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"Spontaneous" Arising & Passing Away
I am curious about the spontaneous occurrence of the Deep Insight into Arising & Passing Away ("A&P"), partly because it seems to be a common enough--and, more importantly, incredibly destabilizing--phenomenon to warrant some investigation.
Daniel has described a number of instances he went through here: http://www.interactivebuddha.com/theAandP.shtml
Now, the suggestion seems to be that 1. A&P events happen spontaneously and 2. the "Dark Night" stages follow any A&P.
From my own experience I can think of at least two or three suspect experiences and want to elaborate some. First, it seems that for whatever reason some people have enough concentration--or some deep, perhaps tacit, intention--that predisposes them to investigation, which in a high energy state could lead to this type of thing. It also seems common in dreams. Second, i do tend to believe that the Dark Night/dukkha nanas follow. They seem, however, to dissipate with time. Fourth, at least from what I can gather, in these spontaneous instances, the thing is an one-off type event--the conditions that allowed it to happen are so potent as to rarely be in alignment, and, as such, it tends to mean that one doesn't necessarily have the ability to progress back into and through that territory any time soon.
Does this seem well-founded? And why would the Dark Night stuff generally go away after time? Or is it just diminished into the background? My only current explanation is that this tends to follow the amount of energy involved, which causes it to diminish over time. A "Dark Night yogi" who sits to formally meditate the first time doesn't have the concentration or the perception to, if you will, pick up where they left off.
Posted:
Mar 10 2008, 1:24 PM EDT by
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Agnostic about reincarnation
(from my blog)
I discovered Buddhism through Zen. However sometimes I feel like I slipped in through a backdoor, since practicing Zen has never required me to accept reincarnation. (See Chuan Zhi Shakya’s discussion about this). So I am a little disoriented when I hear teachers from other traditions speaking so matter-of-factly about past and future lives –- as if the truth of it was obvious.
However, in letting go of my Christian upbringing, I have developed antibodies that interfere with accepting anything on blind faith. So it was not the promise of reincarnation, but statements like this that endeared me to Buddhism:
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions simply because they have been handed down for many generations. ... Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But when, after observation and analysis, you find anything that agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
– Buddha, Kalama Sutta
Since I am hoping to avoid “observation and analysis” of reincarnation for as long as possible – I choose to be agnostic, and focus on being in the moment instead.
However, when I do come across teachings that depend on reincarnation – I take reincarnation to mean being reborn each day, each moment, and in each breath — and inheriting the karma from previous moments. Sometimes abstraction works too, as when I heard a teacher explain that beautiful people can attribute their looks to karma inherited from past lives. Here I equate beauty to be a personality – and voila!
I don’t take tinkering with the dharma lightly – but these interpretations don’t negate the original meaning, and I think are consistent with Buddhist thought.
I am curious about how the community here feels about this perspective!
Gassho,
Justin
Posted:
Mar 9 2008, 7:29 PM EDT by
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Bodhisattvas and the Great White Brotherhood
Ever since my first fruition I have increasingly found myself pointing others in the direction of enlightenment, sometimes despite myself. While it is pretty obvious that an experience as unique as fruition might engender a degree of evangelism, and daily consideration of the topic of enlightenment will certainly ensure it’s more likely to crop up in conversation, the majority of the time it seems as if the discussion comes to me rather than the other way round (the most recent example was a work colleague who came to me with a page printed from my website – which he had hunted down without me even telling him I had a website! - to ask a number of questions related to my tradition. Cue office dharma talk…). I’ve always kept my mundane life separate from my interest in enlightenment, simply because I’ve always believed the average Joe just isn’t interested, or simply will not understand (on a separate note, I’m beginning to believe this is not the case at all). It increasingly seems I can no longer maintain that divide.
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buddha on the couch
today's edition of Tricycle's Daily Dharma on "Beginningness":
"Most people think of enlightenment as a kind of magical attainment, a state of being close to perfection. At this level, one can perform amazing feats, see past and future lives of others, and tune in to the inner workings of the universe. This may be possible for a number of special beings, but for most of us enlightenment is much more in line with what Suzuki Roshi describes. It means having a quality of "beginningness," a fresh, simple, unsophisticated view of things. To have "beginner's mind" in how we approach things is a major teaching. In many ways, the process of enlightenment is clearing away the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas that cloud our ability to see things as they really are in their pristine form. - David A. Cooper, Silence, Simplicity and Solitude
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book"
If enlightenment is just "clearing your junk" -- ala some quality couch time with a therapist -- what's all the fuss about? Even apart from the siddhis, that doesn't sound like any sort of inexpressible truth or mystery to me. Discuss.
Posted:
Feb 10 2008, 4:51 AM EST by
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Sansara and rebirth
Hi, I was grew up as a Buddhist, but only started seriously practicing meditation a few months ago ( suddenly I became intently interested in meditation)
My question is, how does the notion of sansara and rebirth play a role in enlightment? does sansara exist at all? Or is it a trivial issue ( like the buddhist parable of a person injured by an arrow asking details about the arrow)
It's just that during my upbringing, there was a heavy intellectual/cultural bias towards sansara and rebirth. Dan/ Hokai/ anyone... what do you think about this?
Posted:
May 26 2008, 9:57 PM EDT by nails88
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Taboos, Expectations
I find it hard to debate these points when agreeing so fully. I'll just list some examples:
"But Ajahn Chah smoked cigarettes" - I've always wondered why people would think awakening could me measured in units of "cigarettes per day".
"When you say you are awakened, you are in real trouble, because nobody wants you to be" - one of Ajahn Chahs students.
Nanavira Thera writing up his stream-entry experience in pali and hiding it in a letter "to be opened in the event of my death".
Finding out about Nanavira was quite an eye-opener for me, and encouraged me to keep looking for more.
Cheers,
Florian
Posted:
Feb 1 2008, 5:48 PM EST by
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The Big Issues
Here is the page dedicated to public debate of the big issues that impede straightforward, open, honest, down-to-earth, empowering dharma. There a...
Last updated:
Jan 29 2008, 7:41 PM EST by
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The WHY that drives the process
One of the things I've been mulling over a lot lately, as I get more serious about my practice, is the why behind my actions. WHY do I want to do this?
When I first came to Buddhism it was because I was disenchanted with the painful/stressful aspects of daily living, and found in Buddhism a direct approach for understanding and approaching suffering. Practice at that time was about reaching the ending of stress. Now it's grown to include something else, I think. It's about seeing this experience for what it truly is. Like a profound curiosity. Amazingly, I find I can't exactly describe the source behind the passion. It just sort of feels right... so I continue to do it.
I would put out there, for the rest of you on this path, do you feel the same? And for those of you who have attained the goal, was it worth it? And did the suffering go when you integrated?
Posted:
Feb 28 2008, 1:15 AM EST by
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What if family committments limit involvement in longer retreat time?
I just read the chapter from Daniel's Book regarding How Maps Help and a potential mapping out of spiritual progress. Of course such concept is frought with subconscious expectations of the "planning mind". Nevertheless, since the book makes attainment so practically possible, there arises a feeling of being "torn" between family and spiritual commitments.
I do not believe I can participate in a retreat longer than a week for at least a couple of years (have a beautiful 3 month old at home).
What would you recommend as a basis of solid practice with this situation?
- Torn - AP
Posted:
Apr 13 2008, 10:29 PM EDT by AndruP
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Why hasn't the internet happened to teachers/attainers?
Lack of good, public information is what drives all the problems, imo. Lots of teachers say in their writing you can't do it (nearly as quickly) without them (in general, if not them in particular). I suspect there's some truth to that, but is it mostly just because there's effectively a cartel against accurate, public information?
For years MIT has made many of their course materials available for free to anyone with an internet connection, and even sends hard drives to institutions whose connections are too slow. Other top schools have followed suit. They aren't afraid, because what they're selling is the prestige and power of an actual degree, not the syllabi, videos, lecture notes, et al
Linux is a world-class operating system that is given away to one and all, complete with source code, and yet lots of companies make money from services and support.
What keeps those with high attainments from publishing more straight talk on the internet? Insulating oneself from the unpleasant feedback described in point one is pretty trivial, and it's very unlikely that everyone disagrees with DU's position.
If Buddha were alive, would he not have a web 2.0 attainment tracker interfaced to 43things and facebook; integrated dharma library searchable by level, technique, and sticking point; cell-phone apps enable satsang everywhere. "Leveling-up" becomes less about computer games. Yeah, there'd be competition about it, and lots of new slang ... so what? Compare the number of level 20 WoW players with the number of enlightened individuals. Which do you want more of?
"Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up."
-- Bill Hicks
Posted:
Jan 14 2008, 10:19 PM EST by
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