Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sadhana For Realizing the Dependently Arising Nature of Creation

This is from one of my favorite sadhana's (spiritual practices). Many think that they need to go to a beautiful place or a mountain to attain higher states. I also know that if I invited you to a mountain, to the ruins or a sacred site or even a short walk out into the desert to meditate most of you would not go- preferring to sit in the air-conditioning while yelling the names of the chakras for some time.

I know first hand that you can experience the dependently arising nature of creation at a Walmart or at a fast food restaurant. You can experience a state of oneness while meditating on a can of tomato soup just as easily as focusing on a beautiful flower.

So we will try this. I will show you how. In this practice, some will experience, or perhaps enter for some time, a state of consciousness of a buddha. The ancients used the word "buddha" to mean an enlightened person who has awakened from suffering born of ignorance. In this state is a seeing of the dependently arising nature of this creation. And it is an appeasement of all obsessions. How long with it last? It all depends. How long would you like to stay awake?

Tonight’s meditation is for the experience of a state of a buddha. Very simply in this state you see the entire Universe in all that you see and realize the dependently arising nature of creation. This experience occurs when the kundalini and the point of awareness meet in the Ajnea Chakra or brow chakra.

We will focus on the brow chakra, visualize a 2 petaled Indigo lotus with a sparkling grey lingham inside and chant Aum for 16 times. Make the ahhhh sound 3 times longer than the MMM when chanting. MMMM helps you to enter the dream realm. If you give more weight to MMMMM than the Ahhhh you may just fall asleep. So ideally Ahhhh is 3 counts, Ooooo is 2, and Mmmmm 1.

Now go get something to eat. Maybe some potato chips or french fries or peanut butter or fruit. Something that is from a plant.

Ready?

We will start a Sadhana For the Experience of the Dependently Arising Nature of Creation.

As you eat whatever food you have chosen, question if it is really a potato, a cup of coffee, a peanut butter sandwich, some fruit, whatever it is you are eating.

For example if you are looking at a french fry, let it tell you its story. See the potato, it was growing in the earth no so long ago. See the field it grew in, the sun shining on that field, the rain, the farmer, the dirt, what the farmer had for breakfast, the truck that brought his morning coffee to the store, the rubber on the tires, the rubber plantation near the rainforest, the monkey howling in the tree, the little girl who was awakened by that monkey, on and on. Wherever that french fry wants to take you, go with it.

Faster and faster the story will unfold and you will see that the entire universe went into the making of the food that you are holding now. Tremendous wonder and gratitude will occur. Soon it will become automatic and you will see the entire creation, the spontaneously growing process that we call the Universe in all that you see.

Now go deeper, ask the question "Can I see anything that is absolute?" The mind will start clocking in a sense. Tremendous gratitude and wonder is born as you see how the entire Universe is related to the simplest thing.

In this way seeing you can enter a state of a buddha. This state is a very functional pleasurable state. There is still a sense of seperate existence - a viewer and a view. However it is an appeasement of all obsessions. You will become highly efficient beings for the most part. This Seeing will help you to realize the dependently arising nature of the Universe.

For some time you will say during this sadhana (spiritual practice) to yourself "I see the french fry, I see it was from a potato. I see the dirt that was on the potato, the field the potato was in, the hoe that broke the soil. the steel factory that forged the hoe. The tree the handle on the hoe was made from, I see the birds in the tree….” and so forth.

It may seem stupid for some time as if you are talking to yourself. You may get bored. Then suddenly it can be like it takes off-this way of seeing and you will see the entire Universe, even in a grain of sand -how everything depends on another.

Buddha told his monks that he was a quail in a previous incarnation. I think about that and watch the quail running about in the desert. They are a lot like man. Quail can fly yet they seem to forget this for the most part and prefer to run.

The contemplation for now is once you reach this state of seeing: Try and see if you can find anything that is absolute or stands alone in this creation.

From a workshop with Dharma Dharini