Emptiness and suffering

[SpiritCarrier]

Originally Posted by Humanb

Thanks for the reply!

I understand that i'm neither the body or mind because i can't find myself, the physical body and mind seems to be only a collection of non-self.

But what about the spirit? All things are the spirit, the consciousness, the awareness ect.. but these names which mean the same thing if i'm correct are comprised of absolutely nothing at all?

The thing i don't get is, how can you distance yourself from your physical body with realizations? where do you end up if you are fully realized, do you forever rest as the true form of self?

So many questions, i'm sorry!!

I am sorry I just saw this.

The things that you described do not exist of nothing at all. They exist as energy, just like spirit is energy. Your physical body has nothing to do with your pure self, your spirit self. It is merely a corporal manifestation of you, a shell in which your spirit exist on this plane of existence.

I hope that helps. Of course this is just what I believe to be true according to my experience and personal knowledge.

Peace and Light,
SC

[jonesboy]

There are many emptiness practices. Mindfulness/Mahamudra is an emptiness practices.

It wasn't till after I could feel flows of energy that I could experience emptiness of self. Maybe my experience can help you understand.

When I could first feel the flows I would have the moments. I would try to reside in the flows of energy that were going through my body. As I would reside in the flows I would also have moments of oneness.

So here I am feeling flows/winds of energy and I would try to reside in them. As I resided I realized with the oneness that everything is empty. Like a thought. It is solid because we believe in it but there is really nothing there. That is the truth with all things. All things that you see are like a bottle. They appear to have form but really they are all empty.

It is the meaning of the Heart Sutra. Form=Void, Void=Form. Once you are able like in mindfulness to get past the thought. You realize it is just energy.

Over time that empiness becomes a way of being. You will notice yourself getting angry and feel the emotional energy flowing into emptiness. In the end all problems/obstructions becomes a letting go into emptiness.

So just keep doing your practice. When it happens it happens. To worry about it is to just make it take longer to happen.

Hope this helps.

[Humanb]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

There are many emptiness practices. Mindfulness/Mahamudra is an emptiness practices.

It wasn't till after I could feel flows of energy that I could experience emptiness of self. Maybe my experience can help you understand.

When I could first feel the flows I would have the moments. I would try to reside in the flows of energy that were going through my body. As I would reside in the flows I would also have moments of oneness.

So here I am feeling flows/winds of energy and I would try to reside in them. As I resided I realized with the oneness that everything is empty. Like a thought. It is solid because we believe in it but there is really nothing there. That is the truth with all things. All things that you see are like a bottle. They appear to have form but really they are all empty.

It is the meaning of the Heart Sutra. Form=Void, Void=Form. Once you are able like in mindfulness to get past the thought. You realize it is just energy.

Over time that empiness becomes a way of being. You will notice yourself getting angry and feel the emotional energy flowing into emptiness. In the end all problems/obstructions becomes a letting go into emptiness.

So just keep doing your practice. When it happens it happens. To worry about it is to just make it take longer to happen.

Hope this helps.

That's good advice, thank you for your reply.

I believe my practise of emptiness to be beneficial, Even though a monk told me it wasn't the correct way of meditating on emptiness. I believe the way I explained my meditation to the monk may have not accurately explained the experience I have. Personally, the meditation has been very effective and I believe it to be a very meaningful experience.

I think I need to dedicate more of my free time to studying Buddhism, I such a lazy person, I need to do more with my free time rather than sleep or engaging in actions that aren't beneficial to spiritual growth.

I know how important it is, I just need to get into a routine of study. I have a meditation routine so I just need at least half an hour a day to study also.

Anyway, thank you for your replies! :)

Bless you all,

HumanB

Humanb, Ajhan Brahm gives a very good talk on Emptiness, when you have time watch it as i,m sure you will understand what it means. He gives really good teachings and I always find he,s easy to understand. Keep trying, you will get there.

[Humanb]

Originally Posted by celest

Humanb, Ajhan Brahm gives a very good talk on Emptiness, when you have time watch it as i,m sure you will understand what it means. He gives really good teachings and I always find he,s easy to understand. Keep trying, you will get there.

Thank you, I'll have to have a listen to his teachings :)

Your welcome, he,s very down to earth and speaks in simple terms which is good when your just learning. Another of my favourites is Thich Nhat Hahn, this man is one beautiful soul. You will find your own teachers along the way, there are many and i,m not trying to push you in my direction, just some suggestions. Take care.

[QT Pie]

Originally Posted by Humanb

I received my 2nd teaching on emptiness today at my local Buddhist temple.
As with most teachings, you often need to hear them several times before you really gain true wisdom.

While i understood the teachings and realized how true they were, i was still slightly confused about how it all fits together.

We did a meditation in which we attempted to find ourself and we couldn't find ourself, i'm not the body and i'm not the mind either, the conclusion was that we are nothing at all. So i understood this part, but i do not understand how suffering can cease to exist for somebody who has realized there is no self... I've realized that the consciousness can alter reality, but i can't consciously alter reality just because of a realization.

It seems too much like a conceptual understanding...

"I'm in pain, wait no.. There is no me to be in pain."

If i burnt my hand on a kettle right now with the realization that there is no self, i would perceive pain, therefore the suffering hasn't ceased to exist because that unpleasant sensation is still existent.

Also, i confronted a monk about my meditations on emptiness and how my body and external world dissipated when i achieved good focus and apparently this meditation isn't beneficial at all and this isn't emptiness.
This actually made me feel pretty bad because this is a meditation i had been practicing for most of my spiritual journey and to be told it isn't beneficial to me or others is like ripping the path beneath my feet.

I love Buddhism because it is profound and i know deep down it is truth, but i thought i was beginning to understand it. Now i just have no idea what i'm doing, i feel lost..

The significance of no self as it relates to suffering came to me like this. My mind flashed to a memory of being on the playground before school one morning. I was sitting on a bench with a couple of friends talking when a group of five tough girls (older) came up to me and began harassing me specifically. The girls sitting next to me had slid over a bit, clearly distancing themselves from me. The memory became dreamlike and I was a vortex of energy. No self. The scene froze and the girls who moved away one began to speak. She was saying she was so relieved it was not her problem, this feeling is flooding her relief and self loathing all at once. The experience went to each girl in the group, the main instigator, the girls backing her up. As each girl spoke it became clear she was there for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with me. No self. People are in constant reaction to what they think you are. You are in constant reaction to what you think you are.

As to how suffering is ended, and what exactly that means experientially I can only share my understanding of how I feel suffering has been removed for me so far in my life. For example the process of breaking up with someone you really loved. There was no sense that something had to be severed or rejected. There was no ability to believe the experience meant anything about myself. No mind trying to call me unpleasant names. I only felt the lack of his presence, and missed it. I only had to endure reality, and not struggle with my story. There is actually a dignified beauty in the clear unattached feelings of loss. They are beautiful actually.

No self is no suffering because the self is the martyr, the dust in you that swirls tormentedly, this can be settled completely when you deeply accept you were never that dust. You faught it always. It will seem silly you were ever confused.