Explosive Awareness
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This moment is life... (06/10/11) 09:10hrs To be within this moment is total let-go, the presence of this moment allows no-self. Meditation is only possible without the self, it is not possible to be meditative whilst you still grasp at the self. If you believe that you can be meditative for ten minutes out of the day then you are deceiving your self into your illusory belief. To be truly meditative, allows only your whole life without interruption, your meditative awareness only becomes pure through a pure mind that is within this moment of eternity. When meditation flowed through India, the word for meditation was Dhyana, when meditation moved into China the word was translated as Ch`an. When meditation moved into Japan and mixed inseparably with Tao, the word was translated as Zen. In essence, pure meditation is only through awareness of silence, in essence, meditation is only pure when there is nothing but silence, reflecting all things. Meditation cannot be controlled by the mind, it is the mind that is transformed through meditation. If you believe that meditation is a visualization of something, then you must believe in the imagination of a fantasy world that only distracts you from this moment. Religions throughout the world have tried to “own” the word, so that religion can manipulate the meaning and thus control the masses into twisted belief systems of thinking. Religion only creates division throughout the world, religion can only survive through twisted beliefs that create a divided world of different countries, different governments and different laws, which only result in people being addicted to power and control over others. It is clear to see the close relationship between the priest, the politician, the teacher and the preacher, and recognize all these positions as positions of power, shared to disguise the reality of this being a business relationship, designed to control the world. If you live with pure awareness, there is no religion to confine you, there is no priest to control you. There is no politician to deceive you, there is no teacher to try to tell you and there is no preacher to shout over you. Without this imprisonment there is no division or separation, there is no-belief in anything created by the intellectual mind of man. Beliefs have only created believers that destroy this sacred moment of eternity. Belief has created division, war and fear. If you are forced into belief ,then you have to live your life in fear of protecting your belief that has been forced upon you. When you were born you were forced to believe by your parents, your teachers, your priests, your politicians and your preachers. You were forced to go to the School that supported your belief and only mixed with those who shared your belief. Your whole education was forced upon you and you have been examined since then by those who believe that they “own” the word. With pure awareness all things appear in a pure way. You can see the reality of the various sufferings created by the selfish mind of man, without being affected by the illusion. Your whole life experience explodes within a pure moment, you begin to see the reflection of everything and you are no longer deceived by believing in the beliefs that cause so much grief. So it is now clear that pure meditation is simply a process of unlearning everything you have been forced to learn by others, who have already been deceived.
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About the Book
A lotus flower seed is rooted then grows from the darkness of the mud at the bottom of the lake. Simply through the power of it`s pure intention it reaches the surface of the lake then explodes into flower through the powerful blessings of the suns rays...
Like unto a lotus you have the seed of enlightenment. Simply through the power of pure intention you will realise the way things really are, you will realise reality exploding within your own experience of silence within this moment... Payne channels the sages of Chinese, Japanese and Indian lore in preaching meditation for a new generation of spiritual seekers. Payne’s book seems to advertise a radical, new, edgy, anti-establishment project. Yet in some ways, that’s far from the truth, since Payne peddles religious ideas whose roots stretch back thousands of years. For nearly a decade and a half, Payne has practiced the ancient art of meditation, which he now sees as a path toward peace and fulfillment. Thus, in around 60 short sketches—some poetry, some prose—he sets out to explain some of the many lessons he’s learned while on his spiritual journey. As Payne notes, many of the lessons echo those taught by the great saints of Asian religion: Buddha, Lao Tsu, Shantideva and Bodhidharma. Payne teaches that attachment to things of this world is frustrating because those things are mere images that may change and pass away. Our grasping for these images is fruitless and pointless. Even the self is an illusion; “In reality I does not exist,” Payne writes, “I, me and mine are wordless words.” In the end, our misconceptions bring us pain. Yet meditation, which puts us in touch with reality, is a methodical forgetting of all this falseness: “Meditation is a simple process of unlearning everything you have been forced to learn by others.” The great value of Payne’s slim volume is that he expresses such old lessons in sleek, punchy, modern prose. Those intimidated by classic Buddhist texts such as the Lotus Sutra might find Payne’s contemporary message refreshing and enlightening. Perhaps the only drawback here is that in trying to express paradoxical truths, Payne sometimes falls back on stilted idioms: “The world has become a business with it’s [sic] own board of directors acting like gods within the balance of things, only it is the minds of those within the world that are in the balance.” Metaphors can only hold so much water. Ancient teachings helpfully repackaged for a modern audience. - Kirkus Book Review
Sunrise (03/01/09)
About the Author
Michael Payne lives in Cheshire and has practiced meditation for fourteen years.