Natural Awakening

David L. Collins - Part 1: To Know Like Love Like What It Is To Be

Feb 18, 2022

David L. Collins, a contemplative practitioner with a near-death experience, discusses deep jhana, meditation in sleep, life as sacred display, and the concept of 'to know like love like what it is to be'. The conversation includes similarities between The Cloud of Unknowing and Dogen's practices, the paradox of effort and effortlessness, and the intersection of personal experiences with scientific materialism.

01:00:16

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Episode guests

David L. Collins

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Exploration of meditation practices from diverse traditions emphasizing deep presence and awareness.

Significance of near-death experience shaping interest in contemplative traditions and existential questions.

Deep dives

Exploring Interests in Mysticism and Meditation

Dave Collins discusses his deep interest in comparative mysticism, religion, meditation, and their intersection with cognitive science and philosophy of mind, shaped by his background in religious studies and psychology. He highlights the significance of meditation practices and contemplative traditions, emphasizing the commonality in practices across diverse cultures that intrigue him.

Intro

3min

Journey into Meditation and Spiritual Reflections

22min

Exploring Teachings on Connection with the Divine and Emphasizing Experiential Practice

25min

Exploring Sacred Perception and Divine Will

2min

Exploring the Intersection of Personal Experiences, Practices, and Traditions with a Scientific Materialist Culture

4min

Exploring the Concept of 'To Know Like Love Like What It Is To Be'

2min

Exploring Different Modalities of Visions and Poetry Interpretation

2min

Wherein Dave and I discuss his near-death experience early in life and subsequent draw to contemplative study and practice, similarities between the practices and outlooks of the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing and Dogen, the apparent paradox of effort and effortlessness along the path, deep jhana, meditation in sleep, life as sacred display, and what it means 'to know like love like what it is to be'. In a future second part, hopefully we'll get around to how this fits a naturalistic understanding of our selves and the world.

Check out Dave's writing (it's really good!): https://utexas.academia.edu/DavidCollins

His twitter is: https://twitter.com/bodhidave3

I mentor meditation in Shinzen Young's Unified Mindfulness system. If that or any of my ambling thoughts in long-form are of interest to you, check out my website: https://www.wystantbs.com/

My twitter: https://twitter.com/WystanTBS

Thanks for listening! May you be happy!