From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of tomandcindytraynoratfairfieldlis Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 10:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The fallacy is that a *Me* can Gain Realiza
TomT: It was my experience for a while that Me had gone away. In retrospect it became obvious that little me was overwhelmed by the immensity of the wholeness that creation Is. As this experience was settled into and more knowledge was forthcoming it became obvious there really was still an I but it was not the same I that seemed to have gotten overwhelmed. Eventually it all filled up as the fullness of I but again that is not the same I that seemed to go away. THis new I, was the understanding of the wholeness and the paradox of being an individual and being cosmic at the same time. Tom As I mentioned in another post, I’ve been out of town for a week, visiting in-laws in Seattle. Being on vacation and out of the usual routines was enough to ramp up the unboundedness considerably. My infinite nature and my individual nature were kind of on equal footing, see-sawing back and forth gently all week. To use a metaphor (not a literal description), the unboundedness was like a constant tone. If there’s a constant tone playing, you don’t hear it after a while, even though it’s still there, but you can hear it again any time you choose to put your attention on it. Of course, in this case, the “tone” was bliss – so my attention would effortlessly be drawn back to it again and again. It didn’t matter how busy my surroundings were – Pike’s market was as conducive as a ferry ride or a beach. This experience gave rise to the thought that if unboundedness were to dawn suddenly, as it seems to have done for many spiritual teachers, one could easily feel that an individual “me” no longer existed. I think that if it dawns more gradually, over decades of meditation practice, as in my case, this is less likely to happen. For me, there does not appear to be any incompatibility between my individual nature with its thoughts, desires and activities, and my unbounded nature, which is like a soft cushion of bliss. The two are indeed paradoxical – they seem to exist in different dimensions – but they coexist in perfect harmony. It is clear that there is no “me” which “gets” enlightened, but that does not mean that there is no “me.” No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.13.33/1034 - Release Date: 9/27/2007 5:00 PM
