Notes from Underground: The Union of Bliss and Emptiness

A lot’s happened since Anomalous: Seattle Startup Weekend, a friend’s wedding, Pink Saturday and Pride in San Francisco (with sets by Liam Shy and Psysas!), Death Guild, Spook at Synchronize, Strangelove, the SF Mime Troupe in Dolores Park on the Fourth of July … after 10 days in San Francisco, we drove back to Seattle early last week.  And oh yeah, Google+ launched, and seems likely to integrate question-and-answer functionality soon — impact on qweries to be determined, but certainly cause for some rethinking.

So I was ready to dance, and DJ Anomaly once again obliged with a killer set at The Atrium.  Work was on my mind a lot more than I had inspected; no surprise, really, since that’s where the big open question in my life is at this point.   But once again the decor was great at the Atrium, candles and black light, reflections stretching out to infinity — and lighting that makes everybody look good — so for most of the night I was able to leave day-to-day concerns behind and get into the music and vibe.

“By means of penetrating the vital points of the external and internal body, bodhicitta melts.  From that… you generate a special blissful feeling concordant with physical awareness.  [Then] a mental awareness is generated possessing the nature of excellent bliss.  And when that mental awareness recalls the meaning of reality that was previously ascertained, it becomes the union of bliss and emptiness.” — Je Rinpoche, Illuminating Lamp, quoted in Kirti Tsenshap Rinpoche’s Principles of Buddhist Tantra

As the bodhicitta melts it first generates the four descending joys: joy, supreme joy, special joy, and innate joy.  Next come the four ascending joys, which are said to be “far superior.”  Oooh!   Of course I’m still a long way from fully experiencing emptiness, let alone the union, but by around 3 a.m. I certainly felt like I was making a lot of progress.

The union of bliss and emptiness Sparkles and reflections, Colors starting to melt. Kali dancing with flowers Beneath the kalleidoscope. Candlelight, the wood’s grain, Diffraction, lava, black light. Secret pristine wisdom, A rainbow twice reflected

The day after, I took it easy … and then slept twelve hours. Another kind of bliss 🙂 Today has been another lazy day as well, the kind of weekend I really needed. I heart psytrance.