There shall be no consciousness of mine dependent on anything.

Anathapindikovada Sutta

Our last gathering was dedicated to Micky, Enryu’s beloved dog.

Enryu shared a picture of Micky “transitioning beautifully” she said: “Tender times…My dog is in the active stage of dying and I would like to sit. He is transitioning beautifully…quite profound to witness.” 

The profoundness of what Enryu was witnessing was deeply felt. We are reminded that death is also a celebration! Grieving is not to be pushed away and we celebrate the transition.It is said that animals live and die consciously, show us how to Gracefully Exit. They live the teachings on No Birth No Death and their unconditional love is always showing the way.

One such teaching is from the Buddha’s original teachings in the Pali Canon. It is called: Anathapindikovada Sutta: Advice to A Dying Man (excerpt) 

This is a powerful teaching given by Sāriputta to the his disciple Anāthapiṇḍika as he lay dying, and in severe pain. Upon a request to visit him, Sāriputta provides a profound teaching on non-attachment and non-grasping. It is taken from the Majjhima-nikāya: 143 – Translated by Bhante Sujato.

Sariputta is reminding Anathapindika of his true nature: NOT BIRTH NOT DEATH.

There shall be no consciousness of mine, dependent on anything.

Sue’s Comments last week inspired the selection of this talk, especially her concluding remarks on “effort”.

She wrote:

Another concept that has been very helpful to me recently is the realization that meditation is truly a “practice” and must be regularly practiced to gain the benefits. The benefit does not lie in what happens during a meditation, but what happens in the rest of your life. Repeated practice changes the brain and builds the skills that will benefit one in the rest of life. At least that’s my understanding. 

I sometimes wonder what to make of my perception that so many others seem to function and thrive without engaging in all this deep work. Or maybe they and everything else in my world are just manifestations of the stories my mind is creating? And what is the purpose of having to work so hard to remember who we really are, as you put it? These are the areas where I get fuzzy in my understanding.

Who is making the “effort” is the question being asked in today’s recorded talk. Rupert Spira addresses this very succinctly.

“Effort is just what Grace (Awareness) looks like, from the point of view of the separate self….So there is no conflict between making efforts and grace. We feel the efforts we make to return to our true nature, we feel “I am taking the journey back to our true nature”. We don’t yet know that it is (Grace) reeling us in… No, the separate self does nothing. There is no separate self either to do something or not to do something…So if you feel that you need to make the effort, make the effort, but know that it is always (Awareness) that is doing.”

The underlying teaching inspiring and expressed during our gatherings is the remembrance of our reality, true nature of non-duality: he underlying universal truth of shared space being, non-duality is expressed in this movie called “Samadhi” by producer Daniel Schmidt. We watched the concluding 25 minutes of Part 3 together.

Playlist with Parts 1 & 2

The discussion that followed involved animated expressions and definitions of the word “Samadhi”.and the resonance with the phrase “Emptying the mind”. 

And also received via email, a remarkable sharing by Sue Van Eten.

Sue’s Comments inspiring today’s talk:

With Sue’s permission I share her enlightening comments via email:

I guess the main ideas that I took from the video were the concepts of primordial awareness and non-duality.

My deep belief in the oneness of all things in existence is one I have carried for a while.  It is the only answer to life’s big questions that makes sense to me.  It connects to my sense of fairness and rejection of organized religions. The idea of being not only connected, but an integral part of the whole web of life, that is eternal and doesn’t begin or end with birth or death in this plane, makes so much sense to me on many levels. And it is a great comfort when I am able to open to it and embrace it. It seems to me that “primordial awareness” occurs when one can lift the veil to see and feel that connection on a deep level. I believe that is probably the key to the healing achieved by psychedelic mental health treatments and can also be achieved through long term meditation.

Another thing that resonated with me was the discussion of “emptying the mind” in order to meditate. I have been taught and try to practice acceptance of whatever distractions are presented by the mind during meditation. As you said, trying to avoid or grasp onto a state of mind is not useful. I am learning to patiently detach enough from what the mind is doing, to observe it with some curiosity from a little distance and perspective. Reminding myself that thoughts are thoughts, thoughts are not who I am. I am bigger than thoughts. I am learning to do that in daily life as well, whenever I can remember it. I think equanimity might be the word for this. 

Another concept that has been very helpful to me recently is the realization that meditation is truly a “practice” and must be regularly practiced to gain the benefits. The benefit does not lie in what happens during a meditation, but what happens in the rest of your life. Repeated practice changes the brain and builds the skills that will benefit one in the rest of life. At least that’s my understanding. 

I sometimes wonder what to make of my perception that so many others seem to function and thrive without engaging in all this deep work. Or maybe they and everything else in my world are just manifestations of the stories my mind is creating? And what is the purpose of having to work so hard to remember who we really are, as you put it? These are the areas where I get fuzzy in my understanding.

Who is making the “effort” is the question being asked in today’s recorded talk.

Samadhi

• concentration; 
• meditative consciousness; 
• bringing together

This Sanskrit term is powerful! Multi dimensional. Words to describe and express, taking us to silence. A taste of various interpretations and usages in various traditions, can be had here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samadhi#Hinduism

Samadhi is when the world that is constantly changing merges or unites with the changeless.

Varying degrees of Samadhi are expressed in the Vedic tradition:from the context of the dance between “form” and “formlessness” (Sahaja, Nirvikalpa, Sakalpa Samadhis for example are experienced as various approaches combine self-inquiry with traditional forms of meditation so that participants have the opportunity to simultaneously realize their transcendent nature, and to “relieve” themselves of conditioned patterns. 

Emptying the Mind

Also a phrase commented on and the context to be remembered: No effort made to “push” or “grasp” after thoughts is the important aspect of Serene Reflection Meditation. Thoughts simply come and go as clouds in the sky.

Progressive Paths vs The Pathless Path or Direct Path:

is to realize an ever-deepening development process within the self structure, and to simultaneously realize what is always already beyond the self structure.