OEITH #217 The Fire Kasina Diaries (Part One)

Blowing the dust off some old diaries, we reflect on how kasina meditation generates magical powers, exploring: kasina practice and its rejuvenation by Daniel Ingram; the corruption of the original texts; the need for fresh terminology; different types of kasina; how a kasina is used; the importance and use of the retinal after-image; the cultivation of siddhis or “psychic powers”, and what these include; the circumstances of my first fire kasina retreat; the daily schedule; stages of the practice: after-image, red dot, black dot, and the murk; scrying into the murk as a means of realising a magical intention; a vision of a deity and “parallax imagery”; the experience of images that act like perceptions; the differences between perceptions and images; a thought experiment from Jean-Paul Sartre; perceptions as that which is given; images as a manifestation of an intention or will; different types of images and their commonalities; perceptions as offering endless perspectives on reality, and images as offering endless possibilities for departing from it; the characteristics of external images or media; perceptions as analogue and images as digital; magick and the erosion of the difference between imagery and perception; fire kasina as a hacking of the physiology of eye and brain to disrupt this difference; “seeing” with the mind, not the eyes; timescales for building the degree of concentration required; experiences of “travels” to different places; an experience of “the low-resolution vision space”; “the high-resolution vision space” and encounters with discarnate, sentient beings; meeting the Thai Spider Buddha; the strange experience of entering the high-resolution vision space; reflections on the nature of kasina practice; concentration as a limited means of manifestation; a warning about the shadow sides of kasina practice.

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Bhadantácariya Buddhaghosa (2011). Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli, https://tinyurl.com/2p9aup6j(accesstoinsight.org). Accessed May, 2022.

Daniel Ingram (2018). “Fire Kasina Practice” In: Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, second edition, https://tinyurl.com/2usvrcu5 (mctb.org). Accessed May, 2022.

Jean-Paul Sartre (1972). The Psychology of Imagination. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel.

Shannon Stein & Daniel Ingram (2017). The Fire Kasina: Questions and Answers on Retreat with Practice Notes and Commentary, https://tinyurl.com/3m8y58bv (firekasina.org). Accessed May, 2022.

Arahant Upatissa (1961). The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga), translated by Rev. N.R.M. Ehara, Soma Thera, & Kheminda Thera, https://tinyurl.com/4crx5m55 (urbandharma.org). Accessed May, 2022.