"Become space / become awareness! ".
Easy to "know" this with psychedelics. Harder through words. So, understandably, Keith Dowman adds "samaya substances to open the doors of perception" as a legit way of pointing out non duality. In my case, this samaya substance was Ayahuasca. And yet, words can have enormous power if used effectively. This post shows two effective ways to direct the mind in the meditation context.
An experimental post
This post is somewhat different in format from the previous, using AI elements:
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The difficulty of transmitting non-duality
If a non-duality occurrence happens, perhaps by chance, one may never forget this divergent view: it may rattle the mind, in particular if it comes totally unexpected.
Many meditation teachers try to transmit this experience. But, it is a challenge to give students an experience - rather than a concept - of non-duality through words.
Two strategies
Here, I show two linguistic micro-strategies how meditation teachers approached teaching the experience of non-duality. All approaches are available publicly as videos and can be experienced in context, which I strongly recommend to do. I chose two teachers:
Daniel P Brown - the deceased meditation teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, in a 2018 video on Vimeo. It shows a core part of his meditation.
The Qualia Research Institute - a 2023 meditation on Youtube . In some ways, it is similar to Dan Brown, but with differences.
Daniel P Brown - Pouring Awareness into Boundaries
For Dan Brown, the experience of limitless space (equated to awareness) is a precondition for "enlightenment".
The following text is from his introduction to one of the major works in the Tibetan Bon tradition that he translated.
I will first quote the theoretical text and then the quite direct translation into pointing out instructions.
Pointing out limitlessness serves as the basis for the realisation of enlightenment. In order to fully experience limitlessness, it is important to see if the ordinary mind has imposed any mental constructions of edges or boundaries upon limitless space . If so, the practitioner "opens" (...) his or her awareness directly into any edges or boundaries, like pouring space into space, until the edges dissolve like mist into the atmosphere. The practitioner continues this process until all residual impositions of edges and boundaries disappear and there is a direct experience of genuinely limitless empty awareness/space (Daniel P Brown in intro to Gyaltsen et al., 2022, p 117)
Now, the theoretical text is turned into his pointing out instructions in a meditation available on Vimeo.
But as you try and do that, you'll notice that the ordinary mind usually imposes constructions on this space. So see where you impose edges and boundaries on that space and wherever the edges and boundaries are, take your awareness and move right into the edges and boundaries, like pouring space into space, open right into that area until the boundaries disappear like mists dissolving into the atmosphere. If they pop up somewhere else, more edges and boundaries, keep moving into them like pouring space into space, open right into them.
And keep doing this until there's only the space changeless, but it's absolutely limitless in all directions. Come to see what limitless awareness is like. Changeless and timeless on the one hand, limitless on the other hand
It´s worth - actually, it is mandatory! to listen to the entire meditation.
Here is the visualisation, showing how awareness space expands and, in a recursive process, is "poured" into any boundaries that may arise in the "ordinary mind".
Want to remix?
Claude´s explanation of the diagram
Key aspects of Brown's approach represented in this diagram:
This diagram captures the essence of Brown's teaching on using the concept of space to realize non-duality. It illustrates the process of recognizing awareness-space, identifying mental constructions that limit it, and systematically dissolving these constructions to realize boundless awareness. |
QRI Institute: Space Witnessing Space
Spaciousness AS Witness
The purpose for QRI of experiencing / becoming space is not enlightenment (at least not in this meditation). However, the speaker sais that this experience is very healing.
Here , as a Youtube Clip, you hear the start of the culminating "Space knowing Space" section. Btw I love the dog who seems to have an experience. The transcription identified it as "Music".
"So let's start out by noticing the spaciousness of your experience, precisely the complement of its solidity . There is spaciousness of sound, spaciousness of sight. spaciousness of the body and somatic world , and now once you have a sense of the spaciousness ["Dog Music"] turn that spaciousness into a witness of more spaciousness. Stand in the spaciousness to witness spaciousness. SPACE KNOWING SPACE. And if you keep practicing this eventually you can get absorbed and become space a very healing experience very insightful too"
Here the full meditation (with theory)
The visualisation: It shows how the progress from noticing space to becoming space itself.
Claude´s explanation of the diagram:
The practice involves a gradual expansion of awareness, represented by the increasing size of the circles. The feedback loop shows how each stage reinforces the next, leading to deeper states of meditation. This "becoming space" practice is an advanced technique that aims to cultivate a profound sense of openness, vastness, and non-duality. It's a way of directly experiencing the spacious nature of consciousness itself, which can lead to significant insights and a deep sense of peace and freedom. |
This additional visualisation tries to convey a different sense of the core statement "Space knowing Space".
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Claude´s explanation of the diagram:
This diagram represents several key aspects of the "Space Witnessing Space" concept:
This practice of "Space Witnessing Space" is a profound technique that aims to dissolve the usual subject-object duality in meditation. It's a way of experiencing pure awareness itself, free from content, where the spaciousness of consciousness becomes aware of its own nature. |
Comparing the Approaches
In this table, the second column refers to the QRI approach.
Resources
Dowman, K. (2020). Dzogchen Nonmeditation (Dzogchen Teaching Series, Band 1) [E-book]. Independently published.
Gyaltsen, S. T., Gurung, G. S., & Brown, D. P. (2022). Self-Arising Three-fold Embodiment of Enlightenment: [of Bon Dzogchen Meditation] (English Edition) (2nd ed.). Mustang Bon Foundation. https://www.amazon.com/Self-Arising-Three-fold-Embodiment-Enlightenment-Meditation/dp/195695001X
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