Phenomena exist; that help and harm obviously come from them is a sign they exist. However, they are empty of existing in the way in which they appear to us. That phenomena cannot be found under ultimate analysis indicates that they are not truly or inherently existent.
-Dalai Lama
Say what Dalai Lama?
Understanding this is important to our understanding of Self. Though phenomena in the world of "form" exists in the perceptual sense, i.e. we can pick it up with our five senses and we "react" or "respond" to it...at a deeper level it is not all that real. Hmm!
What is Physical Phenomena?
Physical phenomena, according to Buddhist teachings, are "things" of matter that occur in the mind, the body or the external world that are existent and functional to an extent. They are "things" and "thoughts" are among those things.
Now, according to his holiness, we know they exist because we will react or respond to them in a helpful way or a harmful way.
For example, you are walking down the street and bump into someone you know but have not seen for a while. The person, the circumstance is the phenomena. Automatically the senses pick up all the information about the person and circumstance: the look of the person, the sound of their voice, the feel of them etc as well as the environment they are in at the time. You react or respond to the situation making it seem that it was the phenomena itself that led to the reaction or response. Therefore we can say phenomena exists.
We need to investigate a little closer..
Such a chance encounter does, however, go beyond the obvious phenomena to a deeper level of "conscious" phenomena. We encounter the individual and we do perceive everything at a physical level. Then the mind tries to process that perceptual information. Memory banks are opened and more information (more phenomena) enters the mind. Past experiences of pleasure and pain with this person or place are remembered...more phenomena. Judgments are made about those past experiences. It was good or it was bad. The judgments are phenomena. Then we either feel glad to bump into this person, (the feelings of happiness and joy are phenomena)....or we fear, get angry and upset because we judge it as an unfortunate event. We then respond or react creating more phenomena. We either slap the person across the face or hug them, depending on how the Shakti was stimulated.
Say what?
Let's get back to Iyengar's description of the three layers of being. We, as these little selves in bodies and minds, moving around the physical world will experience physical phenomena. We will have circumstances, people, things showing up in our lives and we will take in the information through our senses about those things. That will then stimulate the "Shakti"(the middle layer of being) within us...in a helpful way or a harmful way. Phenomena stimulates energy and it is the energy that creates the reactive tendencies within us. We react to phenomena. How we react will take us either closer to Self (the inner most layer of being) or further away. If we feel good...something within us opens and we feel the joy from within pulling us closer to Self. If we feel bad...we close up, the cloud cover thickens between us and Self.
We are not actually reacting to Phenomena
Now the reaction to phenomena was not a knee jerk response to the thing or person that showed up in our lives...it goes deeper than that. It was the mental judgment and interpretations we made about it that stimulated the Shakti energy in either a helpful or harmful way. It was the labelling it good and a "wanted' experience or our labelling it bad and an "unwanted " experience that led to the reactive experience. The phenomena itself was neither good or bad but the thinking about it made it so.
The reaction was harmful if it led us to slap the person across the face because not only did we hurt them...we hurt ourselves by closing up and getting farther away from the Peace of Self. The reaction was helpful if it led us to hug and welcome the person in a warm embrace not only because that probably made the other person feel good but at that moment we were opened up , the cloud cover between us and the Love Self was very thin or non existent.
It was never the phenomena, never the thing, the person or the circumstance that led to either reaction. It was whether we were open to allow Shakti to pull us into Self or whether we closed up and pushed Shakti away so we didn't experience It, that defined the experience. Therefore we can say that phenomena are not truly or inherently existent.
Shakti is the beautiful energy inside of you...that comes and goes because of the opening and closing of your heart.
-Michael Singer
All is well!
Phenomena exist; that help and harm obviously come from them is a sign they exist. However, they are empty of existing in the way in which they appear to us. That phenomena cannot be found under ultimate analysis indicates that they are not truly or inherently existent.
-Dalai Lama
Say what Dalai Lama?
Understanding this is important to our understanding of Self. Though phenomena in the world of "form" exists in the perceptual sense, i.e. we can pick it up with our five senses and we "react" or "respond" to it...at a deeper level it is not all that real. Hmm!
What is Physical Phenomena?
Physical phenomena, according to Buddhist teachings, are "things" of matter that occur in the mind, the body or the external world that are existent and functional to an extent. They are "things" and "thoughts" are among those things.
Now, according to his holiness, we know they exist because we will react or respond to them in a helpful way or a harmful way.
For example, you are walking down the street and bump into someone you know but have not seen for a while. The person, the circumstance is the phenomena. Automatically the senses pick up all the information about the person and circumstance: the look of the person, the sound of their voice, the feel of them etc as well as the environment they are in at the time. You react or respond to the situation making it seem that it was the phenomena itself that led to the reaction or response. Therefore we can say phenomena exists.
We need to investigate a little closer..
Such a chance encounter does, however, go beyond the obvious phenomena to a deeper level of "conscious" phenomena. We encounter the individual and we do perceive everything at a physical level. Then the mind tries to process that perceptual information. Memory banks are opened and more information (more phenomena) enters the mind. Past experiences of pleasure and pain with this person or place are remembered...more phenomena. Judgments are made about those past experiences. It was good or it was bad. The judgments are phenomena. Then we either feel glad to bump into this person, (the feelings of happiness and joy are phenomena)....or we fear, get angry and upset because we judge it as an unfortunate event. We then respond or react creating more phenomena. We either slap the person across the face or hug them, depending on how the Shakti was stimulated.
Say what?
Let's get back to Iyengar's description of the three layers of being. We, as these little selves in bodies and minds, moving around the physical world will experience physical phenomena. We will have circumstances, people, things showing up in our lives and we will take in the information through our senses about those things. That will then stimulate the "Shakti"(the middle layer of being) within us...in a helpful way or a harmful way. Phenomena stimulates energy and it is the energy that creates the reactive tendencies within us. We react to phenomena. How we react will take us either closer to Self (the inner most layer of being) or further away. If we feel good...something within us opens and we feel the joy from within pulling us closer to Self. If we feel bad...we close up, the cloud cover thickens between us and Self.
We are not actually reacting to Phenomena
Now the reaction to phenomena was not a knee jerk response to the thing or person that showed up in our lives...it goes deeper than that. It was the mental judgment and interpretations we made about it that stimulated the Shakti energy in either a helpful or harmful way. It was the labelling it good and a "wanted' experience or our labelling it bad and an "unwanted " experience that led to the reactive experience. The phenomena itself was neither good or bad but the thinking about it made it so.
The reaction was harmful if it led us to slap the person across the face because not only did we hurt them...we hurt ourselves by closing up and getting farther away from the Peace of Self. The reaction was helpful if it led us to hug and welcome the person in a warm embrace not only because that probably made the other person feel good but at that moment we were opened up , the cloud cover between us and the Love Self was very thin or non existent.
It was never the phenomena, never the thing, the person or the circumstance that led to either reaction. It was whether we were open to allow Shakti to pull us into Self or whether we closed up and pushed Shakti away so we didn't experience It, that defined the experience. Therefore we can say that phenomena are not truly or inherently existent.
Shakti is the beautiful energy inside of you...that comes and goes because of the opening and closing of your heart.
-Michael Singer
All is well!
Buddhist Analysis: Types of Phenomena. From: Study Buddhism by Berzin Archives
(https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/abhidharma-tenet-systems/types-of-phenomena/using-buddhist-metaphysics-to-analyze-a-problem/buddhist-analysis-types-of-phenomena)
B.K.S. Iyengar (2014) Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. New York: Penguin Random House
Michael Singer (July, 2018) Author's Insights on The Untethered Soul-Volume 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTytKupYUw4
Buddhist Analysis: Types of Phenomena. From: Study Buddhism by Berzin Archives
(https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/abhidharma-tenet-systems/types-of-phenomena/using-buddhist-metaphysics-to-analyze-a-problem/buddhist-analysis-types-of-phenomena)
B.K.S. Iyengar (2014) Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. New York: Penguin Random House
Michael Singer (July, 2018) Author's Insights on The Untethered Soul-Volume 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTytKupYUw4
No comments:
Post a Comment