Awakening and biochemistry - Discussion
Hi Jim, you sound like you are perhaps frustrated with the path and your mind is demanding to know if the whole shebang is worth it. I know it because I am pretty addicted to trying to know and fighting with it often. I have settled on:
1. There are many ways up the mountain, everyone is unique after all. Some top-down (Direct), some Vipassana. Some jumping around like me.
2. I will not dismiss the Buddha's clear words on being free from fetters, I will be open to it and work towards it. Only by smelling or reaching it, can one dismiss it rightfully, not by failing to do so (the mind would love to steer you to give up).
3. From studying reliable sources carefully, there are so many levels of enlightenment and many settle for the 1st landing (wherever that is) as THIS IS IT - until later to realize there is more to go OR to walk back their claims (no shame in that at all). I do believe that the perceptual non-dual shift is not it and subscribe to that as being Sotapanna but over here I use the word Stream-entry freely as it is refering specifically to MCTB Path 1 and encourage it as it is very beneficial to motivate people towards their own liberation.
I find it far more fruitful to watch how my monkey mind tricks me into trying to be funny, laugh it off and go back on track... I hope this helps and I am not barking nonsense and if I am - just laugh at me
I find Thusness & AEN reliable sources - this is what 1 type of path looks like.
This is my monkey mind escaping to reading stuff about Kundalini and how it relates to awakening. : Excerpt that sounds like some 4th Pathers are experiencing (I am not sure; perhaps you can make more sense of it WRT to your question):
1. There are many ways up the mountain, everyone is unique after all. Some top-down (Direct), some Vipassana. Some jumping around like me.
2. I will not dismiss the Buddha's clear words on being free from fetters, I will be open to it and work towards it. Only by smelling or reaching it, can one dismiss it rightfully, not by failing to do so (the mind would love to steer you to give up).
3. From studying reliable sources carefully, there are so many levels of enlightenment and many settle for the 1st landing (wherever that is) as THIS IS IT - until later to realize there is more to go OR to walk back their claims (no shame in that at all). I do believe that the perceptual non-dual shift is not it and subscribe to that as being Sotapanna but over here I use the word Stream-entry freely as it is refering specifically to MCTB Path 1 and encourage it as it is very beneficial to motivate people towards their own liberation.
I find it far more fruitful to watch how my monkey mind tricks me into trying to be funny, laugh it off and go back on track... I hope this helps and I am not barking nonsense and if I am - just laugh at me
I find Thusness & AEN reliable sources - this is what 1 type of path looks like.
This is my monkey mind escaping to reading stuff about Kundalini and how it relates to awakening. : Excerpt that sounds like some 4th Pathers are experiencing (I am not sure; perhaps you can make more sense of it WRT to your question):
The period of transformation from pure nothingness-being to non-dual lovebliss can last a long time and cause many frustrations. It is the real Dark Night of the Soul. I lived in this state 23 years and suffered a lot because of it --also because nobody could tell me, what was going on and nobody respected my state and I was very lonely in a spiritual sense. So there was a lot of social frustration and loneliness. Ironically you are also free from suffering since you are no longer identified with the sufferer. You are of course a permanent witness, much as in the witness-state, though now there is no sense of being a witness.
There you go. You should have just stopped at laughing at me hahaha.
The only thing I know of is:
‘I do not eat in the evening and thus I am free from illness and affliction and enjoy health, strength and ease’ (M.I,473)
Not sure what you mean by mood but Mind conditions Body and vice versa. IME, most people do not get to the point of seeing that outer smile becomes a natural inner smile when done long enough, and thus drop it from their practice. Similarly, I find that it doesn't matter which method is used to relax the body, once it is recognized that the relaxation repeatedly succeeds, getting into the rhythm to relax happens very quickly. I do something similarly to what you wrote but emphasize on fully letting go at the end of the out breath into the pause before the In.
Another neat thing is to "make" the point at the nostril, THE location for Joy. Done long enough, it becomes automatic Joy. Pretty irrelevant to your questions, sorry I can't help!
The only thing I know of is:
‘I do not eat in the evening and thus I am free from illness and affliction and enjoy health, strength and ease’ (M.I,473)
Not sure what you mean by mood but Mind conditions Body and vice versa. IME, most people do not get to the point of seeing that outer smile becomes a natural inner smile when done long enough, and thus drop it from their practice. Similarly, I find that it doesn't matter which method is used to relax the body, once it is recognized that the relaxation repeatedly succeeds, getting into the rhythm to relax happens very quickly. I do something similarly to what you wrote but emphasize on fully letting go at the end of the out breath into the pause before the In.
Another neat thing is to "make" the point at the nostril, THE location for Joy. Done long enough, it becomes automatic Joy. Pretty irrelevant to your questions, sorry I can't help!
I think of it as the one where he decided that jhana was the path to awakening.
Oh and I found something very useful to use out-of-context if I get caught sleeping in the day!
"That is credible for the Master Gotama, as would be the case for one who is worthy & rightly self-awakened. But does the Master Gotama recall sleeping during the day?"
"I recall, Aggivessana, in the last month of the hot season, after the meal, returning from my almsround, setting out my outer robe folded in four, lying down on my right side, and falling asleep while mindful & alert."
"I recall, Aggivessana, in the last month of the hot season, after the meal, returning from my almsround, setting out my outer robe folded in four, lying down on my right side, and falling asleep while mindful & alert."
I read it as he ate to regain strength to stop ascetism, used the 4th jhana as a springboard to access his Super-Powers of reading the past to discover the 4 Noble Truths
Why yes, that's exactly what he meant. That was a major insight the Buddha had - no need to starve yourself or sacrifice your health and your body to awaken. In other words, it's the mind, stupid