This is a spiritual book about "towards awakening" that started as a companion book to zeer-consciousness but for zandtao now supercedes his book on inner awakening. Please see the focus and import of making such a statement - more important than awakening?
Out of awakening at whatever level comes some measure of embodiment, and this book began as additional chapters on embodiment of his awakening book - zeer-consciousness . At the time he saw this embodiment as pathtivism that is discussed in part 2 but it became clear that bringing the path to activism was not enough. This understanding came out of working on the 3 tathatas, 2 of which form the basis of radical love activism in part 3.
The title "awakening community" has many interpretations that the book slips in and out of:-
Bringing awakening to the community
Using awakening to build community
Building community with awakening as purpose
Helping people in the community awaken
All of these have slightly different understandings around awakening and community. If we start with a purpose of moving towards an awakening community then these interpretations intermingle without offering any kind of delineation. But to begin with awakening has to be recognised, and sadly there is little such recognition. In part 1 zandtao attempts to bring that recognition by suggesting that sangha make a concerted effort to bring awakening to community through developing a Culture of Awakening (CoA).
Whilst rarely specifically addressing it the bypassing ego is a problem that the embodiment of this book on awakening tries to address. For zandtao the bypassing ego is that ego which blocks embodiment of the path; it is an ego that avoids embodiment in community by focusing on the fruits of awakening such as jhanas (blissful meditation states) and suggesting that these states are humanity progressing. No embodiment can happen without movement towards awakening but whilst awakening for ordinary people can never be complete it certainly cannot be integrated without the awakening balance of embodiment. For many this embodiment is as a teacher but is teaching the only way?
When we start to consider embodiment we have to understand the hegemony this embodiment develops within. For how many is understanding hegemony a spiritual understanding? Yet if we don't understand the prevailing milieu in which individuals begin awakening how can we begin to help seekers awaken? This tathata theme of understanding hegemony was started on our inner journey in zeer-consciousness within the intro vision of societal infrastructure. So the 3rd tathata - seeing hegemony - is developed throughout this book. In this book zandtao is addressing seekers in the West, and the first 3 parts he writes of the hegemony as western - countering it with the Global South. In part 4 zandtao asks us to look more deeply into the changing global hegemony - the balance between the Global South and the West, and in part 5 with an appropriate understanding of the tathata of changing hegemony he focuses on building an awakening community within this changing hegemony.
zandtao's own limited experience of approaching awakening has been within both hegemonies but his path started to develop inside the western hegemony with a partial awakening at 23. From 23 for many years he lived within western communities before moving to the Global South when 40. From that time on he lived within communities that were part of the Global South finally residing there as a dedicated recluse focusing on developing awakening. Whilst his practice came from Buddhism mainly the MwB of Ajaan Buddhadasa he does not consider the hegemony of the Global South as having the total conditions for his awakening; there are some conditions that are beneficial as are parts of governance, but he is not suggesting go East for awakening. zandtao is addressing western people and asking how they can build awakening communities.
As part of this intro zandtao wants to record a fantasy to show his gratitude even though it would not be seen as appropriate. He will always be grateful for Buddhism giving him his practice. And this practice had a symbolic start at Wat Phra Keau when he first "converted to Buddhism" - this conversion had been building in zandtao ever since he started his inner journey with his M Ed in mid-life, and then further on the burgeoning inner journey. The connection with the institution of Thai Buddhism ends with the Wat Phra Keau conversion but Thai Buddhism was ever-present in his retirement years in the community of Rural Thailand and because his practice came from Buddhadasa's MwB.
His fantasy takes him back to giving a Dhamma talk at Harnham - not that he would be invited nor that the talk would be appropriate. Harnham was bill's regular retreat after his conversion on contract breaks before he retired to his rural Thai retreat. He remembers his first retreat that was totally disrespectful. Retreats often occurred after he visited teacher friends in Scotland. He would drive down the North East coast; and of course the first time he got lost so he arrived late afternoon, hadn't booked, only planned to stay overnight and yet even with this rudeness the guest monk allowed him to stay. That night he awoke after a couple of hours and the guys came - bill's visual feeling of presence that he had mostly seen/felt/known previously with writing. For zandtao that marked Harnham and he returned regularly over the few years of working he still had left. For zandtao Harnham (and therefore monasteries) are places of awakening - not the only places of awakening of course.
Now to his Dhamma talk.
"Monks. For most of you zandtao is not now a Buddhist, bill was Buddhist." zandtao would then recount his first night at Harnham, and the meaningful place of retreat that Harnham meant.
"My meditation began with Harnham's booklet on Insight meditation that bill put on an early website (LINK). With Harnham's Forest Sangha connections this led to bill studying Ajaan Chah on his final school holiday at Residang - interspersed with a complex internet contact with Lagos so that returning school books from the Nigerian students could get their results without a long wait (why was it always so hard to get books back from rich kids globally?). That was bill's final Summer whilst teaching. From the Residang bill arranged a house to retire to, and over that final year moved in his possessions gradually. What a relief it was to arrive there at the end of that final school year. Monks, Harnham then only became a memory as bill never returned to the UK.
"In his retirement bill first had to eschew his world of work as a teacher - Matriellez , and he does not recall when his Harnham Insight meditation became MwB. There was much of an inner journey recorded here through various types of writing as MwB slowly released egos until he reached his threshold of autonomy. On his website this threshold was recorded as Prajna portal as at the time he associated it with Thich Nhat Hanh and prajna-paramita, in Theravada terms the threshold might be associated with stream-entry but zandtao does not like such associations because of all the dogma associations of signs, gateways, steps on the path etc.
"But, monks, zandtao is completely happy to call it autonomy because that is what it felt. After years of most mornings getting on his stool to do his version of MwB he was not tied to any dogma any more - the dogma was a raft that had been released. It did not feel like that at first, it felt like he was unbalanced. The first thing he needed to work on was spiritual love, and this became his book Real Love. His second was looking at Stephen Batchelor's work on secular Buddhism, and this led to a broad questioning of secular path? At this point out of due respect to Ajaan Buddhadasa zandtao wants to point out that Buddhadasa spoke of No Religion, and love and compassion are deeply embedded in his teachings. So zandtao is quite comfortable in having MwB as his practice, and that his autonomy was balancing out the way he had received and practiced MwB rather than any shortcomings in the teachings.
"Monks, at this point his autonomy had taken him to his book about awakening zeer-consciousness - "consciousness, from awareness to purpose". He uses zeer-consciousness to describe his own relationship with atammayata and his journey towards awakening. Again he chooses to avoid identification with terms of Buddhist dogma as he does not want the monks to perceive any arrogance. zandtao is just describing how he perceives his own path, and is not asking the monks to mark his progress on any Theravadan Buddhist sliding scale of qualification.
"With his zeer-consciousness, dear monks, zandtao was now in a state of progressing in the direction of awakening, and for this there was a requirement of embodiment. And for zandtao this requirement became the book "Awakening Community". This is a work of zandtao's autonomy and in any autonomy there is a uniqueness, zandtao muses that any autonomy produces mahayana - adding onto Theravada. But he wonders as to these autonomies. Do such autonomies really add to Theravada? Or are they simply different works that add to the wonder and breadth in evolving consciousness? Why complicate matters by ascribing maha-Buddhisms? Although Thich Nhat Hanh is always seen as Mahayana or Zen zandtao gets a similar feel from him. Develop the practice, leave the raft of dogma behind on transcending. Somewhere Thich Nhat Hanh spoke of something akin to all who transcend enter the world of prajna-paramita - no specific quote just a theme within "gate gate paragate parasa?gate bodhi svaha" (Tinna Tinh). Maybe see Buddhism as the practice of Theravada? Then we have all the wisdom (Prajna-paramita) that has arisen historically once that threshold has been transcended. Does Buddhism just need the practice, the place of awakening, and the autonomous sangha who grew out of the Theravadan practice then decide what wisdom they add to Prajna - to evolve consciousness?
"For zandtao, monks, his autonomous choice clearly lies in the arena of awakening community. His development existed in the human world of communities, and he laments the lack of awakening culture he saw and sees around him. Essentially deep awakening is forced to be hidden. Community tolerates expressions of bliss that appear unbalanced but it does not appear to want the impact of awakening that can bring so much joy and order to daily life. For zandtao this is the gap in evolving consciousness his own autonomy chooses to address. And monks, he calls on sangha to join him in attempting to build awakening communities. Whilst recognising the importance of places of awakening, let us release any bypassing egos and embody our awakening to build awakening communities."
In the Q&A he was asked what he meant by awakening. "In the book zeer-consciousness ," he answered "zandtao speaks of moving from awareness to consciously loving and evolving consciousness. This is a process towards awakening - akin to awakening to Buddha nature perhaps?"
Another monk "Would we be expected to tailor our interactions to zandtao's approach - to zeer-consciousness?"
"Of course not," smiled zandtao "let me turn your question around rhetorically. If you were working within community and an individual expressed interest in awakening and showed some interest and practice in spiritual development, would you expect them to become Buddhists?"
"Maybe some people are interested in Buddhism and would like to retreat here?" asked another.
"Let's hope so," answered zandtao "and let's hope there are also others who are interested in awakening in other ways. If we are in community talking with people who are interested in awakening, is that not better than waiting for such people to have sufficient development to make the efforts to come through the doors of a retreat or a similar affirmative position. Simply having the conversations is building a CoA - making awareness of awakening part of daily life?"
Are there sangha interested in awakening community??
became his book 
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