How I Had Sex with Hookers, Broke My Vows and Hurt Everyone's Feelings

How I Had Sex with Hookers,

Broke My Vows and

Hurt Everyone's Feelings

Related reading published previously in this blog:

Culadasa John Yates: Sutrayana ”doesn't go far enough”.

The following piece of dialogue is copied from DharmaOverground-forum.

*

Kim: Recently, I've been wondering how this case is developing. I have wondered how Culadasa is holding up, whether anyone is still studying with him and whether anyone is reading his book anymore. His book was like the Bible in these circles until the allegations came out but now no one mentions it anymore.

Linda: He has started to do youtube videos again, at least, and he has viewers and people asking him questions.

Kim: He makes an interesting comment, at 12:18, here about recent events, particularly, having been very disappointed to his long term students recently.

https://youtu.be/YfRp9cMPSNk?t=662

Him saying that his long term students were immature + what we know of the whole thing, have given me the impression that this case doesn't fall under the category of "misconduct". It might be the case that he is still preparing a statement, possibly with a lawyer, or that he won't make public comments beyond that. I hope he would for cleaning the air but as I said it never seemed to me that it was such a big deal and that firing him seemed hasty of the group/board. I guess Culadasa refers to the immaturity of his old students because they weren't able to accept and see the events plainly. Also, having seen almost no enthusiasm about The Mind Illuminated in the internet since the news broke out, to me, seems another sign of immaturity of the larger community. Also, he seems to have lost weight and in overall doesn't look too healthy. These must have been very stressful times for him and those closely associated, incl. Nancy Yates.

It's a lot of guesses, impressions and if's but despite of everything I wish everyone involved much peace and clarity.

Linda: Oh, that's an entirely different interpretation. Interesting.

Personally I wouldn't want to work closely to someone who is completely unwilling to be compassionate about other people's perspectives. It doesn't matter how accomplished they are and how helpful their teachings are. I mean, I can still read their work and listen to their teachings selectively, but I wouldn't want them as my personal teacher. Obviously he is not the only one who is disappointed. He didn't mention that other side of the coin with one single word, but positioned himself as the victim. I don't know the exact circumstances about what happened, and sure, some reactions from some people who weren't directly concerned were probably over the top, but if he is concerned about seeing things plainly it might be a good idea for him to just accept that actions have consequences even for advanced meditators. And maybe, just maybe, people aren't immaturely losing faith in the dharma, but are in fact realizing that they just don't like dealing closely with people who lie to their close ones and then feel sorry for themselves and go all martyr about it when shit hits the fan. 

Kim: Culadasa has apologized for the harm so he is not without compassion or unable to understand other's feelings. He barely mentioned the topic very briefly in passing. This is not a comprehensive statement in any way, so I don't find it problematic at all that he didn't mention others more than he did. You know Linda, we still don't know the specs and we may never will but from what we know, I don't see erratic, abusive behaviour anywhere. Yet, he was kicked out from his position etc etc. I don't know any of these people and even if Daniel Ingram vouched (or something like that) for the board or some key memebers of the community, maybe they interpreted the situation in black and white fashion, lost larger perspective and crushed him. Considering what he has done for them, I can understand why he would feel like a victim.

I am a teacher myself and head teacher of the sangha that I have founded. I talk openly about sex, sexuality, sexual desire, porn, addiction and related things because they are part of everyone's life. I even make erotic art (among calligraphy and abstract expressionistic painting) and display it in the internet. By doing so I hope to disperse some really stubborn and harmful taboos that exist in dharma. I also teach tantric deity-related practices to transform sexual desire and possible addicitons (of any kind). I do not know if Culadasa has spoken about sexuality related matters as openly as I have. If he hasn't, like most dharma teachers, all this sex-stuff explodes on everyone's face in uncomfortable manner. Talking about "desire" and overcoming them in overall manner is not good enough.

(Imagined prospect starts)

If I put myself in Culadasa's place, how I imagine what might have happened, I find myself sexually very frustrated due to lack of sexual activity in marriage. Also, I've had much hardship due to long lasting illness which takes away joy in life. For people who have never been properly ill, they can't understand how it is to live without joy. Also, I am still virile enough to have and enjoy sex (possibly without opportunity to do it with my wife). In that case, like him, I would seek the company of professionals. I understand that it might hurt my spouse but what can I do? I am not celibate, nor wish to abstain from sex for the years I have left. Am I going to watch porn and masturbate until I keel over? No, after this long illness and long life lived, that doesn't seem like an option that would make me feel good about my life. So, I find prostitutes, pay for their services and get at least some sexual satisfaction, even if it isn't intimate and emotionally connected.

Some time after I've gone to prostitutes, even made friends with them and gave money to support them, my students and wife finds out I've been doing this. Maybe they can't see my actions from my perspective and are unable to see my actions from the human perspective. I am accused of adultery, suspicious use of money and having broken my buddhist vows. I am seen as immoral and immature as a practitioner. People who I have helped, supported and guided, even provided, now condemn and excommunicate me. OK... I just wanted to enjoy life and have sex, and now this has happened. I understand people feel hurt and cheated but I am a human being, with human biology, needs and desires, that despite of life long practice I have not been able to overcome. People who I know well and who I have loved, reject me, and I am left alone by people close to me.

(Imagined prospect ends)

Now, if I really did that and was condemded for these actions, being the person and teacher who I am, knowing how much I have done for my students, I would tear them new assholes. If my humanity as a teacher was ignored due to spiritual fantasies and ideals, I would let my critisizers know exactly where they belong. From this point of view, based on my imagination, I can appreciate Culadasa's moderate comment how he has been treated. His demeanor reveals as much as his words do. I can assure you, my comment wouldn't have been as moderate.

However, as I said, I've talked about these things openly and because of this I doubt my students would treat me the way Culadasa's students have treated him. I have made it perfectly clear that despite of spiritual advancement, I am still a samsaric being and me, like all samsaric beings, make mistakes and are not perfect. Also, in Open Heart-style of dharma practice, we don't have vows other than Bodhisattva Vows. We are tantrics, not sutrics, and view and do things differently.

*

Open Heart Sangha,

www.en.openheart.fi

Christine's Account of Stabilising the Natural State Without Tantra

Christine's Account

of Stabilising the Natural State 
Without Tantra

In May of 2019, I was contacted by Christine from Canada, who told me of her positive experiences with some core Pemako Buddhist-practices that she had learned through the internet. She was quite confident that she had in fact opened all of her 13 bhumis as taught in Open Heart Bhumi Model. She sent me a photo for bhumi analysis that I used to verify that her analysis was correct.

Christine's case is a historic one because she is the first person who got this far with Pemako Buddhist-practices without any tantric empowerments. She, no less than, stabilized natural state or knowing awareness (tib. rigpa) as her default mode of being. I have waited for a while to get a message like her's. All of our core practices have been openly available through the internet for a few years now, so anyone can and could use them for their benefit. Find more written accounts by practitioners from What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice.

-Kim Katami, 11.7.2019

Pemako Buddhist Sangha,
www.pemakobuddhism.com

Find Christine's first post here:

http://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-first-person-who-opened-all-bhumis.html

Christine's Account

I am 48 years old, single and work as a lab tech in a hospital lab. About fifteen years ago, the stresses of the job, plus having to work with some "difficult" people led me to look into meditation as a way to cope, as well as to help get rid of the anxiety I have suffered with for most of my life. I took a one-day introductory class in meditation taught by a former Theravadan monk who introduced the class to basic mindfulness of the breath. From this experience I tried to develop a daily practice with limited success. Fortunately, the teacher gave us a list of local resources in our area to help us continue our practice, primarily there was insight meditation society that sponsored teachers from around North America to come teach at monthly weekend non-residential retreats. I started to attend these and had exposure to a variety of Theravadan Vipassana teachers. I learned a lot about Buddha’s teaching, and mindfulness practices at this time, but was still trying to establish a consistent meditation practice and was still struggling with the stress and anxiety in my life.

I also started to attend about two residential retreats (one to two weeks in length) per year. I found that these residential retreats really boosted my meditation practice. Yet, despite being able to sustain my concentration on the breath and experienced states of calm and tranquillity, as soon as I was off the cushion or returned home from a retreat I went back to normal, the stress and anxiety came back and even though I tried to maintain mindfulness in my daily activities once things got rough or I was triggered I went back to my reactive self.

My teachers did often talk about enlightenment as the ultimate goal of the practice, it wasn't clear how mindfulness led to that nor where the insight part of fit in. They also made it seem as though enlightenment was some far-off thing to happen in another life or if you became a monastic. I was still waiting to see a reduction in the suffering I experience, or have some hope of this ever happening.

Something changed in May of 2015, a day before the end of a two-week retreat, I was attending. In the middle of the night I experienced, which in hindsight I realized was crossing the Arising and Passing. This is a threshold moment in the Theravadan progress of the insight path which leads to the dukkha nanas (dark night) and potentially stream entry. I was fortunate that I had an interview with one of the assistant teachers the next day as I described my experience to her, she became very happy for me and said that this was a good thing and had something to do with the “progress of insight”. This was all she would say. Leaving the interview, I was rather confused and when I tried to continue the practice schedule my sits were plagued by restlessness and irritability. Before the retreat ended on the last day, I was able to get an interview with the primary teacher and as I described my experience again the teacher said she wouldn't confirm or deny whether anything significant had happened nor elaborate on the progress of insight the other teacher mentioned.

I left the retreat confused and frustrated, and I fell into a full-blown dark night, it was rough and I had no idea what was going on. I was highly irritable, had bouts of anxiety and depression, I was a mess. As I was going through this, I remember what the assistant teacher said about the “Progress of Insight”. This led me to an internet search where I came across Dharma Overground-discussion forum.

This site was a lifesaver for me, I was able to understand why I felt the way I did and suggested the best practice to do to find my way out of it by reaching stream entry. With this knowledge I practice with great determination and intensity and was able to reach stream entry by August 2015. I continued doing this practice, known as Mahasi Sayadaw noting and the following May in 2016 I reached what was called second path in the Theravadan map. Though I had noticed definitive changes in my sense of self, the way I perceived the world and was better able to deal with stressors, I knew I had more work to do.

I again continued with this practice with the aim of reaching third path, but over time I found that it wasn't really working for me anymore. The intense noting often left me tense, very irritable and more sensitive to external stimuli. I was constantly cycling in and out of the dark night, although it was never as bad as my initial experience with it, it never seemed to lead anywhere. This also created a lot of striving, efforting and comparing, which I felt was not conducive to good practice. I tried switching to a broader awareness but this often led to dullness, and sleepiness. I read several books on different practice techniques, some felt overly conceptual or analytical, or too hard for me to get into and none that I really enjoyed doing.

I was still frequenting the Dharma Overground-website and noticed a number of posts by Kim Katami about Pemako Buddhist-teachings. I checked out the website and read his first book "Awake! Handbook to Awakening." I was hesitant at first because it mentioned Guru Yoga and Dzogchen practices which I was unfamiliar with.

In October 2018, I had a week long self-retreat (with no teacher) coming up. Just the previous month, Kim Katami had released his second book, "What's Next? On Post-Awakening Practice". Intrigued, I downloaded and read it, I liked what it had to say. I noticed the website had a link to a YouTube channel so I used some of those guided practices on my retreat.

I really enjoyed these practices and when I came home, I meditated daily using the guided mediations from the PemakoBuddhism.com-channel at YouTube. Primarily the “Introduction to Open Heart Yoga: Guided Practice” and the “Dynamic Concentration: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha”, as well as a number of other guided mediations to add some variety to my practice. I found that, compared to my previous mediation practices they were more relaxed, I didn’t suffer from dullness and sleepiness, and didn’t lead to irritability. I also felt like there was much less striving and efforting, it was though I could just listen to the guidances and the practice does itself.

I also like the idea that you can check for your own bhumi openings. At first, I wasn’t able to do this myself, but the more I did the practice the more I was able to notice subtle energies and tensions in my body. I believe I was able to detect the opening of the 5^th bhumi, and I was more certain about the 6^th. I noticed cycles between bhumis openings were there would be a build up of tension or pressure, then dark night and then I would often see a bright light and feeling of euphoria as the bhumi opens, with the subtle euphoria lasting a few days then it would repeat. I was detecting steady bhumi openings about 2-3 weeks apart. This increased my confidence in the practice, and as these openings occurred, I also noticed changes in myself. I was becoming more resilient to stress and less reactive to triggers. I became less concerned about what others thought about me (I have always been very self-conscious) and less prone to overthinking everything, as well as a general reduction in social anxiety and my general ‘day to day’ anxiety (yes, I had a lot of anxiety).

In May 2019, I had another week long self-retreat coming up and I had opened the 10^th bhumi a few weeks prior. Again, I had my mobile phone along with the PemakoBuddhism.com -YouTube-channel bookmarked, so I could listen to the guided practices. A few days into the retreat I woke up at night with some intense fear, a fear of losing my "self", a fear that I would disappear or die. I struggled against this fear telling myself that it will be okay. Then something shifted. I felt bliss and an incredible sense of peace, aliveness and clarity. The natural state seemed easily accessible as though it had become a default state. I eventually fell asleep, and when I awoke in the morning these experiences persisted. I checked my bhumis and it felt like I had opened my 11^th, the first mahasiddha bhumi. The 12^th and 13^th bhumi openings followed not long afterward and I was starting to get used to and appreciating my new baseline experience.

Now I have a more spacious awareness at all sense doors, and a feeling that there are no boundaries between my physical body and what is around me, like there is no separation between me and what I am observing. Before Pemako-practices I only had brief glimpses of this. Also prior to Pemako Buddhism, I used to be identified with my thoughts and emotions, be attached to views, and continued to have bouts of anxiety, but that has eased considerably. Along with access to the natural state there is a sense of stillness and bliss that I can easily tap into. I also found that at work, even though we are currently understaffed, I am much better able to handle the pressure which would normally make me feel overwhelmed. I think my coworkers are starting to notice this too.

Knowing that bhumi openings were not the end of the line, that I still needed to perfect them, I decided to learn Rainbow Body Yoga. I had the first empowerment in June 2019, and am really enjoying the new meditation techniques.

Update 8/2020: The shifts I experienced are stable, the natural state still feels readily available and the improvements to my mental health have persisted, such as the reduction in anxiety. I also feel that this is deepening as I continue to practice.

-Christine

Discussing Awakening and Two-Part Formula at Dharma Overground

Discussing Awakening and

Two-Part Formula at

Dharma Overground

Parts of discussion copied from this thread at DhO-forum.

JP wrote: My general impression is that this is a situation where there's not much consensus on here about the accuracy of the attainment claims for Kim's students. I think there are a few different reasons why this is the case, most of which generally apply to the question of how accurate it's possible to be with remote dharma diagnosis.

- Unless I'm missing something, there aren't any detailed practice logs being kept here by Open Heart practitioners other than Jehanne.  Diagnosing stream entry requires a fair amount of information about people's sits over the course of the weeks prior, in-depth discussion on the exact phenomenology of what happened when they think cessation occurred, and maybe even some information on how daily life and their regular perspective in the world changed between before and after.  Very few people, including me, post frequently enough to provide the necessary level of detail.

- It seems to take people several paths to have confidence in definitively saying that a certain event was fruition as opposed to a mimic for it.  So it's probably only DhO posters who're on at least third path who are going to be able to assess this.

- Kim's method of diagnosing path attainments based on assessing the energy body through pictures/videos of practitioners is non-standard, at least among the experienced pragmatic dharma practitioners here.  Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't -- this is probably something where we'd need him to teach Daniel Ingram or other experienced practitioners how he does it and have them tell us whether it lines up with their judgment.

- Most of us just have our own experience to go by, and are going to judge other tradition's maps and timetables accordingly.  So both "awakening is nearly impossible and takes your whole life" and "awakening is super-easy and you can do it in a weekend" don't line up with most of our experiences.

I haven't tried it, but the technique itself seems like it could be a useful technique, especially as a corrective to over-efforting in the dark night. 
I also think that this is a question that's going to continue until there's a large group of Open Heart practitioners who are also familiar with MTCB and The Mind Illuminated, who start regularly posting detailed phenomenomological practice logs, and who are very open to their Open Heart attainments being questioned or mapped differently. 

I'd encourage you to think seriously about how you feel about the technique and whether you'd want to be involved in Open Heart as an organization, rather than just about whether it can "get" you an attainment.  I personally really like the analytic framework by David Chapman in Approaching Aro as a guide to how to consider different spiritual traditions.  It's also a great example of how a non-traditional Tibetan Buddhist lineage can address outside concerns respectfully, and I'd love to see a similar effort by Open Heart.
Kim wrote: Hi JP and thanks for a well composed post.

Before matters presented in the above post, I'd like to say that as there is much more to buddhism than the first shift/awakening/kensho, there is also more to Open Heart as a method. It's a small piece in a big puzzle. Just a reminder.

I've presented a lot of material reg. 2PF and awakening it generates. You can find them, for free, for example from Awake-ebook. Dialogues and photos in the book, gives the reader some sense what happens to these people.

In OH, we mainly use our own terminology, instead of theravadan or other, that has developed over the years. It's still based on common buddhist theory and meditative experiences but also has distinct features because we do some things differently. I am confident that this is one of the reasons why there seems to be a wall of sorts between traditional buddhists, as here, and those who in OH have had the experiences and know first hand what the terms point to.

I guess a lot theravadans consider cessation, if not the most important, then at least very important indicator of stream-entry, and the way how the analysis proceeds is to consider the specifics of the event. Because of the difference in the way we look whether or not the shift has occurred, I have never really looked it that way, although I know well what cessation is. I just don't look at it that way. My way of looking at it, is closer to rinzai zen-style, where the teacher asks the student questions and meters his or hers energetic feel, and a possible change in it. This is typical in rinzai zen. I guess all teachers use this to some degree, knowingly or unknowingly. The point is that there is not only one way to measure shifts that deal with lessening of self-based suffering.

The only reference I have seen about seeing attainments from photos, is from Shinzen Young. Here:
”I was at a student's house and I saw this book. Its one of these photo books that people would put on coffee tables. What's interesting is that there's nothing by the photographer, the author of the book, but there is an intro, a preamble by Tony Morrison who is a fairly important person in the world of art and literature. This tells you that this is a significant book but there is nothing by the person who actually took the photos, in other words the photos have to speak for themselves. Its this huge book of photographs (indicates a large size) and I start to look through these photographs. These are allportraits and I'm freaking out because its very evident to me what this book is about and I had never seen a book like this, ever.

I go to my friend and say, ”This book is amazing!” and she says, ”The photographer, is a distant relative of mine”. ”Well, can you get his telephone number?”, I asked. We called him up and he was there. I told him what I thought his book was about and he freaked out. He said that I was the only person who ever understood what the book was about, of all the people that had seen it at exhibitions or whatever.

The name of the book is A Kind of Rapture by Robert Bergman. He went through the rust belt of United States, the old decaying cities, photographing street people, who for whatever reason, usually a combination of hard life and physical, and mental illness, had been thrust into a no-self state, in other words, people for whom the blows of life had driven them to a rapturous no-self experience. He went around the country looking for those kind of people, catching them at the moment when they manifested non-ego, that their hard life had taken them to. You know, if you see one or two pictures like that it doesn't have an impact like that but if you see 50 pictures like that, picture after picture after picture, then it hits you, what the whole thing is about. The reason why I thought they were so extraordinary is that although there is a lot of books about enlightenment or no-self coming about through practice, and there are number of books written by people who have had spontaneous enlightenment experiences, what no one has looked at is this whole thing, this whole other aspect. In terms of a subject matter it is very unsual and the message and the medium is very unsual. Instead of writing a book, talking about this phenomena, he shows it to you and you either get it or you don't.”

-Shinzen Young in Shaktipat or Energy Transmission in Buddhism, 25:00 minutes: https://youtu.be/HGmU1oVroLM?t=1499

Curiously Shinzen Young has a history in rinzai zen. He says at the end of the quote (underlined) that it is extraordinary to display enlightenment from a photo and states that no one has looked into this way. I have emailed Shinzen's assistant about this but I don't know if he ever got or read my email. Daniel said he'd like to join one of our retreats next year, so maybe he has some interest towards bhumi analysis.

Years ago when it occurred to me that awakening and post-awakening stages should by reason be detactable from a good photo, I didn't know whether it was actually possible or not. After many hundreds of photos and thousand live analyses, and many mistakes, it turned out to be. Before this thought ever occurred to me, I had done many years of healing arts, like shiatsu and reiki, as well as zen calligraphy, which all have the common denominator of reading or sensing subtle energy. I can understand how to someone who doesn't have any such experience all this can be nonsense, just like it is to most OH-practitioners in the beginning. Well, that also is a learnable skill and while myself I don't have a theravada background and am not fluent in using that terminology, some in our sangha do, and are working on their own texts and materials. Why so few OH'ers are in DhO, I think there are few reasons to this, which I won't list here, but just wanted to mention that in our sangha we have people who have focused on theravada practice for up to two decades.

I recommend reading MCTB to my students, because of it's general education, but like I said we don't use that method, nor use the techniques that people here commonly do. So there is a communication gap there, even if some OH folks showed up and were ready for the scrutiny of people here. A similar gap exists between hard ass rinzai zen teachers who demand demonstrations of shifts in traditional zen poems and abstract language. A similar gap could be if I started to demand a description of kundalini shooting up above the head and descending down to the heart, which is something that both buddhists and hindus mention, but perhaps not all students can detect, despite of theoretically knowing about it. Maybe it has been unskillful of me to present non-theravada style expositions on mostly a theravada influenced forum. 

I like David Chapman's expositions but I doubt I can ever produce expositions like his simply because I am not an intellectual, nor a native English speaker. My teaching-style and expression is work in progress. I am also aware that despite of my efforts in trying to be as polite and politically correct as possible, I don't always succeed but nevertheless at the moment I am happy that at least some get what I'm trying to say.

Samvega wrote: I wonder if there is any short cut to enlightenment, atleast the first stage of enlightenment (sotapanna).
I went through this blog: www.en.openheart.fi
The author claims to have helped hundreds of yogis get awakened with a 98% success rate. That too in just a few days? Really? I mean, what the!!
It looks so damn attractive for someone like me who's struggling in dark night for years.
Here I am, thinking of taking a sabbatical and go backpacking to Thailand or Burma in search of good practice and hopefully stream entry, even if it takes a year or so..
And here is this Author promising stream entry (aka 1st bhumi opening) within days of practice!!
I couldn't push it aside either, as I didn't feel it was a complete scam.
I just started wondering if something like a short cut really do exist? I'm very scared to even start the practice, because the results look scarily quick! I'm just worried I shouldn't go crazy and unknowingly become part of a cult.
But I agree that I am quite attracted to try out the practice once, which he calls the two part formula aka open heart practice.
It looks like the Author (Kim) is quite a known face on this forum? But why don't I find many people talking about this technique here except for one person who's recommending it? Why haven't many tried it yet? Could you throw some light on this technique if you ever tried it once especially if you had an Insight meditation (Vipasana) history? Why did you feel the need to shift from Insight meditation and what did you gain through this practice?
I'm also wondering if these practitioners are confusing themselves the A&P phenomenon for actual awakening, considering how varied and vague the A&P can be.
This is definitely not put out in a bad intention, with all due respects to the Author. He looks like a good man to me. I'm just genuinely concerned and any help is appreciated. It's a desperate attempt of a dark night yogi to get done with this shit ASAP!

Thanks!

Kim wrote: Hello Samvega,

I believe some OH-practitioners have contributed to this thread but just to clarify that Two-Part Formula is not a short cut. Out of 138 guidances that I've given so far, many had to haul ass for more than two weeks, and when I say haul ass, I mean they were exhausted afterwards, although also greatly relieved. There has been few people to whom awakening dropped on their lap, so to speak. One lady in our sangha got the nickname Page 12, because she woke up by getting to page 12 of Awake-book. A few people woke up on first or second day of email guidance. These people got it easily, but most had to work hard, and I had to work hard to make them work hard. Getting awakened quickly in not unknown in buddhism. Particularly in zen buddhism, there are many cases who woke up on their first retreat.

Reg. the relation between dark night and awakening. Maybe Culadasa's approach does nullify all tough emotional rollercoasting, that I cannot confirm becaue I don't follow his system but I am not aware of any other system that accomplishes that. There are more and less smart ways of dealing with dark nights, but a single or even a whole bunch of shifts doesn't prevent that. In my view, one isn't free from waves, unless one is fully liberated, a buddha.

I have never promised awakening or stream entry. I have presented statistics, which as you can read from the book, does contain a fail margin of 2% within the first 100 cases.

You ask, "But why don't I find many people talking about this technique here except for one person who's recommending it? Why haven't many tried it yet?". DhO isn't the only place where 2PF and Open Heart is discussed. I can say that based on wesbite stats, roughly 15 000 people have seen the instructions but why only about 1% took it up (based on the number of guidances that I was asked to do), I can only guess.

Some people get really pissed off because we ask for financial compensation, that might be one reason. People reason that because it has a price tag, even when it's a sliding scale and one can still take it up if one doesn't have any money, it's a hoax because they think that real dharma doesn't cost money.

Another train of reasoning, that has been a huge surprise to me, is that buddhists of all traditions are so fixed with the idea that there is no technique that can literally generate an awakening and that there is no one size fits all technique for it, that it prevents them from taking a good look. I have come across and collected direct quotes from a handful of renown zen masters, who specifically deny such a thing but little did they know, like most other traditions.

Here is a teaching given by Daniel Brown, the author of Pointing Out the Great Way (mahamudra/dzogchen):

”Now bring to mind your usual sense of self, your personal identity. You can evoke this and use it as an object of reflection. For example I would evoke Dan, Danness, and look squarely at Danness. The thing about self-presentation is that you can evoke it and you can observe it... So evoke your sense of self and observe it. Notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self. Familiarise yourself with the target of your search... And now take your awareness... And let your awareness roam thought the regions of your body. See if you can find any thing in itself, any independently existing thing that is that personal identity, anywhere in the field of bodily experience. You have to actively search... And the more you search anything  independently existing, any thing in itself, the more what you search for will be seen from your awareness as unfindable.
Emptiness practice... is in the unfindability of the target... If you think you find the independent basis for that sense of self, if you
find any thing that's substantial, roam around in that area and break it down to smaller units of analysis... OK, now evoke your sense of self, your personal identity once again... Familiarize yourself with the target of the search. Evoke your personal identity and notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self... Now, take your awareness and let it roam through mental content. Do you find any independently existing thing that is that self?... As you continue to search at some point there is a shift in your basis of operation. What remains right here is the awareness itself, no longer obscured by the empty construction of the personal identity. You open up to the level of awareness that is cleaned up of the cloud of self. And you start operating from that instead of operating out of self-mode.” 

The quote can be found from ”Meditation on Insight Training or ”Emptiness” at https://pointingoutway.org/meditations

Now, if you understand what is done in the two modes of the Two-Part Formula, you can see that it is almost the same instruction, with the greatest difference being that in 2PF one uses the affirmation of "me/I/mine", instead of one's own name, as in Brown's instructions. Personally, I find that Brown's instructions could be clearer but anyway.

If you wish to find out exactly how Brown learned this practice, and whether it is part of age old vajrayana tradition he is part of, you can contact him and ask. However, it is my understanding that techniques like this, and very similar to 2PF (that I didn't learn from any living teacher) has been taught and used within some traditions of Tibetan buddhism, particularly kagyu and nyingma traditions, for many centuries. Why they weren't shared openly with others, I don't know who made that call, but a lot of Tibetan buddhist teachings are guarded by a vow of secrecy.
The key point is that, like it or not, there is and has been for centuries specific techniques that do specifically generate awakening. They have been hidden away but existent nonetheless. I didn't know of such a thing during the first several years when I started practiting, and would have probably been keen to deny and fight for the views I had been fed with, but little did I know. And yes, I am happy to (again) say that I haven't invented anything new.

This bits are from an exchange with a teacher from Tibetan buddhist tradition, who shall go anonymous:
"The equivalent to kensho in TB is known as sem-ngo tropa. Your style of teaching in the two-steps is almost the same as the one I use. I added something from you into a teaching in --- (on a retreat he taught). It works very well. Usually I introduce the questioning attitude with gentle presence, but this time I said to chant silently me-me-me, in their own language. Very good. What I shared in the retreat is the practice received from --- (his teacher, one of the most famous dzogchen masters of recent times) and other masters, which is pretty much identical with yours. The process of combining inquiry with simply resting is not common, most teach one or the other, but some of my teachers used it."

When you asked, "Could you throw some light on this technique if you ever tried it once especially if you had an Insight meditation (Vipassana) history?", I thought of one particular student of mine who practiced Goenka diligently for 20 years, and woke up with 2PF. I wish I had his written account but I don't, at least not this time. He has been one of the most enthusiastic promoters of 2PF since he woke up earlier this year.

I find that it is rather easy to discern between A&P and a shift. Well, we use bhumi analysis, along with verbal descriptions, which indicates that any bhumi center does not open up unless the student has had an insight, it only happens with an emptiness insight. These centers do not open through A&P-like experiences. Closedness and openness is the key discerning factor.

Controversy about Open Heart

Controversy about Open Heart

This letter was composed as a note to Open Heart Sangha members but is posted in this blog as well.

Dear Sangha members.

I'd like to have a public discussion on two matters concerning Open Heart. The first one is the constant negativity projected on Open Heart by buddhist traditionalists. The second one is critique expressed by those who left Open Heart Sangha. I wish to discuss these matters openly with our practitioners so that when you hear about these things, you are already aware of these matters. Everyone is free to form your own opinion and think for yourself.

Talk

I used to be an active writer on a number of buddhist bulletin boards (discussion forums) online. These include DharmaOverground, DharmaWheel, BuddhaDharma.info (Finnish) and Zen Forum International (no longer exists). As you know, I have often asked questions that too rarely get asked. Talking of taboos, together with what the traditionalists see as outrageous claims of my own attainments (they have missed the crucial point of the difference between opening and perfecting bhumis), while myself being as they say a ”self-proclaimed” teacher, is why orthodox buddhists on the mentioned forums as well as on Facebook, have very negative view about myself and Open Heart.

When I was still active writing on forums, before 2017, I tried to express my views while trying to understand those of others. After I had started to use the buddhist view (theory) in my teachings, along with being a ”self-proclaimed” teacher ”who claims to communicate with gurus long dead”, on part of the opponents these discussions started to end up being about my persona, rather than the topic that was originally discussed. Many times the opponents could not get over the fact that I had no lineage to back up my claims. Me not having a lineage is something that I have always openly and publicly acknowledged. One of the first questions buddhists ask is whether someone has a lineage and if they don't that pretty much ends the fruitful discussion, at least in my case it has. This is especially the case in tantric buddhism and dzogchen, where one having a guru is the most important principle.

Some Tibetan buddhists online, many with decades of practice and some even lamas or translators of buddhist texts, have simply branded me as a ”fake”, ”charlatan”, ”hoax” or more recklessly as a ”crazy” or as an ”idiot”. On forums such as the DharmaWheel this seems to be a standard way of treating teachers without lineages, no matter who they are or what they teach. Without having the kinds of documents they want to see, they don't want to hear about it. End of the story.

I am not into pleasing everyone but I am quite sad that some traditionalists have taken such negative standpoints. Until some point I tried my best to discuss and shed light on matters, on my views and thoughts that have evolved in the guidance of my gurus but eventually I figured out it was all in vain. I admit that my way of presenting some of the mostly highly regarded lamas of the present and past as similar samsaric human beings as the rest of us, without all the posh and pomp, probably didn't help. On the other I'd say that, looking at all the sex, power and abuse scandals happening in all schools of buddhism to some of the most highly authenticated teachers* together with all the external signs of dharma turned into deteriorated religion and the unhealthy hierarchical system of monks and priests, should make people ask questions(!). Anyway, this is why I stopped writing on forums (except wearedharma.org which is our own forum).

It is worthy to mention that as far as I am aware none of the harsh criticisers out there have really looked into what the Open Heart teachings are. I have always welcomed educated criticism but these people have made up their mind and quite foolishly keep up the bashing. It has become a bit of a phenomena since it keeps continuing on it's own. Of course, saying harmful things, even among those who have the fortune of dharma, is nothing new. If there is something human beings know, it is how to cause harm. But hey, each to his own as everyone reaps the crops of one's own actions (karma).

I am pretty sure that as long as I keep teaching and Open Heart exists this negative talk keeps happening. For this reason, I wanted to tell you about it myself, before negative rumours enter into our sangha from outside. I have heard that such rumours circulate in Finland as well. For example, I was recently denied to rent a certain buddhist center for a zen-calligraphy exhibition (I own a notable collection of buddhist art and calligraphy) because "your activities are not clear and can be confusing to people who seek a valid spiritual path". They continue that "If one teaches according to one's own whims and mixes buddhist and hindu teachings it can be harmful to peoples mental health".

I always say that it is the inights and experiences what matter because they give us confidence of our path but even then Open Heart-practitioners hearing something strongly negative like this can cause some confusion. It simply happens to be the case that I do not have any formal recognitions from any buddhist authorities which is the main reason why this problem goes on. For some time I tried to reach to some buddhist lamas but the problem is that they dont want to give much attention, not to even mention authorisation to anyone they don't know. They are pretty self-sufficient and don't think it's their problem that I or OH has no traditional validation.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and a couple of other lamas who I am friends with have encouraged me to continue what I do and let those who want to talk, talk how they wish. On the other hand I wouldn't want people to take up Open Heart-practices just because I had a formal recognition from any buddhist authority. I hope, like I always have, that people come to Open Heart because it makes sense and gives them insights and experiences. That is the most healthy way to start on the path of dharma.

Those who left

As in all sanghas, also in Open Heart there have been those who have left the sangha. Some have left in good terms, while some have left with what seemed to me a bitter taste in their mouth. Even if the criticism of those who left hasn't seemed lucid thinking to me I have wished well to all who left.

I would like to bring up a couple of things that those who left said.

”I am not buying into the Open Heart Bhumi Model”.

”Opening bhumis seems like a competition among practitioners”.

”Opening bhumis is too goal oriented for me. I just want clarity of mind and compassion”.

”The teacher rewards those who are successful in their practice, like in cults”.

A small number of people (4) who left during 2016-2017 all told me the first three points. Common to all these people was that for sometime before they left and expressed their criticism, they didn't regularly practice Open Heart-teachings anymore. Not practicing, OH-techniques or something else, of course leads into the mind becoming clouded with self-based emotions. The same wold happen to me if I stopped practicing now. In each case I have adressed their concerns through email correspondence because if I hadn't it might be taken as self-ingulgence on my part, and yet adressing criticism that as far as I see it is mainly caused by them not practicing, has felt sheer waste of my time. One of the reasons I wish to speak about this here, among sangha members is because when someone in the future wants to leave and say these same points to me, they already have my answer and I don't need to go through the whole thing again.

Until today I have seen perhaps a couple of hundred bhumi openings in OH-practitioners. Some students have opened few of them, some have opened all of them. I have also verified over 100 awakenings (opening of the 1^st bhumi) and not once, have I heard that any of these people had zero positive effect of any of their bhumi openings. This includes those who eventually left. There has been a small number of openings (1^st or otherwise) that didn't have that much difference but it always had some change, brought some* increased clarity of mind. Those who have kept practicing know perfectly well how great is the difference from having no bhumis open at all compared to having them all open. So, if someone is not practicing while ”not buying” into the OHBM, its not really something anyone can credibly critisize about.

As I have often said OHBM is a map of insight. Maps of insight are abound in buddhism. All schools from hinayana to mahayana to vajrayana have them. OHBM is ours. As said, having first and following awakenings (bhumi openings) makes us actually shift from the deluded state to the liberated state, bit by bit. It is a pity if some see this as a competition between practitioners but that is just their own projection. I always felt that openings of others are an encouragement and motivates my own practice. But if I don't practice while others go through the map of insight and I develop an issue about it, it's a problem in my mind, not in the minds of others. In that situation it is faulty to blame the method or the teacher for it.

Awakenings (whether first or consecutive) are known in most schools of buddhism by different names such as kensho, shinjin, semngo tropa and sotapanna or stream entry. In OH we speak of ”bhumi openings”. Its all the same, same kind of openings, same kinds of gradual clarification of the mind. Getting these openings will automatically make one's mind clear and compassionate because we are tapping into the natural state, buddhanature, more and more. If you don't practice and in consequence don't get insights, how will you ever come to know this?

It has been the custom in some zen buddhist sanghas for the teacher to publicly name and congratulate those who have had kensho on a retreat. I have done the same at our Facebook sangha, naming the person and congratulating on a bhumi opening in question. I have done this from 1^st to 13^th bhumi openings *equally to all* who have had bhumi openings (unless I have forgotten which I apologise). It has brought much joy and liveliness into our online sangha since many people like to congratulate others on their succesful practice. Having seen this positive effect on many in the group is the reason why have kept doing it.

I have always encouraged open discussion on anything. Everyone is also free to come and go as they please. No one is in any way tied to me or the group. Everyone is welcome to disagree with me and have their own opinions. I have also repeatedly discouraged all not to merely believe what I say but to do your own practice to find out these things for yourself. For these reasons mentioning ”cults” has no actual basis whatsoever.

OH sangha members, as always, please feel free to speak your mind openly.

Have a nice day.

Kim

The Core Features of Pragmatic Dharma by Vincent Horn

The Core Features of

Pragmatic Dharma

by Vincent Horn
http://www.vincenthorn.com/

Pragmatic Dharma is a modern approach to the path of awakening. It pulls from the time-tested teachings and practices of the Buddhist tradition, but is simultaneously infused with a modern mindset that isn’t afraid to tinker with the traditional formulation. Pragmatic Dharma, at its core, is about asking the question: What works?

If something doesn’t work, then it’s relinquished. If it works, it’s used. If something else works better—at certain times or for certain people—then we go with that. In that way Pragmatic Dharma is a completely practical way of approaching the spiritual path.

That said, this approach begins with the Buddhist tradition as a starting point. Buddhism has one of the most exhaustive collections of theory and practice to help enact spiritual transformation. It’s built upon thousands of years of individual experimentation, trial-and-error, and success. Many people have used this system to train their minds, awaken their hearts, and manifest deep wisdom. For this reason we use it as a starting point, respecting the deep streams of knowledge that our own exploration rides upon.

The Relationship of Theory and Practice

Pragmatic Dharma includes a collection of helpful theories and practices. At the same time it is a particular way of approaching theory and practice. If we look at the word “pragmatic” we see that it stems directly from Western philosophy. This is a description, from Wikipedia, of one of the defining features of pragmatism in the Western tradition:

The pragmatist proceeds from the basic premise that the human capability of theorizing is integral to intelligent practice. Theory and practice are not separate spheres; rather, theories and distinctions are tools or maps for finding our way in the world.

If we look at what theory is, it’s essentially an abstraction, or representation, of direct experience. It’s a way for us to take our understanding and transmit, through the medium of ideas, the same understanding to another person. Language is such an important innovation, because it allows us to do this.

Because theory is an abstraction or representation, without directly experiencing, or really understanding what these things are pointing too, abstractions can remain just that. We all know people who confuse concepts about reality with reality itself. One need only bring to mind a know-it-all scholar or nerd to see living examples of what happens when we emphasize theory over practice.

The flip side of emphasizing theory over practice, is in emphasizing practice over theory. Many people conclude that all you need to do is practice and you’ll figure out everything by yourself. But how do you understand why you’re practicing or learn to practice?

If you emphasize practice too much you can get what Tibetan meditation master Chogyam Trungpa called “dumb meditators”—people who don’t understand what they’re doing or why. They never really got what they were supposed to be looking for, so they spin out endlessly doing a practice, which leads to something interesting, but not to what was intended.

Another pitfall of leaving out theory is that we find it difficult to integrate the experiences we’ve had into their lives. We have trouble because we are rejecting the importance of the thinking mind. Our complex mental abilities and highly developed brains are what make us distinctly human. Without complex thought it’s unlikely that we’d even be able to ask ourselves the important spiritual questions. Homo sapien is latin for “knowing man” or “wise man.” It can be a disaster if we throw out the “wise” part of our evolutionary heritage.

What’s encouraging is that if we can these helpful theories into practice, using them as maps to help us find our way, then we get into the business of having direct experiences ourselves. Through doing this we become internal scientists, and can begin to confirm, reject, and even build upon the theories we’ve been handed. Theories are alive and open-ended when we can test their validity. They are not the end point but rather the starting point for an incredible journey.

Awakening is Possible

At the center of this whole approach is the shining gem of Awakening. Awakening is often experienced as a process—sometimes rapid and sometimes more progressive—by which the sense of personal identity is radically transformed. Identity begins as a small, separate, and localized phenomenon that is always in reference to my body, my emotions, my perception, and my self. Through questioning the very assumptions this sense of identity rests upon it transforms to a more expansive, open-ended, and constantly changing situation, one that can simultaneously include us, but which goes beyond us as well. This shift brings an incredible sense of internal freedom, expansiveness, and well-being.

To say that Awakening is possible is to say that we acknowledge from the beginning that this transformation, which has been described and taught by people for millennia, is a real possibility for us. It isn’t something that happened to someone else a long time ago, or happens only for special people, but is a living potential for us. If we don’t believe it’s possible, than it’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to marshal the resources to begin the journey, let alone to arrive at the “destination” of abiding awakening.

Maps are Helpful

Along with recognizing that awakening is possible, another key feature of Pragmatic Dharma is that we recognize that there are helpful maps which describe some of the underlying patterns of spiritual development. The specifics of our experience can vary quite a bit, but the underlying pattern of spiritual development appears to be hardwired into our biology and psychology. These deep patterns form the basis for the maps which describe the Stages of Concentration and the Stages of Insight and Awakening.

At the same time, we hold these maps as useful pointers only, not as ultimate truths. It’s important to not completely give over our authority to someone else’s theory, as convincing as it may be, but to verify for ourselves what is true, what works, and what does not. This is another way in which Pragmatic Dharma stands apart from more traditional faith-based approaches.

Reality-Testing is Crucial

What happens if we’re willing to question and test the various assumptions and ideals that we bring to the spiritual path? What happens if we question the ideals and models that come from the spiritual traditions? Reality testing is the constant commitment to holding in question our own beliefs and theories, and those of others, until we can test and verify things for ourselves. Even once we’ve done so, reality testing invites us to continue holding open the door for new information or experiences to transform our understanding. Reality testing is a way to live in concert with change.

A wonderful example of reality testing comes from the Western scientist and philosopher Galileo Galilei. Often referred to as “the father of modern science” Galileo was well-known for turning the geocentric view of the earth on its head—the belief that the earth is at the center of the universe. By using a high-powered telescope and observing the movement of various celestial bodies he discovered that the sun was at the center of the observable universe. This became known as the heliocentric view, and serves as the basis for what we now refer to as our “solar system.” Galileo used direct observation to discover something new. And by doing this he completely upended the theories of his day.

Reality testing doesn’t happen just on a personal level, but also happens within a community of peers. There is much we can learn alone, but we can’t ultimately do it by all ourselves. Even Galileo was standing on the shoulders of hundreds of years of scientific exploration and developing technology. So we use everything that has come before us, as well as our peers and mentors to help refine our own observations and understandings. Or to put it in a more humorous way, as Kenneth Folk once did, we recognize that “enlightenment is a team sport.”

Openness & Transparency For the Win!

The final principle of Pragmatic Dharma is that openness and transparency beat out secrecy and dogma every time. When information is accessible we don’t have to reinvent the wheel ourselves. We can quickly learn from others and build upon that learning. And instead of relying on some special empowerment or secret instruction we have all the information we need to begin. We treat each other like adults, who can handle complexity, rather than like children, who often need information pre-digested for them.

An environment of openness and transparency can also allow us to reveal things about our experience that we might not otherwise reveal. Often our cutting edge lies in the areas that are most difficult to explore or see. When we value openness and transparency we don’t have to be as afraid of going into those areas. There is an incredible power that gets unlocked through doing this.

Another thing that happens, especially as a community, if we preference openness and transparency, is that authority begins to become more widely distributed. Instead of authority only being at the top of a hierarchy, with the founders of a tradition, or the senior teachers or lineage holders, authority also rests in the hands of regular people. Everyone who can realize something for themselves and share what they’ve gleaned is a source of spiritual wisdom. And this massively distributed authority is not a flat, “everyone is equal” point of view. Rather it’s a naturally flowing hierarchy of knowledge and skill, which is inherently dynamic and flexible.

When everyone in a community is more empowered to learn and share it creates an incredible positive feedback loop of enthusiasm, skill, and energy. People become more invested in what they’re doing and more empowered to embody their own wisdom. And because we haven’t thrown out a recognition of varying levels of depth there’s a constant stream of checks and balances throughout the system, which if set up properly can become self-regulating. Of course, this is the ideal, and with all ideals reality-testing again becomes important. But these principles have been enacted well in other systems and we can learn a lot from them. Indeed, I would say that if we ever want to have a shot at modernizing the path of awakening, we’ll have to.