Differences between dualism and non-dualism

[Bindi]

I think agency is negated because full blown authentic agency is so hard to establish in the appropriate place in the chain of command between mundane self and higher self. I’m thinking only one or two people ever have actually established agency to carry out the higher self’s will, unlike nondual realisation it’s incredibly rare,  but to attempt to realise agency is the authentic path. Nondual realisation without agency is less than half the story. 

[doc benway]

1 hour ago, Bindi said:

I think agency is negated because full blown authentic agency is so hard to establish in the appropriate place in the chain of command between mundane self and higher self. I’m thinking only one or two people ever have actually established agency to carry out the higher self’s will, unlike nondual realisation it’s incredibly rare,  but to attempt to realise agency is the authentic path. Nondual realisation without agency is less than half the story. 

 

I don't think it's all that rare, I know far more than one or two people who are quite accomplished at it, but perhaps it isn't emphasized enough by some teachers and practitioners.

Tantric, dzogchen, and Daoist practices all provide methods to cultivate this. 

Jesuits, Kabbalists, and Sufis too...

It is the ultimate core of the Mahayana teachings, it is wu wei.

In fact, I think it happens all the time though perhaps not perfect and continuous in many.

Yes, it is hard to establish because it has to be found from the inside as it were...

It's the source of healing and creativity.

"The authentic path"

I like that and agree from my perspective.

Then again everyone has a unique authentic path.

 

Spoiler

A link to a brief article on a beautiful practice of the authentic path
https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/the-five-indestructible-warrior-sounds/

 

 

[stirling]

1 hour ago, Bindi said:

I think agency is negated because full blown authentic agency is so hard to establish in the appropriate place in the chain of command between mundane self and higher self. I’m thinking only one or two people ever have actually established agency to carry out the higher self’s will, unlike nondual realisation it’s incredibly rare,  but to attempt to realise agency is the authentic path. Nondual realisation without agency is less than half the story. 

 

I'd be interested in hearing more. What do you consider "full blown agency". How does the instruction of the "higher self" appear? How does one "realise agency"? In what tradition is this happening, and who/what are some examples of successful understanding. 

 

Non-dual realization is free of the agency of the personal self. 

[dwai]

14 minutes ago, steve said:

I don't think it's all that rare, I know far more than one or two people who are quite accomplished at it, but perhaps it isn't emphasized enough by some teachers and practitioners.

Moreover, it takes nondual realization as a precondition. I think it’s not emphasized by many teachers because there is a danger of students aiming to become “superhuman” without doing the necessary groundwork. Imagine a bunch of self-important yahoos with abilities and a “God complex” walking around performing miracles, messing with people’s energies, forcing their will on others…

Edited May 9, 2022 by dwai

[stirling]

13 minutes ago, steve said:

Tantric, dzogchen, and Daoist practices all provide methods to cultivate this. 

Jesuits, Kabbalists, and Sufis too...

It is the ultimate core of the Mahayana teachings, it is wu wei.

 

...to cultivate agency to enact a "higher will"? Who's agency?

[doc benway]

I'm trying to find parallels between Bindi's description of the agency of a higher self and my own practice and perspective.

Higher will for me refers to spontaneous expression of enlightened qualities which I liken to wu wei. 

I don't anthropomorphize or impute the source personally but recognize that some traditions do. 

 

 

[doc benway]

This is fun!

I can't remember the last time I was this engaged in a thread...

Thanks all!

[stirling]

4 minutes ago, steve said:

I'm trying to find parallels between Bindi's description of the agency of a higher self and my own practice and perspective.

Higher will for me refers to spontaneous expression of enlightened qualities which I like to wu wei. 

I don't anthropomorphize or impute the source personally but recognize that some traditions do.

 

Gotcha. That's more clear to me. Thank you.  

[stirling]

14 minutes ago, dwai said:

Moreover, it takes nondual realization as a precondition. I think it’s not emphasized by many teachers because there is a danger of students aiming to become “superhuman” without doing the necessary groundwork. Imagine a bunch of self-important yahoos with abilities and a “God complex” walking around performing miracles, messing with people’s energies, forcing their will on others…

 

I think the non dual realization precondition also puts into its proper frame what happens and who/what is involved. 

[Apech]

16 minutes ago, dwai said:

Moreover, it takes nondual realization as a precondition. I think it’s not emphasized by many teachers because there is a danger of students aiming to become “superhuman” without doing the necessary groundwork. Imagine a bunch of self-important yahoos with abilities and a “God complex” walking around performing miracles, messing with people’s energies, forcing their will on others…

 

... hugs anyone?

[Apech]

2 hours ago, Bindi said:

I think agency is negated because full blown authentic agency is so hard to establish in the appropriate place in the chain of command between mundane self and higher self. I’m thinking only one or two people ever have actually established agency to carry out the higher self’s will, unlike nondual realisation it’s incredibly rare,  but to attempt to realise agency is the authentic path. Nondual realisation without agency is less than half the story. 

 

Just theoretically for a moment ... if the Atman is full consciousness or something like that ... then isn't it full agency?  Then it's just a question as to what that looks like to us mortals. 

 

In non-dualist Buddhist teachings like mahamudra or lamdre they talk about the basis, path and fruit (or result).    The basis is like this ... why do you practice? and where does any element of awakening come from?  Answer buddha-nature - without which you would never have  a reason to practice.  What is the fruit of practice, the result ... buddha-nature which you realise.  What is the path?  Opening to buddha-nature.  So the basis or cause, the path and the result are all buddha-nature.

 

In Christian mysticism ... God (or Jesus) says 'I am am alpha and omega ... the way ...'  .  The alpha is the beginning, God calls, the omega is union with God,  the way is living in the light of God's will.  God at the beginning, God at the end, God as the way.

 

What calls you to the way?  A small voice in the stillness.

 

Just some thoughts.

 

[forestofclarity]

53 minutes ago, steve said:

I'm trying to find parallels between Bindi's description of the agency of a higher self and my own practice and perspective.

Higher will for me refers to spontaneous expression of enlightened qualities which I liken to wu wei. 

I don't anthropomorphize or impute the source personally but recognize that some traditions do. 

 

Just riffing off of this--- there are some theists who would say if you want to know God's will, just take a look around. Everything that occurs is an expression of the divine will. In fact, some go so far as to say an infinitely creative God will allow for the expression of limitation and imperfection. So you really can't f*** it up! 

 

What you can "do" (but not really) is align yourself with the truth of the way things are, or not. Aligning would be to stop taking yourself to be a body and mind, for example. Not trying to grab onto impermanent, empty things, etc. 

[Bindi]

5 hours ago, Apech said:

 

Just theoretically for a moment ... if the Atman is full consciousness or something like that ... then isn't it full agency?  Then it's just a question as to what that looks like to us mortals. 

 

In non-dualist Buddhist teachings like mahamudra or lamdre they talk about the basis, path and fruit (or result).    The basis is like this ... why do you practice? and where does any element of awakening come from?  Answer buddha-nature - without which you would never have  a reason to practice.  What is the fruit of practice, the result ... buddha-nature which you realise.  What is the path?  Opening to buddha-nature.  So the basis or cause, the path and the result are all buddha-nature.

 

 

Buddha nature is opened to, but once realised why doesn’t a Buddha just sit around in Nirvana? I gather Buddha nature desires to bring everyone else to the same realisation within themselves. What compels Buddha nature to do this? Why engage with anyone else? 

 

Quote

 

In Christian mysticism ... God (or Jesus) says 'I am am alpha and omega ... the way ...'  .  The alpha is the beginning, God calls, the omega is union with God,  the way is living in the light of God's will.  God at the beginning, God at the end, God as the way.

 

 

To the Christian it is God’s will that causes Jesus to act for the benefit of others, if we manage to become like Jesus we would also be compelled to carry out God’s will. 

 

Quote

 

What calls you to the way?  A small voice in the stillness.

 

 

The small voice in the stillness is not identified as my voice, it is other, it surprises me, in the external yellow court scripture “When the Green Immortal Spirit passes over and communicates with me, there is a distant echo.” I endeavour to hear the small voice, perhaps because it is a voice beyond all the perception layers, I need a guide from beyond the ‘koshas’ to guide me beyond the koshas. 

 

Quote

 

Just some thoughts.

 

Some thoughts in response to your thoughts. 
 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Bindi

[Bindi]

2 hours ago, stirling said:

 

I'd be interested in hearing more. What do you consider "full blown agency". How does the instruction of the "higher self" appear? How does one "realise agency"? In what tradition is this happening, and who/what are some examples of successful understanding. 

 

Non-dual realization is free of the agency of the personal self. 

There are Zen stories where someone claims to have achieved enlightenment or whatever, and they are put in a situation in which they become angry, thus proving they have not actually arrived. If you never fall back into the identification with the body or the emotions or thoughts but remain in nondual contentment permanently then you have achieved something, but you are still identifying with nondual contentment. If you didn’t identify with nondual contentment then you wouldn’t see nondual contentment as any more desirable than emotions or thoughts or the body, all things would be equal. Apech posted very early on if nonduality is seen as the ultimate then it is dual because it is set against duality. Nonduality shouldn’t differentiate between duality and nonduality, all are equally valuable, and ultimately all are limiting identification with a way of perceiving. The Atman, God, Buddha nature is inconceivable, beyond all perception, beyond all description, I suspect the closest  we might ever get is hearing the echo, and this will be a great achievement. 

[dwai]

1 hour ago, Bindi said:

There are Zen stories where someone claims to have achieved enlightenment or whatever, and they are put in a situation in which they become angry, thus proving they have not actually arrived. If you never fall back into the identification with the body or the emotions or thoughts but remain in nondual contentment permanently then you have achieved something, but you are still identifying with nondual contentment. If you didn’t identify with nondual contentment then you wouldn’t see nondual contentment as any more desirable than emotions or thoughts or the body, all things would be equal.
 

Nondual “contentment” isn’t a choice. It is not an optional thing where you go, “now that I’ve got nondual contentment, let me go get discontented again, so I can identify with emotions or thoughts or the body”.

 

Nondual completeness is more apropos a term. And when something is complete, there is no room for desire. People desire something because there is a lack (perceived) of something (which they try to fulfill with things). 

 

Quote

Apech posted very early on if nonduality is seen as the ultimate then it is dual because it is set against duality. Nonduality shouldn’t differentiate between duality and nonduality, all are equally valuable, and ultimately all are limiting identification with a way of perceiving.
 

Yes that’s what happens. Whatever comes, comes, and whatever goes, goes. There is no “attachment” or “aversion”.

 

Quote

The Atman, God, Buddha nature is inconceivable, beyond all perception, beyond all description, I suspect the closest  we might ever get is hearing the echo, and this will be a great achievement. 

That is a valid position imho. Those who can’t go beyond that, will come back again (and again) until they do. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by dwai

[Bindi]

Awakening from the Dream of Nonduality

 

 by Jeff Foster

 

Spoiler

I very rarely use the word ‘nonduality’ these days. The word is so deeply misunderstood, and so often misused, that it seems pointless to even utter it. I’ll use the word occasionally, but with great care.

Just spend a few minutes on Facebook or internet forums and you’ll find so many people arguing about whether or not there is a self, about which nondual teacher is the clearest, and how free from personal stories they or their teachers are – which is all deeply and thrillingly ironic, of course.

As I’ve always said, “That’s just a story!”  is the biggest story of all, and the best way to totally invalidate someone else’s experience, validating your own story in the meantime. The irony deepens…

The discovery of the absence of a separate self can be a shocking, often life-changing insight that pulls the rug from under our feet. But many are now taking this momentary insight to be the destination, the goal, rather than a new beginning. Many are taking “there is no me” to be some kind of final truth, or final event, state or experience, rather than a temporary insight that needs to be integrated with its reflection. Without the balance, nonduality just remains some conceptual understanding that does not truly bring rest to the weary seeker. It simply becomes another burden for the seeker to carry. It becomes a new dogma. And causes new conflict, both internally and between each other.

There are so many people – teachers and students alike – who believe they are finished, done, complete, fully awakened and free from the self. And often, holding onto this mental conclusion, they become missionaries for a nondual truth, going to war with anyone who doesn’t see things in the same way, either on facebook, or in public, or behind the scenes when nobody is listening and the image of the peaceful teacher does not need to be upheld. Oh, if we could only see how the ‘awakened ones’ behave behind the scenes, it might shatter many of our spiritual illusions.

Yes, nonduality so easily becomes a war against duality. “You’re stuck in your individuality! That’s just a story! That’s so dualistic!” So deeply ironic, once again.

I speak from experience. I have been there myself. I spent a long time stuck in that nihilstic place where nothing matters, where there is no world and no relationship and everything is disconnected. I have written about this ‘Advaita Trap’ extensively. At the time, I thought it was freedom. I see now, it was another identification. It was totally lacking in love and compassion. In the end, it wasn’t nonduality that saved me and ended seeking. It was the discovery of this love beyond form, beyond words.

Some six or so years ago, when I began to write and talk in public, my language was much more ‘nondual’, in a sense. I spoke about the absence of the self, how life had no centre, and how choice was merely an illusion. I was actually not speaking from mental conclusions, but from a real-time, alive, moment-by-moment, fresh seeing. It was poetic language for an experience (or non-experience!) I had no words for yet.

My words were never meant to be taken as dogma, as truth, as I always took great pains to explain. I was simply sharing from my own experience, not trying to convert others. I did not see myself as a teacher, but as a fellow human being, who perhaps saw things in a fresh way and wanted to share from that freshness. I never wanted people to blindly believe what I was saying, or take my words as a new religion. I wanted them to look for themselves, to discover what I had discovered, that’s all.

I was not heavily identified as a ‘teacher’. I was more of a musician, singing my song for others who were drawn to it. Others called me a ‘nondual teacher’ but I really had no idea what that meant. I had never had a formal ‘teacher’ myself and so that wasn’t part of my conditioning.

It took me a long time to realise there was a whole ‘nondual’ community out there, a nondual club, so to speak, with a certain language, rules over what was nondual and what wasn’t, what was true and real and what wasn’t, with leaders and followers and even its own police force! I hadn’t realised that nonduality was quietly becoming a new religion and end-point for people. I hadn’t realised that my words were being heard through a nondual lens. I hadn’t realised how I had been judged.

I really have met so many people over the years for whom nonduality has become a new religion. They believe they have no self, that there is no choice and everything is just a story, and they repeat these memorised phrases endlessly. They even fight with others who do not see things in the same way! They cannot see that they are stuck in a new dogma, which is not releasing their suffering but merely justifying and even feeding it. “I’m suffering, but there’s nobody here suffering, and there’s nothing I can do anyway, and there’s no choice either way. And all the rest of you are dualistic! And if you think I’m angry, that’s just your projection. There’s nobody here getting angry.” A recipe for devastation, and deep blindness to truth. And endless conflict.

For actually what we are talking about here – and what I have always been pointing to – is the true end of suffering and conflict, not as a time-bound position, but as a fearless and radical opening-up to life. Not a hunkering-down (as my friend Scott Kiloby says) on a new ‘nondual’ mental resting point, but a fresh discovery of mystery. This is about discovering our total inseparability from life, knowing ourselves as the vastness in which every thought, sensation, feeling and sound is a welcome friend. We are not talking about believing there is no self and no choice, we are not talking about new conclusions, but coming to recognise this freedom and rest moment-by-moment, no matter what is happening in our lives.

This is not a religion, but a real-time recognition. A fresh and curious looking at our experience, without conclusions, without history, without memory, even the memory of nonduality.

Over the years, I began to change the way I communicated. If in the early days, I was emphasising the ocean in my talks and writing, I began to emphasise more and more the waves that arise in that ocean, and the fearless welcoming of those waves, and our not-turning-away from them. It is this welcoming, this embracing, this YES to life, that truly frees and brings deep inner rest. Yes, the discovery of the absence of the separate self – the unlimited ocean – is a profound insight. Some even call it an ‘event’ or a ‘final seeing’. But awakening doesn’t stop there. It cannot. Life is not time-bound. Indeed, the discovery of ‘no self’ is just the beginning. As I have always been saying, that absence of ‘me’ is not really an absence at all. It is an extraordinary absence, full of life. It is a wild ocean, full of waves! The absence of a separate self is the total embrace of present experience. The emptiness isform. The void is overflowing. It is abundant with the moment.

I speak these days not about nonduality (although my teaching is still grounded in that profound nondual truth) but about the invitation of life. It is a movement away from dogma, and towards what is truly alive.

Life is a constant invitation, to recognise yourself as the vast ocean of consciousness in which every single wave – every thought, sensation, feeling, sound – is deeply welcome. What you are may be a non-dual ocean of consciousness, but as that ocean, you welcome – apready welcome – every wave without conditions. This is not an acheivement, but your very nature, the way you are actually built. Awakening is not an acheivement, it is a real-time remembering of how you are ‘built!’

We may believe that we woke up yesterday. We may believe that we have no self, or that we are the expert on consciousness, or that we are the perfect disciple of our perfect teacher and everyone else is so ignorant. But life is always inviting us to drop all conclusions about ourselves and see afresh.

Life gently whispers, always, “How deeply can we meet?”

What interests me these days is not the ‘event’ or story of awakening, but how that recognition of who we really are moves in our lives. Yes, you may have no self, and yes, you may recogise that there are no others. But those are just words, right now. Tell me, how does that knowing move in your intimate relationships, with your partner, your mother, your father, your loved ones, your friends and acquaintances on facebook and in the workplace? When someone disagrees with what you say, do you rush to defend a conceptual postition, an image of yourself, or are you able to stay radically open, deeply listening from a place of nonresistance? Or do you feel hurt, and rush to hurt someone back? Do you feel attacked, and rush to defend yourself, forgetting that who you are is never an image, and doesn’t need defending? Do you remember that who you are is the vast ocean, always deeply at rest, always deeply allowing the upsurge of thoughts and feelings? Or do you fall back into some spiritual cliche, spouting words like “there is no me” or “choice is an ilusion”, secretly suffering and boiling with hurt and anger but unwilling to take a fresh look at that? Have you come to conclusions, or are you willing to drop all conclusions and look again? Are you willing to drop all stories about yourself, including the story that you are awakened, and meet this moment as a dear friend to be embraced, rather than an enemy to be rejected?

Are you able to meet the one in front of you, and for a moment, not try to fix them, or heal them, or spout nondual cliches at them, or try to win some argument, proving your identity? How deeply can we meet?

It is possible to come down from your “I am nobody” perch, to leave your “I am pure consciousness” castle, to stop protecting yourself with the “I am not a person” personal identity, and rediscover your deep humanity?

Oh yes, there is no question – this is a call to total humility.

And so, my friends, here’s what I would say. Nonduality in itself does not provide true rest and peace. Don’t settle for less than you deserve. Yes, nonduality it is a beautiful insight and philosophy, but not a way to live. Beyond all our notions of nonduality, beyond all our stories, this true peace comes through a real-time willingness to radically welcome our experience.  The nondual understanding then does not stagnate and become dogma, but moves deeply and freely into our lives, extinguishing suffering in its myriad forms, bringing the light of deep acceptance to every little subtle pocket of suffering. We are awake, and continue to awaken, without contradiction. Both are true. We are both the ocean, and all the myriad waves that arise and dissolve, without contradiction. Nonduality does not deny the astonishing play of duality. And this constant welcoming of present experience is not something that we ‘do’ – it is what we are. We simply commit to remembering who we truly are, real-time, no matter what is happening. Not mentally, but experientially. Now.

I always come back to this statement by the illustrious Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“Wisdom says I am nothing. Love says I am everything. Between the two my life flows.”

Nondual clarity without love is not really worth talking about anymore.

And so, mental certainty and all of those second-hand nondual concepts melt into this love and acceptance and compassion beyond words, and all that is left is an invitation, constantly renewing itself in the furnace of intimacy…

Come closer, come closer…

 

[Bindi]

Jeff Foster, nondual teacher who realised his nonduality was not authentic, and writes (above) about accepting duality as much as nonduality, the physical, emotional, and mental levels, is not able to accept these levels now that he is physically and cognitively disabled. It is at least authentic for him to acknowledge publicly
“I am failing right now to accept my condition. I feel broken. I am not in love with where I am. I cannot “rest” with this shattering new reality.” 

 

“I WRITE BOOKS ABOUT ACCEPTANCE...

BUT I JUST CANNOT ACCEPT THIS”.

 

A Confession.

 

1st May 2021

http://r.lifewithoutacentre.com/mk/mr/nKauvvrCJ8OLrBhtl3_WWyJhPiPX3Omt8ZvYdn2aMIsAbIIeMNT6HxbCcWBe46RBt9Zc3B5snE0RnjhXoAMtjt83H5vcXnYPM_qAtAX1eCIJOeeC

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Bindi

[Apech]

3 hours ago, Bindi said:

Jeff Foster, nondual teacher who realised his nonduality was not authentic, and writes (above) about accepting duality as much as nonduality, the physical, emotional, and mental levels, is not able to accept these levels now that he is physically and cognitively disabled. It is at least authentic for him to acknowledge publicly
“I am failing right now to accept my condition. I feel broken. I am not in love with where I am. I cannot “rest” with this shattering new reality.” 

 

“I WRITE BOOKS ABOUT ACCEPTANCE...

BUT I JUST CANNOT ACCEPT THIS”.

 

A Confession.

 

1st May 2021

http://r.lifewithoutacentre.com/mk/mr/nKauvvrCJ8OLrBhtl3_WWyJhPiPX3Omt8ZvYdn2aMIsAbIIeMNT6HxbCcWBe46RBt9Zc3B5snE0RnjhXoAMtjt83H5vcXnYPM_qAtAX1eCIJOeeC

 

 

 

Never heard of this guy before - and all sympathy for his suffering - but from what I can glean from his writings and a quick google search he has had a typical neo-advaitan 'non-dual' experience, which to me is largely emotional.  While I am not really one for orthodoxy in any form there is a certain sense in which we all need guidance, a teacher and a way of putting deeply personal experiences into perspective.  The trouble is of course that many of the orthodox teachers know little else than their own adopted dogma.  The other substitute is deep study of various systems, seemingly contradictory statements and advice, multiple approaches and so on which give a wider view.  Ultimately the teacher is your Atman anyway - but if you are lucky you'll find someone so attuned to this as to make it the same thing.

 

 

[Apech]

9 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

Buddha nature is opened to, but once realised why doesn’t a Buddha just sit around in Nirvana? I gather Buddha nature desires to bring everyone else to the same realisation within themselves. What compels Buddha nature to do this? Why engage with anyone else? 

 

The agency of buddha-nature is compassion and wisdom - after buddhhood comes buddha activity which is said to be totally natural like rain falling, unforced or contrived.  This in a way proves the agency of the 'non-dual'.  Even if from the perspective of the enlightened being it might be different to how we can conceive of it.

 

9 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

To the Christian it is God’s will that causes Jesus to act for the benefit of others, if we manage to become like Jesus we would also be compelled to carry out God’s will. 

 

Or willing to do so rather than compelled (?)

 

9 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

The small voice in the stillness is not identified as my voice, it is other, it surprises me, in the external yellow court scripture “When the Green Immortal Spirit passes over and communicates with me, there is a distant echo.” I endeavour to hear the small voice, perhaps because it is a voice beyond all the perception layers, I need a guide from beyond the ‘koshas’ to guide me beyond the koshas. 

 

Nice.  

 

9 hours ago, Bindi said:

Some thoughts in response to your thoughts. 
 

 

 

[old3bob]

11 hours ago, Bindi said:

 

Buddha nature is opened to, but once realized why doesn’t a Buddha just sit around in Nirvana? I gather Buddha nature desires to bring everyone else to the same realization within themselves. What compels Buddha nature to do this? Why engage with anyone else? 

 

 

A tangent about your question above Bindi:  In well recognized Buddhist scripture there is a recounting of how the historic Buddha had serious doubts about continuing in this world with a teaching not long after his enlightenment,  but then what would seem to be the highly unexpected took place (per the drift of his previous downplaying of)  namely that  a god level being came to him and implored and more or less convinced him to teach!   So there is grounds for your question along the lines mentioned above, although it is probable that some of our Buddhist folks will rationalize away the point that the historic Buddha needed advice and spiritual reminders from anyone.      

Edited May 10, 2022 by old3bob

[liminal_luke]

Doesn't wu wei action come bundled with nondual realization?  Is it really possible to fully get the nondual thing without acting accordingly?

[Apech]

11 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

Doesn't wu wei action come bundled with nondual realization?  Is it really possible to fully get the nondual thing without acting accordingly?

‘Bundled’ …. 

[liminal_luke]

11 minutes ago, Apech said:

‘Bundled’ …. 

 

You know, like getting HBO Max as an add-on with your Hulu subscription. Or what is a better metaphor for your geographic location -- snails with your beer?  That sounds more lovely.

Edited May 10, 2022 by liminal_luke

[awaken]

非二元對立不是一種思想也不是哲學

也跟開悟完全無關

這是一種性功

而且必須對自己完全誠實的人，才有能力能夠看得到的

這是一種心的力量

必須長期觀察自己的心靈力量的人，才能看得到

在練功當中，自己是否有細微的意念在強加在修煉之中

一但使用後天有為法，就產生了強加的力量

有一個目標，就再也看不見自己的心靈力量

Non-binary opposition is neither a thought nor a philosophy

It has nothing to do with enlightenment

It's a shin goung

And you have to be completely honest with yourself in order to be able to see your mind power

It's the power of the heart

Those who have to observe their own mind power for a long time can see

During the practice, do you have any subtle thoughts that are being imposed on the practice?

Once the acquired method is used, the force of imposition is generated

Once you have a goal, you will no longer see your mind power

不增不減

no increase or decrease

 

對我的學生來說，這是無為法的基本功，不是什麼開悟

For my students, this is the basic skill of Wuweifa, not enlightenment

 

整個練習都必須處在一種覺察心靈力量的狀態下，才能不受心靈力量的牽引

The whole practice must be in a state of awareness of the power of the mind, so as not to be drawn by the power of the mind

 

如果沒有這個，心靈就會被某些對象所吸引，例如搬運法練習者被下腹部的氣感所吸引

這種吸引將導致心靈被束縛在一個固定的地方

這稱為『有所住』，是違反佛教的修煉法則的

 

 

Without this, the mind will be attracted to certain objects, such as the carrying method practitioners are attracted to the sense of qi in the lower abdomen

This attraction will cause the mind to be bound in a fixed place

This is called "residence", and it violates the Buddhist practice.

 

當然也違反道家的『真常』定義

 

Of course, it also violates the Taoist definition of "real true"

 

真常須應物，應物要不迷

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by awaken

[Apech]

1 hour ago, liminal_luke said:

 

You know, like getting HBO Max as an add-on with your Hulu subscription. Or what is a better metaphor for your geographic location -- snails with your beer?  That sounds more lovely.

 

I've tried snails and although they weren't too disgusting I couldn't get over the fact that they were snails.