How Buddhist “No-Self” Theory Helps Alchemcal Process

While I have made it clear that cosmologically and practically in terms of higher cultivation goals I completely reject the Buddhist metaphysical doctrine of the Denail of Selfhood as ultimately a denial of creative Free Will, I want to point out that many have benefited from the Buddhist doctrine in a practical way.

How?

Because:

1. the physical plane is so contracted, the human mind easily resonates with and is overwhelmed/seduced into accepting that state of sensory contraction as its only reality.

2. to get a stuck human mind to shift, sometimes it is a good strategy to completely deny its reality, i.e. use a “shock” tactic. This shock can occurs due to the challenge of a Self trying to wrap itself around Non-Self. This can cause it to shift half-way (even though it is impossible for the Self to experience anything other than its own Self-essence, ie. go “all the way”).

3. If this half way shift opens the human self to experiencing the seeming flow of “selves” in each moment, or is integrated with Process type of practices (ranging from qigong & inner alchemy to Process psychology), then the opening that occurs due to the shock of trying to embrace the Buddhist Denial of Self will have served a pivotal purpose. Thus someone stuck in a pattern of “suffering”/contraction, if they can temporarily believe that their self is not real, they can feel empowered to let go of the pattern of suffering.

It doesn’t make the doctrine of the Denial of SElfhood true or give any inherency to Emptiness metaphysics, it should simply be seen as a tactic that can be effective for some people.

The problem with the Buddhist doctrines comes (MHO) from clinging to the belief in Emptiness or Illusion of Self as absolute, as the shock therapy value can be taken to excess, and can eventually undermine one’s raison d’etre in the post natal world.

Several folks have posted cases of people who got lost in Emptiness or related their own experience as being weakened by it.

I had a friend and student who constantly wrote Emptiness inspired poetry. she was/is a wonderful person, but she had chronic health problems and was always so skinny I was concerned she would simply blow away.
She was always letting go of everything even while embracing their passing beauty – but had trouble not only accumulating body weight, but also trouble accumulating wealth. Emptiness was destroying her ground.

She asked me for advice on her condition. I told her: eliminate the word Emptiness from your vocabulary. Replace it with “Openness” or “Divine Receptivity”. Rewrite all your poems, I suggested. Start focusing on your positive/substantial ground. She said she would try it.

When I met her a year later, she had gained weight, received unexpected sources of income, was teaching more qigong, and overall, was glowing and healthy.

I think she was too yin to take on Emptiness as a strategy for development.

I think Emptiness works best for excess yang male types, who need a yin practice of doing nothing to balance out all their success achievement in the outer world. Chan can offer that for them, especially if they do not have a natural yin force in their daily life, i.e. a female partner. In this case Emptiness practice is really yin practice, getting more yin from enforced periods of “doing nothing”, internally or externally.

So, to make up an example, if you’ve been practicing a martial art for eight hours a day for ten years, to just sit and do nothing might feel like sudden enlightenment. You’ve got so much energetic momentun, but weren’t spending enough time meditatively digesting the chi being generated. You stop and slow down, and the accumulated chi begins to get digested spontaneously. Eventually you will perhaps digest that momentum and feel inspired to start moving again.

Or another hypothetical example: someone creates for themselves a mostly very mental career, writes many books and articles, creates and synthesizes brilliant conceptual systems in their field. Even though they do body-centered practices and dynamic Tao meditation, those may not be yin enough enough to balance out the yang lifestyle/mental constitution. So the Chan focus on “sitting and forgetting” method can feel like instant nirvana, as it balances their lifestyle, and can make a good “meditation partner” for that person. They will naturally try to mentally synthesize their experience into a new conceptual system that embraces both Tao and Chan.

Just to round out this discussion. Tao is all embracing, and helps all to find the balance they need.

Smiling to our collective balance and the wisdom of Tao,

Michael

ps. note posting on Breathing methods under practice section.
Will be out on retreat for my birthday for a day or two, back later.