I take my title from Lesley’s Post. But dancing is what Lesley hopes to do. Right now, she’s vibrating. Lesley, I’d be interested to know more about what that means and how it works.
Ron and Joel are exploring time and the movement of thoughts. Thoughts, as action, certainly invoke time, and the prospect of engaging the temporal dynamic of thinking directly, without having to first “get permission” from self as agent and as owner of the thoughts, does seem to me exactly what Ex. 16 is pointing at. Whether this leads to no-separation between your thoughts and my thoughts is a different matter. In principle, TSK is very open to this kind of “non-standard” kind of happening. But first we have to work with the fact that time presents not only a thought, but also a thinker thinking that thought. Hmmm.
Arthur, I’m glad that writing in German makes the process more inviting. Again, I hope that other German speakers accept this invitation as well. In addition to everyone from Germany (and some of the Dutch speakers too, and me), Joel reads German fluently. So your Posts are noted and appreciated.
Arthur makes the important point that working with time can be more challenging and illuminating than working directly with the theme of “self” (though we will do that more later, as well.) I think that’s one of the reasons that Rinpoche presents this vision in terms of time and space and knowledge. These are unexamined (relatively) dimensions of our being. The German philosopher Heidegger wrote (I paraphrase and expand): “If we only look where everyone is used to looking, we will never gain access to light.” The question of time is a question that leads us into unknown territories, and that is a good thing.
At the same time, Arthur, you are right that it is hard even to notice events that cannot be referred back to a self.
At the top of p. 40 in When It Rains, the question is raised: do we have a sense of time passing when we are fully engaged in an event? He answers no, but then observes that he does have a sense of time passing when he is able to get involved in his breathing. Other times too: the ticking of a clock. This is a good observation. What accounts for the difference? Would it be possible to cultivate the sense of time passing in other “ordinary” experiences? Is this a worthwhile approach?
Jack
Dancing, It’s all about body sensations. Dancing — playful, back and forth, dipping toes and fingers in and then pulling back, teasing time without committing to position; balance coming from movement — and the sensory awareness of this type of balance –it’s not a thinking of balance. I don’t know…it’s experiential and comes from movement, Nia, which is faster than Kum Nye. But, Don (my husband) says he has similar sensations from Kum Nye and moving very slowly. I don’t know if this makes sense, but I bet all of you who do Kum Nye can relate to the integration of body and mind when it occurs. THat’s what dance, Nia, does for me.
Vibrating like a spider. Have you ever jiggled a spider web when it’s inhabited by a spider or stared at a spide in the center of its web? The spider starts shaking, vibrating, and my sense this is to give the idea of an expanded threatening presence, very defensive.
xo, Lesley
Eine Frage an diejenigen, die mit Übung 16 (oder ähnlich) gearbeitet haben: Wenn das “Self” weder “agent” noch “owner” von Gedanken ist, bekommen dann die Gedanken andere Inhaltsschwerpunkte? Finden sich noch “Ich”-bezogene Inhalte wie zum Beispiel “Mit dieser elektrischen Eisenbahn möchte ich jetzt unbedingt spielen” ?
Lieber Jack,
ich möchte Dir für Deine Arbeiten mit unseren Anmerkungen danken, auch für die angebotenen Übersetzungen. Auch ich wünsche mir, daß die deutschsprachigen Teilnehmer von sich hören lassen! Eine “Gemeinschaft” erscheint mir auch in unserem Zusammenhang wichtig.
Ich stelle fest, daß auch ich immer wieder mit dem Thema “Ich”, “Selbst” beschäftigt bin. Es kann sich doch kaum um den personifizierten “Teufel” handeln. Welche menschlichen Funktionen sind gemeint? Kann ich auch liebevoll mit diesem Peter umgehen? Wünscht das Ich nicht auch Knowledge? Wo ist es dienlich, wo wird es “überfürsorglich” und steht im Weg und fühlt sich bedroht?
Um solche und ähnliche Fragen geht es.- Ich hebe sie für später auf.
Zur Zeit scheint mir hilfreich: “let him stand aside..”
Und Dank auch für den Hinweis auf David´s Post.
Mit herzlichem Gruß,
Peter.