Somewhere in the process, there is an emerging lack of interest in fantasies. They just loose their charge, they become less interesting and less compelling. What is left is just plain imagination, which can be very useful in helping us navigate the world.

Lessening interest in fantasies through inquiry

I see this happening in people using the Byron Katie inquiries (although a small sample). We realize that they, as any thought or idea, is just that, a thought and idea. There is not much more to it. They are useful tools, and that is about that. They loose their entertainment value.

Fade in comparison with what is

They fade in comparison with the brilliance and richness of what is, in the present, whatever the content may be. They fade in comparison with the natural clarity and brilliance of the mind, as it is behind - and without getting caught up - in beliefs. And the content is revealed as equally brilliant, arising from and as the same ground as everything else.

Gradual process

This process can be gradual.

There is gradually less interest in fantasies, as we gradually become familiar with seeing through beliefs. Somewhere in this process, even the belief in I is gradually seen through. That one too gradually fades.

In its place is just plain presence. And a gradually deepening sense of intimacy with the world, until the belief in the idea of I fades more completely, and what is left is just the same content without any I anywhere.

This in turn allows for the noticing of the ground - arising as the fluid forms of the world. It is all the play of God. Emptiness dancing.

Nostalgia for samsara

In this process, there may also be glimpses of nostalgia for samsara. I notice that for myself. I used to find interest, entertainment or distraction in certain fantasies - about what can be, what could have been, what was, and so on.

But now, they offer much less of that. They are so obviously just what they are - just images and imagination, arising along with everything else, and with no substance on their own.

They can still be useful to some extent, as a tool for exploring alternatives and allowing possibilities to sink in, but that is about it. The charge has largely left them. The entertainment value is quite low. They become less compelling as the sense of reality fades from them.

Shift

I also see that this nostaliga for samsara is really just the effects of a shift. We were used to find entertainment and/or distractions in fantasies, and now we don't so much anymore. Instead, we have a growing taste of the natural clarity, brilliance and aliveness of what is - as it is.

The center of gravity shifts from a belief in ideas to an immediate awareness of the qualities of the inherent nature of mind.

Labels: awakening, samsara