The Ancient Eastern Science of the Nervous System | Book Excerpt from Fasting the Mind
The Ancient Eastern Science of the Nervous System | Book Excerpt from Fasting the Mind The spiritual path of Buddhism came into existence as a result of this yearning to completely slow down our nervous system so we can experience real freedom. In Sanskrit such freedom is called nirvana, meaning extinction, freedom from suffering, and ultimately the unconditioned eternal reality that we experience as enlightenment. In the story of Gautama the Buddha, he sought methods of practice and philosophy that would evoke the state of nirvana. He followed asceticism and strict spiritual practices for six years. It wasn’t until he was exhausted in his efforts that he finally took some milky soup from a young girl herding cattle and sat under the famous Bodhi tree in the small town of Bodh Gaya, India. In doing so, he completely relaxed without the need for striving. His original efforts had been futile because he was approaching enlightenment in the same way that we purchase a cheap suit. In striving for anything, there is still agitation in the mind, and this perception of life comes from the ignorant view of how we supposedly achieve things in this world. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Gautama the Buddha accessed a part of our nervous system that remains dormant when we are always in physical and mental motion. This part of our nervous system is known as the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). To gain a better understanding of this we need to know what makes up the nervous system. The nervous system is the part of an animal’s body that coordinates its voluntary and involuntary actions and also transmits signals to and from different parts of its body. In vertebrate species, such as human beings, the nervous system contains two parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of mainly nerves, which are enclosed bundles of long fibers, and axons, which are long, slender projections of nerve cells that conduct electrical impulses away from the neuron’s cell body. These nerves and axons connect the central nervous system to every other part of the body. The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system (SoNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The autonomic nervous system is our central focus when related to psychological or spiritual inner work and transformation. The autonomic nervous system is a control system that largely acts unconsciously and regulates our bodily functions such as heart rate, respiratory rate, digestion, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The sympathetic nervous system is sometimes considered the “fight or flight” system because it is activated in cases of emergencies to mobilize energy. It is what we activate when we are in motion and being stimulated through our senses. Without it we could not do anything. The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, is often considered the “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” system because it is activated when we are in a relaxed state. We activate the parasympathetic nervous system when we essentially do nothing. It is also responsible for stimulation of “rest and digest” and “feed and breed” activities that occur when the body is at rest, especially after eating, including sexual arousal, lacrimation (tears), salivation, urination, digestion, and defecation. The parasympathetic nervous system is what makes us drift off to sleep every night. It is stimulated most when we relax deeply. The war on our nervous system is essentially the overstimulation of our sympathetic nervous system along with an understimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. When we stimulate only the sympathetic nervous system without activating the parasympathetic nervous system, we increase the probability of chemical imbalances in our brain from not having a healthy balanced lifestyle. Because of this, the vast majority of us are teetering on the edge of psychological suicide. People may say in response to this statement that they have time to relax every day. But are our methods for relaxation really relaxing? Our perception of relaxing is sitting in front of the television or computer, playing with our phones, chatting with friends, and so on. This is not true relaxation. Actually, when we engage in such activities we are still stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and not the parasympathetic nervous system. Accessing the parasympathetic nervous system requires a complete shutdown and withdrawal of the senses and mental activity, known as pratyahara in Sanskrit. This shutdown is important to Hinduism, Taoism, and especially Buddhism with its methods of practicing meditation. No matter whether it is Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, or Zen, the various strands of the Buddha’s teachings have at their core the necessity of starving or fasting the mind. This is done to allow the parasympathetic nervous system to play its role within our psychosomatic organism. One of the more effective methods that the Buddha supposedly taught was vipassana. Vipassana is a Pali word (vipasyana in Sanskrit) used in the Buddhist tradition that means “insight into the true nature of reality.” The meditation practice of vipassana is an ancient method that is believed to have come from Gautama the Buddha himself and which survived through other Buddhas throughout history. Vipassana meditation is thought of not only as a meditation practice in all life but also a disciplined technique that is supposed to evoke vipassana in all life. This technique was reintroduced by Burmese Theravada Buddhist teachers Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw. It was then popularized by Mahasi Sayadaw (a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master), Saya Gi U Ba Khin (the Burmese vipassana meditation teacher and an influential leader of the vipassana movement), and his student, Satya Narayan Goenka (better known as S. N. Goenka), who is well known for spreading the vipassana movement worldwide with more than a hundred centers located
Fasting the Mind OUT NOW!
My new book Fasting the Mind was published June, 13 2017. Fasting the Mind has been touted as a book to revolutionize the way we think, how we understand the mind, and what it truly means to have a peaceful mind. Some of the key points within this book are: • Combines cognitive psychology with Zen, Taoist, and Vedic practices to empty the mind • Explains how eliminating external stimulation can alleviate stress and anxiety for a calmer state of mind • Details meditation practices, such as open-awareness meditation, contemplation of Zen koans, and Vipassana meditation, and explores methods of digital detox • Draws on classical yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism as well as cognitive science to explain how and why to fast the mind The revolution of mind is here. Below are the links to purchase yourself a copy to begin the revolution: Amazon Paperback http://amzn.to/2zhsAY1 Amazon Kindle http://amzn.to/2z60LOe Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1620556464/ Amazon Canada https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1620556464/ Direct from Inner Traditions https://www.innertraditions.com/fasting-the-mind.html Direct from Simon & Schuster http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fasting-the-Mind/Jason-Gregory/9781620556467 Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fasting-the-mind-jason-gregory/1124693189
It’s Now or Never | Enlightenment Now Book Review by Daniel Reid
If you’ve read Enlightenment Now by Jason Gregory, or plan to read it, you’re a fully enlightened being and you know it, but you’re probably still pretending that you don’t in order to avoid responsibility for behaving in accord with that state, here and now. Enlightened behavior essentially means the proper management of how you use your energy in the world through the three faculties of body, speech, and mind, the source of all your actions, words, and thoughts in life. If you plan to continue putting off enlightened behavior, you’d better read another book, because this book won’t let you off the hook about delaying it any longer. You’ve delayed long enough already, and if you put it off much longer, you’ll lose your chance altogether because life is short and things change fast these days. This is a short book that’s easy to read. Its message is as simple and clear as saying, “The earth is round not flat, and the sun rises in the east not the west.” How many ways are there to say that, and how much evidence do people need to understand such obvious things? This book is more of a reminder than a revelation because we already know the truth it discusses. It’s basically an expanded prose version of the ancient Heart Sutra, the favorite scripture of Mahayana Buddhism in China. It’s a wake-up call for all you sleepy heads out there who claim that you wish to be enlightened but think you still have plenty of time to put it off and keep snoozing through life. You don’t, because time is an illusion. There’s no such thing as linear time in our lives. Let’s deal with that first. As the title indicates, Gregory’s book is about “now.” It’s always now. Have you ever lived in any time other than right now? The past and future are mental constructs that only serve as excuses for not being—and behaving—here and now. They don’t actually exist. People say, “Time passes,” but what they’re talking about is not time. It’s space and form in a state of constant flux, and it’s always happening right now. Take aging for example. People think it’s “caused” by the passage of time, but it’s not. It’s simply an ongoing process of deterioration that happens to all material form, without exception. Hair turns white, skin wrinkles, muscles atrophy, brains get rusty, and it’s all happening right here and now, in the eternal present moment. That’s not time. It’s the basic nature of composite form. This is one of the first truths the Buddha taught, and he called it “impermanence.” He didn’t call it “time.” To paraphrase the Buddha’s last words to his time-conscious disciples, “Get your act together now! What are you waiting for?” So why do people waste time that doesn’t even exist? Why do they live in the illusion of past and future rather than simply being here now and living in harmony with their own original nature? People choose to live in the illusion of time in order to avoid taking responsibility for living the way enlightened beings should live right now. Persuading yourself that you’re spiritually ignorant and immersed in delusion is the perfect excuse for all your misbehavior. If you accepted and lived by the enlightened awareness with which you were born, you’d be responsible for using your energy with the innate wisdom and compassion that enlightened awareness activates. You could not possibly allow your behavior to be motivated by anger and hatred, envy and greed, jealousy and lust, and all the other negative emotions that drive most behavior in the world today. You’d have to become a wise and compassionate person right now, and for people with other agendas that’s not convenient. Gregory doesn’t mince his words when discussing this problem. He describes most of the formal spiritual practices that people use to comfort themselves from day to day and assure each other that they’re on the way to enlightenment as nothing more than “spiritual postponement.” Meditation, yoga, breath work, visualization, reciting scriptures, and other practices that are repeated day after day for years and years in order to gain something that we already have makes no sense as a logical proposition, much less a spiritual path. It’s just another way to shirk responsibility for behaving according to the basic virtues of enlightened awareness right now. “The real spiritual practice,” states the Dalai Lama, “is daily life.” “Yes, yes, I know that we should treat starving refugees with generosity and compassion—but not now. We’ll plan to do that later. Meanwhile, let’s get these bastards out of our country! Let them go some place else.” Sound familiar? That’s essentially what Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Turnbull are saying in Australia about people who go there in desperation to seek refuge. These are the same hypocrites who, when it comes to election time, claim to be devout Christians who practice the teachings of Jesus. It’s much the same in America and Europe, though perhaps not quite as blatant. Jesus didn’t postpone his practice of what he preached, and neither did Buddha. They both walked their talk, and the reason their teachings still inspire people today is because they were not just barking in the wind. They lived by what they knew to be true. Postponing your enlightenment and not enacting it here and now is irresponsible and a denial of who we all really are. The fundamental issue here is freedom and how we use it or lose it. H.L. Mencken wrote, “The average man doesn’t want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” He pawns his precious freedom in exchange for money and material security that are as illusory as all material form and which disintegrate just as fast. The awakened man realizes that life is risky by nature and the notion of material security is an illusion, so he chooses instead to cultivate the only thing that he knows he owns outright and
Fasting the Mind 44% Off Pre-order Special & Free Gift Giveaway
To celebrate the publication of my new book Fasting the Mind this year Amazon and I will be holding outrageous deals on pre-ordering which will expire on the publication date of May 26. Amazon’s pre-order price guarantee is set at an amazing 44% off retail price, putting the book at only $8.30 if you pre-order now. That’s right, you will save $6.65 if you pre-order now. Also I will have four pre-order offers for you to choose from which all include a bunch of awesome stuff that you can share with others. These packages might be the perfect solution to a lot of headaches people have when trying to decide on gifts for others. Below you’ll see these four offers and bonuses for anyone who pre-orders the book now. If you believe there are people in your life that might benefit from or enjoy my new book then take advantage of this once off offer. The Revolution of Mind is here, but you need the book to know that first. MY OFFER TO YOU #1 – If you pre-order 5 copies of Fasting the Mind before May 26, you’ll receive: *A personally signed copy of my most recent book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. Click here to pre-order 5 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #1” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #2 – If you pre-order 10 copies of Fasting the Mind before May 26, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my most recent book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. Click here to pre-order 10 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #2” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #3 – If you pre-order 20 copies of Fasting the Mind before May 26, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my most recent book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. * A personally signed copies of my new book Fasting the Mind delivered to your door. *A 30 minute skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to pre-order 20 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #3” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #4- If you pre-order 50 copies of Fasting the Mind before May 26, you’ll receive: * 2 personally signed copies of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * 2 personally signed copies of my most recent book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. * 2 personally signed copies of my new book Fasting the Mind delivered to your door. *A 1 hour skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to pre-order 50 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #4” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). *This offer applies to digital or physical pre-orders. Thank you all for the support.
The Mysterious Mind of the East
From a Western perspective the mind of the East has always appeared peculiar. The Eastern way of thinking, their philosophy and spiritual beliefs, run counter to Western thought. Today, in the modern world, the Western view of life has become the norm, even in the East. The Western approach of radical individualism has spread all around the world, while the Eastern view of holism and collectivism is taking a backseat while each and every individual tries to reach the top of the social heap by tramping over others. A result of this striving for ‘success’ is that we have become excessively busy, and …
Enlightenment Now Christmas Gift Giveaway
Take care of all your family and friends this holiday season with my Enlightenment Now Christmas Gift Giveaway. To celebrate the holiday season I will be holding a order giveaway with many free gifts expiring on the date of December 31. There are four order offers to choose from which all include a bunch of awesome gifts that you can share with others. With Christmas so close one of these packages might be the perfect solution to a lot of headaches people have when trying to decide on gifts for others, especially meaningful gifts. Below you’ll see these four offers and bonuses for anyone who orders the book. If you believe there are people in your life that might benefit or enjoy my new book then take advantage of this once off offer. MY OFFER TO YOU #1 – If you purchase 5 copies of Enlightenment Now before December 31, you’ll receive: *A personally signed copy of Enlightenment Now or The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. Click here to purchase 5 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Order #1” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the orders and do not cancel their order and receive my gift under false pretences). #2 – If you purchase 10 copies of Enlightenment Now before December 31, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. Click here to purchase 10 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Order #2” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the orders and do not cancel their order and receive my gift under false pretences). #3 – If you purchase 20 copies of Enlightenment Now before December 31, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. *A 30 minute skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to purchase 20 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Order #3” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the orders and do not cancel their order and receive my gift under false pretences). #4- If you purchase 50 copies of Enlightenment Now before December 31, you’ll receive: * 3 personally signed copies of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * 3 personally signed copies of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. *A 1 hour skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to purchase 50 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Order #4” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the orders and do not cancel their order and receive my gift under false pretences). *This offer applies to digital or physical pre-orders. Thank you all for the support.
Enlightenment in the East: Misunderstood & Misinterpreted
Enlightenment in the East: Misunderstood & Misinterpreted Enlightenment in the East is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. It is completely different from the philosophical movement known as “the Enlightenment” in Europe during the 18th century. Eastern enlightenment is often studied but never experienced. It is usually viewed through our Western and modern linear view of life. Yet the Eastern view of life is built on the natural world’s foundation of a nonlinear view, inclusivity rather than exclusivity, collectivism over individualism, which all contribute to a perception of reality attuned to holism rather than an analytical perspective. Instead of analytically dissecting reality into separate parts to try and understand the whole, the East focused on how the apparent separateness of life is integral and essentially one. Both the holistic and analytical mind were environmentally determined by life’s circumstances thousands of years ago which influenced the way an Easterner and Westerner perceive the world until present day. The analytical mind is attributed to the West. It results from smaller communities during the first two millennia BCE in Greece which were naturally more individualistic because they had to fend for themselves and live off the individual labor of hunting, herding, and fishing for obtaining food. During the same period in the East the environment determined that it was best to live in large communities due to the arduous labor required for rice cultivation. This was especially the case in China and India. For example, the birth of Chinese civilization evolved from the Yellow River Valley area of northern China where rice was the essential food source. Living in large communities in the East people were dependent on each other and the health and well-being of every person. Your own individual self-interest and self-importance was surrendered to what was important for the collective good. This attitude geared people’s mind towards being holistic. As a result they attained a natural nonlinear view of reality. The analytical mind and linear view is the result of individualism, while the holistic mind and nonlinear view is the result of the collective perspective. This doesn’t mean one view is better or more real than the other. But the problem we encounter today is the holistic mind and nonlinear view of reality is disappearing in favor of a world driven by individual pursuits at the expense of our collective well-being, even in the modern East. The holistic mind and nonlinear view is the way of nature and is expressed through our intuition. The analytical mind and linear view is expressed through our intellect. Both are somewhat necessary but we overcompensate for the latter, which ultimately leads to the decline of nature and our own enlightenment as an individual. A mind primarily driven by the linear analytical view of reality contributes to the slow destruction of nature and also the mind itself. We see this with the alarming abundance of mental health issues and ecological problems today. The natural mind is rooted in the holistic nonlinear view which is the fundamental framework of nature, and human beings are an aspect of nature. This doesn’t mean the analytical mind and linear view cease to exist. But instead they should only be employed in those brief moments that require our attention to detail. Yet if your mind is rooted in its holistic nature then any attention to detail will be done without the sense of a separate person doing it, in the same fashion as Krishna was imploring Arjuna to do in battle against his family and friends within the Hindu epic Bhagavad Gita. The nonlinear world of nature and individual enlightenment are intimately related. But our sense of an identity separate from everything else has to disappear before we can realize enlightenment. Patanjali, the founder of yoga, explains this using the Sanskrit purusha (absolute pure awareness and the identical source of the universe within each of us, similar to the concept of Atman in Vedic scripture) and prakrti (all the form and energy of the manifest universe, including thoughts). He explains that the fundamental purpose of nature (prakrti) is for the human being to bring purusha forth into the world. Purusha, then, according to Patanjali, is the ultimate fulfilment of nature and why we essentially exist. Yet this could only happen if the idea of an isolated separate personality has disappeared because when our mind is pulled here and there by the movement of mental activity and life we lose our sense of purusha within. It is eclipsed by a haze of overstimulated mental activity. As a result we begin to firmly believe in the notion of past and future without an appreciation or recognition of the present moment. This is a disaster according to the Eastern wisdom traditions. In the East eternity and our connection to it is not some far off destination or someplace we go after death. It is right now where time and thinking are completely cut off. The eternal now aspect within our mind is experienced when we constantly ground ourselves in pure awareness (purusha). The more we bring our mind back to pure awareness the more we will experience the eternal aspect of the universe because pure awareness is beyond time, form, and mental activity. Our personality, on the other hand, is built and sustained by the linear view of the world. It is an accumulation of experiences from the past that we believe determines our future. Actually we tend to project our desires into the future based on our past. As a result our personality becomes entangled with suffering which is the result of linear time. When we realize we are the charioteer and begin to reign in the wild horses, to use Plato’s analogy of the mind, we become free from the entanglement of a time-bound personality that is causing all the trouble in the world. The real you, the true Self/Atman (Atman is a
Enlightenment Now: My New Book and a Bunch of Pre-order Gifts
To celebrate the publication of my new book Enlightenment Now this year I will be holding a pre-order giveaway with many free gifts expiring on the publication date of October 13. There are four pre-order offers to choose from which all include a bunch of awesome stuff that you can share with others. With October being so close to Christmas one of these packages might be the perfect solution to a lot of headaches people have when trying to decide on gifts for others. Below you’ll see these four offers and bonuses for anyone who pre-orders the book. If you believe there are people in your life that might benefit or enjoy my new book then take advantage of this once off offer. MY OFFER TO YOU #1 – If you pre-order 5 copies of Enlightenment Now before October 13, you’ll receive: *A personally signed copy of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. Click here to pre-order 5 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #1” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #2 – If you pre-order 10 copies of Enlightenment Now before October 13, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. Click here to pre-order 10 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #2” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #3 – If you pre-order 20 copies of Enlightenment Now before October 13, you’ll receive: * A personally signed copy of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * A personally signed copy of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. *A 30 minute skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to pre-order 20 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #3” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). #4- If you pre-order 50 copies of Enlightenment Now before October 13, you’ll receive: * 3 personally signed copies of my last book The Science and Practice of Humility delivered to your door. * 3 personally signed copies of my new book Enlightenment Now delivered to your door. *A 1 hour skype call with me to discuss my work and strategies that will help design a healthy lifestyle for you which will promote well-being, focus, mindfulness, and creativity that all contribute to authentic independency. This conversation is not set in stone and can be flexible based on your needs. Click here to pre-order 50 copies, then email your receipt to jasongregory@hotmail.com.au with “Pre-order #4” in the subject. When you receive the books send a photo of you with the books to the above email or post it on my Facebook or Twitter and I will send your gift straight away (The photo is done just to make sure people actually receive the pre-orders and do not cancel their pre-order and receive my gift under false pretences). *This offer applies to digital or physical pre-orders. Thank you all for the support.
Humility: A Sage’s Ultimate Reality
Humility: A Sage’s Ultimate Reality The effortless universal virtue of humility is what evokes enlightenment in life. The big problem with this mystical virtue is generally we only have fleeting moments of its power, as we constantly get sucked back into the subjective dramas of the world in our mind. As a result, we revere the sage for their sustained absorption in the lowest and paradoxically most powerful state of humility. A master absorbed in the humble and most refined state of consciousness has truly accepted life as it is. They have no desire to promote their own agenda, as from this state all agendas have evaporated like dewdrops on a hot sunny day. We seek to attain this level of perception through our spiritual practice but we get lost in social and cultural habits of thinking linearly, as we strive to succeed by gaining “spiritual powers.” This has more to do with showmanship than mysticism. We shed our old persona for a new and improved “spiritual persona.” Still driven by the ego we are attempting to define ourselves as someone “special” in relation to the world. Our spiritual practice becomes more about how to stick our head above the rest of the crowd. But enlightenment has no relationship to such an approach. Enlightenment is evoked by resting in the lowest place of humility. Water corresponds to this low place of humility. Water is the lowest force of nature, yet paradoxically it is the most powerful. Humility, like water, is the low and receptive virtue of nature within our psychology and linked to the unconscious, which paradoxically is the most powerful state of being that transforms the world without any intention to do so. Enlightenment is not something we can strive to attain. It is as natural as water moving down a mountain stream undisturbed, where the destination and journey are one. Humility is the state of consciousness when destination and journey, self and other, individual and universe, samsara and nirvana, reveal their intrinsic unity disguised as mutual opposites. Humility evokes this perception of enlightenment, which is actually the fruit of all spiritual practice and also life. We don’t perceive this in our life or practice because we are indoctrinated by culture to focus on the foreground of life instead of the background. We only perceive and are attracted to chaos in the world which is a reflection of the attraction to chaos within our mind. This eventuates because we have not refined our consciousness into the pure jewel of transparent and reflective awareness. When we are caught in the detail/drama of life we are trying to control the universe to suit our egotistical desires and cravings. We are still playing a game of one-upmanship with the world because we appall the low road of humility that unites us with the source of the universe. Humility evokes enlightenment when we give up trying to control life and instead trust the universal flow in the same way that water trusts the contours of a river without resisting its own clear nature of transparency and reflectivity. We are out of sync with the universe because we have lost this innate trust. Our trust continues to sleep dormant because we are trying to change the world to suit our conditioning according to sensory pleasures with the absurd exclusion of pain. Changing the world is the primary focus of most people. We feel as though we are saving the world but we don’t know who or what from. We believe we are a prisoner in this beautiful garden. We seek to save ourselves from its claustrophobic steel bars that develop in our mind so we can someday enjoy the aroma of the flowers. But we were never enslaved, nor is there anything to free ourselves from. We have invested too much time and energy on the chaos of the world within our mind without realizing it is only the detailed foreground of an orderly background. Intrinsic to chaos is order. This is the evolved perception of a sage. If our perception is too contracted we lose sight of reality as it is. We perceive chaos within and without, and believe it is stagnant and not undergoing any fundamental change. We become frustrated as a result and seek to force change with an intention that is solely our own. Trying to change or save the world implies that reality is not already perfect and that somehow we are isolated from it as a stranger in this cosmos. Contrary to this common feeling, when we let go and trust the universe, as a sage does, we realize deep within a “sense of unity” that is the goal of all spiritual practice and life. The fundamental paradox of life is we can never know true and authentic unity if we do not trust the universe. You cannot strive for unity because unity is evoked by the trust you live. Though, this unity is not the same unity that we dream about in images of world peace. It is the unity which dawns on an individual consciousness when opposites merge and chaos becomes perfect order from a state of perception so pure that the nature of the universe is finally seen as it truly is. Only then is world peace possible because our perception of order instead of chaos has given us the humility to receive the world with open arms and an agenda-less mind. Our struggles in life are born from not perceiving perfection in what others erroneously believe is imperfect. Our fundamental notion of duality between self and the universe continues to eclipse this beautiful perfection from our eyes. Living the science of humility is the sage’s medicine for our blindness. Published by Watkins Magazine http://www.watkinsmagazine.com/ Common Ground Magazine http://onlinedigitaleditions.com/commonground/archive/web-09-2015/ SHARE
Jason Gregory’s Foreword for Damo Mitchell’s New Book White Moon on the Mountain Peak
Foreword The Daoist Key to Naturalness Nothing frustrates the mind more than its attempts to be spontaneously natural without any intention to do so. We encounter this frustration within most spiritual traditions around the world. This becomes a battle between our conscious self (ego) and the adaptive mystical unconscious. This dilemma is explored and brought face to face with our awareness to the core of the problem most categorically in the mystical traditions of the East and the philosophy and methods of practice that have evolved from these Asian cultures as a result. Both the philosophy and methods of practice have tried to deal with this paradoxical obstacle of trying to be natural without “trying” to be natural. We have had philosophers and practitioners debating for millennia over this universal conundrum. As far as our historical records suggest this problem originated in the classical period of Chinese philosophy known as the ‘Hundred Schools of Thought’ (諸子百家) which flourished from the 6th century to 221BC, during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China. In this period we saw the rise of the four great philosophers of ancient China who all in some way contributed to a deep understanding of our attempts to be natural. They were Laozi, Confucius, Mencius, and Zhuangzi. We could debate all day long who we think has the superior philosophy or if they all somehow contribute to further our knowledge of the matter, but that is not the point. The key argument that gets to the point is whether we can induce naturalness (ziran in Chinese 自然), or whether it comes from a state of non-doing. This is best symbolized between the different perspectives of Laozi and Confucius. Both were concerned with how a human being accords to the Way (Dao in Chinese道) and lives its virtue (de in Chinese 德) as a result. One of the only things they would agree upon was that we need to return to our nature to be in the cosmic river of Dao. Yet both of their philosophies to live our nature were diametrically opposed. Confucius believed in the “carving and polishing” of the block of wood perspective. His belief is that we should chisel away at our beastly character to cultivate the Confucian virtues that are supposed to turn us into a Superior Man (Junzi in Chinese君子) who is in the end only functioning as an empty vessel for the forces of Dao to work through. The Confucian approach to naturalness, as a result of carving and polishing, is the method of wei-wu-wei (為無為), meaning doing non-doing. Naturally in the flow of the Way was to be obtained through following the ethics, odes, rituals, and sacrifices of Confucian philosophy (Ru in Chinese儒), which is supposed to shape our psychology to sense intuitively the metaphysical Way of the Dao in our ordinary life. But a big problem with this approach is it assumes that the Dao adheres to the philosophy of Ru and not the other way around. We lose sight of the meaning of ritual, as the Vedic civilization of the Indus Valley in India and Pakistan did as well, and we believe that the virtue of spontaneity is only confined within ritual and those who practice it. Laozi, on the other hand, believes this approach is a disaster and in a way go on to explain that the Confucians are still interpreting the spontaneous nature of Dao with the conscious mind which indicates that even the Junzi is not really an empty vessel. Instead of carving and polishing the block of wood, Laozi would suggest we stick to the “uncarved block” or unhewn wood in other words. Holding onto the uncarved block we quell all our attempts to be natural and just allow spontaneity to be as it will in our life with no premeditated control of it. This leads to the essential Daoist art of living known in Chinese as wu-wei (無為), meaning non-doing. According to Laozi wu-wei is the way to align our mind to the Dao because we have stopped trying to control our experience. He believed that if we embraced non-doing in our life the conscious self (ego) would loosen its grip of tyranny within our mind so the mystical unconscious can allow our experience to be as it will without our personal agenda and desires of life projected upon it. But we should keep in mind that Laozi is not saying literally that we should do nothing and become a stone Buddha. What he is saying is that when we don’t force life to be a certain way and instead allow life to happen, wu-wei, we accord to the Dao because the sense of “I” has become subservient to the Way of nature, which is spontaneous. This means that outwardly we could be actively doing things but within we are effortless because the sense of personality has marinated and become absorbed in the Dao. We discover this Laozian understanding of wu-wei also in the Indian epic Bhagavad Gita with the Sanskrit nishkam karma where Krishna advocates to Arjuna to remain active but be inwardly effortless without the need of being rewarded for the fruits his labor. Essentially Krishna wants Arjuna to be so effortless that his actions are completely selfless because the “I” has dissolved. The Bhagavad Gita states this in two key verses: To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction. Fixed in yoga, do thy work, O Winner of wealth (Arjuna), abandoning attachment, with an even mind in success and failure, for evenness of mind is called yoga. When we attempt to act with the sense of being the doer we resist the Dao and suffer as a result. To use an example, when we try to open a door with a key if we force the key when
