Gaia: Time, Space, and Knowledge - Practicing the Vision

Light Meditation

http://brucealderman.gaia.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:54:37 GMT

Several TSK exercises focus on working with "light." Here are two of them from Dynamics of Time and Space. If you try them out, feel free to share your experiences, questions, or feedback in this thread.

~*~

Exercise 21 Healing through Light

Once you have touched the full experience of the presence of space and time, invite into this presence a quality of light. This light has no source; instead, it is a centerless luminosity. In a sense it is nothing special—simply the openness that allows space and time to appear.

Comment 21

Access to the light within appearance depends on activating mind without fixation. On the relative level, this mind belongs neither here nor there. It does not occupy space or time or pronounce knowledge; it takes no shape and establishes no relationship with either existence or non-existence.

In conventional terms, we would say that such a ‘not-belonging’ mind is simply ‘not there’. But ‘not there’ is itself a kind of fixation. Only if ‘not there’ is not so can ‘there’ not be.

Although we can speak of ‘not there’, it has no basis: no something that makes it ‘be there’. Nor can the ‘not thereness’ of this basis be founded. If ‘no basis’ has a meaning, it will become a basis for excluding light. If it has no meaning, it will lead to the lostness of the dark. Perhaps it is better not to focus on ‘not there’ at all. As an alternative, we could say of mind and its experience: "Never born."

Exercise 22 Return to Light

A. Instead of trying to jump prematurely to a ‘lightness’ realm, look within your thoughts and sensations for the quality of darkness. Become familiar with darkness; be ready to let yourself sink into it without losing awareness completely. Gradually you will be able to sense fluctuations within the dark: moments that are more luminous, when experience seems lucent and free. The quality is one of shining through, of a delightful aliveness. To dwell within these moments is to engage a familiarity with light that makes its own path.

B. Once you have developed some familiarity with darkness and with the fluctuations that signal the availability of light, you can look more directly at ways that light appears within experience. Bringing to mind a mental image, notice that the image is revealed in an inner light that allows you to ‘see’ it. Where does this light come from? Gradually focus on the light, until you are giving it as much attention as the image. Can you sharpen or intensify the light?

C. Look for the same quality of light in thoughts and feelings and emotions. Turning to physical sensations, look for an experience of light that is itself almost physical. A good place to focus is on energy moving in the body. First identify its specific location; then focus on its feel; then ask if it has a color.

For some people, this kind of light experience comes easily and is quite familiar; for others it will be rare and mysterious. Do not be discouraged if you do not discover light in your own experience: Just continue to allow for the possibility. Eventually you may discover a more subtle sensation: a sense that light is available ‘just around the corner’.

D. Develop sensitivity to light even in the midst of confusion, negativity, and other circumstances where darkness seems most thick. For example, if in your inquiry you are anxious to succeed or fearful of failing; if you are uncertain of what you are doing or whether it has value, look carefully: Light is present there as well.

Comment 22

Despite what the voices of ordinary experience may say, light is never far away. If our experience exhibits darkness, it is self-constructed. It is as though we had built a box of light, then climbed inside and closed the cover. Now we insist that we are surrounded by darkness, choosing to ignore that the box that shuts out the light is also made of light.

Once we see this deception in operation, it cannot control us in the same way. Gradually we can move toward openness, balance, and ease. As these qualities expand, points of tension and conflict can themselves become points of light.

Exercise 22 invites light to return to the center of experience. In its initial stages, it continues to support a distinction between light and darkness, but as you become more familiar with it, you may sense that light is available everywhere. Through this awareness, ‘lightness’ makes itself available. It can grant us relief from our restricted ways of being.

It is quite possible that even after extensive practice of this exercise, your sensitivity to light will remain limited. For instance, you may sense light only as a dim presence that comes and goes. If so, encourage yourself to deepen whatever experiences you do have. You can add to the light a quality of joy and delight; this may help intensify it.

Even if you continue to experience some frustration, this exercise can help you become aware in a new way of the darkness that accompanies ordinary patterns of mind: the compulsive, repetitive thoughts, the forgetting that catches us up in the content of thoughts, and the emotional responses. You may notice how personal identity and ownership are linked to this darker side: how the telling of stories blocks light through the claims of substance and identity. These insights can have a powerful impact in cutting through the structures of the prevailing order and the limits it conducts.

If you do have experiences of light, you may not trust that what you encounter in such experiences is truly linked to light as it appears in the physical realm. It is not necessary to accept this connection on faith. Until you have greater familiarity with light experiences, it is probably better not to make any final judgments. Just keep an open mind and see what happens.

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:50:10 GMT

another excerpt...

TT~Knowingness must be completely limpid, thoroughly open and free of structuring boundaries and strategies. As long as our knowing has such boundaries—even in the case of the more visionary, second level knowledge—it will only present us with specific insights, discoveries, and observations. But true 'knowingness' is not terminated that way; it is absolutely open, embracing without grasping or fixing on something. Ordinary knowledge is always restricted in scope and tainted by its connection to a 'knowing subject'. Things are 'pointed out', but their significance and character reflect the strained, fragmented nature of our approach to knowing them.

Interviewer~Does even the slightest vestige of a 'self’, continuity of personal identity framed in terms of past history, and so on, distort knowingness and limit its capacity to give a valid report?

TT~Yes, and the same applies for attempts to avoid these things. For instance, we might try to get away from the 'knowing self, 'acts of knowledge', self as agent or doer, and so on, by trying the opposite—by 'not doing', or becoming passive. In that case we'd still be stuck in the ordinary picture. Rather, the idea should be to not add or subtract anything from the immediacy of any knowing encounter.

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:45:02 GMT

TT said: ...when knowingness is made to conform to the logic of ordinary knowledge and perception—so that the self can grasp it—its tangible, beneficial quality is diminished rather than increased. Ordinary knowledge is structured by the seductive, scattering effect of lower time. It is compounded out of past references and future expectations—both encouraging repetition. It's not fresh and keenly sensitive to the present, but rather is always attempting to capture it, to make it conform to approximations and analogies based on recollections. It seems so vital and relevant to us, but it is not really very 'in touch' after all.

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:05:20 GMT

I am really resonating and enjoying this book Bruce!

Here is what he says in regards to how the self continues to come up against it's on limits of knowing due to the the structure of the model we use for knowledge...which has to do with the conversation Tom and I were having in the Science and Mysticism thread...(this is part of the conversation, but I am searching for the direct link to the part that relates to what is posted below.)

here it is...but you will need to scan up to read what Tom wrote...it is obvious that we are not quiet connecting, I failed to be specific as to what I was referring to in my reply to him...hopefully this post will clarify it...

Tom said: ...that we can never know the knower in a scientific fashion is to my perception largely true. We cannot get behind our “view,” because that “getting behind” would itself presumably constitute a view.

Star said: Ok, Tom…instead of agreeing so quickly to that limit, why not try and open it up? inquire into it…why do we have to be stuck with a limit just b/c science or anything else says so? Is there a way to look at it differently? Not with our presubscribed scientific mold, which was created by and from our prepackaged knowledge to begin with…

here is part of what Tarthang Tulku said concerning this very thing:

...The limitation, the apparent impossibility, is itself only a feature of the picture we're using, and of the typical pattern of time resulting from using it. It doesn't bear on any real limit to 'our' capacities.

Re: Glimpses into the structuring self...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:36:10 GMT

Since the 'I' is a thought, then we should look deeper and inquire into what is thinking the 'I'...our very structures of knowledge that allow for these 'I's' and the self to exist, can be examined and inquired into. We do not have to be limited by a self that knows...*

Glimpses into the structuring self...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:33:28 GMT

The Self and it's patterns are so stubborn!!! I had this experience earlier this morning, and I wanted to share it here...recently I have become aware that all my 'I's' are but focal points of awareness...they are necessary and helpful when navigating this reality, but when they become frozen positions, they limit my ability to go beyond them, thereby limiting my ability to recognize new ways of knowing...here is something from my journal...

November 18....
I think I had a glimpse into the structurings and patterning of the self, but like TT says in Knowledge of Freedom about our habitual patterning (pg. 364), the knowing that was gleamed was almost instantly or reflexively gone, b/c of the structures or patterns themselves being so solid in their performance that they habitually continued on doing what it is they have been conditioned to do and not allowing that itty bitty space of knowlng to open up...iow, my structures of technological knowledge that are so solid in their functioning would not allow for this new knowledge to do anything but surface and then fade again into the oblivion of my ‘normal’ technological knowledge...or ‘way of knowing’...I am so use to not questioning the self, that the self continues to act according to these structures that are not so easily seen. This

Technological Knowledge that Tarthang Tulku refers to that has allowed the ‘self’ to be structured in this way simply by allowing it to go unquestioned, is a very difficult nut to crack...lol

I am noticing too, that this ‘joy of being’, as wonder-filled as it is, IS just a taste of the TSK vision...especially since I have had these glimpses into new knowledge that I can’t remember...LOL

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:28:30 GMT

thnx Bruce...ub the best...hope that you are resting...and lol with your son...much healing love your way...*

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://brucealderman.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:30:51 GMT

Hi, David and Star, I believe the interview is from the first Dimensions of Thought book. I do have an electronic copy, so I'll be happy to email it to you if you want it.
Best wishes,
B.

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:24:00 GMT

Hey David,

I don't think it is in any of the books...but I could be wrong, but itsn't it AMAZING???

So, if there is more than I hope he will post it here...

love,
Star...

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://Davidu.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:21:06 GMT

Hey Brother!
Is this interview in one of the books? Did you get it at a TSK retreat? I've searched my articles and couldn't find the complete interview. Would you please e-mail me a complete copy?

I remember working with some exercises to see knowing space as light. And I've been following your discussion with Tom on the topic on the thread: Re: Science & Mysticism. Wonderful effort! Thanks to you and Tom, and the others.

Best
David

Re: Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:36:48 GMT

Thanks Bruce for posting this. This was awesome to read and and even more so to experience...

TSK rocks!!!

Ocean of Knowledge...

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:31:49 GMT

I'm posting this from the IPS pod...Bruce posted it the other day, and I just thought it would be a good idea to have it here in the TSK pod as well...

To add to the masala, here's an excerpt from an interview with Tarthang Tulku (entitled “Ocean of Knowledge”) where he brings up “light” in relation to the TSK vision:

Tarthang Tulku: Psychology is one area where you might apply [the TSK vision], although it would involve a radically new orientation, since Time, Space, and Knowledge is not based on modifying or balancing the self-image or its feelings.  Nor is there any formal model of the human being or the mind being proposed here.  Our approach to ‘mental health' begins on a level where no reference is made to such frozen structures as the 'mind' or 'psyche'.

Interviewer:  Could you give me an example of how to develop this subtle understanding?

TT: There are many good approaches discussed in Time, Space, and Knowledge, but if you want a simple example of this 'knowing', of 'being within time, space, and knowledge', imagine that you are sitting quietly with your eyes closed.

Interviewer:  Is this going to be like the exercises in Time, Space, and Knowledge?

TT:  No, this isn't an exercise at all. I'm not saying you should actually do this in a formal way. Just think about it. See if you can get a 'taste' of this knowledge. Imagine that your eyes are closed; it's very dark. It's as though you're starting your confrontation with reality anew, innocent of ordinary presences like visible light, objects, and so on.

Imagine within that darkness a special kind of light—not like ordinary light—very gentle and illuminating, but not harsh or blinding to the senses. It is almost like space, an open, all-embracing warmth—not an object or thing, but a quality within everything you are and feel. It's extremely important that you don't make this quality an object or a target for the grasping of the ordinary mind. Let it remain as a kind of intermediate presence. It's present, but not as a thing.      Now, abide within that. Don't move past it. It's almost like a feeling of pure joy, but you must be careful not to grasp at this joy as something heavy, as an intoxication of pleasure. It must delight and stimulate intelligence rather than bind it.

Now slowly open your eyes, allowing the light quality to be even more open-ended in scope and character, so that it can include all perceived presences within itself.  You must be careful not to let awareness be seduced into making subtle transitions into the ordinary mode of drawing apart as the perceiving subject, viewing objects which are discernible to the senses by virtue of being illuminated by ordinary light. Remain with the primary awareness and encompassing presence of 'light'.

If you do lose this quality and stray into the secondary, structured landscape of subjects and objects, the liberating power of time and the open radiance of space are obscured. They become a mystery, beyond the possibility of being located 'somewhere' in space or developed 'somehow' in time. But, if you can stay with the light, you'll find that it is part of all presences, all moments, so the experiences of daily life remain within there, preserving and transmitting the light.

Seeing the great variety of appearance as still bearing the light also provides you with a wider sense of the light's quality. By thus expanding your understanding of the light, you become sensitized to it, so that you can see even more of it, attending to it more deeply. This in turn allows you to 'expand' within it, not by letting ‘your awareness' go 'outward' in the directions of ordinary space, but by intensifying the quality itself so it becomes still more encompassing of phenomena. Again, the more it embraces, the more precisely its inner nature is revealed, and so the cycle goes, maturing toward an understanding of the insight we were discussing earlier, the realization that time, space, and knowledge are responding, not 'me'.

Interviewer:  In reality, once you open your eyes, even if you approach the field of presences with this kind of open-minded innocence, there will still be ordinary light shining, illumining your surroundings and activating the usual light receptors in your eyes. How can you get past the basic functioning of your senses?

TT:  If you open your eyes very carefully, subtly preserving your connection with the more gentle, embracing light, then the light you discover will be very different from the ordinary sort: the radiance and colors will be more like those of a rainbow. Ordinary colors, red, blue, and so on, are very dull and uninspiring compared to this rainbow-like cascade. Your senses themselves can work differently if they are using a more open space and a more exhilarating time. Higher knowledge is not something completely ethereal; it includes an expansion and refinement of our ordinary perceptual capacity. You can see all physical substance and form to be manifestations of this subtle but brilliant light.

Interviewer:  It sounds like heaven.

TT:  It's a heaven that's not 'beyond' in the sense of being elsewhere. You have to expand beyond ordinary perceptions, but 'expand' and 'beyond' simply mean opening to more of the presence of the light. You expand within and as that light.

The light is so encompassing, so ready to embrace and nourish everything, that it gives a new significance to the idea of 'love'. Much of what we ordinarily call “love” remains on the level of self-centered sensations. But if you relate to people and presences from within that light, love can be truly perfected, not limited to the prejudices and urgencies experienced by the self-image. Everything can be united within the presence of the light as the integration of time, space, and knowledge. But again, it's important that we don't take this 'presence' as 'something present' in the ordinary sense—something 'here' related 'to us’,, as opposed to something absent, somewhere else. The great beauty we've just mentioned is available precisely because and when there's no audience, when there are no self-images bending it to their purposes, restricting it to their characteristics and capacities for fulfillment.

The only audience is knowingness itself, which does not relate to space and time in such a way that it can be located as an event 'here' in space, in this 'present' interval of time. For that very reason, nothing is excluded from it, everything is within it, part of the range of its appreciation. If it assumes any position so as to focus on one aspect of what is 'present' to the exclusion of another aspect, then space and time recede to the background, becoming just a stage on which we perform; we are no longer aware of being within them. So we have a situation comparable to the turbulence of the waves obscuring the depth of the ocean again.

Interviewer:  Do all of the senses expand and change when we are knowingly 'within' space and time, or is a primarily visual field of knowledge involved?

TT:  Hearing, taste, touch—everything opens. The more you are actively 'within', the more your senses and perceptions can accommodate. Such an increase in sensitivity and capacity is like a sign, indicating that your approach is correct and inviting you to go even further.

Interviewer:  So that's not necessarily the whole vision yet?

TT:  No. It's just the initial unfolding of the vision, a taste.

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://brucealderman.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:11:11 GMT

Yep. :-D

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:35:01 GMT

lol...oh i knew that...i b silly...but yes...this is great...and i find that all of TT's writings are so openended that rereading them always is new pretty much...such an amazing vision...so thankful u love it as well...and so grateful for u posting this...it is awesome...i will probably be reading it over and over as well...it is just so nice to be able to communicate with you about it...so grazie mio caro bella amico!!!

love and tskisses...haha*

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:28:09 GMT

I am so inlove with this vision...

The patterns of the past pull on us with a powerful force. Deeply involved in conducting the past forward, we enact a commitment to the pre-recorded. Yet this trend can be reversed. We can be lovers of knowledge, seeking to cherish rather than possess, free from the wish to take on yet another dogma. Then the daily unfolding of our lives can become a rich source of knowledge.

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://Davidu.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:26:56 GMT

Hi Star, No, he didn't say anything to me. You are both my friends, and anytime you post something a notice shows up on my Profile Page. I saw all the activity so I came over. I remembered enjoying this thread. I noticed Bruce's TSK reference and decided to look it up and decided to post it.

I'm reading for perhaps the 4th or 5th time. For me, it requires a multiple readings as it sinks in. Remembering this is from a Rinpoché extolling knowledge of the past, but not with the conventional way of viewing it, seems important to me. Anyway, I thought it might be helpful. Hang in there sister. :-)
D

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:25:55 GMT

Another way to conduct this inquiry is to look for a more encompassing knowledge embodied in each situ ation. Is this unacknowledged knowledge affected by the more specific turn away from knowledge that you are investigating? Is it covered over? If you are willing to feel the pain or sadness that comes from knowledge denied and knowledge distorted, you may be able to bring into the open knowledge that was previously rejected or covered over. Even though you are focusing on the past, you may find that this discovery of knowl edge availability has a powerful impact on the present and on the way that events unfold in the future.

I guess this describes what Brucie is doing...lol...

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:23:48 GMT

oohlala...i liked this...i like it all...but some parts excite me more...esp. the parts that bring the past...alive and open...a knowledge NOT frozen by time...presencing into the future...

The many schools of knowledge that have flourished in the past—schools of science and philosophy, history and religion, social thought and political theory—can guide us to a deeper appreciation for knowledge in time. Each new set of theories or beliefs must somehow engage the accumulating weight of history, trying to make sense of what has gone before. Whether consciously or not, each engages in a twofold inquiry—not only judging, but judg ing how best to judge; not only knowing, but knowing how best to know. Systems of knowledge are put into effect, shaping human achievement at every level. In the study of such developments knowledge is available, ready to be thawed or melted in the ‘infolding’ of time.

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:19:11 GMT

We could also look at the ways that human beings respond to what time presents, molding the ways that knowledge will manifest. Confronted with the constant momentum of change, individuals and cultures seek to shape it toward their own purposes. They pursue their own judgments as to what is best and accord their conduct with their judgments. Values emerge, expressed in terms of virtue, happiness, spirituality, or truth, shap ing the ongoing search for meaning.

this too is so relevant...and it's frustrating...b/c we keep repeating...*

Re: DTS Ex. 18 Pastness Knowledge

http://tlcoriginals.gaia.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:14:36 GMT

Thnx David...gol...am thinking Bruce sent u a pm that said..."pls. get star out of my hair!!!" lmao...

this is long...but packed...this jumped out at me...

We could see how knowledge has been trapped and limited and denied; how the human spirit has been reduced; how willful ignorance or uncon scious patterns have slowed the growth of knowledge.

this IS what i see...and i long to address it in an appropriate and helpful way...