Content of & Consciousness itself

     “Ajahn Chah, the great Thai Forest master, went to visit the most famous Forest master of the era, Ajahn Mun. Ajahn Chah had already practiced for 10 years in the forest, the jungles, living in caves, doing jhana and samadhi practices, dissolving his body into light, having deep insights, surrendering, almost dying many times and somehow coming through it.

     So he went and he bowed, and he paid his respects, and he said ‘May I tell you about my practice?’ And so Ajahn Mun listened as he told him about his experiences. After he finished, Ajahn Mun looked at him and said 

     ‘Chah, you’ve missed the point.’ 

     Ajahn Chah said ‘What do you mean?’ 

     Ajahn Mun replied ‘These are just experiences. It’s like going to the movies, you can go to a war movie, a romantic comedy, a documentary, a history movie, there are so many different kinds. So you had all these different experiences of light or insights or various other things – but these are just experiences. The real question is, To whom do they happen? So turn your attention to Ajahn Chah, back from the experiences you have, to the one who knows, to knowing itself, to consciousness, as if to inquire, Who am I?, What is this? What is consciousness itself? Who is knowing? 

     It’s a little bit like being in the movie theater, and you’re completely caught up in some great drama, and then somebody next to you rustles & moves, or drops their popcorn, and all of a sudden, like waking out of a trance, you’re like ‘Oh yah, movie theater, there’s a light on the screen, it’s not actually the action I got engaged in so fully I forgot.' 

     And so Ajahn Mun said to Ajahn Chah ‘Rest in the one who knows. Rest in the pure timeless witnessing of things – the awareness. Become the one who knows is also the phrase used to describe the Buddha or Buddha-consciousness. And in that, in that you will find your freedom.’ 

     And that freedom isn’t dependent on a retreat, or a particular set of circumstances. It’s really the freedom that’s invited and available to people wherever you are, here and now.

     We are consciousness itself, knowing itself, being itself, expressing itself out of the void into form.”

       Jack Kornfield interview on Buddhist Geeks “The Progress of Insight”
       https://soundcloud.com/buddhistgeeks/bg-371-the-progress-of-insight

     See: http://jglovas.wix.com/awarenessnow#!Seriously/c17jj/56fe7a7d0cf2b279cdbb25e1 

'Ordinary Unhappiness' - OR - Mystical Experiences ??

     “A householder who was nevertheless engaged in an advanced meditation practice known as tantra, Manibhadra attained enlightenment while carrying water from the village well back to her home. Dropping her pitcher one day and seeing the water gush out of the broken gourd, she was suddenly liberated. The broken pitcher served as a powerful model of what her meditation was trying to show her. Like the water breaking forth, her consciousness flowed out and merged with all of reality. This jarring loose, or breaking free – this going to pieces without falling apart – is what Buddhism acknowledges as one of the self’s secret needs – to be released from a belief in its own absolute reality.”
 
       Epstein M. "Psychotherapy without the Self. A Buddhist Perspective." Yale University Press, New Haven CT, 2007.
 
     The latest scientific research on the neurobiology of psilocybin-induced mystical experience raises the possibility that human beings may actually suffer if DEPRIVED of mystical experiences: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2015/03/650-effective-management-for.html

Bess

Clouds Passing Through An Empty Sky

     "If you become involved with these visions,
      you may wander for a long time confused....
      Let them pass through your consciousness
      like clouds passing through an empty sky."

                                                                                                   Tibetan Book of the Dead

       Collins S. To the Light. A Journey through Buddhist Asia. WW Norton & Co, NY, 2003.

evancj   www.dpreview.com

Visions Experienced During Meditation

     "The visions you experience exist within your consciousness,
      the forms they take are determined by your past attachments,
      your past desires, your past fears, your past karma.
      These visions have no reality outside your consciousness ...
      Let them pass."

                                                                                                   Tibetan Book of the Dead

       Collins S. To the Light. A Journey through Buddhist Asia. WW Norton & Co, NY, 2003.

Anderl   www.dpreview.com

Operationalizing Pragmatic & Sacred Dimensions of Mindfulness Practice

     "Even though washing dishes is one of life's necessary chores, and in spite of Thich Nhat Hanh's pragmatic approach to washing dishes mindfully (in order to enjoy the dessert which follows), he nevertheless (equally) sees washing dishes as a spiritual or sacred practice. As he elaborates:
     Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness, becomes sacred. In this light no boundary exists between the sacred and the profane. I must confess it takes me a bit longer to do the dishes, but I live fully in every moment, and I am happy. Washing the dishes is at the same time a means and an end - that is not only do we do the dishes to have clean dishes, we also do the dishes just to do the dishes, to live fully in each moment while washing them.
     With these two dimensions of mindfulness (being fully present in both ordinary, everyday and near transcendent experiences) established, a central challenge of the present study was to operationalize mindfulness ..."

       Brinkerhoff MB, Jacob JC. Mindfulness and quasi-religious meaning systems: An empirical exploration within the context of ecological sustainability and deep ecology. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 1999; 38(4): 524-42.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com

Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?

     There's something in us that craves finally arriving at a destination and putting our feet up to rest. Even young kids incessantly ask "Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?" on road trips. We're that way with concepts as well. We love to try to squeeze even huge complex concepts into tight concise little definitions so we can rest - ie stop trying to understand them. Of course this is just laziness. While it's fine to review how much (little) we know about something, it's usually a mistake to assume that it's all there is to know about it. We keep changing, things keep changing, and how we know things keeps changing. No, we're not there yet! See: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/intellectual-glass-ceiling-it-most.html
and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/07/perpetually-chasing-or-running-away.html

     A religion prof, on hearing each student's answer to one of her many questions in her class on Buddhism, would invariably comment on their answer with "it's something like that." My former karate teacher, on seeing a student perform a sequence of karate moves (kata), would invariably - regardless of the quality of performance - comment "good." We're all students, all in the process of growing, and should not be mislead to believe that we've arrived. An open, curious, 'beginner's mind' really helps us to remain on the path.

            “I meet all sorts of people who’ve had all sorts of experiences (during meditation) and they’re still confused and not doing very well in their life. Experiences are not enough. My students learn that if they have so-called experiences, I really don’t care much about hearing about them. I just tell them, "Yeah, that’s O.K. Don’t hold onto it. And how are you getting along with your mother?” Otherwise, they get stuck there. It’s not the important thing in practice.” Asked what is the important thing in practice, (Charlotte Joko Beck) replied, “Learning how to deal with one’s personal, egotistic self. That’s the work. Very, very difficult.”

http://sweepingzen.com/2011/06/15/charlotte-joko-beck-dies-at-94-american-zen-pioneer/

"Love is in the Air" by Bansky

What IS important in meditation practice?

     “I meet all sorts of people who’ve had all sorts of experiences and they’re still confused and not doing very well in their life. Experiences are not enough. My students learn that if they have so-called experiences, I really don’t care much about hearing about them. I just tell them, 'Yeah, that’s O.K. Don’t hold onto it. And how are you getting along with your mother?' Otherwise, they get stuck there. It’s not the important thing in practice. Asked what is the important thing in practice, she replied, 'Learning how to deal with one’s personal, egotistic self. That’s the work. Very, very difficult.'”                               Charlotte Joko Beck

lindal63   www.dpreview.com