Post by zendancer on Oct 6, 2009 16:59:22 GMT -5
What we can call "the Unitive Path" or "the path of non-duality," is the process of unifying the body and mind so that the illusion of selfhood is penetrated and one can live consciously connected to the source of all being. By the time we become adults we have been conditioned to live through our thoughts, and we perceive the world as if we were miniature people living inside our heads and peering out of the body's eye sockets. We see the world as if we are entities "in here" looking at a world "out there." This is a huge illusion, but it often takes us quite a while to see through it.
As adults, we live in a world of thoughts, and have thousands of beliefs, ideas, and opinions. Our thoughts jerk us around relentlessly, and we have no stability, peace, or contentment. We are much like those oriental dolls or schmoos that have curved bases. Life knocks us down, and we gradually roll back up to an vertical position. Then it knocks us down again. This is because we have no ballast or weight to keep us upright against whatever calamities we encounter. On the Unitive Path we gradually strengthen our center (add ballast to our base) until we become resilient, able to withstand whatever life throws at us. Gradually, we find that we aren't knocked over as far, or we rebound more quickly, and eventually we lose ourselves so thoroughly that there is nothing left standing that needs to resist anything. At this point we become one-with life and are much like a leaf being blown about by the wind, content to go in any direction.
We start out on this path in many different ways. Some of us suffer so much existential pain that we desperately start searching for relief. Some of us intuitively sense that "something is rotten in Denmark"--that what we were told by our parents, teachers, and culture is somehow flawed. Some of us become consumed by existential questions (Who am I? Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Is there a God? etc), and start searching for answers. Some of us feel deeply spiritual, but can't find any satisfaction within traditional churches. Some of us have a Cosmic Consciousness experience, lose it, and then start madly searching for a way to get it back. Some of us get a tiny glimpse of something incredible and wonder if what we saw could possibly be real. Some of us want to experience God directly and start searching for a way to do that. Some of us simply read about this path and become curious.
Whether we know it or not, what we are doing when we start following this path is trying to find a way to consciously re-connect with the source of our being. Here is the most important point:
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN! (Is this statement really true? No, of course not, but I'm using these words to point to something.)
We can read or think about the Unitive Path for twenty years, and we will be no closer to finding the truth. I know this for a fact because I tried this approach without any success whatsoever! It is only when we shift our attention away from thoughts and back toward reality that things begin to happen. As adults, it is not easy to do this. We have been so conditioned to generate thoughts that it is hard for most of us to return to a state of not-knowing (agnosia). How do we do this? We do it by practicing some sort of non-conceptual awareness. Speaking personally, my mind was so dominated by thoughts when I began this path that the only practice I could use was breath-counting. It took more than a year before any significant gaps occurred between my thoughts, and it took almost three years before awareness could watch the mind shift back and forth between thoughts and reality. Hopefully, other people won't have to deal with such an out-of-control intellect! LOL. I had to write the words "Look" and "Listen" on little cards and place them around my office and in my vehicles to remind myself to shift my attention to reality. I would see one of those cards and think, "Oh yeah. I forgot again. What can I see and hear?" When I went on trips in my car, I quit listening to the radio and turned my attention to what I could hear (the sound of the car's engine, the wind rushing past the windows, horns honking, etc) and what I could see (other vehicles coming toward me, the surface of the pavement, the hood of the car, birds flying overhead or sitting in trees, etc). (Psalms 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God," but most of us have no idea what these words are pointing to.)
Gradually, with sustained practice, the mind quits talking so much and spends more and more time attending. Today, after twenty-five years, this body can drive for miles without a single thought appearing in the mind. Today, thoughts are no longer a problem. They appear and they disappear and there is no illusion that a personal entity exists who controls them.
We can distinguish between two forms of non-conceptual awareness practice--formal and informal. If we sit down to do thirty minutes of breath awareness practice, this is a formal kind of thing. We are purposely and consciously setting aside time to do nothing but be attentive. Informal practice is when we shift our attention to reality throughout the day, and the importance of this is rarely discussed in books about meditation. Both kinds of practice have the same effect, but the reason that informal practice is important is that it extends the amount of time we are focusing on reality (it helps speed up the shift in mental habits). If we choose to watch our thoughts, that is another equivalent kind of attending. Awareness focuses on reality--thoughts appearing in the mind--and this, too, breaks the attachment to thoughts. Here are the most common forms of non-conceptual awareness practice:
1. Visually holding our focus on an object or a field of view. When thoughts occur, we ignore them and stay focused on the object.
2. Listening to sounds. We become a giant ear and simply listen to whatever sounds are present. When thoughts interrupt our listening, we gently return to what we can hear.
3. Breath-counting. We count ten breaths repeatedly. The variation that I used was counting breaths until I lost the count and then started over at "one". It took weeks before I could get to "five." As noted above, however, I was a basket case.
4. Breath awareness. We simply watch the breathing process--how air enters and leaves the body.
5. Chanting.
6. Mantras.
7. Shikan taza.
8. Body awareness.
9. Walking meditation. Listening to footsteps. Feeling the muscles move. Feeling the entire process. etc.
10 Koan study.
For most of us, it helps to start with some sort of formal practice before moving on to informal practice, and it can be fun to experiment with all of the methodologies.
Besides the shift from thoughts to direct perception, two other issues are of major importance--questioning and persistence. Most of us have existential questions. To find answers, all we have to do is bear our questions in mind and let our body go to work answering them. We start off by verbally stating the issues and then we let the questions sink into deeper levels of the body/mind. As thoughts diminish, the answers start popping out.
Persistence may be the most important issue of all. Whatever we are searching for, it helps to develop an attitude of, "I'll do whatever it takes for however long it takes to find what I'm searching for. I will keep on knocking on God's door until She has no choice but open it!" People who feel this way almost always find what they're looking for.
What happens to us as we shift our attention away from thoughts to reality? We become action-oriented. We lose interest in the past or future and become focused upon what's happening here and now. As our ideas fall away, all kinds of strange things may happen, and when we're meditating, all kinds of unusual things may appear. This is normal. If we stay focused on reality, it becomes clearer and clearer and we also become clearer and clearer. We quit fantasizing and reflecting because that kind of mental activity is less interesting than what is real. It is as if we are emerging from a fog, and things become increasingly simple and obvious. Eventually we get to a point where we know what to do in any situation, and we accept whatever happens with equanimity and contentment. The more silent we become, the more clearly we can hear God speak. When we finally wake up from the dream of selfhood, we find ourselves in total agreement with what every mystic in world history has said, "The world is perfect just as it is. Thanks be to God for everything. May we always live in service to the One in whom we live and breathe and have our being."
Best wishes and blessings to all, and here's hoping there aren't too many typos in this thing.
As adults, we live in a world of thoughts, and have thousands of beliefs, ideas, and opinions. Our thoughts jerk us around relentlessly, and we have no stability, peace, or contentment. We are much like those oriental dolls or schmoos that have curved bases. Life knocks us down, and we gradually roll back up to an vertical position. Then it knocks us down again. This is because we have no ballast or weight to keep us upright against whatever calamities we encounter. On the Unitive Path we gradually strengthen our center (add ballast to our base) until we become resilient, able to withstand whatever life throws at us. Gradually, we find that we aren't knocked over as far, or we rebound more quickly, and eventually we lose ourselves so thoroughly that there is nothing left standing that needs to resist anything. At this point we become one-with life and are much like a leaf being blown about by the wind, content to go in any direction.
We start out on this path in many different ways. Some of us suffer so much existential pain that we desperately start searching for relief. Some of us intuitively sense that "something is rotten in Denmark"--that what we were told by our parents, teachers, and culture is somehow flawed. Some of us become consumed by existential questions (Who am I? Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Is there a God? etc), and start searching for answers. Some of us feel deeply spiritual, but can't find any satisfaction within traditional churches. Some of us have a Cosmic Consciousness experience, lose it, and then start madly searching for a way to get it back. Some of us get a tiny glimpse of something incredible and wonder if what we saw could possibly be real. Some of us want to experience God directly and start searching for a way to do that. Some of us simply read about this path and become curious.
Whether we know it or not, what we are doing when we start following this path is trying to find a way to consciously re-connect with the source of our being. Here is the most important point:
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN! (Is this statement really true? No, of course not, but I'm using these words to point to something.)
We can read or think about the Unitive Path for twenty years, and we will be no closer to finding the truth. I know this for a fact because I tried this approach without any success whatsoever! It is only when we shift our attention away from thoughts and back toward reality that things begin to happen. As adults, it is not easy to do this. We have been so conditioned to generate thoughts that it is hard for most of us to return to a state of not-knowing (agnosia). How do we do this? We do it by practicing some sort of non-conceptual awareness. Speaking personally, my mind was so dominated by thoughts when I began this path that the only practice I could use was breath-counting. It took more than a year before any significant gaps occurred between my thoughts, and it took almost three years before awareness could watch the mind shift back and forth between thoughts and reality. Hopefully, other people won't have to deal with such an out-of-control intellect! LOL. I had to write the words "Look" and "Listen" on little cards and place them around my office and in my vehicles to remind myself to shift my attention to reality. I would see one of those cards and think, "Oh yeah. I forgot again. What can I see and hear?" When I went on trips in my car, I quit listening to the radio and turned my attention to what I could hear (the sound of the car's engine, the wind rushing past the windows, horns honking, etc) and what I could see (other vehicles coming toward me, the surface of the pavement, the hood of the car, birds flying overhead or sitting in trees, etc). (Psalms 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God," but most of us have no idea what these words are pointing to.)
Gradually, with sustained practice, the mind quits talking so much and spends more and more time attending. Today, after twenty-five years, this body can drive for miles without a single thought appearing in the mind. Today, thoughts are no longer a problem. They appear and they disappear and there is no illusion that a personal entity exists who controls them.
We can distinguish between two forms of non-conceptual awareness practice--formal and informal. If we sit down to do thirty minutes of breath awareness practice, this is a formal kind of thing. We are purposely and consciously setting aside time to do nothing but be attentive. Informal practice is when we shift our attention to reality throughout the day, and the importance of this is rarely discussed in books about meditation. Both kinds of practice have the same effect, but the reason that informal practice is important is that it extends the amount of time we are focusing on reality (it helps speed up the shift in mental habits). If we choose to watch our thoughts, that is another equivalent kind of attending. Awareness focuses on reality--thoughts appearing in the mind--and this, too, breaks the attachment to thoughts. Here are the most common forms of non-conceptual awareness practice:
1. Visually holding our focus on an object or a field of view. When thoughts occur, we ignore them and stay focused on the object.
2. Listening to sounds. We become a giant ear and simply listen to whatever sounds are present. When thoughts interrupt our listening, we gently return to what we can hear.
3. Breath-counting. We count ten breaths repeatedly. The variation that I used was counting breaths until I lost the count and then started over at "one". It took weeks before I could get to "five." As noted above, however, I was a basket case.
4. Breath awareness. We simply watch the breathing process--how air enters and leaves the body.
5. Chanting.
6. Mantras.
7. Shikan taza.
8. Body awareness.
9. Walking meditation. Listening to footsteps. Feeling the muscles move. Feeling the entire process. etc.
10 Koan study.
For most of us, it helps to start with some sort of formal practice before moving on to informal practice, and it can be fun to experiment with all of the methodologies.
Besides the shift from thoughts to direct perception, two other issues are of major importance--questioning and persistence. Most of us have existential questions. To find answers, all we have to do is bear our questions in mind and let our body go to work answering them. We start off by verbally stating the issues and then we let the questions sink into deeper levels of the body/mind. As thoughts diminish, the answers start popping out.
Persistence may be the most important issue of all. Whatever we are searching for, it helps to develop an attitude of, "I'll do whatever it takes for however long it takes to find what I'm searching for. I will keep on knocking on God's door until She has no choice but open it!" People who feel this way almost always find what they're looking for.
What happens to us as we shift our attention away from thoughts to reality? We become action-oriented. We lose interest in the past or future and become focused upon what's happening here and now. As our ideas fall away, all kinds of strange things may happen, and when we're meditating, all kinds of unusual things may appear. This is normal. If we stay focused on reality, it becomes clearer and clearer and we also become clearer and clearer. We quit fantasizing and reflecting because that kind of mental activity is less interesting than what is real. It is as if we are emerging from a fog, and things become increasingly simple and obvious. Eventually we get to a point where we know what to do in any situation, and we accept whatever happens with equanimity and contentment. The more silent we become, the more clearly we can hear God speak. When we finally wake up from the dream of selfhood, we find ourselves in total agreement with what every mystic in world history has said, "The world is perfect just as it is. Thanks be to God for everything. May we always live in service to the One in whom we live and breathe and have our being."
Best wishes and blessings to all, and here's hoping there aren't too many typos in this thing.
