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The limits of language
impose the use of "I," "you" and
their variations, although they are fictions.
"Spiritual growth" is used for lack of a better
term. |
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Disclaimer |
Before we begin,
certain matters should be kept in mind:
- For beginning
seekers, spiritual growth is a profound,
difficult issue. Consider the Zen koan about a
flag in the wind. Does the flag move? Or does
mind? This website was created to clarify issues
that can be treated with the written word,
although that may be wildly optimistic.
- Bear in mind that
this site offers no substitute for a truly
enlightened teacher. If you have one, let him or
her teach you.
- The site does not
present mere theory with regard to its central
topics. The no-doer, Disidentification, and the
Shift can be experienced.
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Be advised |
It offers a
straightforward description without the overtones,
culture and terminology of religious traditions.
Too often, descriptions of spiritual growth must carry
the weight of cultures that shaped the stages of
Awakening. For Buddhism (especially Zen), Hinduism,
and Christianity, the descriptions require an intimate
understanding of the culture (koans, surrender, and
Christ's agony, among other elements). This site
originates from my concern for seekers confused and in
need of clear explanations. In this regard, be
advised. Although I created this site to help
others, I do not want to become anybody's teacher, nor am
I qualified. (See Shingles, below.) The Way is
infinitely rich and profound and any primer can only
point to it. (For that reason, distrust anybody
who, explictly or implicitly, promises to sell the
secrets of Enlightenment at some exotic retreat.
You may get a good tan, but not much more.) |
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Enlightenment sold here |
| Having undergone
the Shift to Awareness, discovering no-doer,* far too
many people now hang out an Enlightenment
shingle, thinking they have all the bona fides to
teach the world. Discovering no-doer is the
easy part and only the beginning,** unless
you want to stop there, which is what many
so-called masters do. One type thinks he or she
can now pontificate and guide others, although
the guidance will only be related to his or her
shallow "achievement." With
regard to this, think of Zen roshis who have received
Dharma transmission from their own
teacher, who in turn received it through
an ancient lineage of transmission.
First apprenticing as a teacher, they went on to
hear and advise many students, and thereby became
familiar with the variety of seeker experiences. *** |
- *See Shift To Awareness
section
- **Two levels of no-doer:
- 1)Disbelief &
disidentification from self, ego,
individual agency, which is realized
through diligent introspection. Slight
twitches of doer remain. Prior to
disidentification, egolessness is
realized in deep meditation, often with
residual after-effects; 2)Complete surrender, which
may or may not ever happen to the seeker.
Something not "you" takes over.
No doer at any level, unless a doer is
needed for "getting the job
done," after which it is released.
Life is lived, if Christian or Hindu, by
a higher power; if Buddhist, through
emptiness.
- ***This system is also flawed as
transmission was sometimes granted for
administrative purposes, but it
nonetheless acts as a safeguard.
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Buyer Beware |
Zen has a long and
honorable tradition of guidance and support for
seekers. It has most of the “kinks”
worked out of it. But it and other religious
disciplines are subject to abuse and exploitation, either
intentionally or through ignorance--particularly by those
who decide to set up shop after concluding they have
"arrived." If practitioners of Zen, these
people received no Dharma transmission or else they
received it from a teacher self-appointed as roshi.
(Although some may be truly enlightened and capable of
teaching, the current glut of wannabees in the spiritual
market place makes Buyer Beware an important warning.) |
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This is a
primer, not
a Guide To
Enlightenment
For Dummies |
Here is a primer.
It will help dispel some of the confusion surrounding the
rich traditions. As a primer, it points away from
itself to further guidance, which can be received from
the traditions. A primer, then: as such,
it does not give wise, often obscure, but always profound
insight into meditation and its stages. It
addresses the essential: the breakthrough experience. By
its nature it is reductionist. This was necessary
because of the spiritual mumbo jumbo available
today. It is not a Guide To Enlightenment For
Dummies. This primer offers no substitute for long,
arduous practice, patient seeking, and a Dark Night of
The Soul. You don't get there by reading this.
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What to expect
&
what not to expect |
| You will not
find here a discussion of
advaita
worship
retreats
and profits made by self-styled teachers
unlocking
secrets of the universe
living
with angelic smile, glazed eyes &
shuffling gait
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You will
find here a discussion of
- the
no-doer
- Disidentification
- the Shift
to Awareness
- the
illusion of free will
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Before we
continue,
some whimsy --a timely
metaphor of
practical people (more
about them on next page) |
One time being at Hom
Lacy in Herefordshire, at Mr John Scudamore's
(grandfather to the Lord Scudamor), [Thomas Allen]
happened to leave his Watch in the Chamber windowe.
(Watches were then rarities.) The maydes came in to make
the Bed, and hearing a thing in a case cry Tick, Tick,
Tick, presently concluded that that was his Devill, and
tooke it by the String with the tonges, and threw it out
of the windowe into the Mote (to drowne the Devill). It
so happened that the string hung on a sprig of an elder
that grew out of the Mote, and this confirmed them that
'twas the Devill. So the good old
Gentleman gott his Watch again. [The modern world got
regimented time.]
John Aubrey, Lives of Eminent Men
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