"Nondual society"

Someone I know mentioned "nondual society".

The idea of a society is an idea. The concept of nonduality is an idea. An idea about an idea about an idea is also an idea. The mind is a labyrinthe; if one enters, it may be hard to find the way out. *smile*

When the search ends

When the search for truth comes to an end, life is more like a flow of activity(s) rather than a reflective/contemplative/focused search. With nothing to search for, other interests come to the foreground and replace the past interest in searching. The most important interest after the search ends is helping other people see through the same illusions that were once so blinding to oneself. I have met lots of people whose search came to an end, and every single one of them consider helping other searchers as their highest interest. Clearly, THAT is what THIS likes to do. *smiles* 

Kensho

The basic definition of "kensho" is a "seeing into one's true nature." Hakuin, a famous ZM, described all kinds of kensho experiences from small subtle ones to huge mind-boggling cosmic consciousness ones. The main point is that kensho is an EXPERIENCE. Any time the bottom drops out of one's mind, selfhood vanishes, and clarity ensues that's a kensho-type experience. Sooner or later those kinds of experiences come to an end and one returns to ordinary life.

Many Zen people, as noted by Wiki, equate kensho and satori, but I do not. I consider satori something quite different--a realization that ends the spiritual search. That realization is the sudden (timeless) seeing through the illusion of the searcher so completely that it changes one's understanding about what's going on. The search ends because it is seen that the imagined searcher was not the real searcher. The operant searcher is realized to have been Reality, Itself, and the illusion of a "John" or "Jane" having been the searcher collapses. This realization changes everything. Life continues, but there is no longer a person at the center of what appears to be happening. The body/mind, universe, and awareness continue as before, but it is empty of personhood. 

After this realization, any previous self-identity like "John" or "Jane" is seen in a new light, as an abstract thought structure that was so ingrained in the organism that is was continually overlooked. 

The most interesting question is, "What happens after this realization occurs?" Well, life continues just as before, but without the illusion that there is a separate entity at the center of it. The body/mind goes about its business doing whatever needs to be done, and knows that the real actor is the totality of "what is." The body/mind lives without knowing what will happen next, and is comfortable with that not-knowing way of life. 

Zen Masters emphasize the importance of continuing zazen after satori because they think that formal zazen, such as shikan taza, is what led to their freedom from the consensus trance. A few of them seem to realize that it is attentiveness to "what is" that freed them from the mind's domination, but only a few. 

Is it necessary to remain attentive after satori? Probably. People who stop being attentive to "what is" often fall back into a mind-centered way of life, and the old sense of selfhood sometimes re-emerges. Gangaji doesn't like the idea of "practice", but she has often said, "Vigilance is necessary." I think what she means by that is what I'm pointing to. Most adults spend 99.9% of their time attending thoughts, and they stay lost in the concensus trance. If one becomes free of the trance, probably some minimal amount of time needs to be spent attending "what is" in order to keep the mind from regaining dominance. FWIW, I've never read anything specific about this issue, so this is just speculation.

When I reflect upon the "Ten Ox-Herding Pictures" of Zen, it seems to me that what I'm calling "satori" is represented by the eighth picture. This means that there are two further stages of development/integration/understanding that Zen Masters point to.

Oneness is a direct experience.

When it occurs, "you" are not there. The experience makes it obvious that reality is a seamless unity and that the universe is centered at every point. That which sees is the only thing that sees because it is the only thing here. Obviously what's being pointed to is not a thing because it has no boundaries, but we can use the word "thing" to point to that thingless thing. The body retains the memory of the experience, and there is never any doubt about the unity that was experienced. It is not held as a belief in the mind because it is a direct experience, and is directly known through the body.

Does it matter? Well, it eliminates the usual fear of death because it is seen that the unified field of all being is never born and never dies; it is infinite, and all life forms are simply momentary manifestations of that infiniteness. Humans do not worry about their condition before birth, and one glimpse of the infinite takes away all worry about their condition after death. It is not so much that the infinite is seen as it is an experience of being one-with the infinite or being lost in the infinite because all boundaries are absent during the experience.

This kind of experience (without an experiencer) is somewhat different than realizations in which various assumptions/ideas/beliefs are seen to be false. Seeing through the illusion of selfhood, for example, is a realization rather than an experience. When it is seen that selfhood is a fictitious idea, only, what then remains? The body/mind, universe, and awareness. Life continues, but there is no longer the idea or belief that there is a separate person at the center of what's happening.
 

Segal, Roberts and UG

I often recommend Segal's "Collision with the Infinite" because it has a peculiar and often beneficial effect upon seekers. Her writing about her loss of selfhood helps many people see-through various deeply-held beliefs and thoughts about selfhood and/or existence. How this happens I don't know, but I can think of many people who have been strongly affected by her book, and all of them were affected in what I would call a positive way. 

UG has always struck me as an odd character--sort of an ultimate contrarian with a chip on his shoulder about Jiddu and several other teachers. At the same time he's kinda funny, and there is probably some value in considering what he has to say, if only to challenge whatever beliefs someone may have. 

Bernadette Roberts's first two books interested me, but then she sort of wandered off into some mindset where she felt obligated to reconcile her interior experiences in some quasi-Christian way. I lost interest in her because she never seemed to have reached any kind of psychologically-unified way of being. For whatever reason she seemed to overlook the fact that ordinary everyday life (free from the dominance of thought or special experiences) is what this path is all about.

What ATA does

For most people inquiry walks hand in hand with attending the actual (ATA). It's like putting attention on something other than thought and letting a deeper aspect of mind (non-verbal, non-linear, holistic, etc) reveal what is already the case. The answer to whatever question we have is already present, but it often goes unseen. ATA sort of relaxes the intellect and allows the obvious to become obvious.

Finding answers to existential questions

...is equivalent to seeing through the questions and realizing that they are all based on misconceptions. If we let go of our ideas, we watch life unfold without knowing. Most people want to know; not knowing isn't very popular. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "To imagine or not to imagine? That is the question.

Who we ARE

...is every creature that is currently alive and every creature that has ever lived anywhere in this or any other universe. We are every gnat, worm, midgen, mole, mammoth, fish, dinosaur, or human being that has ever lived or will ever live, but we are even more than that. We are every tree, star, comet, galaxy, drop or water, or puff of wind that had ever existed or will ever exist. Why think small about this matter? Ha ha.
 
It helps to realize that the universe is unimaginably intelligent and has its own ineffable plan of action. If this is seen, then one can relax and simply BE in the secure knowledge that everything is taken care of. Humans are apparently the only creatures on earth who imagine that they are separate entities who have control over what happens. This illusion creates all kinds of unnecessary psychological worries. 

Melville, in his novel "Moby D*ick," presented a great koan when he had Captain Ahab raise his arm and ask, "Is it I or God who lifts this hand?" Seeing the answer to this question helps put the mind at rest. (hint: it isn't "I" and it isn't "God.")

Pointers

Words are crude little things when used as pointers, so if they don't resonate, throw 'em away. Ramana's silence may be the best pointer, but even he finally started using words as pointers for people who didn't see where the silence was pointing. "Be Still and know that I am God" is a great pointer from the Bible, but millions of Christians can't see where those words are pointing. My words in the prior posts were simply expanding upon the same theme.

The Zen novice is instructed to sit down and watch the breathing process. I expand that advice to include ATA throughout the day. Both activities require psychological presence, and both activities help people come out of their minds and back to reality. As I've noted before, when attentiveness is pursued, it is pursued under the illusion that there is a "someone" pursuing it. Many people practice meditation for years, and never see through that illusion because they think that the activity is special and that they are "making spiritual progress." Until it is seen that the do-er is a product of imagination, they remain trapped in a vicious cycle.

Ego

I wouldn't say that ego/false self can think, feel, act, and sense because it simply doesn't exist. There is only one actor on the stage. It may appear to think, feel, act, and sense, but this is an illusionary appearance created by mistaking thoughts ABOUT reality for reality, itself. Source falls into the dream of its own creation by focusing upon thoughts rather than "what is."

Every set of eyes

Who/what you are is what looks out of every set of eyes. There is only one here, and that one is what sees everything. Who you think you are is a figment of imagination. The real you is unbounded but centered everywhere at once. Each moment who you are is both appearing and disappearing in trillions of life forms. When you look at an ant, you are looking at yourself; when you look at a tree, you are looking at yourself; when you look at another human being, you are looking at yourself; when you look at a star, you are looking at yourself. It sounds incredible, but you're bigger than you can imagine! As Walt Whitman wrote, "I am vast; I contain multitudes."

Confidence in oneness

Confidence arises from direct experience. If you stub your toe on a rock, there is no doubt about what happened. 

If you have an experience of cosmic-consciousness, you directly experience oneness, so there is no doubt that any sense of separation is an illusion. Even after the experience ends, it is remembered, so the certainty of what happened and what was realized never goes away.

If you have an experience in which selfhood disappears, even for a short period of time, there is no doubt that such a thing is possible.

If selfhood is seen to be non-existent, as a realization rather than an experience, there is never any doubt about what was seen. 

When gaps between thoughts first appear, the mind usually thinks, "Oh, silence has appeared," but that thought breaks the silence. Eventually, silence can occur and be known without any words or thoughts appearing. Sustained silence makes it obvious that discursive thinking is not necessary for most daily activities. 

Cumulatively, a wide range of direct experiences and various realizations regarding the nature of reality generates considerable confidence concerning how mind generates the illusions underlying the trance-like state of mind most people mistake for reality. 

Until someone tastes a lemon, one does not know how a lemon tastes. 

Until someone directly experiences the vastness of the Infinite, one does not know what the word "infinite" points to. When the Infinite is directly experienced, it is not experienced by a separate person; the Infinite experiences Itself through some unknown faculty of perception that is not conceptual/intellectual. Any body/mind through which that occurs never forgets what happened, and always feels deep humility, awe, and reverence concerning what happened and what was perceived. In Christian terms any body/mind that experiences God directly never imagines that s/he IS God. The body/mind is conceived, whenever it is conceived, as an infinitessimally tiny fragment of being that is one-with the vastness of God. 

AAR, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Ha ha

Belief structures

Many belief structures are extremely deep. They are so much a part of our way of seeing and interacting with the world that they go totally unrecognized. After fifteen years of silent retreats and experiments with dozens of meditation techniques, I still felt like there was a "me" that needed to find a way to stay in a unity-conscious state of mind. Only when the "me" was seen to have vanished and to have been a figment of imagination in the past did the search finally come to an end. Only then did it become obvious what had motivated the search for truth--the deep belief/idea/sense/set-of-thoughts/story that there had been a separate "me" who needed to understand reality. Only then did it become obvious that what I AM is Reality, Itself. The dog had unknowingly been chasing its own tail. ha ha.

As an experiment, you can stop for a moment and look around. Imagine not knowing the name or concept of anything. It isn't possible to know what's looking, and nothing in the field of view is known, conceptually. There is seeing, and what's seen in obvious, but the mind is totally silent. There is no name or concept for what is seen. The past is not remembered, the future is not imagined, and even the present is not imagined as a point in time. There is only "what is." No distinction is possible because the mind is momentarily inert and inactive. Take a few moments to walk around and look at the world in this state of empty unknowingness. Even if the mind jabbers a bit, ignore the jabbering and just look. This is the world that sages and little children live in. Even the tiniest glimpse of that world may help shift one's perspective somewhat.

Washing the dishes

If someone is washing dishes (the proverbial example-ha ha) with full attention, there is only the truth of *scrub scrub scrub*. The idea that there is a person washing dishes is an idea. The idea that time is involved is an idea. The idea that something is occurring is an idea. The idea that something needs to be done after doing the dishes is an idea. *scrub scrub scrub* or "look look look* or "listen listen listen* is the path to freedom.

It is impossible to be other than "what is"

...or to move a millimeter away from being "what is," but most folks are distracted by their thoughts and jerked around hither and thither, psychologically. The path of discovering the living truth is ignoring distractive thoughts and becoming still enough to see what is already the case. 

John WL apparently had a cosmic consciousness experience, and searched, unsuccessfully, for other people who had both experienced his unitive state of mind and also understood the implications of it. Many people have such experiences, but very few people go far enough to see, understand, and then internalize the implications. Bottom line? Who we are is "what is" manifesting momentarily as human beings. Cosmic consciousness experiences and everyday life experiences are all part of the seamless continuum that constitutes "what is." All separateness is an illusion. Shifting attention away from thoughts to "what is" leads to freedom from the mind (mind as servant rather than master) and becoming comfortable living in the emptiness of "what is" as "what is." One/Oneness then lives an ordinary life free of expectation, desire, or self interest. If grace appears, grace. If humor appears, humor. If sadness appears, sadness. If suckiness appears, suckiness. 

Not knowing is the Way.