Assistance wanted

[Tbarnes]

Okay, when I look for consciousness I can not find it. The view is "I am conscious", but when searched for I cannot find it.

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

I will reply tomorrow, sorry for the delay.

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

No worries, this is certainly infiltrated my life!

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

thank you :-).

You are standing at a crossroad right now. Are you going to take your first-hand experience as the only measure for truth or will you listen to what somebody else says?

This goes deep. It is not only about your Buddhist friends who say there is a self. It is even about the venerable teachings of a Buddha. Will you have the courage to take off the glasses that are tainted by knowledge and fully "Come and see for yourself?"

This is what is meant with the Bahiya Sutta.

In the seen, there is only the seen,
in the heard, there is only the heard,
in the sensed, there is only the sensed,
in the cognized, there is only the cognized.
Thus you should see that
indeed there is no thing here;
this, Bahiya, is how you should train yourself.
Since, Bahiya, there is for you
in the seen, only the seen,
in the heard, only the heard,
in the sensed, only the sensed,
in the cognized, only the cognized,
and you see that there is no thing here,
you will therefore see that
indeed there is no thing there.
As you see that there is no thing there,
you will see that
you are therefore located neither in the world of this,
nor in the world of that,
nor in any place
betwixt the two.
This alone is the end of suffering.

Use it as your guideline for the next week.

In the seen only the seen, in the heard only the heard, means to become aware of the sense perception of seeing without any interpretation, not even the interpretation of a Buddha.


This sutta is not to be learnt. It is to be applied. I am looking forward to your discoveries.

Sending lots of love,
Ghata

P.S. An elderly relative died and I will be mostly off the Internet for the next week. Please keep posting daily what you find, I will answer as soon as possible.

[Tbarnes]

May the funeral go well, and celebration be found in their life.
Thank you for the straightforward and cutting words.
In the hearing there is only hearing.
In the seen only the seen
Thought is thought and no more
Sensation is sensation
Smelling there is only smell,
I am not reciting this for fun.
Turning to the experience of this, it is evident.

Analyses was slipping in and comparison as I felt the tension in this experience.

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

thank you, very well seen. :-)

Looking at the screen right now, what is seen?

Is there a seer and the seen or just seeing?

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

There is just a screen, light.just the seeing of this.

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

very goood :-)

When you are going through the day, please watch how reactions are coming up.

How are reactions generated, not theoretically but in first hand experience?

Are you trying to control them, if so, how? Does it work?

Please write lots, I take my questions from your answers, otherwise I do not know what to ask.

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

Sorry for the delay, it is a tough question. Trying to stay away from theorising.
I am struggling with what determines a reaction.
I would say that a reaction to stimulus comes in the form of a physical response, a physical reaction. A thing occurs and there is response, it can be a thought response or a bodily response. Usually bodily first and then the thoughts try to analyse a reaction.
They just seem to be generate, I can't see the process as such.
When something occurs, Say for instance my son is behaving difficult towards me, sometimes I just react based on my conditions, parental conditions or cultural. Sometimes there is reflection on the moment that has occurred and an engagement to react with the intention to improve the situation from a loving perspective, there is a rationalisation of what has already occurred.
I think judging by my reactions as I grow then yes I am exerting some influence over my reactions due engaging in my processes and reconditioning my mind.

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

very good :-)

I think judging by my reactions as I grow then yes I am exerting some influence over my reactions due engaging in my processes and reconditioning my mind.

Right, new informations lead to new conditionings. Do you have any influence on this conditioning, for example do you choose to engage with certain informations? How is the decision made "this is good" and "this is bad" for example?

Watch how it works, no need to think about it.

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

influence can be exerted on conditions. I feel however a kind of inevitability around much of life.
If I reaction causes harm (in whatever form) then there is reflection "can there be less harm". By bringing attention to a reaction can lead to changing it in the future. It is not a matter of good or bad, that's too polarised.
There is discomfort if a act or thought is brought to fruition that is not a skilful one. If I think of violence or stealing, there are unpleasant sensations. Being unkind,unskillful leads to unpleasant thoughts and pain.

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

I feel however a kind of inevitability around much of life. If I reaction causes harm (in whatever form) then there is reflection "can there be less harm". By bringing attention to a reaction can lead to changing it in the future. It is not a matter of good or bad, that's too polarised.There is discomfort if a act or thought is brought to fruition that is not a skilful one. If I think of violence or stealing, there are unpleasant sensations. Being unkind,unskillful leads to unpleasant thoughts and pain

Yes, there is inevitability in life. The discomfort that comes up when acting unskillfully is due to former conditioning and it will add to the conditioning.

influence can be exerted on conditions.

How can that be done and is there anything or anyone doing it? Give an example.

When you first engaged in Buddhism, did you have influence on the conditions of coming across Buddhism and feeling attracted to it?

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

Someone, a close friend invited me to work at a Buddhist charity. At the time it felt like a natural path to follow from the charity work I was doing. I don't recall influencing this, it just happened.. I certainly reflected after a short period of engagement and I feel that there was a decision to deepen my engagement and I asked to do so.
The more I consider whether I can exert influence, the more it feels like banging my head against a wall. There is no self to exert control. There is no decision to be found!
So there is no one or thing to exert control over conditions. This however leaves me feeling most confused.
I cannot change the current conditions, I can however create new ones ( it seems), how I do this I feel like I have no idea now! :)

[Ghata]

Hi Tom,

beautiful :-). You are doing very well.

The more I consider whether I can exert influence, the more it feels like banging my head against a wall. There is no self to exert control. There is no decision to be found!
So there is no one or thing to exert control over conditions.

Very well seen! There is no self to exert control and decision are not there either.

This however leaves me feeling most confused. I cannot change the current conditions, I can however create new ones ( it seems), how I do this I feel like I have no idea now! :)

Yes, this can feel confusing, compared to what you used to think is the case.

How do you create new conditions? When was a situation in your life when you created new conditions, how did that work?
And who or what did it?

Sending love,
Ghata

[Tbarnes]

I feel this is very much hard determinism, which is unsettling. anyway, you said it earlier that new information leads to new conditions. I can think of many times that by engaging with new information that life changed greatly. However there is not a someone who made that happen. For instance when I have done long silent retreats, and accessed deeper states, it feels as though some engineering is taking place on the mind/body. Some beneficial engineering. Also through reflection I feel that cognitive engineering can take place. This doesn't mean there is a self doing this. But there is the process of reflection.