Recently a few people in AtR grouped realised anatta, also a few have realised I AM.

Here's one that realised I AM, Chris Jones:


Mr. C. J. :


I couldn’t make a post at the time, but about two weeks ago I had a realization while doing my daily practice of “who am I?” inquiry and abiding as awareness. At first I didn’t think anything of it. My mind just went completely quiet for about 10 minutes, and during that time there was no suffering, no emotion or thoughts at all, not even bliss. Just pure stillness. Then when my thoughts returned, I felt like I was no longer the body-mind. Since then, I no longer have to abide as awareness because I’m already there. The self-inquiry I was doing before now feels nonsensical. The best way I can explain this shift is that the experience of being “present” or “aware” that I was having glimpses of before, which required effort to sustain, has now solidified and is now my default way of experiencing the world. I experienced a tremendous amount of energy after the event and had trouble sleeping for a couple of days. The night that it happened, I didn’t sleep at all and just sat there for hours in pure presence. Fortunately it didn’t reach the point of extreme discomfort and eventually I passed out.
At this point my mode of perception is still the same, but the energy has subsided and things have somewhat gone back to normal. The body-mind mostly still behaves in the same way - the mind wanders, there is craving/clinging and aversion and the rest of it just as before. But rather than being the “doer”, I’m like a watcher in the background experiencing everything. All the sights, thoughts, bodily sensations, sounds, smells and tastes appear for a moment like pixels on a screen and then disappear as the movie keeps playing.
Often, the sense of being awareness fades and becomes less prominent. For example, when I’m deep in a stressful thought I almost feel like I’m the separate self again (this is becoming more rare). There is a sort of temporary contraction. But once the thought disappears, I drop back into awareness.

Soh Wei Yu
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Is there doubtless realisation and certainty of what your Being or Existence is?
Like https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2018/12/i-am-experienceglimpserecognition-vs-i.html
https://awakeningclaritynow.com/awakening-to-the-natural-state-guest-teaching-by-john-wheeler/
I AM Experience/Glimpse/Recognition vs I AM Realization (Certainty of Being)
AWAKENINGTOREALITY.BLOGSPOT.COM
I AM Experience/Glimpse/Recognition vs I AM Realization (Certainty of Being)
I AM Experience/Glimpse/Recognition vs I AM Realization (Certainty of Being)

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Mr. C. J.
Yes, I believe so. I’ve had glimpses before but this time there was a certainty to it. I felt like I was done with the inquiry and there was nothing else to find. I believed that I was a body/mind my whole life, and at that moment, the belief was shattered.
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Soh Wei Yu
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Mr. C. J.
Sounds great. From that point the entire journey is about the unfolding of that taste of luminosity and Presence into its most mature and full blown actualization, free from all artificial boundaries and separation... yet in a totally effortless and natural and spontaneous manner. Deepening of insights into that Presence and the nature of it is required.
There is no need to rush for the next insight, but when you feel ready, you may want to look into the four aspects of the I AM and the two stanzas of anatta and Bahiya Sutta. Thanks for sharing.

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Mr. C. J.
Thanks for your help Soh
. I’ll keep refining these insights and focus on the contemplations you suggested.
From your descriptions it sounds like Stage 2 is more of an experience than a permanent insight. Does that mean there is only a glimpse of “I am everything” at this stage?
And I guess dropping is only required as a practice after Stage 2? I’m jumping ahead a bit here but wanted to clarify.

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Soh Wei Yu
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“It is bringing this I AM into everything. I AM the I in you. The I in the cat, the I in the bird. I AM the first person in everyone and Everything. I. That is my second phase. That the I is ultimate and universal.” - John Tan, 2013
John Tan said today "4 aspects r simply pathing u towards non-dual when you r in the phase of ultimate presence."

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Soh Wei Yu
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This is Stage 2: https://www.facebook.com/521855784/posts/10156891243275785/
Although in my I AM phase, if you look into my e-journal, I went through the phase of impersonality where the I turns universal, I think it is not the full blown Stage 2.
John Tan did not want to lead me too deeply into I AM as he was worried that he will have a hard time getting me 'out of it' because the I AM is seen as ultimate.
But the I turning universal is natural also for one who matures the four aspects of I AM, but without much danger of continuously reifying and creating abstractions. It is the way to nondual along with the nondual contemplations.

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Soh Wei Yu
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"dropping is only required as a practice after Stage 2"
Dropping was recommended to me even before Stage 1. John Tan told me to practice it alongside self-enquiry.

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Soh Wei Yu
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Dropping is important throughout one's practice, just that it gets refined over time based on one's insights.
https://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2008/09/six-stages-of-dropping.html
Six Stages of Dropping
AWAKENINGTOREALITY.BLOGSPOT.COM
Six Stages of Dropping
Six Stages of Dropping

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Soh Wei Yu
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John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:22pm UTC+08
Also I did not lead u to I M everything.
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:26pm UTC+08
oic.. how is I AM everything like?
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:28pm UTC+08
It is bringing this I M into everything. I M the I in u. The I in the cat, the I in the bird. I M the first person in everyone and Everything. I.
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:29pm UTC+08
is this related to impersonality?
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:30pm UTC+08
i dont think this is the samkhya understanding though. samkhya understanding of purusha is very individualistic..
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:30pm UTC+08
After impersonality and the experience of the higher power, u should progress into that.
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:30pm UTC+08
when i experience impersonality it is something similar.. like universal
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:30pm UTC+08
everything is from the same consciousness
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:31pm UTC+08
But becoz I worry u sank too deep and I worry I can't lead u out...lol.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:33pm UTC+08
There was a period u went too deep into I Mness so I did not tell u to explore further into it.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:34pm UTC+08
Instead I tell u to look into dissolving the subject/object duality.
Soh Wei YuFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:34pm UTC+08
Oic..
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:35pm UTC+08
Otherwise it should b dwelling further into the ultimate of I.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:36pm UTC+08
Instead of dissolving subject/object division.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:36pm UTC+08
I m the phase.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:36pm UTC+08
That is my second phase.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:37pm UTC+08
That the I is ultimate and universal.
John TanFriday, February 21, 2014 at 9:40pm UTC+08
For u, after direct apprehension of Awareness, I think there is no point to further strengthen this tendency to that lvl.

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Mr. C. J.
Thanks again, this is all really helpful! Will keep practising bearing your comments in mind.
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Mr. C. J.
Does anyone have any practices that they found useful at this stage? I’ve been focusing on the four aspects of “I AM”, currently contemplating luminosity by inquiring “what is aliveness in this moment?” and trying to notice the intensity/immediacy of sensations.
One thing that isn’t clear to me is when to switch over to non-dual contemplations. Or whether they should be done in conjunction with the four aspects of “I AM”. Any advice is welcome 🙂
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Soh Wei Yu
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A fine balance of bringing the taste of Presence to the foreground interspersed with contemplation. Let it flow naturally. Sort of like self enquiry, you don't let the inquiry become just a repetitive verbal mantra.

 

 Mr. N. W.
Hey Mr. C. J.
well done. Sounds like you're doing great 🙂 Can I ask you what your sitting practice looked like before this? And how long were you doing Inquiry before this happened? And... how long had you been meditating and where were you mapping to prior to starting the inquiry process?

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Mr. C. J.
Hey Nick
! I’ve been meditating for a while but have experimented with a lot of different practices. I spent about 7 years doing mostly concentration practices (anapanasati) with a few breaks during that time. At that point I wasn’t interested in the insight maps at all and did it from a self improvement perspective. I switched over to MCTB and Mahasi style noting, did that for a few months and that’s when I think my insight progress really kicked off. I experienced some shifts which I now believe got me to MCTB 2nd path (pre-“I AM”).
I discovered the AtR blog and ebook recently and was doing self-inquiry at every opportunity every day for about a month. Alongside that, about an hour of sitting meditation where I would abide in awareness and combine that with the self inquiry. The AtR maps and practices feel a lot more natural to me now than those from MCTB.

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Mr. N. W.
Mr. C. J.
that's really interesting. Thanks so much for sharing 😃 I think like you I map to MCTB 2nd path but I got here mostly through applying the MCTB principles to the Goenka technique. I like Seeing that Frees a lot and just shifting from Anicca to Anatta as the focus has been huge this last week. Not sure I quite get Inquiry yet though. Were you just holding the question (sense of curiosity) within/on the field of thoughtless awareness that is in and around the body? When I try this stuff if clearly happening as I start to cycle up through the nana's and get a lot of head pressure but it's a big change to make and I don't want to waste a lot of time doing it wrong lol

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Mr. N. W.
Anyway. Your success is very inspiring. Virtual beers on you Chris...

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Mr. C. J.
I would inquire “who am I?” and then notice the shift in perception. The question itself is like a pointer that brings you back to awareness (of course, you were always it, the true self is just obscured by thoughts and conditioning). I wouldn’t say that awareness is in or even around the body, it’s not bound by time or space. The advice I received from Soh and others was to not mindlessly repeat it like a mantra, but treat it more as an investigation. You are trying to find your true self. When thoughts arise you can also ask “to whom does this thought occur?” and the same for the other senses. Keep going until you have doubtless certainty of who you are.
I’d recommend “Who Am I?” by Ramana Maharshi, it’s short and to the point.
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Mr. N. W.
Mr. C. J.
yeah, I'm already reading it 🙂 I don't have many thoughts when I walk/do stuff in the day. When I ask "who am I" I feel the subtle body / energetic field in/around the body. If I then ask "who am I" focused on that sense of self then the perspective moves out and is wider and more inclusive and not full of energy/vibration etc. Does that make sense to you Chris?

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Mr. C. J.
Yeah, that makes sense. I think some people are more predisposed to feeling energy in/around their body as a result of previous practice and whatnot. There are usually multiple layers of self to be seen through, so it sounds like you’re on the right track. Keep inquiring into the wider and more inclusive “self”. Is there something that is aware of that? What is it? Don’t worry about missing the answer, you’ll know when you’re done.
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