Arise Spontaneously in the Self

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

The bellows breath is the best method to release and surrender the spine to the draw of earth's gravity. This is especially important in times of intense pressure and transformation.



The ego-based identity attempts to hold the spine away from its basic relationship with the earth, and this breaks the flow of energy between the spine and the brain. The ego has as its fundamental nature the reflex of separation, and attempts to control the flow of consciousness at the level of the body because the body is the ego's basis of identity.



The whole idea of spiritual life, the whole idea of meditation, is not to form a belief system, but to arise spontaneously in the Self, to directly experience the subtle vibration of God within. It is the instrument of your being that has this experience, and relaxation is the key.

Red & White Bodhicitta

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

If you've studied yourself closely, you'll notice that there are two primary energies in the body. They are characterized by the red bodhicitta and the white bodhicitta. The red bodhicitta is analogous to the ida, the energy channel located on the left side of the spine. It is the feminine vibration that is the foundation of energy and mind capacity. The white bodhicitta is analogous to the pingala, the energy channel on the right side of the spine. It's the energy that produces the creation and dynamic of the world. 



The interaction between these two energies gives rise to all the dynamics of the architecture of the human form. The human form is an inconceivably complex equilibrium of these yin and yang energies. This equilibrium arises in the seat of the bodhicitta at the heart. It is the anchor and foundation of your existence. It is a deep, gravitational center that holds the atoms of consciousness into the collection of the appearance of your existence – physically, energetically, and mentally.

Four Bodies

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

The primary nature of enlightenment is empty. It does not have a point of origination where it comes into existence, nor does it ever cease to exist. It is neither infinite nor finite, as these would be qualities. Yet we see that the idea of enlightenment has a resonance in all of the dynamics of perception within a human being.



We as human beings are not a single body with a single perceptive field or point of view. The hard-wired architecture inside the human form manifests itself in four bodies: the physical body of matter; the subtle physical body of energy that animates the physical body; the causal body of mind and mental formation; and the atman, infinite consciousness.



Enlightenment comes into contact with these four tiers of human consciousness, comes into view, through the very act of perception itself. Yet it remains completely empty.

The Nature of Perception

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

When you have interruptions of attention, you have to recognize them and analyze them. The nature of an object will constantly change when observed, revealing more and more of itself.



This is one of the basic tenets of quantum mechanics: an object is changed by our observation or perception of it. This idea is fundamental to advanced yoga.

Uninterrupted Attention

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

It takes a while to learn how to use forceful, uninterrupted attention to squeeze a subject down to the point where you can manipulate extremely subtle layers of consciousness. That's why you have to sit around meditating for a few years.



You'll go through a period of time where you experience interrupted attention. One moment you'll be experiencing uninterrupted attention and then you'll touch a place and a huge throb of karma will release all kinds of wild emotions, and your attention will fly off in nine different directions. This is a typical experience when you're going through a phase of strong purification. Sometimes the blast of purification will be so strong that a couple of days will go by before you'll say, Wow, what happened? I was doing this and now I'm doing this and I don't remember changing.” Then you bring your mind back onto the object of your attention and you continue to squeeze it.



Once you fasten on to your thread you have to learn how to use forceful attention to hold the line; lots of details must be accounted for at the level of thought, mind, speech, and action until an uninterrupted chain of attention is fulfilled.



It's the same thing with everyday life. If you want to get anything accomplished in this world you have to clearly discern what it is that you want to do and pursue it in an uninterrupted, forceful line of attention and action. People who've mastered uninterrupted attention seem to be able to accomplish anything in life; whatever it is they want to get done, gets done. On the other hand, people who are easily diverted and interrupted can make a thousand great starts but just a short way down the road they wander off the path unable to remember what they were doing.

The Speech of Dharma

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

The world turns on kindness. The presence of kindness eventually draws the presence of dharma, and the possibility of liberation. There are world systems that do not have dharma. The evolutionary turn to get to that place where dharma would appear for the very first instant for the first time in any eternity changes everything for every single being in that world system.

There’s a very powerful... what you would call battle between the forces of light and darkness. A million acts of treachery and a million-and-one acts of kindness – that one extra act of kindness makes the difference. It’s the speech of love, the speech of dharma. The force of dharma is strong in this world. There is a rhythmic visitation to this planet by the Original Soul – incarnating physically. When He’s not present He leaves an army of servants behind. That’s a kindness.

See the Truth of Any Situation

HARD LIGHT CENTER OF AWAKENING

Excerpt of a talk by Mark Griffin...

Nine times out of ten, a given situation will be afflictive by its very nature; it will involve the suffering of any number of beings. But that doesn't mean the quality of truth is not unfolding within that setting.



The ability to see through to your obligation in any situation, to see the truth of any situation, is the dynamic expression of uninterrupted attention. Uninterrupted attention allows you to be present without diminishing yourself or withdrawing into fear. At the same time, you must not demonize others and place all blame on those around you while letting yourself off the hook.



You have to squeeze a subject long and hard to get to the heart of it. There is a very vivid and hair-raising space of awakening in every situation wherein the truth can be recognized. It is the flow of uninterrupted attention within oneself that makes this recognition possible.