(PLEASE CLICK)
PATH OF MINDFULNESS LEADING TO INSIGHT
Begin with BOTTOM of list "A," and work up:
B. INSIGHT: Mindfulness ripens into insight, which is the clear seeing that the mind, and experience generally, is "unsatisfactory," momentary, and devoid of self or substance. Vipassana Meditation gradually dissolves the sense of being a permanent self and reveals, with ever finer discrimination, that consciousness is an open dynamic field of spontaneously arising experiences. Insight meditation progresses through several stages leading ultimately to the experience of pure dynamic emptiness or Nirvana.
A. MINDFULNESS: Unlike concentrative meditation, which focuses awareness on a specific object, mindfulness is the practice of open, noninterfering alertness or pure, fully present attention. The meditator gives alert attention to experience without conceptualizing, judging, or controlling experience, allowing sensations, feelings, and thoughts to arise and disappear without being followed or resisted in any way. Such noninterfering attention allows the meditator to be fully present in the experience of the moment. See also Hua T'ou, the state of mind before the mind is disturbed by thought.
According to the Satipatthana Sutra, there are four major types of things of which we should be mindful: the body, feelings, the mind, and mental objects. These are not objects on which to concentrate but rather regions of experience of which to be mindful.
NOTE:
Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.
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Regarding Nirvana Nagarjuna writes: Whatever can be conceptualized is therefore relative, and whatever is relative is Sunya, empty.
Since absolute inconceivable truth is also Sunya, Sunyata or the void is shared by both Samsara and Nirvana. Ultimately,
Nirvana truly realized is Samsara properly understood. The fully realized Bodhisattva, the Enlightened Buddha who
renounces the Dharmakaya vesture to remain at the service of suffering beings, recognizes this radical transcendental
equivalence. The Arhat and the PratyekaBuddha, who look to their own redemption and realization, are elevated beyond
any conventional description, but nonetheless do not fully realize or freely embody this highest truth. The definition for Kensho or Satori in some people's minds, may not, within the perimeter of their definitions or in actuality, encompass Nirvana at it's ultimate or visa versa --- but, both should most certainly be allied peripherally in some fashion. However, one's personal being, encompassed by any of the three states (Kensho, Satori, Nirvana), does not say anything at all about the ability of
the experiencer to teach others or in any way be of assistance to the
spiritual needs of others. A clear distinction must be made
between a person who has an Enlightenment-experience and an Enlightened
Person. The latter category should be confined to those individuals who
have the wisdom and moral character to rightfully influence others plus
the charismatic abilities to do so in an entirely non-exploitive manner.
This would define an Enlightened Sage or holy person. Such a person may
have had a Enlightenment-experience, sudden or gradual, OR may have a
natural spiritual maturity which excludes the need for a Satoric-experience; although if we depend on historical records, a natural sage without an Awakening experience operating at or near the level of an Enlightened Sage is
far, far rarer than one having a similar or like natural spiritual maturity AND Enlightenment experience. (source)
It should be noted that Adam Osborne, who, as a young boy grew up at the Ramana ashram and the son of one of the foremost Ramana biographers Arthur Osborne, played a prominent role in the Last American Darshan as linked above.
NIRVANA
AND NOW THIS:
It is often said that when you truly need a teacher, one will appear. This may due to some inexplicable serendipity. It may be due to the fact that the seeker has searched deeply within himself or herself and determined what sort of instruction seems to be required. It could be a spiritual desperation on the part of the seeker, or a successful sales pitch by a teacher (sincere or not). It may be a combination of the previous factors, or some intuitive awareness beyond expression. For whatever the reason, the saying often applies and the results can be found most eloquently in the following:
RECOUNTING A YOUNG BOY'S NEARLY INSTANT TRANSFORMATION INTO THE ABSOLUTE DURING HIS ONLY DARSHAN WITH THE MAHARSHI
