Very interesting Vaj, from your older post about two years ago. It is interesting how instinctive reactions peel off with time. Maybe certain reactions, say a bat flies close to your face will not disappear, but non-threatening sounds etc., do seem to diminish with time, as well as reactions to situations that previously set one off emotionally.
There was a Dutchman, Herrigal, Herrigle, or some name like that, who went to Japan sometime in the earlier part of the 20th century, and he experienced an earthquake, and everyone fled except an old man. When he inquired of this fellow, he found the old man was a practitioner of Zen. Herrigle wanted in after experiencing the man's calmness, but was told as a Westerner he probably could not at that time attend a monastery. The old man sent him to a Zen archer, who taught him the art of Zen archery for a number of years. Herrigle wrote a book about that experience. He said he practiced several years without ever being told to shoot at a target, and finally one day the teacher said, observing him, '"it" shot the arrow'. After that he was allowed to shoot at a target. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@...> wrote: > > > On Jul 7, 2011, at 3:50 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "whynotnow7" <whynotnow7@ > > wrote: > >> > >> Barry takes authenticity and honesty, or their lack, as > >> tools for manipulating responses from others on here. > >> That is his entire game; using his writing skills to > >> plant emotional triggers in his posts calculated to > >> set others off. > >> > >> He doesn't care if he said the exact opposite the day > >> before, or makes stuff up. Its all about Hah - you > >> flinched! That's it, and that's all there is. > > > > If that were true, and two of the historical criteria > > of being either enlightened or "more highly evolved" > > and close to enlightenment are non-attachment and the > > ability to have external events have as little effect > > on them as a "line drawn on water," what in your view > > does "flinching" say about those who do it on a regular > > basis? > > > > You came up with the description of me. You're one of > > the biggest "flinchers" on this forum. Now explain > > how your characterization of me, if true, reflects > > positively on you and the other over-reactors. > > > From an old post: > > There has been a lot written and there are numerous on-going > investigations into what the Buddhist taxonomy of consciousness would > call afflictive emotions. The first major work was by Daniel Goleman, > Ph.D. and entitled Destructive Emotions. Goleman was group leader in > the Mind & Life conference, where HH the 14th Dalai Lama meets with > leading scientists. The meeting Goleman was at was actually the 3rd > Mind & Life conference held in 1990. Since that time researchers have > continued to look into this topic. I am actually just reading a more > recent work on the topic of emotional awareness, a conversation > between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman, Ph.D. entitled Emotional > Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and > Compassion. > > Of course there are afflictive and non-afflictive emotions. If one > truly expands consciousness one should expand consciousness to > include automatic mechanisms--"knee-jerk reactions"--which can > include the afflictive emotions. As awareness expands, unconscious > afflictive emotions are diminished. Some meditation forms may not > work at this level and so destructive emotions continue to flourish, > which means such people can afflict others with their afflictive > emotions. > > But someone who is free from afflictive emotion and able to > discriminate instinctively, can also use afflictive emotions > constructively. > > It's usually pretty easy to tell "who is who" in person, if one > spends enough time around them. Similarly, although with less > precision, you can also get a good idea by reading someone's writing > across time. > > One primary characteristic of afflictive emotions is that they are > out of tune with reality. There is a distorted perception of reality. > It is as if the perception of reality is poisoned or negatively > colored by an instinctual negative reaction. Whether one can turn > that afflictive emotion into something constructive depends on the > skill of the individual. > > Certain meditative training can help one develop that skillfulness. > In general meditative forms that use a form of top-down control of > attention tend to favor a more egocentric neural functioning, and > thus aren't as good at transforming instinctual negativity. Bottom- > up, more "open presence" style of meditative practice, either alone > or in conjunction with egocentric attentional forms, seem to favor a > more allocentric, "other", "out there" awareness and are better at > integrating and transforming negativity. "Transcend and include" > rather than "transcend into". > > All healthy humans have various instinctual reactions or reflexes > that originate from the very old, reptilian part of the brain. For > example, in all humans, if they are startled by a loud sound, there > is a reflexive and measurable response that always occurs at exactly > 250 milliseconds after the stimulus and always lasts for exactly 250 > milliseconds, always ending 500 milliseconds after the stimulus. > Never longer, never shorter, in the entire species. However in > advanced meditators we now know they can "transcend and include" to > the point where that reptilian startle is no longer measurable or > just barely detectable. It's this level of meditation practice and > proficiency that allows a person to conquer--and master--even the > most instinctual negative emotions. > > This "non-startle" presence is very obvious once one has recognized > it, around certain meditative adepts. It has a kind of ripple effect > through the various levels of the person. And like the afflictive > emotions of a person who can spread this "affliction" to others (and > cause them to produce negative emotions), people with the non- > startle, non-afflictive style are able to pass that presence on to > others, but in a more positive manner. >
