--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> On Oct 18, 2008, at 3:30 PM, TurquoiseB wrote:
>
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11
> > <no_reply@> wrote:
> >>
> >> how is the state of attention described, as the one to adopt
while
> >> remaining conscious through the Bardo and onto rebirth? i am
just
> >> curious how specific it gets, and which attributes are
mentioned.
> >
> > I studied Phowa for only about a year, and so
> > I have to go on record as being too much a novice
> > to comment authoritatively. Vaj or others here
> > may feel confident to reply more fully.
>
> When awareness cleaves off of the Clear Light, there's an instant
> death, a swoon, fainting as you briefly change channels--but the
> states in between the bardo-gaps one can hang there for as long
as
> ones meditational expertise will let them. Re-entry back into
waking
> consciousness is the most difficult as the body is sensitive to
any of
> the things you relaxed or tensed during the various transitions,
> you've radically relaxed all of your muscles. When you're in the
> bardo, it's like all the muscle groups which subtly held these
> tensions inside awareness, relax. If you're not relaxed on re-
entry,
> all the muscles re-tense and cramp.
>
> It's like you were worked over by a summo wrestler masseuse, it
hurts
> like hell.
>
> But the hardest thing to get used to was being able to let go and
just
> die. Once you get used to that, it's easier. The other thing I
found
> hard to get past was the fact that while in these states I was
still
> simultaneously aware of my body and my environment. Normally
that's no
> big deal but in this case your at the same time intimately aware
that
> your samadhi is holding your breath and certain muscles on it's
own--
> and you can feel the body wanting to breathe. Together with that
> there's an incredibly intense energy roaring through your body
like
> the sound that started the universe and an energy that feels as if
it
> could tear you apart. So it does take some getting used to. In
that
> sense samadhi meditation is very helpful, as the tools you gain
from
> that are really the same tools for managing these states and
their
> transitions.
>
everything you say certainly makes sense-- the previous physical
intertia sustains momentum for awhile. Thanks- very interesting to
me.
