Space can be experienced in its allowing capacity, while each appearing property would reveal something about the space that allows.
The exercise 4 in DTS invites us to look at mind without words; at the mechanism of conducting; at the pursuit of knowledge. The exercise 4 in DTS experienced together with the allowing capacity of space reminded me an article by Tanissaro Bikku about Nirvana:
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/nirvanaverb.html).
In the text, Tanissaro says:
Back in the days of the Buddha, nirvana (nibbana) had a verb of its own: nibbuti. It meant to “go out”. To go out was to be unbound.
Now that nirvana has become an English word, it should have its own English verb to convey the sense of “being unbound” as well. At present, we say that a person “reaches” nirvana or “enters” nirvana, implying that nibbana is a place where you can go. However, nirvana is most emphatically not a place. It’s realized only when the mind stops defining itself in terms of place: of here, or there, or between the two.
… With no here or there or between the two, you obviously can’t use the verb “enter” or “reach” to describe this realization, even metaphorically. Maybe we should make the word nirvana into a verb itself: “When there is no you in connection with that, you nirvana.” That way we can indicate that unbinding is an action unlike any other, and we can head off any mistaken notion about getting “stuck” in total freedom.
When I look at my mind without words, I am able to see the process of translating reality to make it fit in what I have already known, and this, sometimes, can lead to a borrowed and distorted view of reality. The “I†and the “known†both establish my reality, establish the order of the logos.
It is common in my experience, and for sure in the experience of most of the people, that when I have to do something, I somehow envision the steps of the process, with all the difficulties, and also my feelings about it. And this envisioning, like a spell, influences the outcome of the task I have to do. It is like a resistance freezing things to fit the order of the logos. It is as if I was stuck in the task. It cannot be otherwise
This week I had a task to do and I could see the “I†resisting the difficulties, there was no space for positives outcomes. The feeling of getting stuck was claustrophobic. This environment didn´t allow the free flow of the events. Being aware of my situation allowed me to see “where†I was, and see that it could be different. This allowance caused a shift, letting me “go out†of the claustrophobic environment, being unbound of its difficulties. It was like I let my body melt and fuse with the surroundings. The task was allowed to be done. There was no “to†or “fromâ€, just doing, allowing. There was no expectations and no judgments.
Space and its allowing capacity challenged substance and became a verb. The “allowing†permeated all my experience and I could drop any mistaken notion about getting “stuck” in total freedom. You just have to allow it: it is in your body, it is in your mind, it is already there.
Eliana, when I finally read your assignment from more than a week ago, I found it very insightful. I don’t think I have ever made that connection between Nirvana and how we are inhabiting the space of our life right now. I’ve sensed that the quality of experience has a lot to do with how we are looking and interpreting life as it is, but I like your notion that we could be nirvanaing instead of trying to reach some distant place. It’s interesting that Tasissaro Bikku’s presentation (at least in translation) uses the phrase “go out” as the verb for becoming unbound. “Being no one going no where”, the title of a book on a similar theme, gives the verb a sense that there is no need to start a journey–which I think is also completely compatible with the TSK vision.
Like you seem also to do, I sometimes find myself recasting experiences and memories in terms of a TSK way of looking. I was particularly struck with one sentence in your post, which reminded me of a rather strange experience I had a long time ago when I lived in Montreal, and which made much more sense when I reexamined it in terms of the operation of linear time. Your phrase:
” I somehow envision the steps of the process, with all the difficulties, and also my feelings about it. And this envisioning, like a spell, influences the outcome of the task I have to do.”
In my case, my “envisioned steps” and the “spell” they cast over how I experienced the arising reality, felt more like the operation of linear “time” than the binding of a way of occupying “space” but perhaps the feel is similar.
I wrote about this experience recently in a weekly blog I post on my personal website and which, about half the time, appears in a section I call “Time, Space, Knowledge”. If you’re interested, here is a link to the post (“Waiting at the Bus Stop”) about the incident I mention above:
http://www.michaelgrayauthor.com/home/dh_hr278g/cciforum.dreamhosters.com/2015/02/standing-bus-stop/
Let’s keep on knowing, spacing and timing . . .
Michael
Thank you Eliana. I appreciate how you connect the TSK material with your experience. And in doing so make it easier for me to connect to it.
Soudi
This is lovely, Eliana. Thank you. I enjoyed the quote from Tanissaro and all the connections and links you make in what you have written. I think there may be a connection between this and A. H. Almaas’ latest book: Runaway Realisation