Enlightenment for Us Donkeys

This is from last March, 2006, but I think worth posting inasmuch as it
cover an ongoing discussion I've been having with this amazing teacher.

If it 's not too presumptuous, I thought I would make a few comments on
J-teacher's marvelous "Finding the Light Within." First of all, dear and
wonderful, J-teacher, I must, echoing Gloria, thank you very sincerely for
all your postings on Awareness, inasmuch as you are always and most
thoroughly RIGHT ON -- although perhaps requiring a level or two of
understanding or preparation that might not be immediately apparent or
reachable by some of us more Eeyore-esque types. And if these
"preparatory levels" are not required, why then are there not hundreds of
enlightened bodhisattvas spreading out all over this planet? Or perhaps
my name is not Ray Sender, but Race Ender - coming in last as usual, (as
I used to in teenage sailboat races, but always with the prettiest girl
as crew).
Anyway, onward to the fascinating essay at hand, and let me just say I
have not labored over these comments, but just wrote them from my heart
as spontaneously as possible. I will first quote J-teacher and then add
appropriate comments:

From The-Way-of-Light Yahoo list
J-TEACHER: I would like to further elucidate the "View" of The Way of
Light approach. Of course, anything we can do to develop greater love
and compassion in ourselves and others is always beneficial. However,
we are pursuing a different method here through the Way of Light to
achieve even greater impact on one's life and society.

This method entails exposing the cause of all un-compassionate action
and all un-loving intentions and deeds. Once the "impediments" to living a
truly spontaneously compassionate and beneficent life have been exposed,
self-liberated and resolved, one's natural Heart of love and compassion, the
Mother Light, will shine forth with tremendous power.

COMMENT: I find I can resolve "impediments" by "dissolving" all lateral
chest tensions (armorings) via smiling purrs that resonate the trachea on
both the inhale and exhale, which in turn vibrates the aorta/heart/
circulatory system. Done enough and thoroughly, the heart is liberated to
beam in all directions. I suggest this as a very easy and natural method
that can be practiced sub-vocally in all settings (Just recently I purred
silently through a full day's conference, or at least for about three hours
of it!)

J-TEACHER: You see, without our compassion having power and strength,
guided by the Light of Wisdom, the brilliance of our own intrinsic
Awareness, our actions may be only of "token" benefit with no lasting
result. So the question becomes rather, how do we empower our lives
authentically from the domain of infinite Goodness, the very core of our
own Being? This intrinsically present core of infinite Goodness has its own
Wisdom that self-illuminates and guides one's actions in bringing benefit
and blessings to all beings spontaneously. Why is this not apparently
"working" in our lives now?

COMMENT: It's not "working" in many lives because dissolving the
impediments (armorings) has not been made easy enough, nor have the
methods offered been shown to be very natural. (well, you do point to our
innate buddhahood as the basically natural state, but still... again, where
are the thousands of liberated beings?)

J-TEACHER: [snip]
Every time we carry on a "train of thought" we are empowering this
"ego-consciousness", the unsuspected interloper and "hijacker" of our
Bliss. Why do we keep doing that? From habit and not knowing better.
Both "good thoughts" and "bad thoughts" empower this confused "mind of
thinking" equally. At that level of consciousness: "Any thought is
better than no thought" it thinks! And you know what? Its suspicions
are accurate, for "no thought" means no energy is being fed to this
engine of self-centered consciousness. What would happen if we stopped
feeding our "minds" with thought-energy?

COMMENT: But HOW? The ability to just 'stop feeding thought-energy' is
for the highly advanced and/or talented student. But I think there is
an easier way for us donkeys: when waves of bliss pour out of our hearts,
they overpower thought-energy, and the 'thinker' is just swept along,
like a surfer riding in the 'tube.'

J-TEACHER: A couple of things would occur: eventually our minds would
become calm AND we would notice underlying and along with this
"confused thinking mind" exists a pure and pristine Awareness that
intrinsically contains all the Joy, Compassion and Wisdom one could
ever imagine possible. We would also find these newly revealed treasures
as having been present and available all along! How amazing!!

COMMENT: Again, but HOW? We can unveil our own innate heart-self,
yes. But again, how do we donkeys achieve this melting-away of obstacles
easily and naturally?

J-TEACHER: The more we reduce the obsessive activities of empowering
our "thinking mind", the greater the chances of our experiencing our
pure and perfect Presence of Awareness, the ever-present Son-Light. As
our "thinking mind" drops away from lack of being energized, we now find
our newly ascended and now prominent Awareness supreme within the
primordial domain of the Clear Light of our Being. By further "bathing"
ourselves in this Presence of Awareness beyond "thinking mind", we discover
within the depths of our Being, the original womb of infinite Love,
Joy and Compassion, illuminating our Awareness from within, known as the
Mother-Light. It is here we discover our true Power, the Heart of
Unconditional Love and the Wisdom that brings benefit to all beings
without bias or choice. All the empowering Energies of Infinite Goodness
are now manifesting directly in and through our daily actions from moment
to moment. Without any diversions of that Energy now feeding the
consciousness of an imagined self and generating its wasteland of confusion
and pain, we are totally Aware and truly empowered.

COMMENT: So beautiful and so true. But again, the HOW? The how easily HOW?

J-TEACHER: To come to this state of Awareness of our own Being, we have to radically "cut" the tree of confused "thinking mind" at the root. We do this by cutting off our trance-like dependence on "thinking" and "imagining" from moment to moment. When you catch your self "thinking" just gently pull your attention away into this present moment, free of thought. Practice this continuously. If we are completely free of "thinking", we have eliminated the root suffering.

COMMENT: Yes, this is very elegant and beautiful, and does indeed work very well. I love it! But also I find that I can just "drop" into the heart with the smile/purr/snarl method. Once centered in the chest, the head just falls into its proper place as a thinking 'appendage' and not the fake center any longer. Also I sometimes copy the Zen master Hakuin's facial mudra as depicted in his self-portrait.


Please note the slightly crossed eyes and the suggestion that the cheeks are drawn in because of the vacuum created between the soft palette and the tongue. Also, I 'intuit' that the front chin muscle is drawn up slightly (this I consider the 'compassion mudra.')

J-TEACHER: As our underlying Presence of Awareness becomes more dominant, and our "thinking mind" drops into the background, which is the reverse of our current situation, a Knowingness will become vividly present in all situations. A subtle intuition will now guide us towards skillful action, without having to rely on "thought". At that juncture, your potential energies of thought will now arise as the mirror-like "clarity" of your Awareness, without ever developing into "thoughts" which are of a much coarser nature and vibration, the vibration of ego-consciousness. "Thinking-mind" is the function of our deluded ego-consciousness. "Knowing" Awareness is spontaneous, thoroughly creative and always arises from the Heart of Compassion. It's "ok" to drop your "thinking mind"! But just listen to your ego now! "Oh, no, we can't do that... what if.... blah, blah blah...!" Look where "listening to your ego-mind" has gotten you so far! Fearlessly, and without the slightest tinge of hesitation, just cut it off at the knees, no on second thought, better cut it off at the root! Be diligent and thorough from moment to moment. To clarify, this "chopping off" of thought is really very subtle. You simply "notice" and then immediately "stop paying attention" to any and every thought that passes through your Awareness. "Thinking" is a kind of trance that "distracts" us from our current "here and now" environment. We are to the degree of our distraction, out of touch with our with Hearts as well.

Following this practice of "dropping mind and thought", your Awareness will eventually self-liberate all thought spontaneously, without any need for practice or effort. The more you simply remain in Presence of Awareness, resting relaxed yet fully alert, you will experience greater dissolution of the ego and it's "thinking mind". Having arrived home, centered within the Mother Light of your own Being, you are now joyously free in living out your life of choiceless service for the benefit of all beings, beyond hesitation nor need for "thinking" what one should or should not do!

COMMENT: Yes, really so very perfect and wonderful! I find there is a place where the heartbeat pulses within the voice, perhaps most easily practiced with a steady tone such as OMMM... If the heartbeat modulates the steady tone, and you 'speak' from that pitch and modulation, you cannot help but speak from the heart in a 'heartfelt' manner.

This is also why when a singer sings with a natural vibrato, not a 'faked' one, we find it so very moving. I suppose, in a sense, this 'heartfelt' voice can be practiced and applied as just a 'technique,' but then perhaps not. Because if the practice produces the natural effect, you once again are drawn into the heart. I supposed I would have to go interview some professional singers to find out!

Does all this make sense? I feel very grateful for your lessons and comments, J-teacher, but I also feel that we must search for the very easiest access methods so they can be brought to the largest numbers of people! I would be very happy if others would try out the smile/snore/purr method and the Hakuin facial mudra, as two of several easily applied access gateways. Time's a-wastin'!