To add here
The ancient and long standing reality found by many meditators and mystics for millenia, to include the Hindu's and Taoists and more deeply explored
in Buddhist experience here below is a quote from the Dalai Lama on his experience of meditating and contemplating the deep nature of "Emptiness" or
the void as sometimes called. This is the understanding that nothing really exists as we experience it, with an findable and actual "I" or
label/name, to try and explain,
The Chair you are sitting on, if you are whilst reading this, is called a chair, we all know "what" a "Chair" is, or at least we think we do, but
where is the "Chair" really, the part of it that is actually always a chair, that has the inherent nature of chairness?
Is it the seat?
The Legs?
How can something "BE" inherently solid and real or have a Chairness quality or nature if one can have 3 legs and one 4?
Is it the Cushion?
How many bits of the chair do you have to take away until it is not one anymore?
Then where does the Chair go to anyhow?
If you remove the seat and cushoin and backrest and only leave the legs where has the "CHAIR" gone?
If you meditate and think about all of life, Including YOU and ME about this you will realise that everything is "Empty" of this actual thing of no
change, that everything in the universe, everything is actually only made up of different things, when these come together we call it something, but
the name we give it is just a label.
Nothing exists anywhere without being made up different things coming together.
So I dont exist without my body only my mind would, but I am not just my mind or just my body.
Take one away and "I Insert Name here" would not exist anymore, but there is not one part of me that is actually "I" without something else. There
is no seperate solid unchanging part of reality that has a actual inherent nature that is unchanging and not made up of parts, and our perception
which is false of it, our projections and hallucinations if you like.
The
Dalai Lama had an actual "Experiential" experience of this, which means he did not just understand it intellectuality, but experienced
it.
Based on his research and practise of the great Yogi Tsongkhapa who I will also quote below as they obviously can explain it much better than "I"
(
) lol.
The Text that led him to this experience is as below and famous in Buddhist and Logic Circles from Tsongkhapa
A coiled ropes speckled color & coiling are similar to those of a snake, and when the rope is coiled perceived in a dim area, the thought arises
"This is a snake." As for the rope, at that time when it is seen to be a snake, the collection and parts of of the rope are not eve in the slightest
way a snake. Therefore, that snake is merely set up by conseptuality. In the same way, when the thought "I" arises in dependance on the mind and
body- neither the collection which is a continuum of earlier and later moments, nor the collection of the parts at one time, nor the seperate parts,
nor the continuum of any of the seperate parts- is in even the slightest way the "I". Also there is not even the slightest something that is a
different entity from mind and body that is apprehendable as the "I". Consequently, the "I" is merely set up by conceptuality on the mind & Body
it is not established by way of it's own entity"
Interelatedness and fractals help explain this more to....
Anyhow the Dalai Lama whilst meditating and such like after much time on this concept of "Emptiness" and reading the above text had a very profound
experience and I quote him below on what happened
The Impact lasted for a while, and for the next few weeks whenever I saw people, they seemed like a magician's illusions in that they appeared to
inherently exist but I Knew they actually did not.
(Elf I have also read where he described this experience as "They appeared to all be wearing masks like an illusion")
That experience which was like lightening in my heart, was most likely at a level below completely valid and incontrovertable realization. This is
when my understanding of the ceasation of the afflictive emotions as a true possibilty became real. Nowadays i alsways meditate on thei "EMptiness"
in the mornings and take it into the days activities. Just thinking or saying "I" as in "I will do such and such" will often trigger the feeling.
But still I cant claim full understanding of Emptiness"
This can be found in many places from HH and talks, however for an example with the Tsongkhapa quote to is on p139-p140 "How To Practise" By the
Dalai Lama,
translated by Prof Jeffrey Hopkins,
Who kindly let me place a couple of his Teachings on the ATS media Portal,
His teachings to students on the Four Noble Truths so I will add them below as well They are Video teachings short and succint from an amazing Western
Author Translator, Buddhist and close friend of the Dalai Lama.
Enjoy, "Whoever" the angry, happy, sad, guilty, selfish you are from moment to moment?
And especially "Who" or "What" you are getting angry, sad, happy etc about or at?
Part 1 of the Four Noble Truths as taught by the Buddha
Part 2 of the Four Noble Truths as taught by Buddha
Please visit his site for many more of a similair nature and learn from the real texts and real masters on reality et al lol.
Prof Robert Thurman Audio Visual and Info (the Thurman show lol)
Kind Regards,
Elf
[edit on 13-7-2009 by MischeviousElf]
To also add as an Edit, in the thread the best Optical illusions I added some new research on Schizophrenia, whereby a new diagnosis help is to to use
the "Hollow mask" optical illusion to aid in diagnosis of the condition.
What happens and it is VERY reliable is that if you have or are very very prone to Schizophrenia when looking at the below video YOU DO NOT SEE THE
ILLUSion, or rather you do not "HALLUCINATE" or "IMAGINE" something that is not there. You can see it for what it is, a hollow mask.
Everyone else craetes an illusion in their mind using projection and such like..... It is very interesting from the thought who is sane wnd not?
and also very very indeed interelated to what I added above on the Dalai Lama's experience and "emptiness" and real reality, and the nature of the
OP enjoy, it can be found here:
The bsets Optical illusions You have Seen?
And I will embed the video below:
Remember if you see the Face as it turns and therefore hallucinate you are deemed as normal lol, though if you see it as it really is.... you are
labbelled as "Schizoprenic"???
Elf
[edit on 13-7-2009 by MischeviousElf]
