changes, which they attach to, and then they wonder what else they can get..? They burn with desire for deeper mysteries, greater experiences... This can go on for a life time. They pat themselves on the back for the 'experiences' they may have had, which further bolsters their self importance. All this belongs to samsara. The experiences all happened in time, and they die without even having mastered the basic teachings which are the real prerequisites for the advanced teachings. The Masters don't jealously hoard these teachings, but they wait patiently for someone who is actually worthy of receiving them. If you become that, they will teach you. If you tell them that its 2012 and you dont need to wait anymore, they will just sadly laugh at you. Right now you can buy or download, many of these secret teachings. Read Heart drops of the Dharmakaya if you want. It will be of no use to you in your current state. Be wise like the Maths kids, put away the advanced material, and master the basics.

Rubbish. Life can't end. Death is the opposite of birth, and is totally natural, and is our friend. Life being 'all encompassing' can have no opposite, and is the playing field that the opposites of birth and death display themselves within.

Nice... Makes me think of the three pitfalls in Dzogchen. Bliss, Clarity, Freedom from thought.