Consciousness Sutras

BY VA S U J I M B O

BY VA S U J I M B O

BAREFOOTMD@AOL.COM

Consciousness Sutras
So what, my friend, is the ultimate nature of reality? Do you know the full truth of exactly how and why you are here, now? Of how and why reality exists in the rst place? For all that will come to be, as well? Can we even glimpse at the real nature of this ultimate problem Let alone know the solution?

We remain in the dimness, but know there is light Once one photon is witnessed, a whole world of possible reections open We have witnessed but a photon in a vast sea of illuminations Through that tiny periscope we take glimpse of reality This is our hope for knowing

Our contact with reality is often mistaken Touching is different than the textured Seeing is different than the colored Knowing is different than the knowledge Our grasp of reality is different than reality

Grasping is the periscope to behold reality Yet beholding is different than the beheld Unless through this beholding the reality of the beholding is beheld There lies a way to grasp reality Behold beholding beholding the beheld Grasp grasping grasping the grasped Witness the reality of beholding and grasping Therein Perhaps Lay a solution to this ultimate problem

In the midst of lifes endless stream of ongoingness Is the rudder that harnesses this current Guiding us down our path As we choose a way

The momentum of reality limits our choices Yet our will does make a difference Most of our limit is dened by the lack of wisdom in the choosing We are more than a leaf falling to earth
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Or dust in the wind There is some choice within this conne It is possible to fashion the fabric of existence with the resources at hand One needs the insight to know how and why to do such And the opportunity

In one's youthful earnestness, one might play amongst the best and worst techniques Taking aim with some type of meditation or prayer or mantra or ceremony Striving for some ideal system, naively responding with conditions to conditions Faith guides us towards some perfection Hope keeps us going when the going gets rough Love is the courage to hold hands while withstanding the pressure of the ow Peace is a symptom of the cultivated harmonious life Taken care to aim towards a journey of fulllment

Unrest, irritability, depression, anger, grief, boredom, A few of the multitudes of distress These are the signs of our wobble As we are shaken off our center

When steering down the stream of life The current sweeps us in its grip Yield enough to this force and use the rudder of the insightful will to turn about just right continually returning to the upright Cultivating principled insight in the midst of a momentary force Harnessing insight into freedom from distress Yoga is the ruddering of our way around the blockages towards fulllment of our insight
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Yoga can be dened as the settling of the distressing psychological processes Controlling the mind allowing the witness to be established with its most essential nature Otherwise, there is false identication of the seer with the seen This attachment leads to distress This detachment leads to freedom from suffering

The eight limbs of yoga are techniques of control They are the categories of discipline that a yogi trains to detach from ways that lend to further distress to remain established in the original mind of Pure Subjectivity, Sentiency No-disturbance

Modications of the mind fall into certain categories, be they painful or pleasurable Correct knowledge is based on correct perception, deduction or testimony Incorrect knowledge, imagination, sleep, memory

Obstacles on the path are: Disease, laziness, indecision, carelessness, lethargy, craving sense-pleasure erroneous perceptions, lack of concentration and unstable attention They are known by a sense of sorrow, worry, restlessness and irregular breathing Overcome these obstacles by concentrating on their opposites and following the eight disciplines of yoga
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The rst category of discipline is proper ethical conduct: So that one is not visited by the demons of past karma These ethical consideration require restraint from: violence, lying, stealing, lusting, and greed

The second is proper moral observances, so that ones future karma remains clean These include: Cleanliness, contentment, aspiration, self-study and surrender to the inconceivable

Next comes the discipline of posture Taking a proper posture allows us to be comfortable, to forget the body, and to begin to pay attention

This puts us face to face with our breath Control of our breathing regulates the force and speed and rhythm of the thought waves of the mind so that concentration is possible Through stillness of breath comes stillness of the mind-stuff The end of an exhale is very quiet

Now it is necessary to withdraw from the senses or else they will remain a distraction Attention can now be paid to the source of the light that comes from within

When attention is focused for even a moment on the source of perceptions or conceptions This is called being concentrated

When concentration is sustained this is called meditation This discipline utilizes the mental processes and still has a sense of a subject and object. This is meditating with seed

When there is complete control, and the subject and object disappear When time and change have no place Multiplicity comes to oneness This control is called absorption or samadhi

This is where the seer, itself is reected in the mind And there is no distinction between the seer and the seen From this perspective one is with the ultimate eternal truth of the Oneness of Reality Evolution has reached its fulllment when i am not i, but am True freedom is at hand One who seeks mastery in this path is a yogi

At rst, there was darkness no movement, no change, no something, no nothing no awareness

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No memory

Then came reexive response to sensed stimulation change and movement ensued something and nothing came to be

The scene was still dark and dim and quiet Things swirled about Some light some sound some feeling some sense of movement No big distinction of self and other

Then birth The beginning of awakened, individuated knowledge more light and form and shape contrast, brightness, hue, sharpness Loud, soft, soothing, confusing, a lot of feeling and a lot of movement both inside and out taste, smell innite change Inconsistent, random painful, pleasurable want, dont wan, dont care
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not too much peace, much unrest, suffering Mostly self, and others Very aware of body Quality and meaning are attached to objects directly Everything is now, here or else The conditioning begins

More luminosity, more sentiency, more discrimination more meaning and more value names, classes, rules, expectations Thoughts and feelings mixed, options and choice pressured by impulsivity and compulsivity Not completely ignorant, very nave, very foolish Trying to please oneself trying to please others Not very good at either Disposition rules Rules are real Conditioning is the way. Choice is demanding and very nave.

Awareness is a state that has equilibrium and disequilibrium Awareness has a eld of awareness Objects move on that eld in the context of a scene Awareness is the knower of this eld within this scene Objects come to the eld of awareness with feelings and thoughts conditionally attached to them
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These perceptions and thoughts and feelings and the memory of such are represented in the eld of awareness in a multitude of qualitative distinctions These representations are conceptions One learns language to share conceptions One learns sharper distinctions between this and that and their names And learns to identify the eld of awareness and the body and mind as its servant With effort, one learns the mind can control the body and thus the world Strong identication with the powers of the body and the mind

Mental process control an imaginary calculator to envision potential future outcomes Feelings impulse thoughts of opportunities Play on words Play with everything express feelings and thoughts, speak, hear I-me-mine A moment of choice, consequences witnessed, remembered Conditioned response tied onto objects and scenes Karma creating, karma patterning, tendencies seeded and already sprouting.

Dispositions, habits and tendencies develop into traits Awareness develops ways of responding to identied objects and scenes Judged by want, dont want, dont care. Contact with objects gains skill by this and gains a clinginess, a want in the future to attach as such
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to call in this memory, this way of identifying it, relating it Feel about it, think about it and can manipulate it as well Meta-opinions develop, Teams are joined and left and new ones identied with Peers are the source of wisdom The elders and others are the source of the oppression To obey the rule or not that is the question Feelings are enough, beliefs follow feelings and conditioned memories Choice is limited to these Opportunities abound

The mind is quite contriving Sneaking to skew the outcome Distorting the real into its real Projecting, avoiding, justifying, complaining

Seeds of times past brew forth into decisions Reasons and attachments guide our choices Choices that steer our karma forth Further disturbing the mind-eld

Every neurosis is a clever trick To justify our karma Steering the wake of our own mind-eld Bringing lter to comprehension

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The lter further skews the present mind-eld By attaching the karma to the now This moves the now forward As an impulse to become as such

This suchness goes forth in a spectrum of ways As a disturbance upon our resonance This disturbance stems forth from Previous clever tricks of the mind Lets get clear On how unclear the mind can be On how people lter reality into their experience On how awareness is skewed from seeing what is

On the very top of the distortions Is all-or-nothing thinking The situation must be either this way or that Black or white With no consideration for the grey shades and continuous spectrum

Through overgeneralization, cognition distorts the moment into all moments This example to all examples The scenario to all similar situations This case is the case for all cases

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An experience can be magnied to seem so massive, so large So pervasive, so consuming that nothing else can be considered An experience can be minimized to ignore the consequences Not recognized for what it is

Some minds look reexively to the negative And disqualify the positive Worrying relentlessly about what could go wrong What is not right Why destiny should not be fullled

Some choose a particular mental lter A particular skew, in a particular way To be good, it must be like this And not like that This way is better

A way that is labeled must be the way of the label A way that is mislabeled must be the way of the mislabeled As if a label is the object it represents As if a conception of reality is reality Especially if it can be captured into words

Others are very quick to jump to conclusions To say that you meant this or that That if you said this, then that implies that
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Even when the conclusions are invalid and untrue

People quickly mind read and think they know what you think What you intended, what you believe That because they say or believe you should, means you should Some believe what they think you said to be what you said Distorted minds can fortune tell And believe that what they predict will be so, just because they thought it

Most minds tend to personalize and think that they are the cause and effect of things That the universe revolves around them That they are responsible for the events that unfold Loosing sight of the great interdependence

We should not forget, perhaps the most powerful of the distortions, Believing that because we feel a way about something, Then that way must be true and right and more correct Even if our emotional reasoning has nothing to do with it

There are so many ways to blur the truth To lter it, skew it, manipulate it, abuse it So many ways that cognition distorts Reality into our reality What lies behind the veil of this fog seems to be up to the cognition that beholds it Desire is what adds weight to objects
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Bending the space of consciousness To move intention towards or away Indeed, desire is to the mind what gravity is to the universe The very force of attraction which Determines the curvature of space Desire drives most impulsions Desire pulls most compulsions Desire can lead us to our fulllment Desire can lead us to our demise Could there be any motivation without desire? Any reason for living? Seed of torment, seed of hope Desire is part of nature So is gravity Let's use these mighty forces to solve our problems not create more

We are born in a relatively ignorant condition Ignorant of the cause of our fulllment and cause of our sorrow Unknowing Uncomfortable helpless At some point the conditions even for this ignorance allow a volitional urge to be less ignorant To behold, to change, to congeal into something more Consciousness is the result of this volitional formation Consciousness is assembled out of the ignorance by some intention

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Once assembled, awareness can contact mind and matter and behold name and form Experiential objects arrive through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and intellect These objects make us feel a certain way about them and become past conditionings This creates a craving in our mind for the conditioned objects This adds momentum to the future tendencies Especially to the tendency to want to become We cling onto objects of craving as if they could ultimately fulll us Clinging only adds burden to the debt Continuing the wheel of distress by believing that our becoming like that can relief us As if perpetual desire, death and illness, and hopefully, old age, is not inevitable Our distraught comes from this dependent arising of the cause to the effect

At some point awareness resolves to break the chain of this causal link And be freed from the cause of despair This is a great point in the life of that being This resolve requires the faith to break the wheel of distress by uprooting its cause Through faith in the way of resolve contentment begins to settle the disturbances Once content, a happiness, a joy, a rapture is appreciated This security leads to a calmness The calmness brings a state of not-wanting, of fullness, of bliss Finally awareness can remain undisturbed by objects absorbed in being insightful and wise This allows the disenchantment with wanting to continue the wheel of despair
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If properly conditioned, then dispassion will follow True lack of craving, no clinging, no urge to contact Objects remain as they are, empty of some preconceived notion Subjects remain as they are, empty of some self-conceived notion Freedom from the wheel of despair comes once there is no subject, no object There is nothing to become entangled, nothing to entangle Empty of what is and what is not Empty of who is and is not The states of dependent arising arise no more When there is no engaging the wheel of the negatives cycles There is the freedom to neither become and nor cease to become No craving, nothing clinging, empty of past conditionings Simply being free Nirvana is the fullest freedom of evolved consciousness

Human have different aspects Dimensions, so to speak, That sheath their being From the gross down to the subtle The grossest is the body It is the physical substratum that has mass and metabolism It is moved by the rest of the dimensions, and other masses The biology is sparked by a bioelectrical force It is through this force that consciousness can touch the body The portal where one is aware of the body is called the etheric dimension The eyes of the ngers
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 The senses, the emotions and their abstractions touch awareness perceived through the mind The mind identies and reconsiders the information conceptually and calculates potential meaning and value The discriminating aspect of being takes the information, the calculations and weighs the information judging the future value of a present circumstance And moves the being through intention All these dimensions would remain separate and distinct If it weren't for the dimension of awareness Consciousness is the eld which unites all the other dimensions into the topology of experience

Sacred nectar, most precious gem Portal of value and meaning Consciousness is our kindest inheritance It is the who, how and why of what we are

Consciousness is the seat of awareness Consciousness is the seer of the seen The witness of the light, the sound, the touch, the smell Consciousness is the knower of the known The thinker of the thoughts The perceiver of perceptions The conceiver of conceptions
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The feeler of the feelings Who desires, who avoids The director of attention The intender of intention The doer of the doing The being aware of being aware Consciousness is self-evident There is awareness, proving existence All else is in question

Knowing this, lets look closer of the knower And witness the qualities of the witness Essential to our despair and our happiness

The fundamental quality of consciousness is awareness Consciousness is the place where subjectivity somehow touches objectivity, How is does this will remain a great mystery But it does and becomes experience

Consciousness has the ability to contact objects Consciousness can be awake, drowsy or asleep Consciousness is the gateway to our dreams, and the world Consciousness can be alert, attending, spacey and/or distracted Consciousness can come and go, take vigil or leave of its post Its apparently gone in deep sleep, coma, anesthesia and perhaps death It is here right now, because you are considering this
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Consciousness hears the internal voice and can direct the internal dialog Just like it can control the voice and tongue Consciousness is the executive of executive functioning Steering behavior towards its preconceived notions and goals

Consciousness conceives the names and the senses the forms Consciousness is what stands under understanding Illuminates the insight Comprehends the comprehension Wisdom is only wise when conscious

Many ponder of the true nature of consciousness Of the experiencer of experience, of that which is aware Religion suggests an eternal soul, one that can participate with God Science is gaining its opinion

Experientially, there seems like a core consciousness A primitive, primordial and most ancient of consciousness. That is, subjectively, the subject that seems to persist in some continuous way over time. Some sense of self exists, preverbal, pre any input A priori Sometimes that sense of self is small And sometimes megalomaniacal This core consciousness has access to short term memories
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It must, because it can sense it exists seemingly identical over time It is the identity which gives a reference of location of this self to that object in this scene The I of the I and the eye of the eye is the I/eye of consciousness

There is a content consciousness that is in contact with objects And can play with objects on the global workspace, Manipulate the internal visual-auditory sketchpad and decide Co-creating the reality of that experience with the stuff of the brain Contents can come from the world, or fancy Objects can relate to autobiographical memories And call forth semantic memories, which become the current conceptions The meaning and value derives from the weight of attachment Of meaning and value projected onto the objects in the eld of consciousness.

Attachment is the attachment of a sign that symbolizes some meaning An attitude that prejudges the value Or some feeling that feels this way or that A reex, a habit, a trait, a way that assigns a way of responding To an incoming object onto the screen of awareness All learning results from this good and bad karma This karma is weaved into the fabric of future tendencies

Consciousness assembles into its preconceived notions Convincing itself that its model of reality is Reality Consciousness lls in the wholes in perceptions and conceptions
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Giving us an illusion of a gestalt of the binded experience Even time and space itself can be curved in the assemblage process Consciousness has amazing powers!

Indeed, the time-space of experience is warped Consciousness takes on the form it assumes, assembling to presuppose its destiny

Representing the information, storing it, retrieving it, using it Recognizing this from that and surmising the rest. Consciousness reects on the myriad of inuences and experiences it Thus making it real

But what is consciousness, really? Beyond our experience, how is it created? What are we?

What consciousness really is, is a great mystery! But recently we have had some good hints

There is a lot to suggest that consciousness is a product of the activity of the brain. Not just any activity, but neuronal activity that creates electromagnetic brain waves These waves, specically in the 40Hz range, called gamma waves, Are modulated on lower frequency carrier waves called theta. This information is passed through synchronistic amplication Between the Thalamus, Basal Ganglia and Cortex Calling forth into the assembly, awareness and alertness and attention and
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Memories of signicant attachments These memories are indexed originally by the hippocampus Stored in its corresponding cortex And called forth based on the karmic eld tendencies of awareness This happens to awareness What consciousness does with that, seeds a new destiny or fuels the old

The storage of the memorys information may take place on a quantum level Tubulin within microtubules within nerve cells may store quantum bits of information Phosphorylation of tubulin by ATP can store the bit in a quantum state The tubulin protein can switch into this quantum state or that, or both Through van der waal forces shifting electrons in hydrophobic pockets, The tubulin protein conforms quantumly into qubits of on, or off , or On and Off

An identity of a sensed object is offered to awareness, or looked for In storage sites in the cortex, basal ganglia and limbic systems of the brain Co-resonating with these tubulin proteins conforming synchronistically Attaching the object with the karmic imbue of identity and implication. Re-modulating the brain waves with new information In the synchronized brain wave co-oscillatings resonance

Theory is theory, and only seems truer when co-resonating with the truth neurons The science has and will yield much about the physical nature of consciousness
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Yet consciousness does not rely on science for meaning and value Science relies on consciousness for meaning and value Robots could perform the duties of a lab tech doing an experiment Computers could suggest theories and abstract notions of scientic truths But sentient life needs consciousness to determine its dimensional existence Consciousness is the primary tool of experiential reality

Consciousness uses the cognitive and bodily functions to perform action These tools are part of the eld of consciousness Volition is an object for consciousness

Close your eyes, see and hear two imaginary candles and their ames With your eyes closed, look back and forth between the ames. Now look in between the candles ames and let the candles move away into darkness Into the peace within the darkness between the light Into the hole between the sounds Let go of the darkness and the hole and yet remain looking and listening Look to witness the director of the internal eyes and ears Consciousness is the director of attention, opened eyes and closed. It engages the gears of intended movement into motion

Notice that the object that now remains is the sense of self Reect back onto the looking and listening peaceful, insightful, aware

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In this place, make a distinction between the sense of self and the seeing of the sense of self Be the seer See there! See the seer seeing! Recognize the act of seeing! Recognize the seer! There is awareness being aware, existing There is consciousness being conscious Now recognize the difference between this consciousness and the objects it attaches to Between this consciousness and the sense of identity with some self Full of potential, springboard of the actual and imaginary There is consciousness, the fountainhead of our conscious universe, Assembling our experiential reality

Consciousness is a network of associated elds binded into a unied experience Experience is assembled from many distinct yet connected neurocognitive points Awareness is an apparent coherent assembly amongst the groups of resonating coherencies Menageries of objects and scenes assemble on the eld for awareness to behold and transform Consciousness is the assemblage point of awareness in contact with the objects on the networked eld

This realization is an obligation to re-comprehend the old comprehensions Re-assemble the old-assemblages
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Volitionally, reform the formations All experienced objects are re-assembled objects and scenes Sensation, perception and conception tease the objects apart and the neurocognitions re-assembles them Layering the awareness of objects and scenes with identication memories and feelings and opinions

Somehow awareness is possible and embodied with a eld of awareness to behold and modify How exactly consciousness is created is the hard problem An easier problem is how to wisely control the states of consciousness with the objects in it's eld

Many an excellent driver had no clue of the science of the physics of driving Awareness likewise seems oblivious to the biological substratum that creates its opportunity Genes and nurturance can both impulse the biological activity Awareness can fashion the eld into a assembled comprehension and act as a state controller

We are consciously and unconsciously impulsed At best, we harness the impulsions which then become opportunities Opportunities to re-assemble consciousness into a better way A way free from disturbance Free from despair, distress, discontent, cynicism, anger, hatred, unkindness

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The assemblage point is accessible through intentional effort Volitional formation induces change in the formation of the eld The effort to assemble the eld in a fullling way is critical to the endeavor The endeavor of becoming free from distress re-assembling into a kinder way Inducing assemblage points to become more accurate, fullling, more re-creative More upright Synchronistic with the resonant patterning of the consonant way

How it does it, science is honing into this so-called hard problem That we do re-assemble the assemblage at will-This is a problem we live with everyday in our choices that come back to haunt or fulll the assemblage Not so easy, but accessible

At some point in a persons life Perhaps it is an instant Perhaps it was a phase or an outcome of an experience Most likely an evolved maturity For whatever reason, for whatever twist of fate This being destined to be a yogi, opens up to the notion that THERE IS AWARENESS (usually initially conceived as I am aware) Awareness is glimpsed as the most precious and essential aspect of our experience Awareness is the dimly recognized as seer of the seen, knower of the known
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The toucher of the textured contact of the assemblage point the insight itself and not the object of insight The peaceful fullled, undisturbed The aether of awareness remains undisturbed by the medium that occupies it Unless, of course, it attaches meaning and value into an implication and desire brings the karmic cling This give weight to the mass, curving the apparent eld of awareness as it accommodates or assimilates or ignores the object The stronger the attachment, the stronger the skew of the apparent eld Awareness is fooled to believe that it is the objects it beholds, Awareness is essential for consciousness of the body, perceptions and conceptions and comprehensions At last, the yogic path begins by seeing that awareness is awareness and the eld of awareness and its objects are not awareness Clarifying this confusion is the path of yoga Yoga is the establishing of awareness as essential wisdom as substantial, and freedom as the way

These are many stages of the path towards mastery of yoga At rst, one may mock or ignore or discount the way of yoga Through naivety, doubt or stupidity or foolishness one ignores the cause of everyones discontent and thus remains preliminary to yoga Yoga is the sincere discipline to cultivate a truthful relationship

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between awareness and the objects that occupy it The path of yoga begins by aspiring toward yoga towards being free of distress

The early aspirations are full of ideas and feelings and attempts to gain skill Attachment still has a clear stronghold on the contact The assemblage points of awareness remain xed to the preconditioned karma the aspirant begins to see that karma has repercussions and this karma needs cleaning Feelings still prevail, thoughts are opinionated, beliefs are held and a path of yoga is conceived This conception is misconceived but still a pinhole of insight into a vast opportunity Same old story, told in a different way But this particular way towards yoga still feels unique

False belief of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and untruth yoga and not yoga Yet the aspirant holds onto the thread of illumination and sees a source of light The golden ower of the source of awareness shines and the aspirants sees into knowledge Meditation opens the opportunity to witness with less distraction when really paying attention Objects and the witnessing of objects with attached feelings and thoughts and implications
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Aspirants remain caught up in the whirlwind of the mind Mental processes catch the attention towards a verbal construct an image, a memory Back and forth between distraction and oblivion the aspirant has moments of peace of insight of freedom from conditioned attachments to objects Then is swept back into the momentum of the karmic currents Objects come and go at their own will There is desire for liberation The aspirant conceives that the mission is to control awarenesss reactive attachment to objects Plenty of opportunities

As the yogic aspirant matures, it becomes clear that this particular aspirant is a certain way, has certain tendencies and capacities and talents Learning some techniques are manifested easier than others The Path of Discipline begins with the commitment to dedicate these talents to fullling the most enlightening way for this particular being. The aspirant becomes a disciple when the skills are developed and matured And can effectively subdue the conditioned tendencies to allow the tranquil and encouraging eld states and insight

Discipleship is liked to the talented musician who decides to master the violin
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In her life, she may master many instruments but this primary commitment is a disciplined phase of mastery The disciplined yogi chooses a focused path that clearly distinguishes the most fullling way Unfortunately it takes much skill to see clearly and much effort to work hard and much of early discipleship is spent trying on ways The path of discipleship is established once this choice is made and the skillful path committed to The being achieves more skill from purity of intention, sincerity and common sense

Personality begins to conform to the intended expression of the deeper insights Condition tendencies remain in the form of skilled capacities to learn A tool to see clearer, not an end A thought is recognized as a thought and a feeling as a feeling body as body breath as breath and awareness is different than these

Meditation can be of various types, but will be dened here to include the techniques involved in inducing samadhi on subjective reality sentiency and fulllment Samadhi is the successful state of absorption into a concentrated state Samadhi can be a result of concentration on an object Samadhi can be the result of concentrating
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on the process of concentrating and its disturbances Samadhi can be on the undisturbed state of awareness but still with a sense of self Samadhi can have no reection no discrimination no attachment no sense of self Space and time is witnessed with no boundary there is no change no causal induction This samadhi has no karmic repercussions the yogi is thus free from self-induced stresses Yoga requires samadhi, like the painter needs a ladder to paint the top story At some point the ladder is a means to the end and in itself is not an essential to the painted though causally interdependent Once causation ceases, supporting objects are unnecessary. Objects support insight Insight support wisdom wisdom supports becoming free and once free, freedom needs no further support

There are many objects for the focus of meditation Objects can be gross or subtle concrete or abstract substantial or insubstantial
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formed or formless Objects can have distinct boundaries or not Objects can be a feeling or state of consciousness like bliss Objects can be on a process or pattern of mental processes An object can be a physiological process like breathing, heartbeat, pain, pleasure, muscle tension An object can be an object directly or through reference as an symbolic image, sound, word or concept I-amness can be an object I am not can be an object An object can be no object the void emptiness nothingness that which is not zip

The state of the eld of awareness is experientially correlated with the relationship with objects and scenes in this eld The state of awareness transgresses through nebulous, yet distinct stages of progression into samadhi and eventually to wisdom and its freedom There are many ways to appreciate the stages towards mastery

One can appreciate the Nine Abidances of Mind to achieve samadhi These are stages the distracted mind nds peace and satisfaction A rst stage is the stage of inner abiding
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purposely attending toward an inward chosen object Second is continuous abiding which maintains a sustained attention for an useful integral of time Third is calm abiding which appreciates nally, a settling of the restless mind, at least momentarily Fourth is near abiding bringing a taste of serene tranquility through the greater control over the wandering mind Fifth stage of samadhi, well-adjusted abiding achieves the ability to remain undisturbed by externally sourced objects The six stage is abiding in stillness Now the mind remains peaceful and undistracted Objects and scenes are now accepted without personal projections upon the object/scene Still some karma and some sense of self The seventh stage is abiding in deep stillness when there is no recognition of any stress, disturbance, pain or suffering. Abiding in single-mindedness is the eighth stage when the absorption in clear minded focus No projections, no disturbance, calm, serene clearly reecting the object and subject at will Skilled in remaining undisturbed as part of personality in all cognitive dimensions All objects are objects and the subject is the subject There is awareness
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and awareness remains as awareness. The nine stage is Abiding in samadhi without effort when full absorption is the way of the being

And the stage of non-abiding with wisdom and freedom Freedom even from abiding this way is fully effortless

Samadhi is a ladder to other stages of freedom from further suffering and distress Any attachment, any clinginess, any sense of self any lack of appreciation for causal interdependence for the innite vastness can perpetuate further karma Freedom from any result from any action can come only as samadhi is achieved for the ability to sustain this resonance frequency demands the skill of samadhi

The skill of Samadhi can be appreciated in other ways as well Samadhi can be conceived to have two distinct phases, samadhi with a seed or without a seed Samadhi with a seed is characterized by the stages of samadhi in which the mental process are still present being utilized and chooses an object of focus
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A seed is that which carries a potential of attachment for this particular being and can thus generate karma

Samadhi with a seed uses an object like a mantra, a image of a respected teacher, the breath, etc. Desire and avoidance remains, as the mind wanders into memories of conditioned reection. This object means this to me I feel this way about his object I am this object., This reminds me of that are typical distracting styles of mental processes that still cling onto objects as seeds to future distress. At least there is reection at least the attempt at control is being made at least the disciplined effort is at hand What a blessing to have even come to this point

With discrimination awareness makes distinct the properties of an object and the mental processes attached to it This is actually the object or scene at hand is comprehended as opposed to the physiologic and karmic projections onto that object/scene Still, feelings and thoughts and judgments and a sense of self are still present but the tool of discrimination discerns, like a compass
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the awareness As distinct from the object of the mental processes within the eld of awareness

With skill in reection and skill in discrimination the opportunity comes to see the difference between self and object Awareness uses this distinction (between subject and object) to help detach from the seed This is still samadhi with seed because there is subject and there is object and they still have karmic (prepatterned, conditioned, impulsive) relationships

At a certain point of concentration the absorption lets go of the subject-object duality and there becomes no object, no sense of self There simply is awareness This awareness is experienced as boundary-less as timeless, as formless, as objectless as subject, aware At some point there is no subject simply awareness with insight; fullled and secure This is now samadhi with no seed, seedless samadhi Here-now and for all now-heres awareness does not cling to objects Free at last The seeds of potential karma have already reached their fruition
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and the seeds are fullled

In young meditation, there is access to the assemblage points and reection that there is assemblage Then the discrimination of object properties Then discrimination of subject-object-scene relationship Then effort to purify intention of letting go of all pre-conceived notion The end of exhale achieves the peace inhale and more impulsive distractions, attractions then, subject is known as subject, object as object Tranquility ensues for a moment The state remains uctuating until skill is established to maintain the state of equilibrium of clear illumination Serenity is reached Here-now, one pointedness is possible Skill brings the one-point, and with sustenance karmic purity to leave this one-point alone The harassment is over no more bullying from the glamour of objects Equanimity has freed the way from conditioned response Samadhi has succeeded Now the opportunity for freedom

Awareness is not enough to secure wisdom and freedom Awareness awakened with the insight of wisdom is Yoga The stages of samadhi scales the path of discipleship
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into the wisdom path as this level of concentrated skill is necessary to secure the stability of the eld of awareness as it is expressed into the world One thing to sit in meditation and be wise with objects another to live ones life wisely and being free The objects of the world are incredible teachers, powerful and oppressive, seductive The yogi must deal with these objects as well and this is where skillful wisdom comes in Every thought, every feeling, every worldly aggression and attraction gives opportunity for samadhi temptations to stir us from the one-pointedness And samadhi the opportunity for further freedom from distress for awareness to be well-established and wise And for wisdom to manifest the opportunity for compassion to truly help others be free from their particular distress So many opportunities unless the mind is preoccupied and narrowed, biased, pressured

Samadhi establishes the secure skill in maintaining a resonant karma-free eld of awareness This allows insight and the wisdom that ensues Wisdom requires that the discipline be aligned with the proper principles The four noble truths and eightfold opportunities outline those principles and disciplines

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Many lessons have come down and this one seems so true: All sentient beings seek to avoid suffering and seek a peace that is permanent

First we must see the fact of birth the fact of aging the fact of illness the fact of the inevitability of death

The rst noble truth recognizes these facts and realizes that there is distress and suffering

All things have their cause The second noble truth recognizes that suffering like all that exists has a cause

The body is eeting Feelings are eeting Perceptions and memories are eeting Ideas are eeting Even awareness, itself, is eeting

Believing that these are less than eeting is the cause of our suffering Desire to nd fulllment through these
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engenders this suffering

The third noble truth recognizes that the cause of suffering is the false identication and craving for that which is impermanent

The fourth noble truth recognizes that the there is a way to end suffering The end of suffering requires putting an end to the cause of suffering Freedom from suffering comes from successfully seeing our false identication with the impermanent This requires higher training in ethics, concentration, compassion and wisdom

Proper ethical conduct helps us to see the impermanence of our actions and allows us to work out our karma to begin the higher trainings Compassion helps us to see the impermanence of feeling and to witness clearly, suffering Wisdom helps us to see the impermanence of our thought and to correct the ignorance of mistaking the impermanent for the permanent Samadhi helps us to sustain the application of the higher trainings

Signposts of freedom from suffering are the eightfold path: Right Understanding Right Thought Right Speech
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Right Action Right Livelihood Right Effort Right Mindfulness Right Samadhi Freedom from suffering tunes us with a Peace that is permanent No further distress

The wise ones point out an inevitable problem and its inevitable solution There are cyclic recurrences of disturbing states of mind aficting us There is a cause to this distressing way of experiencing All causes cease to be when the conditions necessary for the causation are no longer met Therefore the way to cease our psychological disturbances is to stop their cause The cause of our dissatisfaction is the stubborn commitment to hold the false as true The impermanent as permanent The unfullling as potentially fullling Clinging to our ignorance, desire and false hopes We remain frustrated, irritated and unsettled Not knowing better Lust, greed and anger condition poison into our lives Their debt cause our cyclic disturbance The solution is to use our insight and behavior to condition peace By full commitment to the eightfold solutions

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Since action follows thought, lets begin with our thinking Right thought is the solution to wrong thought Wrong thought is the mistaking the false, impermanent, and unfullling For the truth, permanent and fullling Right thought recognizes the cause of the suffering And the solution This is a good start Right thought recognizes the impermanence of self and all things Whatever is assembled into thought is temporary and eeting Even the notions about ourselves Even consciousness itself Any notion of I is already gone Compassion is an inevitable consequence of the right thought Because you and me are conscious And that too has passed away Right thought is committed to the ultimate solution to the ultimate cause of distress This right thought result in the principles of right view

Right view is directed into right speech and right action By the will of right intention Right intention guides the discipline to the right principles From compassion into kindness From the poisons into nectar From distress towards its solutions For all sentient creatures

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Sentiency is an awareness of The qualities that a sentient life experiences here and now That feels and thinks That discriminates this from that That sees and touches and hears That directs its vehicle Sentiency has the potential for meaning and value through insight Insightful sentiency is the diamond of evolution In earthly evolution At least in this era Sentiency is expressed in many living creatures These creatures are the eld for our good intent For kind words For compassionate endeavors

Words have conceptual power to represent goals for thought and behavior Words can be the conceptual principles of our intentions To lead our minds to freedom from discontent Or towards more pain and hurt and upset Right speech uses words to encourage To point towards the truth To help not hinder To gain rapport and move towards peace Like all good intentions, words can intend wholesome ways

Right Action continues this encouraging intent

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Think of the cyclic despair that comes from killing Think of the cyclic despair that comes with stealing Think of the cyclic despair that comes with irresponsible lust, greed and belief Right action is committed to right view and intention To harmlessness and sharing Helping every sentient being on their way Toward their best sentiency

Right action matures into right livelihood Fairness, generosity, wisdom These are signs of the right way of sustenance and relation As long as we are alive, there is a more right way and a more wrong way towards relief Right moral discipline cultivates a livelihood align with good intention, words, view and action Wisdom is the right intention and view put into right action Moral discipline is the right speech, action and livelihood Wisdom and discipline require right effort to be fullled

What is it about humans Who know the more right view from a more wrong view And do not take the effort to intend the more right To put effort it into action and cultivate the more right way? The Nobel prize should go the to the solution to this noble path To the ancient one who gured it out To that awakened one
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An awakened one said make right effort Dont just intend Dont just act Dont just make a living Make the right effort to control the mind itself To free itself from past delements From past bad decisions From that less than enlightening karma Untangle the knots preventing the bad effort Get clear enough on the right views On the right words On the good intentions On the necessary actions To create the right life This wisdom requires a most fundamental ingredient, right effort

Right effort is the gumption of will putting the cogs of intention into gears of manifestation To move or not move To pursue the unwholesome states Or prevent them from even arising To cultivate the right way or not The best right effort is dependent on right attention

Right attention is called mindfulness Mindfulness attends in the right way to the right way
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Mindfulness keeps the effort on tract with the intention Mindfulness is the aspect of our experience that we are aware Where we are alert, attentive, insightful Available to the wisdom Not distracted to any other way Not oblivious, ignorant, stupid, foolish, or even tempted Mindfulness is the attending to the right effort at hand Awareness must concentrate just right to keep remain rightfully mindful Right effort and right mindfulness will ultimate cultivate the ultimate right solution if concentrated right

Right concentration is the full commitment with the right way It takes concentration to steer the effort Mindfulness is the feedback for the concentration on the righteousness The right effort must keep awareness mindful so it can concentrate fully on the right ways These noble eightfold solutions are these right ways Now the right intention can stay accord the right views and be wise Now the right speech, right action and right livelihood are accord with wise moral discipline Now the sentiency has the opportunity To remain calm and unworried To have the insight to take the right effort To be compassionate To have the wisdom to be free of the all those other more distressing ways To remain with strong and clear effort effortlessly on the paths that leads
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to the inevitable nal solution

What will it be like when I achieve samadhi? are the words of an aspirant Finally, some peace and clarity and insight This is why, and how to. Aha This needs done are the words of a disciple As it is, so it is and so much more to do I am not doing I am not nothing needs to be done nothing is, nothing is not. Aaaahhhhh...oooooooo.mmmmmmm are the words of the master

The Jnana are a way of conceiving the stages to freedom as going through eightfold jnana insightful transformations The rst jnana includes a concentrated effort that includes vitakka, vicara, piti, sukkha, ekaggata The goal of these is to counter the ve hindrances
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of sensual craving, ill-will, laziness, restlessness and weak conviction Vitakka is the applied thought about an object It is the turning of awareness to attend to an object The holding of the object in mind on purpose for more than a few moments is Vicara Piti is the tranquil rapture resulting from the quieting of the mental processes This rapture may be momentary and eeting or prolonged and maintained it can bring instantaneous joy or bring repercussion of joy the joy can be thoroughly transforming or partly so convincing or not Piti is the enchantment of seeing the way of peace Sukkha is the bliss that follows from being thoroughly enjoyed and sustained in peace no want at least for more than a moment Ekaggata is the one pointed state of mind that comes from full absorption onto an object No other objects are considered at that moment Only that thusness

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The rst jnana has all ve modes the second jnana utilizes piti, sukkha and ekaggata The third jnana uses sukkha and ekaggata The fourth jnana uses ekaggata and Upekkha These four stages are with form the last four stages of jnana are without form Form means within object boundaries Has characteristics, properties, qualities With seed Without form, means no objective boundary no qualication or discrimination Without seed Each stage,except the last, is marked by a skill in consideration a skillful contact a skillful holding on a skillful letting go a skillful reecting back

In the fth jnana the yogi enters the experiential realm of space with no boundaries No sense, no dimension, no extension, no movement One sees into the innite vastness of time and space One sees the vastness, hears the peace Sitting on the edge looking over still a sense of self and space
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Something else is and is not

The sixth jnana enters the realm of awareness with no boundaries So called, Innite consciousness Awareness is everywhere, here, now, then, there, was, will be Consciousness of boundariless extension, minute, macro, instantaneous, forever Inntesimal, innite the source of all knowing and not-knowing

The seventh jnana enters the experiential realm of no-thing there is no object no dimension no extension no thought, no feeling, no memory no image no sensation no perception no conception no comprehension, no doing, no subject-object distinction Witness of I-am not

The eighth jnana is the realm of awareness neither of something nor no-thing simply aware of being, simply aware Sentient
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Skillful ability to neither categorize nor uncategorized neither to perceive nor not perceive neither conceive nor not conceive neither comprehend nor not comprehend neither do, nor not do I neither am nor am not Neither disturbance nor no disturbance Neither aware, nor not aware or something, nor nothing am and am not All is, is not All nothing neither all, nor nothing Full of potential Empty of everything This Not this Both this and not this Neither this nor not this The last of these is called the Fourth Tetralemma

A car exists; here is a car A car does not exist; over there is no car A car exists here, but does not exist there; hence, a car both exists and does not exist A car is neither a telephone pole nor a piece of fruit

I am aware; there is awareness

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I am not aware; in the far depths of sleep, there is no awareness I am both aware and not aware; I am aware of this, but not of that I am neither aware, nor not aware Nirvana is this fourth Tetralemma Once free of ego, there is no I who is aware or not aware I am neither aware, nor not aware

These jnana or knowledges are important and like samadhi do not ensure the nal freedom The Jnana describes for awareness the topography of knowledge it travels on the way to clarity and illumination What the yogic disciple does with this knowledge jnana determines the wisdom of the yogi Wisdom is the right skill applied to the right end Wisdom is the capacity to transform sentiency into wisdom not just with oneself but with all other sentient life There is awareness and there is awareness of suffering

Awareness is not enough skillful awareness skillful desire

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skillful beliefs skillful application of resource sincerity disciplined cultivation of meditation and achieving samadhi and bringing the freedom from clinginess back to the world and mastering the skill in helping others tame desire, thought, feeling, memory and causes of further distress

Upon the mastery of samadhi objects are now comprehended as sensations perceptions, conceptions, comprehensions And awareness as awareness And those objects as objects on the eld of awareness Awareness is aware of being aware There is no self, no object, no change There is awareness Full of potential, real, sentient and satised Objects have their fullest potential with an awareness that is functioning at its fullest potential

Whereas when giving into desire and avoidance awareness was plagued by many conditions mostly overwhelming conditions A lot of ignorance, clumsiness, and the ensuing wounds
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Many obstacles, many hindrances many ways to stagnate the ow and suffer distress Eventually, awareness strives to harmonize negative thoughts and feelings and intentions Mental processes are asked to harmonize habits, beliefs, opinions and behavior from unwholesome conditions Thus continues aspiration

Skill in harmonizing the mental processes from overwhelming distraction skill in settling the restless mind Hope of peace; hope of freedom Committed conviction that yoga is the way of skillful insight skillful mental processes skillful behavior skillful contact, holding on and letting go of objects Thus continues discipleship Still clumsy, still confused, still unclear and still not fullled but striving to become full and clear and bright And clear that a particular dogma, at least, is not the way The way becomes clearer which is especially important as the power is stronger Especially when really skilled in yogic techniques the energy must be disciplined with the proper principles If misguided or lost or confused or arrogant or ignorant
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the energy is displaced and proper principles not fullled The principles of yoga require the continual returning to the next level of freedom Giving up and letting go to the obviously right way is most of it Control of impulses and compulses maintaining the equilibrium through one-pointed equanimity Dedicated use of the insights into achieving the way of samadhi and jnana Personality and mental faculties are tamed to being valuable capacities Peace is experienced Sentiency is experienced Overwhelming satisfaction is experienced This way is secured and used as a valuable resource for all sentient creates in contact Thus continues the way of the master of yoga

The symptom of when the higher mastery is achieved is when there is a more freedom from karmic repercussion No disturbance is emanated from this creature All is at peace with no personal issues No disturbing thoughts, feelings, words, actions, intentions Others come to rest the resonant vibe is uplifting illuminating and encouraging Wisdom is proven in the harmony and enhancing way of being

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Yogic mastery into freedom from distress can be conceived through the words used to delineate the stages of insight lining the yogic path Remember yoga is the joining of the forces of personality with the intentions of the essential awareness For success in yoga, one must be established in ones original mind

Day after day Month after month Years on end Cells turn over Thoughts and opinions change Feeling move on to others Here, there With him or her On and on and on.

To and fro we go Back and forth continuing between oblivion and distraction, as if that were the right way Mindful of the center Remains the watchful eye

Spacing out, gone, oblivious

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Caught on an idea, past, future, distracted Mindful of the balance point Remains the undisturbed

Unmindful of doing, distraction Unmindful of being, oblivion Mindful of the equilibrium Remains the thusness

Penetrate to the thusness To that which remains Be the original face Centered between oblivion and distraction

Experience depends on open eyes Perceptions need a perceiver to be perceived Perspectives change the eyes of the perceiver From here to there With this or that On and on and on

Memories and learnings lter experience The perceiver is conditioned by previous experience In the midst of all the change is a sense of sameness An identity that is unconditioned, a non-identity A preconceived conceiver, preconceiving conceiving
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The original mind

Untarnished by past or future experiences Unmuddled by the screen of consciousness and the mental modications Unltered by our notions Not trapped by words Not imagined Not thought Not felt Simply being the being of our being Simply being the original mind The original mind remains free

Words are not the thing, And are certainly not, no thing. Pointing to that which is, We use words to go beyond words.

I pluck the petals from the ower I pluck the stamen, leaves and stem I dig up the root What remains of that plant? What remains of I

What is here today is already both yesterday and tomorrow I am just a piece, a spec of aggregate, yesterday, today and tomorrow
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This aggregate is interdependently meshed with the rest of the aggregate I have already passed, as has everything, into the impermanence Impermanence is permanent I, here, now, this aggregate, am a projection onto the aggregate Empty of this projection, I am not here, now I am not what I am projected to be I am not I, but merely labeled that I am not I I am not, but there is awareness

The seed depends on the water, air, sun and soil Conditions that determine a dependent co-arising The ower is not the seed Dependent on so much more

Cut off air, food, water, love Our aggregate also has this dependency Pluck off a hand, replace the heart Our self, like the ower, can be plucked to nothing

All that is, is not Projections of coherency, but devoid of independence Remove the aggregate and what is left? Emptiness

The mind is just one thought following another,

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The self, a refraction of the aggregates into coherency Both dependent on so much more Both can be plucked away into emptiness I am not what I think I am

No-mind, no-self, no I am, no I am not. What is there to cling to, without a self Suffering has nothing to stick to Empty of self, there is no one to suffer

Still one thought follows another As one moment of form follows the next Leaving emptiness to be lled by the moment Empty of the torment of the past Potentially free, potentially tormented Freedom follows from this insight, this choice, this effort

be free of the fears and the worries and the stresses and bad decisions be free of the concern of death be free of any attachment, any want or no want that is unwholesome be free of all personal issues

Imagine having no issues Imagine the body aligned, healthy, strong Imagine the mind happy, clear and settled
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Imagine the heart true and fullled Imagine getting along well with others Imagine ourishing on the earth and the earth ourishing from us Imagine enlightenment, peace and harmony Imagine manifesting these imaginings Imagine having no issues about manifestation Imagine having no issues

We take a stance A posture of mind when normally attending and not attending This can be in matters of life or death Or in matters of seemingly little consequence This state of mind is most worthy of our fullest principled cultivation As is the state of no-mind So let us ponder on these fundamental attitudes of awareness

There are states of mind that are disturbing and not disturbing, consonant There are states of mind that are stuck and not stuck, owing There are states of mind that fester a negative conditioning And those that encourage a kinder reactive state And those that create no reaction and have no consequence Some states are more wholesome than others
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Our mind can react in a myriad of negative ways: Surprise, fear, doubt, confusion, freezing are potentially disturbing ways of reacting Impulsively, compulsively, depressively, manically Neurotically, psychotically, dishonestly, lazily Angrily, cynically, selshly embittered And so many, many more ways of mind worthy of reconditioning

Let us for the moment make a distinction between a way of mind and a way of being A way of no-mind may be more encouraging than a way of mind if it is the mind itself that is glitching the well-being As it most often is

No-mind is like the child Eager, ready for a new way of conceiving Open for any thing to happen Without preconceived notion This beginners mind is called Shoshin

As the mind tends to xate on objects Leaving it open to the disturbance of the next moment No-mind remains not xed Available Ready to react without any hesitation With no plan other than a skillful way of reacting
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Unconstrainted by preconceived notion This way of remaining empty without mind is called Mushin

No-mind remains calm despite an incoming potentially negative force Undisturbed, unmoved, imperturbed This no-mind state of equanimity is named, Fudoshin

Incoming forces can be gracefully accommodated With no friction given nor taken The force leaves more aligned with a better way, the inevitable way This moment after is especially vulnerable to being open to potential disturbance The remaining in no-mind is called Zanshin

Fudoshin, Mushin, Shoshin, Zanshin These are the Heijoshin, ways of keeping the presence of mind with no-mind These Heijoshin are the guardians against Shishin, stopped mind And all the unmindfulness that obstructs our ow

Hanging on to moments past Attached to things bygone A sense of ego lingers on Keeping us from what is

Watching memories With feelings attache Ideas and fantasy take precedent
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As we stumble down our path.

Unless we can be like an empty vessel Ready to be lled With the substance of the moment Then we can deal with what is

Otherwise we drown in the worry of the morrow Or in the guilt of deeds done past Demons and goddesses and whatever could be Distract our attention from what lls us

Stumble no more Be lled with the void of the present Put to rest worry and guilt and all those disruptions of attachment And become an empty vessel

Looking in, if we have patience and courage We can see our world anew Full of possibilities Fresh light coming in on our darkness Welcome the Great Eastern Sun

Peaking over the horizon The Great Eastern Sun allows us to see Allows us to uncover the world
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Of our innate wakefulness Of our internal radiance shining forth

Being with the dawn of the Great Eastern Sun Awakens us to our inherent goodness We can appreciate ourselves and the world For the good that we are This takes bravery

Bravery to behold also the darkness And to not get caught up in the fear of the setting sun Death is inevitable Yet so much of our life is spent in fear Choosing to identify with the possibility of darkness

Be brave, like a warrior, And go forth with that, which is already available Our radiance is here, now Available to shine forth

Return to the primordial goodness, the original mind Enliven this knowledge Continually returning To shine the Great Eastern Sun

The entire universe, science conrms

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Is expanding and contracting Inating and consolidating Radiation wrestling with gravity

Energy has its plus and minus The minutest of particles repel and attract The earth gives forth life Then calls it back

Amongst all the transformation Remains the great interconnectedness Cause is based on dependent relationship Synchronistic movement within the change

Even in our own lives We go out and come in We expand our person in the world And contract our awareness to our own self-awareness

We can expand our consciousness And contract our bodies We can focus our mind And move forth into the world

All elements are subject to change Only the great void goes beyond expansion and contractions
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Only nothing remains the same

What is to know nothing? What is it to know something? What is knowledge? What is it to know?

Knowledge is that which we know Knowing is the apprehension of a meaning of that which is known

What is meaning? What is apprehension?

Meaning is an idealize form of a concept Apprehension means to grasp the realness of the meaning of that conception

What is an idealized form of a concept? What does it mean to grasp the realness?

An idealized form of a concept is the essential characteristics of that which is conceived Grasping the realness is the beholding of the essential characteristics

How does one behold? What are the essential characteristics?

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One beholds by paying attention to what is The essential characteristics are that without which we would not know what we know

What is what is? What is that?

Being is what is That is what we know

To be is to know, To know that is knowledge

Pay attention Be Behold what is know that as knowledge

Ideas are great, so is the imagination Dreams are fantastic As are hopes, wishes and aspirations Intention is a blessing Manifestation is even more important Making sure our hopes and dreams come true
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Early on we manifest our instincts, our whims and drives Soon comes our aspiration to do something purposeful To become an active participant in reality Later we become disciplined and skilled in our manifestation

Like a craftsman mastering ones trade Creating something precious from a plan Molding matter into life with meaning and purpose Ensuring our preciousness into life Manifesting our destiny towards our fate Making something of nothing. And using something to realize nothing

Is nothing really nothing? Or is it really something? Does the Great Void have a place? Is mindfulness no mind?

Is Enlightenment a hopeful dream Freedom from all pain? Can desire be put down Or will it always reign?

Is emptiness no more than a coveted goal? Is fulllment more our plight?

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Even the Dharma of Buddha nature Could be something, right?

Flowers fall and weeds grow up The wind is forever abiding Why do we need fan ourselves and strive after something?

Because Buddha nature is like the wind Present but still worth striving Something is nothing and nothing is something, and we are here, now and Enlightenment is still worth trying

Be like the Buttery Who ies with the wind Surng the Buddha nature sipping the cream from the owers and weeds

The Buddha nature is the original mind of every sentient creature Void both of attachments and the desire to create further attachment, The Buddha nature is empty of attachment as the potential for future suffering Buddha nature is the awakened, aware, insightful the wise aspect of sentient experience freed from the nagging distractions of aficting feelings and thoughts
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and memories and opinions and all that stuff that is potentially disturbing Bodhicitta is a way of establishing the mind In accordance with a way Opposite of ignorance Opposite of stupidity, foolishness and disturbance Bodhicitta is the mindful way Of cultivating a solution to this problem Of the insatiable negative mental and emotional afictions

It takes discipline to keep the mind on a goal It takes discipline to gure out the goal It takes discipline to return to the path Bodhicitta is the minds discipline With a goal of relief from self-inicted anguish And the insight on how to remain free from the cycle of torment

One can cultivate bodhicitta through the six perfections To diminish personal negative karma and help others the same

Generosity allows us to see and address the universal problem of suffering Virtue allows us the integrity to discipline our way with bodhicitta Patience allows us to not get frustrated when the path is seemingly obstructed Concentration keeps our bodhicitta steady when distracted Diligence keeps our effort strong and committed Wisdom discerns the right way from others
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Bodhicitta is the cultivation of a way of Buddha nature To remain free of the turmoil To not worry To take care of the problem of negativity To be happy and peaceful and kind And to spread this way

Quickenings are brief, but powerful glimpses aspirants and disciples have of Buddha nature Kensho is the undeniable insight into Buddha nature the illumination of a way of seeing that now opens the insight into Buddha nature. Still a peep hole and an unsteady eld holding the insight Still someone doing something instead of being with insight The skill in cleaning the karma is not necessarily caught up yet Kensho opens the door to wanting to be skillful in insight The wanting is still there but now with a clearer insight of an opening of a way of illumination Often these quickens and kensho are mistake for the end of the yogic path; Far from it It can be more liken to a sailor who gured out how the stars move in the sky and now can begin to navigate through the tides of life The insight of that the stars move in a pattern in the sky is very powerful
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to open the door to mastering the implications of this insight. Kensho shows the disciple the experience of profound insight and some of the understanding that follows

A disciple skillfully cultivates these insightsful experiences these quickenings and awakenings and kensho Though the tiniest crack the light can shine through Once it is known beyond doubt, that there is illuminatory insights this path can be committed to The power of the mind to inject its distraction based on preconditioning remains so impressive that it keeps kensho a committed goal long before it is even decided on consciously to be mastered let alone mastered These kensho experiences come to a ready state of awareness by grace and are mastered by the committed tuning in to the kensho of the original mind of Buddha nature Satori is the name of a more sustaining awakening of disciples as they transition into mastery The actual experience can be sudden or eventual, but never by coincidence The personality is now under the discipline of the buddhic mind, intelligence itself This takes both insight and undivided dedication to skillful control and letting go
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Satori is the entering into being securely insightful on the obvious path of the obvious way Karma can still be created and karma still to be paid and the higher samadhis and jnana yet to master Still sentient creatures who are in distress, yet fully insightful of how and why Nirvana is the nal letting go of all attachments by the way of skillful freedom Satori enters the disciple into the way of mastery of freedom Nirvana is the mastery of being free

Be awake Sit straight Be comfortable Attend to the breath Be aware

Perception occurs Not this Watch to the breath Be aware

Feelings arouse Not this Encourage the breath Be Aware

Thoughts wander in
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Not this Witness the breath Be aware

Will urges movement Not this Atone with the breath Be aware

The mind is such that it takes on the characteristics of that which it is focused on Not this

Breath in Be aware of the inspiration Breath out Be aware of the expiration Between the exhale and inhale there is a momentary pause There is quiet

Be aware of the stillness of the mind There the seer resides in peace Realization comes from this meditation Go forth and breath this realization of ideal sentiency
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Let us contemplate for a moment The full extent of ideal sentiency

Ideal sentiency includes the ability to discern the real, the true and the good From that which is unreal, not true and disturbing

Reality, itself, must exist and be knowable and transformable Conditions must exist for a sensation to be sensed Conditions must exist for a perception to be perceived Conditions must exist for a conception to be conceived Conditions must exist for an insight to be comprehended Conditions must exist for an intention to be intended Conditions must exist for change to occur and intention to induce it These conditions are the resources for meaning and value

Ideal sentiency includes the ability to take input and know its meaning So that reality can be mapped This mapping is the conceptual representation of a perceived or conceived input Meaning is the correlation of one representation with another Knowledge is the comprehension of meaning of the representations Truthfulness is the correlation of comprehended meaning with what really is
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Truth is what really is whether we know it or not

Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the truthfulness or not of perception Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the truthfulness or not of conception Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the truthfulness or not of comprehension Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the truthfulness or not of intention

Ideal sentiency includes the ability to take input and know its value Value is the recognized quality that lends to experiential fulllment or relieves suffering

Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the value or not of perception Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the value or not of conception Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the value or not of comprehension Ideal sentiency includes the recognition of the value or not of intention

Ideal sentiency includes the ability to create meaning and value Creation is the qualitative transformation of resources Resources includes that which is available to be recognized and transformed
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Ideal sentiency is the ability to recognize the truthful meaning and value of resources Ideal sentiency is the ability to create truthful and valuable transformation of resources And to induce these abilities for all available sentient creatures

Ideal sentiency is nirvana Nirvana is the state of fully awakened awareness that is not a preconceived, Neither qualied nor not qualied but qualifying Most conscious states pre-qualify the elds and the objects extending in the elds tying attachments that fester afictions Nirvana is awareness of objects as objects and awareness as awareness Not qualied with past and future implication The very source of quality and skillful qualication Nirvana is freedom from any constraints being fully awake, aware, free

Ideal sentiency allows one to realize the full extent of the suffering of others Look around, my friend See that all that is, is not Clinging on to what was or what could be
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Deludes us from what is

Afictions arise from this attachment Suffering arises from this delusion Believing that we are immune from this process Only festers the wounds

See rst your own existential agony Your own grasping onto the unreal See how you too are drowning Behold your own immersion into the grand ocean of delusion

Recognizing this delusion allows us to see that we were not drowning at all It was a dream Mistaken for the real

See the how your neighbor and loved ones Are also apparently immersed Caught grasping for a life-raft They act in fear and insecurity of impending doom

Insight into the nature of impermanence Allows us reel ourselves and others to shore Compassion is the life-raft To free all from being caught up in sorrow
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Compassion is the effort to help All be freed from their misery Freed from believing were drowning When we are safely ashore

Our thoughts can create our reality Insight can take us beyond thought The greater insight into our well-beings dependence on others The greater our compassion will be

Compassion is the steps we walk towards enlightenment For it allows us to go beyond our self-centered delusions of our own fate Every sentient creature deserves freedom from suffering Especially from the suffering of suffering

It is harder to be compassionate to those Whose delusion appears as wealth or fame They nd it harder to recognize the suffering of change How all that is, is not Fear of loss, overcondence of gain These cause people a lot of pain

Suffering is also a by-product of cyclic existence Being caught up in negative emotion or thought These breed sticky karma
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Bringing the past to bear its burden

Gaining insight into the nature of suffering Allows us to see its pervasiveness Compassion is the urge to go beyond this Into the loving-kindness of graceful karma

The wheel of suffering stops when there is no unwholesome desire When there is no particular self to desire Compassion is acting empty of preconceived notions Kindly urging all life onto the graceful way

When sorting through lifes great lessons We can get stuck from our most graceful way Too often we mistake this stuckness For where we hope to be

We struggle for survival Motivated by our instinct to survive We get stuck surviving

We struggle for our comfort Motivated by our desires We get stuck desiring

All paths have glitches

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When walking we will stumble To walk well, we must be careful and watch how we are going

Each step requires a cultivated grace One foot put skillfully in front of another Destiny provides us with challenges Challenges that could propel us with grace

To be free from suffering, and all negative emotions Also requires skillful dealing with these challenges We can wobble out of these glitches By cultivating grace as our normal way

How could we have known what life would be If we had died at some point, not lived? Our life, which has manifested, would not have happened The here, now, would have been then

So much has happened Fate has become known Destiny has led us to here Weve seen if our hopes have occurred

Fate and destiny behold new light As we ponder on our life as if death already happened
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It seems death has come too early Before life is fullled

Yet here, now, in the moment We live as if we will always be As if consciousness and esh are immortal As if our future will exist As if we can wait for grace

We can appreciate the preciousness of the moment Secure at least that we are in that The morrow will be whatever will be But it wont be, without the succession of the here and now

So whether or not we end up fullling our dreams And whether or not were immortal Take refuge in the fact that there is now an existence And a consciousness here to appreciate the multitude of opportunities to be aware Especially to be aware, free from any personal torment, actually enjoying the surf

Imagine it was your last day Just moments to go All plans, all dreams, all hopes All relationship Come down to these moments These precious few
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Would you have feelings of regret? Of fear? Sadness? Anger? Of accomplishment? Of foolishness and laziness? Of a life well lived? Or a life spent searching for the good life?

This very moment you are falling off a cliff towards your demise Are diamonds and riches worth more than experiential time? How much is just one more moment of awareness worth? Do not let the acceleration of living Overwhelm your insight and wisdom Become the diamonds and riches By appreciating the value of still being alive and aware

Ideal sentiency can be approached by continually returning to the yogic path by principled effort and by grace manifesting the effortlessness wisdom of being free

One can be awake and one can be asleep, comatose, dead or less than fully awakened

One can be aware

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and one can be unaware or less than fully aware

One's awareness can be mindful and correspond to what really is and awareness can be ignorant or delusional or less than truthful

What really is remains beyond our attached perceptions and conceptions Mental anguish is caused by mistaking perceptions and conceptions for what really is And so begins the wheel of suffering and so comes the opportunity for freedom from our torment

Peace, mindfulness, insight, wisdom and compassion are the way of freedom Accepting what is for what is, and conceptions and perceptions for what they are Intending to embody the most meaningful, most valuable and most truthful Buddha nature is this way of being fully awake aware, mindful, kind and free

Do not waste another moment Believing you have more time Treat all those precious to you as precious As if they could be gone forever from your presence

Do not waste another moment Believing that tomorrow will sufce

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Treat everyday as your last As if your mission could end now

Do not waste another moment Believing you deserve better Treat yourself as if you are the major cause of your destiny As if you had no one but yourself to blame for your successes and failures

Wake up every day as if the universe began anew Today is the day to fulll your destiny Now is the time to be fully responsible With no other if, and, or buts

Create the value in your life by being valuable Fulll yourself by being fullling Fulll others as is they were you And forge into destiny the meaning of what you really mean

Cultivate this now with your best of efforts Into the experience you deserve to have For there is no future happiness That does not stem from this very moment

Now is the time

Some people wait their whole life

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Longing for freedom Life itself passes them by Their own freedom unrecognized Freedom comes by being free Peace comes by being peaceful Live life by living fully Recognize freedom Be aware, mindful, harness the wisdom Be masterfully careful and live freely Be free And master the art of loving kindness

There are writings on strategy like the Art of War Or others that describe the strategy for winning in sword ghting On how, by all means, and by the nest of pre-disciplined skill To cut the enemy down, to be the victor Here we will ponder on the strategies of loving-kindness And the wise ways of caring

Strategy is an intentional method of manifesting an objective Strategies use techniques and tactics for that purpose Techniques are particular ways of doing something Tactics are systematic ways of organizing techniques to do something Discipline is the glue that seals techniques and tactics to the strategic principle to the overall plan of the way of the way

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The strategy considered here is not be about just any strategy Here, the strategic principle is the way of well-being for all who are conscious Not just well-being, but the best of being well, full relief from all suffering The hope is that all sentient creatures be happy, insightful and wise Fully enlightened as to how to create a sustainable way of peace and love and understanding Not just for themselves and others, but for all future generations This is the way we will now consider strategically

Loving-kindness is a symbol for an entire way of intending For this consideration, please drop all pre-conceived notions of the symbol And consider this meaning for now Loving-kindness is the cultivated intention of helping life to come into its fullest potential Especially the potential to be fully awake and loving-kind

The art of loving-kindness develops naturally through stages The stage of ignorance and not caring Struggling for survival The stage of starting to take care so that things dont get worse The stage of taking care so that things get better The stage of really taking care so that things remain the best they can be Taking care of oneself The stage of convenience The stage of taking care for others
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Taking care so others can take care of themselves Taking care of others so that they can take care of others to take care the best they can Taking care so they can care

At any stage the discipline of the care can be indifferent, lazy hopeful, strong, or fully expressed Discipline can be steady or wavering fully committed or doubted The opportunity can be apparent or not taken or neglected abused or fullled A strategist prepares for the opportunity and looks for the opening to present An excellent strategist induces that opening, entices opportunity And synchronizes with the synchronistic way

How can we get others to care and be loving-kind? We must constantly scan for the opening in our own and others hearts To be even more on their way freed from their torment On their way to being loving, kind, compassionate

Some gain insight to this way through a sudden awakening Suddenly they get it and the path is obvious It is rare for their maturity to include the catching up their karma with their insight
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Discipline can further insure that the karma is effectively burned And the actions remain without seed for future discontent

Sometimes the opening comes at a teachable moment Like the vow of a smoker to quite smoking upon awakening in the ICU on a ventilator The opening can open and remain open or it can close The opening can be a result of ripening and due for manifestation Strategic openings result from remaining open to being open to an opening And from the way of creating resourceful states

On way is to show the way by example Or somehow inspire Or point to the holders of the lineage of a way of loving-kindness The clearer the way is conceived, the easier it is to remain clear on the path A confusing way is harder to plan By showing many, many examples of loving-kindness Perhaps others will get the hang of it Especially when they see loving-kindness come their way

A system allows the comprehension of the parts in relation to the whole Strategy can systematically take that moment of opportunity and give the opening a way to proceed A strategy is the reason for the system A system is a pattern of technique a particular procedure tactically applied on command
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The strategy dictates the way of the command

Some systems use techniques of loving-kindness based on Patience Seless service Generosity and other virtuous acts Meditation on compassion, insight, peace Ritual Study Discernment

One system of loving-kindness is to consider the other as if they you were them See from their eyes, where an opening is towards their relief First witness their suffering, their distress, their concerns and feel their selsh desires See the source of their suffering, how they cling onto their own false hopes Compassion can use empathy as a tool to bear witness to the need for caring A system might train students through meditation techniques, scripture or service Using compassion as the strategy

Some sentient creatures, not saying you, Are stubborn to change and do not like being told what to do Showing an example or presenting a system directly may not work One technique is to show them the way through the back door Speak indirectly and not about them personally Dont show them a system for them, but contemplate about systems And let them explain to you why the system of loving-kindness is the best
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One strategy is to punish and hold reward from those who stray from the disciplined path Guilt and deprivation are dysfunctional examples One strategy is to reward those who move towards or remain on the path One strategy is repetition and propaganda and pretending its obvious One strategy is to imagine the consequences of taking and giving loving-kindness One strategy is to stroke the ego if it complies Another is to put it down if it doesnt Another is to withhold or give affection, attention, recognition or honor One might understand the particular learning style necessary to impart the way We can impose a template or conform to the need So many ways to pursue a way

The way of loving-kindness is a most special of ways a great way indeed It is a way of encouragement, of most worthy example A way of courage and bravery for it takes a true warrior to cut through the heart of unquenchable desire through anger and grief and stupidity and all the other self-defeating causes of our anguish through selshness itself

Perhaps the most direct strategy is to see clearly the causes and effects And resolve the causes
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The cause of our self s suffering is the lack of clear resolve Witness directly our folly and sloth Witness how the belief that our self is something special How I am part of the folly See the dependence of our construction of a self is interdependent on Our brain, electricity, matter, the world On consciousness That there is no such thing as a self A convenient ction And that this construction is like a novel that uses a narrator The story is much more than that particular character who is just words of ction re-created in our head Now think that this ctional self is holding the way of loving-kindness hostage On the self is assembled most of anguish of the karmic burden Dissemble the self Be loving-kind without selsh intent And karma has nothing to congeal to This strategy is called:

using the diamond blade of discernment to cut through the thickest of bullshit and turn the apparent shit-storm into love

THIS IS THE MASTERY OF YOGA!

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