Adam W's Suggestion - And an Aziz Quote

"Adam W" wrote on the Way-of-Light list:

I have come demonstrate to myself, that all we need to do is
absorb ourselves in awareness - which takes two things:
(1) Time and therefore patience.
(2) Discipline to maintain single pointed focus of relaxed
attention in one's own awareness.

Ramon: Absolutely! It makes me wonder if perhaps now is the time to strip
away all traditional/cultural trappings (non-English terms, etc.) from
the basic teaching and put it in concise, vanilla-modern terminology that
anyone can understand. Of course that's what J-P and others here have
been doing... but hey -- what about dumping anything but the most essential?
Awareness of awareness does it for me very well... although there
definitely are levels - awareness-of-awareness-of-awareness? I think
almost all teachings must end up here, yes? For example, here is Master
Aziz's description of the various levels, edited for conciseness:

1. State of Presence
This state represents the awakening of Awareness, which
gives birth to the permanent sense of I Am within the mind.
2. Being
...The experience of Being is an energetic expansion into the
vertical reality of the Now. . . [and is] felt all-over the body
(does not include the Heart if it is not activated) but the main
direction of energy is downwards towards the hara and beyond.
3. Absolute State
In this profound realization the Soul moves fully to the State
of unbroken Rest. . . . We have to notice, however, that in the
Absolute State the mind and consciousness of the Soul have not
yet merged with the Source. At this stage of realization one
experiences the unity with Reality only within the Being
aspect of I Am.
4. Awakening of the Heart
This significant level of awakening opens the door to the
Divine Dimension. The Heart is the realm of the Soul, the
Beloved, Love and Grace. . . . However, the deeper and true
awakening of the Heart requires the Purification of Intention
and realization of the Soul.
5. Transparent Me
. . .The awakening of the Soul takes place in the Heart but it
needs to deepen through further merging with the whole of the
Inner State. The shift to Transparent Me gives birth to a very
holistic experience of oneself and represents awakening to
pure subjective existence of the Soul.
6. State Beyond Polarities
. . .Here one moves beyond polarities of the Inner and the
Outer, the Here and the Now. The State Beyond Polarities
represents a radical integration between Awareness, Heart
and Being, where all the three aspects of I Am merge into
One State. Through this integration a deeper absorption into
the Beyond takes place. The State Beyond Polarities is an in-
between state - between Presence and Absence - as one has not
yet fully moved to the Other Side.
7. Transcendental State or The Second Absolute
In the First Absolute, the Soul reached the unconditional
absorption into the Beyond, through the gateway of Being.
However, her consciousness still remains outside the Absolute.
In the Transcendental State, it is the Consciousness of the
Soul, her I Am in the Mind, which shifts to the Beyond. The
Mind, the Ego and the sense of separate identity are being
uprooted, so the Soul, as a Pure Me, can fully move with the
whole of herself into the Divine Realm. Entering the Tran-
scendental State, which is the realm of Absence, is a begin-
ning of a very complex process of dissolution of the Ego
and the Subconscious Mind. For the completion of this
process, the Me needs to fully surrender its existence to
the Beyond.
The end result is Complete Soul Awakening. The Soul returns
to its Original State and all the links with the human mind
become severed. This is what is called Liberation. Liberation
is not reached by negation of our human existence but through
The Realization of the Soul.
. . .
Ending of Karma, Purification and healing are essential in
order to release the burden of the past. They do accompany
all the way the process of inner awakening. For healing to
take place, one has to be in touch with the light, of the Soul
and open to the dimension of Grace. Everything that stands on
the way of our completion has to be gradually removed,
transformed and transcended. Spiritual Path should not be
seen as an escape from earthly challenges and difficulties
of human life. It is through becoming a real and fully
conscious human being that we can face these challenges and
transform all difficulties. Only from that place we can truly
move beyond our human identity and finally transcend earthly
existence.

Although Aziz currently is in seclusion and his website closed, this site
gives a brief overview and links to his books:

Of course 'terms' and 'descriptions' of the indescribable will vary...
Speaking for this particular illusory self-refreshing pristine
awareness embodiment/ emanation, I find 'personally' that:
1. just dropping into a lightly held awareness of awareness
2. utilizing a 'voluntary' blink to detach from any thought stream
3. smiling to keep the endorphins bubbling, and
4. resonating the sleep breath to stay within the heart
is really all I need!!!
Er, with an occasional self-arising tongue-tip held firmly between
the teeth while I suck on my uvula. It's sort of like the threading-
a-needle focused expression. But then, once on that other shore, one
dumps the boat and... Everything furthers!
Thanks again, Adam!

Fixation And A Number Of Good Quotes

Playing catch-up with recent postings:

R quoted Rinpoche:
"It is much better to sit next to Indra and eat happily..."
Ramon: - and pass the amrita, please!

J-P quotes Abhinavagupta:

Concentration and calming the mind. If this meditation
is difficult, take a simple object like a stone or a piece of wood,
place it in front of you, gently focus on the object without
blinking, allow nothing else to take hold of your mind.

There's that 'without blinking' suggestion again. Not blinking sure stirs
up the solar plexus energies! And smiling widely while doing so allows
tearing to continue to bathe the corneas. (Of course I'm 'doing something'
again, but perhaps 'staring as if in amazement' is self-arising?)

Referencing J-P's Vijñânabhairava Tantra quotes, I was overjoyed some
years ago to find one of my favorite self-discoveries (nursing on the
uvula/soft palate) listed there, (right next to the 'not-blinking
suggestion again):

LIE DOWN AS DEAD. ENRAGED IN WRATH, STAY SO. OR
STARE WITHOUT MOVING AN EYELASH. OR SUCK SOMETHING AND
BECOME THE SUCKING.

Also in "Zen Flesh Zen Bones," and also published by Rajneesh

52.
A. Lie down as dead. Enraged in wrath, stay so.
B. Or stare without moving an eyelash.
C. Or suck something and become the sucking.

-=-=-=
As for item "A" above, it makes me think of Ramana's teenage experience.
Except the 'enraged in wrath' I don't understand, unless this has to do
with frowning fiercely while stiffening the body in a rigor-like state.
Hm, trying it right now, I sense an 8-pulses-per-second visual strobe
effect.

I enjoy little mnemonic devices, such as the tip of the tongue held
between the teeth. Also, sometimes nothing's happening in my mind
except a random melody, and melodies seem to dissolve other thoughts,
yes?

I also like Alan Wallace's 'Awareness in Empty Space' exercise:

"Imagine yourself as a child lying on your back, gazing up into
a cloudless sky, and blowing soap bubbles through a plastic
ring. As a bubble drifts up into the sky, you watch it rise,
and this brings your attention to the sky. While you are
looking at the bubble, it pops, and you keep your attention
right where the bubble had been. Your awareness now lies in
empty space."

B. Alan Wallace, "Tibetan Buddhism From the Ground Up"
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365
Buddhist Inspirations," edited by Josh Bartok

I've also been enjoyng Arthur Zajonc's "Catching the Light; The Entwined
History of Light and Mind" Oxford Univ Press, 1993 A quote that I found
of interest because I'd never thought of it before:
"Light itself is always invisible. We see only things, only objects, not
light."

Perhaps we cannot 'see' light in the same way that we cannot see our
buddha nature? Perhaps light IS awareness? Quoting from an 'R' posting:

The sambhogakaya is that dimension in which the
potentialities of sound, light, and rays the three fundamental
sources of manifestation, appear as the pure vision of the
mandala, the origin of the tantric teachings.

Hm, why are 'light' and 'rays' listed separately? And sound? My
happy inner melodies?