Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Aos Bound, modified 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 9:03 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 9:03 PM

Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 5 Join Date: 7/30/12 Recent Posts
Hello all. I'm currently working on 2nd path and I've noticed that strange coincidences started to occur since I came into high equanimity. This has never happened before, not even while I was working on 1st path.

My experiences include an ability to almost "will" things into happening. I'm not sure how to explain it. For example, a few nights ago I was looking for my phone and I turn my eyes to the side and it just "drops" into my view having not noticed it before in its original spot. Another example, I was driving and got a sudden craving for ice cream. I park my car at a gas station some 10 minutes later, gather my things to step outside and an ice cream truck parks right next to me. Just small things like this. I have no control over it and I've tried to consciously "will" things into happening to no avail. It's actually a little disconcerting because I'm afraid I might "will" negative things into happening? Does that make sense or am I going bonkers?

At this point I'm just letting it happen and not trying to prescribe any meaning to it. I actually get a small chuckle out of it sometimes because of how strange some of these "coincidences" are.

Thank you
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Dada Kind, modified 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 9:20 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 9:20 PM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 633 Join Date: 11/15/13 Recent Posts
Not uncommon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity
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Psi, modified 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 10:06 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/1/14 10:06 PM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 1099 Join Date: 11/22/13 Recent Posts
Yeh, like Droll said, Sychronicity

Carl Jung, wrote about it, and , if I remember correctly, kept pages and pages of them in his personal journals.

Also, Robert Anton Wilson spoke about them in some lectures, but I wouldn't know how to track that down at this time.

And yes, they are ...  weird, but sometimes weirdly normal, makes one think time isn't what we think it is.

I've started singing a song around co-workers before, only to have that song come up next on the radio station...(yeah, maybe they announced it, but no-one was aware of that,)

Ever had thoughts of someone arise, and then meet them in an unexpected place, like the grocery store, later that day?

Maybe there is more to reality than we are commonly aware...

Psi Phi

42
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Mind over easy, modified 9 Years ago at 10/2/14 8:53 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/2/14 8:53 AM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 285 Join Date: 4/28/12 Recent Posts
As a super-quick response as I only have a little time, try reading about magick. I recommend Alan Chapman. Basically simplified, intent plus consciousness = magick. If you desire, long for, crave a result, you work the instantaneous magick of simply having the desire, rather than obtaining the result. Jhanas, in particular, 4th (dominated by equanimity), is a time where desire and craving is very minimal. This is roughly reflected in the 4th vipassana jhana, in the nana of equanimity. Hence, you may find that your conscious desire and craving for things goes down while at the same time, things you casually incline to end up manifesting somehow, in the form of a synchronicity like Droll referenced. Hence, the 4th jhana (and probably the corresponding vipassana jhana) is said to be the basis for siddhis in the Pali Canon. Check out Daniel Ingram's article on Magick and the Brahma Viharas. If you are worried about what you may be manifesting or causing, work on incorporating the Brahma Viharas into your practice and daily life. This will, in theory, help your intentions and desires remain wholesome, or at least, give you some peace of mind knowing that your intentions were wholesome, no matter what happened.
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Mind over easy, modified 9 Years ago at 10/2/14 9:08 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/2/14 9:08 AM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 285 Join Date: 4/28/12 Recent Posts
My personal interpretation-

In the same way that reality consists of non-personal sensation that a sense of self is inferred from, significance and relationships between thoughts and "external occurences" are derived from arbitrary, meaningless, impersonal occurences. Thus, from the magickal perspective, the art of magick is that of taking these meaningless blips of sensory data and building paradigms that suit your goals, needs, morality, etc... But again, in my personal interpretation, the point is to see the underlying principles of causality and agencylessness. Magickal experiences can help point out the shortcomings of our conceptions of reality and allow us to incline towards the actual truth of experience (the 3 C's) when our deeply ingrained and closely guarded conceptions fail to explain the reality we experience.

Daniel makes a very strong case for why one ought to practice the Brahma Viharas, in my opinion.

Have fun! emoticon
Aos Bound, modified 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 2:28 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 2:28 AM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 5 Join Date: 7/30/12 Recent Posts
Thank you for your replies. I'm familiar with synchronicities. I'm not sure why I didn't connect the two. For a few months I was really into Robert Anton Wilson and read two of his books: Prometheus Rising and Cosmic Trigger. They're great books.

I guess I noticed these synchronicities arising a lot more often once I hit high equanimity and was interested if others have noticed this as well. I read Daniel's essay on Magick and honestly, I'm really not interested in performing it. I feel like this playing with fire. Yeah you could probably get amazing results, but I can see it going very wrong unintentionally. Even with correct resolutions and intentions, I don't know.

Now my question is, can I use this to further push my progress in insight?

Thanks
x x, modified 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 5:22 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 5:22 AM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 122 Join Date: 8/18/13 Recent Posts
Yes, you can use this, but be careful of the "pushing progress" intention. It's possible for the wish for awakening to be corrupted by petty intentions. And awakening can be painful if it goes too fast, if progress moves you too far too fast outside of your comfort zones. So make sure it isn't a "push" but an intention for a natural, healthy process.

Just state your trust that you will encounter the teaching, experiences, and insights you need in your practice to awaken, be free of suffering, and be happy, for the benefit of all beings. (and remember you are in "all beings"). So have this very kind wish and intention for awakening synchonicities that will guide your awakening for everyone's benefit including yourself. Really feel it... and let go of the intention, let it fly, let it figure out how to do the work. You will see what results.

You might want to add, may my awakening be as gentle as it can be for the benefit of all beings.

You might want to prepare for the intention by first doing metta for yourself, your close friends, your family, your work aquaintences,your community, your nation, all humans in the world, all beings on earth, all beings in the world known and unknown, and yourself again  --- before doing the more specific intentions above. If you have problems with this, it's probably better to work on it before moving on to intending an efficient awakening. Metta is important.

Feel free to make up your own metta statements...

Metta:
May [I/him/her/they/all beings known and unknown] be calm and at ease.
May we be healthy, rested, and whole.
May we be safe and free from all forms of danger.
May we act with wisdom and avoid unnecessary problems.
May we awaken.
May we be free from suffering.
May we be happy.
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PP, modified 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 1:09 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 1:06 PM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 376 Join Date: 3/21/12 Recent Posts
Aos Bound:
I guess I noticed these synchronicities arising a lot more often once I hit high equanimity and was interested if others have noticed this as well. I read Daniel's essay on Magick and honestly, I'm really not interested in performing it. I feel like this playing with fire. Yeah you could probably get amazing results, but I can see it going very wrong unintentionally. 


Hey, I noticed that synchronicities are time-accurate in A&P and have a small delay in the DÑ. Can`t say much about High EQ, but I guess as desire and craving are at the bottom, there's less mental interference to watch-hear-sense those synchonicities. By the way, as Magick is  (conscious/unconcious) intent + awareness, you're always doing some kind of Magick, you're always having an impact on life. 

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Simon T, modified 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 6:35 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 6:27 PM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 383 Join Date: 9/13/11 Recent Posts
I experienced quite a few sychronicity in high-equanimity. Here are a few:

On one occasion, I was having lunch with my uncle, who is a Catholic priest, at his retirement home. I was leaving in the following days for a retreat in Thailand and it was clear that my uncle was worried that I was going on the wrong path (Away from Jesus, in his conception of spirituality). It's worth nothing that beside being in high-equanimity, I had a bit of lsd in my system. Another catholic priest, that I never meet before, show up at our table and start to make interesting comments. He look me in the eye and says:
"You look like a guy of knowledge and wisdom, spiritual wisdom, am I right?"

I look again in his eyes and there is a moment of mutual understanding but I am still somewhat perplexed. He add: 
"Sometimes, the young have more wisdom than the old". 

I perceive this to be a reference to the spiritual confusion of my uncle, so I wink at him to acknowledge that I get the reference. The priest start laughing at this point, as we are both "on the joke" at that point. The priest keep talking in a way quite aligned with the Dharma, and out-of-the blue make reference to Buddhist monks (not even knowing about my plan to go on a Buddhist retreat), underlining the universal nature of spirituality and we exchange a few "dharma jokes". Sadly, my uncle never got the point, but the encounter allowed me to be more at ease in the face of my uncle anxiety. I went to meet the priest a few days later to discuss about spirituality. He feel like someone who has completed a part of the path but since he didn't have much guidance in the Catholic church, didn't get to the end of it. 

Later that day, my uncle made the comment that  "Rien n'arrive au hasard" (nothing happens by chance). It really struck me and the thought stayed in my mind and was constantly coming back. A bit later, we are looking at books in my uncle library. My uncle open a book "randomly", and the title of the chapter at that page is "Rien n'arrive au hasard"! My uncle is all excited and keep telling me "Isn't that a fantastic coincidence, we talked earlier that nothing happens by chance, and I just open this book by chance and there it says it!" 

Earlier, my mind was stuck with doubt about the idea, but at that instant, I totally believed that "nothing happen by chance". So, I look my uncle in the eye and tell "So, you didn't open the book by chance, since nothing happens by chance", feeling that some sort of fundamental confusion was to be resolved, a feeling enhanced by the lsd, but my uncle didn't notice the contradiction in his statement. It was an opportunity to see that the things that happens to us and the things that we do are one of the same, that our dualistic view of the world lead to contradictions in our language, but I was left alone with that reflexion.

The almost same things happened again a few weeks later. I was harassed by the same confusion, simply worded differently. This time, it was "Everything happens for a reason". My mind was obsessed with making sense of that statement (I can't remember how it got into my mind, maybe something my wife said to me). I had a Christian mystic healing book with me that I hadn't read, and I
purposefully opened it "randomly" in hope of some answer.  There was the first sentence: Everything happens for a reason. 

A few weeks later, my wife and I stopped by a temple somewhat randomly. We had the choice of driving to the top, or climbing the stairs. I suggest the stairs, feeling that it's the noble thing to do. It was a very hot day and a tedious stair to climb and the thought that I kept having during the climb where of this kind: there must be a reward for those willing to make an effort. At the top of the stair, a 
bhikkuni is swiping the floor with a traditional broom. My wife and the bhikkuni barely exchange a few words and the bhikkuni instruct us to go to a temple not far where a group of bhikkuni are living together. My wife knew that bhikkuni by reputation, as she is believed to be an arahant but live a very recluse life. My wife noted later that we would not have meet her if we had use the car to get to the top.

The temple the bhikkuni directed us to ended up being a very nice discovery. They are a group of about twelve bhikkunis, they ordain in Myanmar or Sri Lanka (it's against the law to ordain as a bhikkuni in Thailand), one was from Tibet and they were all highly educated and speaking very good English (a rare thing in Thailand). I had a lenghly conversation with the bhikkuni that teach the Abhidhamma and Pali, and she really knew her stuff (but she isn't an arahant by her own admission). My wife go on retreats form time to time at this temple.

x x, modified 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 8:15 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 10/3/14 8:15 PM

RE: Weird 'coincidences' arising in high equanimity

Posts: 122 Join Date: 8/18/13 Recent Posts
Wonderful! Thank you.

Breadcrumb