Awareness Is Not Enough!

[sabaijai]

this may be one of those instances where the buddha said, 'your question goes beyond you". perhaps we are not equipped to see the answer to this question UNTIL we are enlightened. in the meantime, we all can get great benefit from the path without worrying about the end game. like bruce, i have found great comfort in unshackling myself (somewhat) from the constant comparisons etc that ego consciousness demands. so i will be content with what benefits i am getting and anything else will be a bonus.

Sounds very reasonable to me.

[sabaijai]

this may be one of those instances where the buddha said, 'your question goes beyond you". perhaps we are not equipped to see the answer to this question UNTIL we are enlightened. in the meantime, we all can get great benefit from the path without worrying about the end game. like bruce, i have found great comfort in unshackling myself (somewhat) from the constant comparisons etc that ego consciousness demands. so i will be content with what benefits i am getting and anything else will be a bonus.

Sounds very reasonable to me.

[AYJAYDEE]

Dhiravamsa in his book "the real way to awakening" was not nearly so tough. is it okay if i change my source?? lol

buddhadassa bhikkhu sad we can enjoy all the pleasures of life as long as they dont harm us or others as long as we dont cling to them. its the clinging that causes problems, not the pleasures.'

As long as in doing so you acknowledge that you are mentally defective, according to Phra Buddhadassa.

From Keys to Natural Truth (1999), a collection of his Dhamma talks:

No sane person would get ever up and dance! It has been calculated that a person has to be at least 15% mad in order to overcome his sense of shame to get up and dance. (p. 52) (I'm inclined to agree, but my wife would kill me if I said so.)

Laughter is the behaviour of the infant in his cradle... Think of an infant in its cradle and the way it lies there gurgling and grinning at you." (p. 51)

Singing ... is like someone weeping.... A real song ... is a paean of joy at having seen the Dhamma.

Re marriage: Two people with correct wants and needs are united as one. Physical contact between them is unnecessary, though there may be other forms of contact, such as letter writing. (p. 48)

So next time your partner gets that look in her/his eye, offer to write him/her a letter!

To 'play' is to rejoice in the Dhamma. (p. 46)

The is no antagonism! The teaching of Tan Buddhadasa is ambivalent. Everyone can check the meaning by himself. For the straight way to awakening - and/or joy of life in a clean way. I don't see the problem.

Tan Buddhadasa supported dhammic art (music, chanting, body work /dancing/ tai ch'i, handicraft, painting)

[4evermaat]

....I can grasp awareness of body (touch, smell, sound, sight, taste, thought), but How do l grasp awareness of awareness?

...........

(It takes practice).

Practice makes the master. The key is taking action. Action makes the difference between mastering awareness, transformation, and love, and being a victim of circumstances for the rest of our lives.

I found that the 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz are the most practical and efficient tools for mastering awareness:

1) Be impeccable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best.

When we recover our awareness, we recover the ability to choose. The goal with that choice is to not use the power of the word against yourself when you write your life story. We don't attempt to control outside circumstances; the result of making assumptions and taking them personally. Instead, we take action, and continuously choose situations that best fit our life story.

.........

Also wisdom grows by expanding our awareness.

It was also said that wisdom develops when the mind is simple.

A complicated mind, which thinks, expects, and plans too much, blocks off wisdom.

The mind must be simple in order to be in the present and in order to see things just as they are.

Thinking is secondary to just being. How do we know this is true? Because 99% our primary functions that support the life process flowing through us (breathing, heart beating, digestion, etc) are all autonomous and do not need our thinking to support it. Thinking only represents 1%, yet that 1% attempts to take control of the whole mind-body relationship. But what can we do? We were already taught by the other humans the way life should be, and we agreed with the information we were given. Then we take this these images of perfection, which is stored in our minds, and attempt to make everything we perceive and/or interact with fit this image--particularly on other humans. If you are reading this however, you are probably rebelling against some of those concepts. This is a good sign that your awareness is increasing.

Because of the human mind's almost obsessive need to justify and judge everything that it perceives, many spiritual teachers have come up with techniques to SILENCE that voice in your head. Or at least ignore it. Meditation, prayer, mantras, stillness, music....anything to quiet the voice in your head. The idea behind "emptying your cup" is that the less ideas you are attached to, the more readily you can accept or at least evaluate new ideas. That's why doing your best is important. Taking action with your body and practicing the art of living lessens your mind from having to take action (conceptualizing everything it perceives). This keeps you in the present moment, without the need to judge your actions. If your actions are not working out the way you want, you just make new choices until they do.

From my point of view, this is why many people have an emotional attachment to their pets. That dog or cat reminds you of the integrety you once had as a child, BEFORE domestication from the other adult humans.

This is also why as you master awareness more and more your attachments to things (both material and conceptual) becomes less and less. Knowledge then becomes a tool of communication ONLY, no different than wrench used to loosen or tighten a bolt. The experience of the present moment (right now) is all we have. Not stored projections of what life was like (in the past) or the way life should be (in the future). The truth can only be experienced. All the great masters attempted in their own way to conceptualize this (explain with words).

Edited December 26, 2010 by 4evermaat