Ten Ox-Herding pictures

[Alexander Nigma]

So, Shinzen Young said that the stage 7 of the Ten Ox-Herding pictures is actually Nirvana aka complete enlightenment, Heaven etc. He said that the 8th stage was the substance, the 9th stage was the appearance and the 10th stage was the ultimate use of enlightenment. As this model of enlightenment is pretty abstract(like all models) this is pretty confusing. The goal is not to get anywhere BUT I would like it if someone(especially @Leo Gura)could clear up the subject. Because if the last 3 stages of enlightenment on this model aren’t stages then it’s useless to think about them in terms of stages as they are not meant to be think of in that way. 

[Leo Gura]

The dirty truth is that there are thousands of states and stages of woke consciousness, way more than any model describes, and they cannot be mapped in 1 or even 2 dimensions.

There exist states of consciousness which sit completely outside and beyond the 10 Ox pics. And virtually no human knows or understands these rare states.

The truth is that we don't have any accurate maps or models of consciousness yet. The maps available today are like a 1st grade kid's crayon drawing of the Earth.

[Sempiternity]

@Leo Gura   Wouldn't there be infinite states and stages and dimensions? 

[BipolarGrowth]

7 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The dirty truth is that there are thousands of states and stages of woke consciousness, way more than any model describes, and they cannot be mapped in 1 or even 2 dimensions.

There exist states of consciousness which sit completely outside and beyond the 10 Ox pics. And virtually no human knows or understands these rare states.

The truth is that we don't have any accurate maps or models of consciousness yet. The maps available today are like a 1st grade kid's crayon drawing of the Earth.

This except change thousands of states and stages to an infinite amount. 

[Sempiternity]

35 minutes ago, BipolarGrowth said:

This except change thousands of states and stages to an infinite amount. 

What he said ?

[Leo Gura]

57 minutes ago, Sempiternity said:

@Leo Gura   Wouldn't there be infinite states and stages and dimensions? 

Probably. But I meant what is actually meaningful from a human perspective, like if we started to classify them.

You can think of these states like different planets in the galaxy that you could visit and explore.

[Sempiternity]

6 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Probably. But I meant what is actually meaningful from a human perspective, like if we started to classify them.

You can think of these states like different planets in the galaxy that you could visit and explore.

Fascinating. Cool to imagine a future where humans treat exploring these different states of consciousness like we treat exploring space. Where humans have an ongoing map of different stages of consciousness, and others can then willingly explore them if they choose. 

[Leo Gura]

9 minutes ago, Sempiternity said:

Cool to imagine a future where humans treat exploring these different states of consciousness like we treat exploring space.

That future is my life today and it could be yours too

[Sempiternity]

1 minute ago, Leo Gura said:

That future is my life today and it could be yours too

My life purpose