Comment below: **
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > **snip** > For me the key to what you say above is in the phrase > "repeated applications of attention." The Rama fellow I > studied with for a while used to talk about "storing > power," focusing one's attention upon an object, or a > place, or an activity such that the object or place or > activity becomes suffused with that attention, the > attention an integral part of it. Thus finding, in a > "future" life some object or place or activity that in > the "past" you suffused with your "own" attention can > be a very liberating experience. You find an instan- > taneous resonance with the object or place or activity, > and it gets you high, just the same way it did when you > were *originally* infusing it with your attention. > > Perhaps the most striking example of this for me took > place at an art museum. I was living in Santa Fe, collect- > ing the Tibetan art that I could afford, and heard about > a large show of Tibetan art at the museum in Albuquerque. > I was underwhelmed; I thought to myself, "Self, how good > could a show of Tibetan art in *Albuquerque* be?" and so > I put off going to it. (Little did I know that this show > was curated by the most noted scholar and curator of > Tibetan art on the planet, who had been coaxed out of > retirement to do one more show that was unlike anything > he had ever done before -- composed entirely of pieces > that had never been shown in public before.) > > Anyway, not knowing this, I finally found my way to the > show. And I was *not* in a good mood. I was the total > opposite of "moodmaking." I'd gotten stuck taking a woman > to the Albuquerque airport and she was with me. She was > *not* my type; all she did was talk talk talk, about > nothing of consequence. And I was stuck with her when > seeing the museum show. > > So I walked into the museum, in this low state of attention, > and WHAM! -- instantaneously, unexpectedly, *contrary* to > my expectations, I was high as a kite. We're talking > desert-trip-with-Rama high, getting-up-from-four- > thoughtless-hours-in-Samadhi high, near-enlightened high. > I actually had to sit down on a bench for a few minutes > to get my bearings and try to figure out what it was that > had *made* me so high. > > It was the art. *Each* of the objects in the show had > gone through this process of "repeated applications of > attention." The artist -- in most cases unknown -- had > spent weeks or months or years drawing or carving the > piece, pouring his soul into it, infusing it with his > longing for nirvana, his hopes, his fears, with the > psychic "artifacts" of a whole lifetime's seeking. And > all of that was still there centuries later, in almost > every object. > > It was more present in some of them. One statuette of > Padmasambhava, carved in lapis lazuli, was particularly > powerful. I stood in front of it and it was like stand- > ing in front of a live spiritual teacher giving Class A > darshan or an advanced empowerment. After finding it, I > sat on a bench nearby and watched the straight (that is, > non-Eastern spirituality oriented) museum goers react > to it. They'd walk up to the case, look at the piece, > and get all weak in the knees. Some had to sit down. > And almost none of them made the association that it > was the power and the attention "stored" in this art > object that had made them weak in the knees. > > Fascinating experience. Thanks for triggering the > memory of it with your words, Marek. Suffice it to say > that I agree with your "take" on the value of and nature > of Images. The particular Image you choose to pour your > heart and soul and your attention into probably doesn't > matter; for one seeker it's Jesus, for another Krishna, > and for yet another Jerry Garcia. The nature of the > Image probably doesn't matter; it's the *process* of > focusing one's attention that's important. And once the > powerful attention of a powerful seeker has been focused > on an object or a place or an activity, something of that > attention remains, even when the seeker who infused it > with his essence is dead and gone. Possibly it's the > same thing for seekers who focus on spiritual teachers > who are dead and gone. > **end** Great story, Barry. And, if All is Consciousness, then all we are doing is rediscovering that our consciousness is all that we experience. Activating that knowledge by the re-application of Attention. Kashmiri Shaivism is all about the articulation and appreciation of just That, right?
