Here's Rosa's and my latest podcasts in the Meditation, Meaning, Myth, and Magic series, Part III and IV.

Enjoy!

Daniel

Sounds very interesting. Listened to 1st part.
Thanks for sharing.

Experiencing raw data as this sort of neither perception nor non perception neuron noise is great for maintenance and it can show up how this whole process is constructed. From this noise it is possible to view perceptions this noise is supposed to generate by moving to formed jhanas which kinda looks like perceptions were growing on this noise. I do not like to switch to non-jhana though as in this case it is easier to get lost in these perceptions.
Some times it seems part of this noise are triggered by something that seems like memory of activation rather than active activation and by moving awareness to part where memory is it can be either put to cessation causing whole noise to not have seed. It seems the easier way to do it than trying to do cessation of what seems active noise because after doing cessation of active noise it usually gets re-triggered by the same seed. Or the seed can be actually triggered and when it is then it kinda get refreshed and more often than not after it gets new content it doesn't secondary activation, especially if this is something which is there for some time. For example after getting physical injury it might be that part of the body that has injury generated strong experiences but after a while it doesn't seem to generate new experiences but the memory of what it generated is still there and rest of the nervous system is using memory to generate impression of pain. After this part of the body is stimulated to generate its actual experience then it might seem that suddenly the pain is gone. Nervous system now have new experience to work with and because part of the body doesn't show it is hurting anymore there is no point in showing it as pain.

As for second topic. It is very nice to from time to time hang out in these mind realms. They can show a lot of things about me and other people which are normally missed, a lot of symbols and mental and emotional experiences. I consider experiencing and dwelling in these realms as form of perception training and the goal is to be able to go there in real time when I interact with people. It is yet another training just like I train myself to always be able to experience raw sensations or constructing more detailed sensual experience (I train my sight all the time basically). When people interact it seems like some background processes do these non-verbal non-conscious interactions and these mind realms are constructed between them. It is always more skillful imho to be able to go there consciously and I get impression that when one person goes there consciously then it causes the other person to also get more conscious about these things. Maybe not with this level of clarity but just like with the refreshing the place in the body which showed pain which after refreshing didn't show it anymore, people might generate certain responses automatically because they are stuck at some memory and when they are forced to refresh it then their behavior changes. So for example someone might treat you in certain ways based on previous interactions but when you do this seemingly virtual interaction in some virtual realm they might change their attitude somehow.

Gonna listen to further parts later on.

ps. Right from the start positivity is overflowing from you

Awsome, Daniel! I loved the first two conversations between you and Rosa. I’ll cherish this.



This sounds like what Lama Lena says about trek-chod (the practices of Dzogchen where one finds the presence of awareness in the dimension of some specified focus, according to the glossary in a book by Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Spectrum of Ecstacy, where I found how to spell the word) being the most efficient way to clear out karma. This is also the kind of practice we are trying to learn in the meditation course I'm currently following with Michael Taft, "Reversing the stack", although we don't use that term. There are probably many practices that work just like that. I don't believe that it has to be done according to some specific tradition and exactly within that framework. I do however believe that it is really useful to not only empty things out on the way "down" to nonduality but also start from nonduality - or something somewhat closer to that but within experience - and let one's usual triggers arise from that, and then just stay with them in the awareness. Lama Lena explains it as consuming the karma without creating new karma. Michael didn't say it like that, but it certainly seems to have that kind of effect. I did it with the panic that was triggered by the whole process around job applications. Coming from the empty awareness, that panic turned out to be something more nuanced and compassionate; hard to describe in retrospect. Anyway, the next day I had no problem getting started with the tasks. I still don't. That's a miracle. I was so incredibly snared by a complex set of avoidance mechanisms, and suddenly they were gone. 

Sorry, Daniel, for diverging from the topic of the thread! I just found this very interesting and relatable.



Agreed! That is one of the many reasons that I trust Daniel's judgement with regard to the Dharma. I want that kind of awakening. 

Kind of paraphasing Nisargadatta: Sages say that all things are void of inherent existence. Wizards say that all things are full of inherent meaning. Between the two, lifes flows.

Good day all,

I just finished the last episode and I really enjoyed Daniel developing his views on a number of subject he was keen on (as it seems Rosa had a list of subjects she could throw in whenever they felt they reached the end of a topic, which works really well).
I was moved to hear Daniel speak highly of Rob Burbea (first episode), it made me think of the dichotomy between pure sensate experience and finding meaning therein. Daniel and Rob both come from the sensate side (process, not content), but slowly slided toward more meaning, Daniel through magick and the fire kasina (that would be only part time, really!), Rob through soulmaking and imaginal practices. I was at first puzzled when reading the second edition of Seeing that frees that he goes at length in explaining that the book is not about what he teaches now etc. I was thinking, well, what is beyond emptiness? I now value the drive to go toward a practice that addresses everyday life more thoroughly (well, through content), even if it seems to me that it means that strong dedicated practice highlighted the shortcomings of the buddhist path... or the remaining humanity of the awakened practitioner. (this might deserve a thread of its own)

In episode 3, Daniel makes an interesting point: he takes the three basic types of drives toward experience, desire, aversion and ignorance, and states that Shamatta is like the most skillful way to use the desire in one's mind, Vipassana to use the aversion in one's mind, and Dzogchen the ignorance. Or better said, that these three would be the highest expression of these hindrances, leading to their transcending. He comes back to this at the end of episode 4, through a topic launched by Rosa about intimacy vs detachment (another good one).

I also like episode 4, where he talks about the shape of attention (it was one of the rare occasions where I felt Rosa was lost), and he explains formations in an especially clear way (as he often does these days).

There would be much more to say (but that's what comes to mind now, I started listening a few weeks ago...), thanks for that podcast. I enjoy the long format, which really suits Daniel...

with metta
smiling stone

Thanks SS! I haven't heard the last two episodes yet. I'm working on compiling Daniel's posts in DhO, but probably those topics would require me to transcribe it.