Existence

 

Existence

Existence is the state of having being or reality, in contrast to nonexistence and non-being. It is a fundamental concept in philosophy, particularly in ontology, which studies the nature and types of existence.

: Existence refers to the state of being real or participating in reality1. It distinguishes real entities from imaginary ones and can apply to both individual entities and the totality of reality.

:

1. Singular existence: Refers to the existence of individual entities, such as a specific person.

2. General existence: Pertains to general concepts, properties, or universals.

3. Concrete existence: Entities present in space and time.

4. Abstract existence: Entities like numbers and sets that are not spatiotemporally located.

:

• Some philosophers argue that existence is a second-order property (a property of properties), while others view it as a first-order property (a property of individuals).

• Debates exist about whether there are degrees of existence or if entities simply exist or do not exist.

• The concept of existence has been discussed throughout the history of philosophy, including in ancient Greek, Indian, and Chinese traditions.

: Existence is often contrasted with essence, nonexistence, nothingness, and nonbeing.

:

• Possible existence: Entities that could exist but do not.

• Contingent existence: Entities that exist but could fail to exist.

• Necessary existence: Entities that must exist or could not fail to exist.

:

• The nature of existence and its relation to being, reality, and actuality is a subject of ongoing philosophical debate.

• Some philosophers argue that existence is an elementary concept that cannot be defined without circularity1.

• The question of why there is something rather than nothing remains a fundamental philosophical inquiry1.

Existence continues to be a central topic in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and existentialism, challenging our understanding of reality and our place within it.

Citations:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existence
2. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existence/
3. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/existence
4. https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/existence
5. https://iep.utm.edu/existenc/
6. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2402107/
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/Existentialism/comments/18wlz2x/what_is_existence/
8. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/existence

Noting and Labelling with "I Am": A Subtle Yet Powerful Approach

Noting and Labelling with "I Am": A Subtle Yet Powerful Approach

In the realm of mindfulness and self-inquiry, noting and labeling are powerful techniques used to cultivate awareness and clarity. Typically, these methods are applied to sensory experiences—thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations—but they can also be directed toward deeper layers of consciousness. One particularly potent subtle object for practice is the phrase "I am."

By breaking this phrase down into its two components—“I” and “am”—we open up different avenues of investigation, each leading to unique insights about the nature of self and existence. This approach can be an efficient method for engaging with Nisargadatta Maharaj’s "I Am" practice, where the ultimate goal is to rest in the sense of presence prior to identification with form and concept.

Noting "I" vs. Noting "Am"

When using noting and labelling with the phrase “I am,” we can explore it in two distinct ways:

1. Noting "I"

   • When the emphasis is placed on "I," awareness naturally inclines toward the sense of personal identity.

   • Noting "I" repeatedly reveals the habitual self-referencing structure of the mind—associations, personal narratives, and the feeling of an individual entity navigating experience.

   • This can lead to deeper insights into attachment, ego formation, and how the mind constructs a sense of separate self.

2. Noting "Am"

   • When the emphasis shifts to "am," the focus moves toward pure beingness—existence itself without attachment to form.

   • Noting "am" can dissolve conceptual layers, leading to an experience of presence beyond identity.

   • This shift often brings about a direct taste of stillness, simplicity, and the formless awareness that Nisargadatta refers to as the doorway to the Absolute.

Efficiency in the "I Am" Practice

Nisargadatta Maharaj’s primary instruction was to abide in the sense of “I Am” without adding any conceptual layers to it. While simple in description, many practitioners find it challenging to avoid intellectualizing or drifting into subtle mental elaborations.

By employing noting and labeling, we create a structured way to refine attention:

• If distractions arise, simply note “thinking” or “distracted” and return to the felt sense of “I Am.”

• If identification strengthens, noting “I” can illuminate where grasping occurs.

• If presence deepens, noting “Am” allows attention to stabilize in pure beingness.

This method minimizes unconscious wandering and keeps practice on track, making the inquiry both rigorous and accessible.

Beyond Noting: Resting in the Unlabelled

While noting is an efficient way to sharpen awareness, the ultimate goal of the "I Am" practice is to abide in pure presence without interference. Once clarity stabilizes, the need for labeling naturally falls away. At this stage, resting in the silent knowing of “I Am” without effort becomes possible.

By using noting as a stepping stone, practitioners can move beyond words into direct experience—where the simple recognition of existence unfolds into the profound realization that Nisargadatta so often pointed to.

---

This refined approach offers a bridge between mindfulness techniques and deep self-inquiry, making it a practical yet profound method for those on the path of awakening. Whether one is exploring the nature of self or dissolving into pure being, noting and labeling provide a valuable toolset for navigating the subtleties of "I Am."

Barry Long - 3 - The being behind the mask - notes

 

The 3rd book in the Myth of Life series is "How to live joyously" and consists of two parts- 'The being behind the mask' and 'The law of life - Karma'.

Here's a few notes on the first part of that book or course, which is "The Being Behind the Mask".

This teaching lecture goes for around 60 minutes and deals with the difference between what BL calls the 'personality' and 'being'. It details the issues that have arisen with the mistaking of personality to be one's self, and then goes on to detail one's true nature of 'being'. It also deals with nature's remedy for the descent of man into the physical world, how this works for animals (but not man), and some other courses of action one can take in remedying this abnormal situation, which is the cause of maladies both personal and worldly. Finally, it gives 10 tips or pieces of advice with the aim of conserving energy and stopping the leakage of vital energy needed to conduct the work in setting things 'right' again within and without. Examples include ceasing voluntary but aimless activity, talk, pandering to the personality etc.

It starts with a parable or fable about a man (existing at a prior time when man and woman were not so attached to bodily form) who comes into possession with something novel, being an amazing mask (representing the fabricated personality), that becomes the source of much excitement and pleasure out in the world, but ultimately ends up becoming a source of pain and suffering due to habit and identification. At the same time, the loss of one's knowledge of one's self as the real identity and source of joy also adds to the catastrophe of man (and woman) having totally identified with the mask. The fable does have a happy ending, but you'll need to listen to the whole story in order to gain some appreciation for the problem and the solution.

The advice given towards the end of the lecture is helpful in terms of immediate practical actions one can take to save energy and reduce stress. There is no direct practice given here around mindfulness of the body or going back to the energy field of the body as an anchor- which was adviced in the previous two recordings. This lecture is more about discriminating between the false self, the personality, versus the real self or being behind the mask. 

The lecture as a whole fits in with the previous 2 lectures in terms of naming the personality as yet another manifestation of the previously mentioned 'thinker' and 'pygmy', which are both accumulations of past pain, emotion and fabricated self-ing.

There is some subtle use of pointing towards one's beingness or conscious presence that exists prior to the 'personality' and indeed IS one's true nature. But there is not direct or implicitly pointing out of this fact at this stage in the series (which is the main aim of the last recording in the series).

Breathing, meditation objects and zazen as an extention of presence.

When practicing 'just sitting' or 'breathing', as in seated zazen meditation, the following is helpful:

Practice becoming aware of the breath as if from inside out. The breath and belly (tantien) being an extension of one's being, "I am". In this way, there is no separation of the object (breath, belly) and subject (beingness). 

Normally, we practice watching an object, such as the breath, as if it is a separate object. We practice from the perspective of being the witness of an object. In fact, the witness, object and awareness are all just one, or 'just this' now.

A preliminary may be that of coming to know beingness, I-amness, or one's presence prior to developing concentration or calmness. This is in reverse of the usual order of first focusing on an object and developing calm, and then insight. The reverse approach is the way of the direct path, and paths such as Dzogchen.

The ego has no being. (ACIM)

I had been listening to and reading A Course in Miracles (Text), when I came across this quote:


"The ego is incapable of knowing how you feel. When I said that the ego does not know anything, I said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a corollary; if only knowledge has being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego as no being." (Text 8-VIII.7)


This reminded me of the use (in some circles) whereby the word 'knowledge' is interpreted as 'knowing' or the act of knowing (i.e. being aware) only, rather than in the usual sense of amassing intellectual data/facts/thoughts etc.


In this sense, 'knowledge' or 'knowing only' equates exactly with being, since both as also synonyms for just awareness or consciousness.


Hence, a thought construct, including the primal thought-construct-tendency which is the 'ego' ('I-thought'), cannot actually know anything, in the sense that it is not self-aware or endowed with any form of awareness itself-- but rather lives only as a construct existing in our awareness. The ego doesn't assert itself in deep sleep (or death) for instance, and at times when our waking consciousness seems to be in abeyance.


Being without awareness (knowledge) and being just a thought-construct, the ego thus has no being itself, and is rather just like a computer program- playing out its programming as it was created to do, relying on power beyond itself, and mostly for the sake of the body and its own survival.


This leads to the inquiry of what one really is, if the ego ("I-construct) and the body have no inherent being in themselves.. and taking into account that we normally regard ourselves as a body-mind entity.


Without jumping into further concepts, such as 'we are soul, spirit, Otherness' etc.. it is possible to stop and enquire directly into the nature of what we are in this moment, with the understanding that we are prior to the awareness of ourselves as a body, and prior to the awareness of ourselves as an ego. One means for doing this is via the practiced habit of self-attentiveness and patient observation directed squarely at one's "self" (or the feeling of one's "self").

Life begings with Awakening- by John Bernie.

Found this short, beautiful piece in my inbox today. John speaks from an ever fresh experience of This.


Life Begins with Awakening

Awakening — the direct experience of our true nature — may be just a brief glimpse at first, a little taste of infinity; or it may persist longer, as a kind of luscious steeping in awareness; or there may be some more permanent shift. There are so many different ways awakening can unfold. Prior to that initial glimpse, that first realization, explanations and translations seem to be necessary. Models, roadmaps, guides, all can be very beneficial. But after realization, explanations are unnecessary. Because now you see clearly that everything is mirroring the truth; everything is teaching; everything is guiding. Guidance is automatically available.

The realization, however fleeting, that you are this — that this infinite awareness is what you fundamentally are — is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the path simultaneously. At that moment, awareness and understanding shift radically. When the truth is really revealed, everything changes. You begin to find the mind becoming incredibly malleable, flexible. No longer caught in the constrictions of paradigmatic thinking, you’re no longer enslaved by your beliefs, or anyone else’s beliefs either. You’re free of all that.

So then what? What’s next? You don’t know! From the awakened perspective, each moment is a new discovery. It’s all brand new, always brand new, right now. There’s no anticipation, no expectation. There’s just radiant aliveness, this vibrancy of being, and in that we recognize our deep interconnectedness with all things.

It’s fantastic to discover who you truly are. And the amazing thing is that that revelation keeps on happening, over and over. As one teacher of mine said when she was in her 90s, “I’m always learning new things and becoming more sensitive.” That’s the freshness, the innocence of pure consciousness — always learning new things and becoming more sensitive, and totally, totally okay with being human. You may have heard me say that the path begins with awakening, but truly, life begins with awakening.

(John Bernie, Clear Water Sangha)