What Every Meditator Should Know About Seeing Visions and Hearing Voices

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*nice article from Bill about visions and voices...this applies to sahaja yogis too...find your true essence I say,don't ask from some Mother to protect you...stop talking about god and asking god for favors,and start meditating and find out the god essence inside yourself,I say.

-added by danny-
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There are all sorts of various phenomena people can encounter on the spiritual trail.

Some people -- due to lots of meditation work -- can start to know future events.

Some people will see lights or visions or special forms in the light.

Some will even hear voices in their head.

These aren't supernatural occurrences. Rather, in most cases there's a scientific reason behind hearing or seeing things rather than a mystical or holy cause. In most instances, these occurrences are caused by your chi entering the tiny nadi (chi channels) in the vicinity of the ear, or they're caused by your chi trying to penetrate through the occipital region of the brain.

That's what usually causes you to hear sounds or see visions due to spiritual practice. These are common experiences that occur when the chi tries to pass though the difficult hind region of the skull, which is called the "jade pillow" in Tao school literature.

If you experience this sort of thing, you must be very careful not to misinterpret it and take it as something holy. As even the Christian contemplative Thomas Keating said,

External visions and voices can be misunderstood. Even saints have misunderstood what God has said to them. Divine communications of an intelligible kind have to be filtered through the human psyche and one's cultural conditioning. … Since one can never tell which percentage group a particular communication belongs to, if one follows these communications without discretion, one can get into all kinds of trouble. There is no guarantee that any particular communication to an individual is actually coming from God. -- Open Mind, Open Heart, Thomas Keating

The Zen school, commenting on this type of experience, always says simply to ignore it because it is all mara, or illusion anyway. Telling people to ignore this type of event serves a double purpose as well, for it's only by ignoring mental states -- meaning to refrain from clinging to them -- that you can pass through them and reach higher spiritual states of knowing.

Remember that the rule of spiritual practice is cultivating emptiness all the way. You cultivate emptiness of discriminative thought through detachment. Another way of saying it is that you cultivate emptiness through "contemplation," the practice of watching without clinging or involvement that can evolve into spiritual wisdom.

Definitely you must always edit whatever arises in your mind using your wisdom. After all, you don't act on every single thought or impulse that pops into your head, and "spiritual ones" should be treated no differently. When you have these sorts of occurrences it's best to remember the following mini-teaching on these matters,

If one has enough bodily strength and the chi ascends to the back of the head, one may notice darkness in front of the eyes when half asleep. Gradually a dreamlike state occurs, and images eventually appear. This happens because chi affects the nerves at the back of the head, which then affects the optic nerves. Many people have dream images accompanied by feelings of love and joy or sadness and dread. These images and feelings match subconscious functions which give rise to one's mental states, thoughts and concepts. States of Mara, or demonic delusion, may occur at this stage. These states depend upon one's wisdom, thought, personality, psychological propensities, and physiological condition. They are very complicated. Without the guidance of a very perceptive master, and in the absence of self-confidence, healthy intelligence, and correct thinking, a person may be led down the wrong road.

When a person understands this, he can ignore phenomena of this sort, knowing that light follows the darkness. After passing through this stage one feels somewhat more awake. Points of light, like a fluorescent star, may appear in front of your eyes, sparkling in different shapes and colors. These colors and lights are connected with your physiology and will be discussed later in more detail. ...

When chi reaches the back of the head, a person might hear wonderful inner sounds or experience ringing or pressure in his ears. This phenomenon is produced by chi working to open the chi route in the brain. The vibration or trembling of chi causes some brain wave activity. If one's intelligence is not clear and bright enough, then illusions deep inside the subconscious will result.

One who has deep religious beliefs may have illusions of hearing the voice of God or Buddha. Often the voice will speak of the past or future, and this a priori information may be quite correct, at least in small things. Thus, one might believe he has clairaudience. Whatever is heard is actually just a big assembly; it is a mixing of previous experience--what has been seen, heard, thought and known before. This kind of clairaudience could be used to predict small matters, but it will not work on big events at all. If one clings to the idea that these voices are real, he will fall into a state of Mara, or illusion. This shows that the mind is receptive to impressions but this is not a genuine instance of clairaudience. A person should not be puzzled or moved by this reaction. Instead, he should sometimes swallow the saliva and release the feelings in his head. This requires a strong mind and persistent will. By guiding the chi downward one will pass this stage and enter the next.

Ideally, one should use the Taoist's internal Kung Fu, employ the special body exercises and adjustments of yoga and esoteric Buddhism and have required medical treatments when necessary. -- Tao and Longevity, Nan Huai Chin

Consider the following: if all the great deities in every direction were to appear before you during your meditation or in regular life, what good would that be to you anyway? These guys can't make you enlightened, for you still have to do all your meditation work yourself. What can they ultimately do for you?

If you think they could save you, they would have done so already so seeing them is of no benefit. If they cannot save you, then all the work to be done in spiritual striving still rests squarely in your own hands.

Remember that fundamentally you are already saved anyway since you are already that fundamental enlightened nature. In fact, Christianity and Buddhism and all the other religions say you are already saved, but if that's the case then what is the point of spiritual efforts? It's work you have to do yourself to get to that state of realization.

It's work you have to do to realize the Tao, to understand the Tao, to see the Tao. Higher beings cannot give you that realization; it's your mind so you have to work hard to realize it yourself, and you can only experience it by freeing your mind of thoughts and sensations.

Hearing things in your head or seeing visions isn't the path to realizing your original nature, so those sorts of things are of no use. Milarepa, of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, even said so to his student Gampopa. Basically, these sorts of experiences all fall into the realm of samsara or illusion.

Thus we have the wonderful saying from the Zen school, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill the Buddha." This means you have to avoid clinging to thoughts and images -- even holy ones -- and avoid taking any of your experiential realms as the Supreme. If you give rise to a thought, even a holy one of the Buddha -- kill it or liberate it into emptiness. Don't hold onto it but let it go to regain that ultimate natural state which is the real nature of your mind. It's empty but able to give birth to reflective wisdom that sees without substance.

All these things that arise are just creations of the mind, projections of your original nature without any true essence in themselves. If an illusion arises in the mind, just "kill it" by letting it go and in that way you'll finally awaken.

Don't ever take what arises in your mind as a holy sacred. What you're really looking for in meditation practice is to realize that true fundamental essential nature of your own mind rather than all these other unusual phenomena--even though they may be wondrous mental states that rise to thrill you. Whatever arises that you cling to or worship is just another illusion ready to cheat you. These states don't arise with the specific intention to cheat you, but we cheat ourselves in taking them to be real.

Nana Mouskouri

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* Amazing grace from Nana Mouskouri..kisses
-added by danny-

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Issues Surrounding Talking about Enlightenment

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note*..interesting stuff this guy says,,If the teacher who claims enlightenment is basically into their own enlightenment, this usually is pretty obvious. This will tend to attract the most religious and least empowered practitioners who are looking for the guru/daddy/mommy/divine presence and usually repulses everyone else as they realize that these people are being treated like foolish children.,,..

However,Shri Mataji said ,,you are your own guru,,.
This don't explain why sahaja yoga has become a cult of personality of ,,Mother,,..but maybe the future generations reading this blog will solve this mistery...or maybe is the old indian conditioning of kissing the feet of the god,while refusing to become the god?..whom knows?..maybe..
-added by danny-
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There is a website called access to insight that I generally think is excellent. It provides one of the largest on-line English translation selection of the original texts as well as a huge amount of other useful information, including a section of questions and answers on Buddhism.

There is a section of it (click here) in which they answer a question about whether or not there are enlightened beings around today and how to know. I like most of the advice they give, but take some issue with the following advice found at the end of their (John Bullitt's) answer:

Finally, one rule of thumb that I've found helpful: someone who goes around claiming to be enlightened (or dropping hints to that effect) probably isn't—at least not in the sense the Buddha had in mind.

As one crusader for bringing things back down to earth, empowering everyone to aim high in their spiritual practice, and standing up against harmful taboos, I submit the following reply to that assertion:

I have a great deal of experience with people who have had to wrestle with this question from both sides of it, meaning that I know lots of people looking for enlightened beings, and I know lots of living enlightened beings wondering about how in the world to talk about it in ways that are skillful. I have also been lucky enough to hear both groups' candid opinions on these issues. I also have some knowledge of the examples from the old texts of the various strains of Buddhism that give examples of enlightened beings handling it in various ways. I will address the later two:

Examples of people actively claiming enlightenment include:

1. The Buddha, who was forever talking about how enlightened he was. Sutta after sutta, story after story, he makes explicit claims about his efforts, deeds, abilities and understanding that are of the grandest and most explicit nature. So do large numbers of other Buddhas, Boddhisattvas, Dakinis and hangers-on. The very word "Buddha" means "Awakened One."
2. Many of the early Sangha: Sariputta and many of the others were explicitly known as being enlightened to various degrees, having powers, etc.
3. Loads of Buddhist practitioners since then, including basically every lineage master explicitly or implicitly (the very concept depends explicitly on there being transmission of real ultimate wisdom from teacher to student), and numerous authors (e.g. The Vimuttimagga by The Arahat Upatissa). Many of the titles people receive in the past and today have explicit stages of awakening inherently implied in them, and basically all lineages have some requirement for minimum levels of attainment to be allowed by those lineages to teach (e.g. second path in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, at least Third Path (First Bodhisattva Bhumi and beyond) in the Tibetan Five Path System for teaching tantric empowerments, etc.).
4. Large numbers of modern dharma teachers, including a good number who teach at IMS and related centers, as well as plenty of the living Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan masters, routinely give hints, and occasionally outright claims to enlightenment above and beyond the unambiguous implications of their titles, fancy hats, robes, seats on the front cushion, and lineage status. If you are curious, I will be happy to provide scads of examples that I have witnessed myself.

Examples of people not claiming it who are:

1. Hard to be sure, obviously, but the Buddhist texts are not always kind to these, such as the "silent Buddhas" who are criticized in the Mahayana literature for failing to share their much-needed wisdom (see the standard lists of ways bodhisattvas fail). Or take the Buddha's admonition that the arahats not go two together so that there would not be one silent while the other spoke the dharma.
   
   If one has known for one's self wondrous understandings, abilities or attainments, their direct personal and societal benefits, the reproducible means to attain them, the pitfalls, perils, and side-tracks of those practices and how to avoid them because one has done this for one's self, it is extremely natural for compassion and the wish to share these things to arise, and this is well-documented and attested to. That compassionate wish to share these things having arisen, it is natural to face the question of how to frame those understandings, options including:
2. Not claiming any understanding and thus teaching on the blatently deceptive pretense that one is merely teaching those things attained in the past or by others (perhaps one's teachers or guru(s)), thus playing one's actual understandings as merely points of dogma or heresay, thereby undermining one's authority to teach in trade for some sort of polite attempt at "modesty", or putting students in the complex position of trying to figure out if one is lying for their benefit, if it could be called benefit. Possible benefits involve hopefully avoiding the massive amount of projection, role confusion, temptation to abuse confused students, cults of personality, disbelief, inevitable disappointment, and other craziness, doubt, and possibly professional issues that arises whenever people falsely or correctly claim levels of realization, concentration practice ability or powers. Downsides to this approach include reinforcing the common belief that these things are not attained today (as is implicit in the question above), or are only attained by very rare beings or those with huge amounts of retreat time (say 20 years in a cave). Further, students may think they are sitting with someone who is merely reciting the dogma, when even cursory examination of the dogma says that one should seek out a qualified teacher (i.e. an enlightened teacher) if at all possible. All of those are clearly absurd and disempowering to students who are then likely to underestimate their own potential to tap into their inherent wisdom.
3. Claiming enlightenment by hints or explicitly (perhaps stating level of attainment as well). Downsides include:
   1. Possibly being wrong about enlightenment or level of attainment: a common mistake, particularly for those who have crossed the Arising and Passing Away or entered into the formless realms. Also, those in the in-between paths, particularly anagmis, can be easily fooled into thinking they are arahats. Those using other models (Tibetan Five Path, Bodhisattva Bhumis, Trees of Life, Rungs of the Ladders of Love, etc.) face similar issues. People are then stuck in either apologizing and facing all the badness that comes from that or getting stuck in the role when they are not up to it.
   2. Having to face all the projection, etc. noted above. This can be particularly bad if they have some other job, particularly one that involves non-dharma people, such as a professional job (e.g. the lawyer, doctor, psychologist, accountant, architect, etc. who works in a normal worldly capacity also claims enlightenment is blatantly asking for badness, ridicule, etc.).
   3. Having to either:
      1. expose people to the inevitable conflict between the realities of human enlightenment and both the standard craziness of the old texts on what emotions enlightenment eliminates as well as modern people's projections and absurd ideals about what enlightened beings must be/feel/say/do/perceive, or
      2. put on some fantastic saintly front to play to these bizarre ideals and face the burden, danger and trap of the massive shadow-side that inevitably follows.

Benefits include (assuming one didn't blow it and claim enlightenment when not actually enlightened):

1. Conveying the accurate and very empowering sense that these things are done today, by regular imperfect people, with available techniques and not absurd amounts of retreat/practice time, and thus that they could do this also.
2. Granting the (hopefully) appropriate level authority to one's guidance and thus increasing the confidence of one's students.
3. Not having to break the precept against lying by playing the exceedingly neurotic "I didn't actually maybe do this sort of, hint, hint, wink, wink" game.
4. Following the example of countless enlightened beings before.
5. Creating the continued sense of lineage and direct transmission of living dharma that is relevant to today.
6. Normalizing and shining the clear light of reality on something that desperately needs normalizing and bringing back down to Earth.
7. The feeling of accomplishment that comes when one begins to bravely face the projections, stand up against the absurd emotion-denying dogma, and says that enlightenment is actually about understanding honestly the full real-world implications of this human birth.
8. Getting the understandably rewarding recognition for an accomplishment that is truly worthy of praise, recognition, and, perhaps, dare I say it, celebration.

It needs to be the acknowledgment that throughout the ages psychopaths and cons have routinely claimed enlightenment when they weren't for all sorts of basically evil and deluded reasons, and massive badness, theft, exploitation, and death has resulted from this, but that does not contradict the points I mention above at all. It does, however, require careful vigilance, as well as holding those who claim enlightenment to the exact same basic and perennial moral codes that everyone should be held to. I refer you to the excellent book by William (Bill) Hamilton called Saints and Psychopaths for more useful discussion of this and the above topics. I agree wholeheartedly with the advice given in the answer to the question about watching people for long periods of time before making up one's mind and the cautions about watching one's own delusions and defilements.

A few more thoughts:

1. If the teacher who claims enlightenment is basically into their own enlightenment, this usually is pretty obvious. This will tend to attract the most religious and least empowered practitioners who are looking for the guru/daddy/mommy/divine presence and usually repulses everyone else as they realize that these people are being treated like foolish children.
2. If the teacher makes hints of enlightenment (by being an abbot of some monastery, teaching but not answering the question), this will tend to attract people who are not quite so devotionally religious, but still rather into the hierarchy, religion, worship, scene, and sort of into the practice, though starting to grow up, but usually don't really expect to get far and probably still have some unrealistic expectations and disempowering projections about the whole enlightenment thing. It will also tend to disappoint realists and serious practitioners who, instead, like things being clear, open, down-to-earth and balanced, as they don't like being treated as if the dharma is PG-13 and can only be discussed as it actually is between adults (monks/gurus/senior teacher list/etc.).
3. If the teacher says, "Hey, I'm just some ordinary person who with good technique and good effort realized exactly the same thing you yourself can realize by the same or similar methods, and this is how it is done so that you can do it," that tends to have a very different feel, is certainly not inappropriate. It will tend to attract pragmatic and real-world practitioners who are just into going for it without any concern for the rest of the trappings, mystery, aura, i.e. practitioners who like being treated like the capable adults they are. It will also disturb the those like adolescents who prefer the cushion of the second way that allows them to dip their toes in the water without having to learn to swim and scare off those like children who really just want a guru to tell them how to live and magically save them. The texts have plenty of examples of even complete morons who through enough good practice got all kinds of enlightened, and I still prefer this view and model to the others as it seems the most healthy and sane, but to each his own.

In short, the basic sentiment, which I have heard oft repeated and appears on that fine site, that those who claim enlightenment can't be, is patently absurd and clearly not in keeping with any of the Buddhist traditions I know of, not substantiated by the texts, not part of the practices of the lineages we all respect, not part of the legends, and not what happens today, as well as being one more thing that gets in the way of those who are brave enough to face all the difficulties that come from saying one is enlightened and teaching from that place.

Again, I hope that people develop into the spiritual adults they are capable of being and that conversations around awakening become freed from foolish taboos. These are my thoughts as they come to me this afternoon. I hope you have found them useful.

The Tiger Swami

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* I was amazed how that swami fought the tiger....but the problem is I fought 2 woulf dogs(I jumped the fence and faced them..because they were barking at me,while I was just passing by...took me 3 punches,and 12 kicks..) one large bear(whom stole my food while I was camping into the woods.....that fight was ugly...because I really didn't want to hurt the bear,I just wanted to intimidate him..however I have managed to punch him right in the balls while screaming,,Let go of my neck,you over-muscled animal!!..then he retreated,in shame.
I also have had many fights with humans,but those don't count...since most are animals,but they do NOT know it.
by Paramhansa Yogananda,Autobiography of a Yogi
-added by danny-
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I have discovered the Tiger Swami's address. Let us visit him tomorrow."

This welcome suggestion came from Chandi, one of my high school friends. I was eager to meet the saint who, in his premonastic life, had caught and fought tigers with his naked hands. A boyish enthusiasm over such remarkable feats was strong within me.

The next day dawned wintry cold, but Chandi and I sallied forth gaily. After much vain hunting in Bhowanipur, outside Calcutta, we arrived at the right house. The door held two iron rings, which I sounded piercingly. Notwithstanding the clamor, a servant approached with leisurely gait. His ironical smile implied that visitors, despite their noise, were powerless to disturb the calmness of a saint's home.

Feeling the silent rebuke, my companion and I were thankful to be invited into the parlor. Our long wait there caused uncomfortable misgivings. India's unwritten law for the truth seeker is patience; a master may purposely make a test of one's eagerness to meet him. This psychological ruse is freely employed in the West by doctors and dentists!

Finally summoned by the servant, Chandi and I entered a sleeping apartment. The famous Sohong¹ Swami was seated on his bed. The sight of his tremendous body affected us strangely. With bulging eyes, we stood speechless. We had never before seen such a chest or such football-like biceps. On an immense neck, the swami's fierce yet calm face was adorned with flowing locks, beard and moustache. A hint of dovelike and tigerlike qualities shone in his dark eyes. He was unclothed, save for a tiger skin about his muscular waist.

Finding our voices, my friend and I greeted the monk, expressing our admiration for his prowess in the extraordinary feline arena.

"Will you not tell us, please, how it is possible to subdue with bare fists the most ferocious of jungle beasts, the royal Bengals?"

"My sons, it is nothing to me to fight tigers. I could do it today if necessary." He gave a childlike laugh. "You look upon tigers as tigers; I know them as pussycats."

"Swamiji, I think I could impress my subconsciousness with the thought that tigers are pussycats, but could I make tigers believe it?"

"Of course strength also is necessary! One cannot expect victory from a baby who imagines a tiger to be a house cat! Powerful hands are my sufficient weapon."

He asked us to follow him to the patio, where he struck the edge of a wall. A brick crashed to the floor; the sky peered boldly through the gaping lost tooth of the wall. I fairly staggered in astonishment; he who can remove mortared bricks from a solid wall with one blow, I thought, must surely be able to displace the teeth of tigers!

"A number of men have physical power such as mine, but still lack in cool confidence. Those who are bodily but not mentally stalwart may find themselves fainting at mere sight of a wild beast bounding freely in the jungle. The tiger in its natural ferocity and habitat is vastly different from the opium-fed circus animal!

"Many a man with herculean strength has nonetheless been terrorized into abject helplessness before the onslaught of a royal Bengal. Thus the tiger has converted the man, in his own mind, to a state as nerveless as the pussycat's. It is possible for a man, owning a fairly strong body and an immensely strong determination, to turn the tables on the tiger, and force it to a conviction of pussycat defenselessness. How often I have done just that!"

I was quite willing to believe that the titan before me was able to perform the tiger-pussycat metamorphosis. He seemed in a didactic mood; Chandi and I listened respectfully.

"Mind is the wielder of muscles. The force of a hammer blow depends on the energy applied; the power expressed by a man's bodily instrument depends on his aggressive will and courage. The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind. Through pressure of instincts from past lives, strengths or weaknesses percolate gradually into human consciousness. They express as habits, which in turn ossify into a desirable or an undesirable body. Outward frailty has mental origin; in a vicious circle, the habit-bound body thwarts the mind. If the master allows himself to be commanded by a servant, the latter becomes autocratic; the mind is similarly enslaved by submitting to bodily dictation."

At our entreaty, the impressive swami consented to tell us something of his own life.

"My earliest ambition was to fight tigers. My will was mighty, but my body was feeble."

An ejaculation of surprise broke from me. It appeared incredible that this man, now "with Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear," could ever have known weakness.

"It was by indomitable persistency in thoughts of health and strength that I overcame my handicap. I have every reason to extol the compelling mental vigor which I found to be the real subduer of royal Bengals."

"Do you think, revered swami, that I could ever fight tigers?" This was the first, and the last, time that the bizarre ambition ever visited my mind!

"Yes." He was smiling. "But there are many kinds of tigers; some roam in jungles of human desires. No spiritual benefit accrues by knocking beasts unconscious. Rather be victor over the inner prowlers."

"May we hear, sir, how you changed from a tamer of wild tigers to a tamer of wild passions?"

The Tiger Swami fell into silence. Remoteness came into his gaze, summoning visions of bygone years. I discerned his slight mental struggle to decide whether to grant my request. Finally he smiled in acquiescence.

"When my fame reached a zenith, it brought the intoxication of pride. I decided not only to fight tigers but to display them in various tricks. My ambition was to force savage beasts to behave like domesticated ones. I began to perform my feats publicly, with gratifying success.

"One evening my father entered my room in pensive mood.

"'Son, I have words of warning. I would save you from coming ills, produced by the grinding wheels of cause and effect.'

"'Are you a fatalist, Father? Should superstition be allowed to discolor the powerful waters or my activities?'

"'I am no fatalist, son. But I believe in the just law of retribution, as taught in the holy scriptures. There is resentment against you in the jungle family; sometime it may act to your cost.'

"'Father, you astonish me! You well know what tigers are-beautiful but merciless! Even immediately after an enormous meal of some hapless creature, a tiger is fired with fresh lust at sight of new prey. It may be a joyous gazelle, frisking over the jungle grass. Capturing it and biting an opening in the soft throat, the malevolent beast tastes only a little of the mutely crying blood, and goes its wanton way.

"'Tigers are the most contemptible of the jungle breed! Who knows? my blows may inject some slight sanity of consideration into their thick heads. I am headmaster in a forest finishing school, to teach them gentle manners!

"'Please, Father, think of me as tiger tamer and never as tiger killer. How could my good actions bring ill upon me? I beg you not to impose any command that I change my way of life.'"

Chandi and I were all attention, understanding the past dilemma. In India a child does not lightly disobey his parents' wishes.

"In stoic silence Father listened to my explanation. He followed it with a disclosure which he uttered gravely.

"'Son, you compel me to relate an ominous prediction from the lips of a saint. He approached me yesterday as I sat on the veranda in my daily meditation.

"'"Dear friend, I come with a message for your belligerent son. Let him cease his savage activities. Otherwise, his next tiger-encounter shall result in his severe wounds, followed by six months of deathly sickness. He shall then forsake his former ways and become a monk."'

"This tale did not impress me. I considered that Father had been the credulous victim of a deluded fanatic."

The Tiger Swami made this confession with an impatient gesture, as though at some stupidity. Grimly silent for a long time, he seemed oblivious of our presence. When he took up the dangling thread of his narrative, it was suddenly, with subdued voice.

"Not long after Father's warning, I visited the capital city of Cooch Behar. The picturesque territory was new to me, and I expected a restful change. As usual everywhere, a curious crowd followed me on the streets. I would catch bits of whispered comment:

"'This is the man who fights wild tigers.'

"'Has he legs, or tree-trunks?'

"'Look at his face! He must be an incarnation of the king of tigers himself!'

"You know how village urchins function like final editions of a newspaper! With what speed do the even-later speech-bulletins of the women circulate from house to house! Within a few hours, the whole city was in a state of excitement over my presence.

"I was relaxing quietly in the evening, when I heard the hoofbeats of galloping horses. They stopped in front of my dwelling place. In came a number of tall, turbaned policemen.

"I was taken aback. 'All things are possible unto these creatures of human law,' I thought. 'I wonder if they are going to take me to task about matters utterly unknown to me.' But the officers bowed with unwonted courtesy.

"'Honored Sir, we are sent to welcome you on behalf of the Prince of Cooch Behar. He is pleased to invite you to his palace tomorrow morning.'

"I speculated awhile on the prospect. For some obscure reason I felt sharp regret at this interruption in my quiet trip. But the suppliant manner of the policemen moved me; I agreed to go.

"I was bewildered the next day to be obsequiously escorted from my door into a magnificent coach drawn by four horses. A servant held an ornate umbrella to protect me from the scorching sunlight. I enjoyed the pleasant ride through the city and its woodland outskirts. The royal scion himself was at the palace door to welcome me. He proffered his own gold-brocaded seat, smilingly placing himself in a chair of simpler design.

"'All this politeness is certainly going to cost me something!' I thought in mounting astonishment. The prince's motive emerged after a few casual remarks.

"'My city is filled with the rumor that you can fight wild tigers with nothing more than your naked hands. Is it a fact?'

"'It is quite true.'

"'I can scarcely believe it! You are a Calcutta Bengali, nurtured on the white rice of city folk. Be frank, please; have you not been fighting only spineless, opium-fed animals?' His voice was loud and sarcastic, tinged with provincial accent.

"I vouchsafed no reply to his insulting question.

"'I challenge you to fight my newly-caught tiger, Raja Begum.² If you can successfully resist him, bind him with a chain, and leave his cage in a conscious state, you shall have this royal Bengal! Several thousand rupees and many other gifts shall also be bestowed. If you refuse to meet him in combat, I shall blazon your name throughout the state as an impostor!'

"His insolent words struck me like a volley of bullets. I shot an angry acceptance. Half risen from the chair in his excitement, the prince sank back with a sadistic smile. I was reminded of the Roman emperors who delighted in setting Christians in bestial arenas.

"'The match will be set for a week hence. I regret that I cannot give you permission to view the tiger in advance.'

"Whether the prince feared I might seek to hypnotize the beast, or secretly feed him opium, I know not!

"I left the palace, noting with amusement that the royal umbrella and panoplied coach were now missing.

"The following week I methodically prepared my mind and body for the coming ordeal. Through my servant I learned of fantastic tales. The saint's direful prediction to my father had somehow got abroad, enlarging as it ran. Many simple villagers believed that an evil spirit, cursed by the gods, had reincarnated as a tiger which took various demoniac forms at night, but remained a striped animal during the day. This demon-tiger was supposed to be the one sent to humble me.

"Another imaginative version was that animal prayers to Tiger Heaven had achieved a response in the shape of Raja Begum. He was to be the instrument to punish me-the audacious biped, so insulting to the entire tiger species! A furless, fangless man daring to challenge a claw-armed, sturdy-limbed tiger! The concentrated venom of all humiliated tigers-the villagers declared-had gathered momentum sufficient to operate hidden laws and bring about the fall of the proud tiger tamer.

"My servant further apprized me that the prince was in his element as manager of the bout between man and beast. He had supervised the erection of a storm-proof pavilion, designed to accommodate thousands. Its center held Raja Begum in an enormous iron cage, surrounded by an outer safety room. The captive emitted a ceaseless series of blood-curdling roars. He was fed sparingly, to kindle a wrathful appetite. Perhaps the prince expected me to be the meal of reward!

"Crowds from the city and suburbs bought tickets eagerly in response to the beat of drums announcing the unique contest. The day of battle saw hundreds turned away for lack of seats. Many men broke through the tent openings, or crowded any space below the galleries."

As the Tiger Swami's story approached a climax, my excitement mounted with it; Chandi also was raptly mute.

"Amidst piercing sound-explosions from Raja Begum, and the hubbub of the somewhat terrified crowd, I quietly made my appearance. Scantily clad around the waist, I was otherwise unprotected by clothing. I opened the bolt on the door of the safety room and calmly locked it behind me. The tiger sensed blood. Leaping with a thunderous crash on his bars, he sent forth a fearsome welcome. The audience was hushed with pitiful fear; I seemed a meek lamb before the raging beast.

"In a trice I was within the cage; but as I slammed the door, Raja Begum was headlong upon me. My right hand was desperately torn. Human blood, the greatest treat a tiger can know, fell in appalling streams. The prophecy of the saint seemed about to be fulfilled.

"I rallied instantly from the shock of the first serious injury I had ever received. Banishing the sight of my gory fingers by thrusting them beneath my waist cloth, I swung my left arm in a bone-cracking blow. The beast reeled back, swirled around the rear of the cage, and sprang forward convulsively. My famous fistic punishment rained on his head.

"But Raja Begum's taste of blood had acted like the maddening first sip of wine to a dipsomaniac long-deprived. Punctuated by deafening roar, the brute's assaults grew in fury. My inadequate defense of only one hand left me vulnerable before claws and fangs. But I dealt out dazing retribution. Mutually ensanguined, we struggled as to the death. The cage was pandemonium, as blood splashed in all directions, and blasts of pain and lethal lust came from the bestial throat.

"'Shoot him!' 'Kill the tiger!' Shrieks arose from the audience. So fast did man and beast move, that a guard's bullet went amiss. I mustered all my will force, bellowed fiercely, and landed a final concussive blow. The tiger collapsed and lay quietly.

"Like a pussycat!" I interjected.

The swami laughed in hearty appreciation, then continued the engrossing tale.

"Raja Begum was vanquished at last. His royal pride was further humbled: with my lacerated hands, I audaciously forced open his jaws. For a dramatic moment, I held my head within the yawning deathtrap. I looked around for a chain. Pulling one from a pile on the floor, I bound the tiger by his neck to the cage bars. In triumph I moved toward the door.

"But that fiend incarnate, Raja Begum, had stamina worthy of his supposed demoniac origin. With an incredible lunge, he snapped the chain and leaped on my back. My shoulder fast in his jaws, I fell violently. But in a trice I had him pinned beneath me. Under merciless blows, the treacherous animal sank into semiconsciousness. This time I secured him more carefully. Slowly I left the cage.

"I found myself in a new uproar, this time one of delight. The crowd's cheer broke as though from a single gigantic throat. Disastrously mauled, I had yet fulfilled the three conditions of the fight-stunning the tiger, binding him with a chain, and leaving him without requiring assistance for myself. In addition, I had so drastically injured and frightened the aggressive beast that he had been content to overlook the opportune prize of my head in his mouth!

"After my wounds were treated, I was honored and garlanded; hundreds of gold pieces showered at my feet. The whole city entered a holiday period. Endless discussions were heard on all sides about my victory over one of the largest and most savage tigers ever seen. Raja Begum was presented to me, as promised, but I felt no elation. A spiritual change had entered my heart. It seemed that with my final exit from the cage I had also closed the door on my worldly ambitions.

"A woeful period followed. For six months I lay near death from blood poisoning. As soon as I was well enough to leave Cooch Behar, I returned to my native town.

"'I know now that my teacher is the holy man who gave the wise warning.' I humbly made this confession to my father. 'Oh, if I could only find him!' My longing was sincere, for one day the saint arrived unheralded.

"'Enough of tiger taming.' He spoke with calm assurance. 'Come with me; I will teach you to subdue the beasts of ignorance roaming in jungles of the human mind. You are used to an audience: let it be a galaxy of angels, entertained by your thrilling mastery of yoga!'

"I was initiated into the spiritual path by my saintly guru. He opened my soul-doors, rusty and resistant with long disuse. Hand in hand, we soon set out for my training in the Himalayas."

Chandi and I bowed at the swami's feet, grateful for his vivid outline of a life truly cyclonic. I felt amply repaid for the long probationary wait in the cold parlor!

Happy new year!

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* be my babyyyyy ..kisses:)..and happy new year...LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!!
-added by danny-
...................................

................................

For my beloved

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

* I am expert in clasical music...I can refrain something from anyone...but I dedicate this to my beloved..for Elize,from Beethoven....yes, Ludwig Van Beethoven....I post also Mozard's Piano Concerto number 21(or 22?..not sure) ... now,one of this 2 guys was realized..you guess whom...kisses(I know whom)=added by danny-
/...................

Cotton eyed Danny:)

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note....the cotton eyed joe dance.....lol

If it had't been for Cotton Eye Danny
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from where did you go
Where did you come from Cotton Eye Danny

He came to town like a midwinter storm
he rode through the fields so handsome and strong
his eyes was his tools and his smile was a gun
but all he had come for was having some fun....

He brought disaster wherever he went
the hearts of the girls was to hell broken sent
they all ran away so nobody would know
and left only men cause of Cotton Eyed Danny

-added by danny-

....................

A Celtic harp

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* This is a poem from Anna Ruiz...it's beautiful.
-added by danny-
......................

http://kriptodanny.blogspot.com/2008/12/arrival.html#links
A Celtic harp
Played
I never said goodbye
You never said hello

We were pages,
Torn and yellowing,
Wild and broken-hearted
Gorillas dancing in the mist

Violet and lotus blossoms,
Opening,
You never said goodbye
I never said hello ...
http://kriptodanny.blogspot.com/2008/12/arrival.html#links

Arrival

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* this is the only song of ABBA with no words...listen to it..it's called .arrival.
-added by danny-
......................................

Enjoy yourself to the fullest, wherever you are;)

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* interesting story from Nasruddin about how to enjoy yourself...wherever you are,that's it.
-added by danny-
............................................

Good day! My name is Nasruddin. I was born in Amritsar in the Punjab, in India. Or...it was so long ago... it may have been in Cairo, in Egypt. In fact, I think it was Newark, New Jersey, though my uncle claims it was Turkey, and my birth certificate says Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan.

Anyway, I was born, and I stand here as proof. I would like to tell you about the time I went to see my friend Tekka. I met Tekka when he was a young man, but that is another story altogether. So I was here, and Tekka was in his home village, and all that lay between us was a desert and a jungle.

The desert was easy. Twelve days under the burning sun...no sweat. Well, not exactly, but to return to the story, I came to the jungle. If you have ever seen a jungle, you know that it is big, and dark, and very green. The trees are tall, the bushes are thick, and there are lots of little animals moving about, making you think they are big animals!

Well, the path was narrow, and the jungle on either side was thick and noisy, and closed over the path in a way that made me a little nervous. But I love my friend Tekka, so I said to myself, "Nasruddin, you are a stalwart soul, and you must go through this jungle in order to see Tekka. Just think of it as taking a walk through the jungle!" I tried to argue with myself, but it was no use. I had to go.

So I started off through the jungle, and the path was not so bad when my eyes got used to the gloom. I was walking happily along, when I heard a noise behind me: "hhahh... hhahh... hhahh." I looked over my shoulder, and saw, to my surprise, a tiger was also taking a walk through the jungle!

"Ah," I said to myself, which was the best I could do in the circumstances. Then I had a thought, which was fortunate. "It is never too late to begin an exercise regimen. Why not start with jogging, for your health, that is." I agreed, and began at once. There I was, jogging through the jungle, enjoying what remained to me of my health, when I heard a sound behind me: "hhahh...hhahh...hhahh." I looked over my shoulder, and – what do you know!– the tiger had also taken up jogging! Although I think the tiger was less interested in excersise, and more interested in nutrition!

Due to the beneficial effects of exercise, my brain was functioning more efficiently. "If you can jog, surely you can run," I told myself. "Why not try for a world record?" It's amazing how quickly you can come to an agreement with yourself. I began immediately to see if I could set a new world record for land speed running. I tore through that jungle as if the path were a highway.

I am certain a world record was within my grasp, if only a judge with a stopwatch had been there. And when I heard a familiar sound behind me, which I probably don't have to explain sounded like "hhahh-hhahh-hhahh," I didn't even have to stop and look to know the tiger was also bent on setting a world record.

So there we were, the two athletes running like the wind through the jungle! It was thrilling! It was exciting! It was terrifying! Suddenly, there was no jungle!

There was no path either, only the blue sky, and a cliff, and me, Nasruddin, falling down it. I said to myself, "Aaauughh!!" but it did no good. So I grabbed onto a bush.

(Did you ever notice, every single time you fall down a cliff, there's a bush to grab onto. Check it out for yourself!)

So I grabbed this bush, and held on for dear life. I clung to it with all my strength, which I needed, because there was the tiger looking down at me, saying "hhahh...hhahh...hhahh." "Don't you know any other words?" I said. Apparently not, because the tiger continued to say the same thing over and over. I looked desperately about me for a way out, and could find none. Then I noticed the roots of the bush begin to pull out of the cliff, one by one.

"Nasruddin," I said, and I have a little song I sing to myself when I am in trouble, which seems to be more and more often these days, "Nasruddin, you have been/ in better sit-u-a-tions." It's a nice little song, very comforting. It certainly helped at that moment.

Then I heard a sound behind and below me that sounded strangely familiar: "hhahh...hhahh...hhahh."

"Wait!" I said to myself, "I thought I left that sound safely up above!" I looked down, and saw that the bad always comes with the good. Why is that, do you think? The good was that the cliff was not very high, and I would not be hurt if I fell. The bad was the other tiger standing below me, looking up!

There I was, hanging on the face of a cliff from a bush whose roots were pulling out, with a tiger above me and a tiger below me. I thought it was a good moment for my little song, so I sang again, "Nasruddin, you have been/ in better sit-u-a-tions." It had its effect – my head was clear, and I cast about desperately for a way out of my predicament. I assure you I didn't think of the word predicament at the time.

I looked on both sides, and suddenly spied a little green bush, with a single red berry. It was a wild strawberry! Now, my philosophy is always to enjoy yourself to the fullest, wherever you are. So I got a good grip with my toes, which are considerable, and held the bush with one hand, and reached out, risking all, and picked that strawberry.

And did I eat it? Oh, yes, my beloveds, I did. And I am here to tell you that if you are hanging on a cliff from a bush that is pulling out by the roots, and there is a tiger above you and a tiger below you, and you find a strawberry and you eat it, that will be the sweetest strawberry the world has ever known!

* * *

But wait...what about the tigers, and the cliff? How am I here to tell the tale? Well, here it is: they were nearsighted tigers, and when they got a close look at me, they lost their appetites.

Funny karate

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* funny karate clips...hahahaha!!!!..reminds me of the ego trying hard to get enlightened...haahahaha
-added by danny-
.................................

Dream,dream...

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* beautiful song from Everly Brothers...read again the words,,I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away
,,

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I'm dreamin' my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
-added by danny-
..................

Are you completely out of your mind?

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*nice essay about the problem with ,,using the mind to get over the mind,,...this is an organic process,folks..this enlightenment stuff...same applies to asking,,whom I am,,..see if it gets you somewhere.The author on the link above (Daniel Ingram)explains well.Read it and let those wisdom muscles grow.!!!
-added by danny-
..................................................
There was a guy on a blogsite to which I sometimes post who kept inserting comments in our discussion such as you can not become what you already are, awakening is not about more knowledge but instead about less knowledge, and that awakening happens regardless of study and meditation. I have encountered this vile point of view and its variants before, and so replied as follows, in slightly edited form:

Dear [delusional view-poster],

Somehow I just cannot resist countering your point of view with every bit of rhetorical force I have despite the fact that I am afraid the number who listen will be few.

Here is a detailed analysis of what is wrong with that perspective on a number of fronts:

The notion that you cannot become what you already are implies a whole host of conceptual problems that I will claim do not lead to much that is good that cannot be attained by conceptual frameworks that are not so problematic. Here is a list of the problems:

1) This notion encourages people to not practice. You can say what you like, but again and again I see people who subscribe to this and similar notions resting on their cleverness and grand posteriors and not actually getting it in the same way that my accomplished meditator friends get it. It seems so comforting, this notion that you are already something that you, in fact, are not. This brings us to the question of what you are and are not.

2) This notion solidifies a True Self teaching almost by definition. From any cursory analysis, what we are from an insight point of view is an extrapolation of continuity from a pattern of utterly fresh, transient, ephemeral, causal sensations. Anything added to this is extraneous from an insight point of view. Try as people might, a True Self in an experiential sense cannot be found. Thus, the notion that people already are something begs the question: What are they? It tends to imply that they are already something such as perfect, enlightened, realized, awakened, or something even worse such as Awareness, Cosmic Consciousness, The Atman, an aspect of The Divine, etc. all of which cannot actually be found. While Buddhism does sometimes go there, such as using terms such as Dharmakaya and Buddha Nature, these are very slippery, high concepts that were added later and require a ton of explanation and practice experience to keep them from becoming the monsters they nearly always become in less experienced hands.

3) Awakening involves clearly perceiving universal characteristics of phenomena. While one can attempt to rest comfortably in the notion that as these universal characteristics are there anyway, the whole, core, essential, root point of all this is that there is something to be gained by becoming one of the people that can actually directly perceive this clearly enough to fundamentally change the way reality is perceived in real-time. The straight truth is that the vast majority of people do not start out being able to do this at all. The notion that everyone already is someone who can perceive reality this way without effort in real-time is a fantastic falsehood, lie, untruth, and in short, one great load of apathy-creating bullshit. Said another say, your notion, namely that one cannot become one of the people who can perceive this because everyone already is a clear perceiver of highest caliber, is a profound delusion and simply does not hold up to reality testing.

If one goes around asking people without very good insight into these things, i.e. the unenlightened, about basic dharma points, points that are obvious to those who have learned to pay attention well, one does not find that everyone already is a person who is perceiving things at the level that makes the difference the dharma promises. Further, even those of lower levels of enlightenment generally have a hard time saying they really are able to perceive the emptiness, luminosity, selflessness, causality, transience, ephemerality, etc. of reality in real-time at all times without having to really do anything. In short, your notion that this is as easy as just being what you already are is wildly off the mark, as the vast majority of people are woefully underdeveloped on the perceptual front in question.

Thus, all reality testing reveals that your notion is missing a very fundamental point: while the universal characteristics are always manifesting in all things and at all times, there are those that can perceive this well and those that cannot, and meditative training, conceptual frameworks, techniques, teachers, texts, discussions and the like can all contribute to developing the internal skills and wiring to be able to fully realize what is possible, as thousands of practitioners throughout the ages have noticed.

I have no idea where you are getting this bizarre notion, except that perhaps you are reading The Power of Now, following Adiashanti, or some other tradition that for reasons completely beyond me assumes that everyone already has the powers of perception of the rarest perceptual superstars.

I myself have known before and after, meaning that I know what I was capable of perceiving and understanding before I underwent meditative training and after, and no amount of being fed the concept that I was already as developed as I could be, was already enlightened, was already there, had nothing to do, nothing to develop, was already as clear as I could be, was already perfectly awake, etc. was going to make the difference that the thousands of hours over years of increasing my ability to perceive things clearly did.

It would be like saying: you are already a concert pianist, you just have to realize it, or you already are a nuclear physicist, you just have to realize it, or you already speak every language, you just have to realize it.

It would be like saying to a two-year old: you already understand everything you need to know so stop learning new things now, or to a severe paranoid schizophrenic: you already are as sane as anyone and do not need to take your meds and should just follow the voices that tell you to kill people, or to a person with heart disease: just keep smoking and eating twinkies and you will be healthy, or to an illiterate person with no math skills who keeps having a hard time navigating in the modern world and is constantly disempowered and ripped off: no need to learn to read and do math, as you are just fine as you are, or saying to a greedy, corrupt, corporate-raiding, white-collar criminal, Fascist, alcoholic wife-beater: hey, Dude, you are a like, beautiful perfect flower of the Now Moment, already enlightened [insert toke here], you are doing and not-doing just fine, like wow, so keep up the good work, Man.

Would you let a blind and partially paralyzed untrained stroke victim perform open-heart surgery on your child based on the notion that they already are an accomplished surgeon but just have to realize it? Would you follow the dharma teachings of people who feed other people this kind of crap? In short, are you completely out of your mind?

Those who imagine that everyone somehow in their development already became as clear and perceptive as they could be just by being alive is missing something very profound. Do you imagine that you can just remind people of these things and suddenly all wisdom and clarity will suddenly just appear? This mind-bogglingly naive. I simply have to ask: from where did you attain this fantastic fixed delusion?

I have gained so much that is good and lost so much that is bad by learning to practice well, learning to concentrate, learning the theory, learning insight practices, going through the organic process of the stages over decades, reading the stories, reading about the lives of the great practitioners, having dharma conversations with dharma friends, debating points, wrestling with difficult concepts and how to apply them to my actual life, teaching, learning, studying, playing with the powers, writing, realizing how things are, and delving deeply into the sensate world that I am astounded that anyone would want to try to reduce something so grand, wonderful, deep, rich, amazing and profound to such a paltry, ridiculous concept as the notion that all that is already in place in everyone regardless of what they have done or not done. All those benefits, skills, abilities, powers, states, stages, experiences, insights, and fundamental perceptual changes simply were not available until I did the work, took the time, participated in the process, and no amount of anyone telling me it was otherwise would have helped or made it so.

This is an organic, causal process. I know of no examples where the necessary and sufficient causes did not involve some kind of work rather than a mere concept that somehow all those benefits and abilities have magically appeared already and they somehow just did not notice until you told them they had.

In short: STOP IT! You are spreading craziness, and this is craziness that many people will not be able to tell is craziness, including, it seems, yourself. While I usually do not go so far as to tell people that there is something so deeply wrong with what they think and how they communicate it that they should stop it immediately and forever, this particular point is a great example of something I consider abhorrent and worthy of profound revision.

Regardless of any kind intentions, the teachings that you perpetuate take a half-truth that seems so very nice and seductive to us neurotic Americans who just can barely stand another achievement trip and have such a hard time with self-acceptance and turn it into sugary poison.

There is no need to tie the three useful concepts of 1) no-self, 2) self-acceptance in the ordinary sense, and 3) the notion that the sensations that lead to understanding if clearly perceived over and over again are manifesting right here, right now, to such a perversely twisted yet seemingly benign and similar concept as the one you unfortunately promote. While they look the same, careful examination will reveal why your way of stating things is so deeply flawed.

P.S. For those not used to this sort of hard-hitting rhetoric, check out texts where the Buddha took on some dogmas he considered useless or harmful and see if he wasn*t even more forceful than me at points.

The smoking Sufi

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* nice sufi story ..
-added by danny-
........................................

It happened like this, there was a Sufi saint called Ibrahim. You have heard of Ibrahim? In his ashram or his center, two disciples were sitting very morose in the garden one evening and one said to the other, “I want to smoke but we are on a spiritual path, how to smoke?” The other one said “Even I want to smoke; I don’t know what to do”.

Then they decided, “Let us go and ask the master whether we can smoke or not”, because in the past, there have been many Sufi saints who were continuously smoking. So next day evening, one disciple was sitting in the same spot in the garden, totally miserable, the other disciple came smoking. He said, “Hey! Why are you smoking? Master told me not to smoke” So the other disciple asked, “What did you ask him?” “I asked him if I can smoke when I am meditating”. He said “No”. “That’s your problem”, said the second monk. I asked him whether I can meditate when I am smoking, and he told me go ahead!!

The Happy Virus

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* a poem from Hafiz c. 1320 to 1389, a beautiful, mystic, Sufi poet from Persia...Enjoy!Translated beautifully and with verve by Daniel Ladinsky,on the site above.
-added by danny-..
........................................................

The Happy Virus

I caught the happy virus last night

When I was out singing beneath the stars.

It is remarkably contagious -

So kiss me.

-

Illusion

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* a poem from Ella Wheeler Wilcox...to ponder about.
-added by danny-
............................................................

Illusion

God and I in space alone and nobody else in view.
"And where are the people o Lord", I said,
"the earth below, and the sky o'erhead
and the dead whom once I knew?"

"That was a dream," God smiled and said -
"A dream that seemed to be true.
There were no people, living or dead,
There was no earth, and no sky o'erhead:
There was only myself - in you."

"Why do I feel no fear," I asked,
"meeting you here in this way?
For I have sinned I know full well?
And is there heaven, and is there hell,
and is this the judgement day?"

"Say, those were but dreams," the great God said,
"dreams that have ceased to be.
There are no such things as fear or sin,
there is no you - you never have been -
there is nothing at all but me."

by -Ella Wheeler Wilcox