Learn About Association

Overview

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

What are Trails?

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.

Waypoint 1 - Learn About Nonduality

At this Waypoint, you will get a chance to see Duality and then try to use the Lense of Nonduality to see things in a different way.

Lookouts

• Noticing Duality: Make a point to understand what it means to see things from the perspective of Duality.
• Look again using the Lense of Nonduality: Try to really feel at a meaningful level that Nonduality is a way to experience things.

Duality with a Drink

Checkpoints

• Noticing Duality: Did you see that the drink is different from You, two separate things?
• Look again using the Lense of Nonduality: Did you sense for even a moment, that there wasn't a meaningful distinction between the drink and yourself?

Waypoint 2 - Learn About Nonself

At this Waypoint, you'll experiment with the idea that there is no permanent, unchanging self.

Lookouts

• Changes in Other People: Think about how other people change from year to year, and even more often than that.
• The Changing You: Look into your own self-history and future, and think about which one is You.

A Crowd of People and You

Checkpoints

• Changes in Other People:Did you notice how obvious it is that other people change all the time?
• The Changing You: Can you see - at least at some level - how You are a constantly changing concept?

Waypoint 3 - Learn About Decentering

At this Waypoint, you will practice seeing negative emotions as something to observe, not something that is You.

Lookouts

• Sounds and Sensations: See how physical sounds and sensations are separate from You.
• Emotions and Sensations: See how emotions and the sensations they cause are separate from You.

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.

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.

Checkpoints

• Sounds and Sensations: Can you remember how the sensations of your hands didn't feel "personal" in any way?
• Emotions and Sensations: Were you - even for a moment - able to see how even emotions aren't You?

Destination

Congratulations, if you've completed these three Skills, and reviewed the Checkpoints, 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 Skills that are in the Learning Milestone that can assist you further.

Resources

To learn more about these concepts, see the following articles.

• The ONLY Non-Duality Exercises You Need!
• Experience the Truth of No Self
• A Meditation for Decentering Your “Self” (And Why You Should Do It)