Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[C T]

According to Buddhist belief, this age that we are in now is known as the Age of Strife. In this age, it is no longer possible to find faultless teachers. According to the words of Pundarika, the second Rigden King of Shambala --

 

Due to the age of strife the masters have both qualities and faults.
There is no one who is continually free of any misdeed.
Therefore disciples should, after carefully examining,
Follow someone who has mostly good qualities.

 

 

 

[C T]

52 minutes ago, manitou said:

That was a wonderful interview, and great food for thought for the mind of a westerner.  I loved what he said about genuinely trusting the path.

 

It occurred to me when he was asked the question of whether there was compatibility between the western seeking for 'having fun' and the Buddhist way, that the difference he didn't speak of was the nature of 'having fun'.  It seems that our western way often involves artificial things, like more drinking, drug taking, owning bigger boats - a constant monster named Having Fun that requires more and more food to stay satisfied.  It seems to me that the Buddhist version would be a more childlike basis, a return to our childlike nature.  Two opposites, actually.

 

His basic premise for the possibility of merger of the cultures and his own drive to do so is very encouraging and motivating.  Thank you, CT

Yeah, he mentioned, in a genuinely self-effacing way, that he needed to ponder on it in more depth as he hasn't actually reflected on it before. That was quite refreshing, i thought.

[C T]

 

 

[C T]

"Humour allows us to see that ultimately things don't make sense. The only thing that truly makes sense is letting go of anything we continue to hold on to. Our ego-mind and emotions are a dramatic illusion. Of course, we all feel that they're real: my drama, your drama, our confrontations. We create these elaborate scenarios and then react to them. But there is nothing really happening outside our mind! This is karma's cosmic joke. You can laugh about the irony of this, or you can stick with your scenario. It's your choice."

 

~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche ~

[9th]

[manitou]

What contrast between his eyes and his chosen circumstance.  It makes you wonder what point he is making to those he is talking to, the gesture of his right hand.  But there is a fire inside him. 

[C T]

 

Edited November 1, 2017 by C T

[C T]

Ordinary people do not question the commonly accepted version of reality. They conform to the standard values of subduing enemies and cherishing friends and family. Materialism, ambition and mundane achievements are the worldly hallmarks of success. We experience the phenomenal world and our minds as solid and truly existent. Very few people doubt these assertions and question their solidity. Yet, the process of disbelief is the first step on the spiritual path.

 

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche ~ 

[C T]

With clear comprehension (sati-sampajañña), the elaborate conceptual construct called “Self” is effortlessly surrendered to awareness, and there is the spontaneous opening to the latent potency of self-liberation.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

[manitou]

8 hours ago, C T said:

With clear comprehension (sati-sampajañña), the elaborate conceptual construct called “Self” is effortlessly surrendered to awareness, and there is the spontaneous opening to the latent potency of self-liberation.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~ 

 

 

 

I've never seen it so succinctly put.  But then again, I'm new at this...

Edited November 2, 2017 by manitou

[C T]

What is the use of the idea that 'I' speak, rather than there is just speaking? Why does there have to be an 'I' that sees, rather than just seeing? Why 'I' feel, rather than just feeling? If the idea of 'I' were not there, would there still be speaking, seeing, and feeling? Of course there would be! This 'I' comes in after the fact and claims all that is happening as it's own, when in reality these things would take place with or without the idea of an 'I' doing them. It is unnecessary, incorrect, and counterfeit. This is the great lie, the great illusion, that this thought of 'I' is responsible, when really it is only a deception, an afterthought masquerading as the doer of all that is happening.

 

~ One Without A Second ~ 

[C T]

1 hour ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

Haha... The "I" is the origo for a locution. A redundancy that helps bind the contents of a sentence to a point of reference when meaning is extracted. 

 

---At least, those were my thoughts. The psychological weight and attachment that might be interwoven with words ought to be something that drops away with a very slight degree of mindfulness.

 

Wonderful! 

 

Just like shoes are redundant when one is lying on the bed, or dreaming of dreams. 

[manitou]

6 hours ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

 

---At least, those were my thoughts. 

 

 

LOL.  You mean, 'At least, those were thoughts', didn't you?

 

In previous discussions on this thread regarding the concept of unity, there has often been some degree of dissension.  I think that removing the concept of 'I' is exactly what I would conside to be the unity of consciousness.  There are no separate 'I's', merely a unified consciousness that interprets from different eyes or vantage points.

[9th]

16 hours ago, C T said:

What is the use of the idea that 'I' speak, rather than there is just speaking? Why does there have to be an 'I' that sees, rather than just seeing? Why 'I' feel, rather than just feeling? If the idea of 'I' were not there, would there still be speaking, seeing, and feeling? Of course there would be! This 'I' comes in after the fact and claims all that is happening as it's own, when in reality these things would take place with or without the idea of an 'I' doing them. It is unnecessary, incorrect, and counterfeit. This is the great lie, the great illusion, that this thought of 'I' is responsible, when really it is only a deception, an afterthought masquerading as the doer of all that is happening.

 

~ One Without A Second ~ 

 

 

Reminds me of the typical practice in 4th way groups where you never refer to yourself as "I..." when talking while you are in group or working with other members.  You are supposed to say "This one..." instead.  

 

You could say they tend to attract "hall monitor" types.

[C T]

6 minutes ago, 9th said:

 

 

Reminds me of the typical practice in 4th way groups where you never refer to yourself as "I..." when talking while you are in group or working with other members.  You are supposed to say "This one..." instead.  

 

You could say they tend to attract "hall monitor" types.

Yes, thanks. Have heard of this before. 

 

It also happens to be a teaching found in the Bahiya Sutta. 

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.1.10.than.html

[9th]

9 minutes ago, C T said:

Yes, thanks. Have heard of this before. 

 

It also happens to be a teaching found in the Bahiya Sutta. 

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.1.10.than.html

 

There are more than a few buddhist connections.  Perhaps you have heard of "self-remembering" as was taught by Gurdjieff?  Its one of the fundamental practices at the core of the teaching.

 

Quote

[The Blessed One said:] "And how is mindfulness immersed in the body developed, how is it pursued, so as to be of great fruit & great benefit?

 

"There is the case where a monk — having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building — sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and setting mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.

 

"Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.' And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

 

"Furthermore, when walking, the monk discerns, 'I am walking.' When standing, he discerns, 'I am standing.' When sitting, he discerns, 'I am sitting.' When lying down, he discerns, 'I am lying down.' Or however his body is disposed, that is how he discerns it. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

 

"Furthermore, when going forward & returning, he makes himself fully alert; when looking toward & looking away... when bending & extending his limbs... when carrying his outer cloak, his upper robe & his bowl... when eating, drinking, chewing, & savoring... when urinating & defecating... when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & remaining silent, he makes himself fully alert. And as he remains thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, any memories & resolves related to the household life are abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & settles inwardly, grows unified & centered. This is how a monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.

 

And then we have:

 

Quote

G. was obviously dissatisfied with our replies. I had already begun to understand him in such circumstances and I saw that he expected from us indications of something definite that we had either missed or failed to understand.

"Not one of you has noticed the most important thing that I have pointed out to you," he said. "That is to say, not one of you has noticed that you do not remember yourselves." (He gave particular emphasis to these words.)

 

"You do not feel yourselves; you are not conscious of yourselves. With you, 'it observes' just as 'it speaks' 'it thinks,' 'it laughs.' You do not feel: I observe, I notice, I see. Everything still 'is noticed,' 'is seen.' ... In order really to observe oneself one must first of all remember oneself" (He again emphasized these words.)

 

"Try to remember yourselves when you observe yourselves and later on tell me the results. Only those results will have any value that are accompanied by self-remembering. Otherwise you yourselves do not exist in your observations. In which case what are all your observations worth?"

These words of G.'s made me think a great deal. It seemed to me at once that they were the key to what he had said before about consciousness. But I decided to draw no conclusions whatever, but to try to remember myself while observing myself.
The very first attempts showed me how difficult it was. Attempts at self-remembering failed to give any results except to show me that in actual fact we never remember ourselves.

"What else do you want?" said G. "This is a very important realization. People who know this" (he emphasized these words) "already know a great deal. The whole trouble is that nobody knows it. If you ask a man whether he can remember himself, he will of course answer that he can. If you tell him that he cannot remember himself, he will either be angry with you, or he will think you an utter fool. The whole of life is based on this, the whole of human existence, the whole of human blindness. If a man really knows that he cannot remember himself, he is already near to the understanding of his being."

 

 

[manitou]

Is it as though there are eyes behind us, watching us, seeing ourselves sitting at this computer, typing this message?  But knowing that this observer is the void of consciousness, shared by all, but forgotten because we all think that there is really an 'I', an ego, that thinks it is real?

[manitou]

9th - I am trying to figure out  your diagram.  It appears that the man in the grid (within the hexagram) is in the spirit realm, as the hieroglyph of ancient Egypt was symbolic for the spirit realm.  As his focus is on the object above the grid (is it a pharaoh's headgear?) he is capable of re-membering himself?  As a contrast, the woman outside of the grid, not of the spirit realm, is dismembering (forgetting) herself, and does not know that she is not remembering herself, as she is looking to the opposite?  Is there a better interpretation of this?

[C T]

The entirety of the path and its fruit might be summarised as:

Recognising, and then resting within, the pure heart of awareness.

 

~ Paramito Ladakh ~

[C T]

Highest Yoga Tantra

 

Highest yoga tantra, as its name yoga, or union (rnal ’byor, yoga), denotes, is characterized by the application of method and wisdom as an inseparable union. This is symbolised by tantric deities of this system depicted in sexual union. In this imagery, the male is method; the female, wisdom. In addition to their general meanings as explained above, in this context, the meaning of method is bliss (bde ba, sukha) produced by way of special meditations or union with a qualified consort; and that of wisdom, the understanding of innate reality, distinguished as being the very consciousness of that bliss. For the sake of training, method and wisdom are applied, in a sense, distinctly: first, bliss is generated and then united with the understanding of the innate. In fact, wisdom is already inherent in the nature of method since knowledge of the innate is of the nature of bliss. Moreover, in the phase of completion, the realisation of luminous clarity (’od gsal, prabh›svara) is wisdom, and the ensuing illusory body (sgyu lus, m›y›deha) of the deity actually manifesting is method.

 

Thus, it is evident that the dual principles of method and wisdom are represented in different pairs of attributes— male and female, relative and ultimate truth, yoga with signs and without signs, phase of generation and phase of completion, appearance and emptiness, bliss and emptiness, and illusory body and luminous clarity. In fact, all aspects comprised by tantra can be distinguished according to these principles. From this, one understands that the meaning of method and wisdom cannot be restricted to simply the literal meaning of the two words. In the inner tantras of the ancient tradition, particularly anuyoga and atiyoga, we find a progressively finer gap between method and wisdom, but it is in atiyoga, or the “great perfection” (rdzogs chen), that the duality of method and wisdom that characterises the lower paths is totally transcended. Practice of atiyoga does not involve distinctions in method and wisdom or levels of application since, according to the view of atiyoga, all that exists is simply a single reality, one’s own authentic condition, primordial awakening, with no differentiation between relative and ultimate truths. This point is made clear in the Total Space of Vajrasattva (rDo rje sems dpa’ nam mkha’ che), a text of the mind division of atiyoga:

 

A path to purity that proceeds from level to level

does not agree with the teaching of no action.

If there were truly paths to travel,

one would never Reach one’s goal,

just as there is no limit to space.

 

and...

 

The bliss of the intrinsically perfect state

Is found only in instantaneous presence

Illuminated by the power of matchless wisdom.

Reality does not come from anything else.

 

[C T]

An expansion on the understanding

of the practice of Karmamudra (sexual union)

in Secret Mantra

 

During ordinary sexual union, the male and female experience physical and mental pleasure produced by the melting and release of vital essence. This is common sexual bliss. In tantra, this experience of bliss itself is used as the basis of a special technique: the practitioner causes the melted vital essence to flow throughout all channels of the body, producing physical and mental bliss. With bliss serving as the secondary condition and the practitioner’s familiarity with the innate pristine awareness nature of the mind as the primary cause, winds and mind dissolve in the central channel. Thus stimulated, the vital essence present in the central channel melts and conceptions cease, allowing to manifest limpid, nonconceptual, pristine awareness, accompanied by the experience of the indivisibility of bliss and emptiness. When innate bliss is still attended by the dualistic impression of emptiness as the object and bliss as the subject, it is known as example innate bliss. When it is nonconceptual pristine awareness of the very nature of reality, resembling a clear sky, free from even the most subtle subject-object duality, it is known as real or actual innate bliss. The same kind of distinction is drawn between actual luminous clarity and example luminous clarity. In the experiential process, and according to the phases in which the innate is manifested through tantric methods, the innate as bliss is understood as the pristine awareness of the four joys.

 

Being emptiness beyond any definition, how can the innate natural condition of everything be called bliss? It is known as bliss for a number of reasons: the innate is free from the concepts of arising, abiding, and ceasing; it does not abide in either cyclic existence or perfect peace; it is free from adherence to self and others; it is the pristine awareness of one’s intrinsic awareness, an awareness that cognises its own nature; it pervades everything; and it is always of the nature of bliss, whatever the circumstances. Furthermore, the innate reality that derives from the melting of vital essence is spoken of as “great bliss” because it is totally free from all suffering and adherence to subject-object duality. It is not the tainted pleasure experienced by ordinary persons but is manifested by “striking the crucial points of the body” through the method of inner heat or union with a consort. This indicates that this reality is found within the “temple” of one’s body. Accordingly, the tantras state:

 

This is the great pristine awareness

Which abides in the bodies of all.

 

All highest yoga tantras, with different degrees of emphasis, teach that reliance on the method of union with a qualified consort is an indispensable step in the path to realisation.

Edited November 5, 2017 by C T

[C T]

He who clings to Sunyata
And neglects Compassion, 
Does not reach the highest stage. 
But he who practices only Compassion, 
Does not gain release from the toils of existence. 
He, however, who is strong in practice of both, 
Remains neither in samsara nor in nirvana.

 

~ Saraha ~

[C T]

Those who seek enlightenment regard their bodies as the furnace, the Dharma as the fire, wisdom as the craftsmanship, and the Six Paramitas as the mould. They smelt and refine the true buddha-nature within themselves and pour it into the mould formed by the rules of discipline. Acting in perfect accordance with the Buddha’s teaching, they naturally create a perfect likeness. 

 

~ Bodhidharma ~ 

[C T]

 

[manitou]

As one going through grief at this time, the most helpful thing he said came not in this video, but the next one, where a woman told him she was having trouble 'cutting the cord' from her family in trying to increase her spiritual awareness.  He told her not to cut the cord but to expand it to connect to every piece of life on this planet.