Archive for the ‘Theory’ category

The Nature of Epiphany, Pt. 1

July 21st, 2010

In this multipart article I will talk in depth about epiphanies – the sudden, profound insights that often seemingly come out of nowhere.

This first part will examine epiphanies from the standpoint of what is happening when we have one. Subsequent parts will focus on the introspective nature of epiphany, the appreciation of epiphany as an ongoing process, why they feel so profound, how to have more of them, and the connection between epiphany and enlightenment.

Part 1 – the nature of epiphany

Chances are, you’ve heard the famous question “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” This is perhaps the most well-known Zen koan. A koan is a story-telling tool used in the practice of Zen Buddhism and is often structured in terms of one who is unenlightened receiving a surprising nugget of wisdom from one who is enlightened.

Here is another example of a koan:

Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said: `The flag is moving.’

 

The other said: `The wind is moving.’

 

The sixth patriach happened to be passing by. He told them: `Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving.’

The zen master’s answer is often absurd or nonsensical on its face, unless one has already had the insight that renders meaning to it. Trying to find meaning in a koan can usefully challenge one’s mental models, or taken-for-granted ways of making sense of the world. Often, koans end with an unenlightened monk becoming enlightened as a result of hearing the master’s response. This sudden moment of enlightenment is an epiphany.

Epiphanies are sudden profound insights, reflecting large-scale transformations of our mental models. Such radical cognitive restructuring is a necessary part of the organic process that leads to enlightenment, because enlightenment entails radical changes to the way we relate to the world.

Mental Models

Before we can get into what the nature of epiphany is, we need to look at what it means to have “taken-for-granted ways of making sense of the world”, or mental models.

Mental models are patterns in our mind that help us navigate and derive meaning from our world. If you can navigate your house blindfolded, that is because you have a well-developed model of your house in your mind. You can imagine walking through it. Any act of imagination, in fact, entails the use of a mental model.

Our mental models are representations of our world that allow us to predict what will happen as we go about our day. When you cross a busy intersection, you employ your model of a traffic light, plus behavioral models of how people will behave as they drive, bike, and walk through it. Your models give you the confidence to cross the street without getting hit by a bus. The usefulness of these models lies in how they make the world predictable, and how they allow for our actions to become automatic, freeing up mental resources for more important problems. We can cross that intersection while thinking about an upcoming exam or presentation, even as vehicles weighing several thousand pounds are speeding by you.

As you learn new skills and knowledge, you are developing your mental models. When you learn how to drive a car, for example, you are developing several models at once. First, you develop your model of how a car is operated. As you do this, you must concentrate your full awareness on the mechanics of driving. Soon, however, the process becomes automatic. Your model has become developed enough to free your mind for developing other models, such as learning how to drive with other people on the road. Your mental models are considered to be well developed when they are automatic. That is, you are not devoting any significant mental energy to using them – you are not even aware of doing so.

But no matter how well developed your models are, they are wrong to some degree, because they always simplify what they model. Models abstract away details. In my shower, for instance, the fixture that controls the temperature of the water is a single handle that you rotate. My mental model of that fixture is devoted to quickly finding that hair’s-width range between screaming hot and bone-chilling cold. My model could include how the fixture actually mixes the hot and cold water sources together, but it doesn’t. I don’t really care. It’s an important point: all models are wrong, even if they work.

Of course, sometimes models can be very, very wrong. When I was a little boy I thought that traffic lights worked because little mice inside the traffic light held up colored sponges at the appropriate times. Now I know better… the mice switch on colored lights, not sponges.

But seriously, my flawed traffic light model shows how models must be brought into agreement with other models. As my mental model of a mouse became more sophisticated, I would have realized that they are simple animals that would not be able to carry out the important task of synchronizing traffic at an intersection. Not to mention, how would you keep them alive in there for any length of time? The mouse theory of traffic lights is easy for you to demolish, but only because you already have sophisticated mental models that allow you to find flaws with it.

So as we go about our lives, we are, mostly unconsciously, employing and improving a vast network of interconnected mental models. If our models are good, we do not need to waste our mental resources on simple tasks like driving or brushing teeth. We easily grasp situations we are familiar with and can make effective plans to accomplish goals. If they are not so good, we are more likely to see the world as confusing, unpredictable, and threatening. It is hard to act effectively when our models are not good.

Epiphanies and Mental Models

Epiphanies ultimately spring out of what happens when our mental models are wrong or inadequate, and we make an effort to improve them. The understanding that comes with an epiphany reflects that we have found a superior way of modeling the world.

There are several basic ways we can change our mental models, but only one corresponds with epiphanies. We can get rid of old models that don’t work (“Oh, I thought ‘string theory’ was about how to tie knots”); we can get add to or improve existing models (“Wow, I didn’t realize Ralph had a prosthetic leg”); and we create new models as we learn altogether new things.

But there is a special kind of transformation that underlies epiphanies – the joining of two separate models. This transformation is what I refer to as a “map-congealing moment”:

Imagine you have moved to a new town, and though you’ve been there for a little while, you are still getting to know the area. One day you are going further down one street than you normally go, only to suddenly realize you have arrived at an unexpectedly familiar place. You didn’t realize, until just then, that that street takes you to that place. A-ha! You have just had a “map-congealing moment”. You had two maps – one that included the familiar street, and one that included the familiar place – and suddenly, those two maps fused into one. They were separate before, and now they have become joined. They have congealed.

The a-ha! of that experience is rooted in the surprise of the two maps being connected in a way that we didn’t see before. It is inherently rewarding to join maps, in the same way it is rewarding to solve a jigsaw puzzle. Beyond that inherent satisfaction, there is the reward of simplifying our maps. It makes life easier when we can use one map instead of two.

This kind of transformation doesn’t just occur with spatial maps. It actually happens all the time. Anytime we “put the pieces together” and figure something out, we are joining mental models together. Here are some examples:

  1. you figure out how you know some familiar person you just bumped into
  2. you realize that the burger you’re eating came from a real live cow
  3. you realize that you eat too much because it covers up feelings of emotional distress

In the first example, you run into someone and it’s obvious to both of you that you know each other, but you cannot remember how. Suddenly one of you makes the connection, a-ha! It’s a tiny version of an epiphany, but you make the connection between the mental model of the person standing in front of you, and the model of that person you already had, prior to running into them. They become one and the same model. If you have the misfortune of not realizing how you know the person, you will probably devote significant effort to figuring it out, even after you part company.

The second example may seem completely obvious, but probably most of us can relate to a sense of realization at some point in our lives that the meat we consume has to be grown in the form of living animals. In this example, our model of the food we eat joins with the model we have of cows, chickens, and so on, in a way they weren’t connected before. That realization turns some people into vegetarians – and we would not be surprised to hear such folks describe this as an epiphany.

In the third example, an introspective insight connects a model of one’s behavior as an undisciplined eater with a model of how one deals with anxiety. This troubling aspect of one’s behavior (“I don’t understand why I can’t stop myself”) is rendered predictable and less mysterious, once one connects the dots. Two maps become one.

The word epiphany is usually reserved for profound, even life-altering insights. In future installments, we will examine the process that leads to epiphany, and see why we experience epiphanies as sudden and dramatic. We will see how we can increase the likelihood of having an epiphany, and how they relate to enlightenment.

Post by Terren Suydam.

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What Is Enlightenment?

July 17th, 2010

One of my first posts in this blog dealt with the problem of defining enlightenment. (See “A Little Background – Definitions“).

The more I study this subject, the more definitions I find.

After thinking for some time about exactly “what is enlightenment”, I have come up with MY OWN definition of enlightenment. 

Following my definition of enlightenment I will present some other definitions that I have come across recently, so that you can compare.

This is my current definition of enlightenment, subject to change without notice…

ENLIGHTENMENT: A state of consciousness that experiences reality unfiltered through any
mental, physical, or psychological distortions.

In my view, enlightenment is an ability to experience the world WITHOUT any personal perceptual filters.

By perceptual filters I mean the following (among others):

  • the false idea of a “self”
  • beliefs
  • expectations
  • desires
  • values
  • languages

In other words, enlightenment is a DIRECT EXPERIENCE OF REALITY.

Before I break down my definition of enlightenment into its separate parts, I would like to address the question of “What is REALITY?”

======================
*  WHAT IS ”REALITY”?
======================

Rainbow BuddhaWhen I refer to enlightenment as “the direct experience of reality”, I can imagine that some readers may have questions or objections about what I may mean by ”reality”.

It is not my purpose to define “reality” here, but I will list some of the objections that may arise in this context:

  1. You cannot define reality.  It is not definable.
  2. There is no such thing as “one” reality – reality is a subjective experience, different for each consciousness.
  3. There is no ”one” reality - reality exists on many levels.

These are all valid points.

When you look up “REALITY” in the dictionary you will find definitions like this:

Reality: “The state of being actual or real; A real entity, event or other fact; The entirety of all that is real; An individual observer’s own subjective perception of that which is real”
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reality

In other words, most definitions say that reality is the state of being real… which really doesn’t tell you much. There are various definitions, but many of them go around in circles without really defining it.

And in a larger sense, to verify something as “real” may seem simple, but can actually be far more problematic than might first be evident. How to verify “reality” is beyond the scope of this post, but is a very interesting topic in itself.

So, in some sense the first objection, that one cannot define reality, is valid.

As to the second objection, that reality is a subjective experience - this can also be true.

Our own EXPERIENCE of reality is subjective, and each person’s is somewhat different. This is AN aspect of reality, but the subjective aspect is only one aspect of reality. Because most of us experience reality subjectively, does not mean that it cannot be experienced objectively. 

And finally, the third objection, that reality exists on many levels, may also be true. There is the macro level, the micro level, the quantum level, the cosmic level, the material level, the seen, the unseen, and on ad infinitum.

When I use the word reality in this definition of enlightenment, what I mean is this:
REALITY IS ALL OF THAT.

Reality is indefinable, it is subjective, and it is multi-level. My definition of reality means that it is EVERYTHING THAT IS, including the contradictory and problematic states of indefinability, subjectivity, and multiplicity.

Enlightenment signifies the ability to see through the “subjective” aspect of our experience of reality, as much as is humanly possible.

My definition proposes that enlightenment is a “state of consciousness”, that “experiences reality” UNFILTERED “through any mental, physical, or psychological distortions”.

===========================
*  UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS
===========================

There are several underlying assumptions here.

  1. There is a “reality” that can be fully experienced by a state of consciousness.
  2. That reality is normally “filtered” before it is experienced by our consciousness.
  3. Those filters are mental, physical, and psychological.
  4. Those filters “distort” reality, in such a manner as to change our consciousness of it.
  5. It is possible to experience reality in an unfiltered, undistorted manner through human consciousness.

The “filters” that distort reality for most of us consist of mental, physical, and psychological filters.

I hope to write about this more in the future, but here I will give a very brief overview of these distorting filters.

========================
*  ABOUT THESE “FILTERS”
========================

BuddhaIn putting forth these ideas about how these “filters” alter our perception of reality, I am not overly concerned with the quantification of these points.

That is, it doesn’t really matter exactly what filters what, or how it filters it, at this point.

What I am driving at is that our perception of reality IS FILTERED.

If you, or anyone you know, can present me with a better, more exact or verifiable model of filters and how they work, I would welcome your input and feedback. In the future all of these filters of reality could be looked at in detail, parsed, categorized, and refined.

My main point here, at this time, is that these filters exist, and that it is possible to see reality with a minimum of interference from them – in a state we call enlightenment.

+ +  MENTAL FILTERS -

Your brain is flooded with information every second. Much of that information is filtered out of your conscious awareness from moment to moment.

A mental filter is, in broad terms, a filter that acts primarily through the subconscious, or pre-conscious mind.

Here is an example - If I ask you what your right foot feels like you can tell me. However, before I asked, you probably weren’t consciously aware of the feelings coming from your foot.  That feeling and consciousness of your foot has been filtered out of your primary experience, by what I am calling a “mental filter”.

Another example of how this works might be in driving. Have you ever noticed someone else driving the same model of car as the one that you are driving? Your mental filter normally filters out most of the other cars around you. But when you see a car similar to, or the same as your make and model, your awareness picks it out of all of the other cars and calls your attention to it. This happens automatically, and unconsciously.

Our mental filters significantly change what we see and what we notice about our selves and our surroundings.

For more information, here is an article titled “How Thought Creates Reality“, that touches on some of these ideas.

+ +  PHYSICAL FILTERS -

When using the term “physical filters” I am speaking primarily about any physical impairment, or alteration, that changes our perception of reality.

Some examples of physical filters may be:

  • Drugs or other chemical stimulants
  • Alcohol
  • Prescription drugs that alter perceptions
  • Other physical impairments

I am not a doctor or a scientist, so I cannot scientifically prove these points at this time.

However, it seems very likely that there ARE physical filters that could PREVENT the conditions of enlightenment.

It is an interesting question. Exactly which physical changes or impairments would prevent enlightenment, and which would not?

For example, it seems to me that one could be blind or deaf, and experience enlightenment. On the other hand, if certain parts of the brain were impaired or removed that would likely preclude the possibility of enlightenment.

In Buddhism, use of drugs or stimulants is strongly discouraged.

I believe that the brain (and body) should be as free as is possible from all unnatural conditions, in order to be prepared for enlightenment.

It is hard to imagine one becoming enlightened while on a cocaine high, or drunk on alcohol.

If you have any information about ”physical filters”, or impairments, that would impact or prevent the occurrence of enlightenment, I invite you to contact me so that we might present accurate and credible information on this website.

+ +  PSYCHOLOGICAL FILTERS -

Here is an entry in Wikipedia about  “Reality Tunnel“.  This entry points to the type of “psychological filters” I am talking about; 

Every kind of ignorance in the world all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles. We believe what we see and then we believe our interpretation of it, we don’t even know we are making an interpretation most of the time. We think this is reality.
– Robert Anton Wilson

“The idea does not necessarily imply that there is no objective truth; rather that our access to it is mediated through our senses, experience, conditioning, prior beliefs, and other non-objective factors. The individual world each person occupies is said to be their reality tunnel. The term can also apply to groups of people united by beliefs: we can speak of the fundamentalist Christian reality tunnel or the scientific materialist reality tunnel.”

“A parallel can be seen in the psychological concept of confirmation bias—our tendency to notice and assign significance to observations that confirm our beliefs, while filtering out or rationalizing away observations that do not fit with our prior beliefs and expectations. This helps to explain why reality tunnels are usually transparent to their inhabitants. While it seems most people take their beliefs to correspond to the ‘one true objective reality’, Robert Anton Wilson emphasizes that each person’s reality tunnel is their own artistic creation, whether they realize it or not.”
(End quote.)

There are MANY psychological filters.

Our environment, our upbringing, our natural tendencies, our past experiences - all of these contribute to psychological factors that filter our experience of “reality”.

For the sake of understanding and insight, these psychological factors could be identified, categorized, and prioritized in more detail in the future.

For now, I would suggest that our “picture” of reality is flawed by a whole collection of factors, most of them going almost entirely unnoticed by the average person.

To peel these filters away can lead to enlightenment -
to experience reality WITHOUT them, IS enlightenment.

============================= buddha enlightenment
* ENLIGHTENMENT AS “TRUTH”
=============================

When I asked a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka whether it was possible for someone entirely ignorant of Buddhist principles and ideas to become enlightened, he immediately, and unequivocally said; YES.

When I asked him why, he said; “BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH”.

This is one of the ideas that lead me to my definition of enlightenment.

I thought: “If enlightenment is TRUTH, then it is REALITY”.

Truth: ” Ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience:
the basic truths of life.”
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/truth

It seems to me that enlightenment is seeing “truth”, which is seeing “reality”.

The difference between enlightened experience of reality, and our “normal” experience of reality, is that enlightenment is a state of consciousness that experiences reality without our normal subjective, unconsciously created filters and distortions.

When we see reality “as it is”, we see the “truth”.

When we can see the truth, in this manner, we are said to be “enlightened”.

+++

===============================================================
DEFINITIONS OF ENLIGHTENMENT / DESCRIPTIONS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
===============================================================

David Smith, in his book “A Record of Awakening”, says this; 
“We Buddhists have decided, when reality is fully seen and known, to call that enlightenment or awakening.” (p. 122)
—————————-
Nitin Trasi defines enlightenment in this way;
“Enlightenment is defined as the intuitive understanding that one is not a separate entity.”
(p.5 The Science of Enlightenment.)

In his chapter on “Enlightenment” (p. 53) he defines enlightenment in this way;
“Enlightenment can be defined as the clear and deep intuitive perception (‘apperception’) or intuitive understanding (not just belief or intellectual comprehension) of the entire situation, that is, of the unity of Consciousness and of the  absence of the ‘me’ or ‘I’ as a separate, autonomous entity.”

Mr. Trasi also lists these synonyms at the top of the chapter: Realization; self-realization; awakening; satori; jnana; gyana.
—————————-
Jill Bolte Taylor, in her book “My Stroke of Insight”, quotes Dr. Kat Domingo  as saying;
“Enlightenment is not a process of learning, it is a process of unlearning.”  (p. 169)
—————————-
“It is, according to Buddha, the end of suffering. Physical pain is still experienced but it is no longer compounded by worries and fears, by mental suffering, which has ended. Enlightenment is the ability to see things as they really are, to accept that what is is, and to say ‘yes’ to all of life. This is done, not out of naivete or denial, but out of a profound realization of the selfless, interconnected, interdependent unity and oneness of all mental and physical phenomena, of all experience.”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11680701/What-is-Enlightenment
—————————-
“In Buddhism, enlightenment (Bodhi in Sanskrit) refers to a unique experience which wholly transforms the individual from their previous state in samsara.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_(Buddhism)

“(Samsara is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth (i.e. reincarnation) within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, Vaishnavism and other Indian religions. Colloquially, “Samsara” can also refer to a general state of overt or subtle sufferings that occur in day to day life.)”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara
—————————-
“Enlightenment is essentially realizing the non-dual nature of reality, and for those who understand Hindu philosophy, non-duality is Creation (Param Brahman).”
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-is-enlightenment.html
—————————-
The Shambhala Dictionary defines enlightenment as -

“Enlightenment -  The word used to translate the Sanskrit term bodhi (lit., “awakened”) and the Japanese satori or kensho. A person awakens to a nowness of emptiness, which he or she is – even as the en­tire universe is emptiness – and which alone en­ables him or her to comprehend the true nature of things. Since enlightenment is repeatedly mis­understood as an experience of light and experi­ences of light wrongly understood as enlighten­ment, the term awakening is preferable, since it more accurately conveys the experience.”
http://www.shambhala.com/html/learn/features/buddhism/glossary/glossary-E-H.cfm#e-link
—————————-
“If you look at the Hindu and Buddhist tales of enlightenment you’ll find that they aren’t quite sure what it is. Many words are used to describe it, all of the sounding equally exalted in English. Liberation, perfection, freedom, the ‘cessation of the illusion of self”, “crossing over to the other shore”, “truth – consciousness – bliss” (satchitananda), “the supreme awakening”, “great orgasm” (mahamudra).” – Kevin Murphy
http://www.shaktitechnology.com/enlightenment.htm
—————————-
Enlightenment: “A blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana.”
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)
—————————-
Enlightenment:  ”The awakening to ultimate truth by which man is freed from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations
to which all men are otherwise subject.”
(Collins English Dictionary)
—————————-
Enlightenment:  ”The beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering
and individual consciousness.”
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/enlightenment
—————————-
“Enlightenment, Buddhism : a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/enlightenment
—————————-
“Enlightenment can refer to many different concepts. In a secular or non-Buddhist context, the word enlightenment often means “full comprehension of a situation”.  Spiritual enlightenment means to obtain a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, to communicate with or understand the mind of God, to achieve some other type of profound spiritual understanding, or to achieve a fundamentally changed level of existence whereby one’s self is experienced as a nonchanging field of pure consciousness.  Some scientists believe that during meditative states leading up to the subjective experience of enlightenment there are actual physical changes in the brain.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_(spiritual)

—————————-
“Enlightenment is awakening to the experience of the world as a unity.” – Terren Suydam
—————————-

ENLIGHTENMENT: 
A state of consciousness that experiences reality
unfiltered through any mental, physical, or psychological distortions.
The Unity Project

If you care to have YOUR definition of enlightenment added to this list, send it in to me!

Either use the form below, or go to the contact page by clicking here.

In Unity,
AJ

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The Enlightenment Pill

June 9th, 2010

Imagine a day in the future when scientists have made major breakthroughs in brain chemistry and physiology… and after much research they have been able to develop a PILL that would allow the brain to see reality as it “REALLY IS”. 

“The Enlightenment Pill” -- A pill that allows the brain to cut through any illusion or misconception regarding it’s sense of self, and it’s filtering of reality through the distortions of perception and preconceived views.  An enlightenment pill, that peels away like the layers of an onion, any perceptual or mental mechanisms that block our experience of direct “reality”.

What if there were a pill you could take to experience enlightenment? 

In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha said;

Buddhas and disciples are not enlightened by a set method of teachings, but by an internally intuitive process which is spontaneous and is part of their own inner nature.
- Diamond Sutra, Chapter 7

Is it possible that “their own inner nature” could include chemical and biological factors?

If enlightenment is “spontaneous” and “part of their own inner nature”, it seems that a chemical change could be a factor in triggering a person’s experience of a total shift in their perception -- in the direction of viewing reality directly, and without filters of any kind.

Many people may automatically think, “No Way, of course enlightenment is MUCH MORE than just chemistry in the brain!”

In fact, I usually think this way myself. However, I am able to allow myself the ability to concede that, since we don’t know exactly WHAT is involved in this process, we don’t REALLY know that it is impossible to achieve.

That is, with what little we know, how can one categorically rule out the scenario of creating an “enlightenment pill”?

What, exactly, are the reasons that enlightenment could NOT be achievable through chemistry and physiology?
If someone could tell me specifically why an “enlightenment pill” would be impossible, I would like to know.

HISTORY OF THE “ENLIGHTENMENT PILL”

There was research being done in the 1950s and 1960s that focused on the effects of LSD on the brain and perception.

Rather than write out all of the information about that history here, I am including a link to a YouTube video for you to watch if you are interested.

“LSD’s inventor Albert Hofmann called it “medicine for the soul.” The Beatles wrote songs about it. Secret military mind control experiments exploited its hallucinogenic powers. Outlawed in 1966, LSD became a street drug and developed a reputation as the dangerous toy of the counterculture, capable of inspiring either moments of genius, or a descent into madness. Now science is taking a fresh look at LSD, including the first human trials in over 35 years. Using enhanced brain imaging, non-hallucinogenic versions of the drug and information from an underground network of test subjects who suffer from an agonizing condition for which there is no cure, researchers are finding that this “trippy” drug could become the pharmaceutical of the future. Can it enhance our brain power, expand our creativity and cure disease? To find out, Explorer puts LSD under the microscope.”

National Geographic Inside LSD -
(This segment is only one of several, all highly recommended viewing.)

LSD -- The Beyond Within [Part 1 of 9] --  LSD -- The Beyond Within
- A BBC documentary on LSD. Part 2:

I would also point out that hallucinogenic plants and chemicals have been used in religious and spiritual ceremonies for perhaps thousands of years.

“Medicine men, shamans, and other spiritual leaders have used natural hallucinogens found in plants and mushrooms since ancient times, believing in their power to help contact the spiritual world or mystical beings for guidance in serving their people.”
- Hallucinogens and Spirituality

Another reference:

Historically, hallucinogens have been most commonly used in religious or shamanic rituals. In this context they are referred to as entheogens, and they are used to facilitate healing, divination, communication with spirits, and coming-of-age ceremonies. Evidence exists for the use of entheogens in prehistoric times, as well as in numerous ancient cultures, including the Ancient Egyptian, Mycenaean, Ancient Greek, Vedic, Maya, Inca and Aztec cultures. The Upper Amazon is home to the strongest extant entheogenic tradition; the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia, for instance, continue to practice an elaborate system of ayahuasca shamanism, coupled with an animistic belief system.
- Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants, Wikipedia.

NOTE: I am not recommending using drugs to find enlightenment, but reference this information to show that there is more to this story than the perception that hallucinogens and other mind altering chemicals are merely “dangerous drugs”. There is a history of use and development that continues until today.

Research was being done with various hallucinogenic drugs by universities, and even government agencies at one time. All of that was all lost when the drugs became “recreational” and considered a menace to society. Researchers and chemists had been working on taking out the “bad” parts, the “noise” of the drugs, and zeroing in on aspects of the chemical responses that induced positive, long term results. We don’t hear about these studies now, because the “war on drugs” has made any objective discussion of this topic nearly impossible.

Imagine if there were a focused and concerted effort to find and utilize ANY chemical substances that would particularly effect perceptions normally associated with “enlightenment” and awakenings.

My point here is not to be an advocate for creating an “enlightenment pill”.

But I DO feel that EVERY MEANS AVAILABLE should be used in pursuit of finding ways to achieve awakenings and breakthroughs.

If there IS a chemical or physiological factor involved in epiphanies or enlightenment…  then that should be investigated and utilized to the fullest extent possible.

Here are a couple of my reasons for considering the chemical aspect of enlightenment:

  1. What if there WERE a strong chemical component to these experiences, and we did NOT pursue that avenue? -- How much time and effort would be wasted going in the wrong direction, or in ignoring a perfectly valid means of achieving the goal of enlightenment?
  2. What if the chemical aspect turned out to be a critical factor in enlightenment, and we were constantly working around that fact? - We would mistakenly be leaving out a key element in finding ways to facilitate awakenings and enlightenment. - It would take far LONGER to achieve enlightenment if this critical factor was removed from the equation.

How many drugs are taken each day for 
conditions related to “mental” issues?

How many people are helped every day by
drugs that help depression?

Imagine a day when you could take an “enlightenment pill”…

Would you take it?

How would you feel about only having to “take a pill” to achieve enlightenment?

Would it diminish the value of enlightenment in any way?

Here is another scenario:

Imagine yourself in a study group, or “clinical trials” for testing the effectiveness of the enlightenment pill.

Imagine that you took the enlightenment pill, and amazingly - 
you actually DID achieve enlightenment!

But, when the trial was over, you found out that -

you had taken a placebo…

In Unity,
AJ

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Enlightenment Without Buddhism?

May 25th, 2010

Yesterday during a conversation with a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka I asked him;

“Is it possible for a person to experience complete enlightenment, in the Buddhist sense, without ever having heard a single word of Buddhist teachings?”

His answer was, “YES”.

I asked him how this would be possible, and he said;
“Because it is the truth“.

It struck me how simple, and yet powerful this attitude is.

From his answer, it seems that his assumption is that “enlightenment” is a fairly static, or predictable, definable event. That is, that it can be held apart from any particular mindset, or set of teachings. It is a result of understanding, in a complete and total manner, ”the truth”.

Frankly, as I have stated before, it is my present position that Buddhist enlightenment is a result of Buddhist world view and teachings.  (I am open to revision of this opinion if a more compelling argument or experience presents itself to me.)

It is ONE form of enlightenment, perhaps among many.

It seems to me that experiencing Buddhist enlightenment is a result of thoroughly steeping your mind and thoughts in the Buddhist world view, which include the concept and experience of enlightenment.

For example, one of the elements of enlightenment in Buddhism is the loss of the sense of “self”. One’s sense of having a separate, distinct self, disappears in the full realization that the self does not exist… it is an illusion, a fantasy constructed by your mind.

Once the idea that the sense of self is a false illusion is postulated, the concept that you can drop that sense of self in enlightenment becomes possible. Once it becomes possible, it can be achieved.

So, is this aspect of enlightenment a universal element of realization that happens every time?

In my view the realization of the loss of self may be a purely psychological realization. It is a change in perspective that involves instantly deconstructing an accumulation of false constructs.

Buddhism raises this point of the “no-self”, and its relationship to enlightenment, to a fairly high status of importance.  What I am wondering is - is it inevitable that one would discover this idea of “no-self” as being an essential aspect of enlightenment? And further, would one inevitably experience this without ever having even heard of such a concept?

So again, I am back to this question;

Exactly what IS Buddhist enlightenment?

My next point is this -

If you don’t have to be Buddhist to experience complete enlightenment,
there may be ANOTHER way…

One of the things I am pursuing here in the Unity Project is whether there are practices, or modes of understanding, that can lead to “enlightenment”… that do not require years of practice, meditation, and study.

I am not looking for a “quick fix”, or magical pill to take… but the idea that the only path to enlightenment is a Buddhist one, or one that inevitably takes years of dedication and sacrifice etc. – somehow that idea has never seemed completely right to me.

I know much of the theory of why this is so, why Buddhism works so well, and why it is necessary to go through persistent and focused effort, but I still think that it is possible that this view (the “long, hard road view”) is perhaps only an ASSUMPTION in itself. 

It is a belief.

The idea that the experience of enlightenment can be achieved without reference to Buddhism, or Buddhist thoughts and concepts, is a powerful one.

If this is true, then I wonder what else might exist that can come up with the same result… how does one achieve enlightenment without the Buddha’s teachings?

I realize the response of some people may be; “Well, if Buddhism will lead you to enlightenment, why do you need to worry about another way to get there?”

There are two reasons.

One, from a purely hypothetical stand point, it is a fascinating topic.

It calls into question exactly what enlightenment is.

Is enlightenment a more-or-less “static” event that follows predictable and patterned outcomes, or is it fluid and different for each person?

How similar is the experience of enlightenment for each individual, since each individual is uniquely different?

The second reason for asking this question is more practical, and that is that, other methods and ideas can come out of this investigation that may lead to quicker results.

If there is more than one way to enlightenment, perhaps the other way, or other ways, might be more efficient… might require less effort, and might increase the value of your life experience with less “wasted time” to get to the same result.

If you have a moment, feel free to leave your comments here or contact me directly via my contact page. I would be happy to hear your thoughts and input into this conversation.

In Unity,
AJ

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The Brain During Dreaming

May 24th, 2010

The sleeping, dreaming brain is a profound mystery. In researching how left hemisphere functioning differs from right hemisphere functioning, I came across some information about what happens in the brain during dreaming and sleep.

I feel that this information may somehow be related to the subject of epiphanies and awakenings. This is because of the relationship of the dreaming brain to rational thought (commonly referred to as a “left brain function”).

During dreaming there is only one part of the brain that virtually shuts down, and that is our logic center.

This seems significant. For the brain to actually develop a mechanism within itself that purposely, and actively, SHUTS DOWN rational thought is amazing.

It seems logical that the brain is doing this for some particular reason, and that reason must be that the logic center of the brain might “interfere” somehow with the important activities that take place in the brain during sleep.

It doesn’t seem to me that the brain would actively force the shutting down of a particular function (logic), if that function was incidental, or would not interfere with the purpose of the overall functioning of the brain at the time of sleep.

The overall activity of the brain during sleep actually increases significantly.  During REM sleep our brain grows so busy that blood flow to it nearly doubles.

Here are a few other facts about dreaming that may, or may not, be related to our study here:

  • We dream in “bursts”, a few minutes at a time
  • Dreams store memories, perhaps by sifting through the days experiences somehow, discarding non-essentials… filing things that are important, discarding those that aren’t
  • REM sleep is “almost like a filing system” – (Michael Salemi)
  • Events occurring while we’re awake are only stored in temporarily memory. In dreams we throw away irrelevant material and file useful information into permanent storage
  • “Study and then sleep, you will do better on the test”
  • Sleep is critical for memory and learning
  • During sleep there is no logic to impose order, so “thoughts can collide, unleashing creativity, and generating fresh ideas”
  • Scientific discoveries and other breakthroughs and insights are regularly reported to be linked to dreams

And finally there is a story I came across that ties this together in a way -

Bruce Damer is a NASA designer, and founder of DigitalSpace. At one time he was working for months on a big problem that had been perplexing him and seemed to have no solution.

Then one night he consciously said to himself; “Ok, everything is in there, go for it! – boot up the dream processor, and give me SOMETHING!”

The next morning when he woke up he began sketching. He had found an idea that put everything together, and had a concept that would work. He presented his idea to his colleagues at work and they thought the idea was intriguing.

“The NASA civil servants have written reports about how innovative the work is, and how forward thinking it is – and I credit this to, sort of the, unfettered world of dreaming.”

Unhindered by the rational, compulsive mind, the brain can process information in a more efficient, perhaps more holistic way during sleep.

Perhaps this overarching principle could play a part in our search for significant factors relating to breakthroughs, epiphanies and awakenings.

I may get back to this in the future if it has a role to play. For now I think it is interesting to note these fascinating characteristics of the sleeping, dreaming brain.

(Note: The source for much of this information was “Brainpower“.)
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Left Brain / Right Brain Generalizations

May 20th, 2010

I got sidetracked and bogged down in my research about left brain / right brain issues.

I have since realized that the main problem I was facing was one of scope. That is, I need to clarify what I am talking about when I am using the terms “left brain” and “right brain”. To remind you of my references about left brain / right brain, read my earlier post on “Left Brain / Right Brain Refresher” .

The reason I ran into some setbacks on this subject is because I believe I was trying to answer questions about right brain left brain without clarifying what “level” of brain I was talking about.

So, here are some clarifications.
“Left Brain / Right Brain”, how I use these terms.

1. I am only using these terms as “broad generalizations”, in terms that the average layperson (like myself) can easily grasp.

I had taken some time to see how far down into brain activity I could track these generalizations, and found that it wasn’t too far. I believe that there is a functional difference, in a broad and general sense, but (not being a brain scientist) I can’t prove that.

Perhaps I was led down this road because of my interpretation of Jill Taylor Bolte, who IS a brain scientist, and her comments about both the topics of left brain /right brain function, and her own personal experience of what happened to her when her left brain was physically shut down.

One of the factors contributing to my dilemma was a comment left by a reader. Here is his comment:

Unless you were able to point to research that validates that model, I would hope that your ideas don’t depend on left/brain dominance or “imbalance”, at least from a neurology point of view. If it’s just a metaphor for how we think, I guess that would be ok but I would still be bothered that articulating it as such reinforces the popular misconception that some of us use one side of our brains more than the other side.

He makes an excellent point here. If it is a misconception I don’t want to feed into that.

2. Even if these terms are not 100% factually correct or provable, they define general characteristics that are commonly assumed to exist.

Common usage, factually provable or not, points to a general understanding of the larger issues. If someone can show me that these generalizations are wrong, I would revise my thinking entirely. Even though they are simple generalizations of characteristic brain functioning, everyone knows what I am talking about when I use these terms.

3. I am looking for the “practical” results of these generalizations, not scientific verification.

These references and concepts are used as tools. Ultimately I would like to find ways to back up my hypothesis and findings in a scientific way, with data and studies to prove the points. But my main purpose here is to find tools to use in facilitating and stimulating epiphanies and awakenings.

 4. “Left Brain /Right Brain” refers to brain functioning in a general, commonly used sense. “Left Hemisphere / Right Hemisphere” refers to the actual brain or brain physiology.

I normally refer to “brain” in terms of brain functioning – brain functioning in the sense of the broad results and experiences of using the brain. References to “hemisphere” relates to a more restricted, physiologically related functioning.

That is, “left brain” functioning would include activities and responses relating to logic, analytical thought, or science – whereas “left hemisphere” functioning might refer to actual physiological processes going on within the brain.

So I hope these clarifications clear up my position on these issues around left brain / right brain.

The dominance of the left brain over right brain functions in many of us may play an important role in facilitating the occurrence of an epiphany or awakening.

It is my contention that our left brain blocks our potential for epiphanies and awakenings. I also claim that left brain characteristics, in a general sense, dominate most of us in modern society.

Since my first entry into this blog, and my first steps on this project, it has been a goal of mine to define the terms I am using, and to speak as clearly as possible about these subjects.

It is also my goal to back up as much of my thought as is possible with scientific, rational and reasoned thought. (Did you notice how I am in the grip of the dominance of my left brain by focusing so much on scientific validity as a priority?!)

I will be able to move on now with my further conclusions in the near future. Before I move on though, I will present some of my findings in studying the left brain /right brain topic. I will do this to share that information with you, and to show just how my thinking and reasoning leads to my conclusions.

In Unity,
AJ

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Left Brain Dominance

March 29th, 2010

In preparation for my next ideas about how the “left brain / right brain” issue fits into awakenings and epiphanies, the issue of left brain dominance needs to be addressed.

It seems to me that the left brain has a significant dominance in most people in our modern society.

There are several factors that go into this assumption, and among them are the following:

* the importance and dominance of language in life today
* the stresses of modern living which emphasise organization of daily life
* the significance of the structure of time, and it’s organization, to live in today’s society
* the predominance of technology and science in daily living
* the fragmentation of social life, in part due to pressures of time constraints combined with the use of the Internet. This includes the dominance of Television in many peoples lives today.

Let me take a moment to point out that these ideas of mine are only hypothetical. I am not presenting these ideas as fact, but as raw generalizations that may be true. It is extremely difficult to pinpoint any of these things with any accuracy, but my overall perception of people today is that the balance is shifted to left brain dominance.

LEFT BRAIN / RIGHT BRAIN DOMINANCE IN INDIVIDUALS

What I am addressing in this post is not the issue of whether an individual is left brain or right brain dominant, but rather, whether, ON THE WHOLE people in our modern society are MORE left brain oriented than right brain.

Every person has a particular balance, or rather imbalance, of tendencies towards right brain activity or left brain activity. For example, they may be more “scientific” or “math” oriented, or more “music” or “artistically” oriented.

What I am discussing here is not this issue. What I am discussing is a general trend, or general preponderance of a “type” of thinking in the brain, which leans to the left brain.

It seems to me that the individual can swing one way or the other in their personal tendencies, but that overall, most people today are in the grip of left brain activity rather than right brain.

The structure, and character of modern society would lend itself to this generalization.

VARIABLES AND QUESTIONS

Some areas that may come into play that I am not able to fully deal with in this broad, general discussion are these:

* The role of “culture”: that is, IS there a difference in left brain / right brain dominance, OVERALL, related to cultural differences?. In the broadest sense,  is there a difference in hemispheric dominance issues relating to Eastern versus Western cultures?

* The role of language: what part does language play in this whole picture? Language affects thinking and “world view”, so how does it affect issues of left brain / right brain dominance?

* Age: is there a difference between generations?

* Technology: what role does technology play in the overall effect of how people think, and  consequently, which hemisphere they tend to use more dominantly? I include in this Television, media, and multi media – including the Internet and social networking.

OPEN TO YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND ARGUMENTS

In subsequent postings you will see where I am going with this argument, and more detailed reasons behind it.

However, this is a relatively unknown, new area of study and understanding. My opinions are based on the knowledge that I have at this point, and I welcome any new insight into this area.

If you have opinions, or specific knowledge of any of these areas, and wish to contribute to this topic in any way, I would welcome your feedback and input.

Just leave your comments here and I will get back to you.  I am not here to dictate my opinions in an autocratic way, but to explore this subject in as much detail as I can, while still making progress in my overall goal of finding better ways to facilitate the increase in abilities to achieve profound awakenings and epiphanies.

In Unity,
AJ

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Epiphanies Are The Work Of The Subconscious Mind

October 16th, 2009

Walking by the river yesterday I had a thought.

In Buddhist terms, “enlightenment” is the result that happens when a person’s subconscious mind absorbs and works with the content of Buddhism, and then “solves” that problem, or comes up with a solution to the “riddle” in the form of a sudden realization of what all that prior information means.

I have been wondering lately, “Can one experience enlightenment WITHOUT knowledge of Buddhism?”. It occurred to me that, it is most likely that enlightenment is the RESULT of a thorough understanding and absorption of Buddhist thought… I know that sounds obvious, but I am talking about something deeper than the surface relationship. Study of Buddhism and meditation etc. prepares the mind for enlightenment… just like study and immersion in a specific area of scientific research could prepare one for a breakthrough insight relating to that discipline.

What I mean is that, you don’t just study Buddhism and then, by chance, experience enlightenment that may, or may not be related to what you studied… the enlightenment that you experience will be exactly predicted by the precise information that you fed into and absorbed in your mind.

And further, other epiphanies in general, are the direct result of the ruminations of the subconscious mind. The specific nature of the input determines the exact nature of the output.

I thought of this in regards to the concept touched on earlier in this blog, that perhaps awakenings take place shortly after the subconscious mind had a chance to work on its own without interference from the conscious, rational, mind – i.e. awakenings often take place in the early morning around the time of recent sleep, or a lack of sleep, depending on the circumstance.

I began to think about this because it occurred to me that many scientific discoveries and insights must happen in a sudden, satori like manner. It seemed to me that the subconscious mind must take the massive amounts of information that a scientist puts in his brain about his area of interest… and the subconscious mind then puts it together into a whole. When the scientist realizes the picture, or concept, of the whole, they have a sudden burst of insight that makes everything become clear.

Any “problem” can be solved by the subconscious mind. I don’t know how, and that is not the purpose of this inquiry at this point, but it seems like input goes into the mind, and a sudden burst of insight comes out as a result.

I think nearly everyone can relate to this experience if they think about it. After thinking about something over and over, looking at it from all angles, dwelling on it, focusing on it… obsessing over it even in some cases, suddenly a flash of insight about the whole thing comes to you.

You might be standing in the shower, washing your hands in the sink, brushing your teeth, any kind of activity where you are NOT actually thinking about the subject… and BOOM! There is the answer!

Back to enlightenment. It seemed to me logical that, if you input enough information, enough examples, enough explanations and visualizations… if you meditated enough and absorbed enough of these ideas, concepts and experiences relating directly to the Buddhist teachings… that in the end, if you stand back and let it do its work without interference, that the subconscious mind will kick out the “answer” or synthesis of the totality in the form of enlightenment.

And to the second part, awakenings and epiphanies of any kind seem to happen when you “step out” of the picture and let your subconscious mind do its work, AFTER you have given it sufficient information and experience to work with.

The key here for me is the relationship of epiphanies, awakenings, and enlightenment, to the age old process of “feed the mind information, let the subconscious do its work”.

So, in a sense, I am saying that, awakenings may be the result of giving the mind the proper information and/or experiences, and then standing back while the subconscious mind gives you the resultant epiphany.

Feeding into this process, and part of it, is the expectation that your mind will do this for you. You hold a belief that this is bound to happen at any time, because that is the way your mind works.

Looking at it from another angle, it is the process of giving the left brain enough information that it needs, and perhaps stimulating the right brain in an appropriate manner at the same time … and then give it a chance to fuse everything into one, interconnected whole, that emerges as a sudden “flash” of insight.

When this happens, it usually seems like it came from nowhere, or “out of the blue”.

It just popped in “on its own”!

So, when the two parts of the brain work together in an optimal manner, it can produce an outcome that far transcends the original information and experience. Or, in other words, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

And finally, it dawned on me that, this insight I experienced today, this most recent synthesis of my ideas and knowledge about awakenings, epiphanies, and enlightenment… this latest insight of mine is ITSELF an example of this process!

Walking by the river, out of the blue, this insight hit me. I have been thinking about these issues, studying them, experiencing them, and living with them for some time now. As I talk and think about them I file them away in my brain.

Later, while entirely absorbed into another experience, a sudden insight into the nature of these things occurs to me. Watching leaves fall into the river and float away, my subconscious mind was doing it’s work!

As to the point of ”expectation” playing a role in this overall process, let me just say that my walks by the river to experience the fall leaves and the beauty of the water… are not an accident.

I have known about this process for some time, but only today did it intuitively tie into everything I have been talking about and considering here in this project.

In the past I thought, “that’s great, but this process leaves the whole thing to chance”. I knew that you could feed information into your mind and stand back and let it process that information, but I thought, what’s the use? You can’t really control this process. What if you don’t give it enough information? What if you don’t wait long enough? What if the information isn’t the right kind?

Those kinds of questions made me think that this process was too indeterminate, not controlled enough to be of practical, reliable use.

Now, I am thinking differently. Now, I am thinking that it may be a key factor in a more “controlled” process.

I believe this principle will be folded into, and be part of much of what is to come in this project.

Two more key factors are added into the mix here:

  1.  It is probable that a balance between the two sides of the brain may be important in this process.
  2. Part of the process may be in standing aside and allowing the subconscious mind to synthesize the information and experiences for you, into an overall, organic whole… where the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Add to this some of the other factors I have mentioned in the past and you have the shape of things to come.

Other factors that may be important:

  • an expectation that an epiphany or awakening will occur
  • using a “trick” or koan like device to sidestep the rational mind
  • location and surroundings may be part of the catalyst
  • the “process” that leads to awakenings can be understood and utilized
  • epiphanies and awakenings transform the individual, and the world

My thought today was that enlightenment doesn’t happen on it’s own. It may not be some mysterious, unpredictable phenomenon that defies all logic. In a simple sense, it is the result of proper preparation in the left brain, coupled with appropriate utilization of the right brain and the subconscious mind.

Many questions still remain, but it seems that the type of enlightenment that can be experienced is the direct result of the input fed into the mind. This would also explain the wide variety of different types of enlightenment, and also explain that certain types of Buddhist enlightenment are fairly predictable.

If you are deeply schooled in Buddhist thought and meditation experiences, you should directly experience the resultant enlightenment, which is clearly classified in the literature.

But this is also true for ANY kind of epiphany.

Somehow this all seems self evident when I write it, but I believe that the underlying principle is key.

I will have more on this topic in the future. For now, I will get ready for another walk by the river today…

In Unity,
AJ

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Location, Location – Part 2

September 30th, 2009

Buddha and the Bodhi Tree -

I received a few comments from my last blog posting “Satori in Walmart?” that were worth adding here for consideration.

First, as to location – my friend Chris suggested that, in the case of the Buddha, the fact that he was sitting under this particular, large tree might be significant. He felt that, perhaps, somehow the tree itself may have had an influence on the Buddha and his perception and subsequent enlightenment.

Another friend, Michelle, added that, perhaps the Earth itself, related to that tree as well, might have had something to do with the situation there. There are those who may think this sort of thing is preposterous, but there are others who feel that the Earth itself emanates an influence that directly affects us as biological human beings.

The Buddha sat under a big, powerful tree for days and days … I am not sure if he sat directly on the Earth, but for some reason that seems to me what happened. Could the tree and the Earth have played a part?

Is it possible that the Bodhi Tree and the Earth itself could have played a part in the Buddha’s enlightenment?

Let’s not forget that in my earlier post I noted; “according to Buddhist texts the Buddha, after his Enlightenment, spent a whole week in front of the tree, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude”.

I can only speculate and take it into consideration at this point. It would be difficult to trace something like this, but I think it is worth keeping in mind.

Second, as to sleep – the proximity to sleep or waking up from sleep to the awakenings I mentioned, has been commented on by a number of people.

Two of the three examples of awakening that I discussed involved the factor of the person either being asleep, or near the time of waking up in the early morning.

Is it possible that the Buddha was asleep, or had just woken up when he achieved his enlightenment?

Those who have mentioned the factor of being near a sleep state have pointed out that the subconscious mind could be more active at this time… with less interference from the rational mind.

So, I am putting these latest observations into the blog now because they seem to be worth remembering and considering in this study.

Any comments are welcome. Note: when commenting on this blog, your comment will be submitted for “review”, so won’t post immediately.

In Unity,
AJ

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Satori in Walmart?

September 22nd, 2009

Location, location, location…

I was in a large “warehouse” type store the other day and the idea occurred to me:

“Could one experience enlightenment in a Walmart?”

To be more exact, what role does location play in achieving enlightenment, or having an experience of epiphany?

It seemed to me that it would be unlikely that one could have a transformational experience in such a place as Walmart, or Sam’s Club etc., but after I thought about it I realized that this is actually an important question.

Why not?

Does location make any difference?

Then the reverse thought occurred to me:

Is there a location that would enhance the likelihood of having an epiphanic experience?

I was thinking about the Buddha’s enlightenment, and do not recall ever hearing or reading anything about the location being a factor in his enlightenment. I know he was enlightened under the Bodhi tree, but have never heard about the specific “conditions” of his enlightenment.

From Wikipedia I found this out:

“According to Buddhist texts the Buddha, after his Enlightenment, spent a whole week in front of the tree, standing with unblinking eyes, gazing at it with gratitude. A shrine was later erected on the spot where he stood, and was called the Animisalocana cetiya.” 

By location, I mean both the physical location, as well as the physical “conditions” of that location… temperature, brightness or darkness, or other tactile features of a particular location.

Buddha under the Bodhi Tree

Buddha under the Bodhi Tree

 

Was there a breeze on his face?
Did a leaf fall in front of him?
Was the sunshine sparkling through the leaves into his line of sight?
Was it warm or cold?
Was it raining?

It seems that perhaps a location could “trigger” a response in a person leading to an awakening, but is that true?

Even in a Walmart, perhaps looking at a roll of paper towels… could that trigger a response? Maybe it would be related to some kind of juxtapositioning of a past experience with the current experience of the moment, that leads to a deep, intuitive insight based on the absurdity of that relationship.

So, these are my questions:

What role does location play in an awakening?

Is there a “better” location where one might be more likely to have these experiences?

Are there locations that would “prevent” any kind of awakening experience?

* * *

I recall Metta Zetty had her awakening at a Rodeway Inn.. one of her passages in her website is titled “Epiphany at the Rodeway Inn“.

“The epiphany arrived suddenly, and without warning. In fact, I was asleep when the experience began.”

 

“Sometime during the early morning hours of February 5th, 1997, I began to dream.“

 

“This was a moment of overwhelming revelation, of pure and absolute joy. The perfection and wholeness of the universe seemed so obvious, so simple, so complete, so absolute. Like a bliss-filled fool, I alternately laughed and cried, spontaneously and irresistibly, at the exquisite perfection of All That Is.”

 

“Even as I eventually awakened my partner, and began to shower and prepare for our client’s meeting, this astonishing energy continued to move through me, in wave after wave of sweet and unspeakable joy.”

Another example that comes to mind is Eckhart Tolle.

His awakening took place in his room in the early morning hours after waking up in his bed. Here is what he says about this experience in “The Power of Now”;

“One night not long after my twenty-ninth birthday, I  woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been. The silence of the night, the vague outlines of the furniture in the dark room, the distant noise of a passing train – everything felt so alien, so hostile, and so utterly meaningless that it created in me a deep loathing of the world.”

He goes on to tell exactly what happened, and the sequence of events after that. (It’s a great story!)

I was interested in the description of the time and place, and the mood he experienced in those surroundings.

So Metta Zetty’s awakening started while she was asleep, in bed, at a Rodeway Inn, Eckhart Tolle’s was in his room in the early morning hours,  and the Buddha’s awakening was under the Bodhi tree in India.

Did their location play any role in their awakening?

From these descriptions, it seems that perhaps a common factor is that the subconscious mind was deeply engaged prior to the awakening… maybe that is why the proximity of sleep was involved.

I will be looking for further information on this topic. If you have any thoughts about this, or any other examples with details about location relating to awakenings, I would love to hear from you with the specifics.

I think I will go to bed now…

In Unity,
AJ

 
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I Expect Enlightenment

September 2nd, 2009

What role does expectation play in enlightenment?

Could it be that a belief in the possibility of awakening actually happening to you personally,  is a factor in the probability of that happening?

“Yes, it can happen to me! … It probably WILL happen to me … it could happen to me at any time!”

Might that type of thinking play into increasing the likelihood that an awakening or epiphany could be experienced?

Coupled with this idea is the additional ingredient of understanding.

Could a clear understanding of exactly what is possible in enlightenment or awakening… could a specific knowledge of that experience lead to a greater probability that you could undergo that experience yourself?

Nitin Trasi addresses this issue wonderfully in his book “The Science of Enlightenment”.  He says;

“The intuitive understanding which constitutes Enlightenment cannot be learnt or ‘had’ from another person, however great or illumined.  Nor can it be brought about or induced by any particular effort, method or technique. Therefore the only thing to be ‘done’ is to try and understand the situation intellectually.

(Understanding is all) – Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

And then allow the understanding to sink in. The rest will happen by itself. The intellectual understanding of the situation creates conditions favourable for the spontaneous occurrence of the intuitive understanding. (Exactly how it does so will be described a little later). A comprehensive intellectual understanding is a prelude to Enlightenment.”

I think it is worth investigating.

It seems that, without the belief that you could yourself experience enlightenment… it would be very unlikely to happen. If you DID believe that it was possible for you, you would be poised for it to happen at that very moment.

If you had a good understanding, a fairly extensive idea of what you might expect would “theoretically” happen to someone who becomes enlightened, then that understanding would almost certainly increase the likelihood that it would be possible for you, yourself, to have that experience.

Instead of just a vague idea of some “magical” transformational event happening to other people, through knowledge, it becomes something you can understand and comprehend… and something you know about.

Once you know about it, you could see exactly how it might happen to you. If you can imagine it happening… you have set the stage for a natural process to occur.

So the two things may work together – the knowledge and understanding of exactly what enlightenment is and how it happens, along with the idea that “it could very well happen to me” might set the stage for the event to happen.

This same process may work for other awakenings and epiphanies as well. However, the difference is that each awakening or epiphany would have its own, clearly defined outcome. That is where it is a little tricky, because many awakenings and epiphanies are considered rather “random”, and are about a whole host of things.

Expectation, and understanding of the process and the outcome … these two factors may lead to more control in preparing for an actual transformational event.

In Unity,
AJ

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Tricks and Koans

August 14th, 2009

Could a “trick” trigger an epiphany?

It seems that epiphanies and awakenings cannot be forced.

You can’t schedule them, or plan for them to happen at a particular time, in a particular way.

The problem seems to be the rational mind.

It seems unlikely that you can “reason” your way into a sudden awakening… you can set the stage for it, but the actual event itself goes beyond reason.

One visual example of this process is the “Young Girl – Old Woman Illusion“.  This is a famous perceptual illusion in which the brain switches between seeing a young girl and an old woman.  You can tell someone what they should see, but that doesn’t help… then all of the sudden they can see the switch, and it is like a light bulb goes on!

Logic, rationality, and thinking does not enable one to see the illusion… it sets the stage in some ways, but does not force the actual perceptual ability.

This is an example of what I mean when I say a “trick”. 

Similarly, a Koan can lead to a sudden insight.

Main Entry: ko·an
Pronunciation: \’ko-?än\
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese koan, from ko public + an proposition
Date: 1945
: a paradox to be meditated upon that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to abandon ultimate dependence on reason and to force them into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment

I believe that the koan is a “trick” that somehow sidesteps the egoic mind – a tactic to get outside of the mind to realize the illusion of time and the egoic self.

It seems that you cannot use the mind to get out of the mind – you must trick it somehow to change perspective enough to get a sudden insight or realization that can transcend the mind.

These processes, or tools, may be developed further in some way to lead to awareness of Unity Consciousness, or even other, less profound, awakenings.

In the same way that koans and visual illusions were created to trick the mind into achieving a sudden insight, I believe that there may be a conscious way to similarly create other tools that can lead  to awakenings and epiphanies.

Of course, at this point I don’t know what they would be, but by studying the underlying principles involved in these examples I think it might be possible to create new methods that use these same principles to achieve sudden insights of a useful nature.

Zen Koan 

Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One said, “The flag moves.” The other said, “The wind moves.” They argued back and forth but could not agree.

 

 Hui-neng, the sixth Patriarch, said:

 

 ”Gentlemen! It is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves.”

 

 The two monks were struck with awe.

If you, or anyone you know, or know of, might have ideas or suggestions about this process, please contact me so that we can pursue these ideas further.

In Unity,
AJ

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Why “Unity”?

August 3rd, 2009

The Unity Project is ultimately meant to facilitate the experience of Unity Consciousness.

“He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.”
Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.

One of the primary characteristics of most accounts of awakenings, enlightenment, or other epiphanies, is the profound and deep realization that everything is connected… that “we are all one”.

For example, the idea that there is no such thing as a separate self is a central tenant of Buddhism. 

“A true disciple knows that there is no such thing as a self, a person, a living being, or a universal self. A true disciple knows that all things are devoid of self-hood, devoid of any separate individuality.”
Diamond Sutra, Chapter 17

In the category of awakenings, in 1997 Metta Zetty had a profound and remarkable experience. She chronicles the experience and what led up to it in her website “Awakening Into Awareness“.  There are many interesting things that she says about her epiphany, and the realization that she had as a result, and I will be referencing her in more detail on the Unity Project website in the future.

Here’s what she had to say.

“Within this timeless, euphoric space, I suddenly realized and knew with unmistakable clarity that the universe, exactly as it is within the present moment, is absolutely complete and perfect. The present moment was whole and integrated. Any sense of fundamental separateness was gone”. – Metta Zetty

Since I began this project I have come to realize that this “unity” aspect of a “higher consciousness”, or revelation, is only one of many aspects that are possible. However, Unity Consciousness runs like a thread through nearly every one of them.

The Unity Project will explore and utilize ALL aspects of epiphanies and awakenings… but the end result for many of them is still ultimately the unity of all things.

Even modern physics proves an uncanny, deep connection in the very most fundamental fabric of existence. EVERYTHING in the universe is connected to everything else in a profound way, going back to the beginning of time. (This is known in physics as “Quantum Entanglement“)

So, since “all roads lead to Unity”, I have decided to keep this initial title for this project.

Unity Consciousness is considered by many to be the “ultimate realization”.

And finally, it is interesting to note that Unity Consciousness cannot be experienced by thinking things through, or rational considerations. It appears that a complete experience of this sort of consciousness can only come as a sudden realization.

There are a number of reasons for this, which we will consider on the main website in the future, but for now it seems that this experience cannot be rationally “thought out” or planned in advance.

Since Unity Consciousness appeared to be the most prominent and significant result of profound epiphanies and awakenings, it seemed to me that this would be the primary area of overriding connection that would link all aspects of this study together.

In Unity…
AJ
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A Little Background – Definitions

August 2nd, 2009

When I first started thinking about enlightenment I had some general, pre-conceived ideas that I picked up along the way in my reading about Buddhism and spirituality in general.

I thought that enlightenment was something that somehow a relatively small number of people could achieve… not necessarily as a goal, but that it could happen to them in the course of their spiritual activities.

I quickly found that there were problems that I had not anticipated in thinking about this issue of enlightenment .

The main problem is the words.

As I thought about enlightenment, I realized that what I think my idea of enlightenment was, was really more like satori.

So, I looked up the definitions of enlightenment and satori and compared them.

Instead of answering my questions by trying to define these terms I only found more perplexing issues being raised.

Then I decided I needed to know how other words related to enlightenment might be defined; words like awakening, epiphany, and insight.

The bottom line here is that, to even think properly about this subject of enlightenment, I needed to get some clear definitions.

But the definitions didn’t really clear anything up… they defined the words, but obscured the real underlying issue. I began wondering if there really is such a thing as “enlightenment”, because these definitions raised more questions than they answered.

I will discuss all of these over time, but for now I will finish by saying that, one of the elements that I will bring to this issue of enlightenment and awakenings, is the attempt to be clear in the definition and usage of the relevant words.

Here is the main part of the vocabulary that will be contemplated in the future:

  • Enlightenment
  • Satori
  • Awakening
  • Epiphany
  • Insight
  • Revelation
  • Nirvana
  • Unity Consciousness

Each of these has a separate and different definition, and this seems to lead to further complexity, not clarity.

Having said that, I hope to stay on target in discussing subjects in the future, without devolving into archaic hair-splitting over subtle nuances that don’t help to clarify.

My initial foray into this subject led me into a wide field of similar and related concepts… all the while suggesting only complexity and subtlety that would not be answered in simple terms.

“Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for it”.
Benjamin Whorf

In Unity…
AJ
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