top of page

Daniel P Brown and Qualia Research Institute (QRI): two approaches to "becoming space" for enlightenment and healing

"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:


  • I use Claude to visually represent abstract concepts through animation

  • I copy/paste some Claude meta-information (what the diagrams mean)

  • You have an opportunity to "remix" the visual Claude artefacts


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:

  1. Space as a Metaphor: The diagram uses space to represent awareness, Rigpa, etc., while acknowledging it's a metaphor.

  2. Attributes of Awareness: The listed attributes highlight the parallels between space and awareness.

  3. Mental Constructions: The wavy line represents the "edges or boundaries" that the ordinary mind imposes on limitless awareness.

  4. Process of Dissolution: The animated arrow shows how awareness is used to dissolve these mental constructions.

  5. Boundlessness: The expanding central circle represents the realization of genuinely limitless empty awareness/space.

  6. Non-visualization: While the diagram is visual, it's designed to represent concepts rather than suggest a visualization practice.

  7. Stages of Practice: The progression at the bottom reflects the step-by-step nature of the instruction.

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".



Want to remix?


Claude´s explanation of the diagram:


This diagram represents several key aspects of the "Space Witnessing Space" concept:

  1. Non-duality: The overlapping spaces and bidirectional witnessing suggest a non-dual state where the observer and the observed are not separate.

  2. Expansiveness: The large, gradient-filled circles represent the vast, unbounded nature of space in this meditation.

  3. Dynamic Awareness: The animated elements (pulsating point, moving arrows, changing opacities) illustrate that this is not a static state, but a dynamic process of awareness.

  4. Stages of Practice: The progression shown at the bottom indicates that this is an advanced stage of meditation, built upon earlier practices of noticing and using space.

  5. Subtlety: The use of gradients and opacity changes represents the subtle, often hard-to-grasp nature of this meditation experience.

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 




Comments


A thought on...

bottom of page