Bodhi☯️ on Nostr: Conversation with a fellow dharma practitioner that i find valuable: A: What has been ...

Conversation with a fellow dharma practitioner that i find valuable:

A:
What has been called “presence” is the increased clarity of undivided awareness itself that comes when attention is anchored onto any object of knowledge that arises in the field of awareness. Two things are being fulfilled in this anchoring - one is awareness of the object itself, a thought, a feeling, an image and so on. The other is the space in which the object projects itself - which is pervasive, pure consciousness.

Therefore every single moment of self-observation is an effort to rest in presence. With memory and will, the entire art of refining one’s meditation is reinforcing this shift from inattention to attention, over and over again, until “seeing” starts to unfold spontaneously, not unlike a lotus unfolding when it has been exposed to all of the necessary ingredients for life to flourish. Then one day you will no longer make an effort for seeing, but recognize yourself as seeing yourself.

B:
Well the effort is also an object or expression of that which needs no effort to know. I hear a bird chirp there's no effort in the hearing.

A:
You hear a bird chip and there is no effort in the hearing, yet effort is required for listening. Hearing is merely a mechanical process which leads to this particular mental projection we speak of as “hearing”, still whatever does not enter one’s perception is only a mechanical reaction. Likewise all sorts of mental projections are taking place, and one does not acknowledge, truly respond, to notice even half of them, unless perhaps one becomes a bit more skilled in the art of mindfulness.

As far as spiritual process, inner purification, and all matters related to wisdom - it is not enough for there to be merely the existence of awareness. Otherwise one could spend one’s entire life in a dream, without ever becoming conscious that one is in a dream - a sort of waking hypnosis in which one is under the spell of wrong knowledge, attachments, ego identifications, stories, narratives, the expressions of one’s shadow, etc.

Awareness is an impersonal intelligence which sees but cannot see itself. For self knowledge to take place - there must be perception. So much misunderstand has taken placed about these subjects because the proper investigation has not been done into the difference between perception and consciousness. Many things may exist in the field of one’s consciousness which one does not perceive, and therefore tends not to leave either a stronger impression on one’s memory, nor a sensitivity to the present which illuminates these mental projections as something immediately relevant to one’s experience.

Once one can begin to exercise self observation and attention, only then can one begin to approach one’s own mental projections with wisdom and understanding, and this in itself leads to training of the wisdom faculty.

Too often, because of a fixation on these one sided narratives of being “already enlightened”, the result is a very passive state of mind which amounts to laziness and an excuse to become irresponsible. This aside, it’s a one sided approach to what spiritual process is. Spiritual process isn’t mere involution; returning to the so called “source” or seeing one’s true nature. It is also a process of evolution - there are reactions and side effects to seeing oneself clearly. It is both involution and evolution together.

B:

Well said, practice is a continuous process, ever revealing. While it is possible for instant recognition like dzogchen and ch'an show we must do the work still to practice up to and beyond the recognition of anatta.

A:

Correct, for example even if let’s say it is more than a glimpse into one’s nature - let’s say the physical structure of the body has radically altered itself so that expansive samadhi becomes a default, baseline state.

Even then, wisdom may overshadow compassion; emotional traumas may remain unprocessed and therefore repressed in the shadow, heart and mind may be unbalanced, one may be too immersed in expansive samadhi and not grounded enough in the body, attachment to unquestioned beliefs, confirmation biases, etc

It does not take much to form a blind spot - only a single moment of inattention. So from the point of view of integration, anybody who truly beleives their inner work is “complete” is a fool, doesn’t matter what their degree of inner awareness is.
contentment.

I think one of the most toxic illusions for the spiritual process is the belief, in one way or another, that there is a final destination. Of course it’s consoling for the ego to cling to some idea of a final destination; as though justifying all of one’s pains, struggles, and sufferings. This is distinct from having a self made purpose, a creative vision towards which one’s efforts are directed. That’s more being a creative force in the world - creating and destroying purpose as needed. Very different from a belief in the “final destination”

B: totally agree!