Monday, January 13, 2014

Pure Awareness of Self Nature moment by moment without deluded thinking

Pure Awareness of Self Nature is a natural function of our inherent wisdom.

How do we work with Pure Awareness? We become aware of everything inside and everything outside. What is everything inside and outside?...That would be thoughts and emotions, body sensations and everything external to our body...the guy using the power saw next door, the children crying, the traffic noise, the sunlight reflecting off the store window, the smell of fresh baked cinnamon buns from the bakery.....

When do we use Pure Awareness of  Self Nature? In every moment! Waking up out of bed, body cleaning, talking, eating, writing, sex, looking at the computer, driving the car, picking up the groceries, watching tv, playing sports, applauding....in any participatory verb, use Pure Awareness of the Self Nature AND drop the deluded mind of self centeredness and discrimination that inevitably forms attachments to the objects the mind likes and the objects the mind doesn't like.

When we first begin to use Pure Awareness of Self Nature in every moment of daily life, we will notice that the world has grabbed our attention and we have forgotten to use Pure Awareness of Self Nature. Thousands of moments drop away as we keep forgetting . Then, at each moment of remembering, we wake up to the natural function of our inherent wisdom.  At each additional remembering, we strengthen the habit of remembering. Notice the difference between the two states of awareness...the one that is very dull (asleep) and the one is very bright (aware).

How can we strengthen the habit of remembering to practice using Pure Awareness of Self Nature in every moment of our daily life? There are tricks. Here's one. If you have an I Phone, set the alarm function to ring once an hour and at different times each hour for several hours in a row. Yes, the process is a little of a nuisance, but it's an easy way to start establishing a habit. When it rings, check yourself. Are you practicing Pure Awareness of Self Nature, at that moment, without any deluded thoughts?

This process (without the technological time trick) we call No Method. The 6th Patriarch Huineng  (638 to early 713) did not use seated meditation at all. He simply performed the function of his occupation...a wood cutter...using Pure Awareness of Self Nature continually moment by moment all day long. We will continue this No Method practice when we sit on the meditation pillow, to do either Silent Illumination or to raise the Questioning Sensation in the Huatou practice.




Main Web Site: Cosmos Chan (Zen) Community at http://www.cosmoschan.org/

Other Buddhist centres in the Comox Valley and at large:
http://www.dharmafellowship.org/hermitage/ 
http://www.sherabchammaling.com/biography.html
And California at http://dharmatalks.riversidechan.org/2013_07_01_archive.html
Vancouver http://www.chancommunity.ca/
http://www.dharmadrum.org/content/global_affiliates/global_affiliate.aspx


Please note the change of phone number, ...call Adrian at 250 650 9055,
email adrian2@shaw.ca