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Okay let's talk abt Psychics.
- Thread starter med_breeder
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slender
Member
jesus not wolf blitzer
Genghis Kush
Active member
delusion seems to be a common theme.
the monks are having a direct experience.
Buddhist meditation techniques reveal the nature of our minds.
the monks are having a direct experience.
Buddhist meditation techniques reveal the nature of our minds.
Genghis Kush
Active member
""Buddha's teaching is to move from the gross, apparent truth to the subtlest, ultimate truth, from olarika to sukhuma. The apparent truth always creates illusion and confusion in the mind. By dividing and dissecting apparent reality, you will come to the ultimate reality. As you experience the reality of matter to be vibration, you also start experiencing the reality of the mind: vinnana (consciousness), sanna (perception), vedana (sensation) and sankhara (reaction). If you experience them properly with Vipassana, it will become clear how they work.
Suppose you have reached the stage where you are experiencing that the entire physical structure is just vibration. If a sound has come in contact with the ears you will notice that this sound is nothing but vibration. The first part of the mind, consciousness, has done its job: ear consciousness has recognized that something has happened at the ear sense door. Like a gong which, having been struck at one point, begins vibrating throughout its structure, so a contact with any of the senses begins a vibration which spreads throughout the body. At first this is merely a neutral vibration, neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
The perception recognizes and evaluates the sound, "It is a word-what word? Praise! Oh, wonderful, very good!" The resulting sensation, the vibration, will become very pleasant. In the same way, if the words are words of abuse the vibration will become very unpleasant. The vibration changes according to the evaluation given by the perception part of the mind. Next the third part of the mind starts feeling the sensation: pleasant or unpleasant.
Then the fourth part of the mind will start working. This is reaction; its job is to react. If a pleasant sensation arises, it will react with craving. If an unpleasant sensation arises, it will react with aversion. Pleasant sensation: "I like it. Very good! I want more, I want more!" Similarly, unpleasant sensation: "I dislike it. I don't want it." Generating craving and aversion is the part played by the fourth factor of the mind-reaction.
Understand that this process is going on constantly at one sense door or another. Every moment something or the other is happening at one of the sense doors. Every moment the respective consciousness cognizes; the perception recognizes; the feeling part of the mind feels; and the reacting part of the mind reacts, with either craving or aversion. This happens continuously in one's life.
At the apparent, surface level, it seems that I am reacting with either craving or aversion to the external stimulus. Actually this is not so. Buddha found that we are reacting to our sensations. This discovery was the enlightenment of Buddha. He said:
Salayatana-paccaya phasso
phassa-paccaya vedana vedana-paccaya tanha.
With the base of the six senses, contact arises
with the base of contact, sensation arises
with the base of sensation, craving arises. ""
Suppose you have reached the stage where you are experiencing that the entire physical structure is just vibration. If a sound has come in contact with the ears you will notice that this sound is nothing but vibration. The first part of the mind, consciousness, has done its job: ear consciousness has recognized that something has happened at the ear sense door. Like a gong which, having been struck at one point, begins vibrating throughout its structure, so a contact with any of the senses begins a vibration which spreads throughout the body. At first this is merely a neutral vibration, neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
The perception recognizes and evaluates the sound, "It is a word-what word? Praise! Oh, wonderful, very good!" The resulting sensation, the vibration, will become very pleasant. In the same way, if the words are words of abuse the vibration will become very unpleasant. The vibration changes according to the evaluation given by the perception part of the mind. Next the third part of the mind starts feeling the sensation: pleasant or unpleasant.
Then the fourth part of the mind will start working. This is reaction; its job is to react. If a pleasant sensation arises, it will react with craving. If an unpleasant sensation arises, it will react with aversion. Pleasant sensation: "I like it. Very good! I want more, I want more!" Similarly, unpleasant sensation: "I dislike it. I don't want it." Generating craving and aversion is the part played by the fourth factor of the mind-reaction.
Understand that this process is going on constantly at one sense door or another. Every moment something or the other is happening at one of the sense doors. Every moment the respective consciousness cognizes; the perception recognizes; the feeling part of the mind feels; and the reacting part of the mind reacts, with either craving or aversion. This happens continuously in one's life.
At the apparent, surface level, it seems that I am reacting with either craving or aversion to the external stimulus. Actually this is not so. Buddha found that we are reacting to our sensations. This discovery was the enlightenment of Buddha. He said:
Salayatana-paccaya phasso
phassa-paccaya vedana vedana-paccaya tanha.
With the base of the six senses, contact arises
with the base of contact, sensation arises
with the base of sensation, craving arises. ""
Genghis Kush
Active member
""It became so clear to him: the six sense organs come in contact with objects outside. Because of the contact, a sensation starts in the body that, most of the time, is either pleasant or unpleasant. Then after a pleasant or unpleasant sensation arises, craving or aversion start-not before that. This realization was possible because Buddha went deep inside and experienced it himself. He went to the root of the problem and discovered how to eradicate the cause of suffering at the root level.
Working at the intellectual level of the mind, we try to suppress craving and aversion, but deep inside, craving and aversion continue. We are constantly rolling in craving or aversion. We are not coming out of misery through suppression.
Buddha discovered the way: whenever you experience any sensation, due to any reason, you simply observe it:
Samudaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
vaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
samudaya-vaya-dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of arising in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of passing away in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of simultaneous arising and passing away in the body.
Every sensation arises and passes away. Nothing is eternal. When you practise Vipassana you start experiencing this. However unpleasant a sensation may be-look, it arises only to pass away. However pleasant a sensation may be, it is just a vibration-arising and passing. Pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, the characteristic of impermanence remains the same. You are now experiencing the reality of anicca. You are not believing it because Buddha said so, or some scripture or tradition says so, or even because your intellect says so. You accept the truth of anicca because you directly experience it. This is how your received wisdom and intellectual understanding turn into personally experienced wisdom.
Only this experience of anicca will change the habit pattern of the mind. Feeling sensation in the body and understanding that everything is impermanent, you don't react with craving or aversion; you are equanimous. Practising this continually changes the habit of reacting at the deepest level. When you don't generate any new conditioning of craving and aversion, old conditioning comes on the surface and passes away. By observing reality as it is, you become free from all your conditioning of craving and aversion.
Western psychologists refer to the "conscious mind." Buddha called this part of the mind the paritta citta (a very small part of the mind). There is a big barrier between the paritta citta and the rest of the mind at deeper levels. The conscious mind does not know what is happening in the unconscious or half-conscious. Vipassana breaks this barrier, taking you from the surface level of the mind to the deepest level of the mind. The practice exposes the anusaya kilesa (latent mental defilements) that are lying at the deepest level of the mind.
""
Working at the intellectual level of the mind, we try to suppress craving and aversion, but deep inside, craving and aversion continue. We are constantly rolling in craving or aversion. We are not coming out of misery through suppression.
Buddha discovered the way: whenever you experience any sensation, due to any reason, you simply observe it:
Samudaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
vaya dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati
samudaya-vaya-dhammanupassi va kayasmim viharati.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of arising in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of passing away in the body.
He dwells observing the phenomenon of simultaneous arising and passing away in the body.
Every sensation arises and passes away. Nothing is eternal. When you practise Vipassana you start experiencing this. However unpleasant a sensation may be-look, it arises only to pass away. However pleasant a sensation may be, it is just a vibration-arising and passing. Pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, the characteristic of impermanence remains the same. You are now experiencing the reality of anicca. You are not believing it because Buddha said so, or some scripture or tradition says so, or even because your intellect says so. You accept the truth of anicca because you directly experience it. This is how your received wisdom and intellectual understanding turn into personally experienced wisdom.
Only this experience of anicca will change the habit pattern of the mind. Feeling sensation in the body and understanding that everything is impermanent, you don't react with craving or aversion; you are equanimous. Practising this continually changes the habit of reacting at the deepest level. When you don't generate any new conditioning of craving and aversion, old conditioning comes on the surface and passes away. By observing reality as it is, you become free from all your conditioning of craving and aversion.
Western psychologists refer to the "conscious mind." Buddha called this part of the mind the paritta citta (a very small part of the mind). There is a big barrier between the paritta citta and the rest of the mind at deeper levels. The conscious mind does not know what is happening in the unconscious or half-conscious. Vipassana breaks this barrier, taking you from the surface level of the mind to the deepest level of the mind. The practice exposes the anusaya kilesa (latent mental defilements) that are lying at the deepest level of the mind.
""
Genghis Kush
Active member
The so-called "unconscious" mind is not unconscious. It is always conscious of body sensations, and it keeps reacting to them. If they are unpleasant, it reacts with aversion. If they are pleasant, it reacts with craving. This is the habit pattern, the behaviour pattern, of the so-called unconscious at the depth of the mind.
Here is an example to explain how the so-called unconscious mind is reacting with craving and aversion. You are in deep sleep. A mosquito bites you and there is an unpleasant sensation. Your conscious mind does not know what has happened. The unconscious knows immediately that there is an unpleasant sensation, and it reacts with aversion. It drives away or kills the mosquito. But still there is an unpleasant sensation, so you scratch, though your conscious mind is in deep sleep.
When you wake up, if somebody asks you how many mosquito bites you got during the night, you won't know. Your conscious mind was unaware but the unconcious knew, and it reacted.
Another example: Sitting for about half an hour, some pressure starts somewhere and the unconscious mind reacts: "There is a pressure. I don't like it!" You change your position. The unconscious mind is always in contact with the body sensations. You make a little movement, and then after some time you move again. Just watch somebody sitting for fifteen to twenty minutes. You will find that this person is fidgeting, shifting a little here, a little there. Of course, consciously he does not know what he is doing. This is because he is not aware of the sensations. He does not know that he is reacting with aversion to these sensations. This barrier is ignorance.
Vipassana breaks this ignorance. Then one starts understanding how sensations arise and how they give rise to craving or aversion. When there is a pleasant sensation, there is craving. When there is an unpleasant sensation, there is aversion, and whenever there is craving or aversion, there is misery.
If one does not break this behaviour pattern, there will be continual craving or aversion. At the surface level you may say that you are practising what Buddha taught, but in fact, you are not practising what Buddha taught! You are practising what the other teachers at the time of Buddha taught. Buddha taught how to go to the deepest level where suffering arises. Suffering arises because of one's reaction of craving or aversion. The source of craving and aversion must be found, and one must change one's behaviour pattern at that level.
Buddha taught us to observe suffering and the arising of suffering. Without observing these two we can never know the cessation of misery. Suffering arises with the sensations. If we react to sensations, then suffering arises. If we do not react we do not suffer from them. However unpleasant a sensation may be, if you don't react with aversion, you can smile with equanimity. You understand that this is all anicca, impermanence. The whole habit pattern of the mind changes at the deepest level.
Through the practice of Vipassana, people start to come out of all kinds of impurities of the mind-anger, passion, fear, ego, and so on. Within a few months or a few years the change in people becomes very evident. This is the benefit of Vipassana, here and now. In this very life you will get the benefit.
This is the land of Dhamma, a land of the teaching of Buddha, a land where you have such a large Sangha. Make use of the teaching of Buddha at the deepest level. Don't just remain at the surface level of the teaching of Buddha. Go to the deepest level where your craving arises:
Vedana paccaya tanha;
vedana-nirodha tanha-nirodho;
tanha-nirodha dukkha-nirodho.
Sensations give rise to craving.
If sensations cease, craving ceases.
When craving ceases, suffering ceases.
When one experiences the truth of nibbana-a stage beyond the entire sensorium-all the six sense organs stop working. There can't be any contact with objects outside, so sensation ceases. At this stage there is freedom from all suffering.
First you must reach the stage where you can feel sensations. Only then can you change the habit pattern of your mind. Work on this technique, this process, at the very deepest level. If you work on the surface level of the mind you are only changing the conscious part of the mind, your intellect. You are not going to the root cause, the most unconscious level of the mind; you are not removing the anusaya kilesa-deep-rooted defilements of craving and aversion. They are like sleeping volcanoes that may erupt at any time. You continue to roll from birth to death; you are not coming out of misery.
Make use of this wonderful technique and come out of your misery, come out of the bondages and enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness.""
Here is an example to explain how the so-called unconscious mind is reacting with craving and aversion. You are in deep sleep. A mosquito bites you and there is an unpleasant sensation. Your conscious mind does not know what has happened. The unconscious knows immediately that there is an unpleasant sensation, and it reacts with aversion. It drives away or kills the mosquito. But still there is an unpleasant sensation, so you scratch, though your conscious mind is in deep sleep.
When you wake up, if somebody asks you how many mosquito bites you got during the night, you won't know. Your conscious mind was unaware but the unconcious knew, and it reacted.
Another example: Sitting for about half an hour, some pressure starts somewhere and the unconscious mind reacts: "There is a pressure. I don't like it!" You change your position. The unconscious mind is always in contact with the body sensations. You make a little movement, and then after some time you move again. Just watch somebody sitting for fifteen to twenty minutes. You will find that this person is fidgeting, shifting a little here, a little there. Of course, consciously he does not know what he is doing. This is because he is not aware of the sensations. He does not know that he is reacting with aversion to these sensations. This barrier is ignorance.
Vipassana breaks this ignorance. Then one starts understanding how sensations arise and how they give rise to craving or aversion. When there is a pleasant sensation, there is craving. When there is an unpleasant sensation, there is aversion, and whenever there is craving or aversion, there is misery.
If one does not break this behaviour pattern, there will be continual craving or aversion. At the surface level you may say that you are practising what Buddha taught, but in fact, you are not practising what Buddha taught! You are practising what the other teachers at the time of Buddha taught. Buddha taught how to go to the deepest level where suffering arises. Suffering arises because of one's reaction of craving or aversion. The source of craving and aversion must be found, and one must change one's behaviour pattern at that level.
Buddha taught us to observe suffering and the arising of suffering. Without observing these two we can never know the cessation of misery. Suffering arises with the sensations. If we react to sensations, then suffering arises. If we do not react we do not suffer from them. However unpleasant a sensation may be, if you don't react with aversion, you can smile with equanimity. You understand that this is all anicca, impermanence. The whole habit pattern of the mind changes at the deepest level.
Through the practice of Vipassana, people start to come out of all kinds of impurities of the mind-anger, passion, fear, ego, and so on. Within a few months or a few years the change in people becomes very evident. This is the benefit of Vipassana, here and now. In this very life you will get the benefit.
This is the land of Dhamma, a land of the teaching of Buddha, a land where you have such a large Sangha. Make use of the teaching of Buddha at the deepest level. Don't just remain at the surface level of the teaching of Buddha. Go to the deepest level where your craving arises:
Vedana paccaya tanha;
vedana-nirodha tanha-nirodho;
tanha-nirodha dukkha-nirodho.
Sensations give rise to craving.
If sensations cease, craving ceases.
When craving ceases, suffering ceases.
When one experiences the truth of nibbana-a stage beyond the entire sensorium-all the six sense organs stop working. There can't be any contact with objects outside, so sensation ceases. At this stage there is freedom from all suffering.
First you must reach the stage where you can feel sensations. Only then can you change the habit pattern of your mind. Work on this technique, this process, at the very deepest level. If you work on the surface level of the mind you are only changing the conscious part of the mind, your intellect. You are not going to the root cause, the most unconscious level of the mind; you are not removing the anusaya kilesa-deep-rooted defilements of craving and aversion. They are like sleeping volcanoes that may erupt at any time. You continue to roll from birth to death; you are not coming out of misery.
Make use of this wonderful technique and come out of your misery, come out of the bondages and enjoy real peace, real harmony, real happiness.""
Hahaha!!sorry but that was fucking funny!good one Cannabrix!!great thread guys!!
Genghis Kush
Active member
sitting on my perch, practicing Vipassana.
"Thus, the type of seeing denoted by "vipassanā" is that of direct perception, as opposed to knowledge derived from reasoning or argument."
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can we live without faith of some sort?
Everything lives their lives through a "story".
Fairy tales serve a very important purpose.
"Thus, the type of seeing denoted by "vipassanā" is that of direct perception, as opposed to knowledge derived from reasoning or argument."
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can we live without faith of some sort?
Everything lives their lives through a "story".
Fairy tales serve a very important purpose.
Genghis-
I am not sure where I am in your philosophy. I think I mostly live without faith. I believe in a higher energy, something more than the "eye can see", but my faith is nowhere near as elaborate in detail as an organized religion.
I think maybe I am on the perch as well, watching others jump.
My goals are far out from finding faith. My goals right now are wellness. To live in a yoga. And communication. My recent 'sass' trip has given me the idea of more communication all around.
Lots of cats, cooking, gardening, stretching, and hiking for me. This is my pleasure.
......and pack another bong, huh?
I am not sure where I am in your philosophy. I think I mostly live without faith. I believe in a higher energy, something more than the "eye can see", but my faith is nowhere near as elaborate in detail as an organized religion.
I think maybe I am on the perch as well, watching others jump.
My goals are far out from finding faith. My goals right now are wellness. To live in a yoga. And communication. My recent 'sass' trip has given me the idea of more communication all around.
Lots of cats, cooking, gardening, stretching, and hiking for me. This is my pleasure.
......and pack another bong, huh?
I like your philosophy cannabrix.cest le vie
cannabrix you're fuckted because of all the fucktedness around where you are fuckted at.
western populations are, have long been, resources. all of the language you use to discuss this shit is borrowed from the "peon" paradigm.
eg. "higher power" - it's facile for you to use the term because "everyone will know what you mean", but it's fuckted.
not higher, bro, not higher!
there is nothing OUTSIDE or REMOVED or BEYOND from your current location about cosmology!!!!
in the same way, even believing is a fault that can hold you down.. believing is a logical fallacy ("the leap of faith"), one that does not need to be made.
nurture a sense of contentment with not knowing. realise that uncertainty is all you will ever have and is actually 10000000000000 times better than certainty, because once you are certain about something, you never have to think about it again.
but few westerners have the balls to stand up and say they are happy with uncertainty, because the western control mechanism (well aren't all of them?) is based on certainty, knowing absolutely. knowledge. science means knowledge and is the bane of rationality.. "peer review" hah!
in audio synthesis, we talk about additive and subtractive. to get from your location to cosmos, we don't have to add anything. you're not missing anything. we need to subtract the bullshit.
eg. freemasons or other power whores talk about "keys" and "secret" - additive. they want you to keep adding to your shitball.
the hindu concept of lila - cosmos becomes mortal for amusement. god forgets itself to experience mortality.
every dispassionate perspective expressed here is accused of being "lofty" so that the abusers can keep the strength of the malleable resources for themselves.
western populations are, have long been, resources. all of the language you use to discuss this shit is borrowed from the "peon" paradigm.
eg. "higher power" - it's facile for you to use the term because "everyone will know what you mean", but it's fuckted.
not higher, bro, not higher!
there is nothing OUTSIDE or REMOVED or BEYOND from your current location about cosmology!!!!
in the same way, even believing is a fault that can hold you down.. believing is a logical fallacy ("the leap of faith"), one that does not need to be made.
nurture a sense of contentment with not knowing. realise that uncertainty is all you will ever have and is actually 10000000000000 times better than certainty, because once you are certain about something, you never have to think about it again.
but few westerners have the balls to stand up and say they are happy with uncertainty, because the western control mechanism (well aren't all of them?) is based on certainty, knowing absolutely. knowledge. science means knowledge and is the bane of rationality.. "peer review" hah!
in audio synthesis, we talk about additive and subtractive. to get from your location to cosmos, we don't have to add anything. you're not missing anything. we need to subtract the bullshit.
eg. freemasons or other power whores talk about "keys" and "secret" - additive. they want you to keep adding to your shitball.
the hindu concept of lila - cosmos becomes mortal for amusement. god forgets itself to experience mortality.
every dispassionate perspective expressed here is accused of being "lofty" so that the abusers can keep the strength of the malleable resources for themselves.
I think you're misinterpreting what I mean. Higher energy does not equal higher power. Higher isn't even the right word for what I have in my mind. Ever present, maybe? Not a being...a "connective thread" that connects "all".
If I exist, and something else also exists (the outside world or perception of one), then I do believe there is a third existence, which brings together all existence.
Not a God. Not a Being. Not a being (big difference here).
I do not believe there is a secret or key to understand this existence. I do not believe in a higher significance of the energy.
I do not believe that this "third existence" (which is what I am calling it in terms of relevance to my ramblings) is outside/removed/beyond my perception.
I am simply looking (perceiving?) at what is before me, and believing there is a significance to it ALL.
And certainly I do not believe in any certainty
If I exist, and something else also exists (the outside world or perception of one), then I do believe there is a third existence, which brings together all existence.
Not a God. Not a Being. Not a being (big difference here).
I do not believe there is a secret or key to understand this existence. I do not believe in a higher significance of the energy.
I do not believe that this "third existence" (which is what I am calling it in terms of relevance to my ramblings) is outside/removed/beyond my perception.
I am simply looking (perceiving?) at what is before me, and believing there is a significance to it ALL.
And certainly I do not believe in any certainty
Genghis Kush
Active member
“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”
Sigh.everything returns to the void.we can all agree on that right?
cannabrix - it's cool, i ain't hafta be your rite or nuttin 
but you're doing the same thing again in order to pose your rhetorical query, you adhere to an assumption.
i don't want to get into a discussion about that point*, only mentioning it as an exhibition of faulty premise.
*proving someone else exists
but you're doing the same thing again
in order to pose your rhetorical query, you adhere to an assumption.i don't want to get into a discussion about that point*, only mentioning it as an exhibition of faulty premise.
*proving someone else exists
Ahhh I do not believe my premise is as faulty as you are thinking.
But it is not "someone else" that I am proving exists. It is literally any thought that proves at least two things exist.
If I can think, than I know at least two things exist. Me and that thought.
I think...therefore I am....
And yes I do know the problems with Descartes meditations
Wave - Please don't ever think I need or want you nor anybody else nor any other imagined thing to agree with me or think I am right. I am posting here because my points will be argued.
As philosophy never gives an answer, just more of a mystery. It is good to see the rabbit hole doesn't just go straight down.
But it is not "someone else" that I am proving exists. It is literally any thought that proves at least two things exist.
If I can think, than I know at least two things exist. Me and that thought.
I think...therefore I am....
And yes I do know the problems with Descartes meditations
Wave - Please don't ever think I need or want you nor anybody else nor any other imagined thing to agree with me or think I am right. I am posting here because my points will be argued.
As philosophy never gives an answer, just more of a mystery. It is good to see the rabbit hole doesn't just go straight down.
Genghis Kush
Active member
Cannabrix,
"I think therefor I am", is a fallacy based on an illusion.
"" To understand more precisely the process of confirming the solidity of I and other, that is, the development of ego, it is helpful to be familiar with the five skandhas, a set of Buddhist concepts which describe ego a five-step process.
The first step or skandha, the birth of ego, is called "form" or basic ignorance. We ignore the open, fluid, and intelligent quality of space.
When a gap or space occurs in our experience of mind, when there is a sudden glimpse of awareness openness, absence of self, then a suspicion arise: "Suppose I find that there is no solid me? That possibility scares me. I don't want to go into that. That abstract paranoia, the discomfort that something may be wrong, is the source of karmic chain reactions. It is the fear of ultimate confusion and despair. The fear of the absence of the self, of the egoless state, is a constant threat to us. "Suppose it is true, what then? I am afraid to look." We want to maintain some solidity but the only material available with which to work is space, the absence of ego, so we try to solidify or freeze that experience of space. Ignorance in this case is not stupidity, but it is a kind of stubbornness. Suddenly we are bewildered by the discovery of selflessness and do not want to accept it; we want to hold on to something.
Then the next step is the attempt to find a way of occupying ourselves, diverting our attention from our aloneness. The karmic chain reaction begins. Karma is dependent upon the relativity of this and that--my existence and my projections--and karma is continually reborn as we continually try to busy ourselves. In other words, there is a fear of not being confirmed by our projections. One must constantly try to prove that one does exist by feeling one's projections as a solid thing. Feeling the solidity of something seemingly outside you reassures you that you are a solid entity as well. This is the second skandha, "feeling."
In the third stage, ego develops three strategies or impulses with which to relate to its projections: indifference, passion and aggression. These impulses are guided by perception. Perception, in this case, is the self-conscious feeling that you must officially report back to central headquarters what is happening in any given moment. Then you can manipulate each situation by organizing another strategy.
In the strategy of indifference, we numb any sensitive areas that we want to avoid, that we think might hurt us. We put on a suit of armor. The second strategy is passion--trying to grasp things and eat them up. It is a magnetizing process. Usually we do not grasp if we feel rich enough. But whenever there is a feeling of poverty, hunger, impotence, then we reach out, we extend our tentacles and attempt to hold onto something. Aggression, the third strategy, is also based on the experience of poverty, the feeling that you cannot survive and therefore must ward off anything that threatens your property or food. Moreover, the more aware you are of the possibilities of being threatened, the more desperate your reaction becomes. You try to run faster and faster in order to find a way of feeding or defending yourself. This speeding about is a form of aggression. Aggression, passion, indifference are part of the third skandha, "perception/impulse."
Ignorance, feeling, impulse and perception--all are instinctive processes. We operate a radar system which senses our territory. Yet we cannot establish ego properly without intellect, without the ability to conceptualize and name. Since we have so many things happening, we begin to categorize them, putting them into certain pigeon-holes, naming them. We make it official, so to speak. So "intellect" or "concept" is the next stage of ego, the fourth skandha, but even this is not quite enough. We need a very active and efficient mechanism to keep the instinctive and intellectual processes of ego coordinated. That is the last development of ego, the fifth skandha, "consciousness."
Consciousness consists of emotions and irregular thought patterns, all of which taken together form the different fantasy worlds with which we occupy ourselves. These fantasy worlds are referred to in the scriptures as the "six realms". The emotions are the highlights of ego, the generals of ego's army; subconscious thought, day-dreams and other thoughts connect one highlight to another. So thoughts form ego's army and are constantly in motion, constantly busy. Our thoughts are neurotic in the sense that they irregular, changing direction all the time and overlapping one another. We continually jump from one thought to the next, from spiritual thoughts to sexual fantasies to money matters to domestic thoughts and so on. The whole development of the five skandhas--ignorance/form, feeling, impulse/perception, concept and consciousness--is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality.""
"I think therefor I am", is a fallacy based on an illusion.
"" To understand more precisely the process of confirming the solidity of I and other, that is, the development of ego, it is helpful to be familiar with the five skandhas, a set of Buddhist concepts which describe ego a five-step process.
The first step or skandha, the birth of ego, is called "form" or basic ignorance. We ignore the open, fluid, and intelligent quality of space.
When a gap or space occurs in our experience of mind, when there is a sudden glimpse of awareness openness, absence of self, then a suspicion arise: "Suppose I find that there is no solid me? That possibility scares me. I don't want to go into that. That abstract paranoia, the discomfort that something may be wrong, is the source of karmic chain reactions. It is the fear of ultimate confusion and despair. The fear of the absence of the self, of the egoless state, is a constant threat to us. "Suppose it is true, what then? I am afraid to look." We want to maintain some solidity but the only material available with which to work is space, the absence of ego, so we try to solidify or freeze that experience of space. Ignorance in this case is not stupidity, but it is a kind of stubbornness. Suddenly we are bewildered by the discovery of selflessness and do not want to accept it; we want to hold on to something.
Then the next step is the attempt to find a way of occupying ourselves, diverting our attention from our aloneness. The karmic chain reaction begins. Karma is dependent upon the relativity of this and that--my existence and my projections--and karma is continually reborn as we continually try to busy ourselves. In other words, there is a fear of not being confirmed by our projections. One must constantly try to prove that one does exist by feeling one's projections as a solid thing. Feeling the solidity of something seemingly outside you reassures you that you are a solid entity as well. This is the second skandha, "feeling."
In the third stage, ego develops three strategies or impulses with which to relate to its projections: indifference, passion and aggression. These impulses are guided by perception. Perception, in this case, is the self-conscious feeling that you must officially report back to central headquarters what is happening in any given moment. Then you can manipulate each situation by organizing another strategy.
In the strategy of indifference, we numb any sensitive areas that we want to avoid, that we think might hurt us. We put on a suit of armor. The second strategy is passion--trying to grasp things and eat them up. It is a magnetizing process. Usually we do not grasp if we feel rich enough. But whenever there is a feeling of poverty, hunger, impotence, then we reach out, we extend our tentacles and attempt to hold onto something. Aggression, the third strategy, is also based on the experience of poverty, the feeling that you cannot survive and therefore must ward off anything that threatens your property or food. Moreover, the more aware you are of the possibilities of being threatened, the more desperate your reaction becomes. You try to run faster and faster in order to find a way of feeding or defending yourself. This speeding about is a form of aggression. Aggression, passion, indifference are part of the third skandha, "perception/impulse."
Ignorance, feeling, impulse and perception--all are instinctive processes. We operate a radar system which senses our territory. Yet we cannot establish ego properly without intellect, without the ability to conceptualize and name. Since we have so many things happening, we begin to categorize them, putting them into certain pigeon-holes, naming them. We make it official, so to speak. So "intellect" or "concept" is the next stage of ego, the fourth skandha, but even this is not quite enough. We need a very active and efficient mechanism to keep the instinctive and intellectual processes of ego coordinated. That is the last development of ego, the fifth skandha, "consciousness."
Consciousness consists of emotions and irregular thought patterns, all of which taken together form the different fantasy worlds with which we occupy ourselves. These fantasy worlds are referred to in the scriptures as the "six realms". The emotions are the highlights of ego, the generals of ego's army; subconscious thought, day-dreams and other thoughts connect one highlight to another. So thoughts form ego's army and are constantly in motion, constantly busy. Our thoughts are neurotic in the sense that they irregular, changing direction all the time and overlapping one another. We continually jump from one thought to the next, from spiritual thoughts to sexual fantasies to money matters to domestic thoughts and so on. The whole development of the five skandhas--ignorance/form, feeling, impulse/perception, concept and consciousness--is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality.""
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