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Yin Ling wrote:
Yesterday someone asked me a v important question:
Q: why do we need to use effort to practise if reality is ever present?
Why is practise needed?
A: because I think this is such a key issue to get out of the way before awakening, my reference to Dogen is not adequate ( Master Dogen asked a similar Q In ancient times and no one could answer him so he risk his life and went China)
As a modern person, awakening to me is no other than a familiarisation to a differnt set of perception.
Only this “different perception” is how things have always been. To reality.
We are so rooted in delusion for eons, hence we need to practise hard to set our visions right so that we don’t fall prey again to cyclic existence. It is really do or die. (Literally)
We are trying to rewire the whole body mind so this requires diligent practise.
Along the path, I can feel the re-wiring.
It started with my body feeling lighter ,
As I do sports, it was palpable
Jumping was different now , running too.
Then my proprioception alters-
I feel unsteady esp after a lot of practise.
My whole apartment usually “floats” in air as one whole appearance seamlessly
Then my perception change - felt huge, felt big, felt all encompassing.
It was all perceptible.
Then slowly I lost the ability to feel a self.
It is not like I choose to feel a self or not.
It’s like someone cut off my limb, and I cannot maneuvre it anymore.
I don’t think about it anymore. It is just not there.
The energy that was inside me, is not just inside me anymore, it is all over with the sensation.
That energy of beingness.
I don’t think about no self,
The sound shows itself and reminds me , “hey, I am no self”
Lol. Like that.
This is how the dharma seals is authenticated for someone who has no-self insight.
It is their experience forever.
It’s not a jhana state to enter.
It is how they live and see the world, in no-self, naturally, effortlessly.
It is not like one consciously point to the body and say “non-self”and remind themselves it is not self, not like that
Realisation is powerful,
It is not a thought.
It is how they feel the next person is so intimate to them, like connected, if you want them to harm that person it’s not something natural for them coz they feel so connected.
Compassion then is in built in the no self realisation, but could be cultivated
If ppl ask me to explain, I’m not explaining with my brain or concepts from book,
I look into xp and tell you how it is.
I could sit at the table and talk to everyone in a gathering..
But when I go back, I have this strong sense of not me talking to anyone, sometimes I don’t even recall the conversation becusse “I” was completely buried in the whole scene and no one was watching.
I could slowly recall though if I want.
Life becomes moment to moment.
.
A few analogies that I could relate to is like
You practise scales and arpeggios on the piano until both your hands can move without brain energy. A pianist don’t play the piano with their brain consciously, they rewire the whole body mind and the body mind play it without much effort.
It is efforting until no effort is needed.
You go to the gym until you know how to deadlift naturally without thinking . You don’t think about the mechanism even though deadlift is a weird movement. You body adapts to the weight. It doesn’t feel heavy anymore to you but it does to others.
It is alot of effort until only minimal effort is needed. Those power lifter who deadlift 200 kg uses only about the same effort as you bec they have practise so hard.
You do abacus until your fingers move itself on the abacus when your eyes see numbers. You can move 10 digits very naturally without thinking.
There are many rules to learn before you can do that , but after that it is so easy.
Effort before no effort.
You do mental arithmetic until you completely change the way you add and minus.
You don’t write numbers in your brain anymore.
It’s just abacus moving inside the head. And it does itself.
And you don’t add or minus like how others do.
It is a completely different inside out way of adding and minus-ing
And you can’t overwrite this system
Bec the old system is too clunky.
So the mind take the path of least resistance.
Mental arithmetic is the closest analogy to awakening if one have the skill they could probably relate.
This is how awakening happens, it is a completely rewiring of body and mind
It is not like maths, academic medicine or philosophy
Where you need to posit a hypothesis, argue your points, establish a first principle and prove your equation, discussing an economy model, or read 1000 research papers to write citations for your new research paper.
Haha
The body and mind doesn’t change like that.
U can Argue till the cow comes Home and you are still stuck inside the head.
What is the point?
Remember , awakening is like becoming a violin virtuoso.
You can’t be a violin virtuoso by memorising music theory, counting beats, reading history of said piece.
You sit down, hold a 🎻, start by a scratchy sound, and keep practising until you get it hours after hours patiently, until your finger bleed, become hardened, and your whole neck and head and body changed.
The effort is huge until
You can go on stage to play effortlessly.
So with awakening, you learn the view, contemplate until the view is clear and u have zero questions,
Then you meditate to integrate that view.
You integrate with hours and hours of similar repeats.
If you want to integrate non dual,
You note clearly all sensations fully until the mind gets it.
You don’t interpret, you just do the work.
The mind will change itself, like practising violin or piano. If the scales is not smooth you do it again, right ?
Meditation is the same.
You still see a self?
Practise.
You only need ONE instruction.
Not a class on Buddhist history.
But Before that you need to calm your mind until you can sit down and calm your mind in a few minutes. It does improve with practise. Some can go deep v quickly. This is the importance of concentration.
In short, TLDR- You need to practise ..
Hard.
And talk less.
Treat it like piano, violin, mental arithmetic, weight training
😬❤️
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18 Comments
Resonate.
As i was reading this , relaxing while enjoying waterfall @ airport, suddenly a bhikkhu with orange robe ( talking 2 a lady ) walking down the stairs beside me .. A coincidence ... ? Or synchronicites ? Haha
Dear Yin,
I just watched your video with Angelo. I felt sad afterward. Sad because I can't do it. I practice, I meditate, and I walk in nature. It's on my mind always but nothing happens. Then I read this post and I feel a little better.
Watching you and Angelo was like watching ethereal un-real beings. So beautiful to watch.
xox
Caryn