As a common system for comparison maybe Rick could use these with his interviewees on Batgap to help suss them out. Fleetwood could use them to elucidate a membership base over on The_Peak where diverse people rate their awakening. Enumerating on a scale of The Taoist 12 States of Consciousness, “how you would rate your experience..?” Might be more useful for discussion than MMY's Seven-State system or a western scholarly-historical system of three schools of mysticism to place spiritually awakening people. -JaiGuruYou
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : Thanks for the below list. Deserves a lot of study. I wish the list handled "identity" more forthrightly. Probably if I studied Taoism I'd see how they handle the issue, and then see that being reflected this list, but me?, not so much. This list ends where my interest begins. I'm not seeking experiences....I'm not in that business which always has an "other than awareness" component. That's me.....YMMV and I'd be glad to hear how any of the benchmarks below actually can be of any practical value in daily life when, IT'S ALL DETERMINED. Yeah, I'm one of those guys. Heh. It just isn't in my cards to be this refined...gave it a 29 year run and it MADE NO DIFFERENCE. May you get the delineations you seek. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <anartaxius@...> wrote : Nice post. You might be interested in some Taoist benchmarks concerning enlightenment: Normal State — Wandering mind. Some will often have 3-6 (or more) threads/dialogs of thought jumping around. Temporary One Thread — In meditation, one quiets to one focused thread (as in mantra or concentration). At this state, one may begin to notice energy (if looking for it). Temporary Quiet Mind — One can begin to see/trace thoughts. Stable Quiet Meditation — One can perceive the nature/energy of mind. Can perceive astral experiences. Expansion of Quiet Mind to Normal Life — One begins to "see themselves" doing things. An example is seeing yourself getting angry, but can't stop yourself. Quiet Mind in Life — Usually only one thread going, sometimes no threads. Can see and stop yourself from getting angry. Calm Mind — No real thoughts unless there is something to do/decide. Meditation and life are the same. Often described as nothingness. Many stop here and declare victory. Noticing Oneness — Something "tickles" the calm mind. Curiosity returns. Begin to break beyond the local body-mind. See Oneness — Feels like every soul is inside you. Begin integration with existence. Oneness — Can feel everyone and everything. Oneness beyond time — Can perceive parallel realities and beyond time. Primordial State — Integration with God/Existence/Emptiness (depending on your perspective). From: Duveyoung <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 3:28 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] What is a single thought? I once heard Maharishi Mahesh Yogi say, ".....and they don't even know what a thought is." At the time, we all felt so smug, but 40 years later, I'm wondering if FFL could possibly agree on a definition. I maintained that I have 5 thoughts per second. My definition of thought is "a complete concept." Using this definition, I note that when I count as fast as I can, mentally, I can get up to five before the second hand clicks to the next second. Each number is clearly heard in my mind rather than it being kind of slurringly said process. You? Here's the rub: obviously the brain/body is processing actual millions of inputs, and most of the material is "ignored." Proof being that YOUR elbow just now that I mention it is found to be sending you messages about its position, pressures on it, clothing rubbing sensations etc. This information is broadcast 24/7 to you, but almost never gets to the front burner of consciousness. Clearly 5 thoughts per second is a relative concept. Never-the-less, I like to offer it as a starter concept about thought. If one CAN have conscious awareness of five thoughts per second, then the concept of "cherry picking" comes to my fore. Seems to me that all of us are cherry picking which of our thoughts to attend and which to ignore, but this "picking" is automated and usually not a conscious choice. Seems to me, enlightenment is a kind of surrendering to this vastness of processing -- it being a perfect example of "karma is unfathomable" and so just relax and let it all happen. Q: Can there be awareness without an object of awareness? Nisargadatta: Awareness with an object we called witnessing. When there is also self-identification with the object, caused by desire or fear, such a state is called a person. In reality there is only one state; when distorted by self-identification it is called a person, when coloured with the sense of being, it is the witness; when colourless and limitless, it is called the Supreme.
