PROS & CONS of DHARMA MAPS

So the topic was the pros and cons of Dharma Maps.

Maps that sort of map out OK, you know here's the state. I think you were mostly think of stages. Yeah, it's like you go through these stages and this is what happens and then this out, but it's in this happens, so there are all these Maps so what's the pros and cons in general of having these Maps and what's the pros and cons of this map versus that map kind of thing I'm assuming that's the one I like this.

Yes, and I was afraid of that because that was what I would have gone to the wika pedia and come all prepared.

How to make comparisons and contrast but then again, I would have missed my body works so maybe I'll have time tomorrow. There's 16 of them right 16 stages. I think and I have a vague recollection, but I'm not going to pontificate based on that.

Yes, I also have to think about it, but I can probably say a few things broadly on this issue. Many years ago. The Corolla Institute, which is an academic Buddhist study Institute associated with the Zen center of La had a an entire seminar where they invited Buddhist scholars.

To present papers on?

Stages at Maps throughout the Buddha's world.

An I tried to find it on line. I couldn't I think it would be really cool. If anybody wants to see if that was ever published or is available someplace or others simply scholarly collections where this issue is discussed in its full breadth and depth quality work with Diane.

I think you made the right to the map is not the journey.

Now Buddhism broadly is 3 vehicles and then within that there is a gazillion other subdivisions. It's 2500 years.

And half the world and now the whole world and Buddhism is just a subset of World Mysticism anyway.

So broadly well if we're going to talk about Maps and you know that kind of thing we really should frame. Buddhism within the larger context of world contemplative practice, so it's a huge and very rich question.

That you bring up so let me just start collaborating and see what comes up first. I'd like to share my own experience at well actually not before we do that. So 3 vehicles. Numerous subdivisions and that's just a subset of what's worldwide so within Buddhism? What do we have well let's see.

We have the 10 Oxherding Pictures. That's well. That's why most popular YouTube presentation, which tells you that People are really into stages and you know what have you then that's used in said. Let's see here's the deal. There's different versions of the town and there's there's one that has 8 so this already tells us that it's not exactly constrained to exactly tap.

What else is there well there's the one that I frequently use myself? Which is the four classes of Noble individuals for Aria poop color. These are Maps for a lifetime of practice. This is like really big picture stuff up on an alchemy. Oraha so that's a stream enterer once returner not non richer and worthy.

If I were to translate these into English over a lifetime of practice or in traditional belief over lifetimes of practice. You pass through. These 4 stages, but then there's stages of insight, which are 16 stages that proceeds stream entry. I believe so I'm going to tell you it's all is fine subdivision and then there's the four Jama's the age of as the 9:00 chamas.

Which are not exactly pastor like but very definitely demarcations an and are related then the Chinese have their out there oxherding pictures. That's events out there that will fit hurting pictures and there are various stages and some of those elephant, earning pictures look an awful lot like some of the versions of the Oxherding Pictures and since.

Yeah, I remember that Easter to bed and western China or the same place OK, so we're not surprised that there would be.

There would be interactions, there, even though the political concerns of those, 2 cultures don't like to they have they definitely have access to grind with regards to history and that can sort of get in the way? What else is there well that embodies off stages.

And then there are to zans 5 degrees and I pretty sure there's a 5 stage. One five stage model. It's prominent in the card. You Lenny I could be wrong about this you get the general idea here there's a lot.

Um.

So.

Now I'll tell you my own story. I started out not as a Buddhist practitioner. But as a Buddhist scholar and actually have very clap that I had that academic background in that training. It was serious graduate level training that involved mastering half dozen languages of Asia and and reading. These things in the original languages, etc, etc. So I'm glad I have that background.

But in some ways well. I remember when I was at the Zen Temple in Japan. I started out one of the senior amongst their set.

Because you know, I could I could really impress that I I mean. I aspect of Chinese and sound square that you said. Someday all your learning will be very useful someday in the distant future when you're in a position to teach it's going to be really, really good that you know all this stuff academically.

But right now, it's like totally getting in the way he was totally right.

So what happened to me was.

I spelt I would say at least 15 years, the first 15 years of my practice.

Torturing myself.

With regards to where are my app on these Maps?

How you know how my experience this yet and then it it was actually like literally tortured it was like?

Um.

If if I read some classic thing. It's like Oh my God. There's a stage. I haven't heard of even what to save achieved. I never even heard this one well. That's another one to put on the list of I'll never be anywhere. Until I Experience Excellency and I mean, it was horrible. It was like for me because there was so much grasping around the notion of I gotta get somewhere and I gotta get these signs and there's.

All of these things to do well. Fortunately eventually I grew up and grew out of that. But that is one of the dangers of having these Maps OK. We're going to talk about pros and cons. I certainly going to talk about pros. But there's certain comments. One of them is is that that get very concerned with rating.

And, of course, that just links into the whole thing that when did it start?

The six grade kindergarten certainly by middle school by high school. It's all about maiden rate right so its status. And so it links into all of that stuff, etc, etc.

Uhm the other possible comma about these Maps is what I was talking about.

Which are briefly alluded to which is?

Voting an inordinate amount of time in Enerji, an emotional investment in the Maps or the quest the MapQuest the quest for the right map.

Time in Enerji that is therefore not devoted to practice.

So if you go on the Internet. Most Buddhist time in Enerji on the Internet is being spent in contention about who's got the right now.

You don't know whether to laugh or cry because there's.

People People that.

Are interested in making the journey?

Are not interested by and large in debating about? Who's got the right now?

By and large.

Because there's only so much time and energy and out of a tropi as well. I don't want to start to make the journey to. I'm sure that this is the very best right because.

Yeah, I don't wanna be like not doing the very best.

And then what happens is that?

Yeah, years pass and People just study an argument study an argument study and argue.

So what I find useful, although I know to say this is offensive and confusing perhaps but I did myself.

Take great comfort in the notion which I alluded to briefly at his already annoying People, the notion that actually none of these Maps really work very well.

By my standards of what I would call work very well.

Meaning that I know enough based on my own personal experience.

Animal as a professional meditation teacher and as pretty good dilettante scientist.

I know enough to know that we can do all lot better.

With regards to making enlightenment available to great masses of People.

By re adding inhumanity and I mean in the next few centuries.

Uh.

It will take a combination of 3 things.

Deep pore practice.

A scientifiche mentality.

And out of the box created.

But there will be People probably dozens maybe hundreds of people in the future that bring these 3 things together.

Now it seems to me not unreasonable that.

They will come up with things that changed the course of human history that dramatically change the course of human history.

All of the Maps and methodology's that we now have Essentia Lee are based on one.

Approach, which is introspection.

An individual looks with him.

Discover certain things.

AFF creates a formulation based on.

Often, based on in park on what they've learned for the past.

Usually taking some parts of that rebelling against other parts and more often, creating something new. That wasn't there before some combination of accepting the past, rebelling against the past and.

Then a new model a new path arises but it's still based on an individuals introspection.

And it's it's pretty good when I say that are all relatively ineffective.

I just mean that.

It takes a very long time and most People are not most, human beings are just not willing to put the time in Enerji, like you and I are into this path.

So.

What what is lacking?

Is an object if you of what's going on?

View based on hard science at evidence? What is also lacking is.

True collaborative dialogue.

Among the Masters and among the Masters in their students.

The Great.

Right now, the Great Masters.

Most of them are old-fashioned old Asians.

With new which you cannot communicate in an open peer to peer kind of dial walking.

They won't do it with you as a student it's just not on their cultural.

Radar and they won't do it among each other, either because it's just too much at stake.

So they're not like scientists in science.

There could be a Nobel laureate up there talking about something and I could be a graduate student.

And I can get up and I can say you're wrong because of this, this, this and this.

And if I'm right.

If that's I've got evidence to back it up.

Then.

That's it OK.

It's over OK, even though I'm just uh no one that no one's ever heard about this guys got a Nobel promise he was wrong. I quoted out something that kind of thing that doesn't happen.

In the context of meditation teacher.

But I think it will as things become more modern and more western and you start to have really Frank Dialoguing. Among the Masters, an among the Masters of their students, so we combination of.

Turning the lens of science towards it.

Plus really being willing to discuss things.

Specifically, to look at each others Maps discuss in an open way. What's this? What's this now. I don't quite think it works. That way, etc, etc. That will probably happen in the future.

So now of course, when I say that in general, they don't work well based on what I think.

Will eventually replace them?

In the future.

Don't get me wrong.

Relative to not using these Maps and relative to not doing this practice.

Well forget about that OK, the alternative to what we now have is horrific.

The alternative to not doing it, so you know it's good that we have this. I just think we can, we meaning humanity.

Can potentially do a lot better?

So OK, So what should we think about what should we

How should we think about these Maps?

Well, I pointed out some of the columns.

Let's talk about some of the pros.

They can give you an idea of where to go.

What to look for?

They can give you an idea of what's optimal to do when various things occur that's really useful.

On they can motivate you it's like well? Why do it if there's not goodies at the end?

Um or in the middle, or even maybe at the beginning.

So you can be motivated by this and you could be informed by it. So you know what to look for so that's good.

Um.

They are based at least in part on real people's real experience and those are by and large real people with very, very deep experience.

Um so people with very, very deep experience.

That's something we need to pay attention to.

However, it is also important to realize that not everything that appears in those Maps.

Is necessarily a deep persons deep experience?

Because other factors enter into the creation of these things.

What are some other factors well?

Some master.

1000 years ago might have said some things OK.

To a student.

And when that student at but they didn't write it down and what that student wrote it down well that students.

Ideas are there mixed with that Masters idea.

Perhaps their speculations, OK, so you cannot be sure that you're getting the Ipsa Dixit, the very words.

That were sad Furthermore.

These things were usually written by hand, not printing printing printing as well. Chinese happening along time ago, but it written by hand, so you get scribal error.

So if you start to get all fundamentalist about exactly what's there, you know well. This it must be exactly. That way well. It just might be some scribal error.

Um.

Also, because of the authoritarian nature of these cultures.

There is a need to make your innovations appear to agree with scripture.

So.

They can there can be a forcing where it's like forced on to a certain model that has been passed out.

All of these.

Therefore give us our caveats, not to get fundamentalists about what's literally there.

On the other hand.

As I said.

By and large these are important experiences of deep Masters.

And so there's really something to learn.

The boot up.

Said that there are 4 basic 3 epistemological bases are ****** apology means the investigation of how we know how we gain valid knowledge, so in Ancient Greece. It was the same in ancient India was the same there's 3 bases.

Direct experience.

Logical inference at reliable authority.

Now the rejected reliable authority.

He said base yourself on direct experience an analogical inference, but the fact is.

Maybe the fact is that?

Consulting with an expert is a good idea OK.

Uhm but there's a difference between consulting with an expert.

And Reading, something that.

Was written?

Hopefully, by an expert 1000 years ago, but may have other things that have entered in there.

Because when you

When you consult with an authority you can dialogue.

But when you've got.

A text that is calm down to you. You can't dialogue with the person that wrote that text.

So the good news is that there's probably stuff in there that is hugely valuable.

The other news is though, that.

We can't.

We can only itself very one sided communication.

It's not like when you hire A consultant.

And you say you know this person knows what they're talking about so let's see what their opinion is and then you can ask questions, etc, etc.

So.

Those are some of the pros and cons of having these Maps.

Um.

I myself

Don't have about.

I don't I don't.

Say that your pass through certain stages.

Delineate what those stages are.

Uh.

I.

But I do give you some general trends.

I say that overtime you're going to notice an elevation in your concentration clarity and equanimity.

And that's why I do have some pretty dramatic effects on your life so I like to talk more more along those lines yet inevitably. We want to know that we're making progress.

In some way or another so I will give you 4 criteria.

That you can use to judge your progress.

Starting with

Oh, the least what would I say.

Starting with each of these criteria is valid.

But there's a hierarchy.

Of maturity.

OK and I'm going to end with the most mature.

So that means I'm going to begin with the least mature, but don't. You don't have to take that as a put down the least mature criterion is.

During periods of practice.

I have experiences that are unusual interesting fun entertaining and so forth.

An awful lot of People for an awful lot of People that is the criteria OK. That's if you want us if you want to sell spirituality, you sell entertainment.

Um.

But I'm not saying that that's completely without validity.

Because if fun and interesting and unusual things happen.

Then that's gonna motivate you can keep practicing.

So from that perspective that's fine.

The only problem at us.

I don't care who you are or who your teacher is or what you're doing OK. It ain't gonna always be fun and interesting and entertaining unusual things happen.

So then when it's the opposite of all those if you hold out this criteria. These criteria of fun interesting unusual entertaining. Then when the opposite of those happen for a period of time.

Which could be perhaps a long period of time then it still with meditation you don't want to do it any.

So you know that's one criteria because have fun if you can.

Oh, a little bit more mature is during a formal period of practice. You can actually taste mindfulness. You can taste concentration clarity and equanimity right while you're doing the practice.

And each one of them has its own taste its distinctive reward taste and it's a mature Pollet learn how to taste them.

There's just a taste of being concentrated and as my chick sent Lee High pointed out that's an intrinsic reward just to being concentrated doesn't matter what your concentrated on independent of the particular focus hence.

You can be doing a God awful boring task.

Like licking stamps or what the nuns that the archetypal non task is stepping up communion wafers like hours and hours every day. Just making these communion with OK now that's I would suggest you that is either heaven or hell depending on how recollected you are recollected isn't Catholic work for somebody.

So if you're tasting like Shelly, some of you know, Shelly on.

So before she became really impressive cycle therapist back when we were kids, she used to do temp jobs and.

It was literally like licking envelopes. I put stamps on or whatever, so she go to these temp jobs and.

They would be.

There will be other temp workers doing this as the day progressed, you could see their moods. Deteriorate OK, they would just like by the end of the day they were just like you know, not in a very good thing. But she would just get higher and higher and higher and higher because she it was some of it was Karma Yoga, it was a tasted concentration samadi?

Of somebody was there all day so I mean, she left. She was just like you know you doing. This **** job pardon. My French but the more **** job. It is they actually easier just to Meditate in that sense, right the simpler so with that taste of concentration so the clarity has its own taste and the equanimity is the taste of releasing catharsis of purification.

So yes, if you could actually taste those things while you're doing formal practice.

Then.

Yeah, that's good that's a sign of progress, but what what about when you can't takes those things 'cause That's gonna happen. Why you can go for years in with very deep states of mindfulness.

But then I there something happens in the external world that's pretty challenging or nothing's happening in the external world, but it's just time for the for the next layer of stored material to release and suddenly it seems as though you're back to square one. You can focus. It's just like everything is surface. It's like I never meditated before now you're not really back.

To square 1:00 o'clock is not pointing to where you started OK date. Many days have passed OK, not the same day even though it seems like the Clock is still pointing to 12:00 o'clock or what have you but it seems that way. So you're not going to have those reward flavors.

So then about well if that's all that you use to judge your practice with then you're not going to want to meditate?

So what's the next mature more mature criteria.

Is not now linked to what I experienced during formal practice? It's linked to the long term effects of the practice in daily life.

It's possible you might not have anything unusual or entertaining during the practice.

It's possible.

That you might not even taste concentration clarity or equanimity individually or collectively.

But you notice there's a trend in daily life as your soda pop around in the world.

Um.

Tour with regards to 5 things one or a combination of the following 5.

Less suffering.

More fulfillment.

Um.

Insights understandings about things sort of happen, either personal or transpersonal.

Improvements in your behavior.

And kind of sets of love and service for humanity a disappearing of that.

Fundamental alienation that separates inside and outside and along with that sense of larger identity that.

Oh, it is your privilege to serve.

If if in one or a combination of these.

Could just be Watt? Often it's reduced suffer it's not not necessarily the whole list. But if any of these areas. You're noticing improvements and it seems to be linked to the practice.

Then we say that you're making progress practices work.

Um.

The most mature criteria.

Is?

To just do it practice and not really just do the practice to do the practice in and not really thinking that much about the goals.

Asthma is it me once said when asked directly what is sub Tori? What is enlightenment?

He said Satori to Satori then I turn on cuckoo pet sogar noch Unarco Today show.

I think you could say that in Satori Enlightenment is the passing away of the distinction between Enlightenment and not enlightenment.

Which is a very empowering statement?

In a lot of different ways.

So you might say that how far away are you.

From Enlightenment,

Um.

Would be measured in exactly how? How much you identify with the moment by moment arising of the conviction. I'm an alignment that I don't be.

So the length of time between where you're at now and Enlightenment is no longer at the length of that thought why not enlightened.

Depending on your relationship to that thought each time it comes up.

So very fast after Enlightenment and have a complete experience profit belief that you're not enlightened.

Now you understand the complete experience I described a complete experience complete experiences of paradoxical experience.

It's infinitely flow and absolutely vacuous at the same time.

OK, so.

Um.

Here's a cut let's see I will tell. I did actually write down a couple things.

Oh, OK.

Oh, OK in Chinese.

So here are.

Some common beliefs about the Maps.

That People have?

And.

That don't agree with my experience.

I was saying that way.

One very common belief.

Is that there's this thing called Enlightenment and?

Before it happens to you.

Your messed up.

And after it happens to you. Everything is perfect now. You know when we say say it that way. We sort of liked laugh and well no ones that naive but actually.

This notion is deep down every People OK because I see it. I it's like even though we say that, like even if we use a terrified of model OK and we say Enlightenment is stream entry.

What is well there's like 3 more steps right?

And although it may seem from Patout Jenna to Aria or 2 A St to sell to a partner to Jenna means you're not there yet means literally means an ordinary person, but to general so from producer not to some of the Palmer seems very far.

But sort Aparna 2 RA ha.

That distance.

That's really far OK.

Stream enters

All of the place all of toy.

Our hearts

Ray I mean, I've met a few that probably were or could have been if they wanted to be Sasaki well, she could be if you wanted to be not sure he wants to be in our uh.

Where you say well wait that doesn't make any sense but when you're that enlightened?

The difference between Enlightenment and an alignment goes away OK. So we can't really fathom the decisions of People like that.

You look at the classical path and you see the descriptions of what our hearts are supposed to be like well soccer. Oh, she's not that way. But you sense, he could be that way if you wanted to.

He just doesn't want to sever the connection to humanity that's covered bridges thoughtful.

I mean, the ones that I met.

From SE Asia like Tom Crusader, you could find him on the Internet OK.

You could actually get videos of tough. The town pullers say at all. He was a reputed our heart.

I'm

You 2030 years at how long ago, I don't Remember Remember some of you can remember. When I was downtown at CNC and Korea down at my own center. There feel yak Charlie Judy. Go back that far. You remember, yeah, you do remember. I remember picking you guys up at that at the at the station downtown. I remember ice cream truck and it's a phrenic derelicts mariachi on one side and the sino Vietnamese opera another side.

To say nothing of the gunshots and Turf Wars of the drug dealers fighting on the front log were sitting there, meditating that's the center. I used to have amazing New Years.

El Barrio.

It's the Battle of the bulge, governments very well, they will automatically so this thing of saying sending.

It's OK now you know it's really like very anti climactic for me like last night was it. Last night, the night before. Whatever you know hit the building here. I heard maybe a firework somewhere. We don't only have People going because we're just too far away from things but when we were at the community meditation center downtown.

And we did the thing that I've been doing this, you know the chance. You know money. Part man then we bring the battle exactly but I've been doing that for like 40 years or something OK well down down there.

It would start like would be a minute before you nor was the Bell was gonna rain because OK because the gunshots would start and then it would just reach this crescendo all sites and you could actually see the tracer bullets going up out the window. I think it's illegal to shoot off guns. So then you get the bill right just speed this fire.

Grounds going off in all directions, but anyway, back in those days, which had their charm. But sure glad were grew out of that, but back in those days.

When I give classes there be about 4:00 or 5 people in it was pretty small operation. So one of my residents. Just I used to do this thing on Monday or People would come.

So one of my residents calls me up and he says.

Tom Pulu Sale sad eyes like the Burmese equivalent of Roshi. OK Tombulu TAUNGPULU. Tombulu say it all is in town. He's at the brewery's temple.

And he says he's willing to come over and talk to your group tonight.

You know this is like that joke about Jesus shows up in the parish church site so Oh my God. This guy was a reputed are hot.

He was old, he had not gone horizontally for 30 years. Every night, Yasa for the last 3 decades. They carry them around in a palenque win kind of thing.

Ann.

Any came OK, he came to my Little Center in Korea town.

You didn't speak any English have translators and he did not look like any human being that I ever saw.

I mean in terms of his body language or whatever like I said look him up on the Internet OK.

It's like.

Death Walking Dead man walking OK here it was like imagine a human.

Made out of rubber you could just like pull on any party in that I mean, it would just like stretch. There's nothing there to Mrs so yeah, this guy was probably are hot, but

So.

Hey, I can do one Gaza.

Skype, but like you turn Ilyasa That's a whole other you know.

So anyway.

So so first of all when I call Enlightenment History Mentry and that's doable by you folks. I mean that's that's the stated goal of my program.

Up.

So you know you think that People have this idea. All I'm going to get Enlightenment and then everything's gonna be OK well the distance between.

Having seen those self for good.

And 4 purification of consciousness that is a huge difference distance, but no matter how much you tell People that you get these weird things that they expect.

Senior Masters to somehow be perfect OK.

Or People that are enlightened in the stream measures level.

Then People get all weirded out when their screwed up in certain ways, even though we say OK.

The working this whole thing out is.

It takes all of it, it's a lifetime, OK enlightenment in the sense of stream meter is just the beginning.

Of it, however, many times we say that People that are enlightenment, some level when they screw up People seem to be surprised.

For some reason cycle there right now 'cause they do this and do that and like it just means that you've seen no self for good forever, but it doesn't mean you worked out all your bad habits. By any means that's what those 3 other stations are.

So this, this notion either expressed or implied or somewhere in the subconscious that because someone has a deep practice. Even a practice so deep they have abided permanent Oneness Nothingness.

The the notion that.

That all well everything's perfect and they never suffer about anything and they never make mistakes.

It doesn't work that way.

And besides even if you become an are hot.

That's great, but that's not a Buddha.

What's the difference between a Buddha in our heart?

Buddhist tradition as asked that question the printer is a special kind of our heart.

So what's different about the boot died from our hot is like fully enlightened.

Has impeccable behavior and never suffers?

Um.

How?

So then what's the? What's the difference between that Anna Buddha and the Buddhist Scholastic. Tradition says, and I think it's a very good answer. The difference is that a boot that is a creative are hot about the comes up with something that no one discovered before.

Number one and #2 it is of sufficient.

Power man relevance that it changes human history.

So from that perspective there's only been one put us so far.

That we now have historically 2500 years ago that is that that big an impact on the world being enlightened.

But I think we're due for the next one.

OK, but the next one may not be a person.

Maybe a team.

Of it lightened.

Create scientifically oriented out of the box thinkers.

Maybe a century from now.

With the technology as it will exist.

Uh.

OK, so.

This you know this notion of.

So I can see why some teachers avoid the E work because People have this idea that it's like. Oh, you're screwed up then you're enlightened and everything is perfect.

The other notion that People seem to have is that enlightenment happens suddenly.

It can.

Um.

Uh but in my experience not necessarily.

Uh.

I see that in a lot of cases, it just.

So that comes on OK and you acclimatize do it, you may not really quite realize that you actually have become in light.

Because it wasn't son Andrew.

Um.

Uh.

So.

There's that point.

Can it happen suddenly dramatically sure?

But I don't particularly aim at that.

However, some teachers do they aim at getting you to have this sudden epiphany kind of thing and if they have a track record in producing those results, then that's that's a good teacher.

When I look at teachers. I don't look at say, Oh, this one has this map that I agree with. And this one. As this other map that I don't agree with. But this person says is similar to what I say so. You know, there are right or something I don't think that way about teachers.

I think about track record.

Someone could have a completely different.

Perspective that I do, but if they've got a track record.

In leading People to significant transformation. I'd rather have a study with that person that someone that bite.

Agrees with my methodology, but doesn't have track record.

So anyway that is apparently.

Another thing that.

Uh.

Notion that People seem to have is not fairly recently is that everyone has to go through these Dark Knight experiences before they head enlightened.

Dark Knight experiences are sort of.

Emptiness and no self and it's a bad trip. McConaughey fear and depression and hopelessness and disorientation, etc, etc. And it's horrible and you just have to white knuckle through it.

That everyone has to go through these that's not been my experience at all.

Now everyone has to go through some fear and some depression and some disorientation, but not necessarily this sort of paralytic thing that could last for months or years.

Some People do have through don't worry you'll probably want him OK.

One last thing

Is the notion that?

The map is linear.

That there's this step at this step in this step at this step.

Because when you act that doesn't agree with my experience.

When you actually talk to People that use that and you say, well? Is it like literally that or do you revisit certain steps and does it loop around OK, etc etc. And I'll say, Oh well. Yeah, actually you do go through these things cyclicly over and over again.

Which does agree with my experience?

But the way it's presented it's not presented that way is presented like there's just this linear progression.

So that's why I don't have a linear map.

What do I have I have a looping and branching?

Algorithm.

And I think that a lot of the linear Maps when you really ask what really happens are looping and branching algorithms.

So that that impression I can promise you that topologically.

A series of points with links.

Is not at all the same?

As a net mathematically completely different critters, a sequence with arrows that only pointed One Direction.

Is not at all even remotely like a directed cyclic graph?

So if it's really a looping and branching algorithm.

Uh.

Then we shouldn't be calling it a linear map which.

So I set the thing up so that you do certain procedures.

Out certain things happen, some of the things that happen will be walls. You'll have to walk. They'll be a challenge and then there's something optimal to do for that challenge.

Some other things that happened will be windows that we windows of opportunity and there's something optimal to do and the whole thing just loops and branches and loops and branches.

Optimizing your experience as the months and years go on and that's sort of the view that I like to take.

Now, Having said that I don't have a map, etc, etc.

It I have to be honest, it is also true that there are certain broad trends.

But it's not like every one goes through all of goes through these trends.

There is a trend overtime.

For the themes of flow.

And impermanence and so forth to become prominent in your practice.

But that doesn't mean that if that's not the case that your practice isn't working, OK.

But I openly talk about flow and so forth.

Because I think it's useful to know about it and to work with it and and so forth. So yes, there. There is a tendency as time goes on for many People for that to become more and more prominent part of your meditation landscape.

Buttom.

As I say it.

That's not necessarily the case for everyone.

So how do you know if you're making progress well I give you 4?

I give you 4 ways of judging if you're making progress.

Uh.

It is also practically useful.

To touch base with at least 1 competent coach at least every once in awhile to talk about your practice to dialogue to see OK? What's working? What may not be working get suggestions and so forth.

So.

I think that's all that came to my mind tonight in talking about Maps is that OK. It's something.

I think in the future when the kind of really open dialogue that I envisage takes place.

And when evidence.

Object if evidence all of the scientific method is brought into this whole thing.

That.

I would make it conjecture that.

Maybe at 100 years or 200 years.

They'll only be 1 universal model that probably be a very complex model because it would have to have to cover all the individual variations of individual human beings, but I suspect that will someday have a true sign something alignment.

And I can't say for sure right, but sort my God, tells me well, either survivor won't and if we do survive. I think the future will be very bright that's it's.

Our our honor and privilege to be the early adapters.