Nicely said. That's what I was trying to convey in my rap about different selves dying and new ones taking their place, with regard to the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
One of the reasons Leary and Alpert co-opted the Book of the Dead as a manual for acidheads in "The Psychedelic Experience" is that parts of it relate very strongly to the "coming down" phase of that drug's effect. LSD (whatever its possible drawbacks) allowed many people a direct experience of Unity and selflessness. The problem (if there was one) was when "coming down" from that perception, and trying to reintegrate one's new perception of self into "normal" life and reconcile it with one's former perceptions of self. There was a tendency to want to "cling" to old ways of seeing the world, and of seeing the self. That's where the Book of the Dead becomes handy when viewing the process of "growing up" as the continual death of old selves and the rebirth of new ones. In a very real sense, the old "me" is dead and gone. Toast. It's bleedin' demised, an ex-parrot. :-) But because we don't yet have a strong sense of the new self, there is a tendency to cling to memories of the old self, and to its modes of perception and of functioning. There is a sense of selflessness to the "new" self, and that is tough for most people to live with; they prefer to have something comforting to cling to that they consider their "self." And, just as some people remember their past physical lives, when we go through a major spiritual transformation and end up "wearing" a new self, there are some lingering memories of the past selves. In the world view I'm talking about, trying to cling to these old ideas of self is a Bad Idea. They were appropriate for a former self, in its former state of attention. They may not be approp- riate for the new self and its current state of attention. Attempting to cling to them merely causes cognitive dissonance, and often psychological problems. (Just think in more psychoanalytic terms, those people who are still carrying around memories of being hurt years or decades ago. They allow these lingering memories to color all of their perceptions in their present lives, often to their detriment.) Anyway, some of the techniques and knowledge that are expressed in the Book of the Dead can be useful when going through one of these serious transfor- mations from one self to another. They present "reminders" that one is *not* what one thought one was, that one is *not* the old self (and in fact is *not* the current self, either). They can be an aid in letting go of the past and living in the here and now. --- In [email protected], Louis McKenzie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > All of the cells in the human body die and are born in regular cycles. > But in addition to this we all have phases. Have you ever looked at your baby pictures, or picutures from childhood? Do you realize that the people in those pictures dont exist anymore. You exist but the body that was the 5 year old is no longer and will mostprobably never be again. This can be considered a form of death. Highschool may have been great maybe you played some sport, were involved with some theater, had your first girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever that guy went away. The moment you passed the the next phase the old phase was gone. It exist yes, but only in memory. You died. > > Another way as with TM. I was once in a forrest academy and I had a very scary unstressing experience. I was meditating and all of the breath went out of my body. Then another breath took over. I was still no breathing but a different kind of breath that was as if my whole body was breathing. I thought I was possesed but the more I tried to think the more painful. I had to surrender. I thought I was possessed. Ah Ha! I thought TM is BULLSHIT. ALL LIES I thought they say all of this about life I just died. I thought I had died in meditation. > > My whole group went out of the room they thought I was flipping. Another off the wall statement. Anyway that was another way to die. Yet now at nearly 50 those days are memories of another life. Today I live in Brasil then I lived in Iowa. The one good thing about living many lifetimes in one body is that I can still call home. Have you ever tried to call a dead relative? Not easy. Well atleast when you live many lifetimes in one body you can still call home. > > Maybe one day we will be able to communicate with our dead in this same way. > > Some people you can see in their palms they two life lines on one palm. Some will show in their charts that they burn oof much karma in one phase of their life and the other phase is without negative karma. Our individual daily life is a reflection of our macro life. > The idea is to burn the karma while in one body so anything you do after is simply conscious choice. > > On the physical your body is birthing and dying everyday...... > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: sparaig <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:19:12 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: David Bruce Hughes on studying consciousness > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], Louis McKenzie <ltm457@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I have believed in reincarnation, but I must say I did > > > > > not understand what the word meant. I have always thought > > > > > of reincarnating as death and rebirth. But lets look at when you > > > > > said. Consciouness does not die. Consciousness therefore is not > > > > > reborn. I am not my body I am the indweller. I will maintian > > > > > this body for a time and then change it like old clothes, like > > > > > moving from one house to the other. <snip excellent story> > > > > > > > > Just FYI, one view of the rebirth process described > > > > in the Tibetan Book of the Dead is that it is not > > > > just describing what happens when you actually die. > > > > The same process applies to the continual death and > > > > rebirth of the self during a single incarnation. > > > > > > That is an interesting concept. What do you mean by > > > continual death and rebirth during a single incarnation? > > > > Ok, this is probably going to take some "setting up." > > > > The basic concept is that we, as humans and as seekers, > > do not have a fixed self. We have millions of them. As > > Walt Whitman said, "I contain multitudes." > > > > Given this assumption, what many people see as the 'self' > > growing and learning from experience and changing over > > the years some Buddhists view more as one self dying > > and another becoming active. 'Self' itself is viewed > > as the decision to access and dwell in a particular > > state of attention. Move to another state of attention > > and that self dies and is replaced with another equally > > illusory self more appropriate to the new state of > > attention. > > > > What I'm suggesting is that another way to view the > > process of "growing up," one that doesn't depend on > > the notion of a fixed self, is to view self discovery > > as a continual series of deaths and rebirths. One self > > is left behind and the next becomes predominant, until > > it's time for that one to be left behind, too. > > > > *If* one looks at life that way, and thinks in those > > terms, the Tibetan Book of the Dead takes on whole new > > levels of meaning. The descriptions of the Bardo transits > > can be seen in terms of things that happen to us day by > > day in this lifetime, and not solely in terms of what > > happens to us during the actual transit from physical > > death to new physical life. > > > > Makes sense. Certainly, the concept of deep-sleep-as-mini-death goes along with this. Of > course, you take it to its ultimate extreme: each span of attention is a micro-life complete > with micro-self. > > That is very MMY-esque of you actually. > > > > > To subscribe, send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!' > Yahoo! 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