KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOT KNOW

edwardleinartas . . .Being effortlessly Now

Not knowing what you do not know, will often yield a learning experience that may take a moment or perhaps as much as 40 years or more, to figure out. The penalty of ineffectiveness (of not knowing) could be very punishing when not knowing the pitfall of not knowing.

As an example, going into an unfamiliar culture and transacting inappropriate/unacceptable behavior, per cultural norms, can result in incarceration or worse. North Korea, Saudia Arabia, and/or Afghanistan have severe consequences for non-compliance with their particular societal expectations. Not knowing the perils of prescribed behavior can be a painful lesson.

Our own personal examples of a past faux pas, usually has enough historical grist, to underscore the importance of knowing what we don’t know, but probably should know, to preclude diving into a situation without due preparation. The reduction of unnecessary suffering is a great motivator…

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Zen: sudden vs gradual enlightenment

Tom Das

In his letters, Yaunwu write some of the most the nuanced of zen/chan teachings we have. Regarding realisation, he writes about its sudden nature:

Without setting up stages, they abruptly transcend to realize this essence alone.  Since before the time when nothing existed, this essence has been ever still and unmoved, determining the basis of all conscious beings.  It permeates all times and is beyond all thought.  It is beyond holy and ordinary and transcends all knowledge and views.  It has never fluctuated or wavered:  it is there, pure and naked and full of life.  All beings, both animate and inanimate, have it complete within them.

However, Yuanwu also writes about a gradual process, a gradual path:

In general, genuine Zen teachers set forth their teachings only after observing their learners’ situation and potential. Real teachers smelt and refine their students hundreds and thousands of times. Whenever the learner has any…

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THE DREAMER IS NOT THE DO-ER

edwardleinartas . . .Being effortlessly Now

The dreamer in any dream is not the do-er. The dreamer, however, most often, believes in the dream, as reality, and its assigned character.

The dreamer in the dream also believes in the taking responsibility for the ‘doing’. That is what makes the dream compelling. What is being done to and by the dream ‘do-er’, is believable in the dream.

At the same time, once the dream is concluded, we then know that the ‘character ‘ in the dream had no real life with dreamed control, despite the dreamer‘s compelling belief, it did, at that time.

While the dream was being dreamed, the assigned character had absolutely no real existence or control, as it was the ‘Dreaming’ that was dreaming the dream. There never was any character. It was just the ‘Dreaming’, dreaming.

The characters never have longevity, as the characters have a shelf…

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WITNESS ‘THAT’

edwardleinartas . . .Being effortlessly Now

‘Context’ is the starting point of ‘Being’ versus ‘content’ or phenomena a being first, as we usually define the proverbial ‘us’.

Being or existence, is a continuity that happens without phenomenal memory being produced. ‘It’ is only phenomenal in that ’nothing’ is produced, yet ‘It’ is omnipresent. ‘It’ Is the starting point of nothingness yet It Is Present without engaging in phenomena. And, at the same time, ‘It’ ‘Is’ phenomena, as it is the container of everything.

Whereas defining ‘self’ as fleeting phenomena, has a penalty of cheapening experience due to a limited field being referenced as the starting point. This ‘content’ can never reveal the ‘context’ that is ‘Us’.

This starting point is a false reference that our belief is making real to us. Having this false reference, upends the Reality of Beingness never going anywhere at anytime.

This is especially true when illusion is the predominant…

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Nisargadatta Maharaj: Ignore your thoughts

Tom Das

“It is the mind that tells you that the mind is there. Don’t be deceived. All the endless arguments about the mind are produced by the mind itself, for its own protection, continuation and expansion. It is the blank refusal to consider the convolutions and convulsions of the mind that can take you beyond it.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That

My comments:

The word ‘mind’ in the above quote is synonymous with the false sense of individual separate self. This self, this ‘I’, is just a notion, an idea reinforced by the mind. The ‘I’ is a thought, and it is reinforced by thoughts.

Trying to figure this all out (ie. more thought) is a function of the same mind that is ultimately false, imaginary: it is a fruitless endeavour.

A particularly effective sadhana (spiritual practice) is to ignore the content of thoughts as they appear within our consciousness. The energy…

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Who is Jesus Christ – Osho

Sat Sangha Salon

Who is Jesus Christ? The question has been asked down the centuries again and again, and it has been answered too. But the questioners were wrong, and so were those who have answered it, because the question was out of a certain prejudice, and so was the answer. They were not essentially different; their source was one and the same.

The question was asked by those who were suspicious of Jesus’ Godhood. And the question was answered by those who were not ready to believe Jesus’ manhood. They were only ready to believe half of him. The Jews were ready to believe that he was a man. And the Christians were ready to believe that he was God. The Jews were denying half of him – the Christ part. And the Christians were denying the other half – the Jesus part.

Who is Jesus Christ? Christians don’t want to see…

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Breakthrough Sermon by Bodhidharma

Buddhism now

If someone is determined to reach enlightenment, what is the most essential method he can practice?

The most essential method, which includes all other methods, is beholding the mind.

But how can one method include all others?

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included. It’s like the root of a tree. All a tree’s fruit and flowers, branches and leaves depend on its root. If you nourish its root, a tree multiplies. If you cut its root, it dies. Those who understand the mind reach enlightenment with minimal effort. Those who don’t understand the mind practise in vain. Everything good and bad comes from your own mind. To find something beyond the mind is impossible.

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