tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post7166900572642407951..comments2024-03-18T10:07:38.422+08:00Comments on Awakening to Reality: Thusness/PasserBy's Seven Stages of EnlightenmentSohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-27747370400040625732020-12-10T20:38:30.797+08:002020-12-10T20:38:30.797+08:00STAGES of Realisation and FACETS of REALITY
I'...STAGES of Realisation and FACETS of REALITY<br /><br />I'm glad you pointed out that these stages are not necessarily the same for everyone, even if useful as something to check one's realisation against.<br /><br />Putting aside my own experiences, this is just logical:<br /><br />Since reality is always there to be realised, its obvious that one can experientially understand any of its aspects (e.g nonduality, anatta and so on) at any moment. <br /><br />The one realisation that WILL change the nature of other realisations is supreme nonduality. For one thing, one understands there is no 'hidden reality' behind your experience (as was intimated above. (I call this WYSIWIG...People also often say things like "This is it").<br />This gives you the confidence that your realisations about ultimate reality will indeed be valid beyond your own personal experience. You know that a theorised 'other reality' not governed by the things you mentioned is not relevant, or possible in experience. Obviously there are other results too.<br /><br />I would put that one dividing line between different realisations: those had after realising you are the One Stream of Being with nothing hidden or behind 'it', and those had after.<br /><br />Until then you can always doubt you have truly penetrated reality.<br /><br />___________________________________________________________________<br /><br />SUMMARY OF WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE: using two metaphors<br /><br />I also offer two useful metaphors that I believe summarise everything said about Reality on this page:<br /><br /> * A stream of water<br />where the water itself is 'Awareness'/Existence/the effulgence/the luminosity<br />and the SHAPE of the currents is the various forms it manifests as <br />(all six senses...or to put it another way: ANYTHING that changes, including the most subtle experience.)<br /><br />* A fire: where the 'firey-ness' or heat is Awareness (as above)<br />and the various SHAPES of the flames are FORM (as above)<br /><br />In both cases:<br /><br />1. There is no duality: Awareness is EXPRESSED AS ever-changing FORM(s) whilever the being is in any 'realm'. You cannot separate the two. This was expressed well in the Heart Sutra (Form is 'emptiness', 'emptiness' is form).<br /><br />(Awareness only experiences 'itself' without any form at all after death. It should be admitted though that the experience of meditators, NDErs, people who have taken entheogenic 'medicines' such as 5MEO DMT, and many texts do report that Awareness-in-itself IS an 'independent' principle. HOWEVER, it has no form or content of its own whatsoever. It is literally 'empty' of content - like knowing space.). <br /><br />2. Form is continually changing, without any solidity or 'self' ever arising: like the ever-changing flames or the currents of water. UNGRASPABLE, UNSTOPPABLE, UNFREEZABLE. Unique in every moment. <br /><br />This is two kinds of not-self:<br />'Horizontal': the nonduality of 'Awareness' and 'form'<br />'Vertical: no solidity anywhere <br />___________________________________________________________________<br /><br />SUMMARY OF THE ESSENCE OF REALISATION<br /><br />What is absolutely necessary to realise is:<br /><br />- Nonduality (of 'Awareness' and 'Form')<br />- Anatta: that form never freezes into anything solid, is unique in every moment, is continually changing and so on.<br /><br />It's nice to realise that Awareness-in-itself is an unbreakable continuity, but even if seen as/claimed as some kind of independent principle (as mentioned above in Zen and Dzogchen), it has no form or content of its own. <br /><br />(Aaron Dorje, Facets of Being)Person 235https://www.blogger.com/profile/17991549786939787163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-32241628872944267592020-07-20T23:52:13.243+08:002020-07-20T23:52:13.243+08:00Consius, what you describe as Stage 1 is not I AM ...Consius, what you describe as Stage 1 is not I AM but non-doership. You should continue inquiring "Before birth, who am I?" until there is certainty of what Being/I is. That is the first realization of what Awareness is.<br /><br />On the other hand, non doership and impersonality and the other four aspects of I AM should be complemented with the I AM realization.<br /><br />What you describe as Stage 3 is also not the Stage 3 of the 7 stages.<br /><br />I would suggest to continue inquiring into what you are, what Awareness is: <br /><br />In 2009, John Tan wrote:<br /><br />"Hi Teck Cheong,<br /><br />What you described is fine and it can be considered vipassana meditation too but you must be clear what is the main objective of practicing that way. Ironically, the real purpose only becomes obvious after the arising insight of anatta. What I gathered so far from your descriptions are not so much about anatta or empty nature of phenomena but are rather drawn towards Awareness practice. So it will be good to start from understanding what Awareness truly is. All the method of practices that you mentioned will lead to a quality of experience that is non-conceptual. You can have non-conceptual experience of sound, taste...etc...but more importantly in my opinion, you should start from having a direct, non-conceptual experience of Awareness (first glimpse of our luminous essence). Once you have a ‘taste’ of what Awareness is, you can then think of ‘expanding’ this bare awareness and gradually understand what does ‘heightening and expanding’ mean from the perspective of Awareness.<br /><br />Next, although you hear and see ‘non-dual, anatta and dependent origination’ all over the place in An Eternal Now’s forum (the recent Toni Packer’s books you bought are about non-dual and anatta), there is nothing wrong being ‘dualistic’ for a start. Even after direct non-conceptual experience of Awareness, our view will still continue to be dualistic; so do not have the idea that being dualistic is bad although it prevents thorough experience of liberation.<br /><br />The comment given by Dharma Dan is very insightful but of late, I realized that it is important to have a first glimpse of our luminous essence directly before proceeding into such understanding. Sometimes understanding something too early will deny oneself from actual realization as it becomes conceptual. Once the conceptual understanding is formed, even qualified masters will find it difficult to lead the practitioner to the actual ‘realization’ as a practitioner mistakes conceptual understanding for realization.<br /><br />Rgds,<br />John"<br />Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-8834587177458251212020-07-17T10:18:55.836+08:002020-07-17T10:18:55.836+08:00HI,
I am Javi Gomez from Facebook. I read your we...HI,<br /><br />I am Javi Gomez from Facebook. I read your website to see what stages I am missing. Here are my findings of hte last 3 days. <br /><br />Here are my realizations lately and comparing it with the 7 stages of enlightenment as this might help me to proceed to full awakening. <br /><br />Stage 1: I AM<br /><br />I am experiencing the I AM stage in glimpses during the whole day for the last 3 days. It started last year, but now it seems to spontaneously show up without me trying to get it. I experience like I am living in the mind of God, Buddha. Meditation is IT. Seshin is IT. Brushing the teeth is IT. There is no seperation between IT and brusing the teeth. The brushing experience as the moment expresses itself is inmediately God or Reality. 3 days ago I glimpsed that the God or reality was doing me. It really felt that intelligence was moving me, brushing me, breathing me, drinking of a cup me. At one point I saw my reflection in a passing Tram pass by while I was sitting. That reflection was instaneously it, therefor creating a flush of dopamine in the body sometimes, but it becomes less and less, this feeling of being blissed out and it feels like it is naturally balancing itself out. I also realize that meditating most of the time is happening without a doer. It feels like I become surrender or I am quitting my job as a human being. As it was mentioned in ATR site. Cosmic intelligence' and the 'world of experience' are 1. Same! It feels like moving the mouse while checking out the website happenes by itself. The assumed I (seeker) is also part of this intelligence. It feels soemtiems that awakening is effortlessly now without me controlling it. THe more I surrender and non do, the better. NOw it makes sense to say that the imagined doer is replaced by intelligence doing me. So seeking now becomes truth. The thought of I am the doer and I am certaintly doing something is also not happening by me. A cosmic joke played on itself. I am being breathed. I don't breathe.<br /><br />I also have the sense of prostrating or dying to this moment. I suddenly become a devotee and all the suffering of the past is somehow good and healed. <br /><br />The least clear point is the recognition of being this cognizant knowing thing. I know it exists while being silent sometimes, but when being active like typing I don't really see it. Right now when I read ' You have none of these for yourself or of yourself. They are all Mine and for My use only.' , I felt like crying. The hand opening was done by his will. I feel blissed out a bit while reading 'and thereby am expressing My Reality through you and through all', realizing that breathing is his will. Sucha grattitude and surrender never experienced before the I Am stage occured. I pivot out of this state many times, coming back to the I AM. 1 hour ago I lost the stage. It felt really bad to become a doer again. No matter what I did to realize no doer or I AM, I failed. SO I surrendered and in that surrender the I AM came back. That is how it works.<br /><br />Stage 2: <br /><br />Sometimes I realize that I am the keyboard, the tv, Messi, the scratching of the head, my dad, the kitchen, the sounds. I am not only realizing that God is htis moment. I also realize that I am the experience itself. SO instead of walking as a walker, I am the walking, the road and the breathing. I have this since today and yesterday. It does not bring bliss as I experienced this 3 years ago for 10 minutes. I became the sound of hte ventilator. But this time it is experienced spontaneously when I see that I am not the doer and when I see the I AM stage of seeing God as this moment. It is not constant yet. <br /><br />Stage 3:<br /><br />I haven't realized awareness yet most of the time. I lose this recognition of awareness most of hte times I am active. BUt I know it is there. I sometimes since 3 days contemplate the arising of an I in here as a hearer and seer of colors. I also investigate that awareness is the object. <br />Consiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03620643131577772588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-66324640442277128302019-01-03T23:31:28.277+08:002019-01-03T23:31:28.277+08:00I do not hold 'moment to moment' as truly ...I do not hold 'moment to moment' as truly existing entities but as merely a convenient label like 'weather'.<br /><br />But I do not have problems with concepts at all, like 'weather' and 'moment to moment'. The problem is in treating them as truly existing entities. The problem is not merely in thinking or conceptualizing. Thinking and concepts are not in itself the problem, ignorance is, as it treats those concepts as real or referring to something truly existing on its own (such as self, objects, etc). <br /><br />This will be my last reply to you Bill Diaz, as I do not think your mind is open to investing emptiness teachings on its own terms. I do not have time nor interest to engage in pointless arguments either.<br /><br />14/4/13 7:35:01 PM: John Tan: When u say "weather", does weather exist?<br />14/4/13 7:35:20 PM: Soh Wei Yu: No<br />14/4/13 7:35:42 PM: Soh Wei Yu: It's a convention imputed on a seamless activity<br />14/4/13 7:35:54 PM: Soh Wei Yu: Existence and non existence don't apply<br />14/4/13 7:36:02 PM: John Tan: What is the basis where this label rely on<br />14/4/13 7:36:16 PM: Soh Wei Yu: Rain clouds wind etc<br />14/4/13 7:36:25 PM: John Tan: Don't talk prasanga<br />14/4/13 7:36:36 PM: John Tan: Directly see<br />14/4/13 7:38:11 PM: John Tan: Rain too is a label<br />14/4/13 7:39:10 PM: John Tan: But in direct experience, there is no issue but when probed, u realized how one is confused abt the reification from language<br />14/4/13 7:39:52 PM: John Tan: And from there life/death/creation/cessation arise<br />14/4/13 7:40:06 PM: John Tan: And whole lots of attachment<br />14/4/13 7:40:25 PM: John Tan: But it does not mean there is no basis...get it?<br />14/4/13 7:40:45 PM: Soh Wei Yu: The basis is just the experience right<br />14/4/13 7:41:15 PM: John Tan: Yes which is plain and simple<br />14/4/13 7:41:50 PM: John Tan: When we say the weather is windy<br />14/4/13 7:42:04 PM: John Tan: Feel the wind, the blowing...<br />14/4/13 7:43:04 PM: John Tan: But when we look at language and mistaken verb for nouns there r big issues<br />14/4/13 7:43:22 PM: John Tan: So before we talk abt this and that<br />14/4/13 7:43:40 PM: John Tan: Understand what consciousness is and awareness is<br />14/4/13 7:43:45 PM: John Tan: Get it?<br />14/4/13 7:44:40 PM: John Tan: When we say weather, feel the sunshine, the wind, the rain<br />14/4/13 7:44:58 PM: John Tan: U do not search for weather<br />14/4/13 7:45:04 PM: John Tan: Get it?<br />14/4/13 7:45:57 PM: John Tan: Similarly, when we say awareness, look into scenery, sound, tactile sensations, scents and thoughts<br />14/4/13 7:47:15 PM: Soh Wei Yu: Yeah<br />14/4/13 7:47:25 PM: Soh Wei Yu: That's pretty clear to me<br /><br />Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-79452880780084563412019-01-03T22:52:59.453+08:002019-01-03T22:52:59.453+08:00What is this "natural state" you mention...What is this "natural state" you mentioned?<br /><br />regards,<br /><br />Bill<br />SeattleAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-41567270258354828802019-01-03T22:51:16.769+08:002019-01-03T22:51:16.769+08:00"Because the purpose is to allow one to clear..."Because the purpose is to allow one to clearly and fully realize, feel and taste the moment to moment of manifestation."<br /><br />Where is this "moment to moment"? What you just read is no longer here it is in the past. To say there is a "moment" or a "now" is to engage in the chatter that is the Monkey in your Mind. Your thought process allows you to believe in things that are nonsense propositions. <br /><br />regards,<br /><br />Bill<br />SeattleAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-47230540431686744002019-01-03T22:20:03.659+08:002019-01-03T22:20:03.659+08:00Yes Bill Diaz, this is why I always stress emptine...Yes Bill Diaz, this is why I always stress emptiness as unity of two truths: https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2018/11/emptiness-as-unity.htmlSohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-73335736270226572232019-01-03T21:14:53.712+08:002019-01-03T21:14:53.712+08:00“Emptiness” is a central teaching of all Buddhism,...“Emptiness” is a central teaching of all Buddhism, but its true meaning is often misunderstood. ... In other words, emptiness is not some kind of heaven or separate realm apart from this world and its woes. The Heart Sutra says, “all phenomena in their own-being are empty.” It doesn't say “all phenomena are empty.” This distinction is vital. The passage means that nothing we see or hear (or are) stands alone; everything is a tentative expression of one seamless, ever-changing landscape. <br /><br />Emptiness is not complete nothingness; it doesn’t mean that nothing exists at all. This would be a nihilistic view contrary to common sense. Dalai Lama calls emptiness “the true nature of things and events,” but in the same passage he warns us “to avoid the misapprehension that emptiness is an absolute reality or an independent truth.” The Term is being used figuratively. "I felt 'empty' yesterday" would make no sense if taken literally.<br /><br />We suffer because we grasp after things thinking they are fixed, substantial, real and capable of being possessed...................emptiness points to their impermanence. It is, like everything we think, an idea that exists only in our minds.<br /><br />Happy New Year form Seattle,<br /><br />Bill<br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-60757317416622535272019-01-03T15:54:44.768+08:002019-01-03T15:54:44.768+08:00Hi Samnoelpearce,
What you mean by 'emptiness...Hi Samnoelpearce,<br /><br />What you mean by 'emptiness' is not what I mean by emptiness, but rather it is the I AMness referred to here: https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/mistaken-reality-of-amness.html<br /><br />All the best for your year 2019 too :)Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-27047717924792722532019-01-03T15:49:25.828+08:002019-01-03T15:49:25.828+08:00This comment has been removed by the author.... Samnoelpearcehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139696529595745383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-21934232953623841922018-01-30T05:01:42.435+08:002018-01-30T05:01:42.435+08:00Over ten years since this thread started, I have j...Over ten years since this thread started, I have just discovered it. Thank you Soh and others, your words falling like dharma rain. Being received in soil beyond machinations of rational mind, recognized by original instinct. <br />"There is no perceiving subject apart from perceived objects. The sense of separation is not merely caused by the ability to think but more importantly the false view of subject-object duality and the false view that self and phenomena exists inherently." I believe a lot of modern art has been recognizing this, painting patterns and processes. Fascinating.<br />I will have a question soon.Singing Truth, Profound Visionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-38736546745342952222018-01-07T15:09:36.658+08:002018-01-07T15:09:36.658+08:00It is my experience that thoughts can be paused. I...It is my experience that thoughts can be paused. If you haven't experienced that, try some meditation.<br /><br />Consciousness doesn't cause anything, that would imply that consciousness existed prior to and apart from manifestation/appearance. All appearances are consciousness and there is no 'consciousness' existing in and of itself in that moment of perceiving besides that appearance. It doesn't record or film the movie, it is the movie. There is no perceiving subject apart from perceived objects. The sense of separation is not merely caused by the ability to think but more importantly the false view of subject-object duality and the false view that self and phenomena exists inherently.Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-35501356928352973652017-12-27T23:23:13.620+08:002017-12-27T23:23:13.620+08:00Good morning Soh,
Thank you for continuing our con...Good morning Soh,<br />Thank you for continuing our conversation.<br />“Awareness” is a simple function of the brain. While you are reading this post you are receiving 2.2 million pieces of information through your sensory apparatus. You have no choice in the matter. Your body is only interested in two things, your survival and your ability to procreate. It has no interest in an “enlightened” man. <br /><br />You claim it is possible to “pause thoughts”. That is impossible to accomplish without using thought. Unless you possess a faculty (instrument) other humans do not? It’s simply a trick of the mind to engage in thinking about not thinking. <br /><br />In the rest of your post, and I do not mean to be unkind, you seem to be engaging in a form of Orwellian doublespeak. If one is not careful it is easy to say a lot that means nothing. As an example you deny the self and then say, presence is not fabricated, not a state that comes into existence, that things are already there but not recognized, and only through self inquiry can you realise it. Those are empty words. We form concepts by abstracting and what we abstract can only come from our direct experience. While you are capable of thinking there is no limit to what can exist beyond our experience the truth is that there is. Do square circles exist?<br /><br />“You said that the sense of self leads to an illusory separation from nature, what is the experience of consciousness without separation like?”<br /><br />You nuanced it a bit differently, “Our ability to think allows us to separate ourselves from nature“. Thank you for asking for a clarification. “Consciousness” or awareness, a synonym, has no ability of its own to cause anything. “Consciousness” or awareness is like a camera that is filming a movie. It cannot be in the movie. It is only recording. Your ability to think creates the separation. I hope this is clearer? <br /><br />In friendship,<br /><br />Bill<br />SeattleAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-72646321829711968772017-12-27T12:10:43.913+08:002017-12-27T12:10:43.913+08:00Your true Essence, or Awareness, or Presence, is n...Your true Essence, or Awareness, or Presence, is not a state. Even without thoughts (yes it is possible to pause thoughts) there is still the doubtless fact of Existence, Presence. This Presence is not fabricated, it is not a state that comes into existence, it is always already there but not recognised, not realized. Through self inquiry you can realise it.<br /><br />You said that the sense of self leads to an illusory separation from nature, what is the experience of consciousness without separation like?Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-69743595723019907382017-12-26T23:59:46.616+08:002017-12-26T23:59:46.616+08:00I must admit I read your response with some amusem...I must admit I read your response with some amusement. It appears that you simply replaced “know they are enlightened" with “ doubtless certainty” and a “complete certainty of Being/Existence”. Whatever any of that is suppose to mean? So the question stands, how does one know when they have achieved any of these states? <br /> <br />I apologise for using “conventional parlance”, whatever that means, but it is the only language I have. Is there another? A better question to ask is not “who am I” but What am I? <br /> <br />Being without a “single thought” would mean that one is dead. You are thinking all of the time even when you are unaware of it. Everything that we perceive is collected by our sense apparatus, eyes, ears etc., and the brain interprets it. Our brain stores this and it becomes our memories which we can access later.<br /> <br />If I ask you to tell me about “trees” you can access that from the data you have collected. But if I ask you about something that you don’t know you would draw a blank. Enlightenment, G-d, the Tao, self-realization, nirvana and others all fall into this category. Since they do not exist, except abstractly in our minds, they cannot be known.<br /> <br />We insist on being more that “what” we are because we don’t understand “what” we are. Nature is perfect. It needs nothing. Our ability to think allows us to separate ourselves from nature and unfortunately see ourselves as being above nature. <br /> <br />Life has no meaning, no purpose and to be ordinary is the most difficult challenge you will face. What are you?<br /> <br />Unenlightened in Seattle,<br /> <br />Bill<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-2245914994796528842017-12-26T22:22:55.204+08:002017-12-26T22:22:55.204+08:00It's not about "know they are enlightened...It's not about "know they are enlightened", it's about doubtless certainty of one's true nature. Saying "they are enlightened" or "I am enlightened" is simply using conventional parlance and doesn't tell you what it is that is realized.<br /><br />Ask "Who am I?" until there is a complete certainty of Being/Existence. Without a single thought, there is still undeniable awareness, a pure presence or fact of existence. It is not newly fabricated, it is rather ever-present but not noticed due to being lost in thoughts all the time.<br />Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-84336209215845892942017-12-26T06:36:30.065+08:002017-12-26T06:36:30.065+08:00How does and enlightened person know they are enli...How does and enlightened person know they are enlightened? Is it even possible to look for something you don't know?<br /><br />Bill<br />SeattleAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08654750689882011015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-48995202073878066782017-09-11T08:40:09.839+08:002017-09-11T08:40:09.839+08:00Everything rests in the super conscious, be the wo...Everything rests in the super conscious, be the world, be the sun: companion to the starry night.....knoxPorcenovahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04819446171548720627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-36703216226121544482016-07-03T22:19:43.996+08:002016-07-03T22:19:43.996+08:00In the state of enlightement,you need no goal.the ...In the state of enlightement,you need no goal.the path is the goal<br /><a href="http://www.bellofpeace.org/" rel="nofollow">www.bellofpeace gede prama org</a>Pelayan Keheninganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12448518756726276165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-67868278352486320092012-07-26T10:21:19.224+08:002012-07-26T10:21:19.224+08:00(Continued)
(Omega Point in DhO, 7/19/12 made a ...(Continued)<br /><br /><br />(Omega Point in DhO, 7/19/12 made a good point on this: "Further, how can anyone say he is actually free if he isn't free from delusion or pseudo-scientific thinking? Nitrous acid mixing with nicotine creates cancer causing dust, which persists for several months and harms anyone it contacts. If being AF equates to being harmless, then how does that jive? Is that selflessness, volitionally carelessness? If it is careless is surely isn't benign, If it is selflessness then it's clearly an ethically neutral selflessness (as how could you justify that harm and claim non-neutrality, one eventually would be left admitting one was too careless to learn or that one is actually not free from ignorance and delusion) and therefor volitionally careless and ergo not benign. Does an ethically-neutral, non-benign, careless-selflessness share that much difference with an inflated sociopath who subtly reifies self and even self-identity as 'flesh and blood human being' in terms of a posteri results? If he is smoking because he is 'free' and not because he actually not-free, then does he intend on smoking? If he intends, what causes the mind to move leading to the smoking behavior? If you say it is because he thinks through and decides on principle, then what caused that thought to arise etc? One eventually sees that neurochemical impulses are to blame. Impulses in this case equates to saying it's cause is instinctual. So if he intends to smoke, he isn't free from instincts, no matter the rationalization proclaimed. If he doesn't intend to smoke then how can he be properly called free, as behavior without intent is tautologically identical to random behavior. ")"Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-40851413881980211092012-07-26T10:21:12.403+08:002012-07-26T10:21:12.403+08:00Yes Unknown,
Habitual tendencies continue to surf...Yes Unknown,<br /><br />Habitual tendencies continue to surface after initial insight and that can only go after even further developments of insight and tranquility in tandem tuned towards the uprooting of latent tendencies.<br /><br />In my experience, those afflictions have sort of seemingly disappeared in direct NDNCDIMOP or PCE which is effortless and perpetual, but one must never be so deluded as to think the tendencies are no longer there and no longer surface.<br /><br />However, I do not believe Richard has overcome those latent tendencies.<br /><br />As I wrote in my currently-61-pages article Actual Freedom and Buddhism - http://www.box.net/shared/sbyi64jrms<br /><br />"...He also mentioned that in practice, one should be sincere about tendencies because it conveys the deeper disposition. For example, when I asked Thusness for his opinion on Richard’s self-confessed habit of smoking, active sex-life, etc, he talks about them as examples of ‘deeper disposition’ that will not be removed even after maturing the insight of anatta.<br /><br />In fact according to Buddha’s standards, if you are still having sex and smoking, you cannot by definition be an arhant since you have already transgressed 2 out of 9 principles (the third and the fifth) that an Arhant cannot transgress due to the complete end of fermentations and the ‘deeper dispositions’ and any subtle cravings that Thusness spoke of. (see http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an09/an09.007.than.html) By Buddha’s standards (the commentaries, and the modern masters, and Daniel Ingram all have different standards. The Buddha, in particular, taught the Fetter Model: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sot%C4%81panna , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakadagami , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An%C4%81g%C4%81mi , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arahant). Having a realization of Anatta does not mean you have ended the deeper dispositions.<br /><br />Although it does seem that in this clean apperception, it appears untainted by any sense of a self/Self or any emotions, it is direct, immediate, experience of the senses in its purity without being sullied by any kind of afflictions. Yet this does not mean that tendencies and habits indicative of craving (though may not manifest in the form of vivid emotions of lust, etc) are still surfacing. And as the Buddha said in MN22: “Bhikkhus, that one can engage in sensual pleasures without sensual desires, without perceptions of sensual desire, without thoughts of sensual desire – that is impossible.”Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-29087173609899040132012-07-26T09:58:16.764+08:002012-07-26T09:58:16.764+08:00Interesting but I see a lack of mention of instict...Interesting but I see a lack of mention of instictual passions such as anger , lust etc<br /><br />After stream-entry one realizes that there is no-self. one is just like a car is. There is a car but that is just a mental construct - actually there are only interdependent parts giving the impression of a soild new thing called car. Same is the human mind-body - there are only interdependent parts.<br /><br />But the question occurs - having seen that there is no-self (at stream entry ) then why .is the feeling of self still arising ? The answer immediately comes - the feeling of self that arises is because of the habitual tendencies ( which Richard from AF has much better named it as instinctual passions ) and thus one MUST go about eliminating these instinctual passions and only then and only then can the feeling of self stop arising.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02745302910236908656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-36545023700326934522012-04-10T05:54:04.769+08:002012-04-10T05:54:04.769+08:00Hmm actually I think Thusness did an amazing job a...Hmm actually I think Thusness did an amazing job at writing down his path of insights in such a short and concise way.Sohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416159880942160813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-79410574706489022922012-04-10T00:51:00.203+08:002012-04-10T00:51:00.203+08:00So many words; such categoriesSo many words; such categoriesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3225985453951330898.post-33966431030127179172011-12-05T05:26:18.887+08:002011-12-05T05:26:18.887+08:002 cents worth...
So many words to read, like the w...2 cents worth...<br />So many words to read, like the world so many ideas.<br />Perhaps practicing what is shared through religions or any practice is a PROCESS, a way or ways to the point.<br />It is not easy to explain or tell that which is, from experience, or perhaps I am just not well equipped to explain. But, by educating on the PROCESS and by DOING it, the student or practitioner will reach there by themselves.<br />And I read that you are going to have an ebook, congratulations. Be aware that in another time period here in this world, there are stuff not taught openly as you can observe what happened to religions and other practices. Many factors led to what it is now, at least with the fragments, a sincere practitioner will reach their desired goal eventually.<br />Nonetheless good effort on your part in your attempt to share.LightningBolthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02800925076147581065noreply@blogger.com