Dick Y. led our discussion on April 15, 2010. He has studied various practices to change his consciousness now for more than 30 years. He has read about and tried a multitude of techniques and felt stongly that he wanted to teach the group at least some of these techniques.
But as he began organizing the presentation he realized that a short 1 hour presentation was not going to be enough time to even scratch the surface. In the end he decided to at least mention some of these techniques even though we would not have time to delve into most of them. He decided to show us 40 windows through which to experience divine states. Initially he named these 40 windows for us: Exalted States, Ebullience, Enthusiasm, Exuberance, Enlightenment joy, rapture, and bliss, Sat Chit Anand, Theosis, Transcendence happiness, Objective clarity, Virtue, Perfection (awakened, quickened), Deeply Purified, Contemplation, Mystical Truth, Absolute Oneness, Bare Attention, Satori (Bhava Samadhi), Adamantine state, Pristine Enlightenment (wisdom), Divine Grace, Emptiness, 18 Voids, Transmutation, Supreme Enlightenment, Omniscience, Goodness, Dharma Kaya, Spiritual Light, Supreme Freedom, Sudden Enlightenment, Eternal Continuum.
But as Dick continued to think about all these “windows”, he developed at least another 40 windows in a similar vein: Fun, Love, Gratitude, Luminous Shadow, Hidden Light, Radiance, Quickening, Illumined, Awe, Super-ego, Super consciousness, Shen, ID, Sun Full on the face, Brahma ViHara (4 divine states or 4 immeasurables of dwelling) – loving kindness = metta, compassion = karuna, Sympathetic Joy = Mudita, Equanimity = upekkha. Bara Kath, Divine Presence, Bhakti, Devotion, Adoration, Admiration, God’s Grace, Wonder, Smile, Subtle Golden “Tinglies” in the Heart, Shekinah, Perfect Witness, Para-consciousness, Ecstasy, No Time, No Contradiction, Beatific, Inner Face Exercises, Dance-Taichi, Rythmic Entrainment, Fana-Baqaa.
In thinking about all these methods and techniques, Dick then thought of the Mahamudra written by Tashi Namgyal (1512 – 1587). Mindfulness, True Nature of Mind, Tranquil Equipoise, Removal of Doubts, Insight, Joint Tranquility & Insight, A settled mind, Tranquil Absorption, Post Absorptive Perception, Analytical Meditation, Concentrative Meditation, Formless Tranquility W/O a Mental Image, Spontaneous Co-emergence, Undistracted Awareness of Intrinsic Reality, Abiding Nature of Mind, Watching the Mind’s Inner Face, Transforming Any Agonizing Crisis into Blessed Conditions, Transforming Poison into Ambrosia, Elevating Miseries by Transforming Miseries into Bodhicitta, Realization, Removal of Stains, Pacification of Postabsorption, Non Discriminatory Yoga and its Differentiation, Yoga of Non-Meditation, Rest in our Natural State of Being, Personal Liberation, Clarity & Stability (Luminous Clarity), Genuine Dedication, Voidness as Substratum (the Ultimate Nature of Reality), Contemplative Absorption (a Samadhi), Transcendental Wisdom, The Humorous Synchronicity, Total Surrender, Shabd-Nam-Celestial Music, Pratyahara – Kriya – Dhyana, Divine Light (Light Up Your Heart).
All of these techniques have specific practices to advance their effect of transformation of consciousness. The Mahamudra teachings and methods of meditation are used in all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism but are especially wellknown in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
Dick Y. then listed some of the ancient traditional ways of achieving the “Divine State”. Particularly these ancient forms of wisdom can be looked up and learned. Several of these techniques are listed here. They are strongly related to various yoga styles, and are therefore of Eastern origin.
Patanjali wrote his Yogasutras in the 2nd century BCE and defined Yoga asConcentration. There are 6 levels of concentrtion. 1) Fixing the Mind on Object = Dharana or Attention 2) Fixing the Mind on Objectcontinued = Dhyana or Concentration 3) Fixing the Mind Only on Natural Objects = Samadhi or Meditation 4) Fixing the Mind on One Natural Object = Sanyama 5) Fixing the Mind Has Uniform Flow = Nirodha (Mihalyi Csikscentmihaly) 6) Mind Fixed and No Thought = Ekagrata
Ichazso (1931 – Present). He described 9 senses. Concentrating in each sense can produce Samadhi.
1) Visual. Practiced by artists and the hypergnostic.
2) Temperature. Kriya & Tumo
3) Kinesthetic. Practiced in Movement and in Entrainment
4) Gustatory. Used in Discernment and with wine appreciation.
5) Touch. Practices with Lao Gong – Tickle –Chua ka
6) Equilibrium. TCC, Psychocal
7) Olfactory. Possibilities. Includes effect of various pheromones
8) Auditory. Plantar Audition and listening to Ying Huang are practices utilizing this sense.
9) Vocal/Self. Karma Cleaning/ Psychoanalysis.
All of these above 9 senses and the practices that specialize in these senses produce “A healthy well-loved body – one who love’s one’s self & tends well the fields of Flesh w/ One’s Consciousness.”
Finally here are 7 primary modalities for exploration of “Divine States”
Focused (Concentration)
1) Spine – G’Tumo, Kriya , Golden Flower, Bindi Yoga
2) 3rd Eye – Kriya, Kundalini , Pre-frontal cortex.
3) Heart – Bhakti Yoga, Devotion, Love, Bhava Samadhi
Un-focused (Expansive)
4) Void – 18 Voids
5) Light – By concentrating on “Light in the Head”. “The ascetic acquires the power of seeing Divine Being.” Paramaharisa Yogananda. Also Muktananda Chidvilasananda.
6) Emptiness – Gyatso Tsultrim, “5 emptinesses”, Ichazo.
7) Infinity – Infinite Time and Space.
I think one of the things that I was impressed with in this hand written handout given to us by Dick was the long long list of all these many techniques. Dick has studied most of them sometimes for very long times. One could look these various techniques up on Wikipedia or various media and further emphasize the enormity of this list. Many of these practices are quite complex and take a long time to teach and a long time to learn. Only by very repetitive practice can one get anything out of them. However, Dick did try to show us and summarize a couple of these practices We were able to understand and identify with the sensations and nature of experience that these couple techniques produce.
One example was to touch and stroke the Lao Gong point to enter into a Samadhi of Touch. Next we learned the mudra of fascination. Mudras are hand and body positions that may produce changes in consciousness through continued practice. They have their origin in India. They are used in meditation, yoga practice, and sometimes in healing practices.
Dick showed use the mudra of fascination using the Lao gong site in the palm of the hand. To practice this position, bend the middle finger to the palm of the hand. Touch the thumb and the ring finger. The pinkie and the index finger are extended. Fascination is a central posture.
Dick also feels that Patanjali, Yogasutras, while written simply, are deep and rich. How wonderful that b y narrowing our concentration on natural objects, we can produce the fascinations of Samadhi.
Jesus said, “You must be like little children or you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” If we can view things as though seeing them for the first time, we can produce many samadhis.
The discussion then proceeded to a discussion of what might be the source of the visual aura described in “Celestial Prophesy" by James Redfield. Characters in this novel see colors around things, plants and people and these auras reveal something about these objects or people. Dick Y. feels that if we focus our eyes long enough on an object our eyes tire, and there is a depletion of visual purple. I must admit as a physician, I do not know if this does physiologically happen or not. But Dick feels that whether physiologic or not, when we focus a sense long enough on something, we will see things we have not seen or heard before, which can lead to new and valid obervations. Fascination could be understood as seeing it anew each time.
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