Soh
This is not a post about awakening, non-duality or emptiness, but the planet, global warming, and the levels of consciousness in spiral dynamics. But why do I post this here? Because pure land is not another dimension or universe away. This very world, this very planet is our pure land. Everywhere, perfect purity, beauty and goodness can be found, all a perfect display of our radiance and Presence, if only we see and hear with pure vision. Instead, earthlings perceive the world in terms of dualism, self and other, subject and object, possessor and possessed, exploiter and exploited, hopes and fears, friends and enemies.
Like an apple tree that apples, this planet is the land that peoples, and manifest Buddhas. To grow apples, we have to protect and nurture the apple tree. To grow Buddhas, we have to protect and nurture our pure land. Please appreciate our seamless dependencies and wholeness and act accordingly. Our benefits should never be sought at the expense or detriment of the rest of the planet, otherwise we become like viruses destroying the host, killing ourselves in the process. Realise that a wave is never separate from the entire ocean like an apple is never separate from the rest of the apple tree, the welfare of all is the welfare of ourselves and vice versa. Our actions are the activity of the universe and vibrates as and throughout the universe.
Statements that used to be called "alarmist" now looks increasingly likely to be our destiny. The science is becoming increasingly clear this year: we have falsely assumed a purely linear increase in global temperatures when in truth the situation is far worse than that -- we might be on a somewhat exponential curve, and the world is on the verge of triggering a cascade of natural 'feedback loops' that will increase temperatures drastically. In other words, we are on course for runaway climate change as a result of natural feedback loops including methane release from the arctic permafrost triggering further releases, bringing catastrophic collapse of the ecosystem. This is the sixth mass extinction that could very well see the extinction of humanity in decades to come, if very strong actions and interventions are not taken on time. Sacrifices need to be made (perhaps, to our standard of living). Governments should mobilize resources to support green causes and we should support governments that have our long term welfare in their agenda. A mass planetary awakening is necessary for our survival. The three institutional poisons of collective greed, ill will and delusion needs to be addressed.  
Without a collective awakening, there is a real possibility that humanity will cease to exist 100 years from now.


......
 
Interesting
https://www.newshub.co.nz/…/scientists-secretly-believe-we-…
https://www.straight.com/…/could-abrupt-climate-change-lead…
<— I initially dismissed this guy as an alarmist nut job for predicting the extinction of humanity by 2026 until I read the following articles which seems to confirm some of Guy’s statements, so maybe there is a basis for such a thing to happen but I’m not sure about the timeline:
https://truthout.org/…/release-of-arctic-methane-may-be-ap…/
https://www.theguardian.com/…/7-facts-need-to-know-arctic-m…
https://siberiantimes.com/…/n0760-arctic-methane-gas-emiss…/

(update: I think Guy McPherson is an alarmist for setting a dateline to our 'extinction', but his conclusions about our trajectory and outcomes are actually based on sound science and research, except the date is speculation and may be off)
Shared by Malcolm Smith


nymag.com


· Reply · 9w
Sim Pern Chong


Sim Pern Chong Thanks for the sharing.

Manage


· Reply · 9w
Benjamin Smythe


Benjamin Smythe 2023 is the current projection for human extinction by a leading UN climate change scientist. maybe do what you want to today. :)

Manage


· 9w
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu Enjoying myself at tomorrowland now 🤣

Manage


· 9w
Michael Hernandez


Michael Hernandez All is not lost. Cockroaches and rats will survive!
They eat everything and are highly resilient to toxic waste

Manage


· Reply · 8w
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu Not if our planet ends up like Venus (it used to have a habitable climate, atmosphere and water until runaway climate change led to complete loss of any habitable atmosphere along with water)
Manage


· Reply · 8w · Edited
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu As an Uber driver in Europe told us, mother nature is giving us a lot of signs and our only bet now is on Elon Musk building a rocket to bring us to Mars. If he manages to do it on time, that is

Manage


· Reply · 8w · Edited
Michael Hernandez


Michael Hernandez An AI is humankind's best bet for the preservation of its "legacy".

Manage


· Reply · 8w · Edited
Kathy Gilligan


Kathy Gilligan So no people at all in 2023. Bowie’s “Five Years.”
Manage


· Reply · 7w
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu I’m not convinced the timelines are set in stone but if climate change is “non linear” and “runaway” or even “exponential” involving many natural feedback loops then the situation is truly dire...

Manage


· Reply · 7w
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu If this chart has any basis then we ain’t seen nothing yet
Manage


· Reply · 7w
Andrew Kinsella


Andrew Kinsella Great, just what I needed to read. If that projection is correct then the only outcome can be a really major mass extinction.

Manage


· Reply · 7w
Soh Wei Yu


Soh Wei Yu Not all climate Scientists agree to the projection though. But might be too late for people to realise if the worst case scenario is true. For myself, I don’t know, im no climate expert. Open to various possibilities. Maybe make some mental preparations.

Manage


· Reply · 7w · Edited
Soh Wei Yu shared a link.


bbc.com
Researchers warn that even limited climate warming could trigger conditions…
Comments
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Suddenly the mainstream media and scientists are catching on this doomsday scenario and starting to worry.

They sound like they are feeling hopeless and in despair

Manage

· Reply · 7w · Edited
Benjamin Smythe

Benjamin Smythe it's over soon. enjoy these days. :)

Manage

· 7w
https://www.facebook.com/YearsOfLiving/videos/230976200951887/?hc_ref=ARRgxSrsPv-WeEmEUjAEC7JhE8hGj8bCFzJVr5nkQyP-4c4dy4sMFi_PEtBRiKBsdz4&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBb_Oeag6h40dH3dHzNY3mjqCay8s2e0N7hi92nYCT-3r0q9wXppSyddnLfXe8a_E0XuvLtm4dN_S4XqROwVM5T2JzX35xZn3J038jpR8LRwbaPhr-Oco2wKBnDVoXUFhuXwlMD3lAg-iU-LK8p9R39rfvjSjVcabkf52sunv7FrFPP55GhtYA&__tn__=FC-R
Much sooner than expected. “Experts said dangerous climate change was almost “inevitable” and the planet was on the brink of a “tipping point” as thawing permafrost releases large volumes of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise and more permafrost to melt.”
Comments
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Humanity is sleepwalking into an abyss.

Here’s how a redditor describes our catastrophic future soon to become reality:See More

Manage

· Reply · 1w · Edited
Junnies Jun Yang

Junnies Jun Yang from what i understand, the climate system is far too difficult to model, and our climate models (which the man-made global warming hypothesis entirely hinges upon because models are scientists' guess at how the climate system works, and its validity extends to evidence-gathering, hypothesis-testing, predictions, etc) are entirely incapable of properly modeling the climate.

you can see the ineptitude of the climate models by the fact that all of them are wrong, have wildly different projections, have no track record for accuracy, are constantly updated (new, unknown variables are constantly discovered and inputed), and the chaotic, complex nature of the climate means that slight errors in input can lead to wildly different outcomes
Manage

· Reply · 1w
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Yes it is very hard to model climate change. However, a general consensus is coming out this year taking into account the latest and newest research in climate science that paints a better picture of where we are heading, and it's not looking pretty. It paints a very dire picture -- a rather catastrophic one where our very existence as a species may be under threat not in centuries or generations to come, but in our very lifetime, perhaps 30, 20 or 10 years.

And even the U.N. has this to say just last week, http://time.com/5392283/united-nations-climate-change/

'(UNITED NATIONS) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the world is facing “a direct existential threat” and must rapidly shift from dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 to prevent “runaway climate change.”

“If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us,” Guterres warned.'

Can humanity avoid catastrophe and extinction? I don't know, but looking at the general apathy and unwillingness of governments to address this issue, our future looks grim.
Manage
Junnies Jun Yang

Junnies Jun Yang the thing is, the current man-made global warming hypothesis hinges upon the fact that climate scientists have a sufficient understanding to pinpoint that it is man-made greenhouse emissions that is the cause.

as we know, man-made greenhouse emission contribution is a fraction of total greenhouse gas emission. the validity of their claim thereby hinges upon this idea of a 'feedback' mechanism whereby a small input leads to a drastic outcome. but of course, given how sensitive climate models are to small errors in data input, it seems like the climate-change hypothesis is just a wild guess backed by no real evidence.

one also has to take into account the myriad of factors involved in climate change - solar cycles, planetary orbits, etc. it is so difficult to understand how the climate works once one understands how complex it is, that i personally am very skeptical of any claims that claim to be 'evidence-based', or scientifically proven
Manage

· Reply · 1w
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu When the house is burning down, it's not time to be arguing but doing something drastic to turn things around. I'm afraid we will not take the necessary steps to avert disaster in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsA3PK8bQd8
Manage
Junnies Jun Yang

Junnies Jun Yang if there were minimal costs associated toward cutting back on greenhouse emissions, there will be little opportunity cost to do so even if the entirely hypothesis is wrong. but to implement the action plans suggested by climate scientists will actually entail massive costs.

for instance, is it a worthwhile trade off to delay the lifting of hundreds of millions of people living in poverty, in order to introduce the measures required to cut down on greenhouse emissions, when the greenhouse-emission hypothesis is probably wrong and not even properly understood? the house might not even be burning, or the house is burning due to many other reasons, and the action-plan recommended by climate scientists is to order a truckload of sand to be transported and thrown over the fire (may work, probably will not, and will cost a large amount of time, money, resources that could have been spent elsewhere)]
Manage

· Reply · 1w
Soh Wei Yu


...........

Soh Wei Yu
“The Trump administration did not offer this dire forecast as an argument to combat climate change.
The analysis assumes the planet’s fate is already sealed.”
Comments
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu It may be true that it’s too late to save humanity and life at large from extinction. We do not know for sure. But I think passivity and inaction is not right

Manage

· Reply · 1d · Edited
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Wow , sometimes I think I’m in the twilight zone 🙈
Manage

· Reply · 1d
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo The basic argument is: “Well we’re screwed anyways, let’s burn this MFer to the ground!!”
Manage

· Reply · 1d
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Pretty much.
Manage

· Reply · 1d
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu 7 degree farenheit, as catastrophic as it is, is still a conservative estimate that does not take the exponential feedback loops into account that Scientists have been warning recently. In any case when this plays out as it is without enormous intervention, we are certainly screwed, it’s hard to see how humans can survive this. And we won’t have until 2100

Manage

· Reply · 1d · Edited
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo From what I’ve been seeing /reading unless there’s unprecedented governmental and corporate cooperation on a global scale to both radically reduce greenhouse gas production AND implement widespread sequestration modalities, the consequences will be caSee More
Manage

· Reply · 1d
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo But none of that means we shouldn’t do what we can. We have the technology to reverse a lot of it.

https://350.org/about/
Manage
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Sequestration technologies exist or can be developed but only on a very small scale. The notion that future carbon sequestration technologies can be used to make a difference on the CO2 levels on a planetary scale is sort of a myth, and we're better off planting more trees and reducing deforestation instead (which is far from enough).

I highly suspect that some dangerous and desperate attempts at environmental geoengineering such as global dimming via aerosols will be inevitable at some point.
Manage

· Reply · 6h · Edited
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45084144

"But this paper argues that beyond 2 degrees, there is a significant risk of turning natural systems - that presently help keep temperatures down - into massive sources of carbon that would put us on an "irreversible pathway" to a world that is 4-5 degrees warmer than before the industrial revolution."

http://globalwarming.berrens.nl/globalwarming.htm

"Although warming on this scale lies within the IPCC’s officially endorsed range of 21st-century possibilities, climate models have little to say about what Lynas, echoing Dante, describes as “the Sixth Circle of Hell”. To see the most recent climatic lookalike, we have to turn the geological clock back between 144m and 65m years, to the Cretaceous, which ended with the extinction of the dinosaurs. There was an even closer fit at the end of the Permian, 251m years ago, when global temperatures rose by – yes – six degrees, and 95% of species were wiped out. "
Manage
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu "Unless you are a teenager, you probably read in your high-school textbooks that these extinctions were the result of asteroids. In fact, all but the one that killed the dinosaurs were caused by climate change produced by greenhouse gas. The most notorious was 252 million years ago; it began when carbon warmed the planet by five degrees, accelerated when that warming triggered the release of methane in the Arctic, and ended with 97 percent of all life on Earth dead.

- http://nymag.com/.../climate-change-earth-too-hot-for...
Manage
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Yeah it’s hard to pick through all of the science to see what’s what in a very charged issue like this. My problem with inflammatory pieces like that is that the authors typically already have a clear point of view (doom and gloom) and want to sell it so they take creative liberties with science.

To say the five big mass extinction events were all caused by global warming and CO2 levels (BTW CO2 is not the only cause of warming and there was a period in global past where the CO2 levels were 10X higher than they are now and the planet was cooler, so these are are theoretical associations backed by data, but there is nothing we know absolutely about the past or future) is to simply, well, make up science.

Obviously we don’t know for certain what caused them. What we do have is scientific data (core samples etc), models and the work of scientists who have made it their careers to study these things. According to them, from what I’ve read (I’m no expert but I’ve read quite a bit out of curiosity), there is no clear consensus on exactly what caused the mass extinctions.

There are prominent theories such as impact events (specifically the most recent one 50M years ago). In that case increase in CO 2 levels was certainly part of the problem but not the cause , the cause being the sky being darkened by particulate matter and photosynthesis being halted. It’s pretty obvious how that would have a devastating impact on the biosphere.

There are leading theories that the most distant (O-S event 450M years ago) was actually caused by global cooling. Also the second most distant was actually caused by the emergence of the plantae kingdom and the resulting effects and fluctuations in oxygen levels.

I’ll post links below. Wiki has very good article on extinction events and under “causes” tab it summarizes nicely. There are many theories and contributory factor, warming is one for sure as is cooling.

As I said previously I believe global warming as very serious and we will likely see devastating effects in the next 100 years unless we take dramatic and costly steps and see global cooperation on a scale not seen previously to work on solutions.

I say all of this not to be argumentative but simply in the spirit of truth (relative truth).

I think a lot of articles on global warming are unnecessarily inflammatory. It is interesting from the standpoint of human behavior and thought processes to look at why people like to write inflammatory doom and gloom, make it sound as scary as possible pieces.

I think it’s wired into the way we process that if something is very serious we can convince the skeptics with fear tactics. It makes total sense but does it work? I mean they don’t need to convince you or me, we already believe global warming is a very serious problem that can have potentially devastating consequences. But what about skeptics? Does it actually work on skeptics? I would argue it actually has the opposite effect in a couple of ways. First of all I think a lot of skeptics are simply afraid to believe in what they suspect is true (that it is a very real problem). So through magical thinking they can conveniently rearrange reality in their mind so things don’t look fearful.

So then what do fear tactics do to someone like this? They make them dig their heels in deeper actually. The opposite effect you might have had in mind.

Moreover any type of polarized issue or political stance simply becomes more polarized and divided by someone taking the unnecessarily extreme view.

Instead the answer may well be actually going in the other direction and trying to understand the point of view of the opposing position. This goes against our us/them instinct but it works IMO.

The example I will use has actually been researched quite extensively and proves what I’m saying above.

So cigarette smoking causes untold morbidity and mortality that is on a scale that no modifiable behavior can hold a candle to. Add up all of the deaths associated with all illegal drugs combined, then add all alcohol related deaths then add all motor vehicle deaths (driving is dangerous right) in the US in one year and it doesn’t even come close to how many people die every year of lung cancer alone. Almost all lung cancer is caused by smoking. That’s not even taking into account COPD, and the smoking related cardiovascular disease deaths which even dwarf lung cancer in number.

So it is a very very destructive habit. I’ve taken care of more patients than I could count who were dying of lung cancer. Any physician can attest to this.

So when you meet a patient in clinic and you are their doctor, their health care champion, what do you think your every instinct is? Well it to inform them of how incredibly bad it is for them. That’s human nature. But does it work?

Well doctors have been using that approach for years (many still do) and now that it has been researched it is found that it doesn’t work. It seems absurd because YOU know it’s bad for them and you don’t smoke because you know how bad it is so why wouldn’t letting them in on that “truth” get them to see the light? Well for similar reasons to what I stated above. They already know it’s bad. And they are already scared and in denial so you scaring the crap out of them only puts them farther in denial.

So what works then? Well actually strategies around the way you interview them work. You try to get to their point of view, understand their process around their behavior. This has a magical effect although it’s totally counterintuitive . Just by showing that you actually care and understand their barriers they often start making behavior change automatically.

An old saying that I find is very accurate, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Sorry for the long post but I’ve seen this work not just with my patients but in many areas of life actually and I’m very interested in human behavior and how it affects the ways in which we relate and world views etc.

To summarize I’ll paraphrase Adyashanti (I don’t have the exact quote but he won’t mind):

It took me a very long time to see this but when I finally did it fundamentally changed the way interacted with people. I realized that taking either side you ALWAYS reenforce the other side.

I was overjoyed to hear him say this because this has been my instinct for some time but I had never looked at it this overtly.

Anyways I’m just blabbing now 🤣

Have a great day in Singapore 🇸🇬

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event

https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeonto.../big-five-extinctions
Manage
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu "What accounts for CO2 levels having been over 10 times higher in the past but with the same global temperatures?"

"You're writing about a time in the range of 500 million years ago. The sun's output has been increasing by about 1% every 100 million years for billions of years. In the Mid-Ordovician period the sun's output was about 95% what it is today. The fact that the temperature was similar to what it is today for large parts of the Earth is strong support that CO2 is effective as a greenhouse gas. Of course we also know this from direct and indirect measurements and from the theory of radiation physics.

Without the higher concentrations of CO2 hundreds of millions of years ago, the Earth would have been a very cold place.

CO2 atmospheric concentrations started decreasing somewhere around 50 million years ago due to a combination of decreasing volcanic activity and higher rates of rock weathering of CO2 from rocks exposed during the buildup of the Himalayas: Understanding the long-term carbon-cycle: weathering of rocks - a vitally important carbon-sink

It's odd that you chose something that supports the current understanding of one of the factors underlying climate change in an attempt to refute it."

- https://www.quora.com/What-accounts-for-CO2-levels-having...
Manage
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Considering that sun's output was so different back then.. and the fact that temperatures have risen sharply with only 400ppm and we are heading towards 1000ppm (and triggering other feedback loops like the arctic methane release) only shows how bad things are going to get.

Manage

· Reply · 1h
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu "I think a lot of articles on global warming are unnecessarily inflammatory."

On the other hand, I actually think most articles still grossly understate the predicament we are in.

Take for example https://www.vox.com/2015/5/15/8612113/truth-climate-change

Does that mean nothing really can be done? No, but at the rate we are moving (CO2 emissions are not even halting but actually increasing in speed), we are certainly on course for 4/5/6 degrees celcius or more..
Manage
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Yes exactly. Just making the point that we are talking about very complex systems and things aren’t 100% predictable. I don’t doubt the greenhouse effect caused by CO2.

Manage

· Reply · 1h
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Soh Wei Yu we may well be. I just mean when facts are skewed then it opens the author to criticism and can be used as fodder from those who want to deny what there is overwhelming evidence to support, that climate change is very real and very concerning.
Manage

· Reply · 1h
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu " And they are already scared and in denial so you scaring the crap out of them only puts them farther in denial."

Actually, scaring the crap out of them by presenting them with facts (we're not trying to deceive anyone but simply showing the true picture) - such as pictures on cigarette boxes of blackened lungs, diseased organs and so on, actually do (scientifically proven) reduce smoking. Which is why smoking rates have decreased by so much (from maybe half the population to less than 1/5) over the years..
Manage

· Reply · 1h · Edited
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu It takes time but scientific facts will start to sink in the public's psyche... I think. Especially combined with the real life global warming effects people are starting to see taking effect in their environment in real time



· Reply · 1h · Edited
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo You make a good point. Yes education has worked (in the past many people genuinely didn’t know smoking was bad fir you it was hidden by industry) I’m talking about on a personal level with trying to convince people who already know and are in fear. This is what I think drives denyers if global climate change as well as of course greed motivation etc .
Manage

· Reply · 1h
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Yes it has started to sink in and more and more people and organizations including some oil companies are getting on board.
Manage

· Reply · 1h
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Actually I do agree that understanding others' perspective is very important. This is where the Spiral Dynamics makes a lot of sense. Trump is coming from a Red (egocentric), Blue (ethnocentric/mythic-literal) and Orange (rational-scientific) perspective. The whole Republican Party's level of consciousness lies in the spectrum between Blue and Orange. The Democractic party's spectrum lies between Orange and Green (worldcentric/egalitarian-minded/post-modern). None of them has a higher integral level like Yellow, which is why they are unable to accommodate a wider range of views and see how they can fit together in a coherent whole.

In order to process and accept scientific facts, you have to be at Orange. If you are strongly at Blue or lower, you will have a hard time accepting scientific facts. You might be more interested in conspiracies. You will prefer fairytales like the world was created 6000 years ago (a literal interpretation of stories in scriptural texts as truth rather than metaphors). A deep fear or resistance towards facts, science, usually comes from a level lower than Orange. "Ethnocentric" also imply you might have attachment to racism, nationalism, or other group-identities, including religious fanaticism.

But even if you are strongly Orange, it does not translate into environmental concern.. why? Orange is primarily achievement oriented. This is why Trump, a billionaire businessman, places importance on the immediate and individualistic profits and benefits of businesses over long term welfare of humanity or the world. Which is why his administration is starting to accept global warming science (Trump used to be a denialist) which is an improvement but at the same time, they are still fixated on short term achievements and profits. It's only when you rise to the level of green that you start to take a longer term perspective and your area of concern expands to include things like the environment, welfare of masses, human rights (or even animal rights), etc. Trump is deeply anti-green, reversing or demolishing many of the green laws and policies. Pro-business is good but I think having an unhealthy anti-green obsession is no good, IMO. (That said, Green also has its own problems and pathologies)

Manage

· Reply · 31m · Edited
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Anyways, regardless of all that we’re discussion, to make any reasonable headway what really has to happen is at a National/international policy level. Specifically the US in China. The political climate here in the US right now is more divided than I’ve ever seen it. The mass spread of misinformation on every issue is very concerning. There are still many people I know personally who staunchly disbelieve in global warming. I’m genuinely not sure what could make such a shift that the US would meaningfully move in that direction.

Manage

· Reply · 1h
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Soh Wei Yu that’s really interesting I want to read up on it. Yes a few people I know who are staunchly conservative I used to argue with and it would get heated quickly so I’d back off. Once I started just fully accepting them and their points of view I noticed some very surprising shifts actually.

Manage

· Reply · 1h
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo I’m putting everything on mass awakening. I’m not kidding actually.

Manage

· Reply · 1h
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Angelo Gerangelo Maybe read Ken Wilber's books. Also Actualized.org has very good videos on Spiral Dynamics -- I watched all of them
Manage
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Ken Wilber's book like A Brief History of Everything is a good read

Manage

· Reply · 48m
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo wow super cool, I’ll check it out
Manage

· Reply · 44m
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu https://m.france24.com/.../20180930-un-report-confronts... "I don't think 2C is safe, and I would never want to argue it," said Frumhoff. "By many measures, 1.5C is not enough."

"But while we might call 2C an upper bound, let's not pretend that we're on a 2C path -- we are way above that," he told AFP.

Even taking into account voluntary national pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, submitted in annex to the Paris treaty, the Earth is on track to heat up by an unliveable 3.5C or more by century's end.

"If we want to save ourselves from the disasters that are looming, we only have unrealistic options left," said Kaisa Kosonen, Greenpeace IPPC campaign lead.

"We have to try to make the impossible possible."
Manage
Angelo Gerangelo

Angelo Gerangelo Yes it’s quite disturbing.
Manage

· Reply · 2h



Soh Wei Yu: What do you think about the?

LikeShow more reactions
Comment
Comments
Kathy Gilligan

Kathy Gilligan Thanks, Soh Wei Yu. A lot to dig into. Like a diagnosis in which you’re told you have 10 months to live, except that it is not just you, but everyone you know and everyone you don’t know. Every sentient being. What a time to be alive.

Manage

· Reply · 22h
Kathy Gilligan

Kathy Gilligan Everything is a distraction.
Manage

· Reply · 22h
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Except nobody really knows how it will all play out or the exact timeframe. But day by day, the likelihood that the entire planet is going into a catastrophic mode within 10-15 years becomes clearer (due to the blue ocean event). Life will be much more difficult, lots of people will die, especially for the poorer countries (but all will be affected). But that in itself is insufficient to cause the extinction of our species unless it triggers the tipping points which could raise our temperatures from 2c warming up to 6c. So, will we go extinct in 10 years? Not likely, but I expect that within 20 years, scientists will try desperate and risky methods like releasing aerosols to artificially induce global dimming -- a geoengineering attempt to alter the climate of the world. If this works out, we can possibly delay our extinction for a while, but it doesn't really solve the issue. They all know that our planet will trigger many tipping points beyond 2c warming (or possibly even before that) resulting in a 'hothouse earth', which translates to the extinction of most or almost all species, including ourselves. That's why geoengineering will become inevitable as the planet warms towards 2c.

Manage

· Reply · 1h · Edited
Kathy Gilligan

Kathy Gilligan It’s not solvable, so yes, desperate attempt
Manage

· Reply · 6m
Soh Wei Yu

Soh Wei Yu Solving it will require 100% transition to clean energies (we are so far from that) and the development of large scale sequestration technologies (currently a sci-fi fantasy). Is it possible? Maybe. It is likely to happen? I don't think so. Should we still try our best? Of course.
Manage

· Reply · 3m


===================


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=411&v=uzCxFPzdO0Y

Shed A Light: Rupert Read – This civilisation is finished: so what is to be done?


 level 1
Citizen Scientist / Philosopher10 points · 6 hours ago
Summary of points?
level 2
21 points · 5 hours ago · edited 4 hours ago
Talk at Cambridge University, November 2018
Civilization has 3 possible paths to take in the near future:
  1. Courageous radical transformation in extremely brief span of time, a transformation the like of which humanity has never before undergone. If this succeeds, this civilization will be finished, because the changes will be so radical. This would involve local food production, etc. Extremely unlikely, but we should try. Speaker urges people to rebel to prevent extinction.
  2. Collapse followed by possible human survival, e.g. 1000 people in Antarctica. This life raft scenario is fraught with difficult ethical problems (how do we choose who survives), but we need to start talking about enabling this outcome since this is likely our best option if scenario 1 eludes us, which it in all likelihood will.
  3. Collapse followed by human extinction and possible the extinction of much of complex life. This scenario is likely if we don't take a hard look at reality and try to aim for scenarios 1 or 2. This is the "Guy McPherson" outcome. Speaker mentions threat of raging nuclear fires devastating the biosphere, the potential for the atmosphere and oceans being so severely damaged that there is no biosphere remaining.
Some topics addressed: the fact that many in the audience feel that collapse is likely and not too far off, yet no one talks about it publicly. Many of us are harboring this awareness privately but it is not a topic of public conversation. This needs to change. Speaker mentions how we can begin to broach the topic in our own social sphere. There is talk that everyone should be voting green because we are in such an emergency that there is no time to dither around with other political parties, approaches. Potential for fast political revolution, especially if climate catastrophes mount. Discussion that logically we should be rebelling and acknowledgement of how difficult it is to do. Mention of a movement in the U.K. to foment climate rebellion.

Another topic broached is that we need to control the population of the developed world. Immigration should be discouraged since it is incompatible with reducing the ecologic impact of developed economies. England should aim for food self-sufficiency. How will England be able to justify the import of food if large portions of the world population are starving?

Mention that collapse is already happening in poorer communities in England and the United States. Outlook for Africa and the Middle East is bleak and collapse can already be seen in there as well.

Basically the speaker is encouraging us to take an unflinching look at the catastrophic problems we are facing and to be begin speaking amongst ourselves about that reality and to consider our options realistically.


=========


    “​They say since 2005, the number of floods across the world has increased by 15 times, extreme temperature events by 20 times, and wildfires seven-fold.”
    And we are only at the beginning. It’s hard to imagine the apocalyptic state of the world in a few decades.
    “The IPPR warns that the window of opportunity to avoid catastrophic outcomes is rapidly closing.”
    Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
    theguardian.com
    Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
    Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
  • Soh Wei Yu Lucky I am not emotionally affected by these articles as I have little emotions lol
    1
  • Tan Jui Horng I'm sure cockroaches will still be left though :P
    1
  • Soh Wei Yu Humans don’t understand dependent arising. They just blindly follow habitual impulses like craving. In this sense we (homosapien sapiens) are no different from other animal species but with our added prowess of intelligence contributing to our self destruction and destruction of biosphere. Rather that treating the environment as the conditions inseparable from us, that nourish and sustains us and are to be protected for the well being of all, they are merely seen as a resource separate from ourselves, to be exploited, developed and consumed. If more people awaken to no self and dependent arising then there will be more hope but I think it’s too late

    Just saw stian post this recently. It is quite apt and relevant.

    ...

    I just had a weird one. It has faded a bit, but I’ll tell as best I can.

    At home we use an organic bin for food scraps and such. As you may know this bin sometimes starts to give growth to various organisms.

    In the past I’ve reflected on my responsibility for these small living things. Sometimes I’ve felt slight endearment by adding things to the bin that I realize will feed and sustain these small creatures—things I don’t need but which they will cherish. Sometimes I’ve felt slight guilt at cutting off their livelihood, either by adding things to the bin that I know will have a detrimental effect for them, or by emptying out the bin.

    Sometimes when I’m about to put something into the bin, I realize that right now there likely isn’t much life in there, but that what I’m about to put in the bin will be a catalyst for life.

    To be frank, I’ve almost felt fatherly. Never of course attached to these creatures, but yet responsible for important factors in their brief existence.

    And something hit me just now, as I approached the bin.

    I don’t actually make these creatures at all. Conventionally speaking, they arise spontaneously. They arise from the conditions I create in the bin, but I really do not birth these creatures or own them.

    Or rather... that is to say... that I birth these creatures just like my parents birthed me. That is to say... not at all.

    My parents had no involvement in my birth, just like I don’t make or create these small creatures, instead they arise out of the right conditions. Neither do I own or father or preside over these creatures, any more than my parents are the lords or creators of my existence.

    When my parents got pregnant, they could not and did not choose for those conditions to lead to my birth, nor could they choose for those conditions to not lead to my birth.

    Just like the arising of the creatures in my bin is out of my hands, so too is my birth out of my parents or anyone else’s hands.

    Who birthed me? Where do I come from?

    No one birthed me—not in this way, anyway. Spontaneously arisen from conditions. Like maggots in the dirt.
    2
  • Soh Wei Yu We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean "waves," the universe "peoples." Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe. This fact is rarely, if ever, experienced by most individuals. Even those who know it to be true in theory do not sense or feel it, but continue to be aware of themselves as isolated "egos" inside bags of skin.
    Alan W. Watts, The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

    We don’t respect our environment, we destroy it… but, you know, exploiting and destroying your environment, polluting the water and the air and everything is just like destroying your own body. The environment is your body.

    - Alan Watts

    Just as no thing or organism exists on its own, it does not act on its own. Furthermore, every organism is a process: thus the organism is not other than its actions. To put it clumsily: it is what it does. More precisely, the organism, including its behavior, is a process which is to be understood only in relation to the larger and longer process of its environment. For what we mean by "understanding" or "comprehension" is seeing how parts fit into a whole, and then realizing that they don't compose the whole, as one assembles a jigsaw puzzle, but that the whole is a pattern, a complex wiggliness, which has no separate parts. Parts are fictions of language, of the calculus of looking at the world through a net which seems to chop it up into bits. Parts exist only for purposes of figuring and describing, and as we figure the world out we become confused if we do not remember this all the time.
    p. 73

    - Alan Watts
    1
  • Reply
  • 2d
  • Edited

....

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures/evidence-for-man-made-global-warming-hits-gold-standard-scientists-idUSKCN1QE1ZU?fbclid=IwAR2ouLXy3mPTmFUZZg6YzbsSowlEzr2DcCO8_ApKcTSiAUbSYwsd6wSXhwA


Evidence for man-made global warming hits 'gold standard': scientists


"Five-sigma level statistical confidence means the human cause of climate change is a virtual certainty."
....
  • Soh Wei Yu Wouldn't shake the dogmatic half of the republicans though.
  • Soh Wei Yu “Popper, Schumpeter, and Piaget show that we stunt our growth when we ignore disconfirming evidence or distort evidence in order to make it assimilate with our existing knowledge. Focusing on learning what we already we believe is like building a really skinny wall that will topple over as it gets larger.

    On the other hand, we go through a growth spurt when we actively search for disconfirming evidence and allow accomodation to happen.“

    -
    https://medium.com/.../most-people-think-this-is-a-smart...
  • Most People Think This Is A Smart Habit, But It’s Actually Brain-Damaging
    medium.com
    Most People Think This Is A Smart Habit, But It’s Actually Brain-Damaging
    Most People Think This Is A Smart Habit, But It’s Actually Brain-Damaging
  • Soh Wei Yu Humans tend to overlook evidence that challenge their own beliefs and creates discomfort.

    But I’m not like that. We should not be. We should learn to love challenging assumptions and look at the evidence.
  • Soh Wei Yu The hard truth - "This civilization is over...":

    https://www.facebook.com/SoilLifeQuadra/posts/10156656875720199


    Marc Doll
    January 25 ·

    I realize there is something I have known for some time but have never said, and, since I have just spent another 4 hours of my life in climate change academia I have to get this out of my system.

    Please understand that many you reading this won't live to an old age... and likely will start scrolling after one or 2 more paragraphs... (edit...Ok I was wrong on this point. This is now my 2nd most shared post of all time..(edit)...make that my most shared)

    The IPCC report and Paris accord are incredibly overly optimistic and that commits the world to a target that means the death of hundreds of millions if not more.

    But it is worse than that.

    Even the commitments made by countries in the Paris accord don't get us to a 2 degree world.

    But it is worse than that.

    The 2 degree target is now unattainable (unless of course the entirety of civilization does a 180 today...) and is based on geo-engineering the climate of the earth as well as the sequestering of every molecule of carbon we have produced since 1987, as well as every molecule we are producing today,as well as every molecule we produce tomorrow.... with magical technologies that don't exist, wont exist and, even if they did would likely cause as many if not more problems than they fix.

    But it is worse than that.

    The 2 degree target of the IPCC does not factor in the feedback loops such as the increase absorption of heat due to a drastic reduction in the albedo (reflectivity) effect caused by the 70% loss of arctic ice,..- the release of methane from a thawing arctic. (there is more energy stored in the arctic methane than there is in coal in the world). This is called the methane dragon. If the process of the release of the methane, currently frozen in the soil and ocean beds of the arctic, which may have already begun, but if it spins out of control we are looking a an 8 degree rise in temperature.

    But it is worse than that.

    The report which gives us 12 years to get our head's out of our arses underestimated the amount of heat stored in the world's oceans, as we descovered in mid-January by 40%... so no , we don't have 12 more years.

    But it is worse than that.

    The IPCC report ignores the effects of humans messing up the Nitrogen cycle through agricultural fertilizers and more... Don't go down this rabbit hole if you want to sleep at night.

    But it is worse than that.

    Sea level rise will not be gradual. Even assuming that the billions of tons of water that is currently being dumped down to the ground level of Greenland isn't creating a lubricant which eventually will allow the ice to free-flow into the northern oceans; it is only the friction to the islands surface that is currently holding the ice back. Then consider the same process is happening in Antarctica but is also coupled with the disappearance of the ice shelves which act as buttresses holding the glaciers from free flowing into the southern ocean. then factor in thermal expansions; the simple fact that warmer water takes up more space and It becomes clear that we are not looking at maintaining the current 3.4mm/yr increase in sea level rise (which incidentally is terrifying when you multiply it out over decades and centuries.) We will be looking at major calving events that will result in much bigger yearly increases coupled with an exponential increase in glacial melting. We know that every increase of 100ppm of C02 increases sea level by about 100 feet. We have already baked in 130 feet of sea level rise. It is just a question of how long it is going to take to get there... and then keep on rising..

    But it is worse than that.

    Insects are disappearing at 6 times the speed of larger animals and at a rate of about 2.5% of their biomass every year. These are our pollinators. These are links in our food chain. These represent the basic functioning of every terrestrial ecosystem.

    But it is worse than that.

    58% of the biomass of life on earth has been lost since 1970. That includes the insects above but also every other living thing on the planet.

    But it is worse than that.

    Drought in nearly every food producing place in the world is expected to intensify by mid-century and make them basically unusable by the end of the century... Then factor in the end of Phosphorus (China and Russia have already stopped exporting it knowing this) and the depletion of aquifers and you come to the conclusion that feeding the planet becomes impossible.

    But it is worse than that.

    We can no longer save the society that we live in and many of us are going to be dead long before our life expectancy would suggest.

    If your idea of hope is having some slightly modified Standard of living going forward and live to ripe old age... there is no hope. This civilization is over...
  • Marc Doll
    I realize there is something I have known for some time but have never said, and, since I have just spent another 4 hours of my life in climate change academia ...
    See More
  • Soh Wei Yu ..but there is hope..

    There is a way for some to come through this and have an enjoyable life on the other side. Every day we delay can be measured in human lives. There will come a day of inaction when that number includes someone you love, yourself
    or myself.

    So we have 2 options.

    Wake the fuck up. If we do we will only have to experience the end of our society as we know it aka...the inevitable economic collapse which is now unavoidable, but be able to save and rebuild something new on the other side. This would require a deep adaptation. Words like sustainability would need to be seen as toxic and our focus needs be on regeneration. Regeneration of soil, forests, grasslands, oceans etc.... This is all possible.

    Option 2 is the path we are on thinking that we can slowly adapt to change. This not only ensures we experience collapse but also condemns humanity to not just economic and social collapse but in a 4-6 or even an 8 degree world... extinction.

    I am sick of pipeline discussions. I am sick of any argument that is predicated on the defeatist assumption that we will continue to burn oil at an ever increasing rate simply because it is what we have always done. Fact is if we do we are not just fucked, we are dead. I am sick of people who don't understand how their food is produced, and its effect on the climate.(both carnivores who eat feed-lot meat and vegans who eat industrially-produced-mono-cropped-veggies as they are equally guilty here. The consumption of either is devastating). I am sick of the tons of shinny new clothes people are wearing without realizing 1 Kg of cotton takes over 10 thousand Liters of water and incredible amounts of energy to produce. I am sickened by the amount of that same clothing hits the landfill in near new condition. I am sick of the argument that our oil is less poisonous than someone else's. Firstly, no it isn't and secondly, It doesn't fucking matter. I am sick of people that can't even handle the ridiculously-small, only-the-tip-of- the-iceberg-of-changes we need to accept; a carbon tax. I am sick of the fact that the political will seems only capable of focusing on the individual consumer through small measures like a carbon tax but no elected Party seems to have the fortitude to enact policies that take it to the small handful of companies that are responsible for 70% of our current C02 production. I am sick of my own hypocrisy that allows me to still use fossil fuels for transportation. I am sick of those who use hypocrisy as an argument against action. I am sick of the Leadership of my country that argues we can have economic growth and survivable environment... we can't. I am sickened by the normalizing of the leadership of our Southern neighbour who as the most polluting nation in the world officially ignores even the tragedy that is the Paris accord. I am sick of the politicians I worked to get elected being impotent on this subject. Naheed and Greg I'm looking at you. (BTW...Druh, you are an exception) I am sick that the next image I put up of my kids, cheese, pets or bread is going to gain immeasurably more attention than a post such as this which actually has meaning... I am sick about the fact that all the information I referenced here is easily discoverable in scientific journals through a simple google search but will be characterized by many as hyperbolic.

    I am especially sick that my future and the future of my children is dependent on the dozens of people that saw this post, said there goes Marc off the deep end again and chose to remain ignorant of the basic facts about our near future.

    There is a path forward.

    But every day we delay the path forward includes fewer of us. Build community, build resilience, work for food security, think regeneration, plant food producing trees, think perennial food production, turn your waste products into resources, eat food that does not mine the soil and is locally produced, eat meat that is grass fed in a holistic or intensively rotated (ideally holistically grazed in a silvopasture ) that is used to provide nutrients to vegetation, get to know a farmer or become one yourself, park your car, do not vote for anyone who either ignores climate change or says we can have our cake and eat it too, quit your job if it is fossil fuel related (it is better than losing it... which you will), stop buying shit, stop buying expensive cars and overly large houses and then complain that local planet saving food costs more than Costco. Stop buying things that are designed to break and be disposed-of, let go of this society slowly and by your own volition (its better than being forced to do it quickly), Rip up your lawn and plant a garden with perennial veggies, fruit bushes, fruit trees and nut trees. Learn to compost your own poop (it is easy and doesn't stink). Buy an apple with a blemish, Get a smaller house on a bigger lot and regenerate that land, Plant a guerrilla garden on a city road allowance. Return to the multi-generational house, Realize that growth has only been a thing in human civilization for 250 years and it is about to end and make preparations for this change. Teach this to your children. Buy only the necessities, don't buy new clothes-go to the thrift store. Don't use single use plastic or if you do re-purpose it, Unplug your garberator and compost everything, Relearn old forgotten skills. Don't let yourself get away with the argument that the plane is going there anyway when you book a holiday. Understand that there is no such thing as the new normal because next year will be worse, Understand before you make the argument that we need to reduce human population ... meaning the population elsewhere... that it is not overpopulation in China or India that is causing the current problem... It is us and our "western" lifestyle, Understand that those that are currently arguing against refugees and climate change are both increasing the effects of climate change and causing millions on climate refugees... which will be arriving on Canada's doorstep because Canada, due to our size and Northern Latitude, will on the whole have some of the best climate refuges. Understand that the densification of cities is condemning those in that density to a food-less future. Stop tolerating the middle ground on climate change. there is no middle ground on gravity, the earth is round, and we are on the verge of collapse.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At last check over 15000 shares. Thank you for reading.

    Thanks to Dr. Eric Rignot, Rupert Read , Dr. Jim Anderson, everyone at Berkely Earth those that put keep C02.earth upto date and so many other climate scientists who's work have inspired this piece. Thanks as well to the 16 yr old Gretta Thunburg who gave me the courage to take what was in my head and put it to paper,. I encourage you to dig deep. Listen to talks where scientist are talking to scientists. They are less likely then to use the conservative filters they impose on themselves and you will get to the cutting edge.

    *on a personal note, since I post about my children, I don't accept friend requests from people I haven't met. That said as of today, I have figured out how to enable the "follow" button on my account. I have been blown away by all the fantastic and heartfelt messages and commitments to change I have received due to this post and look forward to reading them.
  • No photo description available.
  • No photo description available.

Soh

At Kāḷaka’s Park
Kāḷaka Sutta  (AN 4:24)

On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Sāketa in Kāḷaka’s park. There he addressed the monks: “Monks!”
“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.
The Blessed One said: “Monks, whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That do I know. Whatever in this world with its devas, Māras & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its rulers & commonfolk, is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That I directly know. That has been realized by the Tathāgata, but in the Tathāgata1 it has not been established.
“If I were to say, ‘I don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a falsehood in me. If I were to say, ‘I both know and don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be just the same. If I were to say, ‘I neither know nor don’t know whatever in this world… is seen, heard, sensed, cognized… pondered by the intellect,’ that would be a fault in me.
“Thus, monks, the Tathāgata, when seeing what is to be seen, doesn’t suppose an (object as) seen. He doesn’t suppose an unseen. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-seen. He doesn’t suppose a seer.
“When hearing.…
“When sensing.…
“When cognizing what is to be cognized, he doesn’t suppose an (object as) cognized. He doesn’t suppose an uncognized. He doesn’t suppose an (object) to-be-cognized. He doesn’t suppose a cognizer.
Thus, monks, the Tathāgata—being the same with regard to all phenomena that can be seen, heard, sensed, & cognized—is ‘Such.’2 And I tell you: There is no other ‘Such’ higher or more sublime.
“Whatever is seen or heard or sensed
and fastened onto as true by others,
One who is Such—among the self-fettered—
would not further claim to be true or even false.
“Having seen well in advance that arrow
where generations are fastened & hung
—‘I know, I see, that’s just how it is!’—
there’s nothing of the Tathāgata fastened.”
Note
1. Reading tathāgate with the Thai edition.
2. Such (tādin): An adjective applied to the mind of one who has attained the goal. It indicates that the mind “is what it is”—indescribable but not subject to change or alteration.
Labels: 2 comments | | edit post
Soh
Good video by Daniel M. Ingram:

https://vimeo.com/250616410



A note by Soh: "The problem is that most vipassana teachers are missing the anatta insight and the way they teach doesnt directly lead to insight.

Their anatta understanding is still inferential, even if they have peak experiences of some aspects of no-self. It is not the same as what we call the realisation of anatman.

http://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2018/12/vipassana-must-go-with-luminous.html

It will be good that when doing vipassana, at the same time you contemplate experientially the two stanzas of anatta or bahiya sutta, that will lead to the anatman breakthrough

https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2009/03/on-anatta-emptiness-and-spontaneous.html

https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2010/10/my-commentary-on-bahiya-sutta.html

https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2008/01/ajahn-amaro-on-non-duality-and.html "




Also, some recent writing by Daniel on Vipassana in DhO:

https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards/message/11355316


JC said "why the need to experiment with all sorts of practices? Why the need for the switch to Zen, Vajrayana, prayer, Catholic devotional practices, martial arts, magickal practices, and so on?


Why not just continue to observe exactly what's going on in the present moment and see the Three Characteristics?


Well, it could be enough, sort of. The Three Characteristics are profound, very profound, staggeringly profound, and not easily grasped in their entirety. It seems perfectly reasonable to grasp them in their entirety by observing them, but there is a problem, actually, that last line contains a bunch of problems that are not obvious until you see them clearly.

I will go by the words in that last line to illustrate the problem.

"Continue": there is no continuing. There is nothing to continue, no past that could be continued, no future to continue into, and this moment is entirely ungraspable. No sensation could ever actually grasp or continue. Everything is fresh but perfectly ephemeral. The notion of continuing, from a high insight point of view, is a serious problem. Instead, there has to be a deep non-grasping, a perfect and flawless appreciation of non-continuing, a deep never could be a continuing, a deep nothing could ever be continuing, a deep sense of not only discontinuity, but of the utter flowing, vanishing, empty transience of anything that seemed to be able to continue. One must figure out how to go beyond continuing, beyond grasping, beyond that strange mental illusion that such a thing could ever occur or have occurred.

"Observe": there is no observing. There can be no observing. There is nothing that can observe at all. Everything is just occurring where it is, naturally, straightforwardly. There is no observer. There can't be any observer. There never was any observer. Deeply understanding this is required. There never was any observation. Observation can't finally do it. One must figure out how to shift out of observing to just phenomena occurring.

The qualifier "in the present moment" is a problem in some way. This almost always involves some subtle or gross pattern of sensations that we refer to mentally when we say "now", or "the present", which are not actually stable, not actually a present, not actually anything but more empty transience, yet we make them seem like a stable present. This is very subtle, deep, profound. Even "the present" doesn't withstand scrutiny, and we must be careful with this sticky concept, as it can itself become a sort of a solidified thing, part of the illusion of continuity, observation, practitioner, etc.

So, while it is true that deeply comprehending emptiness, non-continuity, non-observation, and even non-present, can occur by just continuously observing this present moment, we must be careful, and sometimes it takes people shifting out of their trench of "good practice" to do something that is out from good practice and instead is just the unfolding empty wisdom dharma. Various people find various methods to make this subtle shift, and one size definitely does not fit all, so best wishes sorting out what will help you work out your salvation with diligence.

Daniel

One could just say that each transient moment, however it is, naturally understands its ungraspable, discontinuous, emphemeral, non-existent, empty nature, straightforwardly, perfectly.

However, one must be careful not to idealize or intellectually reify any of those concepts and qualifiers, and instead this is something that is purely perceptual.

It applies to every transient moment, regardless of any other consideration of the specific qualities of that moment.
Flag


All that said, I did, as my last push, go back to the Three Characteristics and Six Sense Doors, just those, but at a level of extremely high precision, inclusiveness, and acceptance, and found that effective. Yet, the place I had gotten to that seemed to make it effective was a radical disenchantment and dispassion towards with everything “I” had attained, everything “I” was, everything “I” could become, everything “I” could experience, and how to arrive at such a place varies a lot by the person.




Also see:

Vipassana Must Go With Luminous Manifestation

Four Foundations of Mindfulness: The Direct Path to Liberation
Thusness's Vipassana
Mindfulness as Remembrance
Soh
Note: In addition to the forum postings below, I have also uploaded an archive of all his articles from Dreamdatum on spiritual growth and his personal spiritual insights (which was written in the period between year 2004 to 2008) before his website disappeared, available for download at: https://app.box.com/s/vx0baz7mi7

Also, there is a very old e-book written by Longchen/Simpo during/before year 2004, which may also be of interest. However it is spoken from the understanding/experience of the I AM or Eternal Witness, and his understandings and experience have since changed:


Click to download in chapters.

Preface
How to use the articles (86kb)
Who are we? (113kb)
Article about our true identity and it's relation with the cosmos.

Are we just a body?
(260kb)
Articles about the human energy system.

Miscellaneous Articles(171kb)
Miscellaneous articles written from various perspectives and experiences.


-----------------
 

Recently I have compiled some of the writings by Sim Pern Chong (who wrote by the pseudonym 'simpo' or 'longchen' in the past) as the forum seems to be disappearing. I shared the writings of Sim Pern Chong with the dharma teacher Daniel Ingram from the Mahasi Sayadaw lineage in 2007. Daniel replied me back then that he finds the author "writes well and I am impressed", and furthermore "find his writing to be of unusually good quality. I can find no fault with what he says. I like his straightforward and easy style." and that "if he is accurately describing where he actually is without exaggeration, then I would guess that he is either a late anagami or arahat, realizing that this is only a guess." (note: Daniel's definition of 'arahat' is based on the nonduality model described in his book or the elimination of all sense of duality, centerpoint and agency, and may or may not correlate with other definitions. Daniel Ingram also said in an interview with Tarin many years ago that he considers Thusness to be an Arahat/Arahant)

Similarly, Thusness commented in his 7 stages article that "Simpo (Longchen) is a very insightful and sincere practitioner, there are some very good quality articles written by him regarding non-duality in his website Dreamdatum." Since these are "unusually good quality" I think it's worth sharing.


(Update by Soh:


Even after anatta, John Tan, AtR and I do not consider that as final enlightenment (unlike what Daniel Ingram, Kevin Shanilec and the likes claim).


We consider the realisation of anatta to be stream entry (see: https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/igored/insight_buddhism_a_reconsideration_of_the_meaning/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf%20 , https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2020/08/insight-buddhism-reconsideration-of.html ) instead of fourth path arahantship, based on suttas.


We consider the realization of twofold emptiness to be first bhumi based on sutras. See: https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2022/07/buddhahood-end-of-all-emotionalmental.html)



Sim Pern Chong's writings back in 2007~2012:

Non duality is really the same experience as no-self state. It is also the same as no subject-object split. 'No subject-object split' means the illusion of an observer and the being observed is being understood and the sense of split dissolved.

Below is a description of how non-duality feels like.


I have noticed that non-duality has various depths and degrees. Certain times there are more mental thoughts, certain times less and this give rise to different degrees of vividness and sense of Oneness.

At times, sense of being at a location can be greatly diminished... instead what is being felt are all the sensations that made up 'here-ness'... For in truth, 'here-ness' is really made up of perceptions and sensations... For example, the sensations of pressure of the feet against the floor... they are just that..sensations. Likewise, the visual perceptions and hearing and so on so forth are just that.

For in truth, 'location-space', 'individuality-self', ' inner-outer', etc are impressions.

There is also a spacious or all-pervading quality to the experience of non-duality and this is what was meant as a sense of Oneness. At times, objects and surroundings can be 'de-cognated' ( that is ... freed from being perceived as such) and a free-ing joyful and vitalising feeling can be felt. This feels like the mind has finally comes to a must-needed rest from its incessant mental activities.

Also, in the deeper range of non-duality, there is an increasingly penetrating brightness. This brightness is the result of mind's deconstruction which allows for intense penetration into consciousness. The Brightness can be so intense that it is truly stunning.

Please understand that all along our existence has been non-dual. There is no attaining to non-duality... It is only the 'sense of self' that created the impression of duality. Even when the 'sense of self' is there, existence is still non-dual. We never live out of non-duality.


Also, there is another point to add...

Non-duality is NOT the same as a state of Witnessing Presence observing Phenomenality. An Eternal Witness Presence that is apart from Phenomena cannot be said to be non dual as there are 2 components here (witness and phenomena). I had this experience before. And now, I must say that true non-duality is distinctively different from this.

Non duality can only be effortlessly experienced when the 'sense of self' and the 'Eternal Witness' are correctly understood for what they are.

....

Enlightenment is a gradual process

This essay is not a definitive writing on this subject of enlightenment. The following is just an expression of my own experiences and findings.
There seems to be a notion that enlightenment is just one final state. Many also believe that when one has certain transcendental or mystical experience, that experience is final and complete. This assumption is perhaps popularised by the classic stories of enlightenment that are widely known. Also there is much granduer associated with this notion of Enlightenment which, in my opinion, is totally overhyped and uncalled for.
My opinion is that enlightenment is not just one 'standard' final state but is a gradual and progressive establishing of states of consciousness. The process is a succesive unfoldment and transformation, leading to increasingly clear understanding of the dynamics of consciousness. So perhaps, enlightenment as described by various persons and traditions can be referring to different states of consciousness.

I, myself have not reach the end of the road. But from years on a spiritual path, I can confidently say that enlightenment happens in a series or stages of self-realisations and self-discoveries. There are, in fact, more than one type of transcendental or mystical experience.

Almost all stages of enlightenment can be said to be associated with states of Presence. However, the Presence comes in various degrees of clarity and intensity. The degree of intensity is directly dependent on the level and depth of one's clarity as well as one's realisations/discoveries.
Usually there is a difference between an initial awakening and a later stabilisation of that stage.

Also, as one progresses along, the relationship or connections of oneself to the universe and existence in general also becomes clearer.

Below is an attempt to illustrate the stage-based characteristic of enlightenment:

When one first begin meditating, one may have an initial experience of all-pervading Presence. This Presence, is most often experienced when thoughts are momentarily suspended. This Presence which exists in the timeless Present Moment is our true characteristic or nature.

However such an experience can only be classified as an initial awakening to the true nature.. which ironically have no sense of being an individual self. This is because, after the meditation, the Presence seems to have disappeared. One cannot understand and find the connection of Presence to our everyday life. Because of that, one will have difficulties re-acquiring the Presence. And it takes many stages and series of realisation to understand the relationship of Presence to our phenomenal world. It can be said that the prolonged sustaining of Presence is dependent upon the stages and depth of realisation.

Also, during the earlier stages we may mistaken another state to be the pure pristine presence. For example, we may mistaken 'I AM' or the Eternal Witness for pure presence. This is because the thinking mind has created a seemingly constant image of Pure Presence. This image is the I AM or Eternal Witness, as it is commonly described. Basically, at this stage, the true characteristic of Presence is not being clearly understood.

Usually, in order to pass through the so-called 'I AM' stage, the person must move towards even deeper understandings of consciousness. These understandings may include realising that one's sense of self or personality is not the doer or controller of action. This realisation allows one to loosen the 'sense of self's compulsive grip and in the process, a state of NOWness can be experienced. By NOWness, I am referring to a peaceful state where the mind is not chasing after thoughts but rather is abiding in the Present Moment.
This stage may persist for sometime before the person realises the illusion of subject-object division. This stage involves discovering and recognising the hypnotic impression of there being an observer (which is oneself) and the being observed. Typically, this is where one begins to see through the illusionary nature of our phenomenal world. This entire band of realisation stage is often known as non-dual experience or non-duality. After the initial experiences of non-duality, the person may reach a even more profound realisation. This is the realisation that everything that is being experienced is truly spontaneously manifesting. This realisation is more subtle than the previous realisation and represents a major leap in understanding.

Also, in the further stages of the enlightenment process, there are experiences of increasing brightness to one's consciousness. This brightness is the result of mind's deconstruction which allows for intense penetration into consciousness.
While there may well be other stages not described here, nevertheless, one can still see from the above description that enlightenment is not so straight-forward after all.

One more thing to add. Realisations and karmic pattern clearing go hand in hand on the spiritual path.

For your necessary discernment. Thank you for reading.
If you are interested you may also wish to read about the series of realisations that I had on my path of enlightenment as well as other essays related to this subject of enlightenment. Click here for the articles.


....

Yep... I stayed at I AM level understanding for many years. It was Thusness who probed and guided me to move beyond that phase.

...

    realization: Oh yes Simpo, can I just ask how you realised the I AM years ago?

    Simpo: There are actually 2 significant events:

1. In the 1980s when i was a teenager, i sat down to meditate for the first time. I experienced great bliss. In this meditation, i experienced 'no ultimate right or wrong' aka non-judgemental and is soaked in a vast ocean of bliss for a few days. Haha... i thought i was enlightened. On hindsight now, i know that i was not. That is why now when people write about non-dual to meant 'no right/wrong' I know which stage they are at.

2.  In the 1990s, i join a meditation class that held sessions every Sunday at a Buddhist temple. I was learning one-point meditation. One afternoon when i was meditating at home, all the sensory impressions stopped including thoughts. I was in a state of 'No-thoughts'. One may think that when there are no thoughts, one must be unconscious. No there is no unconsciousness. Instead what was being experienced was pure Presence/awareness. However due to not understanding the nature of consciousness and reality, this awareness was experienced as an Eternal Witness/Observer. This is the pure experience of I AM presence.

...

In my case, the initial experience happened during a meditation which led me to the misassumption of 'I AM'. The experience is pure, but the latter interpretation of it was wrong.

In 'No-I' experience, one simply realised that there is no self in any experience even when consciousness is rolling own. There can be thinking, but there is no thinker.

On the other hand, in complete consciousness blank-out, yet awareness persists, there is not a single thought or any form of mental formation. Basically, there is no thinking, no mental image or any form of consciousness that we normally have. It will be distinctive because it is this experience that will allow one to see for the first time the difference between mental-mixed consciousness and pure presence.

Complete mental formation shut down and yet awareness still exist, it is not the same as sleep.

Personally, I don't see a point in maintaining witnessing even into sleep. It is really a desire to have that expereince of Presence.

...

Hi Criable and Jamber,

Thanks so much for the sharing.

Will like to just add a bit of my input. Nothing definitive as we are all exploring.

The visual effects and pixels that Jamber sees is not the luminosity that we are taking about. The luminousity is more an experiential clarity.

There is a significant difference between experiencing/understanding the luminosity before and after realisation of no-self.

Before the realisation of no-self, any pure awareness/consciousness experience will be interpreted as the Self. In another word, the experience will be ' I have an experience of the Self.'

After realisation of no-self, the awareness experience may not be experienced by a someone who is me. In another word, 'there is an experience, but it is not experienced by me'.

The difference is that the ego/sense of self/me/I is not an entity but a transcient effect of grasping that spell-bound awareness into a sense of an individual self having experiences. So the 'I' experience is a subtle 'ignorance' that tint an experience... and this subtle grasping can also be present in the experience of pure consciousness.

...

I think Eckhart Tolle may have been suffering alot and suddenly he 'let go' of trying to work out his problems. This results in a dissociation from thoughts which give rise to the experience of Presence.

To me,  'I AM' is an experience of Presence, it is just that only one aspect of Presence is experienced which is the 'all-pervading' aspect. The non-dual and emptiness aspect are not experienced.. Because non-dual is not realised (at I AM stage), a person may still use effort in an attempt to 'enter' the Presence. This is because, at the I AM stage, there is an erroneous concept that there is a relative world make up of thoughts AND there is an 'absolute source' that is watching it. The I AM stage person will make attempts to 'dissociated from the relative world' in order to enter the 'absolute source'.

However, at Non-dual (& further..) stage understanding, one have understood that the division into a relative world and an absolute source has NEVER occcured and cannot be... Thus no attempt/effort is truly required.

...

Sim Pern Chong also wrote in 2022:

"Just my opinion...
For my case, the first time i experienced a definitive I AM presence, there was zero thought. just a borderless, all pervading presence. In fact, there was no thinking or looking out for whether this is I AM or not. There was no conceptual activity. It was interpreted as 'I AM' only after that experience.
To me, I AM experience is actually a glimpse of the way reality is.. but it is quickly re-interpreted. The attribute of 'borderlessness' is experienced. but other 'attributes such as 'no subject-object', 'transparent luminosity, emptiness are not understood yet.
My take, is that when 'I AM' is experienced, you will be doubtless that it is the experience."


...

She (Supreme Master Ching Hai) is definitely at 'I AM' stage. She has not yet understood 'no subject-object split'. That is why she say there are 2 parts... body and spirit.

For one who realises non-duality (no subject-object split) there is no division of body and spirit. At non-duality realisation, body is not seen as entity but as perceptions and sensations that are 'not separated from environment'. In fact perception and sensation is the 'environment'.

...

This thread reminds me of one incident last month.

I was in one shopping center and i saw a shopfront advertising Prana and Arhatic Yoga course.

Well, naturally, i was curious and went in to have a look. I have a chat with one of the persons inside. I think she is a staff or student of the course.

I was looking through the brochures and ask her why the word 'Arhat' was used for the Yoga course. Another lady overhead the conversation and say that the course is pitching at the same level as the Buddhist Arhat.

Having browsed thru some of the brochures, I told her it is not the same. She seems to be in a hurry and asked me to check out their website.

I check out their website. Their teacher talk about I AM oneness realisation.

Indeed, it is not the same level of realisation as the Arhat. The teacher is at I AM level understanding. It is sad that the followers cannot tell the difference.

People are doing business and earning from it. So, i thought better not to disrupt their livelihood by telling them. Also, the chances of them believing what i say will be very slim...

...

Samsara is also not place.. this is not a typo error. You will not understand this until non-duality is experienced.

'Hereness', 'distance' and time are just impressions. They give the 'illusionary' impression of places. This also explains the nature of 'supernatural power' like clairvoyance and seeing things far away, etc.

...    

The non-solidity of existence
This article describes a spiritual insight. It may be quite hard to understand.
The things that we experience are registered by all the sense organs. The eye sight registers vision, the ears register sound, the body registers sensations. These perception, sensations and experiences are not happening in some places. They are the experience of the arising of certain conditions. There is no solidity and physicality in the actual experience.

What we experienced is not universal and common to all. Here's an example to illustrate that: We know that as human beings, we see in term of colours. Some animals are however colour-blind, thus they see differently from us. But none of us, is really seeing the truth nature directly. The senses of different species of sentient beings experience things differently. So who is seeing the real image of an object? None.
Likewise, the various planes of existence are due to different conditions arising. In certain types of meditation, one is said to be able to access these planes of existence. This is because they are not specific locations. They are mental states and are thus non-localised. In these meditations, our consciousness changes and 'aligned' more with these other states or planes of existence.
All the planes of existence are simultaneously manifesting, but because our senses are human-based conditioned arisings, we only see the human world and other beings that shared 'similar' resonating arising conditions. But nevertheless, the other planes of existences are not elsewhere in some other places.
What we think of as places are really just consciousness and there is no solidity whatsoever. Even our touch sense is just that. The touch sense gives an impression of feeling something that is physical and three-dimensional. But there is really no solid self-existing object there. Instead, it is simply the sensation that gives the impression of physical solidity and form.
OK, that all I can think of and write about this topic. I will revise and improve this article where the need arises.
For your necessary ponderance. Thank you for reading.

...    

Hi People,

I feel a need to clarify that emptiness (in Buddhism) is not the same as 'nothingness' or 'lack of meaning in life', lest it  gets misunderstood. Many people, even mystics and spiritual walkers from other paths, have this misunderstanding and therefore label Buddhism as pessimistic. This is far from the truth.

Emptiness is a realisation that needs to be experienced to be understood. It roughly encompasses an understanding that there is no solidity, no space, no time, no locality, etc. Looking at the way the world seems to be, it appear that there are distances, space and time and solidity.  But this is not what the truth is like. Everything is actually occuring 'simultaneously' (not accurate, but no better word for this) in a 'timeless' manner... but the conditions of experiences (sensory and consciousness data) normally will not allow us to penetrate through to experience emptiness.

Only insights can penetrate through the veil.

As for 'karmic lessons', karma is about desires/attachment operating in an unconscious manner. Because they are operating in an unconscious manner, we are not aware of their operations and therefore they continue to 'run the show'. So, karmic lessons and losing attachment are not different or opposing activities. Mindfulness practice helps in uncovering these unconscious desires/assumptions/imprints etc.

...

One thing will like to add is that the 'sense of self/I' is itself a chief karmic pattern. It make us see things through a referencing center. 'I' is the grasping/desire that creates a center where experiences are referenced to.

When the 'I' dissapears through recognition, experiences has no center. This does not mean that all is now a blank. One still can operate as per normal, but there is no 'center'. As 'I' is the grasping and the splitter of subject/object division, tension goes away together with it.

...

Please don't wait until the last minute to start a regime of spiritual cultivation practice. By that time, time will not be not their side and many will likely be too desperate to engage in any useful form of discipline to reach some kind of realisations.

Lately, i have seen too many cases of elderly people around me in dire straits. Many of them are not practicing buddhist and in the times of desperation seeks for whatever belief that will offer them a saviour. This is sad, had they been cultivating and reaching certain level of insights/realisation, death will not be such a fearful unknown.


What i was trying to convey is that a regimentation of practice inclusive of activities for concentration, insight practice and morality takes a long time to build up to see the results.

It can take years/decade to just get an initial glimpse of deeper reality or awakening. Please start the spiritual cultivation practice now. Don't wait.

Likeyou: "You mean by simple chanting? Praying?

Sorry bro....I am not sure."

Simpo:

Hi Likeyou,

By whatever means that will bring one to the experience/insight of the true nature of themselves or deeper reality.

I have not used chanting so am not familiar with it.

For me, meditation is a must have practice. The first glimpse of pure awareness that i had was through the simple one-point meditation/concentration.

What i was trying to convey is that a regimentation of practice inclusive of activities for concentration, insight practice and morality takes a long time to build up to see the results.

Regards"

"Best to strive for enlightenment. End of story."

Realization: "So, the I AM may be realised via one-pointed meditation and does not have to come from investigation?"

Simpo: "It depends. I know of people who meditate the entire life and still never reach I AM.

If you can bypass I AM phase and realise no-self (straight) is the best.. dun need to waste time like i did.

(Comments by Soh: “Regarding whether it is important to go through I AM realization or can we skip to anatta -- John Tan and I and Sim Pern Chong have had differing and evolving opinions about this over the years (I remember Sim Pern Chong saying he thinks people can skip it altogether, John also wondered if it is possible or advisable as certain AF people seem to have skipped it but experience luminosity), however after witnessing the progress of people it seems to us that those who went into anatta without the I AM realization tend to miss out the luminosity and intensity of luminosity. And then they will have to go through another phase. For those with I AM realization, the second stanza of anatta comes very easily, in fact the first aspect to become more apparent. Nowadays John and my opinion is that it is best to go through the I AM phase, then nondual and anatta..

There was also the worry that by leading people into the I AM, they can get stuck there. (As John Tan and Sim Pern Chong was stuck there for decades)

But I have shown that it is possible to progress rather quickly (in eight months) from I AM to anatta. So the being stuck is due to lack of right pointers and directions, not inherently an issue with I AM.” - Soh, 2020)


To help a bit, when you meditate by focusing on the breathe at the tip of the nose, do not think that you are meditating. How do i explain it... dun think that there is a person (you) meditating. Also, just be aware of the breathe.. don't breath deliberately.

Also, the posture is very important, the spine should preferably not be supported by a wall. A straight spine and neck posture will help. Perhap use a support to lift the buttock above the ground abit so that the buttock position is higher that the cross legs.

'I AM' will be experienced when the mind is not thinking about the past or the future or is having any kind of dreaming... but is abiding in the Present. Focusing on the breathe is a method to align the mind to the immediate Present moment.

There can be many ways to experience the I AM presence as long as the method can cut off grasping on the thoughts/content. When mind is detached from thoughts content, the only activities that is left is the automatic breathing action. 

You can experience I AM while not meditating and with eyes open too. Simply look straight ahead into open space and relax. An open space or field will be more conducive to experiencing it under such condition.

May you experience pure awareness soon !"

...


Tingling at the tip of the head could possibly mean that one is releasing/dropping enough mental activity to experience pure awareness/luminousity soon. Often, this will be accompanied by the automatic repositioning of body to straighten the spine. At the opening of luminosity and spaciousness, the eyes may open very wide to match the quantum leap in energy surge and luminosity.

...



Yah, Sir... that is very true indeed.

About the 'self/I', it is easier to identify it when we are alone... and is not interacting with others.

For my case, eating and walking are the easiest activties to be 'no-self'. There are just the actions without the 'I' there. Chewing is chewing, walking is walking...just pure action.

It is alot more difficult to see 'no-self' when we are interacting with others. This is because the very act of interacting with other implies there are others to interact with oneself. However it is possible.

I am just beginning to enter deeper into this phase... so can't be of much help. The key, that i see, is the daringness to drop the attachment of seeing others as separate. This is different from dropping all thoughts... because to maintain communication thoughts must be deployed. IMO, perhaps, before this phase can be maintained with any level of stability, a clear understanding of emptiness is firstly required. This is because the realisation of emptiness encompasses the insight that there is no-others. Without the clear insight of emptiness, it is very hard for the mind to be convinced that there are no one and no others.


...


Hi,

I can remember some of my past lifes and can confidently say that certain things that happened (and how one respond to it) in life is due to what transpired in previous lifes.

Also, since we are at the topic of karma, will also like to share some opinions on Merit.

It may sound controversial, merit appears to be an influential factor regarding one's potential and level of 'smoothness' for gaining enlightenment.

...

Hi,

The definition of merits and how to acquire them are not difficult to find. So, will not write about them.

Basically, my understanding is that the Dharma Teaching is the mechanism for leading Beings out of suffering and the rebirth cycle. So activities that promotes its right understanding and peoples' contact with the Dharma benefits ones' right understanding and progress along the path.

Likewise, activities that obstruct or confuse others with regards to the Dharma, will result in obstruction and confusion on the path.

We don't have to go far to see this effect. Already there are people patronising this forum who are experiencing the effect of confusing others with regards to the teaching, leading to their own confusion.

...


Thanks for the sharing.

This part described what i tried to do during 'I AM' stage very well....

"Attendant to b) is the notion that (first) she is apart from something (desirable); and (second) is driven, by ego motivation, to "attain" or "achieve" it. Subject proposes to "merge" with object. But subject does not comprehend that in a non-dual "merging" both subject and object dissolve. The subject, here, expects to remain an entity to which an (unusual) experience is to be added. It is a stultifying, frustrating pursuit, a deadening cycle of "arriving" and inevitably "departing". But because of the (temporary) suspension of "conceptual," egoic thought, it is sometimes presumed to be the "liberation" which is spoken about."

IMO, a real' I AM Presence' stage will reveal much about the non-local/all-pervading aspect of reality.... unlike a pseudo experience of visualising/imagining a light that overlight us. Sometimes, the I AM stage may also reveal the luminous/light aspect as well. But for my case, the luminousity aspect was experienced later. IMO, it depends on how that stage was experienced. IMO, Luminousity is experienced due to the deconstruction of perception. IMO, Non-locality is experienced due to the total suspension of mental formation/thoughts.

Non-dual will reveal the insight that all along the self does not exist in a concrete manner. It will first be experienced as if experiences are 'flat'... ha ha... i dunno how to describe. In non-dual, there is a gradual maturing process (consisting of distinctive stage of insights)... where the self aspect gets better understood. In the early stage, we may try to dissolve or get rid of the self. In the later state, we begin to realise that the getting rid act is also a sense of self. Later on stage, there is an 'immediate' realisation...which i dunno how to describe and best experienced for oneself.

Will like to add that although 'letting go' is not the actual non-duality experience, it is an important part of practice. Slowly and gradually, the practice of letting go helps in creating gaps for the insights to occur.

...


IMO, there is a difference between non-duality and no-self insight. Both experiences are quite similar, but the insight/understanding is different.

In non-duality, the realisation is that there is no subject-object division. In no-self, well... the realisation is that there is no medium agent of a self.

IMO, the arising and passing away experience stems from the insight of no-self. It do not result from the non-dual realisation.

...

Non-duality is more obvious when it is experienced.

No-self is a more subtle insight. There is a subtle 'switch'. It is this subtle switch that allows for the arising and passing away as the 'self' is not blocking the arising from passing away.

...

From my experience of no-self, when thoughts arise that are about passed events that happened... these past events will not be identified as belonging to 'me' ... in another word they are just recognised as thoughts/memories. This will enable the thoughts to dissolve (passing away) which could literally be 'seen'. Same goes with any mind contents such as thinking and planning for the future... they will be recognised as not belonging to 'me' and thus pass away.

...

Yep, AEN is correct.

In my case, the stabilise realisation of No-self (anatta) came after the early/initial insight of emptiness.

Before the stablisation of no-self, there was still substantial efforting in getting into the 'view'.

The irony is that once the no-self experience is stabilised, one will wonder why did one not see it in the first place. This is because it is so direct. It is as if one is beating around the bush for years just to see the most obvious and direct. However, on hindsight, all the years of practice is really just clearing enough obscurations (habit as well as conceptual conditionings).

My feeling is that the next stage is actually about the stabilisation of emptiness.

In my experience, the initial insights will come first. Then there will be followed by cycles that will revisit these insights until a stabilisation of each insight occurs.

...


Hi Dharmadhatu,

There are layers of obscurations preventing the actual dynamics of consciousness from being known.

Once you come to this stage, you will naturally understood what is it about.

Currently, the 'I', conventional way of understanding reality, conceptual thoughts, sense of solidity are blocking the experience as described.

In actuality, everything is happening at-one, in-sync with the entire 'universe'. When you eat, the whole universe vibrates (in the action of eating). This, i believe, is how a Buddha can be omniscent... able to know things that he wants as and when. ..for in actuality everything is interconnected in a holographic way.


...


"Hi Simpo, what is the 'view' that you were efforting to get into at that point? "

I am referring to the 'view' of no-self. Actually, the word view can be misleading but there is no way to describe it.

Put it another way, before the stabilisation of no-self... it is hard to see how the 'sense of self' is muddled in the contents/thoughts. One will have a tendency to apply effort to get into a particular preferred state. With the stabilisation of no-self, this effort is correctly understood as 'sense of self' efforting. Every effort that is being applied causes the arising of the sense of self. It is like a dog trying to bite its own tail... going around in loop.

"Also, what triggered off the insight into emptiness in the first place?"

There is no way to really trigger an insight into emptiness apart from deconstructing. But then deconstruction can also lead to other experiences... Also when the insight comes it will be when least expected.

Prior to insight into emptiness, there may be a strong luminosity experience... but one must not get attached to it and let it go. This may allow the other characteristics (eg emptiness) to shine through.

There is a distinction between experience and realisation. In the realisation, there is a knowing. In an experience, there is a misinterpretation. For example, these experiences can be quite similar to Kundalini arising... The main difference is that an experience can be a misinterpretation of what actually happened.

A misinterpretation of what actually happened will prevent further and deeper experiences.

For example, if one has an I AM experience and believe that there is an eternal witness/observer. ... he/she will not be able to have a non-dual experience. Thus the opportunity to directly understand/realise non-duality is severed by the misinterpretation caused by the I AM experience. This same thing applies to the realisation of emptiness and no-self.

Actually...all experiences are already no-self and empty... It is because this is so that liberation is possible.


....

Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:
i have read that the 2 most profound ways to clear karma in the Vajrayana is to practise Vajrasattva and rest in nature of mind.
My friends have increased their intelligence, cured diseases, removed destructive patterns that were unconducive to practice, increased clarity & strength of mind etc etc etc. through this practice.  It is a main way to clear obstacles on the path.  As Vajrasattva is the quintessence of all deities.  Simply to practice his mantra covers all the other Buddhas / Deities and Vajrasattva practice is also intimately connected to the bardo experiences.

Simpo:

Yes, I find Vajrasattva Purification to be very powerful. Incidentally, i have only discovered this method not too long ago..in the beginning of the year.
It is through 'interesting' means... It started, when i was concerned that someone i know might be going towards negativity and thus falling into woeful state in future life. As people dun always believe what i say... i thought maybe i should get a 'qian' from Guan Yin at the Bugis temple... and use the 'qian' paper as a physical message. So i told the person that i will be going to Guan Yin temple to ask Guan Yin about 'what her future life condition will be'. As expected... the qian is a 'bad' one. But more importantly is the message of the qian. It says that there will be no reward/good result due to lack of merits or something like that. and that the conditions in life is determined by ones' merits.
With that, i gave the 'qian' paper to the person. I went to search on the topic of 'merit' and chance upon Vajrasattva Purification... Next i recommend the Vajrasattva Purification to others and practice it myself. :)
What I have found is that with whatever practice, deep respect for the Teacher is very important whether you can see the Teacher or not. Without deep respect, there will be pride and no faith and thus understandings cannot be effectively transmitted.
Originally posted by "newbie":
What purification practice you do? The article didn't actually teach the purification practice and certain method needs initiation
Simpo: It is in the article. The article also gave a very detailed description of karmic dynamics.
Anyway a simpler article:
http://www.fpmt-osel.org/meditate/vjrstva.htm
Also... read the meaning of the texts first .. and see if this is what you aspire towards. Again as i have stressed... to be effective.. there must be deep respect.
Plus... you cannot replace this with the other essential practices entailing insight practices, concentration and morality.


Originally posted by StriveOn:
Sorry guys, but I want to put up some tough questions here.
Did Buddha says we can purify our karma by reciting a mantra 100,000 times?
What did Buddha says about Karmic formations and what we should do?
Just want to keep on track...
Simpo: Actually.. i should not have bring up this practice as it raises too much confusion with certain people.
In a nutshell, the mantra and visualisation alone of course will have no power... one must understand the meaning. It is like a statement of intention and commitment.
Additionally, the world is not what you see as it is. For those who realises emptiness, one will also understand that space, time, distance and locations are just impressions. They don't exist in a solid and permanent sense. That means, the Enlightenment and Wisdom of Great Beings are still accessible as they are not restricted by space, time, distance and locations. The world/consciousness is really holographic.
No, these Being will not reduce your karma. IMO, it is more like by being attuned with Enlightened Being... and in the process one gets supported along the way. It is like as if an uncharged metal can be progressively magnetised when come in contact with a real magnet.


—-


Sim Pern Chong, 2006:



Is there an Eternal Witness?

During deep meditative states, an all-pervading Presence is detectable. This Presence, is most often experienced when thoughts are momentarily suspended. In this state, we sense the Eternal Witness.

 

But does the Eternal Witness truly exist? No.

In the past, I would have thought that it existed... as our true self. Not anymore.

So what causes the impression of the Witness?

From deep meditative observation, the witness is realised to be just an impression that is caused by subtle knowingness and sequential observation. Moment to moment arises in lightning fast speed. The second moment got a subtle imprint of the recently preceded one. This sequential change causes the sense of Subtle Witnessing known as the Eternal Witness.

There is no permanent unchanging Witness, but ever changing moment to moment witnessing. In another word, no permanent 'Eternal Witness' exist.

…..


In 2004, Sim Pern Chong wrote this while he was in his I AM stage and has not yet realised nondual or anatman (no-self):

Who are we? Really

“The Matrix” is one movie that got many a viewer pondering on the nature of reality. I, for one, am a great fan of The Matrix. In many ways, although not exactly true or that diabolical, the movie is symbolic of the nature of reality. Many a times, meditation allows one to catch glimpses beyond the ordinary. There are some meditation sessions that literally redefined my identity and altered my perception of the world. I must emphasize that meditation is the major modality that helped me to understand myself better.

The Eternal Watcher- The True Identity


In one ‘awakening’ meditation, I came to a state of no thoughts. Such experiences are very hard to describe. This is because the explanation process itself, is within the medium of thoughts and concepts. It is impossible to describe a state of no thoughts using thoughts! Anyway, in the void of no thoughts, one naturally assume that everything must be an unconscious blank. However, that was not the case! What came next was quite a revelation to me. In the void of no thought, I perceived myself to be a Presence... Here's how I will describe myself.

"The Presence is all pervasive, yet un-intrusive. He seems to be in all

things and observes with utter passiveness. He exists beyond concepts,

beliefs and do not need any form. Therefore, I understand him as

eternal.

He also seems to be the subtler state of myself. I also got the feeling

that he existed in all my lifetimes or even more. If I were to name him, I

will describe him as The Eternal Watcher.”

You can say that I was completely blown away by the experience. The ‘discovery’ of the Eternal Watcher was a very important event that completely changed the way I understood consciousness. It also made me contemplated very deeply and seriously about the possible existence of the Divine. These spurred me on an ardent search to understand and make sense of it all. I corresponded with whoever I think can help me unlock the mystery. These people included clairvoyants, other meditators, people on spiritual paths and new-agers.

From these investigations, it was discovered that others have had similar experiences as well. Based on the consistency and plurality of the descriptions by others, something becomes very certain to me. That is, a human being is much more than a body that can talk and think. The Human Personality, which is our character, is only an outer consciousness of the human. With regard to our identity, our personality is merely the tip of the iceberg. Within the human being’s psyche lie much subtler and often-obscured levels of consciousness. I believe these inner consciousnesses could be the different depths of the Soul or levels of being-ness even more profound than that. About the Eternal Watcher, he is ever present. You didn’t see him doesn’t means he is not there. Because the Presence is so close to the mind, it is not easily perceived.

Perceiving the Eternal Watcher was achieved through the relaxed observation of my own breath. The ultra-relaxed observation eventually becomes a purely passive allowance for thoughts to pass through my consciousness. This, in turn, led to a gradual shutting down of the mental processes of my physical brain cumulating into a state of ‘no-thoughts’. Beyond the transitional phase of ‘no-thoughts’, I became the Eternal Watcher. Experiencing the Eternal Watcher is not an exercise that I can easily brush off as inconsequential. It is not possible for me to assume that my perception of existence and life can be the same as before. Doing so will be blatantly self-deceiving. To me, the most profound experiences where not from doing something. They came from doing nothing.

I believed the Eternal Watcher is the individualized God/Source Presence within oneself. I also believe this Presence is Rigpa as described in Tibetan Buddhism. Some people suggest that the Presence is the same as the Oversoul. However, I am not too sure about this. I hope I am not confusing you. In any case, the only way to validate all these is to personally experience the Presence (Eternal Watcher) and these states for oneself.

That ‘no-thought experience’ was not the only mystical meditative experience. I have also experienced being a vast ocean of bliss. Ironically, the meditations that were attempted with an agenda of wanting to experience something mystical are the ones that are the least successful. Expectation puts a limit on how far one’s consciousness can go. For me, it was better to keep an open mind before sitting down to Meditate.”