TYPE: Vipassana

PURPOSE: This Audio-visual Meditation Suite gives experiential access to anitya (impermanence).

CONTEXT: In Puranic Hinduism, the flux of presence is expressed theistically as the Trimurti (three forms) of arising-abiding-passing, represented as the triad Brahma-the-creator, Vishnu-the-preserver, and Shiva-the-destroyer. In Scientology, this process is called the Cycle of Action, START-CHANGE-STOP. Experiencing the fluxing nature of presence is always therapeutic. Permanence is an illusion projected by the mind’s power of concepts, which are atemporal rules whose perdurance is a reified reflection of homeostasis—a process that is actually dynamic. The goal of this meditation is direct acquaintance with the illusory nature of all conceptual projections of permanence.

METHOD: Drink in Lt. Uhura as she announces, by gesture and word, the three phases of arising, abiding, and passing.

The first face is startled and introverted. Perturbation of sense-consciousness is also the arousal of the subject as subject. The subject arises to itself, as apperception, at the moment of sensory impact.

The second face is reflective, then penetrative, then beseeching. Consciousness is conscious of its ongoing attention, and the abiding of attention seems to move in tandem with objective perdurance.

The third face is nostalgic.

At the end of the loop, the finality of the passing is registered by Kirk and the rest of the bridge. That is, the experience of passing is integrated fully into the ego as understanding.

This Audio-visual Meditation Loop is actually a series of three videos. All three should be practiced in order:

1. Uhura arising.
2. Uhura arising and abiding.
3. Uhura arising, abiding, and passing.

The first two demonstrate what we should not do. They are included to acquaint the yogi with pathology. Watch them with an attitude of pity for her (your) enmeshed consciousness.

Uhura arising

The first video has Lt. Uhura only in the ARISING phase. She is seized by the object’s arising and clearly in its thrall. Her movement is mildly orgasmic. This is the consciousness of the dumb animal—the startled bird, the child with ADHD, perking up and facing every sound or movement in the environment. Great for survival in predator land, terrible for long-term sanity.

Uhura arising and abiding

The second video has Lt. Uhura only in the ARISING and ABIDING phases. Her attention is pricked and then hooked.

Uhura arising, abiding, and passing

The third video presents the full tripartite sequence. It shows the processual nature of experience as it actually occurs. Every arising succumbs to passing.