ShiftIntoFreedom
Shift Into Freedom (Lock Kelly)
- Solid message. Too repetitive. Verbiage very vauge… not clear you can do much better with this subject though ..
- We are in need of straight forward, direct and approachable forms of spirituality that are firmly grounded in the ancient wisdom traditions of our ancestors, while at the same time fully embracing the modern wisdom of both psychology and science.
- Mahamudra is taught mainly in Tibetan Buddism today, but its roots come from the Indian Buddism of the 2nd century.
- We are fortunate that many ancient, rare meditation manuals have recently been brought out of thier native countries, translated, published and made availible to the public. This book is an attempt to translate these practices into modern, simple and experiential language.
The unique premise of this book is that wellbeing is not found by calming the mind, changing our thoughts or adjusting our attitudes, but by actually shifting into a level of mind that is already calm and alert.
Awakening has been deemed a rare occurrence b/c its principles have not yet been understood in a modern way. One view holds that you cant awaken because its too hard without living in a monastery or cave. The other view is that there is nothing to do – that there are no meditations, steps or stages. In this view, you cant awaken intentionally; it happens only by luck or grace – and then you remain awake. The middle way (which is advocated in this book) is that a series of direct recognitions can lead to a gradual unfolding with steps and stages. Awakening is not too difficult if you are interested and motivated. Its like learning to read and write: we all have the capacity to awaken.
- Transendence has been given many names: Truth, God, Peace, Source, Love, True Nature, Enlightenment, Unity or Spirit, but the simplest name is AWARENESS.
Awareness is the foundation of living a human life. We cannot know anything without it. Mostly we take it for granted and focus on content: things we are aware of rather than awareness itself.
WhoWeAre [BROKEN LINK: 56F11I1-8IK9-1MM1-6M56-M42M638435IK]
One of the most important things to learn is how to separate awareness from thinking, and then we can see that thoughts and emotions are not the center of who we are.
- If awake awareness is something we've all experienced, and if its so close and accessible, why isnt it more familiar to us? One reason we can find it/ see it or understand it is beacuse awake awareness is not an "it". Awake awareness is not an object or thing that can be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted. It isnt a thought, emotion, image, belief, sensation, or even energy.
- Just as the eye cannot hear sounds, thinking and attention cannot know awake awareness.
- If we are not operating from awareness now, how do we access the awareness that can know awake awareness? The most common answer is to sit in meditation for long periods of time so the chattering mind will settle and eventually allow awake awareness to be revealed.
Mantra: What is here now if there is no problem to solve? Who is here? What is aware? What is here when there is nowhere to go and nothing to do ? Nothing to know or create or become ? What is here, just now, when you are not the problem solver?
- In the Tibetan Buddhist Dozogchen and Mahamudra traditions, rigpa or "awake awareness" is the empty, yet active awareness-based operating system from which we can learn how to live.
- Pointing-out instructions are hints on how and where to look for awake awareness as the source of your mind.
- Dont get caught in the trap of only doing preliminary prectices. Take the next step that will enable you to glimpse awake awareness.
- The two most common methods for directly recognizing our true nature are the "looking method" and the "resting method". "Seek and you will find." vs "Give up seeking and you will find."
- The Buddha avoided describing awakening or enlightenment in positive terms.
- Koans short-circut the conceptual mind with a problem it cant resolve, causing it to exhaust itself and release its claim on being the primary way of knowing.
- With the direct approach: the emphasis is only being awareness; not on being aware of objects, but on resting as primordial awareness itself.
"What we are looking for is what is looking" WhatWeAreLookingForIsWhatIsLooking
- turning my awareness to look back through what I assumed to be "me"
- Garab Dorje, the first teacher of Tibetan Dzogchen, came up with The Three Vital Points: The first point is to directly recognize your own true nature.
- The most common inquiry used to shift out of the current location of your identity is not "Who am I ?" or "What am I?" but "Where am I?"
- Most types of meditation currently studied are only the introductory practices from traditions in which awakening is the goal.
- When the Buddha had his initial awakening, he dispaired over putting his realiziation into words and teaching it to others. When he finally decided to try communicating what hed realized, he used the medical model of his time instead of religious language.
The practice of Mahamudra is simply a matter of looking at our mind, recognizing its nature, and remaining within that recognition.
The most crucial mistake we make is turning to thought to know who we are.
Instead of saying "I am sad" take a breath and say, "I feel sadness". Notice the shift from "I am" to "I feel". Then shift to "I am aware of feeling sadness".
- Self-awareness is one of the highest human developments, yet in some ways this gift also limits our growth and development.
- The word advaita means "not two" and refers to the paradox that the two levels or reality (subject and object) are not separate.