Enlightenment in 15-30 days, an EXTREMELY fast method. Mahasi Style Noting

reply to post by BigBrotherDarkness


It is so vibrant and close to home
It is as familare as i am to me yet everything is always fresh and new
I brought the awareness into work today
Man what a learning experience that was
As I am an analyst I use my third eye and crown chakras a lot and I felt an incredible buildup
Without presence and noting I wouldn't have even noticed
Most of my stess and busyness are self created
Doing this all day was a bit tiring but I assume it will become automatic in no time!!
I'm so excited

reply to post by satnam


It will in Western psychology it says it takes 2 weeks to form a habit. I can't put a time frame on anything the automatically there moment to moment, will happen in accordance to the effort you put into it.

For others interested in the path and possible times of awakening, the Buddha said no matter how sloppy on the path 7 Kalpa(eons) but he also said depending on other factors it could be 7 lifetimes, 7 years, 7 months, 7 days, 7 hours, 7 seconds or 7 ksana... when depends on you alone.

It's is my opinion that it has occurred within you Satnam, you walked up to the precipice looked over and the ego(Mara) grabbed you filled you with fear... "you're nothing without me, emptiness is wrong you cannot function or sustain your life with out me." You stepped back and allowed the house of illusion to remain as you pondered, then the only faith you need on this path you took, what looked like a chasm was just a shallow puddle reflecting the infinite depth of the sky above. Now you're happily splashing in the puddle with glee it is wise of you to be looking beyond this experience, it is here that the ego(Mara) has deceived many a seeker, convinced them they are done with the task and leads them back to where they came slowly, the more and more they cling to this deed is done hanging from the puddle times the more deluded they become gazing at their own glory in the reflection and never reach the other shore. Now is the time to be most diligent regardless of my confirmation and continue deepening and widening your wisdom and understanding of the path. When my abbot confirmed me I had the sudden mental urge to slap him he ducked and we shared a good belly laugh.

In other words the deed itself is done, but the work is never over, yes certain practice will become automatic but skillfulness and wisdom grows best out in the world and off the cushion now practice is better than to preach right now, the path will become so wide eventually you will not err when speaking of the path from constantly walking it. I ran around for a good while like a blithering idiot staring at the puddle, then realized I was about as wise on the path as the owl on a bag of chips... hell all I knew were the concepts I learned to get there parroting all of that is pointless, and here I was walking around with baby legs and a huge head totally out of balance. So now the path has been found and jumped in, crawl, then walk, then run you'll know when as soon as you go a bit too far that skinned knee brings wisdom this is natural wisdom and skillfulness now grow, as you saw before you leaped while in the puddle Mara is still hanging out within reach, as you crawl you distance yourself then you walk further and run further, then Mara is nowhere to be found, so how soon from a crawl to a walk to a run? It's based on experiences here on out because they grow the leg muscles wisdom requires to stand firmly on the other shore.

satnam
reply to post by BigBrotherDarkness

 

It is so vibrant and close to home
It is as familare as i am to me yet everything is always fresh and new
I brought the awareness into work today
Man what a learning experience that was
As I am an analyst I use my third eye and crown chakras a lot and I felt an incredible buildup
Without presence and noting I wouldn't have even noticed
Most of my stess and busyness are self created
Doing this all day was a bit tiring but I assume it will become automatic in no time!!
I'm so excited

Satnam, these are the next steps, to bring Awareness into every single moment, work, life, and stabilize it, because inherently that Awareness is you and the ego isn't (it's just a tool of discrimination like hearing, seeing, smelling, etc)

When Awareness is permanently stabilized, you add surrender and it drops from the head and into the Heart where the Ocean consciousness is. So then Ocean Consciousness itself is stabilized.....

Also there will be all these Subconscious arisings, fears, faces, memories, past hurts, childhood trauma, emotional material, all of it arising for the sake of letting go of it, a spring cleaning if you will

reply to post by dominicus


I feel Satnam is beyond the point of sitting on the cushion practicing letting go of things that arise as a beginner in meditation. It's seems the path has become very clear, beyond the conceptual that now it is time for Satnam to absorb all the concepts it took to find the path and transmute them into direct experience. Many people stop at this point and parrot concepts and get sucked back into the ego construct, instead of transmute those concepts into full wisdom of the path. How long this takes? Who knows? Who knows? The experiences to transmute those concepts into full wisdom come in their own time, one can go looking for them but typically they will unfold as life marches on. This is why I left the monastery after confirmation, I could have stayed and parroted and slowly transmute the concepts into experience. But out in the world it is much faster so that's what I chose, it isn't sheltered from the chaos like a quiet monastery is. Where the mind and body can be in balance, out in the world there are so many extremes that either can fall into to transmute into wisdom, the hard part is dipping too far out of balance and not noticing it.

The words in my previous post are a clear indicator of that, ignoring the bodies requirement for sleep the mind reflected this incoherence of mind and body being out of balance to watch out for. One of the only pitfalls and a good example that a balanced mind and body are important to watch out for the extremes when you dip into one of the mind you neglect the body and when you dip into the body you neglect the mind, at either extreme both suffer and it is very important that one can recognize this no matter where on the path they may happen to be.

I am still out of balance and need more rest, but I felt it important to point the danger of extremes since such a shining example of it presented itself. When a poster previously had asked about dangers previously there you go... if I could not recognize and extreme then it would be much worse. This is why so many people suddenly awakened end up falling into madness, not being able to recognize extremes, because they are neither attached to the mind nor the body it can be difficult for them to discern when balance is lost, and recover before it's too late.

Take care everyone

Thank you all so so much
I will become the path
I could not have come this far without your help
I appreciate the calm strength in your knowledge and words
I am amazed at just how correct you have been with all of your posts dominicus and big bro .
I hope your message and techniques reach out to more than myself and would love to reach out and share with others but you guys are clearly more a depth and a breadth on this very complex subject

I do have one question if you will grant my audience

I find the longer I am present and balancing my energies that there is a build up in my third eye and crown chakras

I can't help but think this is a prelude to merging with the infinit

It is said in kundalini and many other traditions that this build up can explode and release you into the infinit mind consciousness

Should I be concentrating on these spots or trying to bring them down into the heart and balance with the rest of my energy?

Love to you guys for sharing!!

Well I've got to come back to say thanks again.

Have meditated more consistently in the last few days than I think I ever have done, and I can now see what's inspired me so much : it's your persistency and effort. I'm obviously going the anapanasati route, and I could sense for years the potential it had, but only in the last few days have things really shifted gear.

My own problem was that I didn't realise my limits were way further out than I realized, I've been too cautious for years. I always had the quote from the Buddha in my head once I started meditating more that's similar to "If the string is too slack, it won't play. If wound too tightly, it'll snap. Find your pitch."

I spent too much time fearing the string would snap, that I wasn't ready to meditate more, and it seems like it's been a mixture of fear and laziness.

Breath meditation might be harder anyway, but yeah, it works, and thanks so much for giving me the inspiration to push on with it. Obviously a few of you are familiar with the Jhanas (even though some schools have different amounts of them), and that's what's coming into my mind lately. It feels like I'm edging closer to being able to reach the first, and if I can and keep at it, maybe I can then understand how to settle into it and get back there regularly. If that happens then clearly I can look at the others and who knows where things will go, but am trying to stay grounded and focused, so not thinking too much about it. It's an amazing feeling though to think that things could finally start clicking into place.

There's other stuff but it's mainly with how I think of different systems/concepts that can be mixed together, but that would take way too long to describe and go too far off-topic. The way the mind makes connections when you can finally concentrate a bit can be amazing though.

Anyway, thanks again. If this carries on working and I do finally wake up at some point, will probably write about the mindfulness of breathing route in another thread and on a website I sometimes add to.

Back to meditating!

reply to post by satnam


I'm extremely happy to see that people are continuing to wake up, at an increasing rate. The seeds to the golden age are here, and the early flowers are blossoming.

The mind is for concepts, thinking. The heart is for action. When you drop your energy into your heart, you are putting it into action here in this realm. The heart chakra is the head of the physical man construct, the crown chakra the head of the spiritual. They overlay each other, and their matrix is only different in the sense of how they connect to your current experience as a human.

Drop your energy into your heart, it will be applicable in the here and now. Let it explode in your third eye and crown chakra, you'll have abstract spiritual revelations that you can work to understand and apply. Raise your energies carefully, so you do not miss a step in growing your wisdom about it, or experience burnout.

The most important thing is to keep that sense of wonderment. Like a curious child staring at a marvelous thing for the first time. It is here, it is familiar, yet you do not know what it is. Be careful not to concede to the mind in trying to know it, it can never be quite known, but one can see its immediate effects in your own perceptions and life experience.

Grow into it, mature into it. Dont rush to understand it too hastily, what can be understood will be by just observing what is happening. Like big brother has said, be wary of ego coming in through the back door, and grow in your wisdom regarding your experience.

The hardest part you will see, is maintaining the level of awareness you hold in your meditation sessions out in the busy hubbub of the world with all the characters running around in it. Also, don't walk away from meditation, this is the time when you have to keep it up, lest your awareness be made deluded again. Much like a professional athlete, practicing never stops(meditation), so that we can take that practice and play the game quite skilfully(life). Non-being will get easier, with diligence it will become your permanent state.

reply to post by satnam

I do have one question if you will grant my audience I find the longer I am present and balancing my energies that there is a build up in my third eye and crown chakras I can't help but think this is a prelude to merging with the infinit It is said in kundalini and many other traditions that this build up can explode and release you into the infinit mind consciousness Should I be concentrating on these spots or trying to bring them down into the heart and balance with the rest of my energy?

Satnam, all balance, activation of chakras, and kundalini came to me took care of itself just from constant surrender, letting go, Being. Any "active" practice from a sense of self by my part, just created what could have been decades of playing with one chakra, then aligning/opening another, etc...but in Mahasi + Surrender, everything took care of itself.

HEre's a link with a free online book that describes all the intricacies on the Path and it was my blueprint when using Mahasi Method to get to the end of self, and Beginning of Truth
Book with all the details/breakdowns

and here is a description of the Jhanas/stages:
Link

reply to post by satnam


Thank the Buddha for the dhamma the sangha just keeps it alive and hopefully we point at it with clarity of wisdom and skillfulness of the path when we do. No need to be formal we are all human no one above or below another except behind the viel of samsaric ego that we strive and aid others in letting go of.

As Predludefan pointed out you are focusing too much in one spot, one of those extremes I brushed on poorly. All of the cakra need to join the party and work together for balance. Neglecting one or many in favor of one or many can have ill effects. Of course in monastic traditions, where the two lower can create issues of chasity violations they are usually sealed off once the crown is blossomed, something I wont go into here but out in the world having them all in balance keeps those extremes at bay and things safe.

robhines pointed out the guitar string this metaphor points exactly to keeping things in balance or the middle way that avoids extremes. The real danger is falling into one of them and they are many because when attachment to the body, speech and mind are no longer... it is easy to neglect one or all three. The past few days I neglected the body not intensionally it's needs just never arose in my awareness, so I could focus the mind on pointing clearly as I could and engaged in meditations, well after 2 days without eating or sleeping. I composed the monstrosity above talking about time frames... seeing that myself made me aware that I was dipping out of balance neglecting the body. This may sound like a handicap because it is I myself am between walking and running I still fall down and skin a knee, so with this experience I have gained more wisdom in my ability to be able to see it sooner and avoid neglecting better in the future.

Of course it must be said that samsara is the worst extreme of them all, it is much easier to be in danger in that extreme thn it is after it is shed. Of course Western psychology does not understand an extreme the way Eastern psychology does, Western takes a baseline of what normal samsara looks like and tries to get someone back to that, Eastern starts off by assuming something is out of balance and works into bringing it all back into harmony and balance not try to regress while hoping for progress as Western does.

My suggestion is to take some time after realization to bring it all into balance as the Buddha did before leaving the grove to get familiar with what brought him there, then continuing to move forward in practice. Noting practice at some point between crawl and walk is no longer needed, it is just there like the breath, you let go of it the sme as letting go of the fear that tried to hold you back from where you are now, later down the road you can direct meditation if you wish to experience jhana states as easily as you can consciously alter the breath to deep shallow quick slow or hold it at will, because there is never a time when one is not meditating, but other than to gain more experience of jhana states and a natural anti depressant it's not required as backsliding is not possible at the non returner stage. At that point it's best to continue widening experience cutting away the remaining fetters as an Arhat, when that is done from what I understand... then one resides in blissful jhana of a fully awakened Buddha until final paranirvana. I'm not there yet I have a couple higher fetters left, restlessness mainly as evidenced by not paying heed to the body when it needs it.

So yes continue widening the path making it very familiar now that it is so very clear and easy to see the puddle you stand in and may balance, wisdom and skillfulness always travel with you. Teaching can come later, right now you'd just make the puddle awfully cloudy and hard to see when you're standing in it.

reply to post by robhines


Nothing to fear with your head blowing off my friend, that has only occured when a fully enlightened Arhat at the level of Buddha enters Parinibbana, hop into the puddle first Afterwards, and down the road the thought that you even have a head to blow off becomes a foreign comcept that seems kinda silly.

First thing that`ll come up when you teach normaltons the noting-method is all there subconscious garbage...if they even get that far. And if they ever get through that, there may be an opening. Not Enlightenment itself, but an opening.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Oh it's enlightenment just a tiny glimpse though, called stream entry. They can either get deluded that this small glimpse is full enlightnement and deludedly head back the way they came wearing a false crown of mara to confuse others with, or continue forward expanding that entrance until they step all the way through then continue forward on the other stages of enlightenment towards Buddhahood.

Thank you brothers

I wrote this befor I read your comments from yest as I wanted it to not have been effected, but pure.

I'm not sure if I should share this but feel compelled to as it was dedicated to all of you guys here that helped me out.

I'm learning to walk with small legs and a fat head.

This is a part of my reflection on the puddle, and I will continue to reflect on this fact.

These words shine but dimely in such audience.

I am but reaching to that wich you point in celebration.

The precipice of reality and essential consciousness
The streams of sustenance, love, communication, reason, and spirituality flow out and direct us.
You get a kind of intimate knowledge of this during walking meditation, with breathing meditation, as each step and breath sources you're essence when noting has silenced the analytical mind.
The essence pressed right up next to realties reflection of such in material manifestations, and time.
Each breath unique as every step, thought, perception.
You are private, separated by an infinite precipice from another person or in physicality itself.
The essential human in intimate contact and connection to the universe, inseparable through time and karma.
Love on.
Fear not.
Adapt, accept, forgive.
Breath.
Walk.
Note.

Since I saw this thread a few days ago, I have been practicing this method and once, and only ONCE for about 2 hours I was in a total state of... numb? I can only explain it by not feeling any worries about bills, daily life, or any anxiety what so ever. All that care and stress just slipped away for about 2 hours. I was on carefree autopilot. Was the side effect I experienced a sign that I am on the right path?

I experienced this earlier today and am a bit miffed that I cannot get back to that state, and I do not know what exactly got me out of it once I was in it. However, I was aware that I was in this state, but I just don't know what brought me out of it. What did I do wrong? I was so worry free for those couple of hours. I want to get back to it and STAY in it!!!

Any advice?

reply to post by Hollie


You are on the path
It comes and goes in periods at first
The goal is to stabilize into it and expand it
Have faith don't fall unconscious
Even when the mind is silent you are perceiving and noting this will bring you deeper and closer to home
The op is very wise and will respond to your comments but for now read the prev posts as this is what I went through on day 3 or 5.
I'm am very excited for you!

reply to post by satnam


Thank you satnam. I have been dwelling on this. In retrospect, I think I may have been so aware of the state I was in, that the excitement snapped me out of it? It was an amazing non-feeling? It's hard to explain. I always wonder if I am going to be fired, or if the chickens are going to destroy my beautiful gardens, or what my friends think of me, and a bunch of other "what if's". It was so nice not having those anxious feelings.

I have tried meditation, practiced hums, listened to vibrations, tried pineal gland exercises, and everything else, but this technique actually had me in a FOR SURE state of mind and I was able to easily identify it. It was a first for me so I am definitely going to keep going with this. I have been looking for this so called "enlightenment" ever since I heard about it, however I have failed to achieve anything close to an altered state of mind unless I was drunk.

I really have a hard time grasping all of the lingo, the foreign words and so forth, that when I read some of the links that were provided in this thread, I get confused and bored. It is too much to comprehend. The link in the OP was easy to follow, which is about the maximum level of comprehension that I can garner, but people like me cannot make sense of words such as "yabba dabba doo, mukifii, nana, rubu, riki tiki tattoo, etc.," and their meanings are too much to remember.

Thanks to the OP for saying it like it is and not turning it into some sort of complex puzzle. The instructions in the OP was written just right for my ilk. I look forward to some more simplistic techniques or advice to obtain what my self had just encountered.

satnam

Sorry satnam, I meant to ask, what do you mean when you say

Have faith don't fall unconscious

Unconscious meaning blacked out?

reply to post by Hollie


Unconscious in the meaning that when you are constantly in the state of worrying, thinking, analyzing, and are submerged in this state, you are unconscious; because you are on autopilot, and the mechanism driving you is your mind/ego.

Keep noting, dont worry so much about getting back to that state. Excitement can snap you out of it, moving out of it and looking back at it to try to figure out what it is exactly can snap you out of it. Do not try to become the observer that is looking at the awareness just noting, this brings you back to the analytic mind point of view.

Stay with your breath, rise and fall, stay with your noting, sitting sitting, looking looking, imagining imagining, walking walking, talking talking, observing observing. Stay with it and it will naturally blossom into pure awareness without the stickiness of thought constructs.

Dont look for it, dont expect it, dont desire it. It is already within you, no amount of desiring or looking will ever bring you closer. The only thing that will allow you to be, is simply GIVING UP the looking. This is what the noting practice does, you put your awareness to work in not sticking to any thought construct, but just going with the flow of what is actually happening around you, inside you, through you.

Your awareness doesnt push out, everything passes through it, all of your experiences in the here and now, pass through you. Your awareness doesnt take anything for itself, doesnt reach out and grab, it sits contently, always contently, just observing. Natural state is content, relaxation, it is in the worrying of what is not currently happening that the mind bends in discomfort.

Just breathe, note, be still... stop worrying so much, you are beautiful just the way you are.

reply to post by preludefanguy


That was an awesome reply! Completely understood. Thank you and will do. :-)

Hollie
Since I saw this thread a few days ago, I have been practicing this method and once, and only ONCE for about 2 hours I was in a total state of... numb? I can only explain it by not feeling any worries about bills, daily life, or any anxiety what so ever. All that care and stress just slipped away for about 2 hours. I was on carefree autopilot. Was the side effect I experienced a sign that I am on the right path?

I experienced this earlier today and am a bit miffed that I cannot get back to that state, and I do not know what exactly got me out of it once I was in it. However, I was aware that I was in this state, but I just don't know what brought me out of it. What did I do wrong? I was so worry free for those couple of hours. I want to get back to it and STAY in it!!!

Any advice?

Advice?

YEs!!!!! Keep practicing. How did you originally get to that state? It was the method that uncovered it, so to the method return. You have to let go of all of the mind trying to grasp "how do I get there? What do I do?" Let all that go and keep going with the Method and that state will be uncovered, present, and remain for longer periods of time til it eventually becomes permanent......

But even that state the becomes permanent eventually changes into something deeper and with no borders.

SO let go of being "Miffed that you cannot get back to that"...and simply return to the practice. By the way, 2 hours is a good start, but it is still nothing. People go for 2-3 week retreats and practice this from waking til sleeping. So do a whole day practice on your day off....go beyond 2 hours and do 12

Thank you satnam. I have been dwelling on this. In retrospect, I think I may have been so aware of the state I was in, that the excitement snapped me out of it?

YEs that's part of it.....just remain noting, remain calm, let go of all excitement and anything else that arises. Notice that excitement comes & goes and is not permanent. Just keep noting, even noting whatever arises, so that it too falls away

It was an amazing non-feeling? It's hard to explain. I always wonder if I am going to be fired, or if the chickens are going to destroy my beautiful gardens, or what my friends think of me, and a bunch of other "what if's". It was so nice not having those anxious feelings.

Yes, those are all projections, illusions, ego. This method frees you from all of that, eventually that is, if you use the method for weeks at a time, from waking til sleeping.