| "Whoever we may be and whatever we may do, mind is at the heart of our
lives; so the clarification and awakening of mind is of potential interest
to everyone, in whatever walk of life." (p131) |
| "Good and bad come from your own mind. But what do you
call your own mind, apart from your actions and your thoughts? Where
does your own mind come from? If you really know where your own mind
comes from, boundless obstacles caused by your own actions will be
cleared all at once. After that, all sorts of extraordinary
possibilities will come to you without your seeking them. (Dahui) |
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| The idea of two minds, or two aspects of mind, is common to most ancient
wisdom traditions. The spiritual task is to refine the conscious spirit and
reunite it with the original spirit. This is necessary because it is common
that the guest or servant seizes control from the host or master. This
seizure is the root of self delusion. Self enlightenment takes place when
the master is restored to autonomy in the centre of attention. |
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"The operation of switching from the limited mind of conditioned
consciousness to the liberated mind of primal spirit is known as the method
of 'reversal', or turning the light around. (This) means turning the primary
attention from involvement in mental objects to focus on the essence or
source of mind. This exercise is practiced as a means of clearing
consciousness and freeing awareness." (p139-140) |
|
| Host |
Guest |
| Master
|
Servant |
| original spirit
(primal) |
conscious spirit (conditioned) |
| intuition
|
intellect |
| liberated
(independent) |
limited (dependent) |
| the formless essence of awareness; it is
unconditioned and transcends culture and history |
the mind-set of feelings, thoughts and attitudes,
conditioned by personal and cultural history, bound by habit to specific
forms |
|
|
| "From the point of view of the host … everything concerned with mood and
personality is in the domain of the guest. But, through the process of
social conditioning, the average individual comes to be centred in the guest
and therefore regards it as the self. As a result the true host is concealed
and it cannot bring out its more objective and encompassing perspective on
matters of mood and personality." (p143) |
|
|
|
"When the guest has taken over centre stage and the host is no longer in
sight, the 'switching' that takes place within an individual in response to
psychological and environmental factors is taking place from one mood or
personality to another; it does not return all the way to the source. The
individual can then no longer command the capacity to switch deliberately
from a subjective mood or sub-personality to an objective and impersonal
state of observant mind." (p144) |
| "Thus alienated from the primal source or 'host' of the original spirit, the
ego seeks integration by attempting to establish order among 'guests', the
conditioned facades of psyche and personality … Considered in this light,
the ability to experience the pure self of the original mind and the
capacity to return to it at will can be of fundamental significance in the
psychic life of the individual." (p144) |
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