A
A
A
DMHC
A
DMN SELF
Without binding processes, you might not even feel yourself to be a self at all. Your consciousness would be more like a flow of experiences in a particular location in space—which would be much closer to the truth. Is it possible to simply be aware of events, actions, feelings, thoughts, and sounds—all coming in a stream of awareness? Such an experience is not uncommon in meditation, and many people, myself included, can attest to it. The self we seem to inhabit most (if not all) of the time—a localized, unchanging, solid center of consciousness—is an illusion that can be short-circuited, without changing our experience of the world in any other way. We can have a full awareness of the usual sights, sounds, feelings, and thoughts, absent the sense of being a self who is the receiver of the sounds and the thinker of the thoughts. This is not at all at odds with modern neuroscience: an area of the brain known as the default mode network, which scientists believe contributes to our sense of self, has been found to be suppressed during meditation.
A
WONDER X NO MIND
a
c
m pollan - The more precipitous the drop-off in blood flow and oxygen consumption in the default mode network, the more likely a volunteer was to report the loss of a sense of self. . . . The psychedelic experience of “non-duality” suggests that consciousness survives the disappearance of the self, that it is not so indispensable as we—and it—like to think
a
a
TA QRA
If one is not "the doer" as per Advaita, why do teachers still recommend self-inquiry, meditation, devotion etc?
-Because “you” are still identified with the body-mind identity, thinking “you” are a real ’separate entity’ and the Doer…and likely will continue “your” main goal in life, which is to end “your” suffering.
And continue to believe, somehow, “you” can be the Doer of that.
-Because most of the teachers who recommend looking inwards, self-inquiry, meditation, devotion, etc are themselves not self-dissolved or ‘enlightened,’ and still think “they” are a real doer. That’s right. Even “those” who have truly experienced many awakenings, samadhis, ego-collapses and Onenesses. About 99% of them are still in the illusory ‘separated.’ ‘personal-doer’ state much of the time.
-Because those rare few who have actually disappeared, the full, radical collapse of the dream “me” (jivanmukta or ‘liberated though still embodied’) know that they can tell you all day that “you” are not the Doer, there is no actual “you,” You are That, etc. and “you” will still walk away, glazed-eyed, thinking there is a “personal me” that is real, has free will, and can ‘attain’ This. So they may give you practices to keep your mind busy till one day, “you” may literally trip over “your” own illusion of a personal self and have a radical awakening.
It rarely happens, and “you” cannot cause it, absolutely. But “you” will still want something to do (once again, to end “your” ‘suffering,’) and have sought out a ‘teacher,’ so they give you a sweet, a ‘method’ or ‘path.’
If you came to a ‘teacher’ starving from hunger, would he/she say, “You are not the body, so just keep starving.” No! They would say, “First, let’s get you something to eat, and get your body strong again.”
Same thing with ‘practices’ and self-inquiry. Just a temporary “do” to relax you a bit and fix your mind’s attention, while the real transmission might take place. Might.
Unfortunately, most teachers mislead the followers into thinking “they” can be the doer and the ‘attainer,’ and thus perpetuate the lie of ‘seeking,’ which in turn perpetuates the false “me.”
Ramana Maharshi was famous for confirming all practices were not, cannot be - cause-&-effect - the reason for his liberation. That it happened (or more accurately appeared to happen) in spite of all practices & studies he did, not because of them:
“A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts, thinking ‘you’ were the Doer. What you realize on the day you laugh is also here and now”
A
DMHC
A
No comments:
Post a Comment