If you have suggestions for translation improvements or can translate to other languages, please contact: Contact Us


Updates:

Recommendation: "The shortened AtR guide is very good. It should lead one to anatta if they really go and read. Concise and direct." - Yin Ling

(Soh: This article was written by my teacher, "Thusness"/"PasserBy". I have personally experienced these phases of realizations.)


NOTE: The stages are nothing authoritative, merely for sharing purposes. The article On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection is a good reference for these 7 phases of experience. The original six stages of experience has been updated to seven stages of experience, with the addition of 'Stage 7: Presence is Spontaneously Perfected' for readers to understand that seeing the nature of reality as the ground of all experiences which is Always So, is important for effortlessness to take place.

Based on: http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=210722&page=3

Comments below are by Thusness unless explicitly stated to be from Soh.

(First written: 20th September 2006, Last Updated by Thusness: 27th August 2012, Last Updated by Soh: 22nd January 2019)

Stage 1: The Experience of “I AM”

It was about 20 years back and it all started with the question of “Before birth, who am I?” I do not know why but this question seemed to capture my entire being. I could spend days and nights just sitting focusing, pondering over this question; till one day, everything seemed to come to a complete standstill, not even a single thread of thought arose. There was merely nothing and completely void, only this pure sense of existence. This mere sense of I, this Presence, what was it? It was not the body, not thought as there was no thought, nothing at all, just Existence itself. There was no need for anyone to authenticate this understanding.

At that moment of realization, I experienced a tremendous flow of energy being released. It was as if life was expressing itself through my body and I was nothing but this expression. However at that point in time, I was still unable to fully understand what this experience was and how I had misunderstood its nature.


Comments by Soh: This is also the First Stage of the Five Ranks of Tozan Ryokai (a Zen Buddhism map of awakening), called "The Apparent within the Real". This phase can also be described as an oceanic Ground of Being or Source devoid of the sense of individuality/personal self, described here by Thusness in 2006:
"Like a river flowing into the ocean, the self dissolves into nothingness. When a practitioner becomes thoroughly clear about the illusionary nature of the individuality, subject-object division does not take place. A person experiencing “AMness” will find “AMness in everything”. What is it like?

Being freed from individuality -- coming and going, life and death, all phenomenon merely pop in and out from the background of the AMness. The AMness is not experienced as an ‘entity’ residing anywhere, neither within nor without; rather it is experienced as the ground reality for all phenomenon to take place. Even in the moment of subsiding (death), the yogi is thoroughly authenticated with that reality; experiencing the ‘Real’ as clear as it can be. We cannot lose that AMness; rather all things can only dissolve and re-emerges from it. The AMness has not moved, there is no coming and going. This "AMness" is God.

Practitioners should never mistake this as the true Buddha Mind! "I AMness" is the pristine awareness. That is why it is so overwhelming. Just that there is no 'insight' into its emptiness nature."  (Excerpt from Buddha Nature is NOT "I Am")

Soh: To realize I AM, the most direct method is Self-Inquiry, asking yourself 'Before birth, Who am I?' or just 'Who am I?' See: What is your very Mind right now?, self-inquiry chapter in The Awakening to Reality Practice Guide and AtR Guide - abridged version and Awakening to Reality: A Guide to the Nature of Mind and my free e-bookTips on Self Enquiry: Investigate Who am I, Not 'Ask' Who am I, The Direct Path to Your Real SelfRamana Maharshi's text 'Who am I?' (https://app.box.com/s/v8r7i8ng17cxr1aoiz9ca1jychct6v84) and his book 'Be As You Are', Ch'an Master Hsu Yun's texts and books which you can read an example from Essentials Of Chan Practice (Hua Tou/Self Enquiry), and other self-inquiry book recommendations in Book Recommendations 2019 and Practice Advices or these youtube videos:
Personally, asking myself 'Before birth, Who am I?' for two years led to my doubtless certainty of Being/Self-Realisation. Do note that very often, one is having glimpses and experiences of I AM or vivid spaciousness or some recognition of being an observer, but all these are not the I AM Realization of Thusness Stage 1, nor is Stage 1 realization merely a state of clarity. Self-Inquiry will lead to doubtless realization. I had glimpses of I AM on and off for three years before my doubtless Self-Realization in February 2010 which I wrote in my first journal entry of my free e-book. On the differences, see I AM Experience/Glimpse/Recognition vs I AM Realization (Certainty of Being) and the first point in Realization and Experience and Non-Dual Experience from Different Perspectives  

For further progress after I AM realization, focus on Four Aspects of I AM, contemplating the two stanzas of anatta in On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection and Two Types of Nondual Contemplation

Many people I know (including Thusness himself) were/are stuck at Phase 1~3 for decades or their whole life without much progress due to lack of clear pointers and guidance, but by following Thusness's advice on the four aspects and contemplation on anatta (no-self), I was able to progress from Phase 1 realization to Phase 5 in less than a year, back in 2010.

Stage 2: The Experience of “I AM Everything”

It seemed that my experience was supported by many Advaita and Hindu teachings. But the biggest mistake I made was when I spoke to a Buddhist friend. He told me about the doctrine of no-self, about no ‘I’. I rejected such doctrine outright as it was in direct contradiction with what I had experienced. I was deeply confused for some time and could not appreciate why Buddha had taught this doctrine and worse still, make it a Dharma Seal. Until one day, I experienced the fusing of everything into ‘Me’ but somehow there was no ‘me’. It was like an “I-less I’. I somehow accepted the 'no I' idea but then I still insisted that Buddha shouldn't have put it that way...

The experience was wonderful, it was as if I was totally emancipated, a complete release without boundary. I told myself, “I am totally convinced that I am no longer confused”, so I wrote a poem (something like the below),

I am the rain
I am the sky
I am the ‘blueness’
The color of the sky
Nothing is more real than the I
Therefore Buddha, I am I.

There is a phrase for this experience -- Whenever and wherever there IS, the IS is Me. This phrase was like a mantra to me. I often used this to lead me back into the experience of Presence.

The rest of the journey was the unfolding and further refining of this experience of Total Presence, but somehow there was always this blockage, this ‘something’ preventing me from recapturing the experience. It was the inability to fully ‘die’ into total Presence..

Comments by Soh: The following excerpt should clarify about this phase:
 
“It is bringing this I AM into everything. I AM the I in you. The I in the cat, the I in the bird. I AM the first person in everyone and Everything. I. That is my second phase. That the I is ultimate and universal.” - John Tan, 2013
 


Stage 3: Entering Into a State of Nothingness

Somehow something was blocking the natural flow of my innermost essence and preventing me from re-living the experience. Presence was still there but there was no sense of ‘totality’. It was both logically and intuitively clear that ‘I’ was the problem. It was the ‘I’ that was blocking; it was the ‘I’ that was the limit; it was the ‘I’ that was the boundary but why couldn’t I do away with it? At that point in time it didn’t occur to me that I should look into the nature of awareness and what awareness is all about. Instead, I was too occupied with the art of entering into a state of oblivion to get rid of the ‘I’... This continued for the next 13+ years (in between of course there were many other minor events and the experience of total presence did occur many times, but with gaps a few months long)…

However I came to one important understanding –
The ‘I’ is the root cause of all artificialities, true freedom is in spontaneity. Surrender into complete nothingness and everything is simply Self So.


Comments by Soh: 

Here's something Thusness wrote to me about Stage 3 while I was having some glimpses of Stage 1 and 2 in 2008,

"Associating 'death of I' with vivid luminosity of your experience is far too early.  This will lead you into erroneous views because there is also the experience of practitioners by way of complete surrendering or elimination (dropping) like Taoist practitioners.  An experience of deep bliss that is beyond that of what you experienced can occur.  But the focus is not on luminosity but effortlessness, naturalness and spontaneity.  In complete giving up, there is no 'I' ; it is also needless to know anything; in fact 'knowledge' is considered a stumbling block.  The practitioner drops away mind, body, knowledge...everything.  There is no insight, there is no luminosity there is only total allowing of whatever that happens, happen in its own accord.  All senses including consciousness are shut and fully absorbed.  Awareness of 'anything' is only after emerging from that state.

One is the experience of vivid luminosity while the other is a state of oblivious.  It is therefore not appropriate to relate the complete dissolving of 'I' with what you experienced alone."

Also see this article for comments on Stage 3: http://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2019/03/thusnesss-comments-on-nisargadatta.html 

However, it is only at Thusness Stage 4 and 5 that one realizes that the effortless and natural way to give up self/Self is through the realization and actualization of anatta as an insight, not through entering a special or altered state of trance, samadhi, absorption or oblivion. As Thusness wrote before,
"...it seems that lots of effort need to be put in -- which is really not the case. The entire practice turns out to an undoing process. It is a process of gradually understanding the workings of our nature that is from beginning liberated but clouded by this sense of ‘self’ that is always trying to preserve, protect and ever attached. The entire sense of self is a ‘doing’. Whatever we do, positive or negative, is still doing. Ultimately there is not-even a letting go or let be, as there is already continuous dissolving and arising and this ever dissolving and arising turns out to be self-liberating. Without this ‘self’ or ‘Self’, there is no ‘doing’, there is only spontaneous arising. "

~ Thusness (source: Non-dual and karmic patterns)

"...When one is unable to see the truth of our nature, all letting go is nothing more than another from of holding in disguise. Therefore without the 'insight', there is no releasing.... it is a gradual process of deeper seeing. when it is seen, the letting go is natural. You cannot force yourself into giving up the self... purification to me is always these insights... non-dual and emptiness nature...."


Stage 4: Presence as Mirror Bright Clarity

I got in touch with Buddhism in 1997. Not because I wanted to find out more about the experience of ‘Presence’ but rather the teaching of impermanence synced deeply with what I was experiencing in life. I was faced with the possibility of losing all my wealth and more by financial crisis. At that point in time I had no idea that Buddhism is so profoundly rich on the aspect of ‘Presence’. The mystery of life cannot be understood, I sought for a refuge in Buddhism to alleviate my sorrows caused by the financial crisis, but it turned out to be the missing key towards experiencing total presence.

I wasn’t that resistant then to the doctrine of ‘no-self’ but the idea that all phenomenal existence is empty of an inherent ‘self’ or ‘Self’ did not quite get into me. Were they talking about the ‘self’ as a personality or ‘Self’ as ‘Eternal Witness’? Must we do away even with the ‘Witness’? Was the Witness itself another illusion?

There is thinking, no thinker
There is sound, no hearer
Suffering exists, no sufferer
Deeds there are, no doer

I was meditating on the meaning of the above stanza deeply until one day, suddenly I heard ‘tongss…’, it was so clear, there was nothing else, just the sound and nothing else! And ‘tongs…’ resounding… It was so clear, so vivid!

That experience was so familiar, so real and so clear. It was the same experience of “I AM”… it was without thought, without concepts, without intermediary, without anyone there, without any in-between… What was it? IT was Presence! But this time it was not ‘I AM’, it was not asking ‘who am I’, it was not the pure sense of “I AM”, it was ‘TONGSss….’, the pure Sound…
Then came Taste, just the Taste and nothing else….
The heart beats…
The Scenery…

There was no gap in between, no longer a few months gap for it to arise…
There never was a stage to enter, no I to cease and never had it existed
There is no entry and exit point…
There is no Sound out there or in here…
There is no ‘I’ apart from the arising and ceasing…
The manifold of Presence…
Moment to moment Presence unfolds…

Comments:

This is the beginning of seeing through no-self. Insight into no-self has arisen but non-dual experience is still very much 'Brahman' rather than 'Sunyata'; in fact it is more Brahman than ever. Now "I AMness" is experienced in All.

Nevertheless it is a very important key phase where the practitioner experiences a quantum leap in perception untying the dualistic knot. This is also the key insight leading to the realization that "All is Mind", all is just this One Reality.

The tendency to extrapolate an Ultimate Reality or Universal Consciousness where we are part of this Reality remains surprisingly strong. Effectively the dualistic knot is gone but the bond of seeing things inherently isn't. 'Dualistic' and 'inherent' knots that prevent the full experiencing of our Maha, empty and non-dual nature of pristine awareness are two very different 'perceptual spells' that blind.

The subsection "On Second Stanza" of the post "On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection" further elaborates this insight.
Comments by Soh:

The beginning of non-dual realization and the gateless gate without entry and exit. One no longer seeks after a state of oblivion to get rid of self as in the case of Stage 3 but starts to realize and actualize the always-already-so of no-self and non-dual nature of Awareness. Still, Stage 4 tends to end up in the case of dissolving separateness into the pole of an ultimate pure subjectivity rather than seeing consciousness as the mere flow of phenomenality as in Stage 5, thus leaving traces of an Absolute.

Thusness wrote in 2005:

"Without 'self' oneness is immediately attained. There is only and always this Isness. Subject has always been the Object of observation. This is true samadhi without entering trance. Completely understanding this truth. It is the true way towards liberation. Every sound, sensation, arising of consciousness is so clear, real and vivid. Every moment is samadhi. The tip of the fingers in contact with the keyboard, mysteriously created the contact consciousness, what is it? Feel the entirety of beingness and realness. There is no subject... just Isness. No thought, there really is no thought and no 'self'. Only Pure Awareness.", "How could anyone understand? The crying, the sound, the noise is buddha. It is all the experience of Thusness. To know the true meaning of this, Hold not even the slightest trace of 'I'. In the most natural state of ILessNess, All Is. Even if one said the same statement, the depth of experience differs. The is no point convincing anyone. Can anyone understand? Any form of rejection, Any sort of division Is to reject buddhahood. If there is a slightest sense of a subject, an experiencer, we miss the point. Natural Awareness is subjectless. The vividness and clarity. Feel, taste, see and hear with totality. There is always no 'I'. Thank you Buddha, You truly know. :)"


Stage 5: No Mirror Reflecting

There is no mirror reflecting
All along manifestation alone is.
The one hand claps
Everything IS!

Effectively Phase 4 is merely the experience of non-division between subject/object. The initial insight glimpsed from the anatta stanza is without self but in the later phase of my progress it appeared more like subject/object as an inseparable union, rather than absolutely no-subject. This is precisely the 2nd case of the Three levels of understanding Non-Dual. I was still awed by the pristineness and vividness of phenomena in phase 4.

Phase 5 is quite thorough in being no one and I would call this anatta in all 3 aspects -- no subject/object division, no doer-ship and absence of agent.

The trigger point here is the direct and thorough seeing that 'the mirror is nothing more than an arising thought'. With this, the solidity and all the grandeur of 'Brahman' goes down the drain. Yet it feels perfectly right and liberating without the agent and being simply as an arising thought or as a vivid moment of a bell resounding. All the vividness and presence remains, with an additional sense of freedom. Here a mirror/reflection union is clearly understood as flawed, there is only vivid reflection. There cannot be a 'union' if there isn't a subject to begin with. It is only in subtle recalling, that is in a thought recalling a previous moment of thought, that the watcher seems to exist. From here, I moved towards the 3rd degree of non-dual.

The Stanza One complements and refines Stanza Two to make the experience of no-self thorough and effortless into just only chirping birds, drum beats, footsteps, sky, mountain, walking, chewing and tasting; no witness whatsoever hiding anywhere! 'Everything' is a process, event, manifestation and phenomenon, nothing ontological or having an essence.

This phase is a very thorough non-dual experience; there is effortlessness in the non-dual and one realizes that in seeing there is always just scenery and in hearing, always just sounds. We find true delights in naturalness and ordinariness as commonly expressed in Zen as 'chop wood, carry water; spring comes, grass grows'. With regards to ordinariness (see "On Maha in Ordinariness"), this must also be correctly understood. A recent conversation with Simpo summarizes what I am trying to convey with regards to ordinariness. Simpo (Longchen) is a very insightful and sincere practitioner, there are some very good quality articles written by him regarding non-duality in his website Dreamdatum.

Yes Simpo,

Non-dual is ordinary as there is no 'beyond' stage to arrive at. It appears to be extraordinary and grandeur only as an afterthought due to comparison.

That said, the maha experience appearing as "universe chewing" and the spontaneity of pristine happening must still remain maha, free, boundless and clear. For that is what it is and cannot be otherwise. The "extraordinariness and grandeur" that result from comparison must also be correctly discerned from the 'what is' of non-dual.

Whenever contraction steps in, it is already a manifestation of 'experiencer-experience split'. Conventionally speaking, that being the cause, that is the effect. Whatever the condition is, be it the result of unfavorable situations or subtle recalling to arrive at a certain good sensation or attempting to fix an imaginary split, we have to treat it that the 'non-dual' insight has not pervaded into our entire being like the way 'karmic tendency to divide' does. We have not fearlessly, openly and unreservedly welcomed whatever is. :-)

Just my view, a casual sharing.
Practitioners up to this level often get over excited believing that this phase is final; in fact it does appear to be a sort of pseudo finality. But this is a misunderstanding. Nothing much can be said. The practitioner will also be naturally led into spontaneous perfection without going further in emptying the aggregates. :-)

For further comments: http://buddhism.sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/210722?page=6

Comments:

The drop is thorough, the center is gone. The center is nothing more than a subtle karmic tendency to divide. A more poetic expression would be “sound hears, scenery sees, the dust is the mirror.” Transient phenomena themselves have always been the mirror; only a strong dualistic view prevents the seeing.

Very often cycles after cycles of refining our insights are needed to make the non-dual less 'concentrative' and more 'effortless'. This relates to experiencing the non-solidity and spontaneity of experience. The subsection "On First Stanza" of the post "On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection" further elaborates this phase of insight.

At this phase, we must be clear that emptying the subject will only result in non-duality and there is a need to further empty the aggregates, 18 dhatus. This means one must further penetrate the emptiness nature of the 5 aggregates, 18 dhatus with dependent origination and emptiness. The need to reify a Universal Brahman is understood as the karmic tendency to 'solidify' experiences. This leads to the understanding of the empty nature of non-dual presence.
Stage 6: The Nature of Presence is Empty

Phase 4 and 5 are the grayscale of seeing through the subject that it does not exist in actuality (anatta), there are only the aggregates. However even the aggregates are empty (Heart Sutra). It may sound obvious but more often than not, even a practitioner who has matured the anatta experience (as in phase 5) will miss the essence of it.

As I have said earlier, phase 5 does appear to be final and it is pointless to emphasize anything. Whether one proceeds further to explore this empty nature of Presence and move into the Maha world of suchness will depend on our conditions.

At this juncture, it is necessary to have clarity on what Emptiness is not to prevent misunderstandings:

• Emptiness is not a substance
• Emptiness is not a substratum or background
• Emptiness is not light
• Emptiness is not consciousness or awareness
• Emptiness is not the Absolute
• Emptiness does not exist on its own
• Objects do not consist of emptiness
• Objects do not arise from emptiness
• Emptiness of the "I" does not negate the "I"
• Emptiness is not the feeling that results when no objects are appearing to the mind
• Meditating on emptiness does not consist of quieting the mind

Source: Non-Dual Emptiness Teaching
And I would like to add,

Emptiness is not a path of practice
Emptiness is not a form of fruition

Emptiness is the 'nature' of all experiences. There is nothing to attain or practice. What we have to realize is this empty nature, this ‘ungraspability’, ‘unlocatability ’ and ‘interconnectedness’ nature of all vivid arising. Emptiness will reveal that not only is there no ‘who’ in pristine awareness, there is no ‘where’ and ‘when’. Be it ‘I’, ‘Here’ or ’Now’, all are simply impressions that dependently originate in accordance with the principle of conditionality.

When there is this, that is.
With the arising of this, that arises.
When this is not, neither is that.
With the cessation of this, that ceases.
The profundity of this four-liner principle of conditionality is not in words. For a more theoretical exposition, see Non-Dual Emptiness Teachings by Dr. Greg Goode; for a more experiential narration, see the subsection "On Emptiness" and "On Maha" of the post "On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection".

Comments:

Here practice is clearly understood as neither going after the mirror nor escaping from the maya reflection; it is to thoroughly 'see' the 'nature' of reflection. To see that there is really no mirror other than the on-going reflection due to our emptiness nature. Neither is there a mirror to cling to as the background reality nor a maya to escape from. Beyond these two extreme lies the middle path -- the prajna wisdom of seeing that the maya is our Buddha nature.

Recently An Eternal Now has updated some very high quality articles that better described the maha experience of suchness. Do read the following articles:

- Emancipation of Suchness
- Buddha-Dharma: A Dream in a Dream

The last 3 subsections ("On Emptiness", "On Maha in Ordinariness", "Spontaneous Perfection") of the post "On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection" elaborates this phase of emptiness insight and the gradual progress of maturing the experience into the effortless mode of practice. It is important to know that in addition to the experience of the unfindability and ungraspability of emptiness, the interconnectedness of everything creating the Maha experience is equally precious.
Stage 7: Presence is Spontaneously Perfected

After cycles and cycles of refining our practice and insights, we will come to this realization:

Anatta is a seal, not a stage.
Awareness has always been non-dual.
Appearances have always been Non-arising.
All phenomena are ‘interconnected’ and by nature Maha.
All are always and already so. Only dualistic and inherent views are obscuring these experiential facts and therefore what is really needed is simply to experience whatever arises openly and unreservedly (See section "On Spontaneous Perfection"). However this does not denote the end of practice; practice simply moves to become dynamic and conditions-manifestation based. The ground and the path of practice become indistinguishable.

Comments:

The entire article of On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection can be seen as the different approaches toward the eventual realization of this already perfect and uncontrived nature of awareness.



Comments from Soh: 

You are welcome to join our discussion group on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AwakeningToReality/

As of now - Year 2019, about 12 years after this article was first written by Thusness, more than 30 people have realised anatta (2022 update: now more than 60 by my count!) through encountering this blog, myself or Thusness. I am glad that these articles and blog have been of a positive impact to the spiritual community, and I'm confident that it will continue to be of benefit to many more seekers in years to come.

It has come to my attention after all these years that despite the clear descriptions by Thusness above, the Thusness 7 Stages of insights are very often misapprehended. This is why further clarifications and elaborations are necessary.

Do refer to these articles for more commentaries by Thusness on the 7 stages:


Difference Between Thusness Stage 1 and 2 and other Stages 
Buddha Nature is NOT "I Am"
 
For more pointers on how to investigate and contemplate to attain each of those realizations above, see Book Recommendations 2019 and Practice Advise

It is important to note that it is common to have certain insights into no-self, impersonality and non-doership, and yet it is not the same as the insight of Thusness Stage 5 or even Thusness Stage 4, as discussed in Non-Doership is Not Yet Anatta Realization. If you think you realised Anatta or Stage 5, make sure to check out this article, as it is often very common to mistaken non-doership, substantialist non-duality or even a state of no-mind for the insight of anatta: Different Degress of No-Self: Non-Doership, Non-dual, Anatta, Total Exertion and Dealing with Pitfalls . It is my estimate that when someone says they have broken through to no-self, 95% to 99% of the time they are referring to impersonality or non-doership, not even non dual, let alone the true realization of anatman (Buddhism's no-self dharma seal).

Furthermore, another common mistake is to think that the peak experience of no-mind (where any trace or sense of being a subject/perceiver/self/Self behind experience temporarily dissolves and what's left is simply 'just experience' or 'just the vivid colors/sounds/scents/taste/touch/thought) is similar to the anatta 'dharma-seal' insight/realization of Thusness Stage 5. It is not the same. It is common to have an experience, but rare to have realization. Yet it is the realization of anatta that stabilizes the experience, or makes it effortless. For example, in my case, after the realization of anatta has arisen and stabilized, I do not have the slightest trace or sense of subject/object division or agency for about 8 years, till now, and John Tan reports the same for the past 20+ years (he realised anatta in 1997 and overcame the trace of background in a year or so). It should be noted that overcoming subject/object division and agency (which happens even at Thusness Stage 5) does not mean other subtler obscurations are eliminated -- the complete elimination of this is full Buddhahood (a topic that is discussed in the article Buddhahood: The End of All Emotional/Mental Afflictions and Knowledge Obscurations, as well as Traditional Buddhist Attainments: Arahantship and Buddhahood chapter in Awakening to Reality: A Guide to the Nature of Mind). That is natural after realization sinks in to replace the old paradigm or conditioned ways of perception, it's a bit like figuring out a picture puzzle and never unseeing it again. However this does not indicate an end or finality to practice, or the attainment of Buddhahood. Practice still goes on, it simply becomes dynamic and condition-based as stated in Stage 7, even Stage 7 is not a finality. The topic of experience vs realization is discussed further in No Mind and Anatta, Focusing on Insight. It is also common to fall into the disease of non-conceptuality, mistaking that as the source of liberation and thus clinging to or seeking a state of non-conceptuality as the main object of practice, whereas liberation comes only through the dissolving of ignorance and views (of subject/object duality, and inherent existence) that cause reification, by insight and realization. (See: The Disease of Non-Conceptuality) It is true that reification is conceptual. But merely training to be non-conceptual is simply suppressing the symptoms while not treating the cause - ignorance (resting in non-conceptual presencing is important as part of meditative training but must go along with wisdom [insight into anatta, dependent origination and emptiness] as the natural ongoing actualization of anatta). For non-reification leads to non-conceptuality but non-conceptuality itself does not lead to non-reified perception. 

So when insights into anatta, D.O. [dependent origination] and emptiness are realized and actualized, perception is naturally non-reified and non-conceptual. Furthermore we must see the empty and non-arising nature of all phenomena from the perspective of dependent origination. Thusness wrote in 2014, "Be it Buddha himself, Nagarjuna or Tsongkhapa, none [of them] never got overwhelmed and amazed with the profundity of dependent origination. It is just that we do not have the wisdom to penetrate enough depth of it." and "Actually if you do not see Dependent Origination, you do not see Buddhism [i.e. the essence of Buddhadharma]. Anatta is just the beginning." 

It is also necessary to understand that the 7 stages are not rankings of 'importance', but are simply the order of how certain insights unfolded in Thusness's journey, although I too have gone through the stages in pretty much the same order. Each realization in the Thusness 7 Stages is important and precious. The realization of 'I AMness' should not be seen as being 'less important' or 'arbitrary' when compared with the realization of emptiness, and I often tell people to start with or go through the I AMness realization to bring out the aspect of luminosity first (for some others, this aspect will only be obvious in later phases of practice). Or as Thusness said in the past, we should "see all as important insights to release the deep karmic conditioning so that clarity becomes effortless, uncontrived, free and liberating." The phases of realizations may not necessarily arise in the same order or linear way for each person, and one may need to cycle through the insights a couple of times for 'deepening' (see: Are the insight stages strictly linear?)  Furthermore, as Thusness said, "The anatta I realized is quite unique. It is not just a realization of no-self. But it must first have an intuitive insight of Presence. Otherwise will have to reverse the phases of insights" (see: Anatta and Pure Presence)

And as Thusness wrote before, "Hi Jax, Despite all differences we may have about lower yanas, no practices needed, Absolute… I really appreciate your zealous attempt to bring this message into view and I agree with you wholeheartedly on this aspect of “transmission”. If one truly wants this essence to be “transmitted”, how can it be otherwise? For what that is to be passed is truly of different dimension, how can it be adulterated with words and forms? The ancient teachers are extremely serious observing and waiting for the right condition to pass the essence unreservedly and wholeheartedly. So much so that when the essence is transmitted, it must boil the blood and penetrate deep into the bone marrow. The entire body-mind must become one opening eye. Once open, everything turns “spirit”, mind intellect drops and what’s left is aliveness and intelligence everywhere! Jax, I sincerely hope you well, just don’t leave trace in the Absolute. Gone!"

Also, it is very important to understand that having a conceptual understanding of no-self, dependent origination and emptiness is very different from direct realization. As I told Mason Spransy in The Importance of Luminosity, it is very possible to have the conceptual understanding of Stage 6 but lacking in direct realization (see: Suchness / Mason Spransy). As Thusness pointed out in Purpose of Madhyamaka, if after all the analysis and contemplations of Madhyamaka (Buddhist emptiness teachings taught by Nagarjuna) one is unable to realize that the mundane is precisely where one's natural radiance is fully expressed, a separate pointing is necessary.

Many may wonder, why the need for so many phases of insights? Is there a way to reach liberation instantly? Some people find all these stages and information to be overly complex. Isn't truth something that is direct and simple? For the fortunate few (or perhaps, someone of 'higher capacity'), like Bahiya of the Bark Clothe, they were able to attain liberation immediately upon hearing a single verse of Dhamma/Dharma from the Buddha. For the majority of us, there is a process of uncovering truth and penetrating our thick layers of delusions. It is very common to get stuck at a phase of realization and think that one has reached a finality (even in earlier phases like Thusness Stage 1), but are still unable to dissolve subtle identities and reification that cause clinging, thus preventing liberation. If one is able to penetrate by insight and dissolve all self/Self/identities/reifications at once, one may be liberated on the spot. But if (most likely the case) one does not have this capacity to penetrate all delusions at once, further pointings and phases of insights are necessary. As Thusness said, "Although Joan Tollifson spoke of the natural non-dual state as something “so simple, so immediate, so obvious, so ever-present that we often overlook”, we have to understand that to even come to this realization of the “Simplicity of What Is”, a practitioner will need to undergo a painstaking process of de-constructing the mental constructs.  We must be deeply aware of the ‘blinding spell’ in order to understand consciousness.  I believe Joan must have gone through a period of deep confusions, not to under-estimate it. :)" (Excerpt from: Three Paradigms with Nondual Luminosity
 
As John Tan said,
"Though buddha nature is plainness and most direct, these are still the steps. If one does not know the process and said ‘yes this is it’… then it is extremely misleading. For 99 percent [of ‘realized’/’enlightened’ persons] what one is talking about is "I AMness", and has not gone beyond permanence, still thinking [of] permanence, formless… ...all and almost all will think of it along the line of "I AMness", all are like the grandchildren of "AMness", and that is the root cause of duality.” - John Tan, 2007

The stages are like a raft, it’s for the purpose of crossing over,
it’s for the purpose of giving up our delusions and clinging, rather than for clinging on as some sort of dogma. It is a skillful means to guide seekers to realise their nature of mind and to point out the pitfalls and blindspots. Once realized, all the insights are actualized moment to moment and one no longer thinks about stages, and neither will one hold onto an ideation of having an attainment nor an attainer, nor somewhere else to get to. The whole luminous field of display is simply zero-dimensional suchness, empty and non-arisen. In other words, once the raft or ladder has served its purpose, it is left aside rather than carried up the shore. As Thusness wrote in 2010, "In actuality, there is no ladder or no 'no self' whatsoever. Just this breath, this passing scent, this arising sound. No expression can be clearer then this/these obviousness. Plain and Simple!" But what Thusness said here is referring to the post-anatta-realization actualization. It is easy induce a state of no-mind experience -- for example there are many stories about Zen masters giving a completely unexpected blow, a shout, a pinch on your nose out of a sudden, and in that moment of pain and shock, all sense of self and indeed all concepts are completely forgotten and only the vivid pain remains. This can induce what we call an experience of no-mind (a peak experience of no-self/no-subject) but should not be mistaken as the realization of anatta. However, anatta realization is what makes no-mind into an effortless natural state. Most of those teachers who have access to nondual experience that I’ve seen only express a state of no-mind but not the realization of anatta. As mentioned earlier, this topic is discussed further in No Mind and Anatta, Focusing on Insight and the fourth point of Realization and Experience and Non-Dual Experience from Different Perspectives. Hence, until the 7 phases are realized and actualized, the map is still very useful.

Thusness also wrote many years ago commenting on someone discussing Dzogchen practice as the realization of the luminous essence and integrating it into all experience and activities, "I understand what he meant and but the way it is taught (Soh: i.e. discussed by the person) is misleading. It is simply non-dual experience and experiencing presence in both the foreground and background and in the 3 states (Soh: waking, dreaming, dreamless deep sleep). That is not realizing our true empty nature but our luminous essence... ...understand the difference between luminosity and empty nature (Soh: luminosity here refers to the aspect of Presence-Awareness, and emptiness refers to the lack of intrinsic existence or essence of Presence/Self/Phenomena)... ...Very often, people rely on the experience and not true realization of the view. The right view (Soh: of anatta (no-self), dependent origination and emptiness) is like a neutralizer that neutralizes dualistic and inherent views; by itself, there is nothing to hold. So realize what right view is pointing and all experiences will come naturally. The right enlightenment experience is like what (Zen Master) Dogen described, not merely a non-dual state where experiencer and what's experienced collapses into a non-dual stream of experience. This I have told you clearly." (Updated comments: True Dzogchen teachings on the other hand is completely consistent in line with the realization of anatman and shunyata, see Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith's writings for a start https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2014/02/clarifications-on-dharmakaya-and-basis_16.html)

Lastly, I'll end with something Thusness wrote in 2012, "You cannot talk about emptiness and liberation without talking about awareness. Instead understand the empty nature of awareness and see awareness as this single activity of manifestation. I do not see practice apart from realizing the essence and nature of awareness. The only difference is seeing Awareness as an ultimate essence or realizing awareness as this seamless activity that fills the entire Universe. When we say there is no scent of a flower, the scent is the flower.... that is because the mind, body, universe are all together deconstructed into this single flow, this scent and only this... Nothing else. That is the Mind that is no mind. There is not an Ultimate Mind that transcends anything in the Buddhist enlightenment. The mind Is this very manifestation of total exertion... wholly thus. Therefore there is always no mind, always only this vibration of moving train, this cooling air of the air-con, this breath... The question is after the 7 phases of insights can this be realized and experienced and becomes the ongoing activity of practice in enlightenment and enlightenment in practice -- practice-enlightenment." 

Also, he wrote in 2012, "Has awareness stood out? There is no concentration needed. When six entries and exits are pure and primordial, the unconditioned stands shining, relaxed and uncontrived, luminous yet empty. The purpose of going through the 7 phases of perception shift is for this... Whatever arises is free and uncontrived, that is the supreme path. Whatever arises has never left their nirvanic state... ... your current mode of practice [after those experiential insights] should be as direct and uncontrived as possible. When you see nothing behind and magical appearances are too empty, awareness is naturally lucid and free. Views and all elaborations dissolved, mind-body forgotten... just unobstructed awareness. Awareness natural and uncontrived is supreme goal. Relax and do nothing, Open and boundless, Spontaneous and free, Whatever arises is fine and liberated, This is the supreme path. Top/bottom, inside/outside, Always without center and empty (2-fold emptiness), Then view is fully actualized and all experiences are great liberation." In 2014, he said, "All 7 phases of insight can be realized and experienced, they are not verbiage. But perfection in terms of actualization in everyday life requires refining our view, meeting situations and dedication of quality time in anatta and total exertion. The problem is many do not have the discipline and perseverance."

You are welcome to join our discussion group on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AwakeningToReality/


p.s. If you like to read more of Thusness/PasserBy's writings, check out:

On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection
Realization and Experience and Non-Dual Experience from Different Perspectives
Early Forum Posts by Thusness
Part 2 of Early Forum Posts by Thusness
Part 3 of Early Forum Posts by Thusness
Early Conversations Part 4
Early Conversations Part 5
Early Conversations Part 6
Transcript of Lankavatara Sutra with Thusness 2007
Transcript with Thusness - Heart of Mahakashyapa, +A and -A Emptiness
Transcript with Thusness 2012 - Group Gathering
Transcript with Thusness - 2012 Self-Releasing A casual comment about Dependent Origination
Leaving traces or Attainment?
Emptiness as Viewless View and Embracing the Transience
Bringing Non-Dual to Foreground (Thusness wrote this to me after I was having nondual experiences after I AM but before anatta realization)
Putting aside Presence, Penetrate Deeply into Two Fold Emptiness (Thusness wrote this to me after I was having a deeper insight into anatta after an initial realization of anatta)
Reply to Yacine
Direct Seal of Great Bliss 
The Unbounded Field of Awareness 
Comments section of The Buddha on Non-Duality 
Why the Special Interest in Mirror? 
What is an Authentic Buddhist Teaching? 
The Path of Anatta
The Key Towards Pure Knowingness
The place where there is no earth, fire, wind, space, water  
AtR Blog Posts Tagged Under 'John Tan'


Update: a guidebook is now available as an aid to realize and actualize the insights presented on this blog. See https://app.box.com/s/157eqgiosuw6xqvs00ibdkmc0r3mu8jg

Update 2: A new abridged (much shorter and concise) version of the AtR guide is now available here: http://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2022/06/the-awakening-to-reality-practice-guide.html, this can be more useful for newcomers (130+ pages) as the original one (over 1000 pages long) may be too long to read for some. 

I highly recommend reading that free AtR Practice Guide. As Yin Ling said, "I think the shortened AtR guide is very good. It should lead one to anatta if they really go and read. Concise and direct."

Update: 9th September 2023 - AudioBook (Free) of the Awakening to Reality Practice Guide is now available on SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/soh-wei-yu/sets/the-awakening-to-reality 


Lastly, I would like to mention that this article -- the 7 Phases of Insights -- refers to the wisdom (prajna) aspect of the three trainings. However, to have an integral practice necessary for liberation, there are two other components - ethics and meditative composure (see: Measureless Mind (PDF)). To have a daily practice of sitting meditation is important as part of an integral spiritual path towards liberation, although meditation goes beyond just sitting, especially post-anatta. Thusness/John Tan still sits two hours a day or more today. Even if you are practicing inquiry, having a disciplined sitting practice is very helpful and has been important for me. (See: How silent meditation helped me with nondual inquiry). Also, see this teaching by Buddha on the importance of meditative composure conjoined with insight for the purposes of overcoming mental afflictions, and his instructions of mindfulness of breathing (Anapanasati) here