dwai

Sheer poetry reading your posts my friend!! 🙏🏾🙇🏻🤗

In meditation, we have the use of the term "staying centered" or "balanced" or "maintaining equilibrium". In taijiquan too we have the use of similar terms, or if we want to be more technical, "maintaining Zhong ding" or "being in Taiji". What does that really entail? Is it a mental state? Or is it a state of energetic balance? Or is it a combination of both? The best definition of "no-mind" I've come across is "The no-mind state is when the mind neither clings to anything, nor runs away from anything". This is where the key to remaining centered exists. The nature of the mind is to process information, to think. So even when there is no need for thinking to occur, the mind tends to preoccupy itself with thinking. Processing events that have passed, and extrapolating and projecting into possibilities in the future. The resulting effect is one of distress, even though there might not be the recognition as such, of the effect, under "normal" circumstances. This is true for all serious meditation (imho). If your mind is constantly vacillating between past and future, there is no point of rest any longer. So then how do we stop vacillating between the past and future? That is, in essence, the root of meditation. In order for that to be possible, first there must be total and complete recognition of our true nature and an understanding of what we are not. There are many ways to get there -- but the end result is a direct knowing of what we are not. What we truly are, cannot easily be grasped directly. Usually we have to go through the path of "neti neti" (or not this, not this), progressively and logically eliminating layers of not-self, until only the bare essence remains. Once we have spent time with the realization of our true nature as being that bare essence, then we can in earnest begin the process of 'letting go'. It takes a bit of effort initially, but to simply sit, without doing anything, is a good way to 'let go'. How do we let go of sand that we have held in our fist for a while? Just open the fist...and the sand falls out. Some grains still remain, just dust them off by rubbing the hands against each other.

This is a beautiful exchange between David Godman and Papaji (https://www.davidgodman.org/summa-iru-keep-quiet/2/) I've added a brief excerpt below

This is a very good thread. I'd even suggest it should be pinned in the "System and teachers" daoist section.

There is a Vedantic meditation on the "Om" which follows a somewhat similar course. Om is made up of "A', "U" and "M" sounds, followed by silence. So the practice involves prolonged chanting of "Ommmmmm". "A", "U" and "M" correspond to waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states. As we transition from the "A" sound to "U", we capture the sum total of our feeling of the entire waking state (as much as we can gather in our mind) and let it go. As we transition from "U" to "M" sound, we capture the sum total of our dream experiences (as much as possible) and let that go. And then as we transition from the "M" sound to silence, we drop even the deep sleep state. What remains in silence -- aware of the silence/stillness, that we abide in/as.

I had to follow a similar course of action as well. Funny thing is, it happened quite suddenly but I over-thought it and seemed to fall out of it. Then the struggle to 'regain' followed, and a subsequent exhausted letting go, and boom! it was always there

Another tendency I've observed (including in myself) is that we tend to gravitate towards a binary logic filter. I attribute it to our modern propensity for things digital. In a binary logic filter, if "A" is true, then "B" is not true. A and B are mutually exclusive. Binary logic doesn't work very well with things spiritual, where we frequently encounter paradoxes. So is saying "The Truth is simple and no effort is needed to remain as the Self" the same as meaning any effort is not required? Of course not. Effort might be required to realize that no effort is required As @steve points out, that might indeed be the case for the majority of us. So Self-realization and Effort are not mutually exclusive. Effort is needed until it is no longer needed. Takes me back to the question @forestofemptiness asked me on another thread, wrt. whose side do I take on the Zen Poetry faceoff...I support both. Maybe I can reword this better later...but that's all I have right now.

Been going into this a bit more with some friends of mine (who I'm meditating with every day). As is expected, most of us have preconceived notions about our "true nature" and how complex or how simple "attaining/realizing that" would be. Because usually as beginners we start with a method, and then as time progresses, we go on to more methods (more in number, more in complexity, more in details), it is, therefore, natural to assume/expect that the "truth" can only be attainable by an immense feat of effort, which would entail some immensely complicated method (or combination of methods), and that, (methods and truth) are as of yet unattainable to us. The natural instinct is to think, "I'm not good enough for this...I don't deserve to know the truth, because I'm not disciplined enough/I've not put in enough time and effort into it yet/and or variations of such notions." Also along with the above assumption, it is quite natural to expect that the Truth will be immensely complicated too. I mean, this is the truth behind our entire manifest universe of infinite complexity and variety...how can it less complicated than it's 'sum total'? It only has to be more. To exacerbate this, we also have an ecosystem around the spiritual teachings, being passed down through time which romanticize the truth as being a earth-shattering, sky-exploding fruit of extreme valor/labor/effort/etc etc. The truth is indeed is earth-shattering and world-exploding, but not because it is complicated. It is so because it is so simple, so simply ordinary that we never consider it as being the truth. So when a friend of mine objected to the notion that we are all, already the truth (Self) and no effort is needed to "become" that, I had to ask this oft-repeated question. "How far do you have to travel, to become your Self? How long do you have to try, in order to become your Self?" The Self/True Nature/etc etc is right here and right now. There is no where to go, nothing to do to attain it from outside. All we have to do, is let go of the concepts and labels we cling to, and we'll find ourselves resting in our true Nature.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads here. And Happy Father's Day to all the kids of Dads here too

This is a two-part exposition on the nature of Self-realization/Enlightenment by the wonderful Swami Sarvapriyananda. If you are seriously interested in this, spend the time and sit quietly, listen to what he says.

A wonderful discussion by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the topic of why many people don’t get/realize the nondual teachings easily. And what should one do if direct nondual pointers don’t work for you.

That'll help for sure. Entheogens are meant for that...to temporarily silence the voice of 'mother culture' (to borrow a line from Ishmael). A friend of mine did that and it made a huge change for him.

Since I started studying with my teacher, I started waking up pretty much like clockwork between 3:30 and 4:30 AM, and often undergoing some form of hypnagogia. My mind was wide awake, but my body was asleep. However, though most people seem to feel fear and terror, I didn't feel it at all. I was fully aware of what was going on, though my mind couldn't make sense of what used to happen initially due to the completely bizarre and out-of-reference nature of the events that would unfold. So, a few months into my tutelage under my teacher, when I was an intensive workshop, the entire group was housed in (mostly) one wing of a hotel. We worked out/meditated all day and then in the night we'd retire. First night I woke up at 3:30 AM, same situation (hypnagogia) and I saw my teacher walking through the walls (not the physical body, but the subtle body). I was used to this kind of stuff by then, so I went back to sleep after a while. The next morning, again at 3:30 AM, a loud sound in my ear woke me up. I thought one of my buddies was playing a trick on me. Turns out no one was there, but in that hypnagogic state, I was transmitted a mantra which was very effective in certain meditations that we were doing at the time, though it seemed that the vedic mantra was unrelated to the daoist meditation we were doing, yet, I knew how to use the mantra and increase the potency of the meditation. I don't know how I knew, but I just knew...

Indeed. That is the source

The biggest limitation of our 'access' is in our minds. Imagine a group of people who grow up only within the boundaries of a somewhat large building, never having to step outside for anything in their lives. These people have no idea that there is a sky above, and a ground beneath, of rivers, oceans, mountains, etc, etc. They live contended in their environment without knowledge of a 'larger' existence outside their building, until a visitor from outside knocks on their door, or perhaps one of them manages to get out and see the world outside. I believe there's an old greek story along those lines...but only that in that story, the people lived in tunnels under a mountain. I consider most of us 'modern' people like those building-dwellers, who have developed their own limited universe, based on the limitations of their knowledge. I think the first hurdle is overcome when we keep an open mind. To be able to say, "I don't know, but let me find out" is a very powerful way to approach things. WRT the problem of filters, yes, there is always going to filters. Even what we experience in the world of phenomena today is filtered. Who has ever known anything without a filter? The mind is required to know, and the mind is informed by many things, such as culture, etc. I believe that to 'see' from another perspective, one has to change filters as much as possible.

If you look at the second link I provide, the Zen Buddhists (at least per Roshi Philip Kapleau) have the lower Alaya-Vijnana, which I would call the (individual) causal body proper. The Sambhogakaya seems to be corresponding with the causal body without the veiling of Maya (or Ishwara - which is Brahman's Causal body in the Vedantic term). I don't consider there to be any difference between human beings or existence itself in the broad scope. Ultimately there ARE no wisdom beings and realms of existence apart from our true nature. That's why I'd said in my earlier comment -- context is important.

I side with both. Each is meant from a different vantage point. Shen Xiu from the body-mind perspective, Hui Neng from the Self's (Or Buddha-nature if Self sounds jarring to the non-selfists) perspective. The funny thing is, it is not an either-or proposition either. Both are valid. We must decide and choose which is the need for us.

Somewhat correlated -- https://www.medhajournal.com/close-encounters-of-the-fourth-kind https://www.medhajournal.com/consciousness-according-to-zen-buddhism-and-how-it-relates-to-advaita-vedanta/ I've been interested in mapping the Buddhist concept of "kaya" (form) and the Vedantic "Sharira" (body) models. The sambhogakaya seems to parallel the causal body (kārana sharira). Yes realized beings manifest in non-corporeal form to help the limited beings in corporeal form. Very valuable practices and lessons can arise from this. But those practices and lessons need to be understood in their correct context, imho.

Nice. Very nice!

It can’t be done by force. I can understand why it feels like that. But it is not a parasite. Duality is an illusion. The key is to realize this. The I-thought is the root of the mind. It’s not an enemy or a disease. It is the gateway between the world of objects and the nondual Self. It takes patience and gentleness. Just have nothing better to do but rest your mind on the spiritual heart. It’s easy when you spend time inquiring about who you are without thinking. Can you tell who you are without thinking? That is the key.

Therein lies the secret of spiritual life imho. Keep the mind clean and settled and we can see the “truth” directly and without filters. Let the mind get polluted and it will filter the truth and present a distortion. Allow the mind to get scattered and it will not be able to pierce through the world of names and forms and see the true essence underlying all its experiences.

I’d recommend opening your body up with some good taijiquan (or another IMA) and then taking up ZZ. If you do ZZ too soon, you might end up creating blockages by not knowing how to release muscles and tensions in your body (and mind).

Thanks for sharing this. I'll check it out By answering this, I'll be raking up controversy. Let me leave it at -- "Real is that which doesn't change. Unreal is that which is subject to change". Good question. But when I say "ethical/moral rules" I mean things like "don't steal, don't lie, don't covet others' possessions", "stay centered", "Don't give in to extreme emotional outbursts" etc etc. These are called "yama" and "niyama" in the Yogic tradition. Similar directives are available to us via Sages who have had realization and found that to not follow those rules results in scattering of the mind, pollution of the mind. To follow those rules allows for a person's mind to become settled, and clean. Consider this -- If you asked someone to constantly watch extremely gory, violent stuff on the internet, what will their mind be like after a few days of watching that stuff? I think considering ideas outlined in the 'yama/niyama' category will qualify as deeper. In the Yoga context (and I mean real yoga, not form practice), before one starts practicing forms and breathwork, they have to practice the preliminary limbs of yama and niyama. And building on that, the yogi then proceeds on to sense-withdrawal, preparing to meditate and then enter meditation (samadhi). In the old days, the goal of life was to attain liberation/salvation/moksha/nirvana etc etc. So, one had to live life in a way that would support such an objective. Easier said than done, one might chime in. True that...but nonetheless the system was in place. In the modern world, such a system is missing. So we see wanton and rampant materialism, sensualism and consumerism. I don't subscribe to the western/abrahamic paradigm, so will refrain from commenting on it.

I can see that as a potential pitfall. But then anything is. The truth of the matter is that Self-inquiry cannot be done by people with turbulent and/or scattered minds. So a method to settle the mind is useful for most of us. I find that is to be the case for almost all meditation. Force is not a good idea. The explanation I was given was that the mind has to be cajoled and led gently to the task of meditation rather than whipping it into submission.

Something I remembered just now. I too spent time simply resting the mind in the spiritual heart. After a while, one night while I was doing that, I noticed a movement from outside into the heart. The mind flowed back into the heart. And what remained was awareness. After that, I am able to enter deep silence and stillness simply by resting the mind in the heart. So there is certainly something to be said about the practice for settling the mind, clearing it up, etc. IIRC he also recommended resting the mind on the chakra above the crown (outside the physical body). http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/07/meditation-on-heart-centre.html