18.11.14

Instant Mindfulness

You cannot practise mindfulness. The mind is already mindful. You cannot practise letting go. Appearances appear and disappear on their own.

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The mind is already mindful,
It cannot be increased or decreased.
Whatever occurs
It is naturally aware of it.
The mind is not born out of conditions,
So it is free and independent,
Unaffected by appearances.
That is, experience is
Known and inconceivable at the same time.
Experience cannot be unknown,
Otherwise it would not be experienced.
Experience cannot be conceived,
Otherwise it would stay for ever.
Mind and experience are one and the same.
As mind is necessarily mindful,
So is experience necessarily known.
As mind is necessarily nothing concrete,
So is experience necessarily inconceivable.
See the experiencing mind for what it is
And mindfulness is perfected immediately.

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Seeing the ultimate is seeing the conventional, seeing the conventional is seeing the ultimate. That is, if appearances are seen as appearances, instead of solid entities, then that is seeing the ultimate. In experience that means the end of the three poisons, the lack of greed, hatred and ignorance in one's activities. Seeing things without being moved by them, free from emotional and conceptual entanglements. Understanding that all the six senses are illusory experiences - that is, not something real out there or inside - helps one to let go of whatever pops up in one's sphere of perception without trying to hold on to them or push them away. That is in the end the practice of just sitting about, an open mind where all things freely come and go. A closed mind would be trying to escape from some experience. Grasping at things would be trying to keep some experience. On the one hand, all appearances are impermanent, it is impossible to escape from or keep them. On the other hand, the mind is naturally open and aware, boundless and luminous, so it doesn't need to be corrected, fixed, or improved. From familiarising oneself with that understanding, that view, then using it during a calm session of sitting, helps to get the hang of it and use it outside of a pleasant and peaceful environment within one's everyday life.

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This world is an illusion. This body and mind are an illusion. There is no other world, body or mind beyond to look for.

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