dawg Posted June 26, 2013 (edited) I am posting this in hopes that it might be useful to someone who is actively trying to reach awakening … it is essentially a road map describing my own journey down the last section of the path to enlightenment… From the very beginning, my meditation was focused on one thing only… silencing the voice of my mind (delusion)… then destroying that voice completely… all of my meditation practice was insight meditation, and because I made steady progress from beginning to end, I never tried anything else… my insight meditation consisted of fixing my awareness on my nose, and passively observing my breath as it went in and out of my nose…while repeating “Buddho – Buddho – Buddho”… then when I became proficient in Samadhi (concentration), I started doing investigation of my mind… I first spent a few weeks at a Theravada Forest Monastery in the north of Thailand… I did this several times, but just when I started to get results, it would be time to leave… so I decided that the next time I would stay for as long as I got results… and I ended up staying for a full year, during which time I got rid of my anger and greed and reached equanimity… then I did solitary meditation at a house in the mountains (here in Thailand) for a year… then spent another year at the monastery primarily doing “body investigation”… then again I returned to a house in the mountains to do solitary meditation … after doing “body meditation” at the monastery I had reached a high level of attainment, but was unsure of what to do next…so I decided that I would attempt to reach awakening, or to at least scout out the territory… but I realized that I didn’t really have a clue where to start… so I decided that since the process of meditation and awakening takes place in the mind, knowledge of how the mind works would be extremely useful… so I surfed the internet looking for research and other information to update my knowledge about how the mind worked… after I digested it all, I wrote a short summary of it for my own use (conscious & subconscious mind… see below) which also includes my own observations and insights… with this information I could see how to proceed, and why… so I then wrote a step by step “road map for awakening” for myself that took me to awakening… see below)… then after my awakening, I wrote a description of what I experienced when I awakened… (awakening … see below)… later I wrote an epilogue describing how I felt 6 months after awakening… see below… Dawg CONSCIOUS MIND & SUBCONCIOUS MIND (Summary of my research and insights) The left hemisphere of your brain was generated from your father’s DNA, and contains your conscious mind, which is the male mind (Yang), and seventh chakra… the right hemisphere of your brain was generated from your mothers DNA, and contains your subconscious mind, which is the female mind (Yin), and sixth chakra (third eye)… the conscious mind is “father sky”, the subconscious mind is “mother earth”… …………………………………. THE CONSCIOUS MIND THE CONSCIOUS MIND IS A SERIAL PROCESSOR (with only one image or thought at a time, in a lineal sequence). The conscious mind can process 40 bits (nerve impulses) per second… the conscious mind understands “words” and “logic”, it is very “rational”… THE CONSCIOUS MIND IS THE MIND OF OUR PHYSICAL BODY AND ITS SENSES… “Consciousness” is usually defined as being aware of the physical senses… if a person cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, they are said to be “unconscious”… NOTE... The “conscious mind” is used to survive in the physical world (world of the body’s senses)… The conscious mind is concerned with our personality and the survival of our body… when a person reincarnates, their past personality and conscious mind becomes a part of their subconscious mind, and a new conscious mind and personality is created… When a baby is born, it is taught (conditioned) how to survive in the physical world (physical survival), and how to survive within the context of the culture that it is born into (personality)… The conscious mind is just a temporary superficial interface that allows our spirit to reincarnate in a physical body, and experience the physical world… while our subconscious mind is the eternal spirit that we are, that is connected to, and is a part of the spirit universe …………………………………. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND IS A PARALLEL PROCESSOR (with many images and thoughts arranged in many different complex patterns and structures simultaneously). The subconscious mind can process 40,000,000 bits (nerve impulses) per second, so it is 1,000,000 times more powerful, complex, bigger, or faster than the conscious mind… and can think hundreds or thousands of different thoughts simultaneously… the subconscious mind understands “visual images”, “emotions” and “feelings”; and is totally “irrational”… the subconscious mind controls our body… it keeps our heart beating, our lungs breathing, our stomach digesting our food, etc… it repairs and replaces the cells of our body… it creates our health or sickness… this is why the Buddha said that “every man is the author of his own sickness or health”… the subconscious mind is extremely powerful, but we seldom use more than a tiny fraction of its power, because we are unaware of it… If you see someone that you know; your subconscious mind “recognizes them” (visual image), and your conscious mind “remembers their name” (word)… this is how they work together… The conscious mind cannot cope with the simultaneous "multiple images and thoughts” in the subconscious mind, which is the reason why the subconscious mind is subconscious to the conscious mind. The conscious mind is simply unable to process and "be conscious" of the complexity of the "subconscious mind”… NOTE... If a “normal” mundane person were to unwittingly make their subconscious mind conscious, they would “think” (a logical lineal sequence of thoughts in their conscious mind) that they must be going “crazy”; because of the flood of conditioned multiple interacting reflex thoughts that would flood through their mind. Clinical insanity is when the subconscious mind of a mundane person becomes conscious, when he has tapped directly into his “spirit”, and neither the mundane person, nor the mundane world around him, understands what is happening… but this is also why some cultures consider “crazy people” to be “holy”, and why some “holy men” appear to be crazy… likewise a meditator who unwittingly makes his subconscious mind conscious, might “think” that meditating has made him crazy, and so be afraid to meditate any more… but if you recognize it as simply the natural state of the subconscious mind and are not afraid, it is no problem… it is fear of it that is the problem… if you ever fall into fear, simply start repeating “Buddho… Buddho… Buddho…” again and again until you feel safe… it will anchor you to something good, and protect you from fear… NOTE… When our subconscious mind becomes conscious, we have the potential to instantly and spontaneously “know” (with certainty) even the deepest and most complex universal knowledge and truths… NOTE… The subconscious mind simply collects information. It takes in every bit of input whether it is positive or negative. It does not make judgments about the information that it collects since that is the responsibility of the conscious mind. Every sight, sound, taste, smell, or anything we've experienced since the day that we were born (and what is carried over from past lives...karma) is stored in our subconscious mind for future retrieval…. Our subconscious mind is similar to a six-year-old child. It is innocent, naive, and wants to help us in any way it can, but has no idea how to help us. The subconscious mind wants to do the “right thing”, but it can only respond with what it has been conditioned to believe is the right thing (“mundane reality”, usually “ignorance”), so that it does not always make the best of choices… NOTE... The subconscious mind is “telepathic” and can hear the thoughts of other people, and communicate with the subconscious minds of other people, without our conscious mind being aware of it… this is what is called “intuition”… NOTE... Psychologists or behavioral change experts speak about writing goals or affirmations. Affirmations are positive, goal-directed phrases that are worded as if we have already achieved these goals… experts suggest we review our goals or repeat affirmations just before bed or just as we wake up… The reason is at these times our brainwaves are naturally in the correct state (the alpha frequency) for communicating with our subconscious mind. In alpha, the conscious mind is in abeyance, and we can speak directly to the subconscious mind… let's say you wrote the affirmation, "I love to exercise and have a compulsion to leap out of bed and exercise for 30 minutes every morning"… If you were in the alpha state, this message would go directly into the subconscious mind, unchallenged. But if you forgot to repeat affirmations just before bedtime, and repeated them while in the beta frequency (normal awake conscious mind) instead? Do you really think you could say this phrase without, at least, rolling your eyes? And most likely, that little voice in your conscious mind would be saying, "yeah, right"… …………………………………. Our subconscious mind is running our life! We have two separate minds that create our conscious mind’s controlling voice. There is the conscious mind that can think freely and create new ideas “outside of the box of our conditioning”. Then there is the subconscious mind, which is basically a super computer loaded with a database of programmed behaviors, that we carried with us from a past life (karma), or that we acquired before we reached the age of six or seven (when we were most gullible and impressionable) and were taught (programmed to believe) what the adults called “reality” (how to think and act)... The subconscious mind cannot move outside of its fixed programs… It automatically (reflex) reacts to situations with its previously “conditioned” behavior responses; it works without the knowledge or control of the conscious mind. We are usually not even aware that most of our actions are subconscious conditioned reflex responses. Studies from as far back as the 1970’s, show that our subconscious mind begins to prepare for action just over a third of a second before we consciously decide to act. In other words, even when we ‘think’ that we are consciously deciding to act, it is our subconscious mind that is actually making the decision for us...the subconscious mind is controlling us 95% of the time! Neuroscientists have shown that the conscious mind of a normal person provides 5% or less of their cognitive (conscious) activity during the day, and 5% they say is for the more aware people, many people operate at just 1% consciousness. It is the subconscious mind which shapes how we live our life… Note that the reason that an enlightened person is said to be “awake”, is because they are no longer in the “hypnotic trance” of conditioned behavior and sleepwalking through their life… they have awakened. Most of our decisions, actions, emotions and behavior depend on the 95% of brain activity that is usually beyond our conscious awareness, which means that at least 95% of our life is conditioned behavior that comes from our subconscious mind. Our life reflects our subconscious conditioning, because the job of the subconscious mind is to create a “reality” out of our subconscious conditioning. If our subconscious conditioning is negative (caused by negative experiences), our subconscious mind will recreate those negative experiences in our life, again and again. The voice of our thoughts, is not our voice… it is the voice of all the people who have conditioned us… our thoughts are all the “value judgments” and “control trips” that our family and our culture have programmed us with, to control our behavior… our awareness is clean and pure… the defilements in our mind are these conditioned “value judgment” and “control trip” thoughts that other people have filled our mind with. Whatever thoughts that our mind keeps returning to, are unresolved issues… If we have unresolved issues, it is usually because we have been conditioned with contradictory behavior… that is to say that we have been conditioned to do something (because it’s “good”), and also conditioned to not do the same thing (because it’s “bad”)… unresolved issues are usually a result of this situation… this situation produces conflict in our mind, so that we like to do something, but we feel guilty about it, and consider ourselves a bad person because we do it… it is a conflict of two conditioned value judgments… to resolve the issue we must make a choice of one or the other… either we don’t do “it”, or we do “it” and let go of our guilt about doing “”it” (assuming that we are not hurting anyone, including ourselves). “Guilt” is nothing but a control trip that someone has put in our mind to control us… we should not be deceived into thinking that it is a “natural response” to the “badness” of our actions. If we have negative conditioning (caused by negative experiences) in our subconscious mind, 95% of the time we will recreate those negative experiences in our life. Most of the conditioning in our subconscious mind is control trips based on negativity and fear that were put there to control and shape our behavior… we have been conditioned by our parents and other family members, school teachers, religious teachers, friends, enemies, books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, movies, the internet, the government, etc… For example : if we are repeatedly told that we are “bad”, we are “stupid”, we are “worthless”, we are “incompetent”, we are a “failure”, or we fear what other people are thinking about us, or fear that we will not be accepted loved and respected as we are, fear that we are inferior to other people in some way, etc… these thoughts will keep popping into our mind, and this will cause us to have low self esteem, and a negative opinion of ourselves, and to believe that we are worthless. We then hate ourselves so are unable to accept and love ourselves as we are, and as a result we are unable to love others... Our subconscious mind is conditioned by a form of hypnosis that we call “education”… we are conditioned (hypnotized) when we voluntarily agree to believe what “respected authority” (parents & family, school teachers, religious teachers, government, media, friends, etc.) “suggest” to us… they suggest to us what things are good or bad, true or false… how we should behave, how we should think, what is “normal”… what is “reality”… so that the 95% of the time that we are controlled by our subconscious mind, we are in a hypnotic trance… simply reacting to stimulus with conditioned reflex behavior… our conscious mind’s “ego” thinks that it is making all of our decisions, that it is in control of our fate, but in reality it is just a puppet of the subconscious mind… We are taught to be greedy, and to want as much money as we can get… we are taught to chase pleasure and sex… we are taught to get angry when certain things happen to us… we are taught that what we believe is right… and anyone who disagrees with us is wrong… and so on. And as time passes we forget that we have learned these behaviors from other people, because they become automatic responses, so that we think that they are our natural and spontaneous reactions… and so that we become locked into a mundane hypnotic trance state that we consider to be “REALITY”… we are like “zombies”… THIS CONDITIONED MUNDANE REALITY IS THE IGNORANCE AND DELUSION THAT IS CALLED “AVIJJA”… this MUNDANE REALITY is the “DELUSION” that we must see through to liberate our mind… then it is as if we “awaken” from a long sleep, and see the true nature of our existence. But be warned that Avijja (mundane reality) has one last trick… it will try to convince you that you will “go crazy” if you let go of mundane reality… don’t believe it, you will “go sane”, and you will be free… forever and ever… MY ROAD MAP FOR AWAKENING (My strategy for attaining awakening) …………………………………. MY ANALYSIS (1) ………………MEDITATION……………… Meditation… The whole object of meditation from start to finish, is gaining control of, and silencing the voice of the mind… so that we can investigate the mind and purify it… then permanently destroy the voice of the mind by destroying “Avijja”, the delusion that is the source of that voice… when we have destroyed “Avijja”, all delusion falls away and we become awakened… and we clearly see the truth of our existence… (it does not matter what method we use to purify the mind, and destroy Avijja, that is of no importance… all that is important is that the method works)… Breathing during meditation… When meditating and observing our breath, we should not control our breath with our conscious mind, but instead let our subconscious mind do our (automatic) breathing for us, then we should be aware that by observing our (automatic) breath that we are observing our subconscious mind, and get in sync with it, and then simply let go, and let it “lead the way”… this helps to set up “investigation”, or set up “communication”, and/or “interaction” with the subconscious mind… Meditation in solitude…To reach awakening, it is very helpful (maybe necessary) to have days or weeks of uninterrupted and undisturbed meditation in solitude… away from the sights, sounds, and constant interruptions of the mundane world, away from all other people… to develop and sustain the necessary intensity of “concentration” and “determination”… the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of desolate unspoiled nature is the most ideal environment for meditating in solitude… (2) ……………NECESSARY SKILLS…………… It It is necessary to have concentration… The action or power of focusing one's attention or mental effort… dealing with one particular thing above all others… It is necessary to be deft… moving or acting in a quick, smooth, and skillful way; clever, showing good sense and skill in ... It is necessary to be cool… in a composed and unconcerned manner… It is necessary to be efficient… expending the least effort for maximum result… It is necessary to have determination… unshakable “intent”… (3) ………………STRATEGY……………… TO DESTROY “AVIJJA” (delusion) WE MUST UNDERSTAND : 1)… “WHERE IT IS” 2)… “WHAT IT IS” 3)… “WHAT IS ITS WEAKNESS” 4)… “HOW IT CAN BE DESTROYED” RESULTS OF MY ANALYSIS 1)… “where it is”… the first major insight on my path to “awakening”, was when I suddenly realized that my subconscious mind was my “Citta”… and since I knew that Avijja (delusion) and the Kelisas (defilements) were in my Citta, that meant they were in my subconscious mind… 2)… “what it is”… the second major insight was that a single conditioned reflex response in our subconscious mind is a “Kelisa”… and that the self reinforcing structure of interconnected conditioned reflex responses in our subconscious mind that we call “mundane reality”, is “Avijja”… 3)… “what is its weakness”… so how do we “fight” Avijja” (DELUSION) and destroy it… we can’t punch, kick, bite, stab, or shoot Avijja, nor beat it to death with a big stick… Avijja is not physical, nor is it even “alive”… so how do we fight something that is not physical or even alive… Avijja (delusion) has no awareness of its own, it is just a system of programmed reflex reactions stored in the subconscious mind that we call “mundane reality”… when we realize this, we have understood how the magician (Avijja) does its trick, (how we are deluded) so we are no longer fooled by it… we have discovered both the strength and the weakness of Avijja… and because we now understand its trick, we have already greatly diminished its strength (its ability to control and deceive us)… 4)… “how it can be destroyed”… It is not possible to “delete” anything from the subconscious mind, it remembers and records everything permanently… But we created Avijja (“mundane reality”) in our subconscious mind by accepting and believing mundane information and ideas, that we were taught were “true” (real, reality)... We were taught how we should respond to every possible situation, what we should like and dislike, etc… so that, 95% of our cognitive thoughts and actions are really just “programmed reflex reactions” dictated by our subconscious mind… this is “Avijja”, the “mundane reality” or “delusion” that we want to destroy… But consider that if we created Avijja (“mundane reality”) in our subconscious mind by accepting and believing mundane information and ideas, that we were taught were “true” (real, reality)... it is possible to reprogram our subconscious mind with a stronger new “awakened reality” based on the “truth of our existence”, that supersedes mundane reality, replacing it as the new default reality… This I now realize, is why the monk who taught me, had me do body investigation… body investigation is just a way to reprogram the subconscious mind to see the truth of our body… the truth of our existence… So it is possible for me to use whatever knowledge and skills that I have, and my understanding of the conscious and subconscious mind to reprogram a new awakened default reality… so starting now, the “middle path” of the Buddha IS my new default reality… I will do this by using “concentration”, “deftness”, “coolness”, “efficiency”, and “determination”… by continuously reaffirming to my subconscious mind that “reality” is the “truth of the middle path”… and by “intently” believing ( having my mind and will focused on this one specific purpose) and acting as if it already was the new default reality” (this is important), and I will even “intently” thank my subconscious mind for making it so (this is important too, remember that our subconscious mind is not only aware, but it has more awareness than our conscious mind)… and by continuously reinforcing the truth of the middle path as the existing new awakened default reality, while continuously reinforcing the idea that mundane reality was just childish ignorance… I can make the new “awakened reality” stronger and stronger, as I make the “mundane reality of delusion” weaker and weaker… then when the new “awakened reality” becomes stronger than the “childish ignorance” of mundane reality (Avijja)”, delusion will break up and be permanently destroyed… that will be the moment of “awakening”… AWAKENING (Written days after I awakened) I had been doing intense solitary meditation for many weeks trying many different strategies to get into and reprogram my subconscious mind, and/or trying to establish better communication with my subconscious mind, without any noticeable results… then one day without warning, and when I least expected it, I awakened… One minute I was listening to a bird chirping, and the wind rustling the leaves on the trees, the next minute I was inside my subconscious mind and could visually see Avijja (mundane reality) like it was a huge dam breaking up, making deep rumbling loud sounds, and also “zinging” high pitched sounds, that seemed oddly musical… It was like a musical earthquake… This was accompanied by blinding flashes of light, like flash bulbs on a camera going off in my face… And then the sea of information and thoughts (my subconscious mind) that had been held back by the dam (of mundane reality) swept out over me, carrying me away... I could hear the devas (heavenly beings, my spirit guides) excitedly cheering me on, laughing and clapping like fans at a football match… So I felt very reassured that I was “safe”, and that whatever was happening was a very positive development, so I had no fear… Instead of trying to get out of this sea of thoughts which was my subconscious mind (remember I had just spent weeks trying to get into my subconscious mind), I kept pushing deeper and deeper into it… I was like a scuba diver systematically descending into the depths of the ocean... I would go deeper into this sea of thoughts (exploring), and then pause for a while observing what was going on and acclimate myself to the intensity, then go deeper exploring again and pausing to observe and acclimate myself again so that my awareness always remained clear and lucid… I did this for about a day and a half, until I reached “the bottom”... I then spent more than a week, day and night, submersed in this sea of thoughts, feelings, and images exploring and observing, and all the while I was in a state of extreme bliss... I laughed a lot, not because anything was humorous (although many things were), but because a zillion volts of pure joy was shooting up my spine (kundalini ?)… Both my conscious mind and my subconscious mind were conscious to me, and I was in both the physical world and the spirit world at the same time. My third eye was wide open… My two minds (two lobes of my brain) talked to one another as if they were two different people, while I was both of them. At one point I could see multiple copies of myself everywhere doing different things, and each of them could see all the other copies, and I could see all the other copies they were seeing, etc… it was like being in a hall of mirrors… My subconscious mind seemed to have no limitations... It could fragment into a multitude of many minds, all thinking different things, and I could keep up with all of them… the subconscious mind “thinks” with moving images (eyeball movies) like the dreams we have when asleep, or drug hallucinations, both of which occur in the subconscious mind… and with words, feelings, and emotions… It is impossible to describe with words, the many different things that I saw and experienced… There are no words to describe it, and even if there were, no one would understand the words, unless they had personally experienced what the words described… It seemed that the whole universe was available, but most of it didn’t interest me any more… I saw the “Akashic Record”, but things like “’past lives” seemed totally irrelevant and uninteresting, and the only thing that interested me was what my subconscious mind was doing NOW in this moment, in this life… I don’t remember sleeping, but one or both of my minds could have gone in and out of one pointedness (total concentration) without me having any awareness of time passing, without me even noticing… or I could have been “asleep” & “awake” at the same time (asleep in the physical world and awake in the spirit world, or asleep in the spirit world and awake in the physical world), a state that I have experienced many times before... My only awareness that time was passing, was that the sun kept coming up and going down, I was always in the “now” (and still am)… I fasted most of the time, not because I decided to fast, but because I never got hungry and my body didn’t seem to mind, but I drank a lot of water... The devas stayed with me the whole time, which made me feel very safe and protected… It took me two full days to come completely out of my subconscious mind, and totally back into my conscious mind again exploring and observing, pausing and acclimating as I did so… The weirdest and most unexpected part of it all, is that with the destruction of delusion, my subconscious mind which now contained my new “awakened reality”, fused with my conscious mind, and now it is a “soul mate” (??? union of yin and yang ???)…whereas before I never thought much about my subconscious mind, I now love my subconscious mind, and I can feel its love for me… in any case it is my spiritual partner and best friend, who will help me in any way that it can… at first my conscious mind felt that it was really very very very strange having this “other person” (other conscious mind) in my body with it (“what now ? who the hell is this ?”)… until it realized that it was the same subconscious mind... (“is that you Dawg ? I didn’t recognize you”)… “Dawg” is the name of my subconscious mind… my subconscious mind adopted the name “Dawg” several years ago, so that it would “know” for sure when I was talking directly to it… I can say “hey Dawg ! listen up, I want to talk to you”… and Dawg listens… Dawg dictates to me what to write, then edits it after I type it… my conscious mind is just the typist)… my new awakened subconscious mind now makes me feel “whole” and “complete”, so that I love everybody now… (even if I don’t even like them !!!)… “you must love yourself, before you can love anyone else”, comes to mind… although my communication with my subconscious mind (Dawg) is now very much improved, it can still be difficult sometimes because the subconscious mind is so unlike the conscious mind… I have to use the right key words, mental images, and keep it simple… for all of its power and complexity; my subconscious mind (Dawg) is like a small child in some ways... or like a very gentle and brilliant simple minded giant with magic powers who knows absolutely everything… and because Dawg is now enlightened, whatever Dwag tells me is totally trustworthy… the absurdity of it all, still makes me laugh with joy whenever I think about it… Every meditation method that I tried in the weeks before I awakened produced results, not only did I awaken, but I raised the Kundalini and opened my third eye, and also unified the yin and the yang… a grand slam… it was awesome… the smile on my face is still five miles wide… EPILOGUE (Written months later) I can say without any doubt that “I am awake”… because if you are awake there is absolutely no way you could not know that you are awake… even if you were dead, you would still know that you were awake… it is impossible not to “KNOW”… if you wonder “IF” you are awake, you are not awake’’… The extreme out pouring of bliss and love has subsided… I feel so different since I have awakened, but in the best possible way… and so many unnecessary things have dropped away that I feel as if my life before awakening is a “past life”… “I feel as if I have been reborn”… The change is permanent… and it seems that there is no longer any “need” to meditate, because my mind is totally empty, and because there is nothing in it to investigate or meditate about… but I can still call up a thought, observe it, and instantly gain insights, then let it go… although my mind is usually totally “empty”, I see and hear everything, it is just that my mind does not respond to anything…nothing arises in my mind unless I make an effort to cause it to arise, and it disappears as soon as I cease making the effort … I’m never bored, or aware of the time passing, it is always “now”… the normal state of my mind is for it to be filled with silence, which I now realize is “the sound of one hand clapping”… My awareness lives in the present moment, the NOW !... my personality and my body are not “me”, they are just masks that I can put on and take off (as and when necessary)… the only thing remaining that I could call “me”, is pure awareness that is simply aware of being aware… and even that is just a part of a larger universal awareness… but I have never in my life felt so totally “normal”… this is obviously the way physical human existence is supposed to be… When I was a small child I saw the world as a very “magical place” where everything that I saw or heard was “real” and “existed”… George Washington, Mickey Mouse, Dinosaurs, Spiderman, Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, angels and devils, bed time stories, movies, etc, etc… were all equally real… when I learned what the adults called (mundane) “reality”, bit by bit the world lost all of its “magic”… but now that I am “awakened” I find myself once again living in a “magical” world where the “magic” is not only real, it is reality… It is the subconscious mind that experiences awakening (a new reality), not the conscious mind… upon awakening, the conscious mind becomes empty with no mundane thoughts to distract it, so it lives in the NOW (present moment), the only place in the physical world that is real… which is the world of the body’s senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch)… NOTE… As a child you believed that santa claus was a reality who brought you Christmas presents… then one day you realized he was not real (you awakened) and realized that your presents were put there by your parents… so you no longer believed in the reality of santa claus … but you still remembered who he was… you can’t just delete him from your memory… the memory remains, but you no longer believe he is a realityl… in the same way you can destroy avijja as a reality, but the memory of it remains… when you destroy the reality of Avijja (delusion), you no longer create any new karma… but your past karma is the memory of avijja, so it remains active until you die (even if you are enlightened)… then it drops away because you go to the highest heavenly realm, and no longer reincarnate… NOTE… You have spirit guides that want to help and protect you, but they can’t help or protect you unless you ask them to help you and protect you, because they would be interfering… talk to them as friends and allies, and ask them to help you, and tell them “how” if you can (they can lead things to you, and you to things, without you even realizing that they are involved)… and don’t forget to thank them… NOTE… Anyone dear to you who has died (parents, siblings, children, grandparents, spouses, friends) can hear you if you talk to them, most of them can come to you in an instant… call them to come… tell them that you love them and miss them, and pour out your heart to them… they are not “dead” (it is impossible to die, even if you wanted to), they are just someplace else… NOTE… Learn to talk to your subconscious mind, ask it to help you… remember that it is more conscious than your conscious mind… and if you let it, it will love you unconditionally, just the way you are… tell it your dreams and aspirations… it can help you in ways that you cannot even imagine… it has complete control of your body…24 hours a day, it keeps your heart beating, your lungs breathing, etc, etc… your subconscious mind is always aware, it never sleeps, it is always taking care of you, every second of your life… and it is always listening to the thoughts in your conscious mind, and those thoughts create your health or disease… Edited August 12, 2016 by dawg 26 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted July 1, 2013 This has to be with out a doubt the best post ever written on this forum! Though I do have a few questions and difficulties that I would like some help with. 1. Meditation. I've noticed that my meditation life seems to go through cycles. For a while meditating for a long period of time seems easier than at others. During the difficult times I seem to feel very distracted and no matter how long I sit there breathing saying "Buddho" to myself its very hard to get my mind to quiet down. Other times I'll meditate for a while and feel very peaceful and still afterwards, but then there were be times that I'll meditate and then for a while after I will feel a lot of intense unpleasant emotions. Sometimes I can sit for a long period of time no problem, and other times I will feel very tired or sore, or feel that I want to be doing anything else but sitting in meditation. On a positive note I can say that for the past year (after a nasty break up) I've been trying to meditate as often as I can with my free time and not try to find another relationship. What I have noticed from that is that the inclinations of my subconscious that in the past would lead me into trouble (bad relationships mostly) is still there, but if I'm sitting and observing it as opposed to acting on it then at least it can't get me in trouble anymore lol. AND I'm becoming more aware that these non-beneficial thought patterns are there in the first place (awareness). 2. A question I have about your second to last note about communicating with deceased loved ones (as this is something I've been confused about for a while). My question is, I can understand being able to speak to them while they are in the ghost world, but after they reincarnate would you be unable to communicate with them anymore? 3. "Side-effects". Are there side effects from meditation? What I mean is that I'll noticed that sometimes I'll meditate and for a certain span of time (a few days or a week usually) I'll feel one certain way after meditating. Lately its been feeling very tired. Other times I'll meditate and feel all sorts of latent emotions come up. Other times it feels like my perspective on everything changes and everything feels "weird". *So to finish I'll sum up with the one point that I most want help with and that is what to do when its hard to meditate? Either feeling ill will about doing it in the first place, or having a hard time quieting the mind even after meditating for a while, or feeling "off" after meditating? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chetzy Posted July 5, 2013 Hello dmattwads, What I have found to work when distraction (pains, soreness, emotions, etc) come into your inner space the best action or better said non-action is to just simply step back, unclutch, from your sensations and fall into more spacecious state. At first it might seem an active action but it will develop in something more natural over time. Also unclutch from unclutching too and be patient. Hope that was helpfull, P.S. about feeling "wierd" after meditation, that is maybe because your state is less attached. I myself feel most of the time that things around me are droven by inertia and even thought patterns just happen and that gives the impression to other people that I am disconnected or cold but usually I don't have the feealing of "need"(perhaps it is just an illussion but I do feel an inner peace). Keep it simple 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 5, 2013 Dmattwads, I tried to cover everything… but if this does not answer all of your question, ask me again and try to be as specific as possible… ………………………………………… THE CONSCIOUS MIND IS A SERIAL PROCESSOR (with only one image or thought at a time, in a lineal sequence). The conscious mind can process 40 bits (nerve impulses) per second… the conscious mind understands “words” and “logic”, it is very “rational”… the conscious mind is the mind of our body’s senses… “Consciousness” is usually defined as being aware of the physical senses… if a person cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, they are said to be “unconscious”… THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND IS A PARALLEL PROCESSOR (with many images and thoughts arranged in many different complex patterns and structures simultaneously). The subconscious mind can process 40,000,000 bits (nerve impulses) per second, so it is 1,000,000 times more powerful, complex, bigger, or faster than the conscious mind… and can think hundreds or thousands of different thoughts simultaneously… the subconscious mind understands “visual images”, “emotions” and “feelings”; and is totally “irrational”… the subconscious mind controls our body… The subconscious mind can process 40,000,000 bits (nerve impulses) per second, so it is 1,000,000 times more powerful, complex, bigger, or faster than the conscious mind… and can think hundreds or thousands of different thoughts simultaneously… the subconscious mind understands “visual images”, “emotions” and “feelings”; and is totally “irrational”… the subconscious mind controls every aspect of our body… it never sleeps… it has been taking care of you every second of your life, day and night… ………………………………………… your subconscious mind is controlling your life! You have two separate minds that create your conscious mind’s controlling voice. There is the conscious mind that can think freely and create new ideas “outside of the box of your conditioning”. Then there is the subconscious mind, which is basically a super computer loaded with a database of programmed behaviors, some that you carried with you from a past life (karma), and some that you acquired before you reached the age of six or seven (when you were most gullible and impressionable) and were taught (programmed to believe) what the adults called “reality” (how you should think and act)... you have been programmed with a conditioned response for every possible situation… THESE CONDITIONED RESPONSES OF MUNDANE REALITY… (1)… ARE THAT OBNOXIOUS VOICE IN YOUR MIND… (2)… ARE NOT YOU, BUT WERE PUT THERE BY OTHER PEOPLE… (3)… ARE YOUR KARMA… (4)… ARE THE DELUSION THAT YOU WANT TO DESTROY… The subconscious mind cannot move outside of its fixed programs… It automatically (reflex) reacts to situations with its previously “conditioned” behavior responses; it works without the knowledge or control of the conscious mind. We are usually not even aware that most of our actions are subconscious conditioned reflex responses. Studies from as far back as the 1970’s, show that our subconscious mind begins to prepare for action just over a third of a second before we consciously decide to act. In other words, even when we ‘think’ that we are consciously deciding to act, it is our subconscious mind that is actually making the decision for us...the subconscious mind is controlling us 95% of the time! Neuroscientists have shown that the conscious mind of a normal person provides 5% or less of their cognitive (conscious) activity during the day, and 5% they say is for the more aware people, many people operate at just 1% consciousness. It is the subconscious mind which shapes how we live our life… Note that the reason that an enlightened person is said to be “awake”, is because they are no longer in the “hypnotic trance” of conditioned behavior and sleepwalking through their life… they have awakened. Most of our decisions, actions, emotions and behavior depend on the 95% of brain activity that is usually beyond our conscious awareness, which means that at least 95% of our life is conditioned behavior that comes from our subconscious mind. Our life reflects our subconscious conditioning, because the job of the subconscious mind is to create a “reality” out of our subconscious conditioning. If our subconscious conditioning is negative (caused by negative programming and experiences), our subconscious mind will recreate those negative experiences in our life, again and again. The voice of our thoughts, is not our voice… it is the voice of all the people who have conditioned us… our thoughts are all the “value judgments” and “control trips” that our family and our culture have programmed us with, to control our behavior… our awareness is clean and pure… the defilements in our mind that we want to purge our mind of are these conditioned “value judgment” and “control trip” thoughts, that other people have filled our mind with. Our subconscious mind is conditioned by a form of ‘hypnosis” that we call “education”… we are conditioned (hypnotized) when we voluntarily agree to believe what “respected authority” (parents & family, school teachers, religious teachers, government, media, friends, etc.) “suggest” to us… they suggest to us what things are good or bad, true or false… how we should behave, how we should think, what is “normal”… what is “reality”… so that the 95% of the time that we are controlled by our subconscious mind, we are in a hypnotic trance… simply reacting to stimulus with conditioned reflex behavior… our conscious mind’s “ego” thinks that it is making all of our decisions, that it is in control of our fate, but in reality it is just a puppet of the subconscious mind… We are taught to be greedy, and to want as much money as we can get… we are taught to chase pleasure and sex… we are taught to get angry when certain things happen to us… we are taught that what we believe is right… and anyone who disagrees with us is wrong… and so on. And as time passes we forget that we have learned these behaviors from other people, because they become automatic responses, so that we think that they are our natural and spontaneous reactions… so that we become locked into a mundane hypnotic trance state that we consider to be “REALITY”… we are like “zombies”… THIS CONDITIONED ‘MUNDANE REALITY” IS THE IGNORANCE AND DELUSION THAT IS CALLED “AVIJJA”… that we must see through to liberate our mind… then it is as if we “awaken” from a long sleep, and see the true nature of our existence. ………………………………………… Meditation… The whole object of meditation from start to finish, is gaining control of, and silencing the voice of the mind… so that we can investigate the mind and purify it… then permanently destroy the voice of the mind by destroying “Avijja”, the delusion (mundane reality) that is the source of that voice… when we have destroyed “Avijja”, all delusion falls away and we become awakened… and we clearly see the truth of our existence… don’t get in a rut and do the same meditation all the time… try all kinds of different things to keep it fresh… try everything you can think of… do whatever works for you… there is no right or wrong way to meditate… (it does not matter what method we use to purify the mind, and destroy Avijja (delusion), that is of no importance… all that is important is that the method works)… Breathing during meditation… When meditating and observing our breath, we should not control our breath with our conscious mind, but instead we should let our subconscious mind do our (automatic) breathing for us (like when we sleep)… then we should be aware that by observing our (automatic) breath which is controlled by our subconscious mind, that we are also observing our subconscious mind, and get in sync with it… then we should simply let go, and let it “lead the way”… this helps to set up “investigation”, or set up “communication”, and/or “interaction” with the subconscious mind… Meditation and the “five senses… when we meditate we are trying get in touch with our subconscious mind so that we can observe and investigate it… so we must turn off the conscious mind, which blocks our access to our subconscious mind… to do this you : SIGHT… Close your eyes so that you are not distracted by what you see… SOUND… You mentally repeat and focus your hearing on “Buddho – Buddho – Buddho”, so that you are not distracted by some other sound, and focus on it instead… SMELL… You should meditate in a place where the air is fresh and odorless… you should not smell anything distracting (especially food)… burning incense can be used to provide a “special positive atmosphere”… TASTE… Your mouth should feel clean and neutral, rinse it out with cool water if necessary… if you get thirsty when you meditate, keep a glass of cool water within reach… TOUCH… You focus your awareness of touch on feeling your breath going in and out of your nose… remember that your breath is controlled by our subconscious mind, so that when you feel your breath going in and out, you are feeling the “touch” of your subconscious mind… ………………………………………… Answer to question…1)… listen up, this one is extremely important… When you go to sleep at night… you get into the bed, turn the light off, get comfortable… and “let go”… so that you drift off to sleep… but if you put effort into “trying to go to sleep”, you will never drift off to sleep… meditation is the same… when you meditate, just sit down, close your eyes, and let go… don’t “try to meditate”… pretend you are going to sleep, just let go… and you will go into Samadhi (concentration)… sleep itself is just nature’s way of forcing people to go into one-pointedness (total concentration) Samadhi … just let go no matter what you experience, because your subconscious mind will take care of you just as it does when you go to sleep… just as it has done for you all your life… if you can’t hear your breathing, just relax, you are in no danger, you are just going into deep concentration, a sought after mile stone on the path… that will put you on a permanent plateau of peace and serenity… it means that you are attaining a higher level of consciousness… Just relax and indifferently observe your thoughts…see through the illusion of “mundane reality” and just be aware that your thoughts are not coming from you, that they are just conditioned reflex reactions that were put there by other people to control you… don’t respond to the voice in any way, because if you do, you are giving the voice some of your energy, and energizing it… if you feel “weird”, be aware that the “weirdness” is just delusion (mundane reality) trying to control you… everything that you feel as a result of your meditation, is a programmed response put into your mind by “mundane reality” to control you… to make you conform… (no, no, not me… I’m not weird, I’m normal… watch me, I’m going to go down to Mac Donald’s and get a supersized Big Mac, a double order of fries, and a jumbo Dr Pepper to wash it all down… see, I’m not weird… I’m normal !!!)… Regarding relationships, I would advise you to avoid women who go drinking with their friends in clubs every Saturday night, and women who go to church every Sunday morning… actively try to find women who meditate, then go for one with some spirituality… there must be some kind of meditation organizations that give lectures or sponsor social events, near where you live… If she meditates, you could talk about meditation for hours, and form an instant bond… A sane woman in your life, who understands why you meditate, could bring you much joy, and in no way hinder your meditation… she could put a big smile on your face… if you let her… so let her… Answer to question…2)… all the people who you knew, who have died, should still be somewhere in the spirit world… so you should be able to talk to them… everyone goes to the ghost realm first… then their thoughts (karma) sends most of them on, to a heavenly realm or a hell realm… the ones who don’t have enough good or bad karma to go to a heavenly realm or hell realm… remain in the ghost realm… they look and act exactly the same as they did when they were alive in the physical world, even the same clothes… you may well have seen ghosts walking about on the streets, before they went to the ghost realm, without realizing it, because they look just like everyone else… the ghost realm is a strange place that is very bland and ordinary, without the beauty and powers of the heavenly realms… where ghosts, for lack of knowing what else to do, try to live a life like they lived before they died… they live in “ghost cities”, have houses and possessions and live with other family members, have jobs, and even have restaurants and clubs… (I was once offered a job in a ghost city… because I was walking around talking to the street people, asking them a lot of questions… so they thought that I was dead, and had just arrived… they were very friendly)… they can see and hear, but cannot smell, taste or touch, which makes them yearn to reincarnate in a physical body again so that they can experience “physical pleasure” again… some of the people who are about to reincarnate, are in the ghost realm preparing for their next life… The other consideration is the relative speed of time… from my own experience, it seems that time in the spirit world can move faster or slower than time in the physical world… but I have not been able to see any consistent pattern to it… nor have I heard anyone else give a reasonable description of time in the spirit world, compared to time in the physical world… Answer to question…3)… if you find it hard to motivate yourself to meditate... don’t set a time or time limit… just start doing it, without “thinking about doing it’… you can stop any time you want… you can start any time you want… don’t make a big deal about it, just sit down and observe your thoughts flowing by, you don’t have to “do” anything… and don’t be suckered into believing one word of your thoughts (especially negative thoughts), they are just what other people wanted you to believe, so programmed you to believe it… you are just observing to see what is in your subconscious mind… just consider meditation as a “quiet time” when you can “let go”, and take a rest from all of the bullshit of the world… a place where you don’t have to put out any effort… a place where you do not have to “ suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”… ………………………………………… Dawg 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) Hi Dawg, Congratulations on your 'awakening'. And thank you for writing about your experiences.. I have three questions, if you don't mind. . . 1) I have gone through meditative states where I see thousands of images/thoughts/visions go whizzing by. It is like being caught in a tornado of colors and lights, all very clear and crisp, moving rapidly, appearing and dissolving like lightning. So many of them it is bewildering and I wonder what this is. Am I getting close? 2) Lately, during my breath meditations, explosions are occuring in my head. Twice, in separate sessions, there was an explosion around the third eye and my arms starting doing a rapid dog-paddle, like I was trying to pull myself out of a tunnel, or maybe I was just so shocked that that was the reflex? Did you experience anything like that? What is happening there? 3) You said: "or like a very gentle and brilliant simple minded giant with magic powers who knows absolutely everything…" Do you now have any siddhis? For example, can you tell me what I look like, how old I am and what my past lives that I can remember are? Thanks. TI Edited July 7, 2013 by Tibetan_Ice 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RongzomFan Posted July 7, 2013 Recognize that the instant of unfabricated freshness (ma bcos shes pa skad cig ma) is overlaid by the conceptualizing mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) alwayson, if you have attained awakening, you would understand that there is no way not to understand... Edited February 22, 2014 by dawg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) Hello Tibetan Ice, I have three questions, if you don't mind. . .………………………..I will do my best to answer them… but bear in mind that I know nothing about your chosen path or practice… or how far along you are in your practice (level of attainment)… roughly speaking, are you doing Buddhist “samadhi practice” or Taoist “energy practice”…? If you are mixing them, each will interfere with the other…………………………..1)… I have gone through meditative states where I see thousands of images/thoughts/visions go whizzing by. It is like being caught in a tornado of colors and lights, all very clear and crisp, moving rapidly, appearing and dissolving like lightning. So many of them it is bewildering and I wonder what this is. Am I getting close? you were in your subconscious mind... I don't know what kind of meditation that you were doing, but you are definitely seeing your subconscious mind… (it is possible that you got there by opening your third eye, but you don't mention anything about how you transitioned into your subconscious mind)... you can now understand why your conscious mind is unable to cope with it, so considers it “subconscious”… do a google search on “how to communicate with the subconscious mind”… there are some good sites that are informative… surf around and follow links… you might also google ‘hypnosis” as well, since the "delusion" of "mundane reality" is essentially a "hypnotic trance state", that is a result of our cultural conditioning which is located in our subconscious mind… ………………………..2)… Lately, during my breath meditations, explosions are occuring in my head. Twice, in separate sessions, there was an explosion around the third eye and my arms starting doing a rapid dog-paddle, like I was trying to pull myself out of a tunnel, or maybe I was just so shocked that that was the reflex? Did you experience anything like that? What is happening there?My meditation is “Samadhi mediation”, that involves deeper and deeper states of concentration… so I have not experienced anything exactly like it, but when I awakened I heard loud rumbling sounds and flashing lights, then the kundalini shot up my spine and my third eye opened… plunging me into my subconscious mind which was like your description in question one… body motions like the ‘rapid dog paddle’ are usually caused by the kundalini… so you might have been opening individual chakras, or even aborting the rise of the kundalini “by pulling yourself out of a tunnel”… I can’t say for sure………………………..3)… You said: "or like a very gentle and brilliant simple minded giant with magic powers who knows absolutely everything…"I was describing my interaction with my subconscious mind… and how the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe..………………………..Do you now have any siddhis? For example, can you tell me what I look like, how old I am and what my past lives that I can remember are?The Buddhist monk who was my teacher, warned me away from siddhis… saying that, “if you want siddhis, you have already been seduced by them… if you want them, it is only because you want to use them… and what could you use them for, other than to build up your ego”…He said that siddhis are a by-product of concentration... that siddhis have nothing to do with self-realization and awakening. A practitioner may manifest Siddhis due to strong passions and intense desires, and if that is the case, he will never attain awakening... that Siddhis are a great hindrance to spiritual progress, and so long as one remains within the realm of Siddhis, there is not the least hope of enlightenment. So I have never been into attaining or exhibiting siddhis…But, this does not mean that a person manifesting Siddhis is not awakened… Siddhis may appear spontaneously before or after awakening, without any effort on the part of the practitioner… but they should never be used to show off…When I began meditating seriously with the goal of enlightenment, I began to spontaneously find myself in the spirit world… if I sat down to meditate and closed my eyes, or got in bed to sleep and closed my eyes, I would find myself in the spirit world… if I opened my eyes I was back in the physical world… if I closed my eyes again, I was back in the spirit world again… so I would close my eyes and sit down in the spirit world to meditate, or lay down in the spirit world and go to sleep… in the morning I would wake up in the spirit world… then I would open my eyes and I was in my bed… then if I closed my eyes again, I was back in the spirit world again…one of my spirit guides used to take me around the spirit world and show me different spirit realms… frequently I roamed around on my own… I have been to the spirit world more times than I can count… I have seen everything from heavenly realms, ghost realm, and the hell realm…I bumped into a dead friend while I was walking around talking to “street people in a ghost city in a ghost realm, he was the same old friend, and he looked great, just like he did when he was alive… he was with a group of about ten other people preparing to reincarnate, on their way to do something, so we only spoke in passing because he had to keep up with the group… then another time, one of the monks in the monastery where I was meditating, came and found me in the spirit world where I was meditating, because he wanted to ask me about something, then after I gave him the information he wanted, he just walked off in the spirit world… I have also met the extremely beautiful woman in one of the high heavenly realms who was my wife in my last reincarnation which was it that heavenly realm (she has elaborately arranged blond hair hanging down to her waist)… (on a scale of one to ten, she is a five hundred)… she asked me if “I wanted to marry her again, like before ?”... she thought I was dead, and had just returned… I told her that I didn’t know, since I was still alive and trying to reach enlightenment… (and I have since reached enlightenment, so will not be in that heavenly realm)… if I had said yes, I would have had to abandon my physical body to die, back in the physical realm, and abandon my attempt to reach enlightenment… the spirit world is an incredibly amazing place… the beauty and spotless perfection of the heavenly realms is awesome… it is beyond physical imagination… and the way heavenly women (and men) look, move, speak, and laugh makes physical women (and men) seem like baboons by comparison…everything in the spirit realms is created by thought, so you can imagine how strange and weird that can get… the language of the spirit world is telepathy… everyone can hear your thoughts, so you need to have an “empty mind”, except when you want to communicate… you can talk to anyone no matter what language they speak, because you hear them in your own language, and they hear you in their language… even if they are a different species than you…I have seen snow covered mountains, sailing ships on a sparkling sea, gardens full of flowers, fruit, and trees, castles floating in the sky, buildings that change like kaleidoscopes as you walk through them, a fireplace with fire… and I have been driven around in what looks like a Mercedes through what looks like leafy suburbs of Los Angeles… the spirit world is as solid as the physical world… I am a shameless tourist, and like to fly around and look at everything… I like flying around and using telescopic vision to zoom in on whatever looks interesting… All the gods exist, but none of them made or control the universe, and they were all born and will die… (consider that “god the father” is a male god, which means he must have a penis and balls to be considered “male”… (remember that he made adam in his own image and likeness) and why would he have a penis and balls unless there was a “goddess” with a vagina… which means that he was born of a goddess)… they have no control over the spirit world… they are just powerful entities that live in a high heavenly realm… they want you to worship them because that sends them the energy that keeps them alive (otherwise they would have to die and might find themselves in hell or some other very unpleasant reincarnation)…no religion “owns” the spirit world… and in the same way that “science” is just man’s attempt to explain the physical universe which “just is”… “religion” is man’s attempt to describe the spirit universe which “just is”… at least science can “see” the physical universe, so it is not totally out to lunch… but how many religious leaders have or can “see” the spirit universe ??? ZERO… organized religion is blindfolded, deaf, and lost in the woods…What is it like being dead ?… if you were crossing a street, and a car came speeding down the street, and hit you, killing you … you would get up, brush yourself off, then notice that your body was still laying on the street… you would think and act just the same as when you were alive… but nobody would see you or hear you, and would walk right through you… your spirit body would look the same as your body… you would still have your conscious and subconscious mind… you might loiter around for a while in the physical world, and even go to your funeral… but you would soon proceed to the “ghost realm”, which is the “grand central station” of arrivals (deaths) and departures (reincarnations) of the spirit world… you would still have your conscious and subconscious mind until you reincarnate, then your conscious and subconscious mind would become your new subconscious mind (why people can remember past lives), and you would be born with a blank new conscious mind… nobody judges you when you die... it is all just simple “cause and effect”… it is not a contradiction to say that atheists can go to heaven… if you are good, you go to a good place… if you are bad, you go to a bad place… imagine that you have a television set, and all of the television channels are the many spirit realms… what you, watching the television set will see when you die, is the channel that your mind is set on… in other words, the voice (thoughts) in your mind (which is your karma talking) determines where you go, and sends you there… then when you use up your good and/or bad karma (accumulated “credit” or “debit”) you reincarnate…but I do not consider my ability to see the spirit world to be a siddhi, it is a normal power of the human subconscious mind… I also frequently experience telepathy while I am in the physical world… sometimes it is the thoughts of people who are alive and sometimes people who are dead, and sometimes it is my spirit guides… one time when I stepped out of my body and squatted down so that I could take a close look at my 4th chakra turning around (I even put my eye up to hole and looked in the hole)… I suddenly became so telepathic I could hear the thoughts of everyone in the city (millions of people… it was an obscene roar of humanity, it made me understand why “holy men” live as far away from human habitation as they can get… all I know about my past lives is what has appeared spontaneously… when I awakened I saw the akashic records, and could have looked up all my past lives, but past lives don’t interest me… to me looking at my past lives would be as interesting as looking at my dirty laundry from the past umpteen years… all that interests me is the present… the moving point in time called now…so can I tell you what you look like, how old you are and what your past lives that you can remember are? I am not into that sort of thing…dawg Edited July 8, 2013 by dawg 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted July 9, 2013 (edited) Hello Tibetan Ice, I have three questions, if you don't mind. . . ……………………….. I will do my best to answer them… but bear in mind that I know nothing about your chosen path or practice… or how far along you are in your practice (level of attainment)… roughly speaking, are you doing Buddhist “samadhi practice” or Taoist “energy practice”…? If you are mixing them, each will interfere with the other… ……………………….. 1)… I have gone through meditative states where I see thousands of images/thoughts/visions go whizzing by. It is like being caught in a tornado of colors and lights, all very clear and crisp, moving rapidly, appearing and dissolving like lightning. So many of them it is bewildering and I wonder what this is. Am I getting close? you were in your subconscious mind... I don't know what kind of meditation that you were doing, but you are definitely seeing your subconscious mind… (it is possible that you got there by opening your third eye, but you don't mention anything about how you transitioned into your subconscious mind)... you can now understand why your conscious mind is unable to cope with it, so considers it “subconscious”… do a google search on “how to communicate with the subconscious mind”… there are some good sites that are informative… surf around and follow links… you might also google ‘hypnosis” as well, since the "delusion" of "mundane reality" is essentially a "hypnotic trance state", that is a result of our cultural conditioning which is located in our subconscious mind… ……………………….. 2)… Lately, during my breath meditations, explosions are occuring in my head. Twice, in separate sessions, there was an explosion around the third eye and my arms starting doing a rapid dog-paddle, like I was trying to pull myself out of a tunnel, or maybe I was just so shocked that that was the reflex? Did you experience anything like that? What is happening there? My meditation is “Samadhi mediation”, that involves deeper and deeper states of concentration… so I have not experienced anything exactly like it, but when I awakened I heard loud rumbling sounds and flashing lights, then the kundalini shot up my spine and my third eye opened… plunging me into my subconscious mind which was like your description in question one… body motions like the ‘rapid dog paddle’ are usually caused by the kundalini… so you might have been opening individual chakras, or even aborting the rise of the kundalini “by pulling yourself out of a tunnel”… I can’t say for sure ……………………….. 3)… You said: "or like a very gentle and brilliant simple minded giant with magic powers who knows absolutely everything…" I was describing my interaction with my subconscious mind… and how the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe.. ……………………….. Do you now have any siddhis? For example, can you tell me what I look like, how old I am and what my past lives that I can remember are? The Buddhist monk who was my teacher, warned me away from siddhis… saying that, “if you want siddhis, you have already been seduced by them… if you want them, it is only because you want to use them… and what could you use them for, other than to build up your ego”… He said that siddhis are a by-product of concentration... that siddhis have nothing to do with self-realization and awakening. A practitioner may manifest Siddhis due to strong passions and intense desires, and if that is the case, he will never attain awakening... that Siddhis are a great hindrance to spiritual progress, and so long as one remains within the realm of Siddhis, there is not the least hope of enlightenment. So I have never been into attaining or exhibiting siddhis… But, this does not mean that a person manifesting Siddhis is not awakened… Siddhis may appear spontaneously before or after awakening, without any effort on the part of the practitioner… but they should never be used to show off… When I began meditating seriously with the goal of enlightenment, I began to spontaneously find myself in the spirit world… if I sat down to meditate and closed my eyes, or got in bed to sleep and closed my eyes, I would find myself in the spirit world… if I opened my eyes I was back in the physical world… if I closed my eyes again, I was back in the spirit world again… so I would close my eyes and sit down in the spirit world to meditate, or lay down in the spirit world and go to sleep… in the morning I would wake up in the spirit world… then I would open my eyes and I was in my bed… then if I closed my eyes again, I was back in the spirit world again… one of my spirit guides used to take me around the spirit world and show me different spirit realms… frequently I roamed around on my own… I have been to the spirit world more times than I can count… I have seen everything from heavenly realms, ghost realm, and the hell realm…I bumped into a dead friend while I was walking around talking to “street people in a ghost city in a ghost realm, he was the same old friend, and he looked great, just like he did when he was alive… he was with a group of about ten other people preparing to reincarnate, on their way to do something, so we only spoke in passing because he had to keep up with the group… then another time, one of the monks in the monastery where I was meditating, came and found me in the spirit world where I was meditating, because he wanted to ask me about something, then after I gave him the information he wanted, he just walked off in the spirit world… I have also met the extremely beautiful woman in one of the high heavenly realms who was my wife in my last reincarnation which was it that heavenly realm (she has elaborately arranged blond hair hanging down to her waist)… (on a scale of one to ten, she is a five hundred)… she asked me if “I wanted to marry her again, like before ?”... she thought I was dead, and had just returned… I told her that I didn’t know, since I was still alive and trying to reach enlightenment… (and I have since reached enlightenment, so will not be in that heavenly realm)… if I had said yes, I would have had to abandon my physical body to die, back in the physical realm, and abandon my attempt to reach enlightenment… the spirit world is an incredibly amazing place… the beauty and spotless perfection of the heavenly realms is awesome… it is beyond physical imagination… and the way heavenly women (and men) look, move, speak, and laugh makes physical women (and men) seem like baboons by comparison… everything in the spirit realms is created by thought, so you can imagine how strange and weird that can get… the language of the spirit world is telepathy… everyone can hear your thoughts, so you need to have an “empty mind”, except when you want to communicate… you can talk to anyone no matter what language they speak, because you hear them in your own language, and they hear you in their language… even if they are a different species than you… I have seen snow covered mountains, sailing ships on a sparkling sea, gardens full of flowers, fruit, and trees, castles floating in the sky, buildings that change like kaleidoscopes as you walk through them, a fireplace with fire… and I have been driven around in what looks like a Mercedes through what looks like leafy suburbs of Los Angeles… the spirit world is as solid as the physical world… I am a shameless tourist, and like to fly around and look at everything… I like flying around and using telescopic vision to zoom in on whatever looks interesting… All the gods exist, but none of them made or control the universe, and they were all born and will die… (consider that “god the father” is a male god, which means he must have a penis and balls to be considered “male”… (remember that he made adam in his own image and likeness) and why would he have a penis and balls unless there was a “goddess” with a vagina… which means that he was born of a goddess)… they have no control over the spirit world… they are just powerful entities that live in a high heavenly realm… they want you to worship them because that sends them the energy that keeps them alive (otherwise they would have to die and might find themselves in hell or some other very unpleasant reincarnation)… no religion “owns” the spirit world… and in the same way that “science” is just man’s attempt to explain the physical universe which “just is”… “religion” is man’s attempt to describe the spirit universe which “just is”… at least science can “see” the physical universe, so it is not totally out to lunch… but how many religious leaders have or can “see” the spirit universe ??? ZERO… organized religion is blindfolded, deaf, and lost in the woods… What is it like being dead ?… if you were crossing a street, and a car came speeding down the street, and hit you, killing you … you would get up, brush yourself off, then notice that your body was still laying on the street… you would think and act just the same as when you were alive… but nobody would see you or hear you, and would walk right through you… your spirit body would look the same as your body… you would still have your conscious and subconscious mind… you might loiter around for a while in the physical world, and even go to your funeral… but you would soon proceed to the “ghost realm”, which is the “grand central station” of arrivals (deaths) and departures (reincarnations) of the spirit world… you would still have your conscious and subconscious mind until you reincarnate, then your conscious and subconscious mind would become your new subconscious mind (why people can remember past lives), and you would be born with a blank new conscious mind… nobody judges you when you die... it is all just simple “cause and effect”… it is not a contradiction to say that atheists can go to heaven… if you are good, you go to a good place… if you are bad, you go to a bad place… imagine that you have a television set, and all of the television channels are the many spirit realms… what you, watching the television set will see when you die, is the channel that your mind is set on… in other words, the voice (thoughts) in your mind (which is your karma talking) determines where you go, and sends you there… then when you use up your good and/or bad karma (accumulated “credit” or “debit”) you reincarnate… but I do not consider my ability to see the spirit world to be a siddhi, it is a normal power of the human subconscious mind… I also frequently experience telepathy while I am in the physical world… sometimes it is the thoughts of people who are alive and sometimes people who are dead, and sometimes it is my spirit guides… one time when I stepped out of my body and squatted down so that I could take a close look at my 4th chakra turning around (I even put my eye up to hole and looked in the hole)… I suddenly became so telepathic I could hear the thoughts of everyone in the city (millions of people… it was an obscene roar of humanity, it made me understand why “holy men” live as far away from human habitation as they can get… all I know about my past lives is what has appeared spontaneously… when I awakened I saw the akashic records, and could have looked up all my past lives, but past lives don’t interest me… to me looking at my past lives would be as interesting as looking at my dirty laundry from the past umpteen years… all that interests me is the present… the moving point in time called now… so can I tell you what you look like, how old you are and what your past lives that you can remember are? I am not into that sort of thing… dawg Hi Dawg Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to write back to me. When I first experienced the massive amounts of thoughts/visions/scenery, I was doing a form of concentrative meditation. I was visualizing the mantra "I AM" as a long stream of letters: aaaaaayyyeeeeeeeaaaaaaaammmmmm while repeating the mantra with shambhavi and tongue on palette. After three weeks of being submerged in this tornado of cascading imgages/thoughts/visions, I decided that that wasn't meditation so I started questioning and examining Patanjali's samyama.. long story there. I'll spare you. I've been doing anapanasati for the last six months or so along with a Dzogchen practice of watching and dissolving thoughts (seperately). It is the watching of thoughts, watching them dissolve that brings me back to the tornado of cascading images/thoughts/visions.. So basically, the two different methods make arrive at the same place. Yes, my third eye is wide open. I can pretty well see visions and the astral planes any time I want. The easiest for me seem to be to just visualize the letter "A" surrounded by circles of blue, green, red, yellow and white directly at the third eye (1 inch behind the brow). Then, I just sound "Ahhhhhh" and it opens.. Kind of like watching TV.. I just pick a scene and push out into it. Your statment about siddhis is kind of disturbing to me. I'm never happy to hear about gurus who caution about siddhis and then don't demonstrate any. It always seems like a cop-out to me, like they are hiding the fact that they don't have the ability, are not realized, or at least, don't know the proper techinique.. I also find it strange that you can say "I was describing my interaction with my subconscious mind… and how the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe..' and yet cannot demonstrate what that statement actually means. Or perhaps you don't want to demonstrate? If I could walk through walls or fly, I would never tell anyone because I would become a target.. Some things are best kept secret. But you do realize that siddhis have their purpose.. Have you ever read any Milerepa or Rechungpa? They use their siddhis to convince disciples of the authenticity of their teachings.. For example, read this: link: http://buddha.nimmersoft.dk/rechungpa1.htm After Rechungpa had received teachings from Tipupa he returned to Balacandra. From there he went on to Tibet again. On his way there he met yet another teacher, who was called Mirti, and who gave him teachings about "the fast movement". He learned to master this practice and so he was able to travel from India to Tibet in only 6 days. When he was back in Tibet again with Milarepa he received teachings about the six teachings of Naropa and he practiced them. Milarepa sang many songs for Rechungpa in order to arouse and deepen his understanding for the 'Nature of the Mind'. Many of them can be found in the Songs of Milarepa 1). Sometimes he developed a certain amount of pride in his practices. Once he experienced a special sinking-state and he thought he had grasped the nature of the mind completely. He wondered whether Milarepa’s realization was really greater than his own and went up to him to tell him about his experiences. Milarepa immediately read Rechungpa's thoughts and told him that his experiences were not at all so special as he thought. In order to demonstrate this he his fist into the empty air and in this produced a sound. Then he left his handprint embedded in the rock. Rechungpa then put himself into the deep meditative state, which he had experienced earlier, and then he also wanted to leave his handprint in the rock, but he only hurt himself. Then he understood the difference between his own and Milarepa’s realization. ... After that Rechungpa went to South Tibet and there he also met Tsurton Wangje Dorje who was one of Marpa's four principal students. From him Rechungpa received teachings about the five levels of Guhyasamaja whereby one becomes able to control the subtle energy winds. But Rechungpa was not too impressed with these teachings since he found Milarepa’s teachings more important. Then Tsurton Wangje Dorje asked him about his experiences. To demonstrate his realization of Milarepa’s teachings Rechungpa held the energy-winds and floated in the air. Then he held the earth-winds and sank into the ground up to his chest. While showing these wonders he was singing songs in which he praised Milarepa’s qualities. I've read in many places that once someone understands emptiness, or becomes awakened, the siddhis are just normal play. I look at it this way. If life is just a dream, you should be able to do everything you can that you can do in a dream, like fly, manifest objects, heal people, walk through walls etc.. I also do understand that seeking only the icing on the cake ignores the fact that you first need a cake to put the icing on. So I'm trying to believe your statement that "the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe.." yet without evidence, it is hard for me to believe that you can claim to be awakened. On the other side of the coin, I can see where interest is a deciding factor. I used to astral travel a long time ago, when I would look for my hands in my dreams. After exploring many other planes, I kind of lost interest. To me, the astral planes are just like this plane, full of objects and forms... there are so many that they just make me lose interest. Even now, when I see the scenes appear at the third eye, I note them and then wonder who it is that is watching them, and hope I get a full night's sleep. I've also checked out 5 past lives, but for 4 of them I used a full-body crystal layout. The last life I checked out just came to me when I was doing anapanasati on the lower dantien. The past lives are stored there, you know.. They appear in bubbles that open up into tunnels. But I think you are definately on to something. Norbu says that he remains in a deep dream-like state during his waking hours. I think part of the formula is to be asleep while you are awake, so that everyday existence becomes the dream that it really is. Once you realize this, that's when you really wake up. So, the method would be to dig as deep as you can while maintaining a connection to normal consciousness, so you can fuse the two together.. Anyway, thanks again for the conversation. I wish you all the best on your journey. TI Edited July 9, 2013 by Tibetan_Ice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted July 9, 2013 Just relax and indifferently observe your thoughts…see through the illusion of “mundane reality” and just be aware that your thoughts are not coming from you, that they are just conditioned reflex reactions that were put there by other people to control you… don’t respond to the voice in any way, because if you do, you are giving the voice some of your energy, and energizing it… if you feel “weird”, be aware that the “weirdness” is just delusion (mundane reality) trying to control you… everything that you feel as a result of your meditation, is a programmed response put into your mind by “mundane reality” to control you… to make you conform… (no, no, not me… I’m not weird, I’m normal… watch me, I’m going to go down to Mac Donald’s and get a supersized Big Mac, a double order of fries, and a jumbo Dr Pepper to wash it all down… see, I’m not weird… I’m normal !!!)… Regarding relationships, I would advise you to avoid women who go drinking with their friends in clubs every Saturday night, and women who go to church every Sunday morning… actively try to find women who meditate, then go for one with some spirituality… there must be some kind of meditation organizations that give lectures or sponsor social events, near where you live… If she meditates, you could talk about meditation for hours, and form an instant bond… A sane woman in your life, who understands why you meditate, could bring you much joy, and in no way hinder your meditation… she could put a big smile on your face… if you let her… so let her… Hey Dawg Thanks for answering my questions. Now I have a few more haha. 1. About feeling "weird". I guess I should have explained what I meant by feeling "weird" better. I don't feel weird in relation to society (I live in Austin, its hard to feel weird here haha). What I meant was that sometimes after meditating for a while I'll feel weird to myself as in "different" .... its very difficult to put into words. I guess the best way to put it is that I'll just feel a little "off". 2. In regards to finding a woman, this is something that I have been confused about for a while now. I know the monks do not get involved with women since they are seeking enlightenment. If I wanted to reach enlightenment would a woman be a distraction from that? On the other hand I must admit I do have that desire, and its not just for the sex, but for the companionship aspect of it (which really isn't much of a shocker since most people want that type of thing). So I find myself in the quandary of trying to figure out if I should keep staying single and meditate enough to eliminate that desire or to meditate in order to better understand exactly what kind of woman I really would want. 3. Also I've been trying to implement your advice about meditation but I still find my mind wondering often. Thanks Matthew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) Tibetan Ice, You said, Your statement about siddhis is kind of disturbing to me. I'm never happy to hear about gurus who caution about siddhis and then don't demonstrate any. It always seems like a cop-out to me, like they are hiding the fact that they don't have the ability, are not realized, or at least, don't know the proper technique… I also find it strange that you can say "I was describing my interaction with my subconscious mind… and how the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe..' and yet cannot demonstrate what that statement actually means. Or perhaps you don't want to demonstrate? If I could walk through walls or fly, I would never tell anyone because I would become a target.. Some things are best kept secret. …………………………………………… I am glad you understand that although I am a dawg, I am not a performing dawg that does tricks on demand… Don’t be disturbed by what I say below… read it carefully and understand it… don't judge it… if you are ripe and ready for it, you will see the truth of it… if you are not ripe for it now, it will lay dormant in your mind and perhaps be useful to you later… I assume you aspire to awakening… and from what you describe of your practice, you have attained much… your efforts have not been in vain… but you need to be more systematic and cover all bases, if you ignore some things, they will become your weaknesses… and if you aspire to awakening, not once did you mention the most important thing of all… THE DESTRUCTION OF DELUSION, WHICH “IS” AWAKENING… delusion (mundane reality) is located in the subconscious mind, the 6th chakra. but only the conscious mind, the 7th chakra can destroy delusion… if you destroy delusion you would attain awakening, and all your attainments would come together, giving you everything you desire… you can develop as many siddhis as you want, and still not be awake (enlightened), or any closer to awakening… you need to purify the conscious mind (7th chakra), and use it to destroy delusion (purify the 6th chakra) the subconscious mind, to be awakened… and unless you are awakened, delusion controls 100% of your subconscious mind (the 6th chakra), and 95% of your conscious mind (7th chakra)… so if delusion controls your conscious mind 95% of the time… the siddhis, which are powers of the subconscious mind, would be under the control of delusion for at least 95% of the time… and you would be unaware of it… Because your deluded subconscious mind with powers would subconsciously control you… At present, your mind is filled with thoughts (the voice of your mind, delusion), and you react to them… in other words, you “think and react”… but if you were awakened, your mind would always be empty of thoughts, and you would “know and act” instead… until you can purify your mind of thoughts (mundane reality, the conditioned reflex reactions (thoughts) that other people have filled your subconscious mind with), you would be unable to control any powers that you may attain… In short, you now have no control of your subconscious mind… zero… and you cannot control your conscious mind 95% of the time… to control the powers that the subconscious mind is capable of… you need to control your conscious mind and your subconscious mind 100 % of the time… …………………………………………… Norbu says that he remains in a deep dream-like state during his waking hours. I think part of the formula is to be asleep while you are awake, so that everyday existence becomes the dream that it really is. Once you realize this, that's when you really wake up. So, the method would be to dig as deep as you can while maintaining a connection to normal consciousness, so you can fuse the two together. …………………………………………… The dream is the world of delusion, the “mundane reality”, the hypnotic trance that you now live in… and yes, you are asleep… not just you, but everybody who has not awakened… you can intellectually realize that you are in a hypnotic dream, but you are still totally asleep… only when you destroy delusion, do you wake up from the dream… and it literally is like waking up from a dream… which is why people call it “awakening”… …………………………………………… NOTE… THE VOICE OF YOUR KARMA The conditioned reflex responses in your deluded subconscious mind are your karma… the voice of your subconscious mind that is always talking to your conscious mind, is the “voice of your karma’… this is how your karma controls your life… the voice is always telling you to act in ways that lead you to, and produces results that “are your karma”… for example, if it is your karma to be rich, the voice of your subconscious mind will lead you to riches, because that is how it is programmed… if it is your karma to be poor, the voice will lead you to poverty, again because that is how it is programmed… if it is your karma to commit suicide, the voice will drive you to suicide… if it is your karma to develop a fatal disease, the voice will act on the subconscious mind to produce it… if it is your karma to have a beautiful body and face, the voice will act on the subconscious mind to make your body and face beautiful… unless you are awakened, your karma controls the powers of your subconscious mind… When you destroy delusion and awaken, you are destroying your karma… so that you are destroying the voice of your karma... your conscious mind is totally and permanently transformed… it is now blissfully empty, and serenely peaceful… you don’t “think”, you “know”… you don’t “react”, you “act”… it is always “now”… you feel more “normal” than you have ever felt before, and you realize that this is obviously the way physical human existence is supposed to be… Dawg Edited July 12, 2013 by dawg 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted July 14, 2013 Tibetan Ice, You said, Your statement about siddhis is kind of disturbing to me. I'm never happy to hear about gurus who caution about siddhis and then don't demonstrate any. It always seems like a cop-out to me, like they are hiding the fact that they don't have the ability, are not realized, or at least, don't know the proper technique… I also find it strange that you can say "I was describing my interaction with my subconscious mind… and how the subconscious mind of every person has access to all the knowledge and powers of the universe..' and yet cannot demonstrate what that statement actually means. Or perhaps you don't want to demonstrate? If I could walk through walls or fly, I would never tell anyone because I would become a target.. Some things are best kept secret. …………………………………………… I am glad you understand that although I am a dawg, I am not a performing dawg that does tricks on demand… Don’t be disturbed by what I say below… read it carefully and understand it… don't judge it… if you are ripe and ready for it, you will see the truth of it… if you are not ripe for it now, it will lay dormant in your mind and perhaps be useful to you later… I assume you aspire to awakening… and from what you describe of your practice, you have attained much… your efforts have not been in vain… but you need to be more systematic and cover all bases, if you ignore some things, they will become your weaknesses… and if you aspire to awakening, not once did you mention the most important thing of all… THE DESTRUCTION OF DELUSION, WHICH “IS” AWAKENING… delusion (mundane reality) is located in the subconscious mind, the 6th chakra. but only the conscious mind, the 7th chakra can destroy delusion… if you destroy delusion you would attain awakening, and all your attainments would come together, giving you everything you desire… you can develop as many siddhis as you want, and still not be awake (enlightened), or any closer to awakening… you need to purify the conscious mind (7th chakra), and use it to destroy delusion (purify the 6th chakra) the subconscious mind, to be awakened… and unless you are awakened, delusion controls 100% of your subconscious mind (the 6th chakra), and 95% of your conscious mind (7th chakra)… so if delusion controls your conscious mind 95% of the time… the siddhis, which are powers of the subconscious mind, would be under the control of delusion for at least 95% of the time… and you would be unaware of it… Because your deluded subconscious mind with powers would subconsciously control you… At present, your mind is filled with thoughts (the voice of your mind, delusion), and you react to them… in other words, you “think and react”… but if you were awakened, your mind would always be empty of thoughts, and you would “know and act” instead… until you can purify your mind of thoughts (mundane reality, the conditioned reflex reactions (thoughts) that other people have filled your subconscious mind with), you would be unable to control any powers that you may attain… In short, you now have no control of your subconscious mind… zero… and you cannot control your conscious mind 95% of the time… to control the powers that the subconscious mind is capable of… you need to control your conscious mind and your subconscious mind 100 % of the time… …………………………………………… Norbu says that he remains in a deep dream-like state during his waking hours. I think part of the formula is to be asleep while you are awake, so that everyday existence becomes the dream that it really is. Once you realize this, that's when you really wake up. So, the method would be to dig as deep as you can while maintaining a connection to normal consciousness, so you can fuse the two together. …………………………………………… The dream is the world of delusion, the “mundane reality”, the hypnotic trance that you now live in… and yes, you are asleep… not just you, but everybody who has not awakened… you can intellectually realize that you are in a hypnotic dream, but you are still totally asleep… only when you destroy delusion, do you wake up from the dream… and it literally is like waking up from a dream… which is why people call it “awakening”… …………………………………………… NOTE… THE VOICE OF YOUR KARMA The conditioned reflex responses in your deluded subconscious mind are your karma… the voice of your subconscious mind that is always talking to your conscious mind, is the “voice of your karma’… this is how your karma controls your life… the voice is always telling you to act in ways that lead you to, and produces results that “are your karma”… for example, if it is your karma to be rich, the voice of your subconscious mind will lead you to riches, because that is how it is programmed… if it is your karma to be poor, the voice will lead you to poverty, again because that is how it is programmed… if it is your karma to commit suicide, the voice will drive you to suicide… if it is your karma to develop a fatal disease, the voice will act on the subconscious mind to produce it… if it is your karma to have a beautiful body and face, the voice will act on the subconscious mind to make your body and face beautiful… unless you are awakened, your karma controls the powers of your subconscious mind… When you destroy delusion and awaken, you are destroying your karma… so that you are destroying the voice of your karma... your conscious mind is totally and permanently transformed… it is now blissfully empty, and serenely peaceful… you don’t “think”, you “know”… you don’t “react”, you “act”… it is always “now”… you feel more “normal” than you have ever felt before, and you realize that this is obviously the way physical human existence is supposed to be… Dawg Hi Dawg, I would like to thank you for your response. You have some interesting concepts there. For the most part, I can confirm and agree with your observations of the workings of the mind. I have watched and listened to the voice in my head many times. What I have discovered is that it is kind of like this 'person with a microphone' who broadcasts sentences. The interesting thing is this. I will know what it is going to broadcast before the broadcast occurs. I can even stop the broadcast before it happens. Assuming that your map is correct, the subconscious mind presents an idea, then the voice in the head turns it into a sentence and broadcasts it. The center of the brain that this occurs in is on the left side of the brain, at the back of the head. I believe this is the monkey mind. It broadcasts all kinds of thoughts, garbage and memories, directives and cautions etc.. it even sounds off when I am reading a book (unless I am using the Evelyn Woods Reading Dynamics technique of capturing whole paragraphs in one swoop). It is that which does the subvocalizations, almost like it is a middle man between to levels of consciousness.. I assume that the 'knowing the thought beforehand' is the mind's ability to go directly to the subconscious. When this occurs, the 'knowing' is instantaneous, very fast. I would say that it is similar to 'intuiting' something, like lightning and very clear and crisp. But the voice is not the only thing that one has to contend with. The mind (or in a limited term, the brain) also presents images in support of thoughts. Those images appear more to the center of the brain, out in front of the "I" that is watching. I must admit, though, I'm a little confused by your idea that the conscious mind is actually the seventh chakra (sahasrara). I thought the conscious mind was located closer to the medulla when the coarse mind is active, and when the coarse mind and the subconscious mind (alaya) collapse, they collapse downwards into the heart chakra where the very subtle consciousness exists. This experience is always demarcated by the shrinking of the golden light orb in the head as it progresses downwards towards the heart space. The experience feels like one is passing through a death state. However, I really wanted to ask you about this. I have had several experiences now which I call 'satori moments' for lack of a better term. At first, there was a kind of luminous vapour that shot out from the front of my face (or eyes) into the scene I was looking at. Within this luminous vapour, the objects in the scene were crystal clear, brighter than the surroundings, and there was an immense feeling of love, joy, bliss and clarity. As this experience occured a few more times, in various circumstances, I noticed that they all had the same characteristics: 1) Monkey mind was gone (no voice broadcasting anything). There was a distinctive inner silence. 2) There was great bliss, love, joy, beyond belief. 3) Whatever I was looking at was crystal clear, brighter and luminous (leaves on trees, the sky, grass, etc). 4) There was an overwhelming feeling that I "was" everything. It was all me. The sense of "me" had become everything. I was the soap in the shower, the tub. I was the trees, the sky, the park bench, the other people. 5) You can still 'think' but it is a direct knowing, like the thought (which are few and far in between, I don't know if I would even call them thoughts) just appears in an instant 'knowing'. And, the knowing is very clear, precise.. almost luminous. Also, the thought comes from a location above the head, instead of the usual locations with relation to the head space. These experiences have been so wonderful and mind-shattering that I wish I could just stay in them forever. ( I also wish I could make others experience the same state). The states have never lasted that long.. I think I'm a bit afraid that if this state were to persist, I would no longer know how to perform my highly technical skilled job at work or even be able to drive a car.. I imagine that it takes some getting used to! But, have I described the state that you are permanently in now? Did you notice the feeling that "you were everthing"? Do all objects seem brighter than before? Is that what you are calling awakening? You seem to be able to read and write. Can you still drive a car and perform highly technical tasks? I certainly appreciate your responses and I find this extremely helpful. TI 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) Hello Matthew, You said… 1. About feeling "weird". I guess I should have explained what I meant by feeling "weird" better. I don't feel weird in relation to society (I live in Austin, its hard to feel weird here haha). What I meant was that sometimes after meditating for a while I'll feel weird to myself as in "different" .... its very difficult to put into words. I guess the best way to put it is that I'll just feel a little "off". This is good because it indicates that the meditation is having an effect, and that your meditation is working… you could say that the whole point of your meditation is to feel different… for the better… 2. In regards to finding a woman, this is something that I have been confused about for a while now. I know the monks do not get involved with women since they are seeking enlightenment. If I wanted to reach enlightenment would a woman be a distraction from that? On the other hand I must admit I do have that desire, and its not just for the sex, but for the companionship aspect of it (which really isn't much of a shocker since most people want that type of thing). So I find myself in the quandary of trying to figure out if I should keep staying single and meditate enough to eliminate that desire or to meditate in order to better understand exactly what kind of woman I really would want. First off, don’t get married in desperation, because you are lonely… and I would suggest you live with a woman for a while before you marry her… being married is like being a “Siamese twin”, you have lots of companionship, and no solitude… your attitude should be that you are looking for a “roommate”, who is a spiritual friend… do you want kids…? Does she want kids…? maybe you set a wedding date five years in the future, because if you can cohabitate for five years… you should then know if you want to make it legally permanent… and I will repeat what I said before… find a woman who is a serious meditator, so that your woman, understands her man… a woman who does not meditate would not understand you, nor would she consider your meditation important… she would interrupt your meditation constantly, she would think that your meditation was just a “silly phase” that you were going thru… and your relationship would be doomed from the start… a mundane woman would see your meditation as a rival for your attention, and either she or your meditation would go… but If your woman was a spiritual friend (as well as a physical friend) who would not be upset if you went someplace to do solitary meditation for six months, she would not be a hindrance to your enlightenment… but having kids would be a hindrance because you would consider your kids more important than yourself… so you would consider “being there for your kids” more important that enlightenment… Now a story about enlightenment... in the time of the Buddha, a poor ignorant worthless old man who had been thrown out of his house by his family because he could no longer do any useful labor, came to the Buddha’s monastery and wanted to become a monk… but the monks at the monastery ridiculed him, and chased them away… so he decided to kill himself by throwing himself off a nearby cliff… the Budda who was returning to the monastery became aware of the old man, and put himself in the old man’s way… when the man approached, the Buddha hailed him asking, “where are you going old man…?” the old man did not realize he was talking to the Buddha, he thought he was just talking to another ordinary monk… so the old man told Buddha what had just happened when he went to the monastery, and since he could not become a monk, he was on his way to throw himself off a cliff so he could start his next reincarnation… the Buddha told the old man that if he followed him back to the monastery, he would get someone to ordain him… the old man was estatic saying, “really ?... do you know someone important there, can you really get me ordained …? So the Buddha took him back to the monastery and had him ordained… a week later, the old man had attained enlightenment… the other monks were amazed, and came to the Buddha asking him how the old man had reached enlightenment so quickly… the Buddha replied, “he had already thrown away his body”… (when he decided it was worthless and was going to throw it off a cliff to get rid of it… so that he could move on to his next life)… 3. Also I've been trying to implement your advice about meditation but I still find my mind wondering often. You are repeating “Buddho” and observing the breath, as a way to block your thoughts… but if that doesn’t block your thoughts… try to analyze why… what is the problem… (3a)… is it because you have been over stimulated by the mundane world, and are “hyper” as a result… if so, meditate to sounds that will relax your mind and put it into a meditative state (alpha brain waves)… surf “youtube music videos” and you can find an endless supply of good sounds to download… just focus your attention on the breath going in and out, and just let the music wash over you… use the music in place of the “buddho” to block your thoughts… the idea is to replace the voice in your mind with peaceful sounds… Goggle and download these, and give them a try… Om Mani Padme Hum - Original Extended Version.wmv Sound Therapy - Whales Singing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWPVJlyJkbg 75 minutes of thunder and rain - relaxing noise for your ears Peaceful Aum namah Shivaya Mantra Complete Tibetan Chant - Heart Sutra Relaxation music -Chinese Bamboo Flute Yoga –Meditation - Natural sounds (3b)… is it because you are having “negative thoughts”… if so, realize that those thoughts are not you… that those thoughts were put in your head (subconscious mind) sometime in the past by someone else, to control you… forgive that anonymous person (or persons) for putting those thoughts in your head, and send them some “love”, whoever they are, and wherever they may be (they probably need some love)… then forgive yourself for accepting the thoughts, and feel some love for yourself, for all the good things you are… hug yourself, and say to yourself, “I love the goodness of the spirit within me”… then let go of it all, and breathe deeply and freely… (3c)… is it because you have a problem… and you are distracted by it and can’t concentrate on your meditation…? Try to think of your problem as an opportunity to change things for the better… don’t think (obsess) about the problem and feel helpless (depressed)… rally the troops instead… get in an alpha state, and ask your subconscious mind to help you find a solution… and ask your spirit guides to help you find a solution… while you work your way through the problem… (3d)… is it because you have a really really big problem… like is it because your whole family was killed at a family reunion, by a falling meteor, which you missed because on your way to it, your Mercedes ran over a giant armadillo and flipped over totaling it, throwing you into a thicket of prickly pear cactus and mesquite… then when you held a wake for them at your ranch, the candles around the coffins, caught the curtains on fire, burning down your ranch house... and sparks from the house set the barn on fire, killing all your prized horses that were locked in their stalls, and burning up your new Maserati Gran Turismo which you had parked in the barn so it would be “safe”… and while you were reading the “dear john letter’ from your girl friend who had just run off with your best friend… you received the news that your faithful beloved hound dog "meatball", had died because he ate too much charred horse meat… and then when you tried to telephone your insurance agent (Billy Bob Smith who was your fraternity brother at University of Texas), the insurance company told you that they had no record of you having any insurance policies with them, and that Mr. William Robert Smith is wanted by the feds for insurance fraud, and is believed to be hiding somewhere in South America… If your problem is this big, I can only suggest that you be a selfless saint in at least your next ten reincarnations to cancel some of your bad karma… : ) Dawg Edited November 18, 2014 by dawg 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted July 16, 2013 Hello Tibetan Ice, You said… As this experience occurred a few more times, in various circumstances, I noticed that they all had the same characteristics: 1) Monkey mind was gone (no voice broadcasting anything). There was a distinctive inner silence… (this is what is meant by the mind being “empty”) 2) There was great bliss, love, joy, beyond belief… (nirvana) 3) Whatever I was looking at was crystal clear, brighter and luminous (leaves on trees, the sky, grass, etc). 4) There was an overwhelming feeling that I "was" everything. It was all me. The sense of "me" had become everything. I was the soap in the shower, the tub. I was the trees, the sky, the park bench, the other people. 5) You can still 'think' but it is a direct knowing, like the thought (which are few and far in between, I don't know if I would even call them thoughts) just appears in an instant 'knowing'. And, the knowing is very clear, precise.. almost luminous. Also, the thought comes from a location above the head, instead of the usual locations with relation to the head space… These experiences have been so wonderful and mind-shattering that I wish I could just stay in them forever. ( I also wish I could make others experience the same state). The states have never lasted that long... Have I described the state that you are permanently in now? Did you notice the feeling that "you were everything"? Do all objects seem brighter than before? Is that what you are calling awakening? …………………………………………….. Yes, this is what I experience permanently now… yes, this is what I am calling awakening… what you describe is like the enlightened mind, the permanent state of consciousness that you are in when you “awaken”… what you have done is to temporarily escape “delusion”, and see man’s natural state that is hidden behind the delusion… then delusion closes in around you again, and your vision of enlightenment fades away and is hidden again… the only way to reach that state (of enlightenment) permanently, is to destroy delusion permanently… Although It is the subconscious mind (6th chakra which absolutely and totally controls the lower five chakras) that becomes enlightened when delusion is destroyed… it is only the “independent” conscious mind (7th chakra) has the ability to destroy delusion… this is because the conscious mind has the power “to think outside the box” of its conditioning (free will and logic)… The Buddhist meditation that I did, systematically neutralizes delusion’s control of the conscious mind… starting with learning to stop the voice temporarily (Samadhi/concentration)… then as the concentration gets deeper and deeper, getting rid of anger and greed, reaching equanimity, and then moves on to body investigation meditation… the conscious mind becomes stronger and stronger… the goal is the middle path, where there is no “duality” (delusion)… everything “just is”, nothing is good or bad except intension… in this way, the conscious mind weakens delusion’s control of it, bit by bit… until (one day when you least expect it, and are relaxed in a “safe place”, with your mind free of thoughts), delusion (mundane reality) collapses and is swept away amid loud noises (louder, higher, and deeper than you have ever heard) and blinding flashes of lights… then the bliss hits you, and it is as if you have been asleep, and have just awakened from a dream (the delusion that seemed so so real)… you are now back home, back in the “real world” that you have had glimpses of before… I think I'm a bit afraid that if this state were to persist, I would no longer know how to perform my highly technical skilled job at work or even be able to drive a car... I imagine that it takes some getting used to! You might experience some minor disorientation at first (like getting used to the bliss)… like you would experience if you go from bright light to darkness, or darkness to bright light… and your eyes need some time to adjust… but the awakening makes it easier (almost effortless) to do all the things you did before… and your ability to “know” by intuition, would greatly enhance your ability to perform at your “highly technical skilled job”… you would be able to intuit solutions to problems… you would become a “genius” at doing your job… and it would not endanger you while you were driving your car, your ability to concentrate and intuit would make you safer… your enlightened subconscious mind would never throw you a curve and put you in danger, it would always be protecting you from danger… you would be safer than you are now. Dawg 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted July 19, 2013 Hello Tibetan Ice, You said… As this experience occurred a few more times, in various circumstances, I noticed that they all had the same characteristics: 1) Monkey mind was gone (no voice broadcasting anything). There was a distinctive inner silence… (this is what is meant by the mind being “empty”) 2) There was great bliss, love, joy, beyond belief… (nirvana) 3) Whatever I was looking at was crystal clear, brighter and luminous (leaves on trees, the sky, grass, etc). 4) There was an overwhelming feeling that I "was" everything. It was all me. The sense of "me" had become everything. I was the soap in the shower, the tub. I was the trees, the sky, the park bench, the other people. 5) You can still 'think' but it is a direct knowing, like the thought (which are few and far in between, I don't know if I would even call them thoughts) just appears in an instant 'knowing'. And, the knowing is very clear, precise.. almost luminous. Also, the thought comes from a location above the head, instead of the usual locations with relation to the head space… These experiences have been so wonderful and mind-shattering that I wish I could just stay in them forever. ( I also wish I could make others experience the same state). The states have never lasted that long... Have I described the state that you are permanently in now? Did you notice the feeling that "you were everything"? Do all objects seem brighter than before? Is that what you are calling awakening? …………………………………………….. Yes, this is what I experience permanently now… yes, this is what I am calling awakening… what you describe is like the enlightened mind, the permanent state of consciousness that you are in when you “awaken”… what you have done is to temporarily escape “delusion”, and see man’s natural state that is hidden behind the delusion… then delusion closes in around you again, and your vision of enlightenment fades away and is hidden again… the only way to reach that state (of enlightenment) permanently, is to destroy delusion permanently… Although It is the subconscious mind (6th chakra which absolutely and totally controls the lower five chakras) that becomes enlightened when delusion is destroyed… it is only the “independent” conscious mind (7th chakra) has the ability to destroy delusion… this is because the conscious mind has the power “to think outside the box” of its conditioning (free will and logic)… The Buddhist meditation that I did, systematically neutralizes delusion’s control of the conscious mind… starting with learning to stop the voice temporarily (Samadhi/concentration)… then as the concentration gets deeper and deeper, getting rid of anger and greed, reaching equanimity, and then moves on to body investigation meditation… the conscious mind becomes stronger and stronger… the goal is the middle path, where there is no “duality” (delusion)… everything “just is”, nothing is good or bad except intension… in this way, the conscious mind weakens delusion’s control of it, bit by bit… until (one day when you least expect it, and are relaxed in a “safe place”, with your mind free of thoughts), delusion (mundane reality) collapses and is swept away amid loud noises (louder, higher, and deeper than you have ever heard) and blinding flashes of lights… then the bliss hits you, and it is as if you have been asleep, and have just awakened from a dream (the delusion that seemed so so real)… you are now back home, back in the “real world” that you have had glimpses of before… I think I'm a bit afraid that if this state were to persist, I would no longer know how to perform my highly technical skilled job at work or even be able to drive a car... I imagine that it takes some getting used to! You might experience some minor disorientation at first (like getting used to the bliss)… like you would experience if you go from bright light to darkness, or darkness to bright light… and your eyes need some time to adjust… but the awakening makes it easier (almost effortless) to do all the things you did before… and your ability to “know” by intuition, would greatly enhance your ability to perform at your “highly technical skilled job”… you would be able to intuit solutions to problems… you would become a “genius” at doing your job… and it would not endanger you while you were driving your car, your ability to concentrate and intuit would make you safer… your enlightened subconscious mind would never throw you a curve and put you in danger, it would always be protecting you from danger… you would be safer than you are now. Dawg Hi Dawg Well, you can be my guru anyday. I've adopted you. Consider it an honour! I'm so impressed with what you have written that I'm sure you have found the key. The key is the conscious mind. After reflecting on what you have written for a few days, I can see how this all fits together. It all really makes sense to me. I agree that the conscious mind can talk to the subconscious mind, and tell it what to do. I verify this each time I go to bed and tell my body to wake up at a certain time and it does. I verify this each time I meditate for 1 hour and something lets me know the bell is about to ring about 20 seconds before it does. I am testing this by telling my subconscious to heal myself of this cold, and after 1 day, it is almost gone. If this all works (as I have always suspected) I should be able to tell my subconscious that it is ok to be enlightened and it should work. The purpose of most practices is to remain in the conscious mind, to strengthen it and take back control from the subconscious mind (or, I guess you would call it the delusion). That's why most Buddhist/Realized teachers say that you must be mindful 24 hours a day. You have to learn to live and control the conscious mind, turn the balance from the subconscious to the conscious. That is why, people who awaken end up calling the enlightened state "just the normal mind". These are some of my conclusions at this point: - Controlling the breath only subdues the conscious mind, bringing the subconscious mind into focus. You will never awaken by subduing the conscious mind, although bringing the subconscious into focus is part of the learning process. The conscous mind has to be active and in control, which is why Zen and Buddhists say to meditate with eyes partially open, to keep the conscious mind in play. - Consciousness can stand on it's own and by itself. It does not always need an object to focus on. Whenever I squash a bug, I think to myself "I've just set a little blob of consciousness free". - Whatever you believe (from your subconscious mind) is at odds with whatever the conscious mind desires. If the conscious mind wants to levitate or walk through walls, the subconscious mind tells it, from past experience, that this is impossible. However, you should be able to tell your subconscious mind that it is possible, and if you repeat it often enough and with enough conviction, your subconscious mind should eventually believe you and then manifest the event. - Both the conscious and subconscious mind use the 'little voice in your head' to communicate. It talks to you and you talk to it, "you" being the conscious mind. Actually, I don't even know why I'm kind of repeating or elaborating on what you've already said. It is so wonderful to have someone say that I have experienced the 'enlightened mind'. That really means allot to me. Next, to make it permanent. My life's dream.. A hundred and eight thank yous to you, Dawg! TI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted July 28, 2013 Hey Dawg Thanks so much for the feedback and advice. In regards to the woman issues. I had been taking a break from that whole arena for a while. Now that I have decided to explore that avenue again I've noticed that it seems like no matter how often or long I observe it in meditation (so far at least) that it does not subside like other things that I observe in meditation. My hunch is that its just a large issues so may take more time, but nevertheless the last time I actively was in the dating world I became rather obsessed wtih it, and don't want to do that again. If I observe other character traits in meditation the typically subisde after a little while of looking at it. This has been going on for almost a month and no matter how much I observe it, it remains. Any advice? Matthew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hod Posted July 28, 2013 Dawg, I have no questions for you (though I have no doubt that you would answer them), just a heart felt thank you for relating your experience and knowledge with us. You are truly an enlightened individual who has in relatively very few words, made more of an impression on me than I thought one could in volumes of novels. So with all my heart... Thank you! On a side note: I will be in Thailand soon (for a few months) and I would love to meet someone like you, at least once in my life, so if you are interest in meeting up, private message me. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted July 30, 2013 Dawg, I just want to thank you.No matter how angry, violent, or unacceptable my behavior ever might become, you will continue to promote the very base ideals which my life revolves... perhaps you can better transmit truth with calm than I can incite change at all... perhaps it is irrelevant all together and all that is left for me is to die... but I will die fighting for what I feel to know is correct and true.Thank you for your post, this thread. Im confident that true harmony is within reach. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jtp Posted August 1, 2013 (edited) Thanks for sharing, great read Edited August 1, 2013 by jtp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hod Posted August 3, 2013 I have been attempting your meditation technique and I did come up with one small, most likely meaningless, question. When repeating the word 'Buddho' while meditating, which of the below ways is the way you do it. 1. While inhaling 'Bud' While exhaling 'dho' 2. While inhaling 'Buddho' While exhaling 'Buddho' 3. You don't tie the 'Buddho' with inhaling or exhaling, you just say it over and over again I apologize if this question seems small and meaningless, it is just something I tried all three ways while attempting your technique and didn't know which one was right so I thought I'd ask if there was a better way. From my experience, which is small and will change once I hear the real answer, the third option seems to work better because you have to focus your mind on it more since tying together words and the breath can become repetitive and once things become repetitive, it's easier to stop focusing on them. And since focus seems to be the point, option three seems better, but I defer to you in such matters. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotforest Posted August 4, 2013 Hi Dawg, What are your views regarding meditation with a technique, ie watching the breath, mindful walking etc as opposed to just sitting silently and not trying to do anything in particular? What is the role of effort or determination in meditation? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted December 27, 2013 Hey Dawg It's been a while since I've seen you post on here, but I have a question. When you began doing the "buddho" meditation how much resistance did your mind throw up against doing it? Did the monkey mind arise in protest? Did you have times where things got very "loud"? If so what did you do? simply persist? Matthew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted March 1, 2014 I am sorry to be so long in responding to comments, but I have been in the mountains of northern Thailand since last July (the beginning of the rainy season), and have been off line since then… I am back online now, and I will now try to respond to comments as quickly as I can… a few words about my stay in the mountains… I was living in a “kuti” (monk’s hut) in a “forest monastery” where I knew most of the monks… the area of forest that belonged to the monastery was huge, and my kuti was the furthest up the mountain so that I had almost total solitude… it took me 20 minutes to walk from my kuti down the path to the main buildings of the monastery… I had to wade through the “rainy season streams” that crossed the path, or ran down the path in places… in other places I had to jump from big rock to big rock… I saw a lot of harmless snakes while going up and down that path, and there were shed “tree snake” skins hanging from the rafters of my kuti, but I also saw common cobras, and even saw a “king cobra” twice which is rare because they are very shy and avoid any contact with humans… they usually hear you coming, and instantly disappear so that you don’t even know they were there… the first one which was a very young one, was only about five or six feet long… the second one was at least fourteen feet long (they grow up to eighteen feet), and had its head stuck in a pool of water looking for something to eat, so it didn’t hear me coming… I didn’t see it until I heard it beating a hasty retreat, and looked down to see the tip of its tail sticking out of the pool of water about three feet from my right foot, then looked up to see its head and body coming out of the other side of the pool, as it very quickly fled and disappeared from sight… in Thailand it is considered “good luck” to see a king cobra… My kuti was built atop an immense rock, and took two flights of steps to reach it, so that the windows looked out into the tree tops… the most awesome thing that happened to me while I was there happened one night when I blew out the candle (my kuti had no electricity) to go to sleep… I noticed that there was a very bright light backlighting the trees in the direction that I could see out the window in front of me… I wondered if the monks had set up such bright lights to do something… then as I continued to look, I noticed what looked like round balls of light flying around in the tree tops, so then I realized it was devas (heavenly beings)… and the area of bright light was coming closer and closer to my kuti… then there were thousands of bright round lights flying around in the trees outside the window… and as I sat there in amazement, the round lights came rushing through the window and wall, and swirled around me like a tornado, causing every nerve in my body to fire, then out through the opposite window and wall… it must have done the same thing to the wildlife in the attic space between the roof and ceiling of the kuti, because I could hear chirping and wings flapping, scurrying of feet, baby rats squeaking, “tokays” (big loud lizards) grunting, etc… The funniest thing that happened to me was again one night when I blew out the candle in my kuti to go to sleep… I lay down and closed my eyes to go to sleep but I found myself in a spirit realm instead… (I have been to the spirit realms more times than I can count, and I have visited the highest heavenly realms down to hell realms… I frequently find myself spontaneously in a spirit realm when I close my eyes to go to sleep, when i just want to go to sleep… so I open my eyes then close them again… but I am in a spirit real again, so I open my eyes again, and turn on the light, then after a few minutes I close my eyes again, hoping that I am not in a spirit world again… if I close my eyes again and continue to be in a spirit realm, I usually just lie down in the spirit realm wherever I am and go to sleep there… no spirit has ever bothered me or woke me up)… so I close my eyes again and I find myself in a spirit world again… and it is night time, and I am surrounded by bushes and trees… it looks like a good place to sleep, so I lie down on the ground and close my eyes, and am almost asleep when I hear a voice saying, “what are you doing ?”… I open my eyes and I see a guy standing there wearing a sweat shirt and khaki pants… (this tells me I am in a ghost realm, because that is the only place in the spirit world where you would find someone wearing a sweat shirt and khaki pants!!!)... so I say that, “I’m trying to go to sleep!... then he says, “my house is on the other side of those bushes, and I have an extra bedroom, you can sleep there if you want to”… so I say, “ok”, and follow him around the bushes to his house, and we go in the back door thru to the living room, we turn left and he opens a door into a room with a comfortable looking bed with a comfortable looking “stuffed chair” next to it… I thank him for his hospitality, and he goes out closing the door behind him… I lie down on the bed which is comfortable, and close my eyes to go to sleep… I am almost asleep again when I hear muted voices… I listen more closely and realize that it is a group of people talking… so I get up out of the bed and go over to the door and listen again… the voices are coming from the living room, so I open the door part way and look into the living room… in the living room are small groups of people talking… one of the people notices me looking into the living room and greets me, so that everyone now is aware of me and greets me… so I greet them and open the bedroom door and go into the living room, where I now join the “party”… talking with anyone who comes over to talk with me… then I notice that the front door is open, and can see a small group of people standing outside talking, I go out the front door onto a small porch… I can see two cars parked in front of the house, and a small group of people talking next to one of the cars… I turn around to go back into the living room just as a group of 3 young women are coming out the door… so that we block each other from going thru the door… we both apologize for blocking the other, and talk for a few minutes… it is only when one of the women says, “I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet you”, that I realize that everyone had come to see the “live human” that my host had spending the night in his house… I go back inside the living room, where I sit in a chair about six feet from my host who is sitting in a chair grinning at me… at that moment I recognize him, and I realize that I know him (I’ve never seen him wearing a sweatshirt and khaki pants before)… he is one of my spirit guides, my favorite who I haven’t seen for a while, he taught me a lot… and I realize that it was no coincidence that I was trying to go to sleep behind the bushes in his backyard… so I just sit there grinning back at him… there is no need to say anything, because I know that he knows that I have recognized him… people are starting to leave now, when a wild eyed guy comes in (he has black disheveled hair, the stubble of a beard, and he looks like he just woke up)… he looks around and walks over to me looking at me as if I am an inanimate object on exhibition (he doesn’t say a word to me as he stares at me from every possible angle… then he cautiously pokes me on the shoulder with his finger, to see if I responded (I didn’t), pulling his finger back quickly… when I didn’t respond, he cautiously poked me on the shoulder five times to see if I responded (I didn’t)… he then backs up and scrutinizes me, tilting his head this way and that… then he cautiously pushes my shoulder with the palm of his hand, pulling his hand back quickly… again I don’t respond… he then backs up again and scrutinizes me again, then shrugs and turns around and walks out the front door… almost everyone was gone now so I say goodnight to my host, and thank him again, and go back to my bedroom, to finally lie down and go to sleep… the next morning when I wake up in my kuti, I am full of joy and start laughing at the absurdity of it all… (being a house guest of one of my spirit guides in the ghost realm, who holds a party in his ghost house in my honor)… then because all the ghosts I met at the party were such decent well meaning people (they are preparing to reincarnate and my spirit guide friend is their teacher), I send “merit” (good karma) to everyone at the party (even the weird guy who was poking my shoulder to see if I would respond)… then I send my spirit guide friend a telepathic “good morning”, and thank him again for his hospitality, and laugh some more… Note… although I have been to the ghost realm many times, walking around on the streets and in public areas of ghost cities talking to “street people ghosts”, asking them questions about the ghost realm (they usually thought I was dead and had just arrived in the ghost realm, so were friendly and informative… once I was even offered a job!!!… but you don’t just walk into people’s houses in the ghost realm, any more than you would do it in the physical realm)… this is the first time I have been a house guest in a ghost house… the ghost house was very cozy and comfortable… it was like being in a physical house, except that it did not have a kitchen or bathroom, for obvious reasons… Dawg 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dawg Posted March 1, 2014 (edited) A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PATH TO AWAKENING “DELUSION” is the toxic voice of your thoughts in your conscious mind… many people believe that their thoughts are somehow useful to them… and believe that the inner voice of their thoughts is there to help guide them to make better choices so that they will create a happy, joyful, comfortable, fulfilling and successful life for themselves… If this were true then they would find themselves feeling satisfied, happy, confident, relaxed, at ease, peaceful, positive, optimistic, good about themselves, successful, fulfilled and worthy…But if we consider what it really feels like to have that critical inner voice living inside our conscious mind, we will invariably notice that it makes us feel inadequate, weak willed, lacking confidence, unmotivated, risk averse, overly cautious, fearful of making mistakes, paralyzed, anxious, confused, unable to make clear and focused decisions, incompetent, sad, stuck, pessimistic about the future, unworthy and so on… which prevents us from being able to create a successful and fulfilling life… it is this voice, that creates all of our dissatisfaction and suffering…it is the voice of delusion… but don’t dislike or hate it, that is clinging to it… instead just think of it as the “voice of childish ignorance” and dismiss it as having no credibility… simply be indifferent to it...Meditation… The whole object of meditation from start to finish, is gaining control of, and permanently silencing that voice in the conscious mind… the voice that is coming directly from the subconscious mind… that voice which is the voice of your “conditioning”… that voice is not your voice, it is the voice of “mundane reality”, it is the voice of all the other people who have taught you what you should believe is “real”… that voice is how the mundane world controls your thoughts and actions… that voice is the voice of your karma, it is how your karma (conditioning) controls your life…that voice is the voice of your delusion…that voice is the source of all your dissatisfaction and suffering… when you destroy that voice permanently, your subconscious mind becomes enlightened, and “awakens” as if from a dream, and you “know” and understand “the truth of your existence”… and once you “know”, it is impossible not to “know”…and because now the voice is gone, the conscious mind becomes “empty” and “serenely peaceful”…Note…you get rid of the “voice” by systematically purifying your mind of the mundane conditioning that is creating the voice… it does not matter what method you use to purify the mind, and destroy delusion, that is of no importance… all that is important is that the method works for you…Breathing during meditation… When meditating and observing our breath, we should not control our breath with our conscious mind, but instead let our subconscious mind do our (automatic) breathing for us, then we should be aware that by observing our breath now, that we are observing our subconscious mind taking care of us, and get in sync with it, and then simply let go, and let it “lead the way”… this helps to set up “investigation”, or set up “communication”, and/or “interaction” with the subconscious mind…FIVE STEPS ON THE PATH TO AWAKENINGStep (1)… Concentration (samahdi)…this is developing the ability to temporarily stop the voice in your conscious mind, so that your mind is quiet and peaceful… this is the first step in regaining control of your conscious mind…Step (2)… Getting rid of “anger” (dislike) and “greed” (like)… anger and greed are the two sides of the same coin… understanding that when someone makes you angry or greedy, that they are not only controlling you, but they are also stealing your energy…and then learning how to remain indifferent, so that you no longer respond with anger or greed…You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger… (Buddha) Step (3)… Reaching equanimity (“live” and “let live”)… Realizing and accepting that other people have different opinions and beliefs than you, and that their opinions and beliefs are just as valid as yours… a person with equanimity is never sucked into arguments with others, about who is right, and who is wrong…nor do they become upset if they are beset by the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”…equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of, or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind…Step (4)… Body investigation… understand that you are not a body and personality with a spirit; understand that you are an ancient spirit with a new body and personality…understand that you are not your “body” or your “personality”… understand that you are an ancient immortal “spirit” with a temporary “body” and “personality”, and that you have had an uncountable number of bodies and personalities in the past… understand that the spirit that is you could not “die” even if you wanted it to, and that when your body dies, your spirit is alive in the spirit world, and if you have not attained enlightenment, your spirit reincarnates in another physical body and personality…Step (5)…”The middle path”… the “truth of our existence” is that there is no “reality… everything just “is”, nothing is good or bad… good and bad are just value judgments of mundane reality… and mundane reality is just a survival strategy created by humans to ensure the survival of the species… “the truth of our existence” is that we live in a universe of “cause” and “effect”… consider that in the physical world that if you stick your hand in a fire (the cause), the effect is that your hand will get burned… does that mean that the fire is “bad”, No!... it is just the truth of our existence... in the spiritual world, “intention” is the “cause”, and “karma” is the “effect”… if you intentionally harm another person (cause), you will create “karma”, karma that harms you (effect)… this is the truth of our existence... this is the reason why it is necessary for you to make everything (and everything means everything) “neutral” (middle path, neither good nor bad ) to reach “awakening”… consider a “screwdriver”.., is it good or bad..? No… it is neutral… it is just a useful tool if you want to drive a screw…this is being indifferent, treat everything with this kind of indifference…you must be able to hold this attitude of indifference, long enough for mundane reality to collapse and vanish permanently, to reach awakening… once you reach awakening it is permanent…when you reach awakening, you will “know”… it is impossible not to “know”… ********************************** You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection… (Buddha)Forgive yourself for not being perfect…realize that you are no better or worse than anybody else… be totally honest with yourself, and love yourself… otherwise you will be unable to be honest with others, or love others… accept and forgive yourself just the way you are… if you are unable to calm your mind when you sit down to meditate, forgive yourself for not being perfect and at peace, this takes the stress out of the situation so it is easier to be at peace…offer no resistance to “the way things are”, or you will set up inner conflict… whatever happens “just is”, it is not “good” or “bad”, it is neutral…”be indifferent”, don’t make “value judgments”, just let everything flow past you…you are always “here”, and the time is always “now”…Dawg Edited April 22, 2014 by dawg 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maddie Posted March 1, 2014 Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu !!! :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
