C T

as never before this timeless indifference as the gong shudders...

I'll have another; why not, since its on the house as its always been..

Hey Lucky... hope you are in good form! the very moment in which you are reading this, right now, can you simultaneously be aware of a self that is reading? Or does the awareness of a self that is reading made possible only when you remove your awareness from the act of reading this post? This is my understanding of absorption, the basis of arriving at non-dual awareness. That which is, is not an experience, if i am not mistaken. It only becomes 'an experience' after the perception is passed, and an action is initiated as a kind of back-trekking, followed by reflecting upon that action. Without this intellectual exercise, where is the experience and the one who is experiencing?

When all mental afflictions are pacified, there is no longer the perpetuation of karma. One is released from the idea of being trapped in the dualistic world of samsara, the world of actions that produces further causes and further actions, which is where notions of coming and going operate unceasingly, whether in terms of this one single lifetime, or of uncountable past and future lifetimes. This is not a mystical experience whereby the self dissolves into nothing, or merge with another higher source. There is no self to begin and end with, and since there is no self at the beginning, there is no higher source to begin and end with. Seeing this, one is freed from the two views: that of self and other. When these 2 views are reunited, there is no longer birth and death, light and dark, high and low. All opposing percepts are seen thru as empty of fundamental and inherent existence. This is the essence of having attained transcendent insight into the true nature of suchness -- that which is, is -- and that which is has no opposites. If it has, it can no longer be what is. If you begin to look for the opposite of what is, at that moment of looking, that is the very same moment "what is" transforms into the act of looking, and this in turn becomes a present 'suchness'. And this is how duality can be fully liberated - by having the insight into the way things are at any moment, without any lingering thoughts of where things come from, and to where they go. There is no other Clarity other than this. True Clarity is the ability to see and remain in the present. Some believe Clarity means to know better, which means there is still the involvement of past knowledge and future outcomes. This is sometimes called Wisdom tainted with past and future, or simply put, conceptual wisdom. True clarity goes beyond these two extremes. Easy to prescribe, hard to practice. The way is thru the in-stilling of total mindfulness. In total mindfulness of the present moment, there is no doer and no doing. When you start to notice the doer and the doing, you lose the mindfulness of absorption, and return to the dualistic coming and going states of being. But if you can stabilize mindfulness, you will notice this distraction immediately, and return to the original state beyond doer and doing, coming and going. For example, when you are reading this: As you are reading, you are reading. You cannot find the "I am reading" when you are reading. It is not possible. But if you pause, and say, "Hey wait... there is a 'ME' who is reading this...", then for all intents and purposes, what you are doing is you have stopped reading and have effected a new action by starting to intellectualize into looking for where the "ME" is, so then the act of looking for the "ME" becomes your new present moment, and the reading is forgotten for a short time. The dissatisfaction or irritation(both a form of mild suffering) arises when you think you did not want to be distracted from your reading this, and projected the mind refocussing on the other act, that of looking for the "ME", as a distraction. If you are not averse to the preconditioned notion of what you think a distraction is, and are in complete mindful knowing that the mind is moving, there is little or no effort required then to guide the mind back to the task at hand, which in this instance, is reading this post. This is a form of effortless concentration that results from the practice of mindfulness. On this relative level, the empty mind is a useless mind. It serves no purpose other than creating a state of blankness, or a kind of stupor. That is not the aim of Buddhist meditation, as some might think. There are many benefits of Buddhist meditation, and blanking the mind is definitely not one of them. The practice of being totally absorbed in mindfulness is not such a practice. Please do not confuse the two. One of the main benefits of mindfulness practice is to create the awareness of presence, a full presence in whatever mundane activity you might find yourself performing. When you are reading, read. When you are looking at a rose, look. Look deeply. Its not that there is no rose, or no book - what it means is that you can begin to see the rose or read the book with a hundred and ten percent presence, which is none other than mindfulness. Most people find this very difficult in their daily life. With a bit of training, it is actually not that difficult. Once you have this in the bag, you will see how beneficial it will be, in whatever you do. Imagine doing Tai Chi, or Chi Gung, or walking in the woods in absolute mindfulness, or the ability to pay full attention to what another is saying. There is a lot of power in mindfulness. All the best, and thank you for being patient with my rant. I'll return to the Haiku Chain now....

Thanks for sharing that Santi. Nice to see a decent post from you once in a while! And where does Shakti fit into this "Creator" theory may i further ask? No hurry with the reply. I know you can be a busy man at times.

yeah... *shrugs* whatever.. It is when you can defend those you dont love that your true character shines - havent your vast experience taught you that already?

ShaktiMama, I read your last post as nothing but one long justification and a statement to defend your partner's inadequacies by diverting attention to his less-than-profound attributes, and also speaking on behalf of your students as though they were robots (ref. their lack of participation here in lieu of....). I am sorry to say this. I have no arguments with you or Santi, and i am sure the guys here who attest favorably to his disposition and character are pretty sound people, so that says a lot, but the reason i am speaking out is because there does not appear to be any congruence, or rapport, that he is able to demonstrate here. It does not matter what he knows or what he brings to how many tables -- this guy cant even speak in a respectful manner, and so many times all he does is either defend, or hide behind Glenn Morris, or his Tok Guru or whatever, when he is asked to verify something. Yet he speaks as though his experience is infallible. That says plenty about someone, in my opinion. I dont care about other so-called 'Buddhist' master's lack of patience and the inability to tolerate BS. As far as i am concerned, this man you quoted needs more work still. And so does Santi, btw. Some of his outbursts coupled with lack of finesse and the use of explicit terms and foul language is a big no-no for a teacher, any teacher, and reflects poorly on the teachings. It does not matter if he is a nice guy or not - when you come onto a forum assuming the role of a teacher, you better show that you respect yourself in terms of how the role is expressed, and not so much because others need this respect. That is the main issue, in my mind. Take it or leave it. Does not make any difference to me whatever. If he can take it on board, he will be an even better teacher. Thats all.

I share these observations as well. For a person who embraces the 'inner smile', the least one could expect is a more 'chilled out' presence? I have met many teachers from all kinds of different traditions, and the more authentic ones are always so cool, and humble too. They never have to resort to defending themselves. And boy do they KNOW how to absorb criticisms. The more powerful they are, the more criticisms fly their way, and they are never fazed by any of it. That i think is one of the main hallmarks of a true teacher.

Yes its a funny ol' life cat! Did my post sound like i was preaching? Sorry! You are so right - the only way to experience this 'gift' is to practice it, only then will the 'old self' die, bit by bit, and when we experience these 'small deaths' while we are yet alive, then we will no longer be subject to the 'big death'. i know i am not making too much sense here, but hey, are we not taught to go beyond the senses?!!

hey 3bob! Nice post! Yama and Niyama is like the foundation, similar to Right View and Right Intention in the Buddhist Eightfold Path. Thanks for the explanation!

When you find the time to answer, maybe you could also mention what happens when a person no longer need technique, which btw sounds a lot like what GiH ascribes to in some of his assertions. That's really cool eh? Its half 3 in the afternoon where i am. Wide awake. Have been for almost 11 hours. No, actually i have been awake for almost 50 years, and then some. Always present. Never left. Not yet anyway.

You did not even comprehend my post, did you, Santi? Too much Shakti maybe? Awfully defensive, btw. And i humbly suggest you read and answer in context, please. A simple request.

What we are given, i think, is not 'love' - instead, what we are given is the potential to love others, and unless we are able to exercise this ability, what we have is nothing more than selfish desires borne of needy expectations. Love ought not to be held with closed arms, for love contained eventually becomes love lost. As we learn to tap into the wellspring of joy, we begin to inspire and to actualize this potential to love others as ourselves, and this gives birth to compassion, which is simply love in action. Reverence, awe, surrender, purification.. are some of the fruits of gratitude that blossom from the branches of compassion, and the tree is love. This tree has innumerable branches. That is why the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara or the Goddess Kuan Yin is often depicted with 1000 arms. It is the symbolic representation of overflowing compassion reaching out to countless beings.

Hey Santiago tell me about this 'infinite Source' you mentioned.. please. I would love to hear a discourse based on your vast experience in hooking up with this I.S. I am sure others would be keen too, and since you have such a big heart, i believe you will not have a problem with this sincere request. Thank you very much. P.S. Since when is Malaysia 'war stricken' btw?

That foreign lingo to me is 'pink flamingos' pretty to look at..

Well said altiora. This is my understanding too. It is the quality of worship and devotion (just want to add practice here) that empowers the mantras. All spiritual practices within the context of certain Buddhist schools have the inclusion of mantras specific to those practices, and has to be worked accordingly. The recitation of mantras minus the support of the practices will not yield any lasting benefits, in the sense that negative habitual tendencies, with their roots in the mind, will not be transformed by mere chanting of mantras. People wish it was that simple, and are always looking for the easiest and quickest ways to get results. Mantras are not the 'nitrous oxide' of the vehicle of the mind. Empowerments from the lineage masters are for whole practices - not just for the mantras alone. Of course the less authentic self-styled gurus will still sell you one, if you're looking to buy. As a bonus, they will throw in a story about how immensely powerful that mantra is, and if recited in this way or that, it will be like putting on roller skates! But what they dont say is one must of course first learn to skate. Learning to skate is like doing the practices, as mentioned. No short-cuts.

Sights and sounds are pretty interesting stuff for us "tourists" - you forgot to mention 'Air Miles' Taomeow... without them the endless hopping on and hopping off this ginormous Ferris Wheel could be expensive, especially in these recessionary times!!

If a teacher came up to me and say, look, i can show you where you want to go, because i have gone there before - i'd probably excuse myself and head for the nearest exit. Why? First of all, experiences are nothing but a bunch of past information put together and labelled "Experience". Is it wise to walk someone else's path, created from old information, or is it wiser to find your own unique path with your own ever-present unique experiences to guide you? It takes guts to do this, thats why many prefer to hand their power over to some teacher or whatever, so if they dont get anywhere, there is someone there to take the blame. Very common human failing. Secondly, an authentic teacher always only point, and leave the rest to the student to investigate for himself or herself, and learn and assimilate from these investigations. To do this, the teacher have no need whatsoever to draw on past experiences. Those who hype, spin, or market their experiences are either doing so because of insecurity, ego tripping, or using them as a shield to deflect any possible question of authentic lineage transmissions. After all, if called into account, its really easy to say, oh, i have studied from 25 different lineages and traditions, and have assimilated the cream of all they had and condensed it into my experience to be shared with others. Usually such people have to continue defending their 'past experiences' because they have nothing else worthwhile to back up their credentials. Hence the vital question remains: what makes a so-called teacher think that his past experiences are of any value? It does not matter if you know all kinds of things - what you know and then impart to others are based in and on the past. Why should someone of sound judgement want to learn about that? So that they can get stuck in the past? So that they can be a 'parrot'? This does not make any sense to me. If i want to adopt a teacher, or let a teacher adopt me, i want to know one thing - and one crucial thing only -- and that is, whether he or she can demonstrate the ability to stand without any dependence on past experiences to prop him/herself up. I want to know if this person can teach in the present. This is very important i think, to see how the teacher's past has transformed his present presence. It is only from that presence that true teachings can be imparted effectively. Just my personal opinion.

A really thoughtful post Paul Walter. Resonated fully with most of what you described as your 'journey'. Thank you.

My toes are purple! Help! Why cant they be wine-red, like those of Aunt Ruth's?!!

Hello MH, You ought to get a smack on the head because you have made me feel like i am not welcomed here on TTB! (But i know you did not mean for it to be misunderstood in that sense, so all's well...) ....... ........ ........ Attempting an answer, i'd say mind is not on the dark side of the moon, and neither is mind on the bright side of it. Where is mind? When you hear a sound, there you will hear mind. When you see a pretty girl pass by, there you will see mind. When you taste something sweet, and call that honey, thats the taste of your mind. When you smell the fragrance of green-ness after a short rain shower, that is the smell of your mind. When you feel the heat of the summer sun on your face, that is how the mind is felt. The 5 senses function to complete the make-up of what we label as a human being. The mind is always the king. Why? Even if you take away one, two, three or even four of the senses, this we call a 'human being' can still function, although not as completely as one who has all the senses intact, of course, which is what most people have. But the mind, ah, the mind -- it can never be erased from the picture. Since that which we label as the objective world is nothing other than that which can be sensated, hence the allusion arises that all phenomena are but radiant displays of our own mind. Why radiant? Because even if we were to lose one or more of the senses, we still retain the power of imagination, and this, as you know, can be a source of all kinds of weird and wonderful possibilities. But where do all these possibilities reside? Its quite obvious i think. Rather similar to when we are dreaming, actually. Sorry for the interruption. I'll go back to my Haiku Chain now... Bye!

Mindfulness. Very useful. Helps one to avoid distractions. When distracted, helps one to re-enter into mindfulness. Wonderful quality to cultivate. If wisdom be the aim, mindfulness would be the path. Well done!

Off to the party. Watched the kids in the playground as snow fell softly...

I quite enjoy GiH's posts. Unlike many here, he thinks and writes critically, a rare quality which can serve many a purpose. After all, this is a forum whereby one of the aims, i believe, is to challenge our habitual tendencies and set views. Somehow its difficult to be totally comfortable and smug about where i am in life, which works for me, in case i start to rot and be so contentedly blind that i do not even notice its onset. Thinkers like GiH and a few others keep me on my toes, so from a purely selfish angle, i'd say well done, and keep up the good work!

Hello Pete! Just wondering if the option of exploring the Buddhist practice of mindfulness is one you would consider? I am a strong believer in this practice, and have been for a long time. It really helps to keep me as present as possible at all times Even those times when i am distracted, there is now instant awareness of that distraction, so that allows me to 'wake up' instantly. i find that immensely helpful. Check out this link: http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/boo...dhist-practice/ All the best!