Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

On the cultivation of insight/wisdom
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

Post by jcsuperstar »

do you mean like an eureka moment or shock like when you see your buddy's head explode from a bullet hitting it? im confused
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pink_trike
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Re: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

Post by pink_trike »

jcsuperstar wrote:do you mean like an eureka moment or shock like when you see your buddy's head explode from a bullet hitting it? im confused
Subjective internal experiences don't translate into words well. I was just confirming that in my experience, flashes of insight can occasionally ripple through the totality of our appearance...somatic, perception, cognition - sometimes abruptly or dramatically, sometimes subtly or gradually. Best not to let them knock us of our dot.
Vision is Mind
Mind is Empty
Emptiness is Clear Light
Clear Light is Union
Union is Great Bliss

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Disclaimer: I'm a non-religious practitioner of Theravada, Mahayana/Vajrayana, and Tibetan Bon Dzogchen mind-training.
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cooran
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Re: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

Post by cooran »

Hello smokey, all,
smokey said: I have a question regarding gaining insight knowledge. My question is this: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock? What I mean by mental shock is flash in consciousness. For an example when you have this train of thought: Reality is an illusion. Then your mind is shocked and it produces a flash in consciousness.. Of course I consider reality real. But before when I thought that it is an illusion, I experienced such sensation when I had such a train of thought and was convinced of such belief. Thank you in advance for your answers.
I think the story of Yasa is an example of what you are talking about.

The power of the Buddha and his new teaching is illustrated in his first major conversion after the initial core group of his first five disciples had been established. Whilst he was still in Sarnath he met a young man named Yasa, who in an upbringing not too dissimilar to the Buddha’s, was the son of a wealthy local guild-master. One night, after being entertained by the women of his harem located in the nearby holy city of Benares, he awoke to find them stretched out, dishevelled and making noises in their sleep. Thinking that his apartment was more like a cemetery than a place to live he couldn’t stand it any longer and he got up and fled the city.
http://www.wisdom-books.com/FocusDetail.asp?FocusRef=17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yasa Thera. He was the son of a very wealthy treasurer of Benares, and was brought up in great luxury, living in three mansions, according to the seasons and surrounded with all kinds of pleasures. Impelled by antecedent conditions, he saw one night the indecorum of his sleeping attendants, and, greatly distressed, put on his gold slippers and left the house and the town, non humans opening the gates for him. He took the direction of Isipatana, exclaiming: "Alas! What distress! Alas! What danger!" The Buddha saw him in the distance and called to him, "Come Yasa, here is neither distress nor danger." Filled with joy, Yasa took off his slippers and sat beside the Buddha. The Buddha preached to him a graduated discourse, and when he had finished teaching the Truths, Yasa attained realization of the Dhamma. http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/y/yasa.htm

Here is a talk by Patrick Kearney given at a 10 day Retreat I attended last month at Bodhi Forest Monastery (the home of Buddhanet.net).
Talk 13
17/11/09 17:02
Tonight we follow the Buddha from Bārāṇasī back to the area where he practised before his awakening, the Nerañjarā River near Gayā. First, at Bārāṇasī, the Buddha awakens Yasa, the son of a rich banker. This is the first time the Buddha awakens a lay person, proving the dharma can be understood by the laity as well as by professional ascetics; and the first time the Buddha gives a “graduated discourse,” which becomes the basic template of his teaching method. Yet this is not counted as the third teaching. Why not?
http://www.dharmasalon.net/Audio/Audio.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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rowyourboat
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Re: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

Post by rowyourboat »

I think the shock comes if the insight is very different from the world view you held previously. However I have seen many people who get insight without 'shocks' simply because they have a lot of faith in the Buddhas words prior to gaining insight -so it comes as no surprise to them.

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Freawaru
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Re: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock?

Post by Freawaru »

smokey wrote:I have a question regarding gaining insight knowledge. My question is this: Does gaining an insight knowledge cause mental shock? What I mean by mental shock is flash in consciousness. For an example when you have this train of thought: Reality is an illusion. Then your mind is shocked and it produces a flash in consciousness.. Of course I consider reality real. But before when I thought that it is an illusion, I experienced such sensation when I had such a train of thought and was convinced of such belief. Thank you in advance for your answers.

With metta -smokey
Hi Smokey,

I think it can happen the other way round: first there is (or not) a shock (caused by a sudden change of thought or something else) and THEN insight arises. I do not think that Insight itself causes a shock. On the contrary, during Insight one is all calm and in equanimity, observing the mind (maybe even the body) during shock without any feeling of danger penetrating into the equanimity. And afterwards ... well, nothing has really changed, one is oneself again, but the memory lingers and this changes everything. One pays more attention to these kind of things, as if the mind itself tries to re-establish the previous experience of insight.
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