'Hummology': attention on the attention - Jan van Delden

12-03-2001, 05:14 AM

Has anybody tried this? Any comments on this?

Jan Sultan
--------------------------------------------------

'Hummology': attention on the attention
Jan van Delden
http://www.ods.nl/am1gos

Water can not become wetter than it already is. In other words: you don't
have to do or not do anything in order to be what you already are. Here
follows a practice for giving attention to the unmanifested part of yourself.
For convenience we will call that unmanifested part 'the knowing' and the
entire manifest world and everything that takes place in it 'the known'. To
say it differently the manifest and unmanifest parts of yourself are the
knowing and the known, the perceiving and the perceived. One never changes,
the other changes constantly. We are used to directing our attention
entirely within the known world and to experiencing the knowing as part of
our personality, but now is it time to direct the attention to the
attention itself.

To make it somewhat easier in the beginning, find a place to sit or lie
where you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed. Then, let it
penetrate in you that you don't have to do, or not do, anything to be what
you already are: 'being' is thus accompanied by a logical effortlessness.
Therefore you don't have to adopt any special attitude as if you were
trying to reach some goal.

Observe carefully what belongs to the manifest part of yourself and see
that your self — the knowing of the manifest- is the unmanifest. Within
that there is no image of anything represented, no matter how subtle, to be
found. Observe that you cannot use any of your usual capacities, because
your entire, feeling and I-feeling belong to the manifest part. Now you
direct your attention to the knowing of the known and wait until the 'being
there' goes to zero. There is really nothing more to do, and thus your 'not
knowing mind' comes forth; silence arrives. This is the silence that
appears as an answer when you ask the question 'who am I?' consistently.
When that happens a feeling of spaciousness happens and you may for example
hear the singing of birds or other surrounding sounds that you had not
noticed earlier. Allow everything to be as it is and do not direct your
attention to the perceptions (sounds, feelings, etc.) but to the silence in
which they occur. Keeping your attention on the silence is your only
'safety-line' to your unmanifested 'being-there'. Everything else belongs
to the known world.

In order to keep the attention on the silence more easily, I use the sound
of the silence itself — the silence is namely not entirely still, there is
a sort of hum or buzz of 'being-there' and you can pay attention to that.
Direct your attention to that hum. The consequence is that your attention
no longer feels tense. Observe that this stillness is always there without
any need to do, or not do, anything. That 'burning' or 'buzzing' of the
silence is the easiest entry to the unmanifest, and by directing your
attention repeatedly to that 'burning' silence the attention grows little
by little towards that silence. In the passage of time this will become
effortless. When you can effortlessly hold on to that 'being there sound',
that humming, and therefore have the taste of the unmanifest as a base, you
can from then on take it with you as a sort of 'floating building block'
while you just allow the manifest to happen. You witness it, you follow it.
In other words you try to 'embody' the practice in your daily life. Slowly
the practice will change into just 'being-there'. See if the hum of the
silence is there when you are brushing your teeth, washing the dishes or
whatever you are doing.

Slowly but surely there dawns in you the awareness that you are keeping the
known at a distance because your attention is on the hum of the silence,
and that you are therefore the knowing itself. Just as the background
becomes fuzzy when you look at a droplet on the windowpane, you keep the
known at a distance by paying attention to the silence. You do not have to
do, or not do, anything else. If you practice that, even when you don't
feel like it, you will see slowly but surely that the whole thinking and
feeling is something that is apart from you, you can perceive it, therefore
it belongs to the known. That allows you to see that the thinking is of no
use in this territory and only exists for convenience or for organizing the
known. You will then see more and more that in spite of the chattering of
the mind, everything just happens as it happens. The thinker suffers form
the delusion that he thinks thoughts and is therefore responsible for what
happens. Through the insight that the thinking (just as all other
perceptions) is something that appears and disappears in the silence, the
'being-there' will no longer escape you. Take hold of that, as it were,
more and more. There follows the insight that silence and attention are the
same, and so that 'being-there' comes to its 'being-now' feeling. In this
way the effortless 'being-there feeling' becomes the basis of your life and
the happiness that you have done so much for emerges through the absence of
anything other than what you now 'already are', the eternal, unchanging
being-there is a fact.

Finally there remains only to end the delusion that the known part lives
its own life, independent of the knowing. That flows into seeing that the
known and its manifest worlds do not exist as such. Then you can easily
allow your attention to rest at the only thing that actually exists, the
simple, silent being-there. Then you are the undisturbed, unchanging
happiness itself.

12-03-2001, 08:08 AM

Yes. A very familiar process.

--- In HarshaSatsangh@y..., Jan Sultan wrote:
>
>
> Has anybody tried this? Any comments on this?
>
> Jan Sultan
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> 'Hummology': attention on the attention
> Jan van Delden
> http://www.ods.nl/am1gos
>
> Water can not become wetter than it already is. In other words: you
don't
> have to do or not do anything in order to be what you already are.
Here
> follows a practice for giving attention to the unmanifested part of
yourself.
> For convenience we will call that unmanifested part 'the knowing'
and the
> entire manifest world and everything that takes place in it 'the
known'. To
> say it differently the manifest and unmanifest parts of yourself
are the
> knowing and the known, the perceiving and the perceived. One never
changes,
> the other changes constantly. We are used to directing our
attention
> entirely within the known world and to experiencing the knowing as
part of
> our personality, but now is it time to direct the attention to the
> attention itself.
>
> To make it somewhat easier in the beginning, find a place to sit or
lie
> where you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed. Then, let it
> penetrate in you that you don't have to do, or not do, anything to
be what
> you already are: 'being' is thus accompanied by a logical
effortlessness.
> Therefore you don't have to adopt any special attitude as if you
were
> trying to reach some goal.
>
> Observe carefully what belongs to the manifest part of yourself and
see
> that your self — the knowing of the manifest- is the unmanifest.
Within
> that there is no image of anything represented, no matter how
subtle, to be
> found. Observe that you cannot use any of your usual capacities,
because
> your entire, feeling and I-feeling belong to the manifest part. Now
you
> direct your attention to the knowing of the known and wait until
the 'being
> there' goes to zero. There is really nothing more to do, and thus
your 'not
> knowing mind' comes forth; silence arrives. This is the silence
that
> appears as an answer when you ask the question 'who am I?'
consistently.
> When that happens a feeling of spaciousness happens and you may for
example
> hear the singing of birds or other surrounding sounds that you had
not
> noticed earlier. Allow everything to be as it is and do not direct
your
> attention to the perceptions (sounds, feelings, etc.) but to the
silence in
> which they occur. Keeping your attention on the silence is your
only
> 'safety-line' to your unmanifested 'being-there'. Everything else
belongs
> to the known world.
>
> In order to keep the attention on the silence more easily, I use
the sound
> of the silence itself — the silence is namely not entirely still,
there is
> a sort of hum or buzz of 'being-there' and you can pay attention to
that.
> Direct your attention to that hum. The consequence is that your
attention
> no longer feels tense. Observe that this stillness is always there
without
> any need to do, or not do, anything. That 'burning' or 'buzzing' of
the
> silence is the easiest entry to the unmanifest, and by directing
your
> attention repeatedly to that 'burning' silence the attention grows
little
> by little towards that silence. In the passage of time this will
become
> effortless. When you can effortlessly hold on to that 'being there
sound',
> that humming, and therefore have the taste of the unmanifest as a
base, you
> can from then on take it with you as a sort of 'floating building
block'
> while you just allow the manifest to happen. You witness it, you
follow it.
> In other words you try to 'embody' the practice in your daily life.
Slowly
> the practice will change into just 'being-there'. See if the hum of
the
> silence is there when you are brushing your teeth, washing the
dishes or
> whatever you are doing.
>
> Slowly but surely there dawns in you the awareness that you are
keeping the
> known at a distance because your attention is on the hum of the
silence,
> and that you are therefore the knowing itself. Just as the
background
> becomes fuzzy when you look at a droplet on the windowpane, you
keep the
> known at a distance by paying attention to the silence. You do not
have to
> do, or not do, anything else. If you practice that, even when you
don't
> feel like it, you will see slowly but surely that the whole
thinking and
> feeling is something that is apart from you, you can perceive it,
therefore
> it belongs to the known. That allows you to see that the thinking
is of no
> use in this territory and only exists for convenience or for
organizing the
> known. You will then see more and more that in spite of the
chattering of
> the mind, everything just happens as it happens. The thinker
suffers form
> the delusion that he thinks thoughts and is therefore responsible
for what
> happens. Through the insight that the thinking (just as all other
> perceptions) is something that appears and disappears in the
silence, the
> 'being-there' will no longer escape you. Take hold of that, as it
were,
> more and more. There follows the insight that silence and attention
are the
> same, and so that 'being-there' comes to its 'being-now' feeling.
In this
> way the effortless 'being-there feeling' becomes the basis of your
life and
> the happiness that you have done so much for emerges through the
absence of
> anything other than what you now 'already are', the eternal,
unchanging
> being-there is a fact.
>
> Finally there remains only to end the delusion that the known part
lives
> its own life, independent of the knowing. That flows into seeing
that the
> known and its manifest worlds do not exist as such. Then you can
easily
> allow your attention to rest at the only thing that actually
exists, the
> simple, silent being-there. Then you are the undisturbed,
unchanging
> happiness itself.