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Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was part of the original group of monks and yogis to visit England in the mid-70's. He was the first Westerner to be ordained in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. During the seven years he lived and trained in England, he worked to restore the old Vic torian estate that has bec ome the Dharma lotus of Theravada Buddhism. From this auspicious beginning more than ten centers in Europe have been established and are flourishing. As a lay individual, Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was one of the original benefac tors in the purchase and development of Cittavivekn, a cave in northeast Thailand. Since 1998 he has traveled throughout the world leading retreats and spreading his dream of establishing a Spiritual Park outside of Bangkok whic h would bring together all the world's religions in the spirit of Unity and Peace. This center would teac h skillful ways to live in the world and to acc ept and respec t all Beings as brothers and sisters. He has written many books on contemplative prac tic e in the forest tradition. Those available in the U.S. are Questions from the City, Answers from the Forest and Meeting the Monkey Halfway.
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Excerpt: From the first chapter: The Two Levels of Consc iousness Most of us assume the existenc e of just one level of consc iousness, based on the only level we know and operate from. But the truth is that c onsciousness has two distinct modes: the ordinary and the extraordinary. The first mode is the mundane and superfic ial way we see and ac t in the world most of the time. The second mode is a concept beyond the realm of our ordinary c omprehension that c annot be adequately desc ribed. Rather, we can know it for ourselves dailyom.com/library//000002596.html
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DailyOM - The Brightened Mind by Ajah desc ribed. Rather, we can know it for ourselves simply through direc t experience. We might say that this sec ond state is that whic h is.
We will look into both these modes of c onsciousness so that we may bec ome profic ient in how they operate and, ultimately, learn how to use this knowledge to enhance the quality of our life. First, we should understand that the mundane mind, under the authority of the I-ego, is driven mainly by its desire for survival and comfort. It is, therefore, c onstantly mounted by fear the fear of losing its dominant influence over our thinking proc ess. In order to preserve and secure its position more firmly, it invents self-serving scenarios designed to entic e our senses into buying its agenda. This ordinary mind c leverly uses materials drawn mainly from attractive memories of the past. It c onjures up a fantasy future built out of stale emotions and expired events. When we func tion from this mode of mind dominated by the I-ego, we are out of sync with the integrity of the universal perspective and are working outside the realm of truth. We are then operating in a world of delusion founded on assumptions and projec tions of hopes that have no bearing whatsoever on our present reality. We c ould compare this abnormal situation to our c omputer screen saver. The idealized image with whic h we c hoose to dec orate our monitor seems to have all the elements of reality, but it is not really connected anywhere live. It is just a lifelike faade. Yet we are continually being fooled into believing it is real. One of lifes ironies is that the more time we spend bec oming educated, be it in a university or voc ational school, the more we forget that we are all extraordinarily intelligent beings to begin with. The conditioning to which we have been, and c ontinue to be, subjec ted by our social environment (inc luding our parents, relatives, mentors, politic ians, c elebrities, and so forth) simply reinforc es the myth that mental prowess is Natures unique gift to its favored few. So we go through the motions of this lifetime totally oblivious to our innate brilliance and without c onfidenc e and trust in our natural abilities. It is not surprising, then, that we often feel so overwhelmed at the c hallenges we face, thinking that they are simply beyond the reac h of our c apabilities. If we are looking to improve our present c irc umstanc es, we need to keep in mind that as part owners of that infinite reservoir of wisdom-knowing we have the means to acc omplish much more than we ever dreamed of. This c onnection to the divine realm is our birthright as human beings. Just pause and reflec t on the profoundness of this thought for a moment.
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