5ENSES

Our local store is pan-asian: Nato bean thread noodles fish sauce

Let me clarify. It's a difficult point to talk about rationally, and one of those delicious "aha" moments when realized. I said, "I discovered that being joy is not different from being pain." Feeling joy, however, I agree, is different from feeling pain. But, the goal is to move away from the attachment to feelings, right?! In finding non-duality, if that is your aim, you will not be separate from body nor mind nor joy nor pain nor friend nor foe ... nor will you be confined by them. *Being* arising emotions was a technique that helped me find equanimity with emotions. To be one with them, not separate, and not thirsting to have them or avoid them. What we're talking about is equanimity with emotional content, which includes not getting caught up in stories about which feelings are "good" or "bad." How do we develop that equanimity? I also found the Buddhist noble truths to be a helpful map. I learned a slightly different version of them than mikaelz, in which emotions like pain and joy aren't prioritized: "The arising of dukkha", dukkha meaning thirst, or craving ... in short describing suffering as attachment (in which even a desire for enlightenment is suffering, :-) ). In Zen, we discover the ox (mind) and harness it. Is there a particular map in the Tao for this? SmallFrame: "The Tao is about clearing away emotion." How does the Tao talk about this this? What does it say?

Searching for the mind In dewey drops of spring rains Only reflections

First of all, AWESOME! Keep it up! Developing awareness! Stick with it! Whether you find a teacher, change techniques, or keep on doing what you're doing, DON"T STOP! It is vital to keep up insight practice during this time, or you can become stranded in the content of the arising emotions. Just like you're doing with the chatter content, you want to move through arising emotion. Regarding arising emotions: while their content is ultimately not going to be very important, it is NOW, right? That emotional stuff, once buried under chatter, is now HERE and RAW. I found it very worthwhile to dive into arising emotions, to experience feeling inseparable from them. When I felt pain, I lay down and fell, through the floor, into pain; let it cover me, saturate me, so that I could not find where I ended and it began. When I felt joy, I stood with my arms up, in the sun, plunged into the joy and, again, became saturated. In doing these immersions, I discovered that being joy is not different from being pain. If I had pushed my emotions away, I might have never discovered that so quickly. From where I sit, I encourage you to remain as steadfast in your awareness as evidenced in your post, while you work through arising emotions!

Did I just learn that enlightenment is rebirth control???!!!!

If following "Who am I?" has become a mechanical thing, rather than a means for discovery, perhaps it's currently useless for you. I did not take up the "Who am I?" question until I had mastery over basic sitting and counting breath practice. By the time I began "Who am I?", my mind was already pretty quiet through practicing attention to the zazen form, including counting breaths and the physical points of attention (eyes open, thumbs touching, solid seat, etc). If your thoughts are too distracting, going back to basic practice might give you more rapid progress in returning to the question, with more confidence and conviction. Since you are trying to breakthrough a particular thinking level, I would caution against entrenching yourself deeper by developing too many thought patterns on this question. :-) That said, some of the suggestions that have been made in this thread to shift the question to address arising thoughts are, in my experience, very helpful in breaking through this sticky thinking point.

Michael Harner, in Way of the Shaman, also talks about encountering lizard creatures in the shamanic state of consciousness. When he related his encounter to an elder shaman, and reported what was said to him, the elder chuckled and said something like, "Yep, they're always saying things like that."

Hi there Any tips for noobums? I've been practicing zazen, yoga and shamanic journeywork for sometime. Looking forward to learning more about Tao-ey things.