Kwabena Akuamoa:

Very enjoyable conversation. Thank you for sharing.

All there is the foreground, the manifestation/appearances. "The pulse and throb of life" as UG Krishnamurti would passionately put it. There is no substance underlying appearance.

A substance never emerged from the appearances. A self never emerged from the aggregates. A house-reality/substance never arose from the collection of bricks, wood, glass, shapes etc. Weather never emerged from wind, cloud, sunlight, raindrop. Interesting. The substance is imagined on the parts, but it never arose.

There is no ultimate point. No centre. No ground. No reality. No beginning. No middle. No end. No growth. No decay. No shapes. Just empty appearance, which is full, real, everything, true, yet empty, nowhere yet vibrant, shiny, bright, alive, explosive.

In my current experience, Buddha Nature is also an appearance, a label, a perspective, nothing substantial, nothing ultimate.

...

Haven’t been on FB for a few years. Returned so I can follow different Dharma Groups and participate in discussions etc. Thought I’d revisit this convo, now that my understanding has matured a little. Your point above is perfect. “Awareness is the appearances itself”. Ignorance is to think the appearances have inherent nature. Wisdom is to see that the appearances do not have inherent nature, but are just mere appearances (still real).
Mere appearance without a source or centralising point anywhere.

I think I’ve been having glimpses since 2015, when I encountered UG Krishnamurti/Emptiness teachings and I stopped trying to get in touch with a source. Gradually over time it became clearer to me that all ultimates were just conventions and so I began focusing on understanding appearances. At this point I still had a lot of doubt in my mind - “what about the Awareness that is spoken by all the realises beings? How do I make sense of this? I cannot find it” etc...

Your website (among other resources like D.Ingram’s material) was extremely useful in making me see that the appearances themselves, the very movement of life is the awareness... that I didn’t have to fixate on the idea of Awareness. I gained confidence in my practice and that confidence made this view emerge more and more with less effort.

The intensity of the experience intensified after I went on my first meditation retreat in June 2018. It was a 1 week self-led retreat, and I spent my time contemplating emptiness primarily with the help of the text “How Things Exist” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche & “Emptiness/Joyful Freedom” by GG and Thomas Sanders.
Lama Zopa described in the text, with very simple language: how the self and all other objects are empty I.e nonexistent from their own side, and yet existing via mere imputation. I applied the analyses on my aggregates and recognised the complete absence of an inherent self, I.e something other than the psycho-physical aggregates, which possessed them and performed actions through them. I would take many breaks during my meditation sittings, and during my breaks I’d just experience the flow of life.. the colours, tastes, sensations etc.. the thoughts, and think “what is this really)... and I’d see that there was just the selfless appearance appearing. There was just forms/appearances/LIFE, yet there was nothing behind the forms, no substance...
I kept on reapplying the analyses daily and this lead to good progress. My experiences dissipated once I returned from retreat but I had more confidence.
I went on another retreat in Nov 2018... Lam Rim retreat, where I focused more on other aspects of the teachings - Bidhicitta, Shamata, Rebirth, Death Karma etc. This really helped support eeverything I was doing, and now the understanding seems more stable.
But i wouldn’t say the view is stable as yet... sometimes it feels more intellectual, than direct experience. The direct experience emerges through some contemplation during the day... though this is getting a lot easier now - I just think: all these appearances creating a sense of self, where is the self amongst all these appearances? And I’m just left with the appearances... no background. No container. No linker etc.. just the vibrancy of life.. just the manifestation.
I am experiencing this currently. Almost as if everything is magically appearing from absolutely nowhere. Even the thoughts. There is no collector. It’s as if life is just living itself freely. I cannot find any centre in the movement, but all appearances speak for themselves. Moment by moment. There is a sense of being released from “stuckness”.. disentangled...the flow of life/appearances is unrestricted, and there is nothing really there doing anything to make it so
But the intensity of this view will change. Usually when I sleep and wake up I have to re apply the analyses to see things as such once more. That is my current situation: constant effort applying the analysis, but I think there is progress 😊
My current intent is simply to let things happen, be patient, offer benefit where I can and develop limitless compassion - reflecting on how all these experiences mean nothing if it doesn’t relieve other precious sentient being from existential distress... how it all ultimately belongs to the enlightenment of all beings.. how unless all other beings are totally free from the slightest trace of suffering, I have achieved nothing... etc.
5 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    'Empty' we come (born into dis world) , and 'empty' will we leave


  2. Anonymous Says:

    As above, empty did we came , and nothing will we b able to bring along when we leave dis earthly existence ...

    Practical application of teachings must be prioritized,or else all is simply dead,mind stuff .... and dats the danger of online dharma/teachings.....

    take impermanence,for eg ... and look at those 'high' lamas,teachers etc... can give highly intellectual teachings on impermanence,yet private lives never reflect someone who has 'lived' impermanence ....

    Asa matter of fact, i hv much higher respect for some renunciate who has sincere will who lives in cemetery,contemplating impermanence,death etc... dan those high position teachers , live in comfort while gv 'high' teachings ...


  3. Anonymous Says:

    Most likely it was those who cant see clearly their own (subtle) attachments and clinging (and subsequently able to let go) , who will say things like : its not possession itsself dats the problem but rather our attachment to them ....

    Its very easy to kid oneself -bware ! Clinging is deeply rooted , and complete honesty is a must .....or else theres no genuine unfoldment of the way ...

    Its true attachment is the problem,not things, but (self)deception can never be underestimated :-)


  4. Soh Says:

    Nowadays I don't care about lamas/teachers. I am quite disillusioned with gurus too. As I wrote in https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2018/08/abuse-and-realization.html

    I only care about my own practice now. This taste of the nature of mind itself guides me, there is no need for any additional teaching or teacher. Since I am already enlightened, I just need to perfect this actualization into the three states. There is nothing more, that itself is Buddhahood. So once you truly realize your nature of mind, you are beyond the need of a teacher. You must first get to the point of 100% confidence and conviction about the nature of mind. Then your true nature is itself the ground, path, and fruition.

    However, before realizing anatta, it is still useful to find a highly realized teacher if possible, as I wrote in https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-recommendations-2017.html . There is no need to worship a guru IMO, the guru's role should be just to function as a pointer. I am not into guru devotion personally, but that's just me. But truly enlightened teachers are not easy to find. Personally I do not wish to teach, and Thusness also do not wish to teach. But I am very grateful for Thusness's guidance, without which I will not be where I am today.


  5. Soh Says:

    As for yourself, you need to stop wasting time thinking about this and that and just self inquire. And trust that you can also make it like countless others have.

    Thinking about this and that nonsense won't help you. Only sincerely asking yourself what your true nature is, always inquiring Who are You, helps.

    Speculating about what happens after death, about this and that lama, all those nonsense. Who cares? Just realize your true nature and you will be beyond doubts and fears, whether in this life or whatever manifests upon death. The mind prefers to churn up 84,000 bullshit than inquire into its Source.

    Also see https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fpWqEqScPmI/XErlw6Mc1NI/AAAAAAAAXCw/InkRnHDCZ6A92KzJcy06ww3YSll_xwOCACLcBGAs/s1600/direct%2Bpath.PNG

    - https://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Nonduality-Reports-Greg-Goode/dp/199935351X#reader_199935351X