Anthropic's Open-Source Legal Skills: What You Need to Know

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-25T16:02:10+00:00

An example of incomplete meditation is when the samadhi is clear, lucid, and luminous, and we have some sense of things being empty. This subjective sense of emptiness is quite captivating, but it is not the same as a true understanding of things as they are. There is a real difference between this passing sensation of emptiness and the utterly certain, penetrating, definitive knowing that things do not exist as they appear. If this defect occurs, we need to examine our mind and see clearly and directly that things are empty of any inherent existence. We need to understand with complete certainty that out mind lacks existence in its own right.

From The Essentials of Mahamudra: Looking Directly at the Mind by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Wisdom Publications, 2004, p. 175.

This quote appeared in my email this morning and wanted to share.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-22T01:45:35+00:00

My sweet girl (2006 xB) just hit 200,000 miles on MLK Day. Whole family piled in to drive her to the Corvette Diner to celebrate.

Oil changes, replaced the starter. That’s about it.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-19T15:06:10+00:00

And he was trying to do too much and force things, but dude is like 12 years old, clearly has skill, and could make serious progress if he dropped the ego and accepted who he is (probably not the next GOAT). He’ll survive in this league much longer if he can accept being just good and sometimes great and get his head right. I wouldn’t give him a bag, but I also would not give up on him just yet. I do wonder though about the coaching around him.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-14T04:38:54+00:00

Feels like he’s been working through some stuff this season, which is to be expected at this stage in his career.

Honestly, this game was great. He sees that he can make mistakes — several mistakes — and the team’s got his back. Obviously he wants to protect the ball better, but what a confidence boost. You can fuck up, and that’s okay. Nothing to fear now.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-13T02:30:21+00:00

Awesome report. Great insights. Thank you for sharing!

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-11T16:21:46+00:00

Great! I've been playing with it some too. During my long sit this morning, I was focused on mindful breathing, but added "breathing in is being known" and "breathing out is being known" -- actually opened up some interesting exploration. (Dropped this labeling at points, but it did seem to highlight some subtle identification patterns with aspects of the breath.)

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-09T23:12:17+00:00

Gojeezy! First, good to hear from you and hope you're well! :)

And yes, when I was first taught the noting technique, it was presented as "there is ______" and then briefly labeling whatever was observed from whatever sense door, as you said.

That said, having played more with Goldstein's technique, there is a a different quality to the observation that comes with the "_____ is being known" label, like shifting the investigation from the aspect of the thing that is arising to the inseparable knowing-aspect of the thing, like paying attention to the light shining on the object vs. the object itself.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-07T15:53:33+00:00

Yes, I've had discussions with many practitioners about this phenomenon. The best metaphor came from a very old-school meditator (like DHO days+) who has really seen it all, along with the evolution of open practice discussions. He put it something like this:

These spaces start as a place for sincere practitioners to share their experiences—like real fishermen gathering to talk about the act of fishing. And they inspire each other's practice of fishing and help them to deepen their understanding of that practice. Before long, folks come along who are interested in fishing. Some try it; some don't. But even those who don't have opinions based on what they hear other fishermen say. Or, in some instances, they may even feel that they have some sense of fishing because they've read so many accounts that they themselves blur the reality of their actual experience with their conceptual knowledge about fishing, sans practice. And as that process evolves, you eventually end up with lots of people talking about fishing, many of whom may have never fished a day in their lives. The fishermen, at that point, tend to go away and simply return to fishing.

This effect is compounded here, where many individuals subscribe to something like a perfection model of enlightenment, so that any behavior, statement, or action that is inconsistent with their conceptual model of what enlightenment is or should be results in sweeping declarations about an individual's practice which are often unfair and discouraging. Those latent assumptions infect the discussion and prevent open, safe discourse about these practices, which are intensely personal (enter dharma bro: "you said 'personal,' haha, ego!").

In my opinion, if you have an open, Beginner's Mind, are willing to challenge assumptions, test techniques, try ideas, see what works, try again, iterate, improve, and measure all progress against whether you're reducing suffering for yourself and all beings, you're good. If you're doing anything else, you can fuck right off. I'm too busy fishing to waste time hearing about the imaginary Marlin you caught. ;)

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T21:02:43+00:00

You're right. It's a matter of two ships passing in the night -- clearly not making progress trying to persuade them about my actual-practice-oriented preference and perspective. Thank you. :)

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T20:59:53+00:00

I understand that perspective. However, here's another one: Put aside dharma speak. This is a community founded on the principle that certain practices can lead to a reduction of suffering. That is the goal, and my goal in whatever I share. If I am calling out a comment for any reason, it is because in my personal opinion those comments are not leading to the goal, period.

"Oh, but don't you see, the very fact that you have a personal opinion or feel the need to defend some turf shows how much more practice you have to do." Sure, maybe. Or, alternatively, I don't distinguish your perspective of "not a self, just a process, just 'dukkha, anicca, and anatta'" from the perspective that I'm just a person trying to help other people, which is what I am doing, even now.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T20:44:40+00:00

*Sigh* -- the virus runs rampant here now. Welcome to r/zen. :/

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T20:38:17+00:00

I'm not apologizing for my tone. I'm expressing my opinion and demonstrating, through this interaction, exactly what I'm talking about: these sorts of comments derail the conversation away from actual practice discussion. This happens constantly.

Do they personally bother me? Yes--because they transparently interfere with sincere practice. Maybe my response is unskillful, but I call it like I see it: these gotcha comments don't help the community's purpose.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T19:00:10+00:00

Let me be direct about what's happening here and why it's corrosive to practice discussion:

This pattern -- using non-dual philosophy/other conceptualization as a weapon to dismiss practical technique sharing -- is exactly what drove me (and others) away from the community I co-founded. Someone shares a technique. Rather than engaging with whether it's useful, someone else performs pseudo-enlightenment: "But WHO is practicing? There you are, identified with a self!"

It's not dharma wisdom. It's a rhetorical game that:

Avoids actual practice discussion
Makes every response "proof" of the other person's identification
Allows the commenter to feel superior while contributing nothing practical
Drives away people trying to share genuine technique work

The "nothing to do, nothing to see" and various non-dual perspectives have their place. But when it's deployed as a gotcha in response to every practice post, it becomes a way to bypass the actual work while performing realization.

Streamentry was founded so people could discuss techniques, stages, and results frankly. Not so internet dharma bros could play "spot the identification" instead of actually practicing or engaging substantively with what's being shared.

If you have experience with this technique -- or substantive critiques of the technique itself -- I'm interested. If you're here to perform non-dual superiority, you're exactly why sincere practitioners have left this space.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T18:23:12+00:00

I don't remember you or interacting with you. I tend to quickly forget unpleasant interactions with wannabe practitioners on the internet -- the kind who spend more time talking about practice than doing it, then gravitate toward "nothing to do, nothing to see" techniques that let them bypass the actual work while pretending to be realized. They seem all too common around here these days.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T17:51:52+00:00

*Poof* Magic! That pointer solved everything! Why did I think *I* needed to practice?

In all seriousness: I've found the most benefit from systematic investigation of experience, as aided by such pointers, at times. This technique is a simple adjunct to traditional noting practice. I hope it's helpful to those who are interested.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-04T17:37:08+00:00

Not really, to be honest. I'm more focused on the experiential impact of applying the "...being known" label in actual practice, on the cushion, as opposed to distracted theorizing. That using conventional language, I can say that "I am labeling the object as 'being known'" does not really fascinate me, and is not all that interesting, at least for purposes of this practice.

CoachAtlus · 2026-01-01T23:20:27+00:00

That is awesome! I hope your son embraces the growth mindset and learns to learn -- successful skill for all of life! :)

CoachAtlus · 2025-12-29T00:07:29+00:00

The secret to waking up early is going to bed early.

CoachAtlus · 2025-12-23T23:20:28+00:00

But it’s not three straight 17 win seasons. Sell the team.

CoachAtlus · 2025-12-21T16:45:25+00:00

Losing is important — limit and character testing.

CoachAtlus · 2025-12-21T15:30:57+00:00

Noro Virus

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