He is also a chronic map-monger and technique freak because he has had them work very well for him. He does not claim to have any special knowledge of how to live skillfully in the conventional world, but has found that a positive attitude, non-pretentious kindness, and a sense of humor will take you a long way. If you imagine that you want to bust out

So Who The Heck Is Daniel M. Ingram?

some hardcore practice but are in fact just looking for a daddy, shrink, social worker, or someone to help you prop up your self-esteem, Daniel is unlikely at this stage in his development to be the best person to help you meet your needs. He considers himself to be one badass Dharma Cowboy and prefers similar company or at least those who aspire to be so.”

I dare, no, I double dare any other teacher to be that honest when writing their next bio, not that they are likely to be given enough space to disclose anything resembling this much honest and practical information. A few more things: I crossed the Arising and Passing Away when I was about 15 and did it again about 4 more times by my recollection over the next 10 years without formal practice, technique or guidance. I attained to stream entry at the end of the first week of my fourth retreat on January 13th, 1996 in Bodh Gaya, India, in the Thai Monastery. I also crossed the Arising and Passing Away of second path on that retreat. I attained second path in daily life while working at the National AIDS Hotline with the CDC in July, 1996. I was in the break room just hanging out. I attained to Third Path towards the end of 1996, also in daily life, after a retreat a few weeks before where I crossed the Arising and Passing Away of that cycle. I attained to Nirodha Samapatti (see the appendix) one month later, but it would take me a more few years to really nail down hard samatha jhanas and the formless realms so that I could access them off retreat.

I was an anagami for almost 7 years, going through cycle after cycle of progressive appreciation of the emptiness of ordinary phenomena, with my total count of what felt like full new paths being about 27. I wrote most of this book during that time. I also earned a two-year Masters of Science in Public Health in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at UNC Chapel Hill and then went on to complete medical school there.

Then, on April 17th, 2003, on a 21-day retreat at the Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Center between medical school and my residency, I attained to arahatship. It happened while I was doing walking meditation on that glorious Spring morning. I was sick of the cycles of insight and profoundly inspired by the steady and gentle invitation of the teacher, Sayadaw U Pandita, Junior, to simply see through the whole 347

So Who The Heck Is Daniel M. Ingram?

thing as he had done. His calm smile seemed say, “You can do it. Come on! Any day now.” Always sit with arahats if you possibly can. That’s my advice, anyway.

I decided that I would allow no sensation anywhere in the entire wide sense field to go by without it being clearly known as it was during every single second of the day. It was a high standard, but strangely enough can actually be very closely approximated. It was sufficient to do the trick after about a week of doing that some 20+ hours per day. I remember attaining to a Fruition, and a few seconds later I noticed something about the entrance to it and the re-forming of the sense of a perceiver on the back side of it, and then suddenly the knot of perception flipped open, everything was the same and yet the perspective on it was completely different, and my vipassana problem, once I had stabilized in that understanding, was solved.