Transcendence vs Integration

[Apech]

55 minutes ago, silent thunder said:

rest as awareness...

rust in peace … 

[old3bob]

 

hmm, that reminds me the Self is so very, very fast so to speak that it is everywhere at once and standing still, thus a perception of a particular (or limited location) is ultimately and only apparent.  If I'm not wrong that is a problem some have via misinterpretation of Self/Atman.

[Bindi]

21 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

 

We both get to think about it, as does everyone else on the thread.

 

Yes, the idea is that freedom in the location of consciousness becomes the source of the automatic activity of the body.  The magic in that is, willful activity is absent, regardless of where consciousness takes place. 
 

 

I could say I am informed by automatic processes, for me it’s dreams and kundalini perhaps, but there is an element of directed attention in working with what these automatic processes bring to my attention. 

 

21 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

Not having experienced kundalini energy, I'm curious how you practice, to what extent your experience guides your practice. 
 

Once kundalini was roused (after some forty five years or so of emotional/mental ‘clearing’ pre work), its role seems to be to bring samskaras bit by bit to the surface, in a more accelerated and insistent way than pre kundalini, which can be emotionally intense. Any prework done to dismantle samskaras really pays off during this process. Initially, I felt overwhelmed and lost in the emotive story, but after maybe a couple of years I learned to face these emotions directly, sitting with them and just feeling them. After pretty much staying with this process which culminated in a few moments of seemingly intense pain that felt like it had been there forever, it seems I shifted to also working with the vasanas at the causal body level, so the roots of karma. This work seems to be a lot more removed from the emotional pain level, vasanas are more at arms length and I’m able to move more into an objective observer role, with  dreams still providing additional guidance, pointing out particular patterns or defenses that I mentally try to comprehend and address.
 

At this stage, my main practice is observing conditioned thoughts or feelings as they arise, fully acknowledging them, and tracing their karmic threads as best I can. I believe this is the key to dissolving vasanas. I don’t think Kundalini energy directly clears the causal level it just helps clear emotional and mental knots in the subtle body making it possible to approach the causal body, which holds the underlying karmic vasanas, with greater clarity and objectivity.

 

While it may be possible to address vasanas without kundalini, I believe the central channel’s unfolding is simply the most efficient and thorough design for this work. 

[Bindi]

9 hours ago, old3bob said:

 

hmm, that reminds me the Self is so very, very fast so to speak that it is everywhere at once and standing still, thus a perception of a particular (or limited location) is ultimately and only apparent.  If I'm not wrong that is a problem some have via misinterpretation of Self/Atman.

I think if one just keeps working with and through the layer that presents itself, we’ll get there in the end, I like the kosha model for this. It’s ok if I don’t identify as the Self, because I’ll get there in the end. The causal body is equivalent to anandamaya kosha, not the Self but the last layer before the Self. Do the work that needs to be done within this kosha, which to me is removing vasanas, and the Self will be revealed, fully and permanently with no limitations. It’s enough, and needn’t be rushed, because so much will remain undone if these layers and their issues and gifts are ignored.