Okay, so let s pause explanations for now and begin our direct experiential

Transcription

1 Okay, so let s pause explanations for now and begin our direct experiential explorations. What I d like you to do until we meet again is the following: and for this, a small simple notepad and pen or iphone (or ipad) can be helpful, so you can just mark down, as a reminder, a few things you re going to do in that day s session. There are a few short instructions for each session simple and easy but you ll want to mark those down. Then begin by setting aside a short period each day for the practice of Integral Mindfulness Again, I suggest starting with 15 to 20 minutes once a day, and if this is a pleasant experience, increase the time anywhere up to around 30 or 40 minutes a session, and you might also choose to increase the sessions up to 2 a day, or perhaps even 3. But don t overdo it.

2 Begin each session by assuming the attitude of the observing Self, the mindful Witness which is I am not this, not that; just pure limitless, boundless Witnessing; pure I AMness; the Mirror-Mind; clear Spaciousness. I am Awareness, not the contents of Awareness. That is the core idea here I am Awareness, not any of the contents of Awareness and you ll want to constantly be returning to, and resting in, that pure Witnessing stance neti, net; not this, not that. Then, in the same move, notice that this Witnessing is an ever-present Awareness; it was present yesterday, last week, last year; always ever-present. Before you even began to take up the day s mindfulness practice, you were already Aware, in some sense, of the things going on an ever-present Witnessing Awareness. In a sense, you can t begin to be mindfully Witnessing, you can only notice that you are already mindfully Witnessing. So notice that, and then consciously rest as that pure Witnessing (as that Awareness, not its contents). Each overall practice section will consist of 2 levels of Growing Up, one for each of two days; and then repeating that process. And each day s session, working with 1 level, will focus on 2 or 3 major characteristics of that day s level, alternating them with resting in pure limitless Witnessing. So for this first overall practice section, the one we re discussing now, you will be focusing successively on levels 1 and 2 infrared Archaic and magenta Magic-impulsive. So on the first day of the particular practice package, we ll take the characteristics of that section s first level in this case, level 1 infrared Archaic and we ll focus this Witnessing on the characteristics of that stage (one characteristic at a time). Simply hold a characteristic of that stage in mind (we ll review each in just a minute), be mindful of it,

3 neutrally Witness it, videotape it and from every imaginable angle. After a period of focusing on a limited characteristic, we will go back to resting in limitless Awareness, pure boundless Witnessing. Then we ll pick up the next major characteristic for that day s level, focus on that limited quality, and then return to resting in boundless Witnessing. We ll do this, back and forth from the level s limited and partial characteristics to pure limitless, boundless Awareness and pure Witnessing back and forth until we have covered the 2 or 3 (or occasionally more) characteristics of that day s level. On the next day, we ll do the same thing, but this time with the next-higher level of Growing Up, 2 or 3 of its major characteristics, alternating with resting in boundless, limitless Awareness and pure ever-present Witnessing. It is particularly this alternating between our True Self, our pure I AM Witnessing, our limitless Awareness and our limited self with its limited, finite, partial characteristics this alternation will increasingly drive home a real feeling of our True and Unlimited Self Unborn and Undying and our small, finite, self-contraction, our illusory and false (or at least relative) self-sense. This will make that small, subject self an object of Awareness, and that will increase until there is only the True Self, our Supreme Identity, and our fully Awakened, nondual, unified Consciousness. Each overall meditation section consisting of 2 levels over 2 days, and then repeated will last around a week, so we ll be covering 2 levels (of the 8 major levels of Growing Up) each week, covering all of them in about 4 weeks. Of course, you can adapt this schedule in virtually any way you wish from doing 4 levels each week for a total of 2 weeks, to a level a week, for a total of 8 weeks or any other variation. But for now, we ll simply assume 2 levels a week, 4 weeks

4 altogether. We ll elaborate on how you can vary this schedule as we go along; but this will be our starting schedule. So, for the first day, we start with level 1(infrared Archaic) and its major characteristics. If you want, you can go back and listen again to the section where I described this level in detail; or you can just use the simple summary I ve give now. Whatever works for you. So now we ll go over the first general section that covering levels 1 and 2. So recall that a primary characteristic of level 1 is food, or the hunger drive. So, after assuming the stance of the pure limitless, boundless Witnessing Awareness, and centering there for a few minutes, then take up that first characteristic if you re hungry, focus on that feeling; if not, then imagine it, vividly. Feel the incredibly strong driven-ness of that impulse; it s overpowering, especially if part of you is still identified with it as subject. So rest in ever-present Witnessing, and bring that enormous hunger drive into the Field of that Witnessing, and then just videotape that drive to death, more or less literally in other words, turn that subject into an object; look at it and not through it; transcend and include it. Just hold that feeling, that drive, in ever-present Witnessing and thoroughly videotape it don t judge it, don t condemn it, don t identify with it just Witness it, always with the attitude: hunger is present, but I am not hunger; I am free of hunger. Meditatively focus on that feeling for an amount of time to get the sense that you really see and feel it objectively; this may take 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or more; but just get at least the beginning sense that you ve seen it fully, objectively, as an object of feelingawareness and the Mirror-Mind; you ve felt it deeply. Then gently drop awareness of the

5 strong but still limited and bounded hunger drive and fall back into pure unbounded and limitless Awareness, which itself is totally free of hunger and all finite objects. Just rest easily and naturally in this pure Awareness not any contents of this Awareness, just this pure Feeling-Awareness and note the radical Freedom of this Awareness, this Witness it has no boundaries, no limits, no dualities, no insides and no outsides, no space and no time, just the pure Timeless, ongoing Now-moment. Let all things arise in this pure Clearing, this pure Space: all things and events are spontaneously arising, spontaneously self-existing, spontaneously self-liberating in the vast, open, empty, clear Spaciousness that is your ever-present limitless I AMness. This takes no effort you already hear the birds sing, you already see the clouds floating through the sky, you already see all sorts of things and events effortlessly arising in this Field of Awareness you see them as the pure Seer, and thus are identified with none of them you are Free of all of them. Then return to bringing a limited characteristic of this level back into the Field of Awareness. Notice the constriction that occurs as you move from your pure Supreme Identity as limitless, infinite I AMness, to being tied to a small, narrow, limited, partial characteristic in this case, hunger. What a drastic change it is to go from being identified with infinite Freedom, to be tied to a very small, fnite, agitated, narrow quality in this case, hunger. And so, back and forth from hunger to resting in pure Awareness, each of those periods lasting anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes or more truly, this time period is fully up to you; simply feel into what seems right, and always be willing to alter it as circumstances warrant. And remember to keep an eye out for both oral addictions where there is an overpowering lust-drive for food and oral

6 allergies where there is a repulsion, an avoidance, a disgust with food. Integral Mindfulness, feeling-awareness, transcend and include will address both of these issues. So hunger, pure Awareness; hunger, pure Awareness, until about half of this meditation is session is over. Then, after resting briefly in pure spontaneous, effortless Witnessing Awareness, take up the next characteristic of this level you will be focusing on in the day s practice. In this case, I recommend that for the second half of the meditation session (or sessions) you do that day, do the same practice except give Integral Mindfulness to the feeling of strong thirst. Imagine being as thirsty as you can, and thoroughly videotape that where is it located, what does it feel like, what size, shape, color, smell does it have? Your standard mindfulness videotaping. Then, after anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes, plus or minus, fall back into effortless pure Awareness. Notice the distinction between the two notice the fact that the finite characteristic in this case, thirst has finite dimensions it is located in various parts of your body, it has a shape, a form, a taste, a color, a smell (again, whatever comes to mind); contrast this with pure limitless, boundless Awareness it has no shape, no size, no color, no location, no drives, no goals it is not mind, nor body, nor spirit, nor being nor not-being, nor any qualities or characteristics at all except, we might say, an infinite Freedom from all of those. It is, from one perspective, divine Spirit in its infinite Freedom and Joy and this is your True Self, your real I AMness. So hunger, for the first part of the session, alternating with pure Awareness; then thirst for the second and remaining section, also alternating with pure Awareness. Do

7 this for any meditation session or sessions you have on day one focusing on the characteristics of level 1 itself. Then the next day will focus on level 2; subsequent days on levels 3, 4, 5, and so on. The extraordinary overall effect that this will have is that, particularly as we get toward the end of all of the stages of Growing Up, you will have a direct experience of the major stages of growth and development that actually brought you to where you are today, the being that you are today you will feel your entire history, an actual strong review of the entire process of Growing Up that produced the you that you now are. And since we will be alternating focusing on those relative or small-self stages, and alternating those with resting in the ultimate, True Self, or pure Witnessing awareness, you will not only be making your relative subjects into objects, thus transcending them, you will be increasing your awareness of your own True Self, your Original Face, your Christ consciousness, your Supreme Identity the Real Self (Unborn and Undying, radiant and Divine) that you have been mistaking for your small, finite, skin-encapsulated ego and this going back and forth between the small illusory self and ultimate Real Self will drive home your true, timeless, ever-present Supreme Identity and True Self. It s quite an experience, as we ll see. So that s a brief summary instruction for what we will be doing with each of the 8 major levels of Growing Up. Each package practice, we noted, will cover 2 major levels, with sections focusing on the major characteristics of each of those levels while alternating that focusing on the narrow, finite, limited, self-contraction contrasted with our fundamental Real Self, our pure Witness, our limitless and boundless Awareness, radically free of any and all manifestation altogether. We covered this for day one, or focusing on the infrared Archaic level; let s very briefly review the instructions for the

8 second part of this overall package session, which focuses on level 2, magenta Magic-impulsive. These two levels are what you ll focus on until we meet again for our next package practice (covering levels 3 and 4, which we will be explaining as we go along). So, on day two, do the same basic practice, but this time with level 2, magenta Magic-impulsive. Get in your comfortable meditation position; notice that you are already Witnessing what is going on; then introduce, one at a time, some of the major characteristics of level 2. Let me suggest the following 3 characteristics: For the first third of the session, focus on impulsiveness. (So jot that down in your notepad or iphone). Simply imagine any of those periods where you simply must have something, and have it right now! Witness, be mindful of, that must have right now! feeling. MUST HAVE! Get that fully in Awareness, and then videotape. Bring ever-present Witnessing to bear, and videotape that feeling from all angles. Alternate being aware of this finite, limited characteristic (of must-have impulsiveness) with the vast, open, empty, clear, radiant, effortless Spaciousness and limitless Awareness that is your core Self and true I AMness. Go back and forth several times. For the second third of the session, focus on the characteristic of magic specialness. I am so special that I deserve anything in the world that I want. Magic means that I can simply think something and it will happen. That s how special we think we are. And this specialness is so strong it works even in negative ways: if I break a mirror, all of history will rearrange itself for the next 7 years just to get at me with bad luck. My special impact on the world is so powerful it can alter history to that degree. So hold magic, special, and superstitious in mind, one after the other, and really

9 feel them all the way to the bottom. Just what are they? How do they feel? Where are they located? What shape do they have? Videotape all of that. And, of course, alternate that will resting in limitless, boundless Awareness, pure empty clear Witnessing, a vast Clearing or Opening in which the entire universe arises spontaneously and effortlessly, all within your infinite Awareness. And notice that where level-2 specialness focuses on me and how special I am, infinite Awareness and its specialness encompasses every single thing and event in the entire universe. I am special by being Aware of the miraculous All, not by being a small, single, isolated organism that is somehow better than all the others. For the last third of the session, remember that this stage is also called, as one of its many terms, emotional-sexual. When this early level matures during puberty, we get the sex drive (although Freud, of course, was tracking sexuality or libido all the way back to infancy, where it does indeed start). This is a huge drive, needless to say. But simply spend the last third of this day s session (or sessions) on sex: imagine the sexiest person, situation, or occasion that you can (and you can change these, perhaps daily, or weekly, or as your meditation proceeds). But then bring ever-present Witnessing to bear on this sexiest image you have, and simply hold Awareness on that image. As usual, videotape from all angles what does it look like, what color is it, where is it located; what does it look like from the top, bottom, front, back, sides? Research indicates that, for college students, the typical male has an explicit, pornographic, x-rated sexual image once every 5-10 minutes, wild as that seems; while the typical female has a non-x-rated romantic image (like a candle-lit dinner) once every half hour. But, of course, every person is different, and male or female, you could fit any of those categories. But

10 whatever your idea of sex is, get it out there and hold it in ever-present Witnessing Awareness. Videotape, videotape, videotape. As usual, with all of these characteristics of the 8 major levels, watch for both addictions and allergies. These can both be especially strong with the sex drive. Sexual addiction, although somewhat overplayed by the media, has a real and powerful grip on Awareness, focusing attention on sexual objects in an ongoing, obsessive-compulsive drive; in its extreme and particularly pathological forms, it drives criminal sexual assault; in lesser forms, which almost anybody can experience, it simply pushes the sex drive into awareness with an unrelenting shove; sometimes, the person can think of nothing but sex for hours on end. It takes real determination to meet this compulsion with mindfulness. Sexual allergies, on the other hand, are pretty much the opposite. The standard Puritan stereotype of sexual repression stems from this dysfunction. If severe, professional help should be sought; but much gain can be made with the transcend and include nature of Integral mindfulness the be-friending trend of an embracing Awareness can start to re-own and re-integrate the previously dissociated and repressed sexual drive. The power and multifaceted nature of this drive is so enormous, be prepared for it to assume a massive number of forms and images some conventional, some wild, some kinky, some perverse, some wickedly mean and vile, some sadomasochistic, some criminal. It s extremely important here to maintain evenly-hovering Awareness, with no judgement, no condemnation, no justification, and certainly no identification. Lust is present; I am Aware of lust, but I am not lust; I am radically free of it.

11 And then, of course, alternate focusing on sexual images with resting as limitless, boundless, spontaneous, self-liberating Awareness pure open infinite I AMness before it is anything not I AM a mechanic, I AM a teacher, I AM a therapist, I am a husband just the simple pure feeling of I AMness, before it is I AM anything I AM just I AMness (I AM that I AM). You are aware of this present, fundamental, core feeling of being you right now, aren t you? Well, that s it. So rest in that ever-present pure I AMness, limitless, boundless Awareness. And again make that inward comparison, of the utterly Free, Open, Empty, Clear Witnessing Awareness, versus the contracted, limited, intensely driven, deeply craving, acutely desiring narrow form of sheer lust, sexual drivenness, sexual demandingness. Not just a pure I AMness, radically Free, but I AM sex/lust, massively limited and narrowed as its goals, its drives, its images, its wants and needs and massive yearning. Not your Unborn and Undying Supreme Identity, but the finite, limited, suffering-inducing self-contraction. Videotape it, objectify it, drop it neti, neti. That s the general outline of day-two practice. For this overall section, on day three, go back to day-one practice focusing on infrared Archaic and its hunger and thirst and practice that. Then the next day, day 4, repeat the day-2 practice, magenta Magic-impulsive and its impulsiveness, magic specialness, and powerful sex. Go back and forth between level-1 practice and level-2 practice, and do this for as long as this overall section lasts you can vary this time period, but it will usually be a week or so. In terms of big drives, these first two levels have covered food and sex; the next two levels cover power and love so you can see we re progressing through some truly

12 fundamental levels of being and awareness and needs food to sex to power to love, with even higher to come. So good luck on this practice, and I ll see you back here for the next 2 levels power and love. Until them, Godspeed and good luck! This is Ken.