Reflecting on the practice presented on SDTS Page 82, about the different feels of remembered past experiences and of imaginings that never happened, the ration of “16” came to mind.
Perhaps an imagined image that leads nowhere is like the zero point of “I am here”. An image arises and then sinks back down into undifferentiated mind stuff which is always moving and stirring like the undulating face of the sea. It doesn’t feel like a memory because it hasn’t reached out and doesn’t come into relationship with any other point in time or space.
In contrast, when we remember something from our past, we are bringing back into mind an action that had vision and intention behind it and probably feedback stirred up by it. Even if we are remembering a moment of embarrassment or regret at a missed opportunity, there is still the sense that our embodied being was once trying to do something and that this attempt stirred up a reaction. Whereas, locked inside our own mind, imaginings feel like seeds that are never planted and so have never sprouted; they just lie in the seed packet, unrelated to earth, rain, and sunlight.
Perhaps a momentary imagining is like a vanishing present moment of linear time. It is only when several times are brought into relationship with each other that we can begin to notice that time is already dancing.
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This discussion reminds me of the Buddhist presentation of karma, karmic seeds and ‘secondary causes’ which allow the ripening of those seeds. What is suggested is that the ‘planted seeds’ may not ripen for ‘lifetimes’ (leading to such phrases as ‘why is this happening to me’) and the secondary causes (which water them and allow them to sprout) may not be obvious to us.
Michael,
Very interesting the idea of seeds planted. I dare to say that all of the memories and imaginings are seeds. Some of them take root and grow giving fruits that we pick once in a while, and others are plants that did not grow and just left a mark on the soil that don´t give fruits.