Soh

 


Replied someone:


Resistance arises in the same as for example, anger:



“Though anatta is a seal [Soh: i.e. a truth that is always already so, pertaining to the nature of mind/experience], it also requires one to arise the insight to feel liberated. When a practitioner realizes the anatta nature of manifestation, at that moment without the sense of observer, there is no negative emotions. There is only vivid sensation of all the arising as presence. When you are angry, it is a split. When you realized its anatta nature, there is just vivid clarity of all the bodily sensations. Even when there is an arising thought of something bad, it dissolves with no involvement in the content [Soh: i.e. mental contents like stories, imagination and conceptualization along with emotional involvement]. To be angry, a 'someone' must come into the content. When there is no involvement of the extra agent, there is only recoiling and self liberations. One should differentiate arising thought from the active involvement of the content a practitioner that realizes anatta is only involved fully in the vivid presence of the action, phenomena but not getting lost in content.” - John Tan, 2009


“Not creating an idea of a self frees us completely from anger. You cannot have anger unless there is a self. There is no boundless and omniscient self somewhere in the sky that created the whole universe, and there is no tangible and limited self that inhabits this bag of skin. All of reality is simply infinite dharmas that arise and disappear in accord with the laws of karma. There is not one thing standing against another.” - Zen Master John Daido Loori


“I am only interested in the way to free from worries, fear, anger, greed and ignorance.” - John Tan, 2018


“After realization of anatta, I have found that negative emotions dissolves or are attenuated.” - Soh, 2018


The way to release afflictions is through self-liberation.


“There are three traditional methods of dealing with emotions: abandoning them, transforming them, and recognizing their nature. All three levels of Buddhist teaching, all three yanas, describe how to deal with disturbing emotions. It is never taught, on any level, that one can be an enlightened buddha while remaining involved in disturbing emotions - never. Each level deals with emotions differently.



Just like darkness cannot remain when the sun rises, none of the disturbing emotions can endure within the recognition of mind nature. That is the moment of realizing original wakefulness, and it is the same for each of the five poisons.



In any of the five disturbing emotions, we do not have to transmute the emotion into empty cognizance. The nature of the emotion already is this indivisible empty cognizance.” - Vajra Speech, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche


“Why would you accept afflictive emotions? They are afflictive and are the root cause of suffering.


Either you renounce them, transform them or self-liberate them. But you certainly don't accept them. That way just leads to further rebirth in samsara. 


M” – Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith

 

“We do bad things, non-virtuous things, because we are afflicted. Afflictions are never a part of oneself but they do define us as sentient beings. If you want to stop being a sentient being and start being an awakening being you have to deal with your afflictions via one of three paths I mentioned. 


Why am I a sentient being and not a Buddha? Because I am subject to afflictions. How do I become a Buddha? By overcoming afflictions and attaining omniscience. How do I begin? By setting out on one of the three paths, depending on my capacity.” – Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith




“Mr. JK said: What you're describing is the duality found in Christianity. saying we are impure and must better ourselves.


Kyle Dixon replied: Not at all, this is literally the teaching of Dzogchen, Śrī Siṃha one of the original Dzogchen masters, who was Padmasambhava’s guru, states:


This is acceptable since a so called “primordial buddhahood” is not asserted. Full awakening is not possible without being free of the five afflictions... It is not possible for wisdom to increase without giving up afflictions. Wisdom will not arise without purifying afflictions.


Likewise, Khenpo Ngachung, one of the greatest luminaries of recent times states:


In any system of sutra or tantra, without gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations, Buddhahood can never be attained. Though the system of gathering accumulations and purifying obscurations is different, in this respect [dzogchen] is the same.


Longchenpa states:


All phenomena of samsara depend on the mind, so when the essence (ngo bo) of mind is purified, samsara is purified... The essence of mind is an obscuration to be given up. The essence of vidyā is pristine consciousness (ye shes) to be attained... That being so, it is very important to differentiate mind and pristine consciousness because all meditation is just that: all methods of purifying vāyu and vidyā are that; and in the end at the time of liberation, vidyā is purified of all obscurations because it is purified of the mind.


Even Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche’s father, states:


Purification happens through training on the path. We have strayed from the basis and become sentient beings. To free the basis from what obscures it, we have to train. Right now, we are on the path and have not yet attained the result. When we are freed from obscuration, then the result - dharmakāya - appears... the qualities of the result are contained in the state of the basis; yet, they are not evident or manifest. That is the difference between the basis and the result. At the time of the path, if we do not apply effort, the result will not appear.

Thus there is still much for you to understand about how Dzogchen actually works. You are only speaking of the side of the nature, the state of Dzogchen, but the side of appearances, the side of the practitioner, is not pure and perfect just yet. The two sides meet when the practitioner recognizes that nature, which is not presently known, and trains in the method and view.

5” – Kyle Dixon, 2021, krodha (u/krodha) - Reddit 



——


The release of all grasping and resistance is through actualizing all thoughts, emotions, sensory experiences as luminous and empty of inherent existence: 


A conversation with John Tan when I was still in my I AM phase back in early 2010: 


https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2021/06/wrong-and-right-understanding-of.html


Wrong and Right Understanding of Liberation


Session Start: Thursday, 25 February, 2010

 

(9:00 PM) Thusness:  anyway your answer in newbuddhist forum is no good.

(9:00 PM) Thusness: you got to have a clearer picture of what is pure subjectivity and you must not be confused with subjective and objective reality. that is, are you skewed towards subjective reality or are you skewed towards objective reality. if beyond these 2 extremes, what is it...and what is the purpose of having right view of experiential reality? Buddhism is concerned with experiential reality. many only understand in terms of concepts...the article you posted in buddhism forum by Mr. J expresses it well. That is, he understands it directly. You are still unable to integrate non-dual experience and DO into your view.

(9:13 PM) AEN: oic.. what does Mr. J understand directly.. D.O? i don’t really understand what you mean by not confused with subjective and objective reality

(9:31 PM) Thusness: you are misunderstanding 'objective reality' with experiential reality. like the 'body' is just a mental construct that once seem so real, objective reality too must be treated as a mental construct no different from the case of the 'body'

(9:34 PM) AEN: oic..

(9:34 PM) Thusness: however when you do that, you might mistaken it as pure subjectivity. therefore you must practice and continue to refine your understanding till you completely purified all these tendencies to treat things as truly existing as in first 'mental constructs', then presence.

(9:37 PM) AEN: 'then presence'?

(9:37 PM) Thusness: what you have expressed so far cannot show clarity that you have integrate your views into just one whole field of experiential reality.

(9:38 PM) AEN: like what david carse said 'what all this is is All That Is, pure Being Consciousness Bliss Outpouring; it is your perception of it as a physical world that is maya, illusion.'  however the article of Mr. J does but the view isn't clear.

(9:38 PM) AEN: oic. you mean Mr. J talks about dependent origination?

(9:38 PM) Thusness: nope... but he manage to understand from his realization and direct experience to resolve all into One Mind.

(9:39 PM) AEN: icic.. its like what david loy said rite: That sa?sara is nirva?a is a major tenet of Mahayana philosophy. "Nothing of sa?sara is different from nirva?a, nothing of nirva?a is different from sa?sara. That which is the limit of nirva?a is also the limit of sa?sara; there is not the slightest difference between the two." [1] And yet there must be some difference between them, for otherwise no distinction would have been made and there would be no need for two words to describe the same state. So Nagarjuna also distinguishes them: "That which, taken as causal or dependent, is the process of being born and passing on, is, taken noncausally and beyond all dependence, declared to be nirva?a." [2] There is only one reality -- this world, right here -- but this world may be experienced in two different ways. Sa?sara is the "relative" world as usually experienced, in which "I" dualistically perceive "it" as a collection of objects which interact causally in space and time. Nirva?a is the world as it is in itself, nondualistic in that it incorporates both subject and object into a whole which, Madh

theres no objects, just one reality

wait... din copy completely: ...Madhyamika insists, cannot be characterized (Chandrakirti: "Nirva?a or Reality is that which is absolved of all thought-construction"), but which Yogacara nevertheless sometimes calls "Mind" or "Buddhanature," and so forth.

(9:43 PM) Thusness: one taste in both essence and nature of all arising.  but even at that phase, it is not One Reality as in Identical reality. or a truly existing 'One Whole Reality'.  this is what a practitioner after going through One Mind or the Advaita Vedanta experience will conclude

(9:46 PM) Thusness: what is the truth of this 'One Whole Reality' that a practitioner after maturing non-dual experience? Even a practitioner after maturing this state will not be able to sync his view with this experience.  because he is using a dualistic expression and not a DO view.

(9:48 PM) AEN: oic..

(9:49 PM) Thusness: this is the same as one that experience the pure presence of "Iness" and say that this "I" is the same "I" in you as in him and me. in non-dual state, the practitioner will still fall into the same trap -- the one whole reality. Get it?

(9:52 PM) AEN: hmm.. but what you mean by *but even at that phase, it is not One Reality as in Identical reality or a truly existing 'One Whole Reality'

- you mean at that level there is some understanding of emptiness

(9:52 PM) Thusness: no. what is the 'One Reality' that David Carse is talking about? is this a Subjective Reality or an Objective Reality?

(9:54 PM) AEN: neither

(9:55 PM) Thusness: an integration where there is no distinction that can be found between the subject-object-ive reality, as an integrated whole?

(9:56 PM) AEN: yah.. just oneness?

(9:56 PM) Thusness: is there such a 'Oneness Reality'? When we fall into this trap after non-dual experience, we are falling into the same trap as claiming that the 'I' in you is the same 'I' in me after the experience of "I AMness". so neither subjective nor objective nor the integration of both nor the interaction of both.  we think in such a way because of our 'inherent view'...that is why I said experience is not enough, you need the right view. so after this phase of One Mind, don't get over excited, refine the view (anatta and DO). also understand why this is important to end suffering

(10:06 PM) AEN: oic.. how is it important to end suffering?

(10:07 PM) Thusness: why are you asking me? I ask you to find out and you ask me.

(10:07 PM) AEN: oic.. can you read through my post http://newbuddhist.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4831&page=2

(11:33 PM) Thusness: no...no good. don't write like that. you are confusing ppl.  think through first before you post

(11:34 PM) AEN: oic..

(11:35 PM) Thusness: delete that post first...

(11:35 PM) AEN: ya deleted

(11:35 PM) Thusness: when you write like that, you are like writing for the sake of writing. write about what do you think is the cause. why do ppl after direct experience came to that conclusion. what happen when that dualistic knot is gone

(11:38 PM) Thusness: what sort of reality you are talking about? think through first. don't just blah something you do not know

(11:39 PM) AEN: oic..

(11:39 PM) Thusness: many are very sincere in those stuff they wrote. and that includes element. he knows what he is writing

(11:40 PM) AEN: icic..

(11:40 PM) Thusness: do not write for the sake of writing. subjectivity9 is also sincere, writing from his own experience. Just that he is unable to see.

(11:41 PM) AEN: icic..

(11:41 PM) Thusness: what does liberation mean? to a dualistic mind, what does it mean?  to a non-dual mind, what does it mean?  to a practitioner that has matured his non-dual experience and is free from the view of a source, a center, a reference, what is liberation? so don't just talk about self-liberation as if you have reached tat state. you got to know what it meant

(11:44 PM) AEN: oic..

(11:44 PM) Thusness: when you say that, you are not discussing... so what is liberation when your mind is dualistic? how do you understand it?

(11:44 PM) AEN: by disassociation?

(11:45 PM) Thusness: through disassociation...yes. you always want to dis-associate. when you are non-dual what happen? when anatta what happened? when there is no source behind, what is there to dis-associate? so what is it like? and what is meant by self-liberation in this sense? it does not mean you are already liberated as like what you expressed...

(11:46 PM) Thusness: sound liberates. what does that mean? it just mean that do not attempt to think liberation in terms of dis-association. if you are not dis-associating, then how? it is the way a practitioner 'understand practice' after maturing his experiential insight of anatta into the natural state. it does not mean nothing to do, or it already liberates

no.... it does not mean that

(11:50 PM) AEN: oic..  does it mean that without disassociating nor grasping, phenomena itself arise and subside on itself

(11:53 PM) Thusness: phenomena is also arising and subsiding

(11:53 PM) Thusness: is always

so don't talk about that

(11:53 PM) AEN: icic

(11:53 PM) Thusness: just write what i told u. it is not that there is nothing to do as in the case of the advaita

(11:54 PM) AEN: oic

(11:55 PM) Thusness: don't talk as if you already know what self-liberation is. but say when the mind is dualistic, how it perceives liberation. and when non-dual, how he perceives it to be? when anatta, what is it like if there is no source, how is one to dis-associate? what is liberation like when a person experientially and truly realized that? how by resting in a dualistic and inherent view mistake 'dis-association' as the path. you posted an article in the past that spoke briefly about it

(11:58 PM) AEN: at sgforums?

(11:59 PM) Thusness: yeah...forgot his name...in your blog too

(12:00 AM) AEN: djhampa?

i don’t remember posting his post in my blog lhe

(12:02 AM) Thusness: nope

(12:03 AM) Thusness: Dr. John Welwood (Soh: Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening, a good read http://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2008/11/reflection-and-presence-dialectic-of.html )

(12:03 AM) AEN: ooh icic

(12:05 AM) Thusness: you must understand what i told you above. what is meant by dualistic and inherent view and its power to shape our experience. so you know what is the relationship with the right view?

(12:08 AM) AEN: and liberation?

(12:08 AM) Thusness: yes

(12:09 AM) AEN: yeah.. better understand now.

(12:13 AM) Thusness: so what is the meaning of 'always and already so'? and what is practice like?

(12:16 AM) AEN: back sorry.. someone called me, wrong number. always and already so means awareness isnt separated and is actually everything arising moment to moment, so practice is just experiencing everything without dualistic and inherent view?

(12:17 AM) Thusness: what has that got to do with self liberation?

(12:17 AM) AEN: it does not require disassociating, just experiencing everything as it is without dualistic and inherent view?

(12:18 AM) Thusness: are you able to do that?

(12:18 AM) AEN: no

(12:18 AM) Thusness: why?

(12:18 AM) AEN: bcos i still have dualistic and inherent views

(12:18 AM) Thusness: yes. therefore you must know that because we see with such views, without such views, that is liberation. that is why right view is important. if 'dualistic and inherent' view is dissolved from the deepest depth of our consciousness, that already is liberation. therefore practice is to meet conditions and see whether inherent and dualistic view arise. if it arises, then how could there be no suffering

(12:21 AM) AEN: oic..

(12:21 AM) Thusness: therefore ignorance is the cause of suffering. it is the wrong view that shapes the experience. that experience with the wrong view is what that causes psychological and spiritual pain

(12:22 AM) AEN: oic..

(12:22 AM) Thusness: any moment you have that experience it is always so. so practice is dynamic to see such tendencies arise

(12:23 AM) AEN: icic..

(12:24 AM) Thusness: because a practitioner mature his non-dual and anatta experience, his practice is dynamic as he realizes that all arising already so and always is so -- luminous and empty but we mistaken it as dualistic and inherent. it is the deeply rooted wrong view that shape and distort experience that causes all problems. get it?

(12:25 AM) AEN: oic..

(12:25 AM) Thusness: it is not negative feelings is already liberated...all sort of nonsense. did i teach you that

like what Mr. J said? ignorance of seeing separation and inherent existence causes all these problems, and negative feelings arise because of that.  so at that moment when you see that it is non-dual and empty, it liberates.  if you do not experience that at the moment, how can you be liberated. when you try to get rid of the anger, you can't...either you are split or there is something inherent in u. so when you see the 'nature and essence' of any arising be it negative emotions or whatever as empty and luminous, it liberates. You see it with your entire body/mind/soul therefore it liberates. if you din see it, no. get it?

(12:34 AM) Thusness: you must see the nature and essence of all arising as so.

(12:37 AM) AEN: oic..

(12:39 AM) Thusness: therefore when Mr. J said, negative emotion is liberation, he is having inherent view. coz he sees awareness as the substance, and think that since it is it, it is liberation and yet feeling pain. so that is confusion due to desync of view and experience with no clarity of insight. not knowing what causes the pain

(12:40 AM) Thusness: so understand ignorance. understand how inherent and dualistic view causes the problem

(12:43 AM) AEN: icic.. you mean there is no pain when one experience self liberation?

(12:44 AM) Thusness: of course there is pain if there is pain. it is the all of what the sensations are

(12:44 AM) AEN: what you mean

(12:45 AM) Thusness: you mean when you taste sour you don't know that it is sour?

(12:45 AM) AEN: i know

(12:45 AM) Thusness: then when there is those sensations that arise due to the conditions, you deny those sensations? whatever that you have dissolved, it isn't there. whatever conditions that contribute to the arising, has to arise

(12:47 AM) AEN: oic.. but you said negative emotion is liberation is wrong view?

 

(12:50 AM) Thusness: only when you resolve that this pristine awareness is luminous yet empty, that is liberation

(12:50 AM) Thusness: not seeing pristine awareness as inherent and dual





Labels: Self Liberation | 

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Also, this self-liberation requires more than just insight into the non division of subject and object, it requires realisation of anatman, dependent origination and emptiness. As Thusness wrote over a decade ago:



"Hi Simpo,

How have you been getting on? I am planning for my retirement.


I think after stabilizing non-dual experience and maturing the insight of anatta, practice must turn towards ‘self-releasing’ and ‘dispassion’ rather than intensifying ‘non-dual’ luminosity. Although being bare in attention or naked in awareness will help in dissolving the sense of ‘I’ and division, we must also look into dissolving the sense of ‘mine’. In my opinion, dissolving of the sense of ‘I’ does not equate to dissolving the sense of ‘mine’ and attachment to possessions can still be strong even after very stable non-dual experience. This is because the former realization only mange to eliminate the dualistic tendency while the latter requires us to embody and actualize the right view of ‘emptiness’. Very seldom do we realize it has a lot to do with our ‘view’ that we hold in our deep most consciousness. We must allow our luminous essence to meet differing conditions to realise the latent deep. All our body cells are imprinted and hardwired to ‘hold’. Not to under-estimate it.”



o 12 Sep `10, 12:44PM 

Hi Simpo and AEN,

Yet we cannot get carried away by all these blissful experiences.  Blissfulness is the result of luminosity whereas liberation is due to prajna wisdom.   :)


To AEN,


For intense luminosity in the foreground, you will not only have vivid experience of ‘brilliant aliveness’, ‘you’ must also completely disappear.  It is an experience of being totally ‘transparent’ and without boundaries.  These experiences are quite obvious, u will not miss it.  However the body-mind will not rest in great content due to an experience of intense luminosity.  Contrary it can make a practitioner more attach to a non-dual ultimate luminous state.


For the mind to rest, it must have an experience of ‘great dissolve’ that whatever arises perpetually self liberates.  It is not about phenomena dissolving into some great void but it is the empty nature of whatever arises that self-liberates.   It is the direct experience of groundlessness and non –abiding due to direct insight of the empty nature of phenomena and that includes the non-dual luminous essence.

Therefore In addition to bringing this ‘taste’ to the foreground, u must also ‘realize’ the difference between wrong and right view.  There is also a difference in saying “Different forms of Aliveness” and “There is just breath, sound, scenery...magical display that is utterly unfindable, ungraspable and without essence- empty.”


In the former case, realize how the mind is manifesting a subtle tendency of attempting to ‘pin’ and locate something that inherently exists. The mind feels uneasy and needs to seek for something due to its existing paradigm.   It is not simply a matter of expression for communication sake but a habit that runs deep because it lacks a ‘view’ that is able to cater for reality that is dynamic, ungraspable, non-local , center-less and interdependent. 


After direct realization of the non-dual essence and empty nature, the mind can then have a direct glimpse of what is meant by being ‘natural’, otherwise there will always be a ‘sense of contrivance’. 


My 2 cents and have fun with ur army life. :-)

Edited by Thusness 12 Sep `10, 12:56PM 

Soh

 Nirvikalpa samadhi is different. It is the different degrees of meditative absorption and depths of absorption in the pure presence and pure consciousness of Self, which makes up the different levels of nirvikalpa samadhi. That is to say, even after I AM, there is the different degrees and intensities of the oceanic, blissful qualities of Self that are especially deep when one is able to develop the mastery of meditative strength and stability in absorption of Self. So as I wrote in the AtR guide, meditative samadhi and absorption is one area that one can develop after the I AM realization.


However, the path to the effortless total presence and the self-liberating nature of empty clarity lies not just in the development of samadhi. It lies in attaining key insights and wisdom into anatman (no-self), dependent origination and emptiness. Therefore I also wrote, for those that attained the realization of I AM, they should look into the four aspects of I AM, the nondual contemplations, the two stanzas of anatta. These will bring the practitioner into further breakthroughs and insights. There is a chapter on samadhi post-I AM in the longer AtR guide (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/81kevy5d4a9z3h3ctghaw/Awakening-to-Reality_-A-Guide-to-the-Nature-of-Mind-31-JULY-2024_DRAFT.pdf?rlkey=z4mtx1758b423d37bb2j62atk&st=zuu7qhgw&dl=0). But in general for most people I recommend starting with the shorter AtR practice guide https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2022/06/the-awakening-to-reality-practice-guide.html .


Edmond cigale wrote a document detailing his experiences with different levels of nirvikalpa samadhis prior to his realization of nondual and anatman ( https://app.box.com/s/7u47emus4osjxzpnqs03 ), I helped to point out anatman to him many years ago. His document is a good read detailing his own journey and experiences.


As for the realization of anatta..  The realization of anatta is not a samadhi state. As someone wrote very long ago, asking whether his indepth experience with nirvikalpa samadhi was related to Thusness’s insights into no-self. Thusness replied then, in 2007, “So persistent, it might not be fruitful but so be it! 

It will be quite misleading if I tell you yes. As it is not quite the same as the Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi you are referring too. ‘No-self’ (in Buddhism and in reality) is not a state to be attained nor is there a state to reside, it is the ‘nature’ or a characteristic that is exhibited in phenomenon arising at all time. Always so and truly so. 


Unless the fabric and texture of awareness as 'forms', as 'things' is sufficiently experienced, we might not be talking the same stuff. “





One key insight into effortless total presence is the insight into anatman. In the anatman realisation, it is seen that the so called 'background' consciousness is that pristine happening. There is no a 'background' and a 'pristine happening'. During the initial phase of non-dual, there is still habitual attempt to 'fix' this imaginary split that does not exist. It matures when we realized that anatta is a seal, not a stage; in hearing, always only sounds; in seeing always only colors, shapes and forms; in thinking, always only thoughts. Always and already so.


Over a decade ago, someone at the I AM stage commented that the Thusness stages sounded like different levels or absorption or jhana.


John Tan/Thusness and I wrote back then,


PasserBy

Dec 30, 2007, 9:37:00 PM

Hi Jhanananda,

Thanks for dropping by your comments. I have a somewhat different understanding on how they are mapped to the Buddhist Anatta experience and will thus be sharing my understanding. 

Thusness six stages of enlightenment are short summaries of his gradual insights into the non-dual (aka Anatta/no-self in Buddhism), emptiness (dependent origination) and self-liberated nature of our pristine awareness. As spontaneous self-liberation is commonly misunderstood, Thusness has always stressed that before the arising of the intuitive insights into our non-dual and emptiness nature, it is best not to discuss about it. For the purpose of this comment, I will only discuss the Anatta and the strength of propensity that blinds.

Indeed self-liberation cannot be understood before the experience of non-duality and emptiness nature of our pristine awareness. However after the stability of these 2 insights, nothing needs to be said as the ‘mere manifestations of these inseparable characteristics as arising phenomena’ is itself liberation.

First I do not see Anatta as merely a freeing of personality sort of experience as you mentioned; I see it as that a self/agent, a doer, a thinker, a watcher, etc, cannot be found apart from the moment to moment flow of manifestation or as its commonly expressed as ‘the observer is the observed’; there is no self apart from the arising and ceasing. A very important point here is that Anatta/No-Self is a Dharma Seal, it is the nature of Reality all the time -- and not merely as a state free from personality, ego or the ‘small self’ or a stage to attain. (related article: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/bernadette-roberts-interview.html) This means that it does not depend on the level of achievement of a practitioner to experience anatta but Reality has always been Anatta and what is important here is the intuitive insight into it as the nature, characteristic, of phenomenon (dharma seal). 

To illustrate further due to the importance of this seal, I would like to borrow a quote from the Bahiya Sutta (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.1.10.irel.html) 
‘in the seeing, there is just the seen, no seer’, ‘in the hearing, there is just the heard, no hearer’… 
If a practitioner were to feel that he has gone beyond the experiences from ‘I hear sound’ to a stage of ‘becoming sound’ or takes that ‘there is just mere sound’, then this experience is again distorted. For in actual case, there is and always is only sound when hearing; never was there a hearer to begin with. Nothing attained for it is always so. 

Well said! Just a little more emphasis: This is the seal of no-self and can be realized and experienced in all moments; not just a mere concept.
For a non dualist that has gained sufficient stability, practice takes a very different role. This is due to the thoroughness of seeing through the illusionary views of the sense of self, the entire mechanism that causes the split and the mechanism of how it ‘blinds’. Therefore after knowing the real cause and conditions, a non-dualist cannot resort back to a dualistic approach towards liberation and practice and meditation take very different roles. It becomes instant, dynamic, spontaneous and direct. 

Before the awakening of prajna wisdom, there will always be an unknowing attempt to maintain a purest state of 'presence'. For this is how the dual mind works. This purest state of presence is the 'how' of a dualistic mind -- its dualistic attempt to provide a solution due to its lack of clarity of the spontaneous and emptiness nature of the unconditioned. It is critical to note here that both the doubts/confusions/searches and the solutions that are created for these doubts/confusions/searches actually derive from the same cause -- our karmic propensities of ever seeing things dualistically (also see my other friend Longchen’s article http://www.dreamdatum.com/meditation-spontaneous.html where I posted two of his articles including ‘How is nonduality like?’ in this forum)

‘Purest’ because it is the limit of the thought realm; beyond that is inconceivable by the conceptual mind. The mind conjures out this ‘state’ as it cannot penetrate its own depth. It does not allow itself to cease completely.


Within the Theravadin tradition, I understand the experience of (Thusness’s) Stage 4 which is the beginning of realising non-duality to be the beginning of the third path/stage of enlightenment (see http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/12/heart-sutra-model-of-four-paths.html
and http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/07/non-duality-models-of-enlightenment-by.html)  (Comments by Soh: this is MCTB model, not the Buddha’s fetter model) and also corresponding in terms of realisations to the beginning of ‘One-Taste’ in the Bodhisattva bhumi models. From here on it is a matter of how deeply the insights of nonduality/nonself and emptiness has penetrated into our consciousness and replaced our dualistic way of knowing due to karmic propensities.

This is known as the ‘turning point’ in Lankavatara Sutra.


The author of the two articles (a Theravadin teacher) mentioned above also said in the Heart Sutra Model of the Four Paths regarding the third path, “That said, the concept of Nirvana now seems to generally apply to the phenomenal world as well as the attainment of Fruition, though there is still something clouding the waters. Those of third path will have a direct understanding of what is meant by non-duality, the “intrinsic luminosity” of phenomena and of “interdependence” that is far more direct and clear than the somewhat intuitive understanding of those of first and second path. This holds up quite well until they get into another progress cycle.”, and, 

“It requires great deal of trust in reality as well as a fairly new realm of understanding. Paths that emphasize “surrender to the will of God” might well have an easier time with this transition. Simply emphasizing the Third Characteristic, that all things simply happen on their own, works just as well.”

Great insight by Dharma Dan!

That said, I never doubted the importance of “concentration & absorption” in spiritual practices. It is also true that the strength of uninterrupted concentration may not be there even for one with insights (especially when one have just begun to have nondual realisations and the insight into emptiness is not yet there), and it has to go hand in hand with their new found insight of nonduality for stability, and also move into various graduation of nonduality. As mentioned earlier, there are no stages/appearances that are purer than any others – every state is equally pure and non-dual in nature. When the mind grasps pure awareness as ‘formless’, ‘thoughtless’, ‘attributeless’, and as the background reality.... the ‘fabric’ and ‘texture’ of pristine awareness as ‘forms’ is then missed. Nevertheless, whatever you commented is crucial especially for the first 3 (Thusness’s) stages of experience, and in these stages the problem would certainly be the lack of sustained meditation concentration as well as the tendency of trying to grasp intellectually... which is also why Thusness often emphasizes the importance of sitting. 


The first 3 stages are before the arising of non-dual insight and the purpose of sustainability is to create sufficient gap between 2 moments of thoughts to allow the sensation of contrast between conceptual/non-conceptuality for the thinking mind to realize the possibility of going pre-symbolic thereby loosening its stubborn grips of a dualistic framework. 
Sustained bare attention also gave rise to the realization that ‘inner’, ‘outer’, ‘space’, ‘time’ and even ‘body’ and ‘mind’ are all mere constructs. Freeing from these constructs, also give rise to the condition for non-dual insight to arise. 
For the first 3 stages, practice takes the form of striving towards a certain stage of perfection whereas stages 4 onwards, practice moves from ‘efforting’ to natural luminosity and spontaneity. 

As to what led to jhanic bliss, I would like to say that regardless of samatha or vipassana practices, true blissful absorptive experiences are the result of dissolution of self and subject-object split. For non-dualists, this blissful absorptive experience takes a form of clarity-absorption which is mentioned in one of the Thusness posts in my friend Longchen’s forum (http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/05/different-degrees-of-non-duality.html). It is difficult to explain and I will not speculate further what that is beyond me. It should also be mentioned however at a deeper level of non-dual realisation, when true spontaneity is realised, and psychological death is complete, one will overcome the tendency of grasping on the conscious and the three states (waking, dream, deep dreamless sleep) becomes one. He will also realize that it is needless to maintain an uninterrupted state of conscious witnessing awareness when the true nature of Awareness is revealed, as Thusness and Longchen have said.

Well said! Speak no more and experience fully! 
Rest.



- the 2007 comments can be found in the commenters section of https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html 



——



Wrote in 2018:




"If someone talks about an experience he/she had and then lost it, that's not (the true, deep) awakening... As many teachers put it, it's the great samadhi without entry and exit.


John Tan: There is no entry and exit. Especially for no-self. Why is there no entry and exit?

Me (Soh): Anatta (no-self) is always so, not a stage to attain. So it's about realisation and shift of perception.

John Tan: Yes 👍




As John also used to say to someone else, "Insight that 'anatta' is a seal and not a stage must arise to further progress into the 'effortless' mode. That is, anatta is the ground of all experiences and has always been so, no I. In seeing, always only seen, in hearing always only sound and in thinking, always only thoughts. No effort required and never was there an 'I'.""


- excerpt from https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2021/07/anatta-is-dharma-seal-or-truth-that-is.html




——-


The atr guide named four sub stages of Self. All these do not go beyond the I AM stage but are instead depths of samadhi within the I AM phase. Nondual and anatta are different varieties of insights.


———


Someone asked, “ different samadhis? that is interesting, are they abiding or non-abiding? effortful or without effort?”



Soh replied, 


“The different levels of nirvikalpa samadhi are expressed well by edmond cigale who realised anatman after some contemplation on the pointers i wrote to him. https://app.box.com/s/7u47emus4osjxzpnqs03?mibextid=Zxz2cZ



Supposedly, the highest level if nirvikalpa samadhi, called sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi, is supposed to be effortless. That is supposed the highest stage in hindu yogic systems.


However as Thusness wrote, 


[24/3/19, 11:17:05 PM] John Tan: From the perspective of clarity, it is true that Buddhism anatta and emptiness is more profound and deep… lol. But still good to caution about respecting all religions and practice. Why empty clarity is only pointed out in buddhism. So although it is true about all points to pure consciousness, it is realizing the emptiness that is the prajna eye to allow us to clearly see the empty nature of clarity. Otherwise we will most likely land in alaya or [be] required to still in deep stillness of samadhi.


(On this point, I was reminded of something John Tan said back in I think 2012:


"Every religion is talking about consciousness.  It is the nature of consciousness that is important.  It is like talking about “Soh'' from different people. Of course all is pointing to "Soh" but when someone say he is an American, has 10 sisters and is now studying in India… we cannot say that he is correct and it is the same because ultimately we are talking about "Soh".")”

“Yes sahaja samadhi but that remain as "experience".  Just like in taoism, it is all about naturalness 自然 and non-action (action without agent) though there are overlaps but they are different in praxis and view essentially.  There is no need to forcefully integrate the various religions into one, that is just more attachment.


Although there is no monopoly over truth as ultimately all is/are talking about one's primordial nature but there are those that much clearer and precise in their system of practice.  If the views and philosophies are 90% inherent and dualistic, the result from such a system will at best be a stage to be achieved albeit the emphasis of “natural state”.


As I said before, if someone were to say "Soh is a malay, a speckie, used to be a c# programmer, 1.9m tall and has a sister", obviously some informations are correct and some are misleading.  Even if you were to stand right in front of him, he will not be able to recognize you.  Therefore although all are talking about the natural condition of pristine consciousness, some are exceptionally clearer than others.” – John Tan, 2020”