Learn About Association

Trail: Learn About Association
Landmarks	Observe Duality and Connectedness Observe Impermanent People Observe Emotions From Outside

A Trail in the context of Everyday Enlightenment is a curated journey of self-discovery and personal growth. It is a structured way of traveling through concepts and practices and is designed to guide you towards mindfulness and deeper understanding. Using a Trail helps you systematically navigate and explore the vast landscape of meditative insights, providing you with achievable goals and practical techniques to integrate these insights into your everyday life.

What is Association?

Association, one of the three Beacons of Everyday Enlightenment, invites us to explore the interconnected nature of existence, recognizing that all phenomena are deeply interwoven and interdependent. This aspect of the path is about unlearning our default dualistic perspectives and embracing the wisdom of nonduality.

Central to this practice is the process of Unlearning the Self, which involves deconstructing our habitual perception of the self as a separate, independent entity. By observing the transient nature of thoughts, feelings, and sensations that constitute our sense of self, we begin to understand our identities as dynamic processes, not static entities. This shift in understanding can liberate us from the confines of self-centered concerns and anxieties, promoting a sense of peace and interconnectedness.

In addition, Association encompasses a range of related concepts, including "Nonduality," "Nonself," "Decentering," "Witnessing," and "Interconnectedness." Each of these concepts further elaborates on the understanding of reality as nondual, highlighting different aspects of this profound wisdom.

By incorporating these insights into our daily lives, we can gradually awaken to the truth of nonduality, developing a more harmonious and comprehensive understanding of our existence. The ultimate goal of this practice is to realize the profound interconnectedness of all things, leading us to a state of deep peace, empathy, and understanding.

Where will this Trail take you?

This trail is designed to take you to a place where you have a basic understanding of the Beacon of Association, including the Lenses of Nonduality, Nonself and Decentering, as well as the Credo of Unlearn the Self. Once you've completed this trail, it is recommended you read through the content on the Association page.

Landmark: Observe Duality and Connectedness

Landmark: Observe Duality and Connectedness
Beacons	Association
Realms	Enrollment
Lenses	Nonduality
Guides	Eating
Trails	Learn About Association

The Landmark of Observe Duality and Connectedness gives you a chance to see Duality and then try to use the Lens of Nonduality to see things in a different way. This Landmark is within the Realm of Enrollment, and is part of the Beacon of Association, more specifically the Lens of Nonduality. Review these Lookouts to see what you may have learned at this Landmark.
Landmark Lookouts:

• Noticing Duality: Can you make a point see things from the perspective of Duality, and that "that thing" is not "you"?
  
• Trying Nonduality: Given things you are connected with, such as food and drink, can you sense one clear moment where there isn't a meaningful distinction between those things and yourself?
  

The next time you're sipping your morning coffee, tea, or even a glass of water...

• Sit your drink down in front of you just for a few moments.
• Consider the drink and yourself. You are yourself. The drink is the drink, the cup is the cup. You are not the drink, and the drink is not you.
• Now for a moment, consider what makes up "you" - is it just your body and mind? If so, what about your hair and fingernails. What about the glasses you need, or the sweat coming out of your pores?
• At the moment when you can really sense that the question makes sense, reach out and put your hand around the drink.
• Reflect on how you, the drinker, and your drink are interconnected in this moment, just through that touch.
• As you pick up the drink and begin to enjoy the taste and feel of it going into your mouth, think again on how you are connected.
• Explore the sensation of the liquid passing down your throat, becoming a part of you. Feel the unity in that moment.
• Remind yourself that you're not separate from the world around you, just as the drink isn't separate from you.
• As you put down your cup, remember that experience - it's a small glimpse into the Nonduality that's inherent in all experiences.

Once you've experimented with this example, double check your progress with the Landmark Lookouts above.

Landmark: Observe Impermanent People

Landmark: Observe Impermanent People
Beacons	Association
Realms	Enrollment
Lenses	Nonself
Guides	People
Trails	Learn About Association

The Landmark of Observe Impermanent People is a chance to experiment with the idea that there is no permanent, unchanging self. This Landmark is within the Realm of Enrollment, and is part of the Beacon of Association, more specifically the Lens of Nonself. Review these Lookouts to see what you may have learned at this Landmark.
Landmark Lookouts:

• Changes in Other People: Can you observe and acknowledge that other people change from year to year, and even more often than that, they are in fact changing every moment?
  
• The Changing You: Can you see - at least at some level - how "You" (The Self) is a constantly changing concept?
  

Whenever you're in a group of people, especially if there's a variety of ages...

• Think about who you are in this very moment. Your age, your appearance, your health, your clothing, your hopes, your anxieties. This is "You".
• Look around at all the people. Who are they? What is their age, appearance, health, and everything else?
• Choose a person, whoever you like. Is there anything about them that reminds you of what you used to be like, or what you think you'll be like after some years have passed?
• Think of yourself as a young child. Is that "you" - it couldn't be, they barely resemble anything about you now.
• Think about what you might be like in 10 or 20 or 50 years. What about your older relatives, what are they like? Will you in the future still be the same you of today?
• Think again about who you are in this moment.
• Look around again at all the people. Notice that wherever each of them is going, whatever they're doing, whoever they are Now, that person will be gone forever in 10 years - they would have transformed to their future self.
• And finally, just for a while, realize that each of us is changing each day, each hour, and really each second, and there is no "You" that could last for longer than that.

Once you've experimented with this example, double check your progress with the Landmark Lookouts above.

Landmark: Observe Emotions From Outside

Landmark: Observe Emotions From Outside
Beacons	Association
Realms	Enrollment
Lenses	Decentering
Guides	Stressful Moments
Trails	Learn About Association

The Landmark of Observe Emotions From Outside you will see negative emotions as something to observe, not something that is You. This Landmark is within the Realm of Enrollment, and is part of the Beacon of Association, more specifically the Lens of Decentering. Review these Lookouts to see what you may have learned at this Landmark.
Landmark Lookouts:

• Sounds and Sensations: Can you see how physical sounds and sensations are separate from You, and can you see how most physical sensations don't feel "personal" in any way?
  
• Emotions and Sensations: Can you see how emotions and the sensations they cause are separate from You, and are you (sometimes) able to see how even the emotions themselves aren't You?
  

It's a rare day when you don't have some stressful moments. Everyone is different, so just prepare yourself for one of those moments with a few steps.

First, right now

• Rub your hands together and notice the feeling. There is a familiar rasping of the skin rubbing against itself. There is a very pleasant sound associated with it.
• Now, ask yourself the improbable question - what do those sensations say about your moral character, about your value as a person and as a friend, your worthiness to pursue your dreams?
• The answer is obvious - the sound and sensation of your hands rubbing together have absolutely nothing to do with your value!
• Hold onto that realization, you're going to use it later.

Read through these next steps, and then when the time comes, go through them again in real-time. Don't try to resolve anything, just practice observing your emotions as an outsider to your own mind.

• The next time you experience a strong emotion - whether it is positive or negative - try and slow down and observe the following.
• What is the emotion? Give it a name.
• How is it making your body feel? Think of a part of your body and a sensation type such as heat or tightness.
• Notice how you were able to observe both the emotion and the sensation it gave you.
• Without overthinking about it, compare the emotion you're experiencing to the sound and sensation of your hands rubbing together. They're all just things happening to your body and mind. They aren't You.
• Now look again at the emotion and how it is affecting your body, and observe it from the perspective of knowing the emotion isn't You it's just something that's happening.
• Relax and allow the emotion to dissipate.

Once you've experimented with this example, double check your progress with the Landmark Lookouts above.

Destination

Congratulations, if you've completed these Landmarks, you are one Trail further along in your practice. Now that you have a basic idea of the concept, it's recommended you read through the article about the Beacon of Association and see if it starts to click with you. Then, look for other Trails and Landmarks that are in the Engagement Realm that can assist you further.

Resources

• Experience the Truth of No Self - "The teaching of anatta, or nonself, is considered the most liberating tenet of the Buddhist teachings. Describing how we’re bound, fettered, and limited by the sense of ourselves as separate and self-existing, this teaching offers the possibility of unbinding and freeing the heart and mind."
• Sakshi (witness), Vedanta (mind) - "... this table is an object of experience to my eyes. My eyes and the body are objects of experience to my mind. And my mind is an object of experience..."
• A Meditation for Decentering Your "Self" (And Why You Should Do It) - "When we realize that our “self” is really a process and not a fixed thing we can make space for less self-absorption and more compassion for others."
• Prakāśa, the self-reflexive nature of awareness - "... in the process of being aware of any object, consciousness also illuminates itself at the same time..."
• Nondualism - ""not-two" or "one without a second""