From “I AM” to non-duality, no-self, emptiness and spontaneous perfection
About this library
This blog is about spiritual awakening, maps and stages, the blinding effects of our strong momentum/conditioning (karmic propensities), view, realization, experience, etc. If you are new, begin with the Must Reads.
Key terms — I AM, non-duality, anatta, emptiness and spontaneous perfection
As used on this site, following John Tan’s (Thusness’s) Seven Stages. These terms are not necessarily used in the same way by other traditions.
I AM (Stage 1)
The direct realization of “this pure sense of existence”: not the body, not thought, “just Existence itself”. On AtR this is an important first realization, not the end of the path.
Non-duality (Stage 4)
The dissolution of the split between perceiver and perceived: Presence is found as all appearances. At this stage the non-dual experience is still “very much ‘Brahman’ rather than ‘Sunyata’”, the sense that “All is Mind”, one Reality.
Anatta (No-Self) (Stage 5)
Seeing through the background itself, that “the mirror is nothing more than an arising thought”. There is no one behind thoughts, never was: “What exists is a stream, action or karma.” As John Tan puts it, “Anatta is a seal, not a stage”. See posts on anatta.
Emptiness (Stage 6)
Not only the self: “even the aggregates are empty”. Every experience is “vividly present yet completely un-locatable”; “Emptiness is the ‘nature’ of all experiences.” See posts on emptiness.
Spontaneous perfection (Stage 7)
The realization that what is sought has always been the case: “Awareness has always been non-dual”, “Appearances have always been Non-arising”, and “All phenomena are ‘interconnected’ and by nature Maha.” Practice therefore shifts from ‘concentrative’ to ‘effortless’: what is really needed is “simply to experience whatever arises openly and unreservedly”, and “the ground and the path of practice become indistinguishable”. In John Tan’s words: “Spontaneously present, naturally perfected!” Yet this “does not denote the end of practice”. See On Anatta, Emptiness … and Spontaneous Perfection.
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Feedback:"The shortened AtR guide is very good. It should lead one to anatta (the experiential realization of no-self) if they really go and read. Concise and direct." – Yin Ling
Download links: PDF ·
EPUB
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This is the original 1300+ page document on which the practice and abridged guides are based.
"I also want to say, actually the main ATR document >1200 pages helped me the most with insight... ...I did [read] it twice 😂 it was so helpful and these Mahamudra books supported ATR insights. Just thought to share." – Yin Ling
"To be honest, the document is ok [in length], because it’s by insight level. Each insight is like 100 plus pages except anatta [was] exceptionally long [if] I remember lol. If someone read and contemplate at the same time it’s good because the same point will repeat again and again like in the nikayas [traditional Buddhist scriptures in the Pali canon] and insight should arise by the end of it imo.", "A 1000 plus pages ebook written by a serious practitioner Soh Wei Yu that took me a month to read each time and I am so grateful for it. It’s a huge undertaking and I have benefitted from it more that I can ever imagine. Please read patiently." – Yin Ling
The guide covers built-in accessibility options, dedicated PDF text-to-speech apps, continuous and background playback, jumping to the place you want to hear, natural AI voices, and what to do with scanned PDFs that need text recognition (OCR) before they can be read aloud.
We are thrilled to announce the final release of version 1.2 of the AtR Practice Guide! This update brings significant enhancements and additions that we believe will be of benefit.
Key changes in Version 1.2 include:
New Chapters:
• [Potential Sleep Disruptions]
• [Dealing with Potential Energy Imbalances Post-Anatta]
2. Expanded Resources:
• A sample booklist and numerous guided meditations/videos on I AM have been added to the related articles section of Stage 1 along with a new introduction.
3. Updated Content:
• Articles for Stage 5 and Stage 6 have been updated, along with the sample booklist at the end of the guide.
4. Subtle Enhancements:
• Various subtle changes have been made in each section to improve clarity and depth.
5. New Cover:
• A fresh, new cover design for the guide.
6. Shift in Focus:
• Stage 4 now emphasizes contemplating the two anatta stanzas.
Feedback:
“The shortened AtR guide is very good. It should lead one to anatta (the experiential realization of no-self) if they really go and read. Concise and direct.” - Yin Ling
In addition to guiding practitioners towards the realization of anatta, the AtR Practice Guide also explores the realizations of I AM, non-dual awareness, emptiness, dependent origination, and total exertion.
You can download the final version of the AtR Practice Guide (Version 1.2) in PDF format or listen to the audio version on SoundCloud. Follow the links below:
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Nafis Rahman for compiling this comprehensive guide, as well as to the AtR admin team and group members for their invaluable contributions.
I would also like to make an announcement on a new rule:
Each group member can post promotions or advertisements no more than once every month, but only for different teachers/organizations or events. For the same teacher, event, or organization, promotions are limited to once every two months. Different members also cannot post about the same organization or teacher more frequently than every two months, and all promotions are subject to admin discretion and review for suitability.
Soon he is having experiences of total exertion. Progressing well. I recommended him a soto zen book this time, which he finds resonating: Being-Time by Shinshu Roberts
I
can see non-arising in terms of thoughts now due to Mahamudra, it’s
impossible to find or grasp a thought just like trying to grab an
individual raindrop when it’s raining outside. However, I’m not sure how
to see non-arising in terms of phenomena or everyday objects like the
chair in my room. Just endlessly deconstructing doesn’t seem to be
working. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Similar to this article: https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/.../emptinesschar...?
From personal experience (trying to understand what it means):
I
was practicing the time exercises in Seeing that frees and then had an
experience around 1 month ago where time no longer existed or atleast I
couldn’t see it anymore. It’s like multiple timelines all merged
together, past life, past, present, and future and that everything was
happening in the same time simultaneously. Not sure if this is an
insight or delusion, but this feeling of “multi-dimensional” time has
been pretty stable for the last 2 weeks and feels very liberating.
While
practicing the walking meditations, I completely deconstructed any
sense of body or road to the point where there was only clashing
sensations without any body producing the sensations in the first place.
The experience is still underdeveloped; I want to go further but suffer
an energy imbalance whenever I go too far. However in the process of
deconstructing my body, I had a weird experience where instead of
walking on top of the world, it feels like I’m walking as the world
itself. Like oneness, but not advaita oneness. It feels like multiple
strands of oneness are intertwined together or oneness without a
“source”, and I’m beyond time and space or atleast shattered the
barriers they used to impose. Also feels like I’m one with the universe
while the universe is creating itself, or in a state of universal
oneness, where everything is more infinitely dimensional. It happens now
whenever I walk, at least for the last two weeks, and walking feels
very profound. Also in general as well. Difficult to describe in words,
couldn’t find anything similar in the ebook or any Buddhist book.
Soh,
when I listen to music, it feels like I’m one with the universe while
one with the music, while at the same time, the music is one with the
universe and vice-versa. Like some kind of inter-dimensional global
universal oneness state beyond space-time and other boundaries. Is this
"total exertion" or a delusion?
When
the bond that creates artificial boundaries and separation is
sufficiently released through penetrating dependent origination and
emptiness, total exertion becomes a natural state.
I'll
read this being-time book first. I was afraid of going deeper into this
"oneness" state, so I tried to avoid it, but I'll go even deeper now.
If I have any follow-up questions, I'll be sure to ask.
Btw,
it feels very magical, even anatta feels like nothing in comparison. I
don't feel human anymore....i wish everyone in the world could feel
total exertion right now.
From
AtR guide: "+A Emptiness is Total Exertion and Maha. -A Emptiness is
the empty, non-arising and illusory nature of presencing appearance.
Phase 6 is about replacing the whole view with Dependent Origination and
Emptiness through direct realization, and +A and -A are the experiences
from it. However, it is possible to have glimpses of +A and -A and
still lack definitive realization. For example, one may have taste of
dream-like nature from all appearances arising as one’s radiance, but it
is still a glimpse or experience than the realization of emptiness,
which overturns the view of seeing phenomena in terms of existing by way
of its own essence, arising, abiding and ceasing.
In
phase 6, it is no longer about clarity (clarity is already implicit and
forgotten rather than singled out or over-emphasized). It is possible
to realize and experience +A without going into -A, or realize and
experience -A without going into +A, and it is also possible to
experience both and later come to an integration of +A and -A through an
experiential realization. Total exertion too has various depths, at a
mature phase the total exertion penetrates not only the ten directions
but the three times (past, present and future).
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