A Spectrum of Consciousness

Consciousness is a spectrum

As with all things, there are no absolute concepts that are not subject to the reality of Śūnyatā or voidness. Consciousness is no different and even your consciousness or concept of who you are is no different. Are you the same person who awoke this morning? What impact have the experiences accumulated since you awoke had on you? Do you learn? Does learning change you? Of course, as ignorance is reduced, wisdom increases this is the spectrum of consciousness. On one end there is complete ignorance, an utter lack of any awareness of self, where on the other end of the spectrum we see omniscience.

As light is a spectrum; observed between the colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, so too is what we call consciousness a spectrum that can be defined in terms of transient bands. We defined those bands here and here; aligned with the chakra system of energy centres. The point being that while the spectrum is continuous, there are discernible bands that demark the boundaries of transition between the colours, in the case of light and levels of awareness, in the case of consciousness. As any painter knows, colours come in an infinite array of hues that are created by the careful addition of colours to a base colour in discrete increments, so we can see that colours and hues are not only a linear spectrum but can also be combined in an infinite palette of hues combining the different base colours. So it is with consciousness, it is not that one only exists within the confines of a particular chakra (consciousness correspondence), but that each chakra is active to differing degrees that make up the totality of one's awareness, or overall colour.

That colour still exists within the spectrum of colours, but is nonetheless complex in nature, that is made up of many hues of colour across the spectrum. Similarly, we see the colours of awareness in the consciousness spectrum; one colour dominating but the (overall) hue comprised of other colours and depending on their degree of intensity.

Transition between bands

When we observe a rainbow we see this very thing play out in front of our eyes with separate bands of colour that transition into each other to form the spectrum of light. It is the contention of this blog that consciousness is embedded with light and so it may come as no surprise that our conscious awareness manifests in a similar manner, in a spectrum of bands that one transitions between. But there is a certain level of inertia to overcome before one colour is saturated and the predominate base colour changes to the next in the spectrum. This inertia is seen in the boundary between the colours in a rainbow and in consciousness; work is required to overcome this inertia and transition to the next band of awareness. When we look at the correspondences between the chakras and our conscious awareness, we see the alignment of our Root Chakra with base survival requirements such as the chemical balance and health of the body, food, shelter and procreation; the Sacral Chakra with the complexities, interaction and relationships with other individuals, the Solar Plexus Chakra with the complexities, interaction and relationships with social groups and society at large, while the Heart and higher chakras are aligned with refined concepts and complexities of self-realisation within this octave of awareness. (This of course implies the existence of higher octaves.)

Effort to overcome the inertia that resists the transition between bands

So only with attaining a sufficiency and balance in survival needs (Root Chakra - Red) can one focus on developing their individual relationships, and only after a sufficiency and balance in individual relationships can one focus on developing their social and group relationships. We see in this transition an increasing level of refinement in awareness, from the instinctual through to the discerning. That discernment comes in two fundamental flavours, to continue the association with the senses, positive or negative. Positive being conceived of as service-to-others and Negative being conceived of as service-to-self. So our path through the spectrum of conscious awareness may be divided in two; a Positive and a Negative path. And the greater the reliance on individual discernment to progress, the more importance is the focus on the path. For as the old sayings go, just as one cannot ride two horses or shoot two bows, progress cannot be made attempting to walk two paths. The effort required to overcome the inertia between the bands of conscious awareness determines that commitment to one or the other path is required if our discernment is the critical developmental factor to our progress.

The commitment required to progressive development

Our discernment and commitment to our chosen path is critical in moving beyond this experience we currently share, surrounded as we are by countless groups of others, be they authoritarian, commercial, religious, leisure based or even our own families, and by even more individuals than groups. The manner in which we interact and grow is critical to our progress; be that selfish and controlling on the service-to-self (negative) path, or selfless and compassionate on the service-to-others (positive) path. So while one progresses through the spectrum of conscious awareness, work is required to overcome the boundaries between the levels by mastering the existential challenges being faced, be they rudimentary survival, individual relationships, societal relationships, love, etc.

If we look at the requisite conditions that must exist for one to progress through these initial levels of awareness, we see that one must have a basis of survival to develop individual relationships, one must have an ability to form individual relationships to work within and through societal groups, and one must have a focus on self or others to develop their expression of love. As the full expression of selfless love cannot be expressed from a selfish point of view and the full expression of a love of self cannot be developed from a selfless perspective, the separation of paths is of logical necessity.

The resistance between bands on regressive reversion

So far, we have discussed the concepts of progression through this spectrum of conscious awareness, but not that of regression and it was the issue of regression that occupied my mind this morning in meditation. Is it possible to transition backwards from one band of awareness to a lower level of consciousness and if so what are the conditions and causes for such a regression? The concept is possible as the spectrum is continuous in both directions, but it requires that the experiences and existing attainments and discernments be lost or wilfully ignored. So the cause would be an ongoing wilful commitment to ignore the values and wisdom gained through ones progression so far. The conditions are that the individuals already exist close to a lower boundary in their level of awareness and cannot be persuaded by others to correct their folly. This may come from an utter contempt for the necessity to apply oneself any further and an overall apathy and disinterest in broader experience while focusing and being obsessed and consumed by instinctual and base level needs.

Perhaps this is what the one known as Jesus meant when he said:

(7) Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."

The role of reincarnation and how being reborn as an animal may be possible

While the progress through the different levels of awareness may occur through a single lifetime with great commitment, focus and training, the transition between boundaries occurs between lifecycles or incarnations. Hence, the role of re-incarnation is critical to complete the understanding of developmental progress on the spectrum of awareness. Not only does this provide the sublime opportunity for individuals to progressively develop their abilities and awareness in consciousness, but it also provides the opportunity to exist in the form and circumstances that will support that development. This also implies that if one regresses between boundaries, that a commensurate regression in form and circumstances is possible. The life of the individual in a new incarnation may be remarkably different from that of their previous experience, to better express and learn the requisite lessons required to progress in consciousness. But pity the one who does not apply themselves after incarnating, for depending on one's position on the spectrum of consciousness, the lessons needing to be re-learned may be found in the animal realm in the next incarnation, rather than in an existence of human form.

So it is that one's path in consciousness can both progress and regress and the rapidity of that progression is tied to one's discernment and commitment to a path of development.

It is in this context that the bodhisattva's vow the Buddha outlined in the Diamond Sutra can be understood:

…If sons and daughters of good families want to develop the highest, most fulfilled and awakened mind, if they wish to attain the Highest Perfect Wisdom and quiet their drifting minds while subduing their craving thoughts, then they should follow what I am about to say to you. Those who follow what I am about to say here will be able to subdue their discriminative thoughts and craving desires. It is possible to attain perfect tranquillity and clarity of mind by absorbing and dwelling on the teachings I am about to give. Then the Buddha addressed the assembly.

3.    All living beings, whether born from eggs, from the womb, from moisture, or spontaneously; whether they have form or do not have form; whether they are aware or unaware, whether they are not aware or not unaware, all living beings will eventually be led by me to the final Nirvana, the final ending of the cycle of birth and death. And when this unfathomable, infinite number of living beings have all been liberated, in truth not even a single being has actually been liberated.

I dedicate any merits from this post to the reader, that we may all be liberated from this cycle of rebirth and attain the Bodhi mind.

Namaste

I am, You are, He/She/It is, We are, You/Ye are, They are, …

… all very deluded!

I was struck last night while listening to my Shifu explaining the first verse of the Eight Realisations of Great Beings Sutra (pdf), just how distorted our grammatical structures are and how inadequate they are to explain the concept of Śūnyatā. It is, of course, this fundamental inadequacy that gives rise to the conundrums and kōans of Zen Buddhism. When one says that the 5 skandhas, being Form, Feeling, Conception, Volition and Consciousness (Discernment), contain no self, then we are immediately cast back into the confusion of trying to define the self.

How does one explain the concept of no-self when constrained to a language that reflects our collective ignorance? Here is an example:

When you see some chocolate (Form), the sensation arises within you that it is sweet and pleasant (Feeling), that brings to your awareness the recognition of the concepts of sweetness and sweet foods (Conception), leading to the impulse or desire for you to eat the chocolate (Volition), prompting you to consider and determine whether or not you will eat the chocolate (Consciousness or Discernment).

A basic teaching of the Buddha is that all of phenomenal existence is empty of any intrinsic, separate or enduring existence, which is the concept of Śūnyatā. Yet in the example above, we have layers of confusion in which the elements of ego-identity, the 5 skandhas, are explained in reference to the ego-identity, also known as the false-self. In short there is no objective way to describe Śūnyatā using the constraints of modern language.

When all things arise, abide for a time, then recede; are dependent on causes and conditions through each of those states, yet have no intrinsic, fundamental or independent reality of their own, how can the ignorance that perceives such things subjectively be informed of the objective reality of Śūnyatā using subjective language?

Instead, we see attempts at explanations being more or less confused, with kōans and parables left by the enlightened as markers only of a road less travelled, a path that leads to enlightenment. Unfortunately, the confusion in those that attempt to follow can see these explanatory ideas misunderstood and turned into dogma to be repeated while the profundity of the concepts indicated are lost or ignored.

Instead, if one recognises their own ignorance and works to bring to the fore their true nature of pure awareness, concepts of ego and the subjective-self seem to recede. Indeed, is it not a higher truth that even our greed, anger and ignorance have causes and conditions that can be eliminated to foster one's enlightenment simply by recognising Śūnyatā?

Did you see that? Again, trying to explain objective reality using subjective terms!

This is why it is said that Buddhism is only a path; it is not a destination for its explanations can only go so far before, like a raft crossing a river, they eventually have to be abandoned when the other shore is reached. For those mired in dogma who find the raft of their crossing comfortable and are not prepared to leave it behind, the other shore will never be attained no matter how close it appears.

Definitive explanations cannot be provided using subjective ideas and language. Do such subjective concepts have to be abandoned to perceive Śūnyatā everywhere and reside in pure, undistorted awareness?

How mysterious are these concepts that cannot be express in words.

He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it);
he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it.

He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals
(of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the
complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring
himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others).
This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.'

(Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is
beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or
meanness:--he is the noblest man under heaven.

Verse 56, Tao te Ching

Samatha or “care for another coffee?”

In a previous post I mentioned the difference in the properties and characteristics of a more profound mental state in meditation and contrasted those characteristics against the properties of the "normal" meditative state I had become used to. The difference was of a silky smoothness to the mind versus a rough kind of texture. This morning I delved a little deeper into the nature of this normal meditative mind of mine and found some interesting and significant features.

Firstly some background, because it is always important to understand the conditions and causes that contribute to something like this, as insights like these are not usually achieved without some build up or preparation of the right conditions to provide the scaffold, as it were, to reach for higher truths beyond the mundane, work-a-day experience.

It is the end of 2012, in fact it is the last day of 2012 today and I have been enjoying a few days break from pressures of work while I celebrate Christmas with my family. So I have had some time to dedicate to my meditation practice, or cultivation of Samadhi. In that regard, in addition to private meditations I was fortunate enough to participate in a full day retreat at the Chan monastery 3 days ago which was successive meditation sessions (sitting and walking) throughout the day. I had determined to mix both Samatha (calming) and Vipassana (contemplation, insight) mediation techniques by alternating between the two for each of the sitting meditation sessions. At any rate, I found that while I could focus on an object of contemplation in Vipassana, my mind was extraordinarily distracted in Samatha and I could not abide in emptiness (or no thought) for any length of time at all. I found thoughts arising continually and my mind would readily follow those thoughts before I could intervene to subdue them. However, over the following days I persisted in private practice and this morning I took a bike ride and after a short exercise period, was able to sit on the ground, under a tree and practice some more.

After initially calming my mind through the breathing and chakra focusing techniques I have outlined before, I applied myself to the Samatha practice and after some time was able to abide in no thought. As I did so, I was able to observe the characteristics of my mental state, similarly I suppose to a sailor observing the nature of the water upon which he is sailing. And what I could discern was rather than just a roughness, there was a bubbling kind of nature to what I now think of as the mental substrate. Almost like a foam, similar to the water on the ocean shore where the waves churn the water, mixing air that continually rise to the surface in bubbles of different sizes and pop. That is the nature of the roughness I had previously observed and which I observed again this morning, a bubbling froth of energy that is continuously rising and popping in your mind. Not a static kind of uneven surface, but a dynamic foam that comprises the mental substrate upon which our uninvited thoughts continually rise in our "normal" world of consciousness.

As I sat in this observational state, it occurred to me that smoothing out that mental substrate may provide a deeper experience and that thought seemed to transform things immediately, as the seething mass of mind seemed to reduce to a placid flow, very similar to the silky kind of sensation I had previously experienced. This kind of direct calming of the mind was a new experience, however, and I enjoyed this state for just a short period. As I was coming back to my normal awareness I realised that one's degree of agitation was directly related to how rough or foamy this mental substrate was and that the continually rising thoughts that plagued my meditation retreat a few days ago was precisely due to the state of agitation of this mental substrate.

Similarly to the walking meditations practiced at the monastery, I have turned my bike riding into a meditation where I ride with my hands behind my back, clearing my mind and focusing on the balance and flow of riding upright without grasping the handlebars. This was the manner in which I rode home, to the extent that traffic and conditions allowed. While in this state, it further occurred to me that I had taken to drinking 3 or more cups of coffee each day over the past few weeks and that this artificial stimulation would have had a direct effect on the amount to which the mental substrate was perturbed, and that other stimulants also would perturb the mental substrate in which our mind resides. Writing this now, it also occurs to me that as this mental substrate is observable, it is an artefact of our body and not of our Bodhi mind and so should naturally be expected to be affected by what we do to our body, the foods we feed it, the stimulants we subject it to and the drugs to which we expose it. For the first time in my many years of meditative practice this is the first time I have had a direct sense that diet is an important factor to manifesting our Buddha nature and that it can limit the degree to which we can manifest a higher consciousness.

The degree to which it is important is still unclear, perhaps a vegetarian diet may have some significant benefits to a cultivator of Prajñāpāramitā, but it is clear that stimulants such as coffee perturb the mental substrate and in so doing negatively affect one's ability to develop Samādhi. So whether one has understood the 4 noble truths, the eight fold path or the concept of Śūnyatā, the question of "Samatha or another cup of coffee?" is literally true. It is either one or the other, at least for me.

Best wishes to all for 2013 and I dedicate any merits accrued from writing this article to you who are reading it now.

Namaste.

“The vast sky is not hindered by the floating clouds.”

Since achieving the level of insight into myself and our true nature that has been summarised in previous writings here, circumstances compelled me to refocus my attention and energies back to the material concerns of life as I prepared for an overseas business trip. After a few weeks in that mindset, I suddenly realised in my travels that I had slipped back to old habits and old ways of thinking at the expense of my spiritual practice and prior awareness. I truly felt a sense of loss and reapplied myself to meditation but had lost my insight and could not regain my level of awareness. All through September I tried to re-establish my prior state, struggling to achieve the awareness of myself I had enjoyed, but for all my effort I could not rekindle the spark of my focus. Then on October 3, when changing the date on a calendar of Zen sayings, I read the words written for that day:

"The vast sky is not hindered by the floating clouds."

- Sekito Kisen

Immediately I could sense the profundity of this statement's meaning and again, as if my magic, I felt the ship of my mind begin to turn back on course. The Vast Sky was of course the Bodhi or enlightened mind, and the floating clouds were the changing desires and discriminative thoughts that float through the untamed mind. It reminded me that I was grasping at my previous awareness as if in desperation and was trapped in the discriminative thoughts of differentiating between my current and past state, in effect letting the floating clouds consume and delude me. Or to put it another way, identifying with the clouds rather than the vastness of the sky. As soon as I released that desire for prior attainments, let go of the clouds, my awareness began to rise again.

As I noted in a recent email discussing the near death experience of Dr. Eban Alexander, developing our awareness is like a game of Snakes and Ladders. Development comes in waves of great insight and periods of heightened consciousness, followed by a slide back down into more base concerns if you haven't reached a sufficient level of purification and allow the mundane concerns and material desires of the world overwhelm you. The world is a classroom full of the Snakes that would tempt you on the game board of life, but equally full of the Ladders that will lift you up and propel you forward. It is an easy proposition to understand in these terms, you just can't climb the Ladders to enlightenment without shedding the weight of material desires and concerns. That's not to say one should neglect their responsibilities, on the contrary, it is good to be diligent, but without grasping at the outcome and without letting the floating clouds hinder the vast sky of your risen mind.

May we all attain the supreme enlightenment and leave this training ground behind.

 

The Path

Who, What, Where, How, When and Why are the 6 primitive interrogatives for analysing anything and are a path unto themselves where analysis can take over from action and experience. In fact, the old adage of "paralysis by analysis" is always a potential outcome when we are full of doubt and "need" to question things. Never is this more true than in the spiritual quest for self-realisation, however, there is also the necessity to validate concepts and theories so we are not full of beliefs that have no basis or merit.

So we are left asking ourselves, what is this Śūnyatā that Buddhism speaks of, How does one realise it, Where is it, Who can attain it, When can they do so and Why should one want to,? For the rational thinker, these are important questions that need answering if one is contemplating the nature of reality and of their experience in this world. There is nothing more pathetic than espousing beliefs that are born of blind faith, are not able to be independently validated and demand the abrogation of reason and common sense to accept them. So it is good to question and expect rational validation of concepts before adopting them, of course such concepts once adopted are no longer beliefs so much as evident truths. This has been my approach to spirituality; if it is not validated by independent experience then it is doubtful at best and possibly completely wrong. It is for this reason that the title of this blog is a question.

What

Therefore when validation of concepts is achieved it is significant to the spiritual seeker for such occurrences shine a light, as it were, or illuminates a little more of our true nature and reduces our level of ignorance, if only by a little. This has been my experience over the past month, moving into this space of the Bodhi mind during meditation and experiencing more directly this idea of Śūnyatā; that our conditioned and subjective physical experience and ego driven motivations are hollow, empty shells of delusion existing within the unconditioned, egoless nature of ultimate reality, our true nature.

How

I have previously outlined the process I have adopted for entering this state and have found it to be reliable, although in the past few meditations I have undertaken, I have found a degree of subtleness to the process that seems to be important and that is that through focusing my attention or awareness on my chakra centres I do not need to extend any focused effort in visualising colours. Instead the direction of my awareness to the chakra centre seems to generate a hue of the associated colour (Red, Orange, Yellow, etc.) while a sensation attached to my point of focus is felt within the Chakra centre. It's a subtle change from my previous description of the full process but it is an experiential validation of the energy centres, their colours and their hierarchical relationship to spiritual awareness. For it is by sequentially progressing through each of these Chakras that my awareness rises to the Crown and is positioned in the spiritual gateway.

Where

However, with every validation that the process attains an outcome, it seems that other more refined outcomes are possible. So it was yesterday morning when I awoke early and decided to spend some time during the hours before dawn in meditation. Not only did I attain the state of egoless existence, but the nature of that state changed, revealing the coarseness of my previous experiences. It was very humbling actually, realising that everything I had previously achieved was nothing compared to what lay beyond. It was that the nature of my awareness completely altered and the variance to the previous experience was so pronounced that I was quite startled by it and naturally, the state did not last for very long. That change was of a smoothness to my awareness, it was like a silk sheet compared to a rocky surface. Or like the static of an out of tune radio compared to the clarity of it once in tune. I was at once conscious of a fluid smoothness in my awareness and appreciative that my ignorance to this point was almost complete. At once I knew that there was such a level of awareness that was far above our normal consciousness yet it was so close as to be indistinguishable from ourselves in terms of distance and was available right here and right now! Unfortunately sensations of excitement soon filtered through and dropped me back to a more mundane meditative state. But I know where that awareness is, it's always with me I just need more practice to bring it forward into consciousness manifestation.

Who

My normal level of awareness was so clearly and obviously inferior to this sensation of fluidity and subtlety that it is clear that I have a long way to go in this understanding of Śūnyatā, but if I can bridge this gap to gain this experience then it must be available to all who seek it. That is, absolutely anyone can close this gap of ignorance and directly attain this experience of realising Śūnyatā through persistent practice.

When

Of course, this is not to say that realisations and experiences such as this are available immediately to anyone with a cursory interest. On the contrary, it is clear that new levels of awareness and knowing are only attained after prerequisite levels are achieved. So, while our Buddha nature, or fundamental awareness, is with us all the time, realising it comes in degrees through persistent effort. It is called transcendental wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā in Sanskrit) because it transcends the mundane world of ideas and concepts and wisdom grows with understanding and experience. So it is available to everyone when they are able to lose their delusions, fears, doubts and worries, when we are able to give up clinging to the conditioned and embrace the unconditioned, which is when this experience of Prajñāpāramitā is available.

Why

How tragic it is that we are held captive to this material existence and in many cases seem to have even given up our right of personal discernment and critical judgement, being dictated to in what is true and acceptable by external sources of authority, authorities that are themselves corrupted by their own ignorance, greed and anger. In this era of perpetual warfare, of concepts of ubiquitous enemies that demand unlimited and unrestrained security measures, where surveillance and policing have overrun any sense of reasonableness, where governments are demanding greater and greater controls over their citizens, where global financial instabilities threaten our livelihood at any moment, it is little wonder that it is so difficult to have faith in oneself, to even believe that transcendental wisdom is real, let alone that self actualisation is possible. Yet it is precisely because of the failures of this modern, materialistic existence in not being able to fulfil our most basic requirements for self-fulfilment, freedom, which provides motivation for seeking beyond the mundane. In fact, at this time in history we are awash with opportunities for people to begin considerations about the nature of their existence and become motivated to question the status quo, perhaps even to seek "alternative" means for attaining a sense of fulfilment. Of course there is nothing alternative to practices that have been in use since before recorded history and meditation is really the only tool for exploring one's inner landscape. So, if life seems unfulfilling with all of its material benefits, hollow diversions and unrelenting demands, and you are wondering if there is any sense at all in this crazy world that lies outside of you, perhaps it is time to consider that which is inside of you.

(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

The Practice

After considering the 6 analytical dimensions (primitive interrogatives) of seeking Śūnyatā, above, we can establish the conceptual basis for considering and investigating the subject, perhaps even develop a few theories on what is it all about, but it is imperative not to fall into the trap of "paralysis by analysis" or believe you have arrived at a good enough understanding to satisfy your intellectual curiosity and move on to the next fleeting thing that crosses the mind. The only point to contemplating Śūnyatā is to know yourself, your true nature, to understand ultimate reality and to attain enlightenment. This requires meditative practice that develops Prajñāpāramitā and by degrees, brings that experience into this current existence.

(41) Jesus said, "Whoever has something in his hand will receive more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little he has."

But fear not if you cannot commit to the practice or feel no inclination to pursue the subject, your pure awareness, or Bodhi mind, is always with you waiting patiently for you to approach it and seek it out, if not in this life time then in the next. We will all get there in the end.

May we all realise the luminous mind.

What time is it?

What time is it? It's the question of the moment, the ever present, always continuing moment. It's always now.

The time is now and it's always the same time. It's just that we don't realise it, or that we forget … we forget that it's now. We aren't paying attention that it's now. The mind is dwelling in the past or in the future, one concern after the other, one issue after the other, layer upon layer, deeper and deeper, always distracting us from the present moment.

To grasp the present moment, to live in the present moment is the awareness of the Buddha. That's where the Bodhi mind is. It's now. The awareness of now, in that moment … this moment … that's where we find our enlightenment. That's where we lose our ego. That's where all things are reduced to … perfection.

In this now moment, that it where our pure awareness is, that is where we are, but it is not always where our attention is.

If we can rid our mind of all of the disruptive thoughts, all of the pressing concerns, all of the worries and fears … if we can cast aside the complexities of this samsaric world, this fraudulent existence that we are immersed in … we can see reality, we can comprehend ultimate reality and we find that … we find that reality is Śūnyatā, its empty. We find that our existence, our awareness is without condition … is unconditioned … and we attain the supreme enlightenment.

We attain the supreme enlightenment right now. We don't attain it in the past; we don't attain it in the future. We don't achieve the Bodhi mind anywhere else except now.

If we can realise now, if we can … if I can realise now, if I can release all of the grasping desires for this and that, all of my conceptual attachments … I can abide in the moment. That is the challenge. That is the challenge.

But it is not a challenge demanding focused exertion. There is no effort required. The unconditioned needs nothing, is sustained by nothing, is reliant upon nothing, so it is in realising nothing that we succeed. We attain nothing, for there is nothing to be attained. In the present moment, our original mind, our perfect awareness opens like a flower across the field of our consciousness.

What time is it?

 

These are my reflections on a meditation retreat I attended last weekend.

May we cultivate the field of our consciousness so the flower of supreme enlightenment may take root and blossom.

A Mi Tuo Fo.

The Radiant Mind

In the past few meditation sessions I have attended at the Zen Hall of the monastery, I have had a direct encounter with the original awareness, the Bodhi mind, or the luminosity of mind, as the Dalai Lama refers to it in his book A Simple Path (1). The experiences have been somewhat profound in the way in which they have provided a direct experiential validation for much of the Buddhist teaching on Śūnyatā.

When you are able to clear away thoughts of the past and the future, slowly you begin to get a sense of the space between these two. You learn to abide in that present moment. In that space, you begin to glimpse what we call emptiness, and if you can remain in that emptiness for longer and longer periods of time then gradually the nature of consciousness itself, which is the sheer luminosity and natural awareness of mind, will slowly dawn in you. Through repeated practice the period can be lengthened more and more, so that your awareness of the nature of consciousness becomes clearer and clearer.

Dalai Lama (1)

The approach to entering this level of awareness, abiding in this present moment is perhaps of interest to some and I have a strong inclination (dare I say desire?) to share my approach for the benefit of those other meditators who may be interested. Firstly, I must admit that this experience has only been achieved in the Zen Hall during formal meditation with other meditators present and my attempts to achieve it at home have not been successful, although I certainly intend to keep trying. So this is my approach:

1. Arrange your seat and position yourself for maximum comfort in the posture of your choice – This is not an insignificant element and I have recently discovered that by simply adding a second cushion under myself, I am much more comfortable and maintain a better posture while sitting in half-lotus position. Coincidently perhaps, this experience has occurred since making this subtle change.
   
2. Calm your mind – On commencing meditation I find that using the breath counting technique of steadily counting on the in-breathe and releasing on the out-breathe using spherical breathing helps calm my mind, allowing it to release mundane concerns and focus in the present.
   
3. Apply single-pointed concentration – After some minutes of Breathe Counting, I apply my mind on an object of single-pointed concentration. I have used different objects of focus for exercising single-pointedness in the past, from the image of the Buddha, to a concept or question, to following a pre-defined internal landscape; however, in this instance I apply my mind in single-pointed attention on my Chakra Energy Centres. Starting at the Root and then progressing sequentially to the Crown, I visualise the associated colour and energise that Chakra by spinning the energy centre clockwise (for inwardly focused energy flow according to the Right-hand Rule) and trying to see the colour brighten and crystallise. I finish this stage by feeling the flow of energy into and through me, then radiating outwardly into an encompassing sphere or oval of white light that surrounds me. This is a protective seal from negative energies.
   
4. Raise your level of focus – Then following the path of the coiling Kundalini, I let my focus rise up through the central channel of my spine and my energy centre connections to the pineal gland.
   
5. Middle Way Reality Method – Then I apply myself to the middle way reality method. This is really just a fancy title for focusing on nothing at all and dismissing any and all thoughts that enter your awareness, whether through your mind or your senses.
   

From here, it is a matter of extending the period of no-thought until, as the Dalai Lama says above, gradually you become aware of the luminosity of the mind. This is a radiant quality that one senses within one's awareness, like a sense of something shining in your awareness. Once detected, the objective is to abide in this awareness for longer and longer periods of time. This is the nature of mind; mine, yours, everybody, everything. Touching this is experiencing our pure mind, our original awareness, the consciousness that is embedded within the reality of our experience.

However, it is important to realise that this experience of the luminosity of the mind, of the nature of mind, is not a profound realisation in itself. Rebirth in many of the Formless Realms of samsara is considered to result from abiding in such states of clarity. On the other hand, if we know how to use that initial experience of luminosity as a basis, then we can build on it by complementing our meditation with other practices, and in this way it will become truly profound.

Dalai Lama (1)

So, while you may be able to achieve this state of awareness, it is not an end in itself, for we have not really achieved anything. We have not attained anything, we have just realised for however a fleeting period, that which we have always had. All we have done is temporarily release the distortions from that original mind that we carry around in our normal life and glimpse the truth that lays beneath our delusions.

However, in catching this glimpse, we do cross a threshold of realisation and that is, there is a fundamental truth to our existence that is not explained by the material obsessions of the modern world and that the teachings of the enlightened masters of our past have actually been trying to tell us something of this truth. In the Diamond Sutra for instance, the Buddha says in verse 18:

Subhuti, I know the mind of every sentient being in all the host of universes, regardless of any modes of thought, conceptions or tendencies. For all modes, conceptions and tendencies of thought are not mind. And yet they are called 'mind'. Why? It is impossible to retain a past thought, to seize a future thought, and even to hold onto a present thought.

Diamond Sutra (2)

Perhaps we can see that by knowing the nature of our own mind in its original radiance, we also know the mind of all sentient beings.

But what is more important, knowing the truth of our existence through this direct personal experience, or realising that those who have walked this path before us have left a trail of breadcrumbs so we may also follow? Both are significant realisations.

How fortunate we are that there is a path to follow that confirms through experience that there is something to be attained spiritually and allows us to reach enlightenment in our own way and in our own time, while all along we grow in awareness that there is in truth, nothing to be attained.

May we all have this experience of the radiant mind.

Namaste.

 

1. Dalai Lama (2000). A Simple Path. 2nd ed. London: Thorsons. p81, originally published as The Four Noble Truths.
   
2. Diamond Sutra, http://embeddedconsciousness.blogspot.com.au/p/diamond-sutra.html