• Waking

    April 8, 2017

    I think I understand what it means to be asleep. What does it mean to be awake?

    Do you think it would be helpful to try to describe this state?

    In Vajrayana, they sometimes give what they call the view, a description of the end state, just in case the practitioner is able to spontaneously recognize it.

    True. Let us go on a journey together. I will talk along the way and we will see where we go.

    I have the sensations of sitting. (Pause in this experience for several minutes)

    I have the sensations of breathing. (Pause for several minutes)

    I have the sensations of energy moving in the body. (Pause for several minutes)

    I have the sensation of being spacious. (Pause for several minutes)

    I sense the unnecessary tensions of the body and I release them. (Pause for several minutes)

    I invoke the presence of my presence into the present. (Pause for several minutes)

    I have the sensation of remembering myself. (Pause for several minutes)

    My presence cognizes its presentness. (Pause for several minutes)

    Remaining present, I awaken.

    *   *   *   *   *   *   *

    The state of being awake is unimpeded, luminous, highly active but relaxed, entirely without agitation, precise and joyful. My Vajrayana friend would say that its essence is empty, its nature is luminous, its expression unimpeded. I would say its underlying quality is one of bliss.

    When you are not identified, presence is naturally awake; it is the doorway to the waking state. What sleeps is body and mind. They must be energized and brought into harmony with presence. The method is to voluntarize what is and rely upon attention and presence to bring unity and clarity.

    What does unimpeded mean?

    Non-dual. There is no otherness to oppose.

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  • Awake (2)

    October 10, 2015

    I am often embarrassed by my sleep behavior which gives me the motivation to stay awake.

    Yes, sleep can be embarrassing .  The energetic charge of embarrassment can be useful. However, do not make the mistake of assuming that being present means being awake. Presence is an intermediate state between sleeping and waking. In presence, the momentum of sleep continues in the machine. The charging/discharging mechanism remains potentially active, leaving you open to the full range of negative emotions if the ‘right’ stimulus comes along. Identification then follows. At best, the machine is temporarily neutral when you are in a state of presence.

    To awaken is to awaken the machine, in which case there are no negative emotions and no possibility of a charge/discharge cycle. In the waking state, the circuitry of energy generation and transformation is fully engaged, sensing/feeling/thinking are integrated and operate without interference from conditioning.

    Awakening is not some sort of metaphysical state. It is not Samadhi. It is not withdrawal from sense-experience. Awakening is embodied.

    Presence and attention are catalysts for awakening but awakening itself encompasses and harmonizes all the functions humans are capable of. This is a state of real being. Life is real only then, as Mr. G would say.
    To Be Continued…

    Related Posts:

    Awake – Oct 7, 2015

    The Capacity of Feeling – Aug 22, 2015

     Three Centered Beings – Apr 6, 2015

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  • Duality

    May 8, 2015

    In these inquiries, you use the language of dualism. You use pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘they’ that reflect the illusion of separateness and individuality. Isn’t this misleading?

    I am in conversation with you so I use the language of conversation. It is not difficult to eliminate pronouns, although it is somewhat stilted at times. But eliminating pronouns does not establish non-duality. And non-duality is just one perspective…it is not, in my view, the final word on realization.

    First, language is communication which includes intonation, cadence and gesture as much as word choice. My feeling when I speak a word, my body sensations and posture, placement of the eyes…these can be used with intent to convey meaning, to share an experience, to disarm your point of view, far more than sentence structure. At certain times and places, on certain topics, with certain people, I can invoke direct understanding. This is what matters to me.

    Second, I think that non-dualism is perhaps not correctly understood by some people. Non-duality is not uniformity, it is not everything becoming one thing. In my experience, in presence and even more in the waking state, the individual is even more precisely and uniquely itself, yet not separate from everything else at the same time. Reality is intimately connected and wholistic but the essential aspects of its component parts are not lost.

    In the eastern traditions, it is sometimes suggested that creation is an accidental consequence of a karmic mistake which can be unwound by diligent striving for a perfect end state, nirvana or mahamudra, beyond sorrow and rebirth. There is great truth in this view and its accomplishment is worthy of the greatest admiration. But there is another view that suggests that the world of form, of individuality, struggle and suffering, is not a mistake, that it serves a purpose, and that to live this life consciously, with conscience, as a real human being, is also a great accomplishment.

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