Concentration and insight, huh (I skimmed the link)? I do most of my thinking pacing around the kitchen island, composing posts like this, and when lying in bed. My concentrating ability and insightfulness are actually quite satisfactory. I don't utilize rituals or props, or put aside a special time for these activities. It's part of daily living. I'm doing it now.
From the link:
"You start to undercut subject/object dualism, which is the basis of all suffering and illusion. Gradually, higher and higher realms of existence, leading toward the ultimate or nondual dimension, are all made obvious to you. You transcend your ordinary self or ego, and find the higher and subtler dimensions of existence—the spiritual and transcendental."
I don't know what language like this is talking about. There must be something going on in other minds that this speaks to. I don't experience my life as suffering or illusion. I have no incentive to try to change the way I perceive or processes the world around me.
Yes, concentration meditation has the secondary benefit of increasing your attention skills, but that is not it primary purpose or intention. Defocal meditation also can increase your attention skills in general as well, as a side benefit. But that's not it's main reason for doing it.
As far as "suffering" goes, he's referring to the Buddhist teaching from the Four Noble Truths:
The Four Noble Truths in detail - Life and teachings of the Buddha - Edexcel - GCSE Religious Studies Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize
The Buddha believed that most suffering is caused by a tendency to crave or desire things. A person might crave something nice to eat or desire to go on a nice holiday or earn lots of money. Buddhism teaches that through being dissatisfied with their lives and craving things, people suffer.
I agree with this. But we may not necessarily recognize suffering, as it's something we all live with daily. It's just there like a constant ache we no generally just learn to ignore, but once someone has tasted Liberation, or Freedom from suffering, it becomes painfully apparent. And that is the path of letting go of cravings and desires, things which create that "separation" or that "fallen state", which all religions speak of in some manner or another. It's as Plotinus said, "Mankind is poised midway between the beasts of the field and the gods". That in-between state, is "suffering" that we seek release from in seeking the Divine, or Transcendence, or Nirvana, or Oneness, or Enlightenment.
I'm also a musician, and have spiritual experiences with much music - a kind of rapture, a transporting to another mental space. I suspect that this and similar experiences are what people are referring to with words like the quote above from your link. I just don't use that kind of language except maybe in a situation like this one to find common language with another.
I would choose different words than the description above. I'd say things like "flow state", or even moving outside of yourself, getting into the zone, even nondual states depending on the experience. But it's all connected in certain ways are another. A lot of sports players experience that as well. Marathon runners, golfers, etc.
I'd like to hear something you've composed or performed. I've played in bands for years, but not in a while. I play lead electric guitar and sing. This is a slow 12-bar blues in a minor key, always soulful. Playing something like this, as I'm sure you'll agree, transports one. The mind is in a different place, not concentrating like it did when practicing and learning chords and scales, but just disappearing and blending into the room and song. Maybe this is what others mean by non-dual thought. I hope you like this:
Great! I like it. Yeah, you're a musician.
My music experience is mainly as a composer, though I do occasionally do performances of my solo piano works. What I'll share here is a few pieces I've recently done, playing midi keyboards and various synth and sample libraries.
The first one here is something I wrote to go with an 8mm film I had digitized of my mother swimming off the boat that my father shot back in the late 70's. It was my first time trying editing film to make a looping, yet not purely sequential splicing of the clips together to make this film. It's meant as a meditation for me and family of my mother, who passed away a couple years ago now. But it's just beautiful artful thing in itself for anyone. I wrote this while I was recovering from being laid out for a couple weeks with bacterial pneumonia this past January.
These other two are more recent. The one "Sleepytime" is a sort of odd, quirky song, yet with some depth and direction to it. It's kind of "sleeper" song, pun intended. The second one, "Into the Deep" is more a sweeping ambient yet, rising orchestral type piece.
Sleepytime
Into The Deep
Incidentally, this is a good example of what I mean when I say that experience and reason can be used to facilitate nonrational experience. What goes into preparing for a moment like that? Concentration, study, practice, all in the service of being able to go into a creative mode absent concentration or even thought in words. Improvising on guitar is like singing with the hands, or flying. I'm glad we found common experiential ground here.
Amen.
I'll reply to some of your other thoughts later. I enjoy this discussion and sharing of our love of music. I write only music without words. It's how I began writing music to express deep feelings during a very difficult time in my life. It became my voice, and frankly saved me at that time.
