What contributes to direct experience?

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Coby Miller
Helena, Montana
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Peter,
How much did the CI contribute to your own Enlightenment, as compared to other self-
development practices you did such as tai-chi?
Coby


Coby,
You seem to be asking, among other things, what assisted most in having enlightenment experiences (a
direct consciousness of the nature of Being). Did practices like T'ai Chi help or not? To tell you the truth, as far as I can tell, T'ai Chi, or any such practice (ch'i kung, aikido, yoga, diet, breathing, et al), do not lead to enlightenment experiences. This is primarily because their goal and purpose is different. They are not practices geared toward open and radical consciousness of the nature of "being." They are directed toward health, physical improvement, relational mastery, mind control, or what have you. But these are not the same as enlightenment.

Such practices, however, can be valuable for improving awareness in body and mind. And then again,
such practices can be just a fantasy -- fooling oneself into thinking conscious progress is being made
when actually only beliefs are being reinforced. Yet it is possible to become suddenly conscious of any
aspect of "being" at any time. After all, what is true is always true, and so is true right now. Therefore,
realizing this directly is possible in any moment. Such enlightenment, however, doesn't commonly occur unless a great deal of open conscious attention is put directly on the matter, and usually for a lengthy period of time. This focused and open attention is best done in a direct manner, such as a CI or Zen. Yet it can also become a part of one's practice in other disciplines.

In Cheng Hsin we work toward such consciousness in many ways. Even the martial work that we do,
which focuses primarily on increasing awareness of body and relationship, and to some extent mind, has in the background a connection with such direct consciousness work. But this is not it's focus.

In the ontology work we focus directly on mind and self, and push our way towards open investigation into the nature of Being. This work empowers enlightenment but also a deeper understanding of mind, and all that stands in the way of enlightenment so to speak. In other words, what we live with every day, and will continue to live with even after any enlightenment experience but perhaps to a lesser degree, is not absolute consciousness but limited mind interpretations. To me such work is invaluable for grasping what life and our self-struggles are all about. This helps increase consciousness in what occupies our energy and attention in every moment. It is not the same as absolute consciousness. Nothing short of absolute consciousness is consciousness of the absolute, but we should note that we don't live in absolutes, we live in relative relations. And understanding this world has as much of a profound affect on our experience of life as does realizing the absolute. Contemplation work is the most direct and focused work having the sole purpose of increasing consciousness directly, but this doesn't mean that other practices aren't useful or a direct experience is not possible. But direct experience is not likely unless that is the committed goal, regardless of what you do.
Peter

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