by awareness ~ June 11, 2008
The idea of non-Identification is a stream that runs deeply in Buddhism and Non-Dualistic Vendanta.
So what is Identification exactly? Identification is core concept in Advaita Vedanta, and also a Fourth Way Idea. Briefly one could say that it is “allowing oneself to be defined by others and wrong views”.
Allowing ourselves to be defined by others, society, is the central problem, the core problem of mankind.
But Identification can be with anything, my car for example.
What happens if my car gets dented? One gets very upset! If someone bumps my car, they bump me.
But, my car won’t last forever. One day I’ll get another one, yet, we think of ourselves as the sort of person who drives a Prius, a truck, a Porsche. etc.
The list of things we identify with is endless, our job, spouse, children, parents, hobbies, thoughts, fears, addictions, vices, sports. All of these things will come and go in our lives. There is nothing inherently wrong with most of them, it’s just that we assume this collection of stuff is us, in toto, and that’s it. We don’t look past it, we are caught up in it.
Well, there’s a huge cost to doing that! The cost comes from the fact that we develop some really bad habits that cause ourselves and the rest of the world tremendous suffering. It is not my point to say stop! It’s to say that waking up is another possibility, is the present moment exists all that we need to escape from this round.
The core problem is that we are convinced that an illusion is real. The illusion is the idea that a separate self exists, the idea that the personality we call “me” is real.
Everything around us, our work, family, friends, etc reinforces it.
Because we have this error in our thinking and believing, we do all sorts of idiotic things, that appear to be mechanical.
Personally I think we have choice, but because we lack wisdom, and our brain is a type of binary engine, we don’t think creativily or see in a 360 degree panoramic view, we only think we have two choices most of the time, when in reality we have an infinite number of choices and possibilities, most of them better than the two we think we have.
We are convinced, this person, this body-mind process is “me”, and we assert that we exist as a separate entity.
Now, if we call this into question, and begin a process of paying attention in the moment, or can find the reality of the moment, Here and Now, whatever, it’s possible to have an entirely different perception, ergo, that one doesn’t exist in the traditional sense, and the egoic sense of self is a fleeting fancy.
However, this is hard to achieve. We need our egoic identity,to survive in the world. The ego never dies and never disappears. It is a fact, that is always there, and we cannot try to rid ourselves of the reality of it. But, we want to see the truth of it, not destroy it or do some sort of inner violence to ourselves. Most traditions say we need to remove ego. That’s not necessary. Rather it’s much more vital to see it as empty. Even more than that is to get the Zen joke of ego. If we see it as a fiction and grasp the paradoxical humor of our situation, that we and everyone else, are run around by a fiction. It’s tragic and funny at the same time.
To see the tragic sense of our own personal situation is the beginning of self knowledge, to embrace the humorous paradox is the beginning of freedom. But it is possible to be free from it
One could say that this freedom, inner freedom is the only real freedom. You see if we truly understood what Identification is, we would see we are in prison.
But it’s really very simple to get free. One just has to plant a seed, that grows in a different direction than the rest of the material in our life. The practice starts when one begins to question, “Who am I?”.
You see everything we are identified with will one day die, or end. This is the Buddhist idea of Impermanence. but the idea “Who am I?” is not limited and comes from the infinite.
It is only possible to be non-identified when one has discovered a way to be, live or practice, in Non-Dualistic Reality.But it’s very simple as the “Work of Attention”, as Reality, in the Here and Now is already beyond dualism! However the art of living beyond dualism is quite another affair. One could say that if a person could arrange one’s life to live a majority of the time in the present one would be a Master.
But I can say categorically, as one who has made the journey, that if you can discover Reality, then you will feel as though you never really lived before that time. The discovery of Reality is the next great realm of exploration.
So coming back to the idea of Identification, we live so enmeshed in the Matrix of identification, we have not yet truly experienced Reality. That is unfortunate. You see the two things are vastly different. The analogy of the matrix is quite appropriate! Many of us have had Matrix moments. I call this the Singularity experience.
by awareness ~ June 11, 2008
The “Work of Attention”, as Reality, in the Here and Now is to go beyond dualism, beyond conditioning.
To truly “BE” in the Here and Now, is to live in a state beyond the dualistic nature of subject and object, I and thou.
That is … there is …
- There is no You and no Me
- There is no subject, no object
- There is No experiencer and no experience
- There is only this moment, Sunyata, Suchness
That’s Reality in a nutshell. Truth!
The reason there is so much suffering on the planet is our total, abject and complete ignorance of this Fact.
We are not living in the Here and Now. Where we are is No Where. We are Asleep!
The first step to waking up is to recognize that one is asleep.
The world is deeply and thoroughly conditioned, so most beings never recognize this fact. It is extremely difficult to wake up.
However the consequences of remaining Asleep are dire and come at a very high cost.
This is my core manifesto, as such I won’t comment on it further in this post.
by awareness ~ June 11, 2008
When we start a sincere practice, if we must be honest with ourselves. Honest as in beyond any sort of self-deception. Honesty is the beginning of Objectivity. Most of us, are very rarely truly Objective. Objectivity is one of the hidden doorways to the Self. However the way is hidden within our own matrix of misconceptions.
Practice starts with the Wish to improve oneself, with the wish to know what’s true, the wish to become enlightened.
When we are honest at the barest level, sometimes we see things about ourselves we don’t like. It might be our ideal but not our complete reality. For example we might imagine ourselves to be very compassionate and altruistic. But then we might catch ourselves in a moment where we do something unskillful.
So if we are truly honest we see we have less compassion for ourselves and others than we thought.
At the time the truth is “I have no compassion, no caring” or “I have a small amount, for my family only”. Or even “I have a great amount, that I did not know was there before.”
When we look to SEE, if can we look at ourselves as we truly are, rather than as we would like, or imagine, then we discover a whole new world! We never know what amazing things we might uncover.
If our meditation practice does not reveal this world, then it’s a superficial practice. We might make small strides, but we will be bored silly. Being bored is symptomatic of a disinterested mind lacking serious intent.
Then as our study progresses, when reflecting on ourselves as we are, we see all kinds of bad things about ourselves. Most people give up there, turn on the tube, veg out, check out, whatever. But if we resist the temptation to identify with “the stuff” and if can not label ourselves, see it as “not me” then … there arises a notion, … I forgive Myself!
We become familiar with ourselves in a new way. Once this progresses further one can laugh at oneself.
Once you can laugh at yourself, compassion for others will start to arise spontaneously.
Because the truth of myself, is the same as the truth of another. If I know myself, then I know others, I know all.
That is why the commandant “Know Thyself” from the Temple of Delphi, is most important.
Perhaps it’s not clear to you. Then perhaps you have never tried, or never tried hard enough to study yourself.
Perhaps you don’t know how. The teachings for true self study were previously hidden, but have been available for a number of years. But at another level they don’t make sense to us, until we are truly ready.
Secrets are hidden in plain sight!
The world is in such a sorry state. It’s urgent that more people arrive at thus juncture.
To awaken is to recognize, “before I woke up, I was never truly alive. Now I wish this for myself and for all mankind.”
If we don’t have this sincere wish, “for all mankind” then we had a false experience. It cannot be real, as that is the wish of the Real Self. It is the best test of our understanding.
To wake up is to willingly strip away the “not me”. The fastest way to do that is to do the “Who am I” practice.
by awareness ~ June 11, 2008
Our practice of meditation, self inquiry and inner work must be grounded in true Compassion.
Ultimately selflessness is the most practical attitude.
It derives the most benefit or happiness for the individual. One could say it is the pinnacle of self-interest!
Paradoxically, the most practically self interested person, the one most successful at achieving his heart’s desire, has no-self, no ego at all.
Why is this so. If I see the truth of myself, if I “know myself” then recognize my neighbor as myself.
Then I will treat my neighbor as I would like to be treated, with genuine kindness. My neighbor will respond in kind and I will be treated with kindness as well. Because in that person true compassion arises spontaneously.
Who can say why this happens? But I can assure you, it does! You can test it for yourself! Treat others with kindness, and you will be mazed at the results.
The boundless Compassion that means the recognition or discovery that one is in fact connected with all of life.
It is self arising. Only when one has performed Mental Hygiene, and scraped the encrusted calcification and tartar of habit away from the soul, will the beauty, the majesty and inspiration of true Compassion arise, effulgent, spontaneous.
True compassion takes no effort. It is our true nature.
A year after I wrote this original posting, I discovered the Mahamudra teachings were speaking of unbearable compassion.
The term is unbearable compassion highly accurate! The true experience of compassion encompasses a deep empathy for the suffering of all beings.
by jacksokol ~ April 27, 2008
Empower yourself!
Tell yourself this from time to time …
Right now, this moment, I confer upon myself the power to make decisions, right or wrong about what is right for me. No one else truly understands what I need!
The seeker has to perform the operations and look for the conditions that will further his growth. He also has to discern obstacles and unhelpful conditions and then rid himself of them.
This discernment is sacred. It’s part of our intuition.
Bad teachers are like bad relationships. They try to destroy our confidence in making decisions. They tell us what decisions to make, and ask for bald acceptance and blind obedience. Generally when we are younger and less confident then we are quite vulnerable to bad teachings, methods and dogmas.
Some schools will always try to keep the student “one down” so as to keep them enthralled (enslaved) to their method.
But this is counter to everything. Real teachers allow you own your own total freedom, not ask you for money, and blind obedience. If someone demands bald acceptance then drop them like a hot rock.
I am a firm proponent of DIY spirituality. It’s your life, your path. Never surrender your freewill to anyone. Buddhism supports the idea of DIY spirituality.
But there are Buddhist cults, just like there are Hindu, Muslim and Christian cults, so watch out.
by jacksokol ~ April 27, 2008
Recently I’ve been reading a fascinating book called “Buddhahood Without Meditation, by Dudjom Lingpa (about 1895) This book de-constructs the notion that we have a separate Self in a series of visions, dreamings. It uses a number of logical arguments to perform the deconstruction process. It’s different than anything else I’ve read so far. The approach is called Nang-Jang or t’hreg-chhod (cutting through solidity).
Simply put if you look at anything long enough and hard enough, it will disappear, not literally of course, but it will be sublty altered, luminous and perhaps even sacred!
This idea of using insight to rearrange our description of the world is part and parcel to the Toltec way of Carlos Castaneda as well. We have this notion that we exist in one form, when our reality is something entirely different.
You can see how this dichotomy creates a kind of madness in average humans!
Resolving the dichotomy is “Stopping the World”. “Stopping the World” is the term Toltecs would use to describe cutting the root of our Self-Identification (or the Foreign Installation, in Castaneda’s parlance.)
We have to attack the root of the problem first, the root of the problem is Self-Identification.
Whatever we get from solving this puzzle is not madness, but Freedom.
by jacksokol ~ April 11, 2008
Today’s message is somewhat cryptic. Occasionally I find myself beset by information that I don’t fully understand.
Today I am doing Alchemy. We have two ideas, Fire and the Unknown, if we mix them properly we understand the metaphor of the Phoenix. Let’s just hope we don’t blow up the lab!
One of the great things that Krishnamurti could do in his talks, was to move people.
He would challenge them to go beyond themselves, to go into the Unknown.
What is this Unknown? Is it a place we can choose to go, or is it something familiar or something we can get familiar with?
Not really. It is never familiar. It is not a comfortable place. But it is a place of discovery where we feel very much alive!
Now, I am not sure if we can live in such a place all of the time. It is possible. I have known some beings who were intelligent enough to arrange their lives in such a way as to be present, to be fully conscious as much as possible.
Fire in the traditional sense, tends to consume something to fuel itself.
Our inner fire is partially stoked by work with negative emotions, and bad habits and working with our resistance to change.
All views, personal or otherwise that hold some form of duality will inherently generate conflict, a kind of conflict that can lead to suffering.
However if we have the ability to engage what the Tibetans call Rigpa, or non-dualistic awareness then we can engage another kind of fire.
This is something “other”. Then the activities of suffering, can be the fuel or material for our transformational fire.
Are we willing to hurl ourselves on the pyre and burn Phoenix-like?
Has anyone else discovered the Attention I speak about?
We discover it when we willingly step off into the Unknown, like “the Fool” (metaphorically speaking of course!)
by jacksokol ~ March 24, 2008
Instant Enlightenment, Free Download!
The offer is for full instant and complete enlightenment, with no strings attached!
Sounds to good to be true, right?
Actually the offer is genuine!
You just have to understand the terms, the fine print! Then you must agree to the terms.
By agreeing to the terms of this Software package, you are agreeing to spend the rest of your life in service to humanity, relieving all causes of suffering, in the most skillful way you determine. You will be given help!
Do you agree? Yes / No
Further, your root causes of your own suffering will be shown to you. This may have unpredictable results, and could very possibly be uncomfortable in the short term. We promise however that once you are free from suffering you will be much happier than before. This does not involve changing into someone other than who you really are.
Do you agree? Yes / No
This training will cause you to unlearn most of the conditioning you’ve had up to now, due to tradition, society, religion, education and politics. Are you willing to put aside your opinions just for a little while? Yes / No
Are you willing to relinquish your right to judge, label and otherwise measure others? Yes / No
In return you will be given unbearable compassion, the vision to see deeply into the nature of cause and effect, and the wisdom to act skillfully. Yes / No
Enjoy your new software!
To call support, please sit quietly, and let things be exactly as they are.
by jacksokol ~ March 19, 2008
You are probably familiar with the old saying originating in the song “The Arkansas Traveler”, “you can’t get there from here!”
A traveling salesman stops to ask a farmer for directions, and the farmer starts to try to help, and then becomes frustrated as he remembers the nooks, crannies and complexities of the local terrain.
I lived in Arkansas for a summer and I can attest to the difficulty of getting from point A to point B. A place might be only a few miles away, as the crow flies, but getting there might take half a day of fording swollen creeks, and careening down rocky dirt roads. The most direct way is not the fastest way is not the fastest way at all.
In terms of Awareness and Enlightenment, I am a lot like that farmer. I know exactly what the terrain looks like it but “Dad Gummit!” as soon as I try to tell you what it is or how to get there exactly, the directions might get “confusticated” a slew of concepts and ideas that are foreign, and new.
My gosh, a whole new paradigm is required!
“why there’s not much difference ‘tween you and fool!”
“No sir, there ain’t. Just me and a fence.”
This blog is about nothing, if it’s not about a new way of thinking and looking at things. Well, maybe it’s not new exactly, but it’s certainly different. It’s not the norm.By changing our ideas, and the way we look at the world, gradually, we ourselves change. And as we change, the world changes with it.
But if you try to approach this with a mind full of old ideas and time-worn concepts, then I would say, “You can’t get Here from There!”.
The purpose of this blog is to introduce the ideas, or notions that come to me during my moments of spiritual practice.
I have been involved in a number of practices that revolve around what I would call “a Work of Attention”
Unlike Arkansas paradoxically, in terms of Enlightenment and the work of attention, the most direct way is also the fastest away and takes practically no effort!
In other words, there is a self-existing, primordial Wisdom, and this wisdom is the fabric of reality itself, the essence of Mind. The very nature of the Mind is this self-existent, spontaneously arising Wisdom, which, should, were we in touch with it help us to discern the right action, the appropriate and most skillful choice to make at any moment … among other things …
… were we in touch with it …
But it’s not that simple. While that which the Wise seek is not far at all, there is no way anyone can just hand it to you.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.
Yes, well that’s true, but only if you are present. Learning how to be present is an art.
We don’t know how to be present as we are. You might disagree, with that, but I don’t mean ordinary waking consciousness, which is why I came up with the term awarenessPlus, which is basically presence on steroids.
Not that I am anymore awake than you are. I’m not! As I am, I am just like everyone else. I don’t know anything!
So, why would you read my blog? You certainly don’t need to; you are already enlightened!
My sense is that enlightened beings are not all that uncommon. In fact enlightenment maybe a lot more common than people would think. But, we while we may have experienced it, we may not have learned to remember it or practice it. If we don’t practice it regularly, it’s not part of us.
Community, we need community, Sangha, if you will, using the Buddhist term for community. We need to correspond and connect with other people who share this in common. Otherwise our understanding won’t grow. We’ll be stuck in a rut like the traveling salesman.
My intent, to share with you the ideas that I have been studying with other people involved in this work.
Right now there are many other people practicing this Work in very many ways, under many names.
But it takes a bit of skill to put the ideas across in such a way, that makes sense.
The right philosophy is a fulcrum that can transform the entire world!