(continued)
As they cycle, they will enter new territory, possibly causing
some uncertainty or instability, and with each Review phase they
tend to really feel that they have done it until they begin to
notice the limits of their practice. There can be this nagging
something in the background that things arent done, and yet
figuring out exactly what the problem is can be very slippery. It
is a bit like being in the stages before stream entry, trying to
figure out what exactly needs to be done. They need to notice
something that has nothing to do with the cycles, to finally
untangle the knot of perception at its core, but doing this can be
a real trick. It is a very strange place, as one seems to know the
dharma all the way to the end and yet somehow it just isnt quite
enough. In that vein, it is interesting to note that I wrote the
vast majority of this book while I was some sort of anagami, and on
reflection I got just about everything right. My emphases are
slightly different now, but the basics are all the same.
As things progress, anagamis begin to tire of the cycles to a small
or large degree and begin to look to something outside of them or
not related to them for the answer to the final question. Finally,
the cycles of insight, the states of concentration, the powers, and
all the other perks and prerogatives of their stage of awakening or
concentration abilities (if they developed them) hold no appeal and
only lead to more unsatisfying cycles.
I completed around 27 full, complete insight cycles with
mind-blowing A&P Events, Ass-kicking Dark Nights, Equanimity
phases, and what seemed to be brand new, fresh Fruitions and Review
phases between third and fourth path. There is nothing special
about that number, as I mentioned previously in my descriptions of
the problem that I call Twelfth Path. The later cycles got faster
and faster, so that by the end it seemed I was whipping one out
every few weeks or even every few days, but they still seemed to be
leading nowhere. It was only when I had gotten so sick of the
cycles and realized that they were leading nowhere that I was able
to see what has nothing to do with the cycles, which also wasnt
anything except a strange untangling of the knot of perception of
them. The cycles, for better or worse, have continued just the
same. Thus, there is not much point in counting cycles or paths, as
they dont necessarily correlate well with anything past the first
two or three, and issues of backsliding can really make things
complex, as I explained earlier.
Finishing up my Revised Four Path Model, arahats have finally
untangled the knot of perception, dissolved the sense of the center
point actually being the center point, no longer fundamentally make
a separate Self out of the patterns of sensations that they used
to, even though those same patterns of sensations continue. This is
a different understanding from those of Third Path in some subtle
way, and makes this path about something that is beyond the paths.
This is also poetically called the opening of the Wisdom Eye. What
is interesting is that I could write about this stage quite well
when I was an anagami, but that is a whole different world from
knowing it like arahats know it.
The Wisdom Eye may seem to blink initially. It may go through
cycles of flashing open just after a Fruition and then slowly
fading over a few hours (at least on retreat) as each round of
physical sensations, then mental sensations, then complex emotional
formations, then lastly fundamental formations such as inquiry
itself move through and become integrated into this new, correct
and direct perception of reality as it is. Review cycles may occur
many times during each flash, but when the eye is open they seem
rather irrelevant in comparison to keeping the level of clarity and
acceptance high enough to keep the eye open. When the eye fades,
the familiar insight cycles may seem like pure drudgery, with the
focus being of practice initially lost in getting through the
cycles and then gradually shifting again to getting clear enough to
get the eye to open again. The themes that occupy center stage go
through a cycle that is very much like a progress cycle.
Finally, the Wisdom Eye cycles and insight cycles all converge, and
the thing stays open from then on, which is to say that at that
point it all seems the same whether or not the eye is open, which
it actually was. That being seen, nothing can erode or disturb the
centerlessness of perspective. Done is what is to be done, and life
goes on. That there are arahats who have opened the Wisdom Eye but
had it fade and those who have opened it and had it stay open is
rarely mentioned but worth knowing.
For the arahat who has kept the thing open, there is nothing more
to be gained on the ultimate front from insight practices, as done
is what is to be done. That said, insight practices can still be
of great benefit to them for a whole host of reasons, there is a
ton they can learn just like everyone else about everything else
there is to learn. They can grow, develop, change, work and
participate in this strange human drama just like everyone
else.
