{"id":4287,"date":"2011-05-30T07:25:49","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T12:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2011-05-30T07:31:54","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T12:31:54","slug":"what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What a bodymind can do &#8211; Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This continues from the <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-1\/\">previous post<\/a>, where Shinzen Young&#8217;s model of core mindfulness practices was expanded into a system of classifying what a human bodymind can do. Here the model is deepened following the process-relational insights that are at the core of Shinzen&#8217;s system as well as of other (especially Mahayana and Vajrayana) Buddhist systems, and of the philosophies of A. N. Whitehead and, in some respects, of C. S. Peirce, Gilles Deleuze, and other  process-relational thinkers. This part is followed by a concluding segment, found here. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.redbubble.com\/people\/byrontik\/art\/3741708-spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-4332\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/work.3741708.2.flat550x550075f.spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing.jpg?resize=181%2C120\" alt=\"\" width=\"181\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/work.3741708.2.flat550x550075f.spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing.jpg?resize=275%2C183&amp;ssl=1 275w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/work.3741708.2.flat550x550075f.spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/work.3741708.2.flat550x550075f.spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing.jpg?resize=400%2C266&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/work.3741708.2.flat550x550075f.spiritual-art-chi-flow-mind-eye-heart-power-and-the-primitive-mirror-soulbeing.jpg?w=550&amp;ssl=1 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 181px) 100vw, 181px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tweak #2: <em>How a Bodymind Can Be Made to Flow<\/em><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s where things start to get <em>really<\/em> interesting. For  most Buddhist (including Shinzen&#8217;s) and process-relational views,  subjectivity and objectivity are not static conditions or &#8220;poles&#8221;  holding up the universe. Rather, they are results &#8212; outcomes, however  temporary and however ultimately insubstantial &#8212; of a less  differentiated, more flowing activity, which Shinzen calls <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CBwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shinzen.org%2FRetreat%2520Reading%2FFlow.pdf&amp;rct=j&amp;q=shinzen%20young%20flow&amp;ei=3HnZTa6sGoLx0gHQ0KX8Aw&amp;usg=AFQjCNFqUgNXFhw26n6aF0WwmkC0cR9Jhw&amp;sig2=P3OwoxSa8keHAK9VenEaFg&amp;cad=rja\">flow<\/a>,  and which metaphysical systems like Whitehead&#8217;s, Bergson&#8217;s, Peirce&#8217;s,  and Deleuze&#8217;s attempt to analyze at a microscopic and\/or rigorously  conceptual level.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s pause to consider what this term &#8220;flow&#8221; refers to. Shinzen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shinzen.org\/Retreat%20Reading\/Flow.pdf\">defines<\/a> it in part as a phenomenological category that is experienced in a  variety of flavors &#8212; as expansion and contraction, undulation,  vibration, tingliness, percolation, electricity, and so on &#8212; and in  part as the experience of the ontological fact of impermanence, or <em>anicca <\/em>(in Pali). Flow is  partnered with <em>vanishing<\/em>, for which Shinzen uses the notational label  &#8220;Gone&#8221; (in the same way that he uses the terms &#8220;See,&#8221; &#8220;Feel,&#8221; &#8220;Talk,&#8221; and so on, as labels for observed activities).<\/p>\n<p>So, on the one hand, &#8220;flow&#8221; is indicative of the fact that everything  passes; on the other, of the ebullient energy of life, i.e. that things  continue to arise. This corresponds with the  ontology of percolating  creativity described so carefully by Whitehead, which I&#8217;ve built on to  posit that there is a circulatory undulation &#8212; a movement between the  subjectivation and the objectivation that constitutes every moment or  &#8220;actual occasion&#8221; &#8212; which gives rise to all form. If we can learn to  pay attention to this movement as it arises, we can get a feel for its  many flavors (vibration, expansion-contraction, and so on), and as a  result the &#8220;subject&#8221; and the &#8220;object&#8221; begin to melt into the very act of  becoming.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2010\/12\/02\/the-model-peircewhitehead-films-dogs-worlds\/\">Here&#8217;s an application<\/a> of this to my  cinematic\/ecological ontology, in which what is <em>real<\/em> is considered to be the dynamic and interactive process by which subjectivity and objectivity &#8212; or   subjectivation and objectivation &#8212; arise relationally in specific   events or encounters making up the <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/04\/10\/slice-of-time\/\">moment-to-moment<\/a> self-constitution of an evolving universe. For some further thoughts on the differences between Whiteheadian and Buddhist notions of &#8220;flow,&#8221; see the &#8220;Afterword&#8221; in Part 3 of this series.)<\/p>\n<p>When the arisings of subjects and objects come to crystallize around  certain formations over time, getting habituated into  &#8220;grooves&#8221; or  &#8220;channels&#8221; dug into the socio-mental landscape through repetition, they come to take  the form of (i.e., to look like, to geomorph\/ biomorph\/ anthropomorph\/  etc. as)  stable entities such as one&#8217;s &#8220;self&#8221; (seen from within),  &#8220;the  world&#8221; (seen from a situated subjective perspective), &#8220;selves like me,&#8221;  &#8220;others unlike me,&#8221; and everything else that appears to exist, from any  perspective.<\/p>\n<p>Each social regime produced over the course of human history digs its  channels a little differently, creating different kinds of individual  and collective &#8220;selves,&#8221; in-groups and out-groups, and all manner of   entities by which to populate its world. These are, incidentally, analogous to <a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=TzQAPY8-S7UC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=latour+never+modern&amp;hl=en&amp;ei=vRDfTfHYMqP40gHEhLTICg&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=book_result&amp;ct=result&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\">Latour<\/a>&#8216;s  collectives, some of which &#8220;mobilize ancestors, lions, fixed stars, and  the coagulated blood of sacrifice,&#8221; while others &#8220;mobilize genetics,  zoology, cosmology and h\u00e6matology&#8221; (<em>We Have Never Been Modern<\/em>, 1993, p. 106).<\/p>\n<p>Modern western society has come to producing the kinds of selves and  social units most of us inhabit (or think we inhabit) much of the time  &#8212; rational, self-maximizing &#8220;individuals,&#8221; nuclear families, more or  less sovereign nations, and so on &#8212; with a wide latitude for variation  in the overall mix. These things aren&#8217;t <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/04\/30\/for-a-moratorium-on-constructivism\/\"><em>social<\/em> constructions<\/a>; what they are is <em>relational<\/em> productions, made up of matter\/mind stuff, i.e. of material and  semiotic relations that are fully real in their effects, even if they  are ultimately (as Buddhists insist) insubstantial, i.e. empty of  self-subsistent being.<\/p>\n<p>Critiquing one&#8217;s own social milieu is an important part of one&#8217;s liberation from circumstances (and is something this blog <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics\/\">often<\/a> engages in). The goal of mindfulness\/meditation practices, however, is  to bring oneself into greater contact and resonance with <em>reality<\/em> &#8212; which means to bring one <em>out<\/em> of the hardened categories we have put <em>in reality&#8217;s place,<\/em> and <em>into<\/em> the flowing percolation that <em>constitutes<\/em> both those categories and  the category-making process itself, <em>along with  everything else<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>We are making a leap of faith here: that there <em>is<\/em> a reality  that is more ultimate, or more fundamental, than that which our  particular society defines as reality. This isn&#8217;t the place to   debate   realism versus relativism, the existence of universals, and so on; but  proceeding with this model requires that we allow for the basic  process-relational intuition that the categories that organize our world  are rooted in, and arise from, processes which <em>ultimately elude categorization<\/em>.  To say anything about those processes, however, requires that we  use  words, and the word we will use here, following Shinzen&#8217;s approach, is  the word <em>Flow<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>When we add this category of Flow &#8212;  the rippling and percolating  interactivity that constitutes and produces all things,   which is also the elusive  but tangible background hum of the universe &#8212; we get something that  looks like the following.<\/p>\n<p>(I have reversed &#8220;In&#8221; and &#8220;Out&#8221; to account for  the fact that most first impressions are of the <em>other<\/em>, not of the <em>self<\/em>.  Introspective retreats &#8220;inward&#8221; tend to follow immersion in the world. I  am also using &#8220;Interpretation&#8221; interchangeably with &#8220;Realization,&#8221;  though the former suggests more of a process, and the latter more of a  result. I will discuss this difference a little later.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click here for PDF: <a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4213\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-1\/what-a-bodymind-can-do\/\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"What a bodymind can do\" href=\"http:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/~aivakhiv\/What-a-bodymind-can-do.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>WHAT A BODYMIND CAN DO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The short version of the chart in the PDF is this:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"507\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"113\" valign=\"top\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"122\" valign=\"top\"><strong>OUT<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"108\" valign=\"top\"><strong>IN<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"18\" valign=\"top\">\u2248&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"126\" valign=\"top\"><strong>FLOW<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"113\" valign=\"top\">0. (FREE   ACTIVITY)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"122\" valign=\"top\">&#8212;&#8211;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"108\" valign=\"top\">&#8212;&#8211;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"18\" valign=\"top\">\u2248&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"126\" valign=\"top\">(Nondual   flow)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"113\" valign=\"top\"><strong>1. <\/strong><strong>OBSERVATION<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"122\" valign=\"top\"><strong>OBSERVE   OUT<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Note\/feel external states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"108\" valign=\"top\"><strong>OBSERVE   IN<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Note\/feel internal states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"18\" valign=\"top\">\u2248&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"126\" valign=\"top\"><strong>OBSERVE   FLOW<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Note\/feel flow states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"113\" valign=\"top\"><strong>2. <\/strong><strong>RESPONSE   &#8211; INTERVENTION &#8211; ACTION<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><em> <\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"122\" valign=\"top\"><strong>ACT   OUT<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong>Respond externally \/ Generate   external states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"108\" valign=\"top\"><strong>ACT   IN<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong>Respond internally \/ Generate   internal states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"18\" valign=\"top\">\u2248&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"126\" valign=\"top\"><strong>ACT   FLOW<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Respond in flow with   internal\/external world<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"113\" valign=\"top\"><strong>3. INTERPRETATION &#8211; REALIZATION<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/td>\n<td width=\"122\" valign=\"top\"><strong>REALIZE OUT<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Conceptualize external states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"108\" valign=\"top\"><strong>REALIZE IN<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Conceptualize internal states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"18\" valign=\"top\">\u2248&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td width=\"126\" valign=\"top\"><strong>REALIZE FLOW<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Conceptualize flow states<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what all of this means.<\/p>\n<p>(0) <em>Free activity<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is simply the ongoing arising of phenomena without a &#8220;self&#8221; or &#8220;watcher&#8221; intervening or even witnessing. It <em>precedes<\/em> what a bodymind can do.<\/p>\n<p>(1-i) <em>Observation-OUT<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This refers to the pure awareness of external  phenomena, or of what goes on in the world, with all things being seen  in their Wilberian Right-Quadrant (&#8220;exterior&#8221;) versions (UR being  individual-exterior, LR being collective-exterior). It can also be the  casual observation of behavior or a more hypnotic merging with the  observed; or it can be the controlled merging of <em>absorptive<\/em> forms of sensorially-based meditation (such as Shinzen&#8217;s &#8220;see-out,&#8221; &#8220;hear-out,&#8221; and &#8220;feel-out&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>(1-ii) <em>Observation-IN<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is the pure awareness of internal  states and  phenomena, or of what Wilber&#8217;s AQAL model puts into the  Upper-Left  Quadrant (UL). It can be done casually and without  particular intention,  as in the observation of dream or hallucinatory  phenomena, or it can be  done with  meditative discipline, as in  Vipassana (insight) meditation or Shinzen&#8217;s &#8220;see-in,&#8221; &#8220;hear-in,&#8221; and  &#8220;feel-in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(1-iii) <em>Observation-FLOW <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is the pure awareness of flow  states, i.e., of the rippling-flowing arising of subject-object  circulation  as things arise and pass away. This kind of flow state can,  and does, arise spontaneously. It is perhaps the most &#8220;natural&#8221; state  of mind in some sense &#8212; a form of nondual flow where the observer and  observed are more or less merged, both present and not clearly  separated. This is where intersubjectivity &#8212; the relational field  encompassing oneself and others &#8212; is experienced from within (or,  technically, across the border separating &#8220;within&#8221; from &#8220;without&#8221;). In  its meditative form, Observation-FLOW  is nondual awareness of the  present moment. It is Shinzen&#8217;s &#8220;see\/hear\/feel flow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(2-i) <em>Intervention-OUT<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This refers to the generation of external  states by doing things &#8220;in the world.&#8221; This is normal action, which has  any effect on the surrounding world. It includes speaking, moving, arguing, making love, building and destroying things, and all the rest. In its meditative or yogic  forms, it includes all types of physical  activities such as rituals and  devotional actions performed  for a particular  spiritual or religious  end, such as  for the benefit of all beings, or oriented toward a  deity. Its paradigm case is that of Karma-Yoga (action performed <em>as<\/em> yoga) and the performance of &#8220;good deeds.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(2-ii) <em>Intervention-IN<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is the generation of internal states.  In normal circumstances, this is what we do when we  visualize scenes  in the &#8220;mind&#8217;s eye&#8221; while listening to a story or reading a novel, or  when we train ourselves to learn a poem or a  language. (To the extent  that we are focusing on the meanings of words, they  are being treated  as mental objects rather than mere   shapes seen on a page.)  In its  meditative or yogic forms, Intervention-IN includes all those  traditional practices that involve the generation of imagery, sound,  feeling, or  mental and emotional activity, such as metta or  &#8220;loving-kindness&#8221;  meditation,  mantra meditation, and various kinds of  deity meditation. (Many, and perhaps most, of these qualify under Shinzen&#8217;s    &#8220;focus-on-the-positive&#8221; rubric.)<\/p>\n<p>(2-iii) <em>Intervention-FLOW<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is the realm of intersubjective  action, that is, action that emerges and is carried out collectively,  characterized by blurred boundaries between oneself and others &#8212; for instance, by &#8220;emotional contagion&#8221; and some degree of shared  awareness. People catch a flavor of it in special kinds of events &#8212;  often in the sorts of revolutionary events that I have blogged about  here before (as in <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/02\/01\/egypt-everywhere\/\">Egypt<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2009\/06\/16\/affective-contagion-the-events-in-tehran\/\">Tehran<\/a>,  the events of May-June &#8217;68 in France, and so on) &#8212; which is why those  events leave such a strong imprint on their most involved participants.  In its meditative form, Intervention-FLOW  is nondual action or what the  Daoists call &#8220;wu-wei,&#8221; action that effectively &#8220;does  itself,&#8221;  effortlessly, with one&#8217;s own &#8220;self&#8221; being merged with and in the action.  It is what the phrase &#8220;going with the flow&#8221; is intended to mean. It is an important part of what many of the more this-wordly spiritual systems (such as Daoism, Tantrism, Mahayana  Buddhism, and many forms of Paganism) aim for.<\/p>\n<p>(3-i) <em>Interpretation-OUT<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">This is the conceptualization or active  understanding of external states in the observable world (i.e., of  Wilber&#8217;s Lower-Right quadrant). This  is what all types of science, at  their best, aim to accomplish.<\/p>\n<p>(3-ii) <em>Interpretation-IN<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">The same as above, but with internal states. It is what <em>psychology<\/em> ideally  constitutes: the attempt to make sense of the workings of   individual internal or mental states (Wilber&#8217;s Upper-Left quadrant), as  well as  generalizations about mental activity (which can include Wilber&#8217;s Upper-Right  and  Lower-Left quadrants).<\/p>\n<p>(3-iii) <em>Interpretation-FLOW<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">Finally, this in its &#8220;normal&#8221; variant  consists specifically of the sorts of things that process-relational  and integral forms of theory aim to do: to make sense of the  process-relational, nondual nature of all things. In its meditative or yogic  variant, this becomes the free, unobstructed flow of  subjectivation\/objectivation (perceiving\/being-perceived,  doing\/being-done-to, understanding\/being-understood), arising and  passing in the continuous percolation of one moment after another. We  can think of this as &#8220;meditative&#8221; or &#8220;nondual Praxis,&#8221; or as  &#8220;enlightened Thirdness&#8221; (which encompasses  secondness and firstness).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">If the latter sounds like the &#8220;free activity&#8221; that characterizes the  zero-level (Zeroness, i.e., preceding Firstness),  that&#8217;s because it is  very much the same &#8212; it is a return to free, unobstructed activity &#8212;  but with <em>continuity of awareness<\/em> added. That continuity of awareness, according to Dzogchen and related traditions of Buddhism, is <em>everpresent but obscured<\/em> to start with. The  difference here is that now &#8220;I&#8221;, the &#8220;self,&#8221; has  also opened up to that recognition, which means it is no longer an  obstruction to the flow of recognition (clear awareness, effortless  action, understanding). The arising of the self has become part of the  arising of world that is being observed, acted (and acted upon), and  interpreted (understood).<\/p>\n<p>It may seem appropriate to distinguish this final activity of  Meditative Praxis or Enlightened Realization-Flow by granting it a  further &#8220;level&#8221; &#8212; a &#8220;fourthness&#8221; &#8212; since it both\u00a0 encompasses and  expands upon the previous three levels. It is a  synthesis of  Observation, Action, and Interpretation, mediated over time into an  ongoing recursive Praxis.<\/p>\n<p>I will not do this since, according to Peirce&#8217;s triadic phenomenology, any term  beyond a Third is merely a Third of a Third. Thirds do not exclude  first and seconds; on the contrary, they include and transcend them.  Interpretation in this sense always includes some form of Observation <em>and<\/em> Action. For that reason, it may be more appropriate to use the term  &#8220;Realization,&#8221; or &#8220;Mediation&#8221; or &#8220;Fullness,&#8221; rather than  &#8220;Interpretation.&#8221; It is what Shinzen Young calls a &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.c4chaos.com\/2010\/11\/open-practice-on-substrate-consciousness-and-complete-experience\/\">complete experience<\/a>,&#8221;   and  is equivalent to &#8220;enlightenment&#8221; insofar as the latter is   thought of not as a permanent state but, rather, as a quality of experience  attainable in the here and now.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, we are assured, is Absolutely Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mojo1000.com\/storage\/other-comics\/nondual-zen-vacation.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/nondual-zen-vacation.jpg?resize=216%2C167\" alt=\"\" width=\"216\" height=\"167\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>For the concluding part of this three-part article, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-3\/\">please click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This continues from the previous post, where Shinzen Young&#8217;s model of core mindfulness practices was expanded into a system of classifying what a human bodymind can do. Here the model is deepened following the process-relational insights that are at the core of Shinzen&#8217;s system as well as of other (especially Mahayana and Vajrayana) Buddhist systems, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[688977,4422,691847],"tags":[4417,16839,4463,16870,23314,16840,423],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geo_philosophy","category-process-relational-thought","category-religion-spirituality","tag-buddhism","tag-meditation","tag-mindfulness","tag-peirce","tag-practice","tag-shinzen-young","tag-whitehead"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-179","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4047,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":0},"title":"What a bodymind can do &#8211; Part 1","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Working with Shinzen Young's system of mindfulness training, which I've described here before, and thinking it through in the process-relational logic I've been developing on this blog (and elsewhere), is resulting in a certain re-mix of Shinzen's ideas, and of Buddhism more generally, with Peirce's, Whitehead's, Wilber's, Deleuze's, and others'.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Philosophy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/geo_philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/wuwei.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6560,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2013\/03\/25\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":1},"title":"&#8220;What a bodymind can do&#8221; update","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"March 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The following provides an updated diagram and some further notes pertaining to my three-part article \"What A Bodymind Can Do.\" The earlier parts can be read here: part 1, part 2, part 3.\u00a0 (Please note that this version has corrected a minor error in the originally posted article, and added\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Spirit matter&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Spirit matter","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/religion-spirituality\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Supermind & Son","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images4.wikia.nocookie.net\/__cb20090120223243\/pdsh\/images\/thumb\/1\/16\/Supermind_%26_Son.jpg\/250px-Supermind_%26_Son.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8777,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2016\/05\/31\/interview-autobio\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":2},"title":"Interview &amp; autobio","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Interviews are funny things: you have to think on the spot, but later realize how deeply and profoundly imperfect (!) was your choice of words. The Imperfect Buddha Podcast has an interview with me in which host Matthew O'Connor (of\u00a0Post-Traditional Buddhism) and I talk at length about Buddhism, process-relational metaphysics,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Process-relational thought&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Process-relational thought","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/process-relational-thought\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7407,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2014\/04\/13\/quaking-the-subject\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":3},"title":"Quaking the subject","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"April 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This post continues my thinking on the topic of a process-relational \"bodymind practice\"\u00a0-- an existential art or \"technique of the self\" building on Buddhist meditation practice reinterpreted and augmented through process-relational philosophy. In this post, I incorporate insights obtained through the practice of Quaker silent worship. See the posts\u00a0\"\u00a0What a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Process-relational thought&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Process-relational thought","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/process-relational-thought\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark_matter_asteroid","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2014\/04\/Dark_matter_asteroid-275x250.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10173,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2019\/06\/22\/mcmindfulness\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":4},"title":"(Mc)Mindfulness?","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"June 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Guardian article making the rounds on social media argues that the mindfulness movement has become \"the new capitalist spirituality\" -- \"magical thinking on steroids,\" which instead of overturning the \"neoliberal order,\" now \"only serves to reinforce its destructive logic.\" This \"McMindfulness,\" as Ronald Purser calls it, has been \"stripped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Philosophy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/geo_philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4325,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/05\/30\/what-a-bodymind-can-do-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":4287,"position":5},"title":"What a bodymind can do &#8211; Part 3","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the concluding part of a three-part article. Part 1 can be found here, Part 2 here. They should be read in the sequence in which they were published. \u00a0 The True, the Good, and the Beautiful All of this can be related to the triad of the True,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Philosophy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/geo_philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/05\/trinity.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4481,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions\/4481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}