In order to begin to see even the possibility of State Shadows, we will need to do some preparatory work.

We will begin with a simple Zen perspective of three states of consciousness: Gross, Subtle and Causal, which includes an allusion to a mysterious “other shore.” From this perspective physical, things are objects of the gross realm. The absence of things, a direct experience of nothing or timeless nothingness is the causal realm. And, everything arising in experience between the gross physical realm and the timeless causal realm is arising in the subtle realm. We will then ground this perspective with some “wu” technologies or “nothingness” technologies. Here, we use language and transmission to lead to a taste of a direct experience of timeless emptiness. We then must add shared language to clearly articulate our experiences in words and sentences. By including both shared experiences and shared articulation of the experiences, we build a solid foundation of both common experience and language.