What Life Looks Like at Third Path

First of all, this is so great to read. Insight is the cornerstone of meditation, not fancy spectacles. Tangible changes are always so great to see in yourself, right? Like, one day you hear someone chewing with their mouths open and your mind instantly goes, “I’mma kill this MFer right now!” and then a few months later you hear it and the mind just goes, “Damn that chewing is loud…”

My baseline? Geez, looking back… The funny thing about meditation is that the changes are so subtle. I like using a metaphor of a straight line from New York to Austin, if you just change the line by 0.5 of a degree at one of the ends, you end up missing the other city entirely. Kind of what meditation does, it just changes the origin line by a tiny fraction of a percent, and the rewards are HUGE down the line (assuming you’re working diligently and consistently).

OK, how does my reality look like? (I’m 3rd path). I’m gonna go into some detail to really inspire you to do more practice, maybe go hardcore and do a home retreat!

• The mind just sees sensations, all floating in space. Doing a kind of dance. Just dancing sensations in awareness. Angry? Sensation. Happy? Sensation. No biggie. Are you feeling jealous of someone else? More sensations. It’ll pass, and it never was or will be “yours” ever. Imagine at some centre there’s nothing, and it has tonnes of debris orbiting around it; that’s kinda like what it is, but it’s subtly different a little more ephemeral feeling.
• I genuinely haven’t been angry in a while, I haven’t suffered in a long while. In fact, the only real suffering I experience lately is just when my mind feels like some emotion/thought is “mine”. But that quickly abates with some attention, some resting in awareness. But as for life circumstances actually causing suffering, well, I’ve had it pressure tested in some pretty tough situations and there was no real suffering, just watching the sensations of anxiety play out and do their own thing by themselves.
• Modern society, or society, or the “default way we work” is just people bandwagoning their self-esteem to the latest fad, celebrity, thing they bought, ideology, or guru, etc… We’re just constantly trying to validate to ourselves that we’re real through these “outside” things, labels, etc. that work as some badge or medal… Like a really sad “life participation trophy”. Not judging here in a bad way, but judging in the way to say, this is highly unproductive for long-term contentment and fulfilment. There’s genuine sadness in seeing that dynamic in life. And seeing how insecure we all are, deep down, at our empty reality. It really inspires a lot of compassion and understanding.
• Thinking is easier. Cognitive problems are simpler. After the mind decides to drop attachments to self and things, it frees up a lot of mental RAM for tasks. Long-term memory is sharper. There’s less straining for memories, they just appear when needed. And when they don’t… They eventually do pretty quickly after!
• My need for sleep has gone down.
• I can exercise harder past my pain threshold. Exercised today to almost complete exhaustion by accident. Obviously, this was due to a lack of mindfulness and some conceit on my part, overestimating my body’s capabilities.
• Life just does itself. There’s no doer in this mind-body; no observer; no effort whatsoever is expended (for the most part). Just more of the dance.
• My social life is more vibrant, fulfilling, and genuine. Just more confident doing my own thing without apology. Generally, living a judgment-free life is just so satisfying. My friends/family have noted just how engaging and friendly I seem in regular conversation, they feel like they can talk to me about whatever because I don’t judge, I simply listen. I like that I can be that person for them when needed. I can look someone in the eye, a total stranger, and smile at them, expecting absolutely nothing in return. Being present with people was something I had a really really hard time doing. And now it just happens all on its own.
• Meditation is fun! Any felt suffering is a GREAT opportunity to learn more, develop positive factors, and just be more wholesome. When I start feeling suffering I’m like “Great! let’s get meditating!” More grist for the mill. Eventually, this seeps into your life and everything is an opportunity for meditation. I spend most of my day pretty mindful of my body-mind, it’s not perfect, but it’s definitely sensitive when suffering appears!
• Enlightenment is not a “thing” you get. It’s seeing sensations clearly and where they are, and when they are, with no baggage attached. There’s no real “path” or “ultimate reality” to access. There’s just this inescapable, yet impenetrable moment with all of its sensations.
• Meditation is teaching us how to dis-identify with sensations. The default mind goes “this sadness sensation is mine because I’m feeling it, and that makes me feel bad because sadness is bad”. Now we train the mind to see “this sadness sensation is present and that’s fine”. Or, “I really want to eat bad food because I’m craving bad food and that feeling makes me because I’m feeling it now” Now the mind sees, “There’s a feeling of craving unhealthy food. I can act on it, with consequences, or not act on it, with consequences. The feeling is here and that’s fine.”

Hope this gets your engine fired up for more practice! :)