Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I Before The Book of Not Knowing

Chapter 1 1999 7

Q1 Is There Something Prior to Perception? 7

Q2 Do Martial Studies Relate to Consciousness Work? 8

Q3 Reconsidering the Experience of Pain 10

Chapter 2 2000-I 13

Q4 Which Practices Contributed to Your Enlightenment? 13

Q5 Perceiving Reality through Models 15

Q6 Fear and Tension 18

Q7 Finding a Mission Statement 21

Q8 How Can We Train at All Times? 24

Q9 How Do Emotions Relate to the Truth? 27

Q10 Is Commitment an Absolute? 28

Q11 What Do You Mean by "I Am Nothing" and "No Such Thing as a Fight"? 30

Q12 How Can I Let Go? 32

Q13 What's the Right Question to Contemplate? 33

Q14 How Do I Confront Fear and Self-Doubt? 35

Chapter 3 2000-II 39

Q15 Questioning the Teacher 39

Q16 Obsession, Discipline, and Mastery 41

Q17 Fear of Losing Self 44

Q18 Ego as Motivation toward Mastery 45

Q19 Truth, Delusion, and Compassion 48

Q20 Perception, Self, and Not-Self 51

Q21 Is "What Is Love?" an Enlightenment Question? 52

Q22 Mushrooms and Other Magical Means to Enlightenment 53

Q23 Value vs. What-Is 56

Q24 Are You Conscious All the Time? 58

Q25 How Do I Stay Open and Not Go Crazy? 59

Chapter 4 2001-2003 63

Q26 The Conundrum of "Who Am I?" 63

Q27 The Fear of Relating to Others 65

Q28 Power vs. Truth 67

Q29 Confronting Loneliness and Isolation 70

Q30 Desire vs. Commitment 72

Q31 Integrity in Expression 74

Chapter 5 2004 79

Q32 Overriding Physical Reactivity 79

Q33 Presence and Communication 82

Q34 "Knowing" Who I Am and the Nature of Thought 85

Q35 The Limits of Conclusions and Perceiving Time 87

Q36 Selfishness vs. Integrity 91

Chapter 6 2005-2006 93

Q37 The Nature of Intent 93

Q38 All Practices Are Not the Same 95

Q39 Enlightenment vs. Transformation 97

Q40 The Value of Combining Communication with Contemplation 100

Q41 Manipulation vs. Honest Communication 102

Q42 Managing Pain: "Turning into" vs. Dropping Distinctions 104

Chapter 7 2007 107

Q43 Jargon Is Not Communication 107

Q44 Consciousness in Social Interaction 109

Q45 Choosing Truth over Fantasy 111

Q46 Creating Fantasy or Altering Reality? 114

Q47 Feeling-Attention vs. Ch'i-Kung 118

Chapter 8 2008 121

Q48 Inquiry, Contemplation, and Meditation 121

Q49 Fighting for Consciousness? 122

Q50 Thought vs. Response 124

Q51 What Experiences Are Enlightenment? 127

Q52 Can a Person Use Thinking Only as a Tool? 129

Q52.5 Confusing Consciousness with Awareness 130

Q53 Challenging Spiritual Beliefs 132

Q54 Does Positive Thinking Work? 134

Q55 Is There a Hierarchy of Enlightenments? 136

Q56 Everything You Ever Wanted to Ask about Time 138

Chapter 9 2009 145

Q57 Zen Fantasies about Enlightenment 145

Q58 Insight vs. Enlightenment 149

Q59 The Nature of Context 152

Q60 How Can One Speak about an Enlightenment? 156

Q61 Does Creativity Feed Self Too Much? 158

Part II After the Book of Not Knowing

Chapter 10 2010 163

Q62 The Paradox of Desiring Detachment 163

Q63 The Myth of Enlightenment as an Ideal 166

Q64 Conflating an Identity Exercise with Contemplation 168

Q65 Questioning Internal Dialogue 170

Q66 Communication without Intellectualizing 172

Q67 Unearthing Deeply Held Beliefs 174

Q68 Can We Train the Body through Thinking? 176

Q69 Is Awareness a Phenomenon of the Brain? 179

Q70 The Difference between Being and Existing 180

Q71 What Are Attention, Awareness, and Consciousness? 182

Q72 Pondering the Buddhist "Theory of Emptiness" 183

Q73 Solitude vs. Social Interaction for the Seeker 184

Q74 Life without an "I"? 188

Chapter 11 2011-I 193

Q75 Meditation vs. Contemplation 193

Q76 Raising a Child 195

Q77 How Much Time Does It Take to Get Enlightened? 197

Q78 "How to" Contemplate and Retain Insights 198

Q79 Change within a Relationship 201

Q80 Contemplating Patterns of Indecision 202

Q81 The Desire to Be Fixed by Outside Forces 204

Q82 Clarifying Your Subject for Contemplation 205

Q83 Not-Knowing the Truth 206

Q84 Might Enlightenment Change What I Enjoy? 207

Q85 Observing Your Self "Selfing" 210

Q86 Degrees of Capability in Consciousness Work 211

Q87 The Elements of Commitment 213

Chapter 12 2011-II 217

Q88 Awareness and Intellectual Activity 217

Q89 A Variety of Teachings and Teachers 220

Q90 Thinking in Contemplation 223

Q91 Cheng Hsin and Religious Belief 224

Q92 Consciousness Work and Family Dynamics 226

Q93 Focus or Openness in Contemplation? 228

Q94 When Concepts Eclipse Insight 229

Q95 Hearsay about Intensives 231

Q96 Help with Contemplation 233

Chapter 13 2012 237

Q97 What Does "Spirit" Mean in Cheng Hsin? 237

Q98 Clarifying Contemplation Questions 240

Q99 On Motivation, Commitment, and Discipline 241

Q100 Managing Pain 245

Q101 Confronting Unhealthy Behavior 247

Q102 Imbalance within a Relationship 249

Q103 Anatomy of a Bottom-Line Question 252

Q104 Using Bottom-Line Work to Explore Hidden Drives 254

Q105 Enlightenment Won't "Fix" a Self 257

Q106 Awareness vs. Consciousness 259

Chapter 14 2012-II 261

Q107 What Is Freedom from Distinctions? 262

Q108 Extrapolation Isn't an Experience of the Truth 265

Q109 No Self, No Suffering 268

Q110 The Elements of Integrity 271

Q111 Gautama's Perspective and Direct Experience vs. Direct Consciousness 273

Q112 Is Peter a Phenomenologist? 277

Q113 Extrapolation vs. Creating Possibility 278

Q114 Can the Book of Not Knowing Help Children? 281

Q115 Enlightenment vs. Consciousness 283

Chapter 15 2012-III 287

Q116 The Relationship between Truth and Change 287

Q117 The Freedom of Having No Free Will 291

Q118 Possible vs. Attainable 296

Q119 A Valuable Realization 297

Q120 Is Purpose "Created"? 298

Q121 The Limitations of Any Practice 299

Q122 A New Kind of Teacher 301

Q123 Giving Up the Safety of Knowing 305

Chapter 16 2013-I 307

Q124 Are There Degrees of Consciousness? 307

Q125 Evaluating Phenomena 311

Q126 Principles for Mood Stabilization 314

Q127 Letting Go of Bottom-Line Core Beliefs 317

Q128 Living at the Mercy of Internal Drives 318

Q129 Depression and the Future 322

Chapter 17 2013-II 327

Q130 With Enlightenment, "Close" Is Too Far 327

Q131 As-Itself vs. for-itself 330

Q132 Is Being the Same as Existence? 333

Q133 The Meaning of Phenomena 336

Q134 A Few Things about Not Knowing 341

Chapter 18 2013-III 347

Q135 Would Eliminating Self Produce Enlightenment? 347

Q136 Navigating the Domain of Emotions 350

Q137 Doubting the Value of Doubt 354

Q138 Is Mind an Invention? 355

Q139 Freedom from Self vs. Amnesia 359

Q140 Honesty and Manipulation in Interaction 360

Q141 Contemplating Absolutes vs. Contemplating Principles 364

Q142 Does Self Create Objective Reality? 366

Chapter 18 2014 371

Q143 Consciousness Doesn't Take Sides 371

Q144 Does Objective Reality Exist? 378

Q145 Being: Action or Absolute? 382

Q146 Does Enlightenment Result in Compassion? 383

Q147 Language and Contemplation 386

Q148 Attachment + Manipulation = Struggle 389

Q149 Failing to Find Yourself is Not Absolute Nothing 391

Q150 No Method Is Direct 393