{"id":5051,"date":"2013-11-27T11:27:24","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T19:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/?p=5051"},"modified":"2013-12-09T10:39:52","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T18:39:52","slug":"assignment-week-4-is-meditation-a-trapp-in-lower-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/?p=5051","title":{"rendered":"Assignment Week 4 – Is Meditation a Trap in Lower Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The great meditative traditions of Tibet, with which I have more familiarity, have long recognized two major obstacles in this practice. One is the seduction of power and celestial pleasures. In this one the practitioner is still tied to the demands and wishes done by the self, narrowing the experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second obstacle is meditation based on denial of everything, whether conceptual or experiential, which can lead to dullness and apathy. Practitioners, who deliberately try to empty their minds of thoughts and feelings, aiming to make their minds completely blank, may encounter this obstacle. If they yield to it, they may stay in a state of blankness for a long time without making much progress. However blissful their experience, however long they may sit with a blank mind, they are still trapped in lower time because they temporarily freeze things, and the attachment to these experiences is the result of the self as focal setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Practitioners who have not had the opportunity to receive proper instruction from a qualified master, or those who prefer to experiment on their own, are most likely to encounter these obstacles. But there is a way out with proper guidance. It is true that some ways of practicing meditation can lead to the full potential of Human being. <\/span><\/p>\n

Our mind creates the world where we live molding routines, wishes and expectations that are too solid and real for us. We are so habituated to this creation that we can let it go, we can\u00c2\u00b4t simply stay with direct experience. Deep relaxation and openness of meditation offer a different perspective about our thoughts and perceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost all spiritual disciplines practice some form of meditation. Ordinarily, meditation is viewed as a form of thinking used in combination with words, images or concepts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but meditation is not thinking about something. The meditative experience may seem subjective \u00e2\u20ac\u201c my consciousness, my awareness. But as we look further into the meditative state, we find that awareness is neither subjective nor objective. Awareness is a natural openness that takes place when the mind is left to function freely on its own \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with no interruptions, distractions, or expectations. Meditative awareness is like completely open space<\/span>. (Tarthag Tulku\u00c2\u00b4s Tibetan Meditation pg 12)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

With an open mind experience unfolds toward Great Time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when progress is slow, even when the mind shies away from knowledge by hiding in confusion or dullness, we have the opportunity for greater knowledge, for it is just such reactions that we can catch a glimpse of the mind-fabrication process in action, revealing the mechanism of the arising of these patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The deep tranquility of space can calm our bodies and suffuse our minds. Attuned to space, we see that we are linked to all appearance. The gift of this gentle intimacy allows knowledge to arise effortlessly, inseparable from wonder at the magical play of manifestation. Time itself becomes spacious and expansive, inviting us to dance and play, leading us toward unawaited treasures. SDTS xvii<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The great meditative traditions of Tibet, with which I have more familiarity, have long recognized two major obstacles in this practice. One is the seduction of power and celestial pleasures. In this one the practitioner is still tied to the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,70,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-general-tsk-discussions","category-space","category-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cciforum.dreamhosters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}