the Other Presence

[Vmarco]

Presence....likely the most important word to understand,...much more important than love, compassion, bliss, etc.

 

For 40 years, come this December, I've been saying that no one will ever understand Who they are, until they realize When they are.

 

Many texts speak of absolute presence,...like the prajnaparamita, and the Hua Hu Ching,...thus no one has to discover anything new.

 

In Dec 1974, following an unplanned, preferenceless, complete surrender,...I realized that [there is no Present in time.] The Heart Sutra, Mahamudra, Hua Hu Ching, all backed it up,...texts that millions have read,...and yet, so few will even discuss the subject of Absolute Presence.

 

Nearly everyone will talk about the relative presence,...the perceived now of sentient beings. But then, the perceived now feeds Thought, and the practice of ego enlightenment.

 

　

This years biggest spiritual fad seems to be "letting go of the Me." This was likely prompted by Adyashanti, who a few years ago said, "the mystical experience is the highest form of a "me" experience."

 

　

So the new "End of Me" fad is everywhere,...a new breed that claims to be in the Now,...embracing the perceived present of their sentience,...but somehow liberated from thought.

　

Guess no one told them,...as Avalokitesvara said, "As soon as one sense-organ returns to the source, All the six are liberated." In other words,...if they were really liberated from Thought, by consequence, they'd be liberated from the 5 they are hedonistically embracing.

 

　

Guess no one told them,...as Descartes realized, "All that I have tried to understand to the present time has been affected by my senses; now I know these senses are deceivers, and it is prudent to be distrustful after one has been deceived once."

However,...if my own experience is any guide,...the only way to honestly realize the absolute Present, is to surrender all of one's conditions.

[doc benway]

I like the word presence as well - very useful.

Jean-Luc Achard, French translator of Tibetan Buddhist and Bön scripture, despises the word.

Go figure...

But back to my point, do you really mean that what is important is to "understand" the word?

Understanding is the movement of thought.

Or rather, access that to which it is pointing?

[silent thunder]

much to chew on... thanks for posting.

[Vmarco]

I like the word presence as well - very useful.

Jean-Luc Achard, French translator of Tibetan Buddhist and Bön scripture, despises the word.

Go figure...

But back to my point, do you really mean that what is important is to "understand" the word?

Understanding is the movement of thought.

Or rather, access that to which it is pointing?

 

Of course, what the term is pointing to.

 

For example, what does Buddha's Stillness point to?

 

The Buddhists have a story about Shakyamuni Buddha and Angulimala, the wearer of a garland of fingers. Angulimala was a notorious bandit who cut off a finger from each of his victims and wore them all around his neck. Although there are several variations of the story, the punch line is nearly the same. One day, Buddha, the light of Asia, was walking calmly along a road in the Kingdom of Kosala, where Angulimala was seeking his next victim. Seeing Buddha, Angulimala ran up to bash him from behind, yet he could not get close enough, and the faster he went, the Awakened One seemed to go that much faster. Infuriated and bewildered at not being able to catch him, Angulimala shouted for Buddha to stop. The light of Asia replied, "But I’m standing still. If you desire to catch me, you too must be still." This is where oral traditions, especially Theravada ones, go off into different invented morals. The true pearl in the tale is that no matter how fast you move to catch light, light will always be 299,792 kilometers per second faster. Undivided light can only be caught through stillness. A Tathagata is one who simultaneous comes and goes, thus beyond coming and going.

 

In the simpliest of terms, a Tathagata is onewho goes and comes, beyond going and coming, into complete going and coming. One who sees the reverse flow of forward moving things.