THE BECOMING OF CONSCIOUSNESS

THIS BECOMING OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE DEPARTURE POINT FOR ALL TRADITIONAL MEDITATIONS AND CONTEMPLATIONS OF BUDDHA DHARMA AND DAO

The Becoming of Consciousness is best known as that point immediately experienced as Identity as it comes into being but it is also known as that moment when Consciousness first comes into being.

But the Becoming of Consciousness is not a single event, for Identity is continually being reshaped, so as far as Identity is concerned it is that moment when a change of Identity takes place. Similarly, it is the moment when consciousness of any cognitive trace or event, natural or stained, comes into being.

You can see then that this point of "becoming" is, in and of itself , neither stained nor can it be said to be unstained. It simply is what it is and the maturing of that state determines its later evolution (sensation, discrimination and perception) as being stained or not.

The Becoming then of Consciouness is actually then related to the penultimate point in the chain of unstainable attention.

From a passive state the series is:

Alertness... Detection of an Irritation... Moving the detecting senses to that area in space... Detecting the irritation, and finally... Fixating on that point.

That final fixation is called Concentration and it is here that the meditations that are termed Concentration meditations have their base. The point of departure for Concentration meditations can be said to be that point between detecting the irritation without it being identified or discriminatrd in any way and the operation of Concentration.

That interval is the "becoming of Consciousness."

As a young child my Grandfather presented me with a problem. He drew a line upon the floor and told me to jump over it. After I had done so he asked where I was when I jumped.

I pointed to one side of the line. "No," he replied, "that was where you were before you jumped." That was clear so I pointed to the other side.

"No," was the reply, "that was where you were after you jumped".

The solution was clear. It had to be when I was in the air. I said so and was informed... "No, that was where you were during the jumping."

The "Becoming of Consciousness" is that almost undefinable point which cannot be observed until it is extended in time by holding up the normal impulse of concentration. It is only when it is sustained that you really know it is there.

It is in that area that the topic of Concentration is applied so that Concentration proceeds in the meditative direction. It is also the point where the topics of Contemplation are applied which direct the processes to an even higher level of consciousness.

Developing, stabilizing and extending in time that are of the "Becoming of Consciousness" is important for all concentration and contemplation for a higher state of experience. We call that Dwelling in the State of Becoming.

But the human system is not used to this dwelling in the Becoming of Consciousness because its mind is agitated and is always seeking the objects of desire to satisfy the Identities of Confusion, Acquisitiveness, Aversion and Anxiety about future outcomes.

There are Buddha Dharma ways to combat these events when they arise as impediments to meditation or contemplation, but here we are concerned with preventative medicine. 

So what we do is allow the most simple concentration on a body function that requires sufficient concentration without leading to chains of thought.

We then must diligently maintain that concentration in the far background with just sufficient strength to be maintained without being lost or falling away. It is not easy, but it can be accomplished with patience, calmness, determination and perseverance. All without striving... let it happen.

Now the physiological event that is perfect for this is the act of breathing. We cannot avoid it because it is there and we do not need to form it, for nature does that nicely. So that point of concentration that makes it impossible for distractions to enter is the Concentration upon breathing...

Actually it is the concentration upon the Qi Defense of touch, which occurs at the nostrils when breathing takes place or alternatively on the Qi Defence of Tactile detection of movements of the diaphragm.

Too much concentration does not work, nor too little. The attention must be directed like the alighting of a butterfly and then maintained.

That is how the Becoming of Consciousness is attained and sustained so that the concentrations and contemplations can automatically be initiated.

Now why do we say that these are automatically initiated? Because to achieve that end we must pre-program the path which the system will elect after being held in a suspended state for some time.

It is as though the system in determining that the normal course of events is no longer possible seeks a new permitted course that is clear and well-defined.

It is the task of the pre-programming to effectively perform that task.