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From someone who meditated for years hoping that would free me from suffering I can honestly say that methods of meditation aren’t effective nor necessary. We are trapped in time and the movement of becoming and this is the problem. I was that, I am this, I will be that is the whole trap. The pursuit of happiness is suffering. No sentient being wants to suffer so by definition if one is suffering they must be pursuing happiness. So when the pursuit of happiness ends, suffering ends and vice versa. By meditating, we are perpetuating this cycle. There is only one fundamental confusion that is responsible for all suffering. We think that we are the actor who is acting when all there is to life is constant, inexhaustible action. This division between the actor and the act creates a time gap that gives room for hesitation, doubt and resistance. When it becomes clear to one that this gap is an illusion, the trick of the mind is spotted and you won’t fall for it again.
My fist can punch something separate from it but it cannot turn around and punch itself. Likewise, my fist can run from something separate from it but cannot run from itself. So, if you are separate from your thoughts, feelings, sensations and reactions then you’d have the ability to resist them. But if you are one with your thoughts, feelings, sensations and reactions than you can’t do a thing about them. How far are you from your thoughts and feelings to control them? You’re thinking neurotically and the thought comes and says, “I’m thinking neurotically, I will meditate to fix them!” But is that not just another thought? So we try to control thought with thought and end up with more thought. This is the trap. The one doing the resisting is that which he/she resists. This is the trick the mind is playing and the second you spot it you will not fall for it anymore. Real meditation requires absolutely no effort at all; Being yourself requires absolutely no effort at all. But thought has divided ourself from ourself and forges a battle between yourself and the illusory self it created.
Ponder this statement: The thinker is the thought. It’s not you and your thought. That you is an illusion. If that division was real you would’ve quelled your mind long ago. But we believe this division is real and thus are in constant conflict fighting and resisting ourself. When you see the falseness of this division, you will live without any shadow of resistance or conflict. Absence of conflict is freedom and freedom brings love. The pursuit of happiness ends once and for all. Time ends, past and future ends, becoming ends and there is only what is happening now. When time ends, eternity is there (it has always been there but simply veiled). By eternity it isn’t meant to be time stretching backwards and forwards infinitely. It means that time itself never existed at all. Now is a timeless time therefore eternal.
If you don’t see this right now, I recommend abandoning all methods and techniques to clear your mind. Rather, inquire into the one who is resisting, controlling and escaping. Who is the one with the problem? Who is the one questioning? Is the questioner separate from the question? When you see there is no actor acting, you’ll see that life is constant action. The awareness of life is the action. The screen never fights the movie it illumines.
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There's much to discover but, nothing to look for in meditation.
Nibbana isn't an experience. Nibbana is freedom from the known. A signless and traceless release.
You wrote:
“I was that, I am this, I will be that"
Not all meditators have this view about meditation.
The Buddha didn't teach or encourage this view either:
“This is how they attend improperly: ‘Did I exist in the past? Did I not exist in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? After being what, what did I become in the past? Will I exist in the future? Will I not exist in the future? What will I be in the future? How will I be in the future? After being what, what will I become in the future?’ Or they are undecided about the present thus: ‘Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? This sentient being—where did it come from? And where will it go?’
When they attend improperly in this way, one of the following six views arises in them and is taken as a genuine fact. The view: ‘My self exists in an absolute sense.’ The view: ‘My self does not exist in an absolute sense.’ The view: ‘I perceive the self with the self.’ The view: ‘I perceive what is not-self with the self.’ The view: ‘I perceive the self with what is not-self.’ Or they have such a view: ‘This self of mine is he who speaks and feels and experiences the results of good and bad deeds in all the different realms. This self is permanent, everlasting, eternal, and imperishable, and will last forever and ever.’ This is called a misconception, the thicket of views, the desert of views, the trick of views, the evasiveness of views, the fetter of views. An uneducated ordinary person who is fettered by views is not freed from rebirth, old age, and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not freed from suffering, I say.”
Source: Sabbasavasutta
It seems that some lose interest in meditation because they haven't understood it correctly. They have wrongly concluded it's about, getting something, going somewhere, a process of becoming.
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Consciousness is awareness. All living things have consciousness. Only man and perhaps some higher animals have self-consciousness. Consciousness is independent of the body and brain. You were conscious before you were born into this body and you will still be conscious when this body dies and you go to the astral world. The brain is merely an instrument used by the soul to operate the machinery of mortal body. When you awaken from deep sleep and are laying in bed completely relaxed, with eyes closed, and unaware of your body and aware only of the darkness in your head, you know that you exist - that is self-consciousness. There are many levels of consciousness and our present state of ego-consciousness is near the bottom, animals are at a lower level. God’s cosmic energy, the Holy Ghost, which creates and sustains all things through vibration is conscious and responsive. God is aware of Himself in every atom of creation.
God is pure consciousness, the only Reality, all that exits. A soul is individualized Spirit, a wave of consciousness on the ocean of consciousness: God. “God dreamed you into existence when He made you an individual soul.” We are individuals, and we are not. One’s belief that they are an individual is a delusion as there is nothing separate from God.
“When we achieve union with God there is an expansion of our individual awareness. We become one with God without any loss of individuality, we realize that our soul is part of God and can never be separated from Him.”
A person is an immortal soul and has a mortal body. The soul is clothed in the causal, astral and physical bodies. Consciousness is independent of the body. Before a person is born they are conscious in the astral world and when the physical body dies, they are still conscious and again living in the astral world, still clothed in the astral and causal bodies. The brain is merely an instrument used by the soul to operate the machinery of the physical body.
The Isha Upanishad says: “That absolute Self abiding in the transcendental effulgence, verily, I am He.”
Bhagavan Krishna says, “When we consider Brahman as lodged within the individual being, we call Him the Atman (soul)”. - Bhagavad Gita 8
Jesus said, “I am He.” - John 8:24 “I and my Father are one.” - John 10:30
“When Jesus says, ‘Ye are gods’ (John 10:34) he signifies that all souls are made in the pure image of God, the Father.” - Paramhansa Yogananda
See: Yogananda org or Ananda org
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- He said, “I am not God. I am not a Deva. Nor am I a Human… I am the Awakened one, who has seen the Truth of the world.”
- He did a meticulous analysis of his mind in such a way that he was able to count all the atoms in his body.
- He said, “Nothing in this world is solid.” The modern meaning of which is that everything is made up of atoms and these atoms are repeatedly broken down and reformed.
- He was famous for another reason that he taught people of all languages in their own language whoever met him. Although he chose the Pali language of the common people during discoursing in the assembly.
- No animal would ever harm him while meditating in the deep forest. It is believed that the animals were attracted to him, they looked at him calmly because of the power of his Metta (amity, benevolence).
- He gave the theory of rebirth. He observed himself spontaneously and said that he had become the ‘Buddha’ in this birth because of the good deeds of all previous births.
- He said that the ultimate goal of life is Nibbana, which means liberation from the cycle of life and death.
- A serial killer like Angulimala who killed 999 people, city prostitute like Amrapali, controversialist like Saccaka and Upali who challenged Buddha, all of them were initiated into his religion and became Arhants!
- From a very young age he would never make jokes, never gossiped, never made fun, but always had a glimpse of smile on his face that fascinated everyone.
- One day, while he was going for alms, a little boy picked up a bowl of dust in front of Buddha. Buddha smiled softly and took the alms bowl forward. When Ananda asked the reason for Buddha's laughter, Buddha said, “This boy will reborn in the city of Pataliputta 239 years after my parinibbana (death) and will be the chakkavatti (wheel turning) emperor and will make history by building 84,000 metal temples and shrines for the benefit of Buddhist rule.” He was no one else, the emperor Great Ashoka!
- He had a very good look, blue eyes, broad shoulders, long ears, mild crimped hair and was full of benevolence and mercy. It is said that a bright halo would come out of his fair body (the complexion appeared clearer and brighter on two occasions, before the moment of enlightenment and before the moment of parinibbana).
- He was born (623 BCE), enlightened (588 BCE) and attained parinibbana (543 BCE) on the same day. This day is the full moon day of Vesakha (May).
- Among Buddha's many disciples, Ananda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist Sutta Piṭaka are attributed to his pure recollection of Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council.
- Today his religion is considered the most scientific religion and there are some variations of it, it happened over time. Buddha gave such knowledge of mind and body as it really is, not in the way of any religious belief!
- The monk has always fasted in his life and taught by traveling long distances on foot till his parinibbana.
- After attaining enlightenment, he reunited with his family and guided his father, mother, wife and son to Nibbana. Happy family!
- This great scientist was born more than 2600 years ago and his non-violence, Metta teaching and meditation techniques are still practiced which is appreciated all over the world.
Take your pick. All true enough at their respective level of conceptual descriptions. All answers to a question irrefutably asked by a ‘mind’ that can never rest in and as Awareness, and can never understand it. I’m sure there will be many ‘learned’ answers left here by others, so if that’s what you want, John, I’ll leave it to those to provide your ‘mind’ with more toys.
I, instead, will take a different approach. I will ask you back: Why do you want to know, what is awareness? Will hearing & knowing any of the answers you may see here, even super-deep ones left by those who claim to have directly experienced Pure Awareness, inform your own Awareness even one bit? Will they actually transcend or transport “you” to ‘Awareness?’
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A very interesting question. Translating Sanskrit terms has always been a source of misunderstanding.
The Veda speaks of Akāśa and in accordance with the natural philosophy of the time it was translated as ETHER - the medium supposed by the ancients to fill the upper regions of space.
Another modern but equally inadequate translation would be Space - the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction.
According to the Vaisheshika school of philosophy, the fifth Eternal Reality (Dravya) is called ākāśa which is derived from the root kās "to be visible, appear, to shine, be brilliant. So according to Vaisheshika, Ākāśa is that in which things appear, i.e. Space or it could be translated as “Ether”.
So how does the Chandogya Upanishad define it?
asya lokasya kā gatirityākāśa iti hovāca sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtānyākāśādeva samutpadyanta ākāśaṁ pratyastaṁ yantyākāśo hyevaibhyo jyāyānakāśaḥ parāyaṇam || Chāṇḍogya Up. 1.9.1 ||
(Salavatya) ‘What is the essence of this world ?’ ‘ākāśa’ said (Pravahana); ‘All these beings arise from ākāśa alone and are finally dissolved into ākāśa ; because ākāśa alone is greater than all these and ākāśa is the support at all times.’
yad vai tad brahmetīdaṁ vāva tad yoyaṁ bahirdhā puruṣādākāśo yo vai sa bahirdhā puruṣādākāśaḥ || 3.12.7|| ayaṁ vāva sa yo’yamantaḥ puruṣa akāśo yo vai so’ntaḥ puruṣa ākāśaḥ || 3.12.8|| ayaṁ vāva sa yo’yamantarhṛdaya ākāśastad etat pūrṇamapravarti pūrṇam apravartinīṁ śriyaṁ labhate ya evaṁ veda || 3.12.9||
That which is (designated as) Brahman, even that is this ākāśa outside the body. That which is the ākāśa outside the body, even that is the ākāśa inside the body. That which is the ākāśa inside the body, even that is this ākāśa within the (lotus of the) heart. This Brahman is all-filling and unchanging. He who knows (Brahman) thus, gets all-filling and unchanging prosperity.
mano brahmety-upāsītety-adhyātmam athādhidaivatam ākāśo brahmetyubhayam ādiṣṭaṁ bhavatyadhyātmaṁ cādhidaivataṁ ca || 3.18.1 ||
The mind is Brahman, thus one should meditate – this is (the meditation) with regard to the body (including the mind). Next, the meditation with regard to the gods – the ākāśa is Brahman, thus (one should meditate). Both the meditations, with regard to the body and with regard to the gods are being enjoined.
So in summary ākāśa refers to the Ground-of-being, the Cosmic Vacuum in which all matter arises, in which it exists and into which it is ultimately dissolved. It is identified with BRAHMAN. And Brahman again is characterised by consciousness.
Brahman = consciousness = ākāśa (theists could call this God). Akāśa includes spacetime and consciousness and can also be considered as the medium in which Quantum stuff happens.
So do we still believe in “ether”? Hmmmm not really. Do we still believe in ākāśa? Damn sure we do!!!
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A NLIGHTNMNT - self is a hallucination of the brain
Enlightenment is a PROCESS of ever increasing clarity. One that every human being is involved in whether they are aware of it or not. We are all “enlightening” just as we are all “living”. It is the process by which what was previously unconscious becomes conscious. And that is already happening every moment of every day whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Every teen who becomes aware of their own sexuality is more “enlightened” (in the realm of sexuality) compared to the child they once were.
What we call “Spiritual Enlightenment” is a very specific form of enlightenment concerned with the realization that the self is a hallucination of the brain. And there are many who have had this realization. And yet, it is precisely because these same individuals are so “unenlightened” (for lack of a better term) in other areas of experience that they express and interpret their own spiritual enlightenment in limited and often archaic ways. Most will use some form of outdated religious interpretation.
This limited form of enlightenment also explains why many gurus often act in morally reprehensible ways. They are emotionally and ethically stunted and have yet to develop insight on how to be good leaders and manifest ethical and harmonious dynamics among the followers they serve.
In that sense, someone like your high school teacher may be more “ethically enlightened” than most gurus. In fact, teachers like the buddha appeal to us so much because their enlightenment seems to encompass more than just a spiritual arena. It encompasses our day to day human concerns as well.
I can assure you there are plenty of things ET is not very enlightened about. He may have seen through the illusion of the self but there are other illusions that he continues to live under. Those who think of or teach that enlightenment is some final state have a very limited view of reality. No matter how awakened one might be, there is always going to be something we remain unaware of - thus unenlightened about.
As far as awakening goes, that is certainly a single point in time event. It is a momentary experience that happens suddenly and in and of its own accord. No one can tell anyone how to have an awakening because there is no way to orchestrate it. It is an accident that happens as a result of a number of variables. And it doesn’t happen to “deserving” people who have put in the effort. It happens to all kinds regardless of background or ethics.
Awakening can act as a powerful catalyst in the enlightenment process, sort of like a nitrous boost that speeds things up significantly. But it is not a necessary aspect of it. Since, enlightenment is practically endless one might question: of what relevance can “moving faster” be? From a personal standpoint we may find it relevant, but from an absolute standpoint it is irrelevant.
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Adi Guru Shankaracharya said, “Truth is Brahma, and this world is Maya.”
In this world nothing is fixed, what you see right now, will look different after some time.
How do I become better at controlling emotions?
Emotions are good, isn’t it?
Let’s enter deep inside emotion.
It unites us, it makes the relationship with people, we feel for others, we let people come in our life, we are compassionate towards people.
I am missing someone, I feel good when people come into my life, but I feel devastated when the same guy leave me? Why people leave me, why people betray my trust, why they spew poison?
Emotions are part of our life, try to understand situations. Just consider each relationship or consequences as Leela (Game of this existence)
You are a beautiful actor or actress, who has come into this world to play its part.
You must love people, you live in this world, experience these moments, but do not stick as nothing belongs to you.
You were born naked, you will die naked.
The cloth is just hiding your naked skin, it's not your reality. Your reality is - you don’t have anything.
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SANSKARA
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Questioner: Here I am sitting in front of you. What part of it is imagination?
Sri Nisargadatta: The whole of it. Even space and time are imagined.
Questioner: Does it mean that I don't exist?
Sri Nisargadatta: I too do not exist. All existence is imaginary.
Questioner: Is being too imaginary?
Sri Nisargadatta: Pure being, filling all and beyond all, is not existence which is limited. All limitation is imaginary, only the unlimited is real.
Questioner: When you look at me, what do you see?
Sri Nisargadatta: I see you imagining yourself to be.
Questioner: There are many like me. Yet each is different.
Sri Nisargadatta: The totality of all projections is what is called maha-maya, the Great Illusion.
Questioner: But when you look at yourself, what do you see?
Sri Nisargadatta: It depends how I look. When I look through the mind, I see numberless people. When I look beyond the mind, I see the witness. Beyond the witness there is the infinite intensity of emptiness and silence.
From the above we see that the observer is not an all time necessity in that there is a ‘beyond the witness” possibility. This “beyondness” is before birth, while alive and when dead — always one is awareness (pure being) — unsullied.
Nervous systems can be prioritized by the acuity of their consciousness processes, but all nervous systems are witnessed by the same Self.
Mind produces symbols of awareness — including ego which says, “me me me” like a hypnotized zombie. Ego flickers on and off. Mind flickers too.
Awareness never turns off.
This light is always on.
Even if you were never born, it would still be you.
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