On Spiritual Alchemy – Review of an Assignment March 31, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Feng Shui,Psychology , add a commentI thought this might be useful for all students enrolled in the Oriental Psychology distance course.
To an Oriental Psychology student,
I’ve just read your assignment.
Perhaps in your enthusiasm you forgot to follow the basic rules.
There are 4 questions.
Identify and explain the basic steps of the Firing Process as spiritual tools to rectify the negative effects of temporal conditioning. This is Q1 of the assignment for Module 2 – Spiritual Alchemy.
You start off with your personal makeup. That is not answering the question! What are the 6 steps?
Q2 is about yin and yang. You don’t ever mention yin and yang. For example, what aspects of steps 1-6 of the Firing Process relate to true and false yin and yang?
Denial is false yin isn’t it?
You need to flesh out the qualities of false yin and yang – for example, pp 61 of Spirit of Change describes false yang as the use of ‘aggression, domination or force’ and pp 193 describes false yin as ‘taking things personally’ – etc.
Still on Q2, step 3 of the Firing Process is ‘hurry when applying effort’. Is this yin or yang? Why?
What about steps 4-6? Are they yin or yang? Why? Explain.
Q3 is about you. It is related to a specific life challenge that you face. You are asked to put this in perspective and relate it to each step of the Firing Process.
Perhaps you could use the personal description of your agitation mentioned on the first page of your assignment here.
It is now important to apply the 6 steps of the Firing Process to your management of agitation. For example, the 1st step is to acknowledge that you are the embodiment of agitation. Agitation is not something apart from you – you are it – the agitation!
The second step is to deflect external influences – in this case, people or things – that you allow to be projected onto you! If you are agitated because someone has said something you don’t like, then don’t buy into it!
The third step is to hurry – meaning, don’t indulge in whatever it is someone is projecting onto you. Apply effort to not indulge!
The fourth step is to relax when everything is settled. Obviously, unless you are settled, you can’t relax into it. There is no point in trying to relax when you are agitated! Therefore, go back to the beginning and follow the first three steps.
The fifth step applies when you run out of juice and need to recharge on the good stuff to get stronger. The good stuff may be something like reading an enlightening book, or visiting an enlightened friend. Whatever you find inspiring and uplifting spiritually.
The sixth step relates to the emergence of emotion. In other words, withdraw when you are disturbed about something or someone. Review your position and review the situation. Establish the facts and make sure you are not just buying in.
Q4 is the final question and it asks you to apply the correct step of the Firing Process to your situation. As evidenced by your attempt to render a personal account at the beginning of your assignment, you need to flesh out how your emotional reactions relate to the various steps. For example, when you mention that ‘a lacking in self-respect sets off the agitation’, this could be correlated to step one of the Firing Process – i.e. a lack of self-respect is based on a judgment you have made (a non-fact, a prejudice) and is a failure to apply inward discipline.
So what is the correct application? Whenever you feel inadequate, immediately establish inward discipline. Judging yourself is not an element of discipline!
Then go through each of your behaviours and relate them to the Firing Process. For example, your desire to please other people (this is a disturbance isn’t it?), to be seen to be doing an excellent job (this is a projection isn’t it?), your inability to say no, not liking to get things wrong, hating to be late, blasting others, getting interrupted, and so on and so forth.
So, back to the beginning. Answer each of the questions. Be thorough. Enjoy the experience. Pay attention to what you are saying.
Trust that this helps,
Geoff
Meditation on Distraction
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Meditations , add a commentHard core meditators would easily be able to tell you what their distractions look like.
Why?
Because they are accustomed to slipping into that space called ‘the quiet zone’ and know what it feels like when they’re not in it! Given that the mind is something that enjoys being occupied, we seem to spend most of our waking moments trying to fill it up – with whatever serves as an entertaining distraction – anything that will lead us astray from focusing on what is actually happening.
And what is actually happening?
Surely this is what we all must investigate and discover for ourselves!
Hexagram #3 – Promoting Strength March 30, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : I-Ching Spiritual Message , add a comment‘True strength must be promoted when it is neither firm nor yet truly strong. This Requires the ability to ‘stand out’ from the pack.’
- From Tao Cards for the 21st Century -
Oriental Mind Secrets – Interview with JB #3 – Milarepa to Krishnamurrti March 17, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Interview Transcripts , add a comment‘Right and wrong are situational. In the appropriate situation nothing is wrong. Without the appropriate situation, nothing is right. What is right in one case is not what is right in another. What is wrong in one case is not what is wrong in another.’ Masters of Huainan
INT. OFFICE — CONTINUOUS
(JB to listeners)
JB
Hello everybody and welcome to oriental mind secrets, an audio series designed to provide you the listener with access to the amazing work of Geoffrey Wilson – author of a remarkable distance learning course on oriental psychology.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
And hello to you, Geoff. What’s happening down under?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
It’s been an odd week. One day cool, boiling the next – at least here in Sydney. We’re gearing up for a visit from the Sri Lankans and Indians this summer in the cricket. And of course on a personal note, the task list seems to grow exponentially.
JB LAUGHS.
(JB to audience)
JB
How’s that?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Would like me to give you a rundown?
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Please do.
HE CHUCKLES.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
There’s the blog.
GEOFF
If I didn’t have much else to do, writing an entry once a week wouldn’t be too tough an assignment. But that’s not the case. Concurrently, I’m writing a novel, editing the final drafts of two screenplays, writing thirteen drafts for what will become thirty minute episodes of the new television series on holistic medicine that I’m writing and producing, and working on an audio book – my first attempt – with a distinguished old school Australian theater and film actor – Simon Chilvers – who has agreed to narrate the book – taken from my own novella. Then there’s the clinic and the management of patients and we haven’t gone shopping yet!
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Sounds like you’re a bit overwhelmed Geoff. I would be too with a workload like that!
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
When you put it that way, I guess I am. In the same breath, I love my work so much I don’t see it as work.
Brief pause.
GEOFF
So the project I’m doing with the actor, Simon Chilvers, for example, is a once in a lifetime type of opportunity. He’s brilliant. Can you imagine having the benefit of all those years behind you, acting and directing, and editing, and strategising? Just the wealth of that world? And of course he has the most extraordinary voice. The audio book is based on my novella ‘The Redemption of Mila’ – and I also wrote a screenplay for it. As you can tell, I’m very passionate about the story.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
What’s it about?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
The story is about the life of Milarepa – the Tibetan saint who it can be said had a life lived in two distinct halves. The first half of his life is the dark period. Without spoiling the telling of the story, at a young age he is forced into slavery and promises his mother to seek revenge on those who have done he and his mother and sister wrong. He takes up the black arts of sorcery and wreaks havoc. It is an extraordinary tale of revenge in fact. Some of it is quite gruesome and he gains something of a reputation as a skillful sorcerer. But you see, he can’t take it. He feels remorse for what he has done out of vengeance and so he looks for a way out. The second half of his life is the story of his redemption and the struggle he endures to atone for his misdeeds.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Sounds very interesting. I’ve heard that Milarepa is one of the founders of Tibetan Buddhism in fact. And that his philosophies are alive and well today – and that they actually form part of our new age vocabulary. What are some of these philosophies Geoff?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
I think I’ll go straight for the gold JB.
JB
Why not?
GEOFF
It has been suggested that Milarepa’s enlightenment occurred while he was holed up in a cave following an initiation he received from his teacher Marpa the translator.
JB
That’s an odd name.
GEOFF
Not really. You see Milarepa’s teacher was known for his travels to India in search of ancient scriptures. He would bring them back and then translate them. Hence the name – Marpa the translator. His task was to bring Milarepa to enlightenment following his disciple’s fall from grace and his time spent as a sorcerer.
JB
Okay. That makes sense. So what is the gold?
GEOFF
If there is such a thing as the final goal, Milarepa taught, one has to realize the non-existence of the personal ego. In realizing this, one understands the illusion of its existence in the first place. To realize the illusion, to grasp it, to comprehend it, the mind must be very quiet. Indeed. As Milarepa said, ‘One must therefore learn more than the definition of quietude’.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Most profound. And I dare say that in order to learn more than the definition of quietude is to learn about the art of meditation – which is the subject of our discussion today.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Jolly good. I knew we’d get there eventually. In the same breath, this is a rather delightful seguay. What better way to talk about meditation than through the life of Milarepa. And as you may already know JB, everyone seeks peace and harmony. We want to find out what will help free us from our miseries – the agitation, the irritation, the disharmony and so on ans so forth. Am I right?
(JB to Geoff)
JB
You are.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
But the funny thing is that we don’t just keep these miseries to ourselves do we?
JB
No.
GEOFF
We project them onto others as well.
JB
Now that you mention it, I suppose we do.
GEOFF
So now we have a situation where unhappiness permeates the atmosphere around someone – you for example.
JB
You’re picking on me a lot today.
GEOFF
Who else can I pick on?
Laugh and a pause.
GEOFF
You are miserable and you then come into contact with others. What do you think happens to them?
(JB to Geoff)
JB
They become affected and infected!
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Yes, they become infected by your misery – immediately. They pick up on the vibe in the same way an infant picks up on the vibe of a complete stranger.
JB
Are you saying people are emotional sponges?
GEOFF
I am. But it gets worse. Certainly becoming a slave to this unhappiness is not a very skillful way to live either for you or
someone else. If you think about it, the cause of suffering is the generation of negativity and when this happens we are bound to become unhappy. Put it this way, negativity cannot coexist with peace and harmony.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
I suppose you are right. How do we then generate negativity Geoff? An you explain the process for us?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Sure. We become unhappy when we find someone behaving in a way that we don’t like or when we find something happening which we don’t like.
JB
So far so good.
GEOFF
Unwanted things happen and this creates tension within. And then while this is happening, desired things do not happen – some obstacle gets in the way to prevent it happening – and again, this increases tension within.
JB
The days, weeks, months, and years fly past.
GEOFF
They do.
JB
Unwanted things keep on happening, and desired things don’t happen.
GEOFF
Correct.
JB
We become so tense, so full of negativity, that life becomes miserable.
GEOFF
You got it!
(JB to Geoff)
JB
How do you put an end to it then?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Good question. The wisdom keepers, that is to say, the saints and sages of the ancient world, studied this problem at great length – as I’m sure you can appreciate.
JB
I do.
GEOFF
That’s what Milarepa’s life was about. And each of these wonderful souls discovered that you have to face the problem. Whenever negativity arises in the mind, you must observe it, face it directly, and don’t ever run away from it. And as soon as the negativity is observed as it is, for what it is, the impurities accumulating in the mind, begin to lose their power and they slowly evaporate.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
But how does this happen?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Problems are inside everybody, aren’t they? They’re never outside.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
True.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
We tend to think that they are outside, but they are not.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Yes, that is true. Definitely.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Problems then are nothing more than our own reactions to things.
JB
Okay.
GEOFF
That is what keeps destroying our peace of mind and that is what keeps destroying our harmony.
JB
Reactions?
GEOFF
Yes. We become unhappy because we’re always reacting. Even when things are going well, we start getting attached to our feelings about them. We think ‘this is fabulous’ – ‘I hope it lasts forever’. Of course, it doesn’t and it is at this point that we become miserable because it doesn’t last forever.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Bummer!
JB laughs.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Perhaps, but that’s the way it is.
Geoff laughs.
GEOFF
Stay with me JB. This is where it gets very interesting.
JB
I’m with you buddy.
GEOFF
Good. Mental purification is the removal of reactions that make people feel unhappy.
JB
Reactions are always external aren’t they?
GEOFF
Think about it.
GEOFF
Aren’t anger, passion, fear, depression, anxiety, and so on, just reactions to what is going on outside?
JB
They are.
GEOFF
So with training and practice, it is very easy to observe respiration – the breathing – and body sensations – what you are feeling – both of which are directly related to mental defilements.
JB
I guess so.
GEOFF
As soon as negativity arises in the mind, the breath will lose it’s normality. It will start shouting. ‘Look here mister, something has gone wrong’. And of course, we cannot reprimand the breath, can we?
JB laughs.
JB
No, we can’t reprimand the breath. That would be too silly!
GEOFF
Right. So we can only accept the warning – sensations also tell us something is wrong. Having been warned about the breath, about these sensations, we can observe both the respiration and the corresponding sensations. Sooner or later, we discover that the negativity vanishes.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
But how?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
The soma-psyche phenomenon is like a coin with two sides. On one side of the coin are the thoughts and emotions arising in the mind. On the other side of the coin, are breathing and sensations in the body.
JB
Let me get this right. One side houses thoughts and feelings. The other side houses sensations and breathing. What happens in one will be experienced in the other.
GEOFF
Precisely. Any thoughts and emotions, or any mental impurities that may arise, manifest in the breath and sensations of that moment.
JB
So by observing the respiration or the sensations, we are in fact observing mental impurities.
GEOFF
That’s it. Instead of running away from them, we are facing reality as it is. We then discover that these impurities lose their strength and they no longer overpower us as they once did. If we persist, these impurities disappear altogether and we may begin to live peacefully and happily – free from negativities.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Where does this technique come from? Did you invent it?
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
This technique – if it can be called a technique – it is more an approach – a way of thinking – is called vipassana. The word means to see things as they really are.
JB
I’ve heard of it. Aren’t there special retreats? Ten day, fourteen day and thirty day retreats?
GEOFF
Yes there are. All over the world. Vipassana is one of India’s greatest exports. Self-transformation through self-observation. Another word for it is insight meditation.
JB
Who is responsible for discovering it? Do we know?
GEOFF
It was discovered or rediscovered by Gautama Buddha more than 2,500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for the treatment of universal ills.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
So Vipassana is Buddhist. I didn’t know that.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Don’t worry, JB. The label doesn’t matter. It is irrelevant.
He laughs.
GEOFF
The technique or approach is what is important. It shows us reality in two aspects – the inner and the outer. Most people are trained to look at the outer only – completely missing the inner reality – with the result that they always look outside of themselves for the cause of their unhappiness.
JB
And as such, the outer gets blamed for everything.
GEOFF
Correct. And ignorant of the inner reality, therefore, it is difficult to understand that the cause of suffering lies within – put simply, our blind reactions towards pleasant and unpleasant sensations is the sole cause of this suffering.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
If blind reaction represents judgment, then our expression of a preference for this or that is what ultimately separates us – divides us – and we become fragments – cut into two.
JB
When you accept this but reject that, you are caught in the problem of dividing reality into two halves. Naturally though, reality is not divided. It is whole.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
Very good JB. This is the problem with Western thinking going right back to Aristotle.
JB
How do you mean?
GEOFF
Aristotle is the one who said you’ve got a choice. You can choose this or you can choose that. He neglected to mention the mischief implied by choosing one thing over another.
JB
Can you elaborate?
GEOFF
If I choose this, I will have to reject that. The reality however is not concerned with preferences. There is only the whole. It is not made up of right and wrong, good and bad. As the Masters of Huainan say, ‘Right and wrong are situational. In the appropriate situation nothing is wrong. Without the appropriate situation, nothing is right. What is right in one case is not what is right in another. What is wrong in one case is not what is wrong in another.
JB
Can you refer back to your coin analogy?
GEOFF
With training, we can learn to see the other side of the coin simultaneously. We can become aware of our breathing as well as what is happening on the inside. Whatever it is, breath or sensation, we can learn to observe it without losing our mental balance.
GEOFF
Most importantly, we can stop reacting and when we cease reacting, we can put an end to the vicious cycle of multiplying our misery. In lieu of this, mental defilements come and go – like thoughts – eventually they pass away.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
So in effect, you are saying that if one watches without judgment, but just watches.. Then sensations of every kind – previously perceived as positive or negative – but now without reference to either positive or negative – completely lose their sting.
GEOFF
That’s correct.
JB
I get it. So in watching without judgment, ‘what is’ remains as ‘what is’ – whatever it is. Nothing can be done about it. It is as it is.
(Geoff to JB)
GEOFF
You got it. And the more one practices this sublime technique, the more quickly negativities dissolve. Gradually, the mind is liberated from defilements and it becomes pure.
JB
Very cool. It’s quite similar to Krishnamurti, really.
GEOFF
How do you figure?
JB
I would say vipassana is similar to the teaching of Krishnamurti in as much as there is only the act of observation – what he called, the phenomenon of the observer and the observed.
GEOFF
I see what you’re saying – yes. The observer is the observed.
GEOFF
There is no interval between them. Nor is there a naming ceremony. In other words, the urge to label things ends and with it, judgment. There is then only observation. He called it passive watchfulness.
JB
And finally today, what would you say are the qualities of a pure mind Geoff?
GEOFF
In as much as the description is never the described – another borrowing from Krishnamurti – he’s right – we are second hand people -
- They laugh -
GEOFF
- a pure mind is a loving mind. Such a mind is always full of love, full of selfless love for others, full of compassion, for the failings and sufferings of others, full of joy, and it is ultimately equanimous – in the face of any challenge or circumstance.
(JB to Geoff)
JB
Wonderful.
FADE OUT:
The End of Samsara – A Monk’s Perspective
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Meditations,Wisdom Notes , add a commentI heard about a monk recently whose excursions into the world of spirit and his exploration of the nature of soul are worthy of deep contemplation.
Kolita tells his father that everyone must follow his own destiny in order to fulfil soul’s purpose. It is a prelude to his immanent departure and a gesture of respect. Deep down, Kolita is ready to go. He understands he cannot live the life of a Brahmin and expect to be at peace with his soul. There are too many questions unanswered and too many problems left unsolved.
‘Because my consciousness is beginning-less I know that I have taken countless rebirths in samsara,’ he says to the man who once was his idol and a Brahmin well versed in the classics.
‘I have already had countless bodies… if they were all gathered together, they would fill the entire world, and all the blood and other bodily fluids that have flowed through them would form an ocean! So great has been my suffering in all these previous lives that I have shed enough tears of sorrow to form yet another ocean!
‘In every single life without exception… I have experienced the sufferings of sickness, ageing, death… being separated from those I love… and being unable to fulfill my wishes. If I do not attain permanent liberation from suffering now, I shall have to experience these sufferings again and again in countless future lives.
‘From the very depths of our hearts… can we not at least try to observe our attachment to worldly pleasures and find out if it is possible to attain permanent liberation from contaminated rebirths?’
Impermanence March 14, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Meditations , add a commentHe recites a line from the scriptures in reference to this fleeting world and his friend listens:
‘A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream…
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud…
A flickering lamp… a phantom… and a dream.’
In a flash, he sees all of these distractions for what they are… entertainments that strengthen an undying attachment to the world of samsara – the world of illusion and reincarnation. The people and things of this fleeting world are indeed impermanent… nothing lasts forever and the pleasures of this world are temporary… whatever has a beginning also ends.
from ‘Ukiyo’ by Geoffrey Wilson
Hexagram #59 – ‘Obedience’
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : I-Ching Spiritual Message , add a comment‘When the focus of attention is placed on the execution of divine law there is neither the urge to control the outcome of events nor the people engaged in them.’
from ‘Tao Cards for the 21st Century’
Hexagram #28 – On Making a Decision March 7, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Quote of the Week , add a comment‘It is wise to never make a decision when emotion has emerged.
It is more prudent to let it subside and then address the issue with a cool head.’
From ‘The Spirit of Change – I-Ching Secrets for the 21st Century’
Cinnabar Yang On Enlightenment March 5, 2008
Posted by Geoffrey Wilson in : Meditations , add a commentCinnabar Yang sweeps the floor and then the steps of the temple while he speaks to a visitor curious about the lifestyle of a sage:
‘Live in a cloistered residence if possible where you may have occasion to free your mind and read sacred books to perceive their inner meaning without getting caught up in the words. Penetrate herbal lore and you will also have the means to support the Tao and transcend the mundane. Strong personal attachments should not be made, but companions should be chosen to help you on your journey. Those with an illuminated mind, deep wisdom, and strong determination are the best. Don’t forget that the mind must let go of the world of desire, the world of forms, and the world of formlessness. Then it will become pure and your spirit will reside with the immortals and sages. Be attached to nothing and the Tao will be realized!’