Dharma If You Dare

Part 3: The Awakened State

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state.

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Part three of four on Doug Sensei's "The Map to Awakening" talk The ongoing metaphor:  "Tokyo" = Awakening "The ego is an artificial boundary produced to defend itself against being swallowed up. That the ego is there is not the problem. The problem is that it's there when it doesn't need to be there, which is, fundamentally, 99% of the time." "What is the awakened consciousness? The awakened consciousness is the being who doesn't see themselves as being inherently or 'existentially' separate from anybody or anything else. It says 'you and I are one consciousness. We have work to do. Let's get on with it.' " "In the fundamental essence, humanity is one consciousness laboring under the illusion that it is in separate bodies, and that's the source of all suffering. The source of all personal suffering is seeing yourself as separate." Creative tension vs. emotional tension: from Peter Senge's book "The Fifth Discipline" (pp. 135-142): "The gap that is between our current reality and our vision is called "creative tension." This gap is a source of creative energy…" Summarized well here: http://thecreatingspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/creative-tension/ Question from audience: [How are you] supposed to judge what's good and what's bad? Suggested rules/criteria for a broader vision of a "good" or "bad" (moral) act: 1. Is it conducive/does it lead to awakening? (Helping us individually or as a group to move forward?) 2. Would it be okay if everybody on the planet did it/behaved that way/said that? 3. Would it be okay if everybody knew? "But good and bad depends on where the scale is...as your wisdom and compassion deepen, the scale moves. What your parents see as good and bad, though true for them now, may not be true anymore as they move toward awakening. The good and bad may shift and the scale may shift." "What's your personal vision? Is Tokyo on the map or are you happy with Nagoya or Shizuoka? What do you need to do to move your organism a little down the road towards Tokyo? How do you determine what that is, see what that is? And what might that be? What kind of actions or behavior or lifestyle do you think you need to produce that will be more conducive to that journey?"

Part 2: Heading to "Tokyo" (Planetary Consciousness)

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. 

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"We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."

"We are one cell each in a body called humanity. And this, as I see it, is where the dispensation and the map for the future lies in terms of the evolution of human consciousness." -- Sensei Doug Duncan For the first part of this talk, listen to the previous Launch Pod podcast, "First, You Need the Map!" (FYI: The geographical progression eastward is Kyoto > Nagoya > Shizuoka > Tokyo) "We want our explorations to be wider, more incorporating than they have been in the past." "Samsara means from the ego point of view our lives go around and around on the same circle." "You're unfolding as a human being, but where you end up is going to be determined by which map and which aspiration you have." "If we want to survive and thrive as a species, and if we want the planet to be habitable, and if we want to be in good places, we have to see the self as other." "You are me and I am you."

Part 1: First, You Need the Map!

In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. 

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"The awakened consciousness is THE evolutionary step for humanity in total. The destination for the human species is awakening." -- Doug Duncan Sensei "You're going to be seeing more people awaken more speedily and more easily than ever before in history." "The absolute bottom-line fear, the main issue, for every human being throughout their life is the fear of disappearing, which is equated to mental illness. After all, mental illness is a real possibility. You see people fracturing and falling apart regularly and you're going to see more and more of it. Being "in control" is a way of managing the fear, of keeping you from mental illness. The idea of giving up control triggers the fear of losing a sense of who you are. It's a fear of disappearing, of being absorbed. The closest understanding we have of that is the fear of mental illness, where you're no longer compos mentis; you're no longer sane." "Will meditation drive you crazy? No, life drives you crazy. Meditation shows you that life is crazy. If you don't meditate you can assume that life is normal, but the minute you start meditating, life looks pretty crazy." "In terms of the awakening experience, you have to meet these fears of being out of control, of being crazy, of losing your identity. Because that's how the ego has projected the awakening experience back onto itself as the reason for not doing it. Don't think you can't do it (awaken), because the depth of your being knows you can. The depth of your being is prepared for it. The organism knows that this is part of the potential program. Your brain, your body, your organism as a human being knows it has the capability and the possibility for awakening." "In most conventional ways when we say I love somebody, it means 'I can control them' or 'I can manipulate them' or 'I'm with her/him because I like being controlled by her/him'; 'I like the way she/he controls me, I like way she/he manipulates me'. And this is what we call love. Because love is usually a deal--a deal about your ego and their ego being able to dance to similar music. And it's not a bad thing. I'm not putting this down at any level. But that deal doesn't lead to awakening. Having said that, you can still be married and have a family and be awakened, but you can't set up family and profession and kids as a false destination. You've got to bring them toward awakening; it doesn't work the other way around."

In meditation you just notice what arises rather than seeking after experiences, which are conditioned by the ego's need for stimulation, recognition and structure. 

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"Awakening isn't so much that you're fixing what's wrong or improving what's gone off as you are expanding your range to include what you exclude." "Namgyal Rinpoche mentioned two ways to increase your intelligence: increase the range of what you eat and increase the range of your sexual experience." "'Unwholesome' means choosing things that you may be habitually comfortable with but which aren't taking you forward. They're holding you in place in a limited conditioning based on security and comfort." "When you start to meditate and you're doing Amitabha practice, this is a place where rather than seeking after familiar and comfortable experiences you just note the ones that are arising." "You really need just two things for awakening: a good heart -- the actual desire for the welfare of other beings -- and determination (cetana)." This talk was recorded on April 7, 2010 at Maitreya House in the United Kingdom http://crystalgroup.org.uk/maitreya.htm

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination. 

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In this concluding section, Sensei answers such questions as: How do you live in the moment and still plan for the future? Aren't there authentic pleasures that are not based on addiction? How can you not identify with the objective world in a healthy way that still allows you to function?

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination. 

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In the end, the nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain that is at the core of all of our beings. Getting on with the spiritual work means learning to be okay in the present moment, just as it is, without need for stories or elaborations, knowing that we're going to die, that no absolute security is to be found, that everything is impermanent. Part 4 of 5 of a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada, in September 2009

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination.

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Part 3 of a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada, in Sept. 2009

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination. 

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"If you want freedom you have to come to terms with being okay in the now doing nothing." -- Doug Duncan Sensei "All of your bad states are entirely your responsibility. Your state is totally under your control as long as you can exercise the mindfulness to be present in the moment. When you remain present you won't go to the addiction or to a negative mind state." "On the spiritual path, you're not fighting your addiction, you're fighting the inability to face the appetite or addiction. It takes patience and determination to sit through the state and study the pattern, rather than simply being driven by early childhood conditioning." From a public talk given in Winnipeg, Canada in September 2009

The nature of addiction is an attempt to escape the pain at the core of our being. Resisting the urge to give in rather than face the appetite or addiction takes patience and determination.

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"If you look at the nature of your consciousness, you're always one step ahead of yourself or perhaps one step behind yourself, but very rarely are you actually in this moment just as it is." -- Doug Duncan Sensei The nature of appetite or addiction is thinking, 'What's next?'" In our modern lifestyles, we are addicted to being busy, always going from one thing to next, seeking happiness in the next moment. This is an addictive pattern. Seeking cannot produce peace and contentment. Happiness cannot be found in the next moment. Only in breaking the pattern, the addiction to the immediate reward of the chemical rush, do we find that consciousness can reside pleasantly in this moment, undisturbed for a period of time. The cycle of addiction is rooted in a strong sense of survival in one's being. Rather than fighting against it, look at it with reason. Decide to meditate, to do nothing but rest peacefully in the moment for one or two hours a day. In meditating, one's habit is absent, so initially boredom will arise. Boredom is the result of the withdrawal from mental addiction, the addiction to 'What's going to happen next?' Boredom is followed by fear and anxiety, which have some survival value. So how do you marry the survival value of planning and organizing with the idea of being present in the moment? Stay tuned.