Big Mind in Real Time
A natural extension of the Big Mind process is to bring it into everyday life.
When I go about my daily business, I can remind myself that every phenomena is arising within Big Mind. The mountain at the horizon, the trees, the traffic, clouds, stars, the ground under my feet, people, buildings - everything arises within Big Mind.
There seems to be two different ways to do this. One is to see it as a "local" Big Mind, within which the experiences of this small self arises. This is Big Mind applied to the inner world.
Another is to see it as a non-local Big Mind, within which the phenomena themselves arise - where and as they are. This is Big Mind applied to the external world, transcending and including the inner.
The first reminds us that these experiences - arising in this small self - are always filtered and incomplete. The second, which transcends and includes the first, is more similar to stepping into the view of Existence, of God.
Both approaches allow us into a more transdual view, and the second in a fuller way than the first.
I have engaged in the second approach regularly over the last few days, and it allows for a significant shift for me. What otherwise happens to me (as a separate small self), now happens within me (as Big Mind). This changed how I relate to it in a way that is both subtle and significant.
It allows attachments to whatever arises in this small self to fall away. I see sensations, emotions, thoughts arising, and sometimes patterns of contraction being triggered, and there is less need to take it seriously. It just a small part of the tapestry and richness of what is arising in the present.
I notice that this allows me to stay connected with myself and others in a different way. Where I otherwise may go into a contraction and experience and act from a sense of separation, I am now more present and connected. I am less likely to get caught up in and blinded by the sometimes curious habitual processes of this small self. It gives a lighter touch.
As a (relatively obvious) footnote: this Big Mind is centered and focused on this small self, as a source of experiences and as an emissary into the world of phenomena. Everything else appears as guests, living their own lives, coming and going on their own.