goenka on vipassana - must read

Very good article

http://www.vridhamma.org/en1995-04

Looking Within-Living And Dying
From Moment To Moment

(EXCERPTS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF SHRI S N GOENKA AND SAYAGYI U BA KHIN ON VIPASSANA)

Understand what Vipassana is and how it helps us in our day-to-day lives; how it helps us to come out of our misery, the misery of life and death. Everyone wants to come out of misery, to live a life of peace and harmony. We simply do not know how to do this. It was Siddhartha Gotama's enlightenment that made him realize the truth: where misery lies, how it starts, and how it can be eradicated. But we have to realise the truth ourselves.

There were many techniques of meditation prevailing in those days, as there are today. The Bodhisatta Gotama tried them all, but he was not satisfied because he found that he was not liberated from misery. Then he started to do his own research. Through his personal experience he discovered Vipassana, which eradicated misery from his life and made him a fully enlightened person.

There are many techniques that give temporary relief. When you become miserable you divert your attention to something else. Then you feel that you have come out of your misery, but you are not totally relieved. If something undesirable has happened in life, you become agitated. You cannot bear this misery and want to run away from it. You may go to a cinema or a theatre, or you may indulge in other sensual entertainment. You may go out drinking, and so on. All this is running away from misery.

Escape is no solution to the problem, indeed the misery is multiplying.

In Buddha's enlightenment he realized that one must face reality. Instead of running away from the problem, one must face it. He found that all the types of meditation existing in his day consisted of merely diverting the mind from the prevailing misery to another object. He found that practicing this, actually only a small part of the mind gets diverted. Deep inside one keeps reacting, one keeps generating sankharas (reaction or conditioning) of craving, aversion or delusion, and one keeps suffering at a deep level of the mind. The object of meditation should not be an imaginary object, it should be reality-reality as it is. One has to work with whatever reality has manifested itself now, whatever one experiences within one's own body-mind.

In the practice of Vipassana one has to explore the reality within oneself - the material structure and the mental structure, the combination of which one keeps calling "I, me, mine." One generates a tremendous amount of attachment to this material and mental structure, and as a result becomes miserable. To practise Buddha's path we must observe the truth of mind and matter. Their basic characteristics should be directly experienced by the meditator. This results in wisdom.

Wisdom can be of three types: wisdom gained by listening to others, that which is gained by intellectual analysis, and wisdom developed from direct, personal experience Buddha found that one may play any number of intellectual or devotional games, but unless he experiences the truth himself, and develops wisdom from his personal experience, he will not be liberated. Vipassana is personally experienced wisdom. One may listen to discourses or read scriptures. Or one may use the intellect and try to understand: "Yes, Buddha's teaching is wonderful! This wisdom is wonderful!" But that is not direct experience of wisdom.

The entire field of mind and matter-the six senses and their respective objects - have the basic characteristics of anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering) and anatta (egolessness). Buddha wanted us to experience this reality within ourselves. To explore the truth within - we have to explore the reality of mind-matter. Matter is the material structure, the corporeal structure, the physical structure. The other is the mental structure-the mind. The mind has 4 factors: consciousness (vinnana), perception (sanna) the part of the mind that feels sensation (Vedana or Samvedna in hindi) and the part of the mind that reacts - the conditioning (Sankhara).

Mind and matter are deeply interrelated-deeply interrelated. To 'completely', 'totally', explore the reality within-to observe - we observe the body, the sensations on the body, the mind and the contents of the mind. Observing the truth-the reality from moment to moment 'as it is' in the field of mind-matter, mindfulness is established (Satipatthana). Mind-matter are deeply interrelated.

Anything that arises in the mind turns into matter, into a sensation in the material field. This was the Buddha's discovery. People forgot this truth, which can only be understood through proper observation. The Buddha said, "Sabbe Dhamma vedana samosarana", anything that arises in the mind starts flowing as a sensation on the body. See from your personal experience how this mind and matter are related to each other. To believe that one understands mind and matter, without having directly experienced it, is delusion. It is only direct experience that will make us understand the reality about mind and matter. This is where Vipassana starts helping us. There are sensations throughout the body, from head to feet. One feels those sensations, and is asked not to react to them. Just observe; observe objectively, without identifying yourself with the sensations. You observe this structure that initially appears to be so solid, the entire physical structure at the level of sensation. Observing, observing you will reach the stage when you experience that the entire physical structure is nothing but subatomic particles: throughout the body, nothing but kalapas (subatomic particles). And even these tiniest subatomic particles are not solid. They are mere vibration, just wavelets. The Buddha's words become clear by experience: Sabbo pajjalito loko, sabbo loko pakampito. The entire universe is nothing but combustion and vibration. As you experience it yourself you experience that the entire material world is nothing but vibration. We have to experience the ocean of infinite waves surging within, the river of inner sensations flowing within, the eternal dance of the countless vibrations within every atom of the body. We have to witness our continuously changing nature. All of this is happening at an extremely subtle level. These kalapas (subatomic particles) according to the Buddha, are in a state of perpetual change or flux. They are nothing but a stream of energies, just like the light of a candle or an electric bulb. The body (as we call it), is not an entity as it seems to be, but is a continuum of matter and life-force coexisting.

You become sensitive to the ongoing processes of his own organism, which in other words are atomic reactions ever taking place in all living beings. When you becomes engrossed with such, sensations, which are the products of nature, you come to the realization, physically and mentally, of the truth that his whole physical being is after all a changing mass. This is the fundamental concept of anicca - the nature of change that is ever taking place in everything, whether animate or inanimate, that exists in this universe. The corollary is the concept of dukkha- the innate nature of suffering or ill-which becomes identified with life. This is true because of the fact that the whole structure of a being is made up of atoms (kalapas) all in a state of perpetual combustion.

The last concept is that of anatta. You call a "substance" what appears to you to be a substance. In reality there is no substance as such. As the course of meditation progresses, the student comes to the realization that there is no substantiality in his so-called self, and there is no such thing as the core of a being. Eventually he breaks away the egocentrism in him-both in respect to mind and body He then emerges out of meditation with a new outlook-ego-less and self-less-alive to the fact that whatever happens in this universe is subject to the fundamental law of cause and effect. He knows with his inward eye the illusory nature of the separate self.

Buddha's teaching is to move from the gross, apparent truth to the subtlest, ultimate truth (from olarika to sukhuma) The apparent truth always creates illusion and confusion in the mind. By dividing and dissecting apparent reality, you will come to the ultimate reality. As you experience the reality of matter to be vibration, you also start experiencing the reality of the mind: vinnana (consciousness), sanna (perception), vedana (sensation) and sankhara (reaction). If you experience them properly with Vipassana, it will become clear how they work.

Suppose you have reached the stage where you are experiencing that the entire physical structure is just vibration. If a sound has come in contact with the ears you will notice that this sound is nothing but vibration. The first part of the mind, consciousness, has done its job: ear consciousness has recognized that something has happened at the ear sense door. Like a gong which, having been struck at one point, begins vibrating throughout its structure, so a contact with any of the senses begins a vibration which spreads throughout the body. At first this is merely a neutral vibration, neither pleasant nor unpleasant. The perception recognizes and evaluates the sound, "It is a word-what word? Praise! Oh, wonderful, very good!" The resulting sensation, the vibration, will become very pleasant. In the same way, if the words are words of abuse the vibration will become very unpleasant. The vibration changes according to the evaluation given by the perception part of the mind. Next the third part of the mind starts feeling the sensation: pleasant or unpleasant.

Then the fourth part of the mind will start working. This is reaction; its job is to react. If a pleasant sensation arises, it will react with craving. If an unpleasant sensation arises, it will react with aversion. Pleasant sensation: "I like it. Very good! I want more, I want more!" Similarly, unpleasant sensation: "1 dislike it. I don't want it." Generating craving and aversion is the part played by the fourth factor of the mind-reaction.

Understand that this process is going on constantly at one sense door or another. Every moment something or the other is happening at one of the sense doors. Every moment the respective consciousness cognizes; the perception recognizes; the feeling part of the mind feels; and the reacting part of the mind reacts, with either craving or aversion. This happens continuously in one's life.

At the apparent, surface level, it seems that I am reacting with either craving or aversion to the external stimulus. Actually this is not so. Buddha found that we are reacting to our sensations. This discovery was the enlightenment of Buddha. He said:

Salayatana-paccaya phasso
phassa-paccaya vedana
vedana-paccaya tanha.

With the base of the six senses-contact arises,
with the base of contact-sensation arises,
with the base of sensation-craving arises.

It became so clear to him: the six sense organs come in contact with objects outside. Because of the contact, a sensation starts in the body that, most of the time, is either pleasant or unpleasant. Then after a pleasant or unpleasant sensation arises, craving or aversion start - not before that. This realization was possible because Buddha went deep inside and experienced it Himself. He went to the root of the problem and discovered how to eradicate the cause of suffering at the root level.
Working at the intellectual level of the mind, we try to suppress craving and aversion, but deep inside, craving and aversion continue. We are constantly rolling in craving or aversion. We are not coming out of misery through suppression.
Buddha discovered the way: whenever you experience any sensation, due to any reason, you simply observe it:

Samudaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
vaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
samudaya-vaya-dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati.

He dwells observing the phenomenon of arising in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of passing away in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of simultaneous arising and passing away in the body.

Every sensation arises and passes away. Nothing is eternal. When you practice Vipassana you start experiencing this. However unpleasant a sensation may be - look, it arises only to pass away. However pleasant a sensation may be, it is just a vibration-arising and passing. Pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, the characteristic of impermanence remains the same. You are now experiencing the reality of anicca. You are not believing it because Buddha said so, or some scripture or tradition says so, or even because your intellect says so. You accept the truth of anicca because you directly experience it. This is how your received wisdom and intellectual understanding turn into personally experienced wisdom.

Only this experience of anicca will change the habit pattern of the mind. Feeling sensation in the body and understanding that everything is impermanent, you don't react with craving or aversion; you are equanimous. Practising this continually changes the habit of reacting at the deepest level. When you don't generate any new conditioning of craving and aversion, old conditioning comes on the surface and passes away. By observing reality as it is, you become free from all your conditioning of craving and aversion.

To a casual observer a piece of iron is motionless. Thc scientist knows that it is composed of electrons all in a state of perpetual change or flux. If this is so with a piece of iron, what will be the case with a living organism, say a human being? The changes taking place inside a human body must be more violent. Does man feel the rocking vibrations within himself? Does the scientist who knows that all the electrons are in a perpetual state of change or flux ever feel that his own body is but energy and vibration? What will be the repercussion on the mental attitude of the man who introspectively sees that his own body is mere energy and vibration?

To quench thirst one may easily just drink a glass of water from a village well. Supposing his eyes are as powerful as microscopes, he would surely hesitate to drink the very same water in which he must see the magnified microbes. Similarly, when one comes to the realization of perpetual change within himself (anicca-impermanence), he must come to the understanding, as a sequel thereto, of the truth of suffering as a consequence of the sharp sense of feeling the radiation, vibration and friction of the atomic units within. Indeed life is suffering, both within and without, to all appearances and in ultimate reality.

Western psychologists refer to the "conscious mind" Buddha called this part of the mind the paritta citta (a very small part of the mind). There is a big barrier between the paritta citta and the rest of the mind at deeper levels. The conscious mind does not know what is happening in the unconscious or half-conscious. Vipassana breaks this barrier, taking you from the surface level of the mind to the deepest level of the mind. This exposes the anusaya kilesa (latent mental defilements) that are lying at the deepest level of the mind.

The so-called ''unconscious" mind is not unconscious. It is always conscious of body sensations, and it keeps reacting to them. If they are unpleasant, it reacts with aversion. If they are pleasant, it reacts with craving. This is the habit pattern, the behaviour pattern, of the so-called unconscious at the depth of the mind.

Here is an example to explain how the so-called unconscious mind is reacting with craving and aversion. You are in deep sleep. A mosquito bites you and there is an unpleasant sensation. Your conscious mind does not know what has happened. The unconscious knows immediately that there is an unpleasant sensation, and it reacts with aversion. It drives away or kills the mosquito. But still there is an unpleasant sensation, so you scratch, though your conscious mind is in deep sleep. When you wake up, if somebody asks you how many mosquito bites you got during the night, you won't know. Your conscious mind was unaware but the unconscious knew, and it reacted.

Another example: Sitting for about half an hour, some pressure starts somewhere and the unconscious mind reacts: "There is a pressure. I don't like it!" You change your position. The unconscious mind is always in contact with the body sensations. You make a little movement, and then after some time you move again. Just watch somebody sitting for fifteen to twenty minutes. You will find that this person is fidgeting, shifting a little here, a little there. Of course, consciously he does not know what he is doing. This is because he is not aware of the sensations. He does not know that he is reacting with aversion to these sensations. This barrier is ignorance.

Vipassana breaks this ignorance. Then one starts understanding how sensations arise and how they give rise to craving or aversion. When there is a pleasant sensation, there is craving. When there is an unpleasant sensation, there is aversion, and whenever there is craving or aversion, there is misery.

If one does not break this behaviour pattern, there will be continual craving or aversion. At the surface level you may say that you are practicing what Buddha taught, but in fact, you are not practicing what Buddha taught! You are practicing what the other teachers at the time of Buddha taught. Buddha taught how to go to the deepest level where suffering arises. Suffering arises because of one's reaction of craving or aversion. The source of craving and aversion must be found, and one must change one's behaviour pattern at that level.

Buddha taught us to observe suffering and the arising of suffering. Without observing these two we can never know the cessation of misery. Suffering arises with the sensations. If we react to sensations, then suffering arises. If we do not react we do not suffer from them. However unpleasant a sensation may be, if you don't react with aversion, you can smile with equanimity. You understand that this is all anicca, impermanence. The whole habit pattern of the mind changes at the deepest level.

Make use of the teaching of Buddha at the deepest level. Don't just remain at the surface level of the teaching of Buddha. Go to the deepest level where your craving arises:

Vedana paccaya tanha;
vedana-nirodha tanha-nirodho;
tanha-nirodha dukkha-nirodho.

Sensations give rise to craving.
If sensations cease, craving ceases.
When craving ceases, suffering ceases.

When one experiences the truth of nibbana-a stage beyond the entire sensorium-all the six sense organs stop working. There can't be any contact with objects outside, so sensation ceases. At this stage there is freedom from all suffering. When one comes out of such a nibbanic experience-he is a changed person-his life becomes different. First you must reach the stage where you can feel sensations. Only then can you change the habit pattern of your mind. If you work on the surface level of the mind you are only changing the conscious part of the mind, your intellect. You are not going to the root cause, the most unconscious level of the mind; you are not removing the anusaya kilesa - (deep-rooted defilements of craving and aversion). They are like sleeping volcanoes that may erupt at any time. You continue to roll from birth to death; you are not coming out of misery.

Moden science has given us, for what it is worth, the atomic bomb, the most wonderful and yet at the same time the most dreadful product of man's intelligence. Is man using his intelligence in the right direction?

Why not use intelligence to look within? Know ourselves? This will give us the "peace within" and enable us to share it with all others. We will then radiate such powerful and purified mental forces as will successfully counteract the evil forces which are all around us. Just as the light of a single candle has the power to dispel darkness in a room, so also the light developed in one man can help dispel the darkness in several others.

To imagine that good can be done by the means of evil is an illusion, a nightmare. For all the loss of lives, bloodshed and war, are we nearer to, or further away, from peace? These are the lessons which we have learnt. Change of mankind's mental attitude alone is the solution. What is necessary at the moment is mastery over the mind and not only mastery over matter. In Dhamma we differentiate between loka dhatu and Dhamma dhatu. By dhatu is meant the nature- elements or forces. Loka dhatu is therefore matter (with its nature-elements) within the range of the physical plane. Dhamma dhatu, however, comprises mind, mental properties and some aspects of nature-elements which are not in the physical but in the mental plane. Modem science deals with what we call loka dhatu. It is just a base for Dhamma dhatu in the mental plane. A step further and we come to the mental plane; not with the knowledge of modem science, but with the knowledge of Buddha-Dhamma in practice.
At least Mr. H. Overstreet, author of The Mature Mind (W.W Norton & Co., Inc., New York) is optimistic about what is in store for mature Minds. He writes:

The characteristic knowledge of our century is psychological. Even the most dramatic advances in physics and chemistry are chiefly applications of known methods of research. But the attitude toward human nature and human experience that has come in our time is new. This attitude could not have come earlier. Before it came, there had to be long preparation. Physiology had to be a developed science; for the psychological person is also physiological. His makeup, among other things, is a matter of brain tissue, of nerves, of glands, of organs of touch, smell and sight. It was not until about seventy years ago that physiology was sufficiently developed to make psycho-physical research possible, as in the laboratories of the distinguished German psychologist, William Wundt. But before physiology there had to be a developed science of biology. Since brain, nerves, glands and the rest depend upon all processes, the science of the living cell had to have its maturing before a competent physiology could emerge.

But before biology, there had to be chemistry; and before chemistry, physics; and before physics, mathematics. So the long preparation goes back into the centuries.

There is, in short, a time clock of science. Each science has to wait until its hour strikes. Today, at least, the time clock of science strikes the hours of psychology, and a new enlightenment begins.

To be sure, the interests explored by this latest of the sciences are themselves old; but the accuracy of research is new. There is, in brief, a kind of iron logic that is in control. Each science has to wait for its peculiar accuracy until its predecessor has supplied the data and tools out of which its accuracy can be made.

The time clock of science has struck a new hour: a new insight begins to be at our service.
May 1 say that it is the Buddha Dhamma which should be studied by one and all for a new insight into the realities of human nature. In Dhamma we have the cure for all the mental ills that affect mankind. It is the evil forces of the mind, past and present, that are responsible for the present state of affairs all over the world.

Nowadays, there is dissatisfaction almost everywhere. Dissatisfaction creates ill feeling. Ill feeling creates hatred. Hatred creates enmity. Enmity creates war. War creates enemies. Enemies create war. War creates enemies, and so on. It is now getting into a vicious cycle. Why? Certainly because there is lack of proper control over the mind.
What is man? Man is after all mental forces personified. What is matter? Matter is nothing but mental forces materialized, a result of the reaction of the moral (positive) and immoral (negative) forces.

Buddha said: Cittena niyate loko (the world is mind-made). Mind therefore predominates everything. Let us then study the mind and it's peculiar characteristics and solve the problem that is now facing the world. Vipassana helps you to come out of your misery, come out of the bondages and enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness.

May all of you enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness.
-Sayagyi U Ba Khin
-Shri S N Goenka

(Sourced from ''Buddha's path is to experience reality'' by S N Goenka OCT 95 Vipassana english news letter, ''Samma Samadhi'' April 95 hindi Vipassana patrika, discourses of Sayagyi U Ba Khin-Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal-VRI Igatpuri)

Three Dimensions of Awakening

Three Dimensions of Awakening

6 April 2014 at 07:03

This is one of my favourite articles ... it offers a multi-dimensional and therefore integrated approach to awakening which I feel is missing from most teachings that I've come across. Aisha Salem also speaks with great clarity and depth of these three soul centres, as does Anadi. In addition, Adyashanti offers a beautiful audio on these different qualities of awakening. I include additional resources at the end of the article.

I share this with you in the hope that it too will help to illuminate the path that we share. This is a time when true integration and real embodiment are being called for in our spiritual evolution and I believe this piece of writing offers a precise overview of a vision of awakening which is vast, all inclusive, and eternal ...

Enjoy xxx



The following article is taken from: www.luminousself.com


Realizing the true, eternal Self is not a linear, one-dimensional process. Many seekers today equate “Awakening” with the awakening of the head soul center, which is often called “Enlightenment”.  The belief is that once this center is awakened, the journey is complete.  We've been around a lot of people who have experienced some degree of head centered awakening that have other aspects of their soul relatively undeveloped. Their awakening is not deeply embodied.

     In its fullest expression, awakening involves the conscious unfoldment of three primary dimensions of the soul‘s nature, resulting in the realization of the Self as the holographic, fractal essence of God in all its dimensions of being.  Many spiritual traditions hold that the absolute, unitive nature of the One expresses through three primary dimensions of being -- the pure spirit aspect, the material or form aspect, and the fusion of the two, or embodied divinity. For instance, the trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a central tenet of Christianity, while Hindus revere Brahman, Vishnu and Shiva as the three primary aspects of the divine. 

    The three dimensions of being correspond to the three loci of the soul, often called soul centers.  These are not to be confused with the chakras, which are the means by which the soul experiences and expresses.  The consciousness locus of each soul center resides at a much deeper level of being; they form the very foundation for the soul’s unfoldment as an aspect of God/One/All That Is.

    The full unfoldment of each of these three centers corresponds to the paths of Enlightenment, realization of one’s individual God or divine nature which is fundamentally Love, and conscious union with the natural soul or psyche, the mother/feminine aspect of the divine.  We have come to call these three En-Light-enment, En-Love-enment and En-Life-enment.

     Traditionally, organized spiritual methodologies tend to focus primarily on one or the other of the soul centers, but not all three. The sophisticated teachings on the nature of mind and highly refined meditation practices of Buddhism center around the soul center in the head, while Sufi prayers and devotional practices are aimed at awakening the heart of hearts. Goddess, earth based and shamanistic paths focus on the union with the divine Feminine and belly soul center.  While the benefits of such paths and practices are legendary, many of us now feel called to explore the flowering of all the dimensions of our being, all aspects of the soul.

    And everything wants to be included in this flowering -- the clear emptiness of the absolute, the soaring transcendental realms of light, our individual soul nature as the presence of God or Love~Oneness, and the depths of the subconscious from which the luminous dark light enfolds and births all of life’s multitudinous forms.  The Way is simple: include and transcend always -- even, or especially, the most difficult and distorted aspects of the separate ego/personality.  If God is all that is, what cannot be part of it?  What can be held outside the embrace of the One?

    The full flowering of the human being occurs with the realization of the true eternal Self as the composite expression of being of all three dimensions of the True, Divine Self.  This is what is called for as the Earth and humanity complete this evolutionary cycle.  Grace is flowing forth on the planet to assist in the flowering of all dimensions of our being.  The three Transmissions of Grace we have been given awaken all three dimensions. Ilahinoor unfolds the En-life-enment dimension, Love~Oneness catalyzes God realization or Self as Love -- the En-Love-enment aspect, and Spotless Mind activates the non-dual, absolute state of En-Light-enment, or Self as pure

EN-LIGHT-ENMENT 
Oneness, Non-dual awareness, no definable self

    The soul center deep within the center of the head, in the hollow surrounded by the corpus callosum, pineal and hypothalamus, is known as the Cave of Brahman in Vedic tradition.  Here, awakening to the absolute Self as that which is both transcendental and prior to all manifestation is experienced.  In Judeo-Christian-Islamic cosmology, this would be the domain of the Father, the pure spirit aspect of the trinity.

    Awakening into conscious union with this soul center results in the experience of unity consciousness, as the oneness of all things is directly apprehended.  This is classically termed “non-dual awareness,” since the sense of subject-object consciousness dissolves.   There is no longer a “me” here, and the world “out there.” Attachment and identification are destroyed by this awakening, as it is seen that there is no “self” and nothing “other”, nothing outside of Self to obtain. At this level, relationship does not exist.  Until this is directly experienced, such statements will be confusing and mystifying for most people. 

    Identification with mind itself is the very veil that obscures the pure, spotless nature of mind.  In this realization, the illusion of the self as a separate, fixed being is dissolved in the ocean of pure consciousness, in which all things arise as but a temporary modification of consciousness itself.


Diving into En-light-enment

    The first unfoldment that usually occurs when this center awakens is an ascent, as consciousness rises into the transcendental realms.  One may experience endless vastness, limitless Presence, an indescribable Void, geometries in otherworldly colors tumbling through Infinity, and/or non-physical, higher-dimensional presences including World Teachers, ascended masters, and angelic beings. Light infuses the head soul center and upper chakras, and the veils of mind are dissolved.  The term illumination is often used to describe this level of soul unfoldment.

    One time-honored Way toward illumination is the path through the mind. This involves becoming aware of the attachment and identification with the forms that arise in mind, whether they be thoughts, feelings, judgments, images, or patterns of personality.  Each is examined to see whether what is arising is based in absolute truth or reality.  When examined, every construct of the mind is seen to be arbitrary, based in illusion.

    The sum total of all the structures and processes of mind constitutes the sense of the finite self or “i”.  As the layers are peeled away, one ultimately confronts the core illusion of mind -- the sense of “i/me/mine”.  Turning mind back upon itself to look at the root origin of the “i” thought results in liberation from the self, the source of all suffering.

    Suffering arises when the self sense is threatened -- when there is a challenge to the attachment and identification with the body, other persons, circumstances and conditions, cherished thoughts and images, or, most fundamentally, the idea of “me”.  When all is given up -- when all attachment and identification dissolve, what remains is freedom.  When there is no one left to suffer, there can be no suffering.

    While instant awakening does occur, most people go through a process of gradual dissolution of the separate ego/personality self sense.  This usually begins with dis-identifying with the contents of mind, as unconscious mental patterns are examined and discarded.  The mind begins to quiet; fewer thoughts arise, and unconscious reactivity based on threats to patterns of thinking diminishes.

    Next, as the eternal witness becomes established, one is no longer caught inside the labyrinth of the contents of mind.  Experiences of free awareness, prior to the arising of the ever-changing landscape of the mind, begin to occur.  All is seen as temporary modifications of the mind stuff; it becomes clear that none of it is tied to the sense of self.

    Whether gradually or all at once, the dynamics of mind reveal themselves.  The modus operandi of the mind is seen to center around categorizing, projecting/blaming, analyzing, and so on. It becomes clear that the separate self sense experiences fear and aversion to that which it deems threatening, while it seeks that which it views as life enhancing.  Seeking and avoiding are seen as the cornerstones of the ego’s constant activity as the “doer.”

    Loss of subject-object orientation follows; this can also be described as the realization of oneness. The experiencer and that which is experienced melt away into pure experiencing.  What remains is the direct experience of Self as pure consciousness, pure beingness, the light of consciousness apprehending itself.  Throughout the ages, this state has been called enlightenment.

    Although beings from all traditions have experienced enlightenment, for thousands of years this has been the preeminent goal of the classical Eastern path.  Hindu and Buddhist yogis and monks devote decades to austerities and stringent practices all aimed at one thing -- to get off the wheel of rebirth, to escape the world of samsara through moksha, or liberation.  Typically, the primary focus has been to go beyond the ensnarements of the world and physical embodiment altogether.  In this often lies a subtle but profoundly impactful judgment on matter and embodiment.  This is the traditional shadow of the Enlightenment path.


The Limits of En-light-enment

    The attempt to awaken any one soul center, without a corresponding inclusion of the other two, can result in limitations and imbalances.  One possible cul-de-sac of overly focusing on the head soul center can be an attachment to and identification with ascent.  In extreme, this can manifest as an addictive craving for anything that leads to a spiritual high, whether it be a meditation practice, a catalytic transmission such as the deeksha, or another spiritual tool or technique.  Getting high and feeling free and detached are not synonymous with experiencing the fullness of Self realization, unfolding in union with the heart and belly soul centers.  Nor should we mistake spiritual highs and blissful states for true awakening or enlightenment.

    The glorious bliss of consciousness soaring free of the body-mind can be particularly intoxicating for those who are especially sensitive to the harshness of embodied existence.  Seeking after transcendental bliss at the expense of earthly grounding, however, tends to imbalance the subtle bodies and chakras so that our being becomes spirit polarized.

     Virtually everyone is carrying unresolved pain in their mental and emotional bodies.  There is an understandable tendency to want to escape the pain in any way possible.  In addition, we live in a culture that in countless ways  encourages and reinforces the escape from pain.  When the diversions of the world are eventually revealed as inadequate to assuage the suffering, many embark upon the spiritual path in response to the pain of earthly embodiment.  Consciously or unconsciously, one of their prime motives is to get out of the pain and suffering they are in.  The way beyond the pain is through it, but many do not understand this.  The attempt to avoid the pain is further reinforced by spiritual paths and practices that preach that one can transcend or go beyond it all, never having to fully face and embrace their wounding.  These paths of ascent promote the idea that one can rise above the lower chakras and the pain they hold.  In our experience, we have never seen this work.  It only tends to cause the person to create a split or attenuation in energy/consciousness, which gives a temporary sense of relief but even greater long-term suffering.

    The more spirit polarized a person becomes, the greater the likelihood s/he will withdraw from a robust, engaged involvement in life, for the daily round of earth-plane existence may be perceived as distorted, limited and illusory.  The personality nature can become dry, cold and austere, with a detached indifference even to the suffering of others.  The warmth and aliveness of engaging everyday life can diminish, along with the desire to heal and make whole the wounded, fragmented parts of the psyche.

    All is seen as the source of suffering, something to go beyond.  It isn’t even real, a spirit polarized person may say, so why engage with it?  Yet outer life circumstances may be crying out for someone to deal with them -- to accept their relative reality within this realm and actively engage with the situation.

    In extreme cases, the lower three chakras can become shut down and virtually inaccessible to the individual’s consciousness.  This results in a lack of connection with and ability to foster basic human well-being, an inability to manifest resources, and a loss of interest in or an aversion to sensual and sexual experiences.  Sometimes, consciousness becomes so spirit polarized that it becomes almost impossible to engage warmly and authentically with others, or with life in general.

    What drives spirit polarization is a deep fear of loss of self in the “maya” of everyday life.  In its extreme form, this may manifest as a fear of being swallowed up and engulfed in the “darkness.”  The deep feminine attributes of life may be judged as negative, dangerous, and to be avoided; darkness can be equated with evil.  Patriarchal ways of being and perceiving can arise from this consciousness skew.  Great destruction to life can result.

    The more spirit polarized and disembodied one becomes, the less one may experience communion with the innate intelligence of life.  The connection with that which nurtures and causes life to flourish may be severely attenuated, if not lost.  This can be seen in the ancient culture of India.  In this traditionally Hindu land, the realm of matter is seen as impermanent; the goal of life is to get off the wheel of rebirth and suffering.  It is the spiritual realms that are sought after.  The result: rampant poverty, millions homeless, buildings decaying, and death in the streets.    

    Just as the quest for enlightenment may not translate into embracing physical, embodied life, a head center awakening does not guarantee that the heart soul center will open.  As strange as it sounds, it is possible to be awakened to Oneness and not be particularly loving.  Some who have come into radically clear states seem to exist in an austere, dry realm, largely devoid of human warmth -- quite a different experience of awakening from that of those whose hearts are blossoming.

EN-LOVE-ENMENT 
God/Self as Love and Oneness with All That Is

     A few inches above the heart chakra and deep within our being lies the Cave of the Heart, the heart soul center.  Entering this center, we pass into a deep, profound stillness -- the “peace that passeth all understanding.”  Those who are absorbed into this sacred stillness often say that this is the soothing balm they have longed for but did not know how
    The disconnected, frenetic striving of modern life is brought to rest in the peace of the soul. Once it is experienced, the thirst for living in this peace becomes a central focus in our  lives.  And the more we merge with that peace, the more our daily lives outpicture it.  Discord and disagreement diminish, both within ourselves and in our relationships. The addiction to the adrenaline rush of stress-filled living falls away. In more and more moments, we experience joy and happiness, instead of suffering and conflict.

     This newfound joy arises out of being itself -- it has no specific cause or reason, and is unrelated to outer circumstances and conditons.  Most of us have spent decades attempting to find and secure whatever we think will bring us the peace and happiness that are our native condition.  When we realize this deep joy and inner stillness are who and what we are, all seeking subsides, and we discover that we are happy and joyful in the most mundane of circumstances.

    Once this authentic joy has been tasted, we find ourselves drifting away from the activities of the personality’s quest for happiness, which begin to feel empty and false.  As the realization of innate joy, peace and happiness deepens, it increasingly underlies and even consumes feelings based in separation, such as anger, fear, guilt, and despair.  Resting in a foundational sense that all is okay, just as it is, our inner Mona Lisa smile gently remains present through the ups and downs of life.

    As we deepen in the heart soul center, the realization that love is not only our nature, but also the nature of all things, eventually pervades every aspect of our experience.  Love and Oneness are no longer experienced as distinct, but merge and join as a unity best expressed as love~oneness.  The deeper our immersion in love~oneness, the more fully we experience it as a universal constant, underlying even those appearances that would seem to contradict this, such as fear, anger, and hatred.  All such states are eventually seen as temporary aberrations or distortions in the omnipresent field of love, arising out of believing the illusions of the mind.

    The more deeply we merge with the love that is our innate beingness, the more thoroughly we come to know that love is All That Is, the very fabric and essence of God/ the One.   We become exquisitely aware that love~oneness eternally emanates from the living God Presence that forms the core of our being.  The God of Love that the Sufis and Christ Jesus extolled is now a directly apprehended, living reality.  This realization might be simply stated as God is Love, Love is All That Is, and I AM That.  We call the full, embodied realization of these fundamental truths En-Love-enment.

      Whereas enlightenment is typically experienced as oneness with pure consciousness -- a oneness of mind -- enlovenment is a felt experience of love as the fabric of Creation.  This realization is powerfully transforming -- now we, as individuated being, know that all of Creation is based in love and that love is omnipresent.  This ultimately dissolves away all fear and separation, and imbues us with a loving, compassionate embrace of all life.


Diving into En-love-enment

    Unification with love~oneness or God becomes the path to the unification of all that is unlike itself. This process carries us right into the middle of the ego-personality, where each of us will certainly find much that has been held outside the embrace of love~oneness. The foundation of the separate ego/personality self sense is the core illusion of separation and the innate existential fear this evokes.  Our primary childhood woundings, involving those who, because of their own wounding, were unable to consistently hold us in love~oneness, convince the non-reflective, infantile mind that the illusions of fear and separation are real. In response, a separate ego/personality develops in order to survive in this “hostile” world.

    The separate ego goes about the work of sculpting a personality by building a mask that best gets its needs met, while suppressing in the subconscious whatever it believes threatens its safety and survival.  Gradually, this personality becomes who we think we are.  Of course, it is not in the least who we reallly are. At best, it is a fragmented assemblage of identities, few of which are in harmony with one another, much less the larger sphere of Life.  This fundamental disharmony manifests at all levels of being -- spiritual, mental, emotional, and etheric/physical.

    There is only one true source of healing and wholing -- the truth of our core being as the living presence of love-oneness.  When the fragmented and dis-eased aspects of the psyche are brought into the unifying presence of love, they begin to be restored and resurrected to their innate soulful nature.  Those parts of our being that were fearfully exiled to the basement of the unconscious rise up to be expressed as whole, love-infused, integrated aspects of the personality. Shame and guilt dissolve in the knowing of our true sinlessness and eternal, unquestionable value as divine souls.  Where there was withdrawal, contraction and blockage, life energy flows and healing occurs.

    As mentioned above, God realization and love~oneness are intimately connected, as universal love is an emanation of the divine presence.  Going deeper into love, all that remains is the living presence of God the One; to separate or even clearly differentiate this from love and oneness becomes impossible.

     Enlovenment, the realization of saints and lovers of God throughout history, has been demonstrated by the Christian mystics’ fervent adoration of Jesus the Christ, the God-intoxicated Hindu saints, and Sufis drunk on the Beloved.  The heart aflame with a passionate love of God possesses a willingness to give all, surrender all into its fiery, all-consuming presence.  In the end the separate self is immolated, burned into the nothingness that it has always been.

    The frequences of energy and consciousness we hold within ourselves, sooner or later, one way or another, outpicture as our outer reality.  Whatever we hold most near and dear -- whatever we “love” the most -- is what we create, whether our experience is challenging or seemingly miraculous.  When we love God more than anything and yearn for nothing but God, manifestations of the divine begin to crop up all around us.  In one in whom en-love-enment is blossoming, siddhis and spiritual gifts may unfold.  So much love flows through such a being that outer reality can rapidly shift and morph to reflect the truth of the divine nature of whoever or whatever is experiencing dis-ease.  In this way, miraculous healings occur.

    The opening of the heart soul center also results in a coordination of the activities of the head and belly soul centers, for it is the center that lies between them.  Just as the heart chakra unites the lower and upper chakras, so too does the heart soul center mediate the integration of non-dual, transcendental awareness with the earthy, life-engaging consciousness of the hara/tan tien or belly center.  True oneness flowers through loving and including all parts of the journey, as well as all parts of ourselves, and this ongoing process focalizes in the heart soul center. 
      
    To deny the oneness of the imminent expression of God as our bodies and the earth, while seeking union only in the transcendental, can only lead to imbalance.  Awakening to the heart soul center, we become able to love and include all parts of our humanness as w”holy” divine aspects of our true nature.  In the soul’s “heart of oneness,” all is embraced, loved and made whole.

    As previously suppressed and denied aspects of the psyche are welcomed into the “heart of oneness,” it expands and enfolds even that which we have viewed as irredeemable. Realization of this center is synonymous with knowing that all parts of us are worthy, inextricable facets of the One.  We no longer need to try to fix, change or get rid of even our most difficult shadow aspects. All are seen as parts of the divine that have become distorted because of judgment and exclusion. As we bring them back into the spiritual heart center, we experience their transformation and re-integration as integral aspects of the soul.


The Limits of En-Love-enment
    When this center has awakened without a corresponding state of enlightenment, a dualism or separation between self and God can remain.  A higher power or source is perceived as residing above and beyond one’s own self. Even while miracles may be common in the individual’s life, they seem to emanate from an external God.

    If the head soul center has not yet been sufficiently activated, the great love that flows from an awakened heart of hearts may be expressed without a corresponding sense of intelligent clarity.  The kindness and generosity that flow from such a person may be taken advantage of, for discernment is lacking. There may be a desire to give as much as possible to everyone in need, which may not be the part of wisdom. Burnout can result.

    If the spiritual heart has been blasted open without a corresponding awakening of the belly soul center, the enormous love that is experienced may not have sufficient grounding to support it. There may be a sense of overwhelm at feeling such extreme love for everyone and everything, and a confusion about how to live such love.  As the belly soul center comes into balance with the heart opening, the great, all-pervading love can then find expression in grounded, ongoing ways. The life pattern increasingly provides a sturdy, trustworthy container in which the love can be lived.  The overwhelming tsunamis of ecstatic love give way to a gentler, subtler, everpresent undercurrent of love which is deeply known to be the unifying fabric of one’s life.

    The heart soul center may be quite developed, and love and intelligence may be evolving toward a healthy balance, yet one’s outer life conditions may reflect a lack of attention to and honoring of the belly soul center. This may manifest as persistent poverty, physical dis-ease, particularly in the belly region, frequent changes of address or homelessness, and feeling world-weary.  Although one may be able to access the soul’s wisdom with ease, a sense of joy in living on Earth in a physical body may seem elusive. The simple, sensual pleasures of incarnation may seem distant and out of reach, available to others but somehow inappropriate for oneself.

EN-LIFE-ENMENT
God/Self as Form/Body/Life

    We may have been blessed with tremendous upper chakra activations, and see the world through crystal-clear, awakened eyes.  Our hearts may have been blasted open, and we may feel nothing but love for everyone and everything. Enlightenment and enlovenment are flowering, and we are filled with gratitude.

    Many would conclude that this is it -- the journey is complete. Yet this is not the end of the story. How well are we able to live our realization? To what degree does our daily life express an integrated, full-bodied awakening that has become rooted in the lower chakras? How well are the masculine and feminine principles integrated within us?

    Traditional paths of awakening have tended to center around cultivating either the clear, stainless mirror of enlightened mind, or the fervent, heart-opened states of God-realization. Because the body, along with earthly life itself, was viewed as an impediment to awakening, many paths advocated giving the physical form the bare minimum of food, sleep, and other requirements necessary for its sustenance. Any further comforts were viewed as a distraction from the real work of getting and staying awake.

    Yet many of us hunger now for an integrated, full-bodied experience of awakening -- one that not only includes but actively celebrates physical embodiment. Thus, we are brought into the third dimension of awakening -- which, for lack of a better word, we call Enlifenment.

    When, after years of stringent practices, austere schedules and demanding disciplines, spiritual life begins to feel arid, parched, and severe -- if not downright punishing --  enlifenment is needed.  If our spiritual path has focused on the upper chakras, the spiritual ego may have convinced us that the human self, with its messy feelings and inconvenient needs, should be controlled, reined in, or transcended altogether. We may have judged ourselves for not being beyond unfinished emotional business, or labeled legitimate human needs as “not spiritual”.  In our quest for the pure, rarified realms of spirit, the enlifenment aspects of awakening may have been neglected.

    Enlifenment is about putting more life in our lives. When this aspect of ourselves is well-nourished, life feels juicy, delicious, and satisfying.  Our bodies are well, our energy is sufficient for all that we want to experience, and our emotions are allowed to freely move through.  When enlifenment is present, we feel as if we have “dropped in.”  We’re not hovering somewhere above the ground in an overly ethereal, disembodied state. We’re here, in this dimension, actively engaged in physical-plane existence. We feel competent to do what needs to be done in our daily lives. And, most of the time, at least, we’re enjoying it here.

    When life in the body feels like an endless round of suffering, it’s often because we’ve overlooked the enlifenment aspects of awakening.  Perfectionism may have led to holding ourselves to impossibly high standards of spiritual mastery; we may have trouble forgiving our human selves for their imperfections and unresolved issues.  The physical body may be shouting at us, through a variety of symptoms, to include it in our loving embrace.


Diving into En-life-enment

    Deep within the belly, just below the navel lies the soul center known in various traditions as the hara or tan tien, the womb or egg, the abode of Divine Mother, or the home of shakti, or vital force. Here we can access the unified consciousness of life itself, the innate, omnisicent omnipresence that pervades all manifest forms.  The prime purpose of this intelligent presence is to further life -- to see all of Creation flourish and become more abundant.  As we become aware of this innate intelligence at the heart of form, we see it at play everywhere, within and without.  Walking through a forest, we witness the symbiosis of the plants and animals that live within it.  We watch a bee gather pollen for its hive, knowing it simultaneously pollinates the plants it visits, allowing them to flower, bear fruit and reproduce; this, in turn, feeds other forms of life, including humans.  We marvel at the innate intelligence that tells migratory birds when to fly south for the winter, and the unerring guidance system that leads them to their destination.  Who hasn’t experienced the sensations of hunger that signal it is time to eat, or the instant reaction that tells us to flee in the face of danger? We all know how to cuddle and stroke a frightened baby, and to sleep when the body needs rest.

    We are born with this intelligence as part of our embodied being, our natural soul.  Although it remains within us all our lives, our communion with it may diminish.  Emotional and psychological traumas may lead us to judge, deny and separate from aspects of the psyche that might have helped us to stay in touch with the innate intelligence of life.  In attempts to find the comfort that has become elusive, we may succumb to addictions and other life-damaging behaviors.

    To reverse this process, the psyche must be healed and made whole by recovering the wounded aspects and bringing them back into conscious union with the soul.  In the absence of this, the human expression will be distorted in some manner, no matter how fully the mental and spiritual dimensions are developed.  We see this in some who have widely been considered “enlightened.” They may claim to be beyond all human illusion, while in fact they have been concealing a long-term relationship, their taste for luxury, a child born to a devotee, or other “shadow” or “belly” aspects of their lives.


Cultivating Belly Wisdom

    Enlifenment has everything to do with “belly wisdom” -- that deep-down, gut feeling that lets us know what we need to know about something or someone.  It’s our belly wisdom that, despite all evidence to the contrary, cautions us and protects our best interests, even while other parts of us may be ready to jump into a situation that would not be best for us at all.

    When we are listening to our belly wisdom, we know how to care for our bodily temple. We know what to feed it, when it can handle an occasional indulgent treat, and when that might not be such a good idea. We care for the body and do what we can to make life pleasurable for this soul-vehicle, without overdoing that and losing touch with the other aspects of our totality.  We respect our own particular life rhythms -- when the body needs rest, we rest.  When a walk would feel good, we give that to ourselves.

    Belly wisdom also helps us out emotionally. When it is strongly engaged, we know how to nurture ourselves in many more ways than just through food. We know how to be sweet to ourselves, so we don’t need to feed the body as many sugary treats.  We actively cultivate ways to expand our self-nurturing repertoire, from admiring the beauty of nature to lighting a candle at dusk and basking in the quiet glow.  As we develop true intimacy with our human self, it responds with an increasing sense of feeling at home and comfortable in its own skin.  When it knows it is loved and cared for, our humanness relaxes and settles into itself, releasing the habits and addictions that were merely unsatisfying substitutes for an authentic sense of well-being.


En-dark-enment

    In our spiritual quest, we may have become so fixated on enlightenment as the ultimate goal that we pursued this lofty state at the expense of our humanness. Years into the journey, we may receive a wake-up call -- in the form of illness or other imbalance -- that lets us know we’ve left our human selves lying in the dust, forgotten in the rush toward our image of the ultimate spiritual accomplishment.  The degree to which we’ve pursued enlightenment through severely structured, “disembodied” spiritual practices and disciplines may turn out to directly correspond to our need to surrender to the complemetary aspect of wholeness, endarkenment.

    Endarkenment asks us to drop down, to sink into the depths of being, to surrender all striving to remain “above it all.”   This can take the form of a “dark night of the soul”, as St. John of the Cross termed the experience of finding that even one’s most cherished spiritual ideals and truths suddenly seem empty, devoid of meaning or substance. We may feel shattered, taken apart; with our carefully-constructed edifice dismantled, we suddenly seem utterly confused, clueless, and lost.

    Much has been written about the Dark Night experience, so we won’t go into it too deeply here.  Suffice it to say that all that we have been avoiding typically comes flooding into our consciousness and experience. We can no longer evade or rise above it -- now, our task is to accept, allow, and acknowledge every last bit of it. Eventually, through Grace, we find we can even love it all. As a loving embrace replaces hatred, resistance, and denial, the intensity recedes and we are carried into the next phase of our journey.

    Another kind of endarkenment can follow years of holding in or pushing down a lifetime of feelings and traumatic memories. So much emotional and even physical pain may have accumulated in the belly that, when it is finally allowed to move, it erupts with volcanic intensity.  We may find ourselves “blowing up” at people, situations, or ourselves. Beneath the rage lie deeper layers of emotional pain -- the tears, the grief, the fears that were never acknowledged.  Through allowing it all to be what it is, we gradually master a third way of dealing with emotions, between the extremes of venting and holding in -- simply being with and feeling whatever arises.

    It’s important to note that endarkenment is not necessarily a painful experience.  Diving into the depths of our being can be revelatory in ways we had not imagined were possible to experience. Many who make the descent find themselves melting into a velvety darkness, enfolded in rich, moist nurturance. Some access the infinitely deep Source of all fecundity, which modern physicists call the black holes out of which all matter and light are extruded.  It is now becoming well-accepted that the universe is filled with dark matter.  This discovery coincides with the increasingly widespread metaphysical realization that it is just as important to access the darkness as the light. Through our inner explorations into the realms of both light and darkness, we come to embody the realization expressed in the yin-yang symbol, in which light and dark eternally spiral, each containing a bit of the other. Just as light could not exist without the darkness and vice versa, nothing in manifest Creation would be present without the infinitely mysterious union of these fundamental aspects of the One.


En-life-ened Spirituality

    Tribal cultures and insulated indigenous groups exemplify consciousness focused at the belly soul center. The realization of the Self that occurs from this focus is expressed in shamanistic traditions in which capacities such as earth magic, shapeshifting and interspecies communication manifest.  A strong connection with the Earth and her animate and inanimate beings is central to such traditions.

    Taoism is another path of self-realization with a strong focus in the belly soul center; taoist practices such as martial arts, tai chi and chi kung aim at unifying body, mind, and spirit.  Some tantric lineages also focus here.  A wide variety of contemporary paths and practices facilitate getting in touch with spirit or soul through body awareness and movement. Gabrielle Roth’s Five Rhythms work is known worldwide, while Tantric Dance of the Divine Feminine, Soul Motion, and Kundalini Temple Dance are other modalities that exemplify this growing trend.

    Many feminine spirituality groups focus on creating a safe, sacred container -- an energetic womb-space -- in which participants can get in touch with “belly wisdom” and other feminine ways of knowing.  Women and men also gather to create ceremony and ritual to honor one another, the Goddess in her various forms, and Life itself.  In the hundreds of books written about the newly emerging feminine spirituality, a ubiquitous unifying thread is the emphasis on nurturing and celebrating the rich diversity of Life in all its forms.


The White Light and the Dark Light

    While the head soul center is the locus of the white light, in the hara we tap into the lumiunous “dark light”, the primordial substance that gives birth to all of life.  The dark light provides the yin complement to the yang nature of the white light.  It is only when the two are in balance that a human being flourishes.

    Three primary energy channels, called nadis, travel up the center of the body.  The pingala nadi, or white light channel, is balanced by the ida nadi, which carries the dark light. As the nadis spiral upward, they cross at seven locations, thus generating the chakras.  When the white and dark light nadis are fully open and balanced, the central channel or shushumna nadi opens, and the kundalini or shakti force ascends the spine; as it exits the crown of the head, illumination occurs.

    The vitally important point here is that the balance of the white and dark light is the key to awakening.  Many people have concluded that increasing the stimulation of the higher centers -- through more and more energetic transmissions, for instance -- will quicken awakening. Others believe that if they only give attention to the higher centers, their emotional issues will somehow go away on their own. In truth, going after more and more white light and ascending spirit energy will only lead to greater imbalance, which can actually slow the spiritual evolution of the soul.


The Limits of En-Life-enment

    Conversely, if we put too much focus on the hara center alone, we are apt to lose touch with the transcendent aspects of being, and the eternal nature of the soul. The bulk of our energy might be poured into preparing meals, decorating our home, and planning gatherings; our primary focus might rest within 3-D to the exclusion of other levels of reality and consciousness. Consequently, we might feel trapped within the minutiae of daily life, overwhelmed with the endless details to be dealt with on the physical plane.  We may feel bogged down within matter, hungry for uplifting reminders that there is a realm beyond third-dimensional concerns.

    When the belly soul center is overemphasized, we may find ourselves pursuing  sensual and sexual practices that are expressed without a corresponding level of heart-centering.  The many current distortions of ancient trantric practices marketed as “tantra” exemplify this overemphasis on the belly center.  Ultimately, we may feel emotionally empty after a series of encounters that overemphasize the belly center at the expense of head and heart.

    Another manifestation of belly center overemphasis occurs among those who are fascinated by, and possibly addicted to, the realm of the emotions. Relationships become the ground of being for such belly-centered people. They may spend hours dissecting every nuance of an encounter, probing the inner workings of everyone involved, and reliving or anticipating important events. Without the detached clarity of an awakened head center and the calm wisdom of the heart soul center, things can seem very muddled indeed.
  
    An overemphasis on the belly soul center can also manifest as attachment to and identification with the human level of existence.  As in tribal groups historically, awareness may remain embedded in the consciousness of the Great Mother, while differentiation and individualization are sacrificed to group cohesion.  This is akin to what happens to those who never leave home and depend on their families the rest of their lives; they may never fully mature into complete human beings.  At the spiritual level, in this ouroboric merging, the love and oneness that form the underlying truth of all existence are not known, much less the absolute experience that everything is, after all, a fleeting dream in the mind of God.


Additional Resources on this topic:

Adyashanti
Different qualities of awakening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeSezeHLvY4

Aisha Salem
Realisation across All of Being: http://aishasalem.com/en/words/articles/realization-across-being
Emptiness and Existence, the full embrace:http://aishasalem.com/en/words/articles/emptiness-existence
Cultivation of Life and Space: http://aishasalem.com/en/words/articles/cultivation

Please feel free to add to this list in the comments section below!!

Reflections on Maitripa - Essential Mahamudra Verses

Reflections on Maitripa - Essential Mahamudra Verses

by Chodpa

To innermost bliss, I pay homage!

Were I to explain Mahamudra, I would say—
All phenomena? Your own mind!
If you look outside for meaning, you'll get confused.
Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature,
And mind is merely the flux of awareness,
No self nature: just energy flow.
No true nature: just like the sky.
All phenomena are alike, sky-like.

That's Mahamudra, as we call it.
It doesn't have an identity to show;
For that reason, the nature of mind
Is itself the very state of Mahamudra
(Which is not made up, and does not change).
If you realize this basic reality
You recognize all that comes up, all that goes on,
as Mahamudra,
The all-pervading dharma-body.

Rest in the true nature, free of fabrication.
Meditate without searching for dharma-body—
It is devoid of thought.
If your mind searches, your meditation will be confused.

Because it's like space, or like a magical show,
There is neither meditation or non-meditation,
How could you be separate or inseparable?
That's how a yogi sees it!

Then, aware of all good and bad stuff as the basic reality,
You become liberated.
Neurotic emotions are great awareness,
They're to a yogi as trees are to a fire—FUEL!

What are notions of going or staying?
Or, for that matter, "meditating" in solitude?
If you don't get this,
You free yourself only on the surface.

But if you do get it, what can ever fetter you?
Abide in an undistracted state.
Trying to adjust body and mind won't produce meditation.
Trying to apply techniques won't produce meditation either.

See, nothing is ultimately established.
Know what appears to have no intrinsic nature.
Appearances perceived: reality's realm, self-liberated.
Thought that perceives: spacious awareness, self-liberated.
Non-duality, sameness [of perceiver and perceived]: the dharma-body.

Like a wide stream flowing non-stop,
Whatever the phase, it has meaning
And is forever the awakened state—
Great bliss without samsaric reference.

All phenomena are empty of intrinsic nature
And the mind that clings to emptiness dissolves in its own ground.
Freedom from conceptual activity
Is the path of all the Buddhas.

I've put together these lines
That they may last for aeons to come.
By this virtue, may all beings without exception
Abide in the great state of Mahamudra.

self-allergy

"The experience of I, me, a personal existence, ego, self, whatever you want to call it, has a sense of immense fundamental pain. You don't want to exist, you don't want to be, but you can't help it... We are allergic to ourselves; therefore, we create all kinds of sicknesses and pains."

 Chogyam Trungpa - Dharma Art

sri ram jaya ram jaya jaya ram meaning

Story of transformation from life to life Once Rishi Narada asked Lord Shiva, “Oh Lord, everyone knows that you are always chanting the name of Rama in your mind. What is so great about the Rama mantra? Can you please enlighten me?” Shiva showed Narada a worm living in a lump of cow dung and said, “Narada please go to the worm and chant the mantra ‘Om Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’ to it and tell me what happened.” Narada went to the worm and did so. Immediately the worm died. Narada became sad. He came back to Shiva and told, “Oh Lord, I must have chanted wrongly. The worm died immediately on hearing the chanting.” Shiva replied, “Narada, nothing was wrong in your chanting.” Shiva showed Narada a newly born puppy and said, “Narada, can you see that lovely puppy that was born just a few moments ago? Go and chant the mantra ‘Om Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’ into the ears of the puppy.” Narada went to the puppy and chanted. Immediately the puppy also died. Narada came back to Shiva with a lot of sorrow. Narada told Shiva, “Oh Lord, I do not understand. The puppy also died. What should I do?” Shiva showed Narada a newly born calf of a cow and said, “Narada, go and chant into the ears of the calf.” Narada went hesitatingly to the calf and chanted ‘Om Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’ into the ears of the calf that was born just a few moments back. As expected by Narada, the calf also died. Narada came back to Shiva and complained, “Oh Lord, you have made me the messenger of death. Why are you asking me to do this? Why is the mantra, which is supposed to be a saving mantra, killing every jiva that hears it? I am confused. Please tell me.” Shiva replied, “Narada, do it just one more time. There is a noble king to whom a son is born a few moments ago. Go and chant the mantra into the ears of the little prince.” Narada was shocked. He replied, “Oh Lord. No, please do not make me the messenger of death again. My heart is already tormented by being the cause of death of three lives.” Shiva smiled and said, “Narada, do not worry. It will not happen this time. The baby will tell you the greatness of the mantra.” With great hesitation, Narada went to the palace. The palace was fully decorated with flowers and arches. There were lamps lit all over the palace. The king was extremely happy to have the great Rishi Narada visit the palace on the occasion of the birth of his son. With great respect, the king took the sage to the cradle of the new born prince and asked the sage to bless the baby. Narada shivered with fear. He had no choice but to follow the instructions of Lord Shiva. With great reluctance, Narada chanted ‘Om Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’ into the ears of the baby. Narada closed his eyes tightly not wanting to see the tragedy that had happened on three previous occasions. Narada felt the soft hands of the baby touch his cheeks and the baby told in a sweet voice, “Thank you, Oh great rishi, for taking me through three lowly births within a short time into this noble human birth. I was the one who was the worm in the cow dung. By the power of the mantra, I was immediately freed from that wretched body and was born as a puppy. You came and blessed me again with the mantra. By the power of the mantra, I was freed from all the suffering of that birth. I was born as a calf. You came and blessed me once again with the mantra. I got freed from that body and took birth as a prince in this noble and devoted family. How can I thank you enough for the great blessing that you have been giving birth after birth? Glory to you. Glory to the great Rama mantra. Glory to Lord Shiva, who always chants the Rama mantra in his mind.” Narada was full of joy. He went back to Shiva and said, “Oh Lord, please forgive me for doubting the greatness of the mantra and doubting your words. Now I understand the glory of the mantra.” source: http://practicalphilosophy.in/writings/death-what-to-do-about-it/

damo mitchell (nei gung / gi gung teacher) - the qi gong body videos

from: http://www.scholarsage.com/the-qi-gong-body-part-1/

the cause of depression is happiness

Everyone is looking for happiness. All over facebook people are playing the game of "look at this - I'm happy", and this is somehow good... presumably better than sad. We take this completely for granted, like wi-fi, but actually it's a very strange thing which is totally unique to the tiny slice of time we inhabit.

Let me be more clear. The idea that being happy is good, to be pursued, and being sad is bad, is not a universal human thing - at all. It is probably as recent as 9-5 jobs, or at least big agriculture.

If you look at older times in history, or indigenous cultures, you don't find such emphasis on people questing for happiness, or trying to repair sadness. If you look at their myths and cultural stories - no-one is pursuing happiness. They pursue physical safety, power, honour, restoring balance to natural forces, people to breed with. Happiness is just a boring side-effect of your world being roughly in natural order. 

The quest for happiness is really is a uniquely modern thing. It got caused as we started to get lifestyle choices. Pre-industrial people didn't really have lifestyle choices. But now, people could offer us choices. (Incidentally for those interested in anthropology, the Buddha was born right at the time where a middle-class of free merchants started to exist).

When you try to convince someone to want something, you need to tell them that their state of being will be improved by it. So there you go, the appropriation of temporary happiness as some kind murky indicator that your life is better.

And I'm not talking just about consumerism here, it's more the birth of the idea that we have any right to be happy, or any choice to be happy.

Now, as soon as you do this - as soon as you start to have some belief systems which tell you that happy is better than sad - then you have given birth to depression. Depression is the unwillingness to be sad, which can take various twisted and cyclic forms, depending how bad it is.

From as soon as our kids exist, we feed them images and stories which portray loss and sadness as a bad thing (e.g. Disney). Same with mainstream entertainment, adults consume a diet of emotional-junk food with happy endings. Then we wonder why so many people are depressed. That's the thing with cultures, it's hard for us to see the hidden assumptions we are making which are actually causing our problems.

And therefore even our spirituality is utterly infected with this idea that it is meant to improve your emotional life in any way. When you look at old spiritual teachings, there is simply no emphasis on improving one's emotional well-being life. People in the old days had all the same "psychological" problems - guilt, low-self-worth, jealousy, chips-on-shoulders... and no-one tried to make them feel any better. This is why it worked...!

Hippies, yogis, singing in circles or spiritual songs to feel good - this is not practice! The purpose of devotional practice is to break the heart, to learn to love in a way which is painful, futile, insane - and free.

I wish I had something useful to say, but I don't. I don't even have a practice for you. All I can say is everytime you notice yourself wanting to feel better, stop, and watch some David Attenborough, the hard shit, where some baby animals die in a very beautiful yet sad struggle for existence (in HD). And know that this is the Perfection of Life.