10-10-03
F wrote
>
> I know this sounds silly, but try singing =)
Singing, chanting, om-ing, or some subvocal / silent version of
all these (mantra, for instance (or as someone wisely suggested,
watching the relaxed breath go in and out) all are excellent.
I find them very useful for dissolving whatever 'something'
blocks the inner flow.
The only problem with "choosing" to be happy, is that
happiness still remains in the realm of opposites. Same
with Salvia. If you choose access to Salvia, then there is
the opposite, the times when you don't have acces to
Salvia. However choosing something that can then give
a brief view into the 'choiceless' state (whew, there's a
concept!) is better than lingering in suffering, although
ultimately there is a place when pain and pleasure merge
into pure awareness, pure Presence.
For me, the quickest and most elegant method is the one
outlined in the classical Tibetan teaching of 'Naked Awareness,'
from which I quote below:
A few edited quotes from Self-Liberation Through Seeing
With Naked Awareness
The Tibetan text translated here is a very important work for the
understanding of the view of Dzogchen, which in Tibet is generally
regarded as the highest and the most esoteric teaching of the Buddha.
For the full text, browse:
http://hjem.get2net.dk/civet-cat/mahayana-writings/naked-awareness.htm
I have added one item in [square brackets] with an additional *comment.
Verse 10
It is certain that the nature of the mind is empty and without any foundation
whatsoever.Your own mind is insubstantial like the empty sky.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
It is certain that self-originated primal awareness has been clear (and
luminous)
from the very beginning, like the heart of the sun, which is itself
self-originated.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
It is certain that this primal awareness, which is one's intrinsic awareness,
is unceasing, like the main channel of a river that flows unceasingly.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
It is certain that the diversity of movements (arising in the mind) are not
understandable by memories, but are like insubstantial breezes that move
through the atmosphere.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
It is certain that whatever appearances occur, all of them are self-manifested,
like the images in a mirror being self-manifestations that simply appear.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
It is certain that all of the diverse characteristics of things are liberated
into
their own condition, like clouds in the atmosphere that are self-originated and
self-liberated.
You should [turn your awareness around 180 degrees* and] look at your own
mind to see whether it is like that or not.
* Turning one's awareness around and gazing nakedly (i.e. without attaching
or non-attaching to thoughts) upon That Which is Aware creates the experience
that could be called "Blue Sky Naked Awareness," in which thoughts that arise
are just like occasional clouds floating past. I can access this 'awareness
turning
around' state by pretending to turn my eyes around (eyes closed) and looking
into
my head. Of course this is not possible physically, but my eyes roll gently
upwards
in the process of 'looking,' and then I find the 'looked' looking at the
'looker,' so to
speak. More than anything else that Salvia has done for me has been to allow me
to
access this state more easily. Some also call it the state of One Taste. It's
hard to
describe verbally, but you'll know when you find it because you'll want to stay
there.
For myself, I find a basic sensation attached to this state that is a feeling
of energy right in the center of my head. If I was to locate it in a
cross-sectional
diagram of the brain, it would be in the spinal-fluid-filled cavity known as
the
Third Ventricle, at the back end of which exists the pineal gland.
For those interested, I've posted a cross-sectional drawing at:
http://www.raysender.com/diagram3.html
Of course the true yoga is to keep this state going effortlessly while
performing
all the mundane tasks of one's daily life ? i.e. the classic 'chopping wood,
carrying
water' that is often cited. Compassion and kindness towards oneself and all
beings
help this along. At some point, all 'supports' should be able to be put away,
and
this is where True Freedom from all Opposites begins again (all this is
merely
my opinion)!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
October 17, 2003
Hey-ho, J! Thanks for the big 'V' sign.
I always think of Winston Churchill's spread
fingers, being myself of the 'older generation'.
I hope this finds you with your heart blossoming,
as always, and a happy smile plastered to your
sweet face.
All's well and various house chores have kept
my nose to the wheel of karma and not having quite as
much eudaemony as I'd like, except of course it allows
me to practice chopping wood and carrying water,
which is always interesting. Although truth to tell, last
night I did indulge in a teensy puff of MJ along with my
ocean and seagulls cassette, and had a very delightful
surf before falling sleep with only songs and funny
ideas intruding occasionally. What a delight to just
fade away and dissolve into zerotude!
I've been reading Stephen Wolinsky's Walden III,
and find him very helpful/impressive, albeit coming
from his Quantum Psychology somewhat neti-neti
POV, which is okay as long as you don't get too
long-faced about it (one reason I never like the
existentialist approach of Sartre and the Beats).
…
Wolinksy to Nusargadatta Maharaj: "I do the soham, hamsa mantra."
Nisargadatta to Wolinsky: "It means "I am that - that I am?" If I
write down 10 pounds of gold on a piece of paper, is it the same as
10 pounds of gold? You must meditate [deconstruct] past your
concepts [language]."
The Approach Simplified
1. There is only 'one substance.'
2. The nervous system is late. The "I," and the perceiver, arises after
the action has already occurred.
3. All is an abstraction of NOTHING, which 'appears' in language
only, hence the "I," the self, and enlightenment are in language
only.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I also like:
The task of the spiritual seeker is to die while alive.
Richard Rice
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ramon: Anyway, Wolinksy is quite to the point, isn't he? And Rice as well.
I've always conceived of the NOW as both wide and deep, Tolle
extolling the 'wide,' while Master Aziz is quite helpful with the
deep ( Presence, once established in the third ventricle (my
physiology), drops of its own accord into the hara as Being).
Our recursive mind keeps us in the 'slower NOW,' behind where
Nature and animals exists -- and also 7-1/2 minutes slower than
the Solar NOW... The Galactic Center NOW would be -- who
knows how far ahead?
But instead of the 'ahead of,' Wolinsky suggests thinking
prior to the concept of Self. Sort of like the Zen 'What was
your face before you were born?' Although that koan took me
to study the faces of fetuses, and I was amused to find they all
were smiling (which fed into my "Why is the Buddha Smiling?"
question very nicely.
Well, enough fun and games! I'm sure y ou know what's
necesary, and the rest is all fluff -- spume upon the waves
of the Cosmic Ocean.
Salvia? It's been a while since I communed with the Goddess
via her plant. I met with a few other local devotees recently,
and always find myself in the role of the conservative elder,
saying, "Now, now, it's still samadhi with support, isn't it?"
We must keep the real goal in mind... But on the other hand,
there's nothing wrong with a leetle check-up now and then!
From the 'me' prior to the formation of the 'I' in me to the
same in thee,
