Update on the Ankh Symbol

After considering the two dimensionality of the lower part of the Ankh, being a coordinate system of Consciousness on the vertical axis and subjective distortions of discriminative thought on the horizontal axis, I was encouraged in the simplicity by which such a coordinate system could describe the degree of one’s divergence from the Path, as a Cartesian coordinate system defines the position of a point. However, I was perplexed at the confusion entailed in the descriptions of the axis themselves. Then a few weeks ago after attending a meditation session and Sutra class at the Chan monastery, I discussed with the Shifu the significance of the Three Poisons of Buddhism, being Ignorance, Anger and Greed.

It had occurred to me while listening to a story of one of the patriarchs of Chan (Zen) Buddhism that anger and greed were but manifestations (or discriminations made) of the same root, being Desire. That is, one only hates or is angered by something because they do not desire it and one is only greedy because they do desire something. Hence, Anger and Greed just represent opposite polarities of a single Klesha - Desire. My Shifu concurred and we discussed further how it was the taming of Desire and the eradication of Ignorance that lead to enlightenment, the Bodhi mind and Nirvana.  

Reflecting again on the Ankh, I saw clearly that the horizontal coordinate system of the lower part of the Ankh was really nothing other than the positive and negative expressions of Desire defined on an axis centred around a zero point of total detached compassion and unconditional love. In further consideration it can be observed that the Kleshas are nothing other than descriptions, or discriminative distinctions of the degree of divergence (left or right, positive or negative, more or less) from this state of detached compassion.

The vertical axis of the lower portion of the figure is seen to represent, therefore, the spectrum of Ignorance; total ignorance at the bottom, rising in degrees of increasing wisdom to the perfection of wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā in Sanskrit) at the top.

I have updated the descriptive elements of the Ankh with this revised definition of the axes as shown below.

 



In doing so, I also note that curving inward of the extremities of the cross suggest a motion or movement back towards the point of emergence from the creative principle, or zero point, in both horizontal and vertical directions. You will observe also that I have marked this gateway point with a circle to identify the target of our existential development.

This might tweak some form a recognition in your memory of having seen this conglomerate of symbolism before and if you are wondering where, I’ll point out that this is very similar to the Celtic Cross with the circular focal form centered on the vertex of the cross. It is intriguing to contemplate the possible historical connections between the Egyptian Ankh, the Celtic Cross and the Buddhist Path to enlightenment, or the intelligence that may have devised such symbolism. For my part, I see a great tool for stimulating the memory when the weight of material concerns cloud the meaning of life.
 

May we all dispel our ignorance and balance our desires and discriminative thoughts.

Namaste.

Edit: I have been plagued by a concern over the use of Desire as a label for the horizontal axis and have been motivated to understand that Desire itself is not the root of the distortions of subjectivity and discriminative thought that give rise to the subjective kleshas. Instead, the root is the attachment to objects of form, which arise through conceptualisation and discriminative thinking. To extend my explanation above, one is not only greedy or angry because of their desire or repulsion for the object of attention, but because they are attached to the subjective form that object holds for them. Therefore, the horizontal axis is better termed the Spectrum of Attachment to reflect this clinging to notions of discriminative preferences and conceptualisations. This is also very consistent with Buddhist terminology and teachings. I have updated the diagram to reflect this change.

Now we can contrast this symbolic description of The Path provided in the Ankh directly with what is described didactically in the Heart Sutra, observing the consistency:

Therefore, O Sariputra, it is because of his non-attainmentness [non-attachment] that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings [conceptualisations]. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.

-          The Heart Sutra

 

Ankh - The Path in a Picture

Is there a single image that captures the path to enlightenment? That can guide and remind us, in our ignorance, of the road we must seek and of the destination to which we aspire?

The Egyptian Ankh or Crux Ansata provides just such an image, but it bears some explanation to transform a flat lifeless image into a guide and instrument of direction of the highest order.

Here is the insight gained through meditation on the Ankh, yesterday morning. I was prompted to contemplate it by a reference made in a Gnostic podcast I listened to a few weeks back. The idea that the Ankh was a symbol of metaphysical principles for initiates was intriguing and an easy object of contemplative focus in meditation.

In the diagram below, we can see the Ankh symbol in black, with descriptions and indicators detailing the significance of its different aspects.





 

 The central theme of the symbol is the horizontal line that separates the above from below. Above we observe the circular, womb shape and below, a singular line. The creative principle represented by the womb shape is obvious if considered and the fact that it is whole and undivided speaks to the greater integrated totality of creation. The vertical line that emanates from the creative principle, drives forward into the void, separating the horizontal line that demarks its emergence and instantly transforming the hitherto passive void into a seething sea of dynamic tensions of discriminative duality. Left versus right, the spectrum of subjective conceptualisations is immediately created, with an infinite array of unbalanced distortions available for the experience of consciousness.

The vertical line emanating from the creative unity, suggests a divergence from that principle the further removed one may be. In this spectrum of consciousness, one may see the wise and self-realised entities as closer to the horizontal line, while the ignorant and dependent being further removed. Which if viewed in reverse order describes a hierarchy of development bringing one closer to the infinite creative principle from which the finite, individualised consciousness was born. In fact, the vertical line indicates that not only is there a spectrum of consciousness, but that there is only a single point at which it is possible to penetrate that creative principle from the position of individualised consciousness. The vertical line delineates a path back through the void in which concepts of duality and separateness must be balanced to return to the infinite wholeness of the creative totality. The Left-hand Path does not exist without the Right-hand Path and that all such discriminative conceptualisations are but distortions keeping one suspended and isolated in the void and off the path of return. In this graphical way we can see that it is the realisation of the middle-way, of neither identifying with the self nor others while remaining detached from the conceptualisations that entrap the mind within the horizontal spectrum of discriminative subjectivity, that provides our path to enlightenment. That is, a profound realisation of Śūnyatā is the path to the Bodhi mind.

Is it any wonder that there should be such consistency in metaphysical instruction between the ancient Egyptians, the Gnostics and the Buddha? How many ways can the same guidance be given?

May we all balance our discriminative thoughts and raise our consciousness to find the middle way and attain the further shore.

Namaste.

Edit: In the diagram above I have changed the original "Self as All .. Self as Nothing" of the horizontal spectrum to "Individual as All .. Collective as All" as to better reflect the extreme perspectives of Service-to-Self and Service-to-Others conceptualisations. The description of this aspect of the diagram was a little obscure after coming out of meditation. After contemplating my unease over it, I concluded that it is the Collective that is the opposite polarity to the Individual and better represents the extremes of discriminative thought in this spectrum.

Evolve to Progress

“The earth goddess has moved a greater part of her awareness into a 5^th density environment, dragging earth and all related sentient beings along behind her. That is to say that there is an unstoppable force pulling earth and all its life forward into a new realm of existence and experience.”

So says the guide who came in response to my meditative focus on the question of “Why another war?”

I took some time this morning before breakfast to meditate and reconnect with the spiritual life after a number of months of disrupted practice and focus on matters of material concern, such as housing, money and business issues. But it was “Father’s Day” and I dedicated a little bit of time to my spiritual practice. After running through my standard approach to entering the meditative state; breath counting, energising chakras, drawing up the kundalini and seating my awareness in the area of the pineal gland as I have previously described, I settled my attention on to the question of focus in a single-pointed state. Very quickly I was drawn into a vortex of energy that streamed down over me and filled my body with a white light that then radiated out into a sphere around me. The energy vortex then continued through me deep into the earth and I felt my awareness fall backwards, as it were, down into the earth within the column of the energy vortex, coming to rest at the bottom. I immediately felt the arrival of another entity and was in the presence of a guide who had come in response to my question.

Now, I did not challenge this guide nor otherwise question its authenticity as is my usual response when confronted in this situation, as I was automatically filled with a profound sense of gratitude and took to one knee as I gave thanks. My guide bid me to come with her and she would explain what was happening with the world and its focus on war and aggression. Under her control she took me to what she said I would understand as the 5^th density. I had the sense of rising up and arrived in a space that was completely filled with light. This is the density where, she said, our earth mother had relocated and that this relocation has profound implications for all life on our planetary sphere. As we are bound to or a part of (?) her, life will now inexorably transition into a new state of being, that is a new density of existence.

She likened this transition to a filtration process through the energetic barrier between the densities. To pass through the barrier one must shed the discordant energies (thoughts, desires, etc.) that are not consistent with the new energetic level of existence. But as the concentration of entities increases in proximity to this barrier, the discordant energies are becoming increasingly intense as they rise to the surface to be either shed or embraced. This process of increasing discord brings to the fore a conscious choice. A choice of control through fear and an experiential dead-end devoid of freedom and adventure. Or a choice of love, freedom and inspiration.

To the question of what I should personally do to continue my adventure with the earth mother into the new environment, my guide advised that I should continue to open my heart in unconditional love and to apply the wisdom of my experiences, while working on the eradication of base lustful tendencies.

The pull of the earth goddess of everyone against this barrier of transition between densities is separating humanity into increasingly separate and obvious groups. These grouping are reflecting the dualism of choice for differing polarities of “positive” or “negative”, respective to the polarity chosen by the earth mother. Evolving to shed the fear and control of the negative paradigm is making the choice to embrace the positive model of existence chosen by the earth goddess.

Observing the absurdity of the warring factions as country after country is overthrown, leaving chaos and destruction of the civilian infrastructure and communities, with politicians jockeying for position to support the insanity while creating a prison state of totalitarian surveillance through secret laws and courts to prosecute dissenters and whistle-blowers, … the choice is to either embrace the absurdity or to just step out of it and let it flow around you as you are drawn through the density barrier. To evolve into the paradigm of the new density or remain with the old.

(42) Jesus said, "Become passers-by."

Like passing through a sieve, the detritus is left behind, becoming more and more apparent over time and requiring removal to allow efficient filtration of the flow to continue.

(73) Jesus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the Lord, therefore, to send out laborers to the harvest."

 

 

The Bed Sheet Metaphor

It was my privilege, a number of years ago, to speak at a spiritualist church on a topic of my choosing. Given, at the time, my occupation with the nature of chakra energy centres and the characteristics of these different energies, I chose to speak about my understanding of these energy centres and how they related and connected us all to the broader universe we exist within. The analogy that I used was that of a bed sheet, where a bed sheet represents a frequency of light corresponding to one of the chakras.

In the analogy I used, our existence was projected through 7 different frequency bands corresponding to the 7 major chakras. By layering the seven sheets upon each other and drawing them all up into a knot at one point. This knot, I reasoned, could represent ourselves, living within the fields of universal energy. A being existing as a focal point of these universal energies, drawn into a complex combination (the knot). Draw the sheets into more knots and you define a community of focal points of energy complexes (individuals) that relate to each other through their proximity in sharing of the energy fields (sheets). A simple but effective analogy for the energetic view of existence within multiple, interrelated yet distinct frequencies of electromagnetic energy (light).

The different characteristics of light (detailed here) and the variability with which each penetrate and flow through a corporeal entity provides for the variability of characteristics demonstrated within each entity. The proximity of entities within the sheet, determine the amount of influence and distortion each focal point exerts upon another, while viewed from a distance the grouping, distortions and energetic interrelationships can be conceived of as a community sharing common characteristics. With a big enough sheet and perspective, one can consider multiple groups of entities, clustered into regional communities, with the greater the distance between them the less they affect or influence each other, yet they are all interconnected by the sheet. Simple enough?

This morning the local council was due to collect the garbage in our suburb. I had forgotten to put the bins out last night and awoke with a start early this morning at the jolt from my wife reminding me to put the garbage out. She had heard the garbage truck making its way through the streets in the silence of the early morning. Dutifully I arose and wheeled the garbage bin out to the curb to await pickup and quickly returned to bed, intent on another hour of sleep. As I dosed back into sleep, I was cast back to my speech at the spiritualist church and was consumed with a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to share those thoughts and express my insight. In this half dream state, thoughts and ideas extending upon this analogy flooded through my mind including the following:

• All the graduations of the electromagnetic spectrum can be conceived of as sheets layered one upon another in an infinite array. [ Grouped in octaves like the spectrum of light ]
  
• Different levels of existence include different layers of sheets that are knotted together;
  
• On the death of the body, consciousness retreats to the highest level sheet (frequency of light) before re-entering material existence as another knot;
  
• Levels of existence above this one do not include the lower level sheets (frequencies), but include higher level frequencies;
  
• Realms of existence occur within zones where the prevailing frequencies are most stable and that does not necessarily require a planet;
  
• The Sun as a source of light (electromagnetic energy) is a point of existence for higher levels of consciousness;
  
• To preserve physical integrity beyond natural areas of existence, vehicles are necessary for transportation through and beyond areas of non-native frequencies;
  
• Transportation is not just over linear distances as we perceive it in our realm and is not just for transport through our range of frequencies.
  

Then I was wondering about the requirement for food and why we must eat food and excrete if our existence is energetic in the spectrum of light. The thought that was conveyed was that the more gross the form of existence the grosser is the source of energy required to overcome the entropy of annihilation of the physical body complex and that a chemical body required chemical inputs to maintain it. That of course implied that higher levels of existence do not rely upon gross chemical constructs of bodily materials and nutritional requirements would be completely different to our own.

Then as I began to finally drift into sleep, I was filled with an urgency to write down my recollection before it was forgotten, so I could convey it to others who may be interested.

Hence, in an obscure but interesting quirk of synchronicity, you find yourself reading this material due to me not putting the garbage out last night and being poked in the ribs by my wife this morning!

May we each find our way out of ignorance and confusion to embrace the mind of pure awareness.

Namaste.

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.