BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog – a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. In this way, Dzogchen is practical – no bells and whistles required.

Intellectualisation Blocks Direct Experience

Intellectualisation blocks direct, spontaneous experience which is beyond words. If you want to know how an apple tastes, eat it! Intellectualisation is trying too hard at something that is so simple.

The esoteric is intuitive, while the exoteric is a commentary, which is hearsay and rumour (from Latin, meaning noise) that creates doubt.

In sport, thinking is too slow and intrusive.
The thinker who doubts always loses.

Intuition is the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for reasoning. We can only realise something through the personal experience of first-hand, spontaneous knowledge, rather than second-hand hearsay.

Those who follow can never be victorious.

The purpose of life is to enrich understanding
towards our next moment, or incarnation.

There Are Many Wise Words

In the past couple of thousand years, there have been many wise words handed down for us to identify with. That is both wonderful, and a subtle problem.

When we identify with words, we identify with names, and that creates a duality – a ‘me’ and a ‘something else’. It’s an extremely subtle trap that creates and maintains separation or division.

To be practical, in conscious awareness we have to realise non-duality, but this doesn’t mean being one with something, as there would still be a duality present.

The question is, what is it that is identifying?
That which is consciously aware and has no name.

The pure experience of true essence is beyond words or names which divide us.
‘Pure’ means without additives.

Personally, I feel that a trick was played on humanity thousands of years ago, and that trick or meme has plagued us ever since: ideas evolve and deviate into different names around ‘one’ theme.

Don’t Follow A Name

Don’t follow a name.
Follow the understanding,
and realise
true essence, nature and expression of our reality.

Are We Conscious Or Unconscious Beings?

It isn’t always obvious
whether we are conscious or unconscious beings.

Knowing the difference changes the quality and direction of life.

Are we spontaneous presence that can adapt,
or are we an act that we have rehearsed?

Realising consciousness
spontaneously unfolds the euphoria of well-being.

Simply Beyond The Mind

We are pure consciousness, beyond the thinking mind.

When consciousness becomes caught up in thoughts,
it forgets its freedom and purity.

Freedom is being released from thoughts.
It takes determination to realise this.

If You Can’t Explain It Simply

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
– Albert Einstein

I never feel that I know enough, but then I bring to mind the Buddha’s statement, “Do not take my words for truth: see for yourself.”

At that moment, I remember that it is the seeing of pure consciousness which is the essence of truth, rather than what is known. Words are merely a substitute.

What Is Enlightenment?

We are already enlightened beings, but we disregard this and give it no value. Ignoring this enlightened state, we constantly look for ideas to adopt.

Enlightenment is the continuous expression of pure awareness without sides, and is therefore unconditional, empathetic compassion.

We get glimpses of this true reality in moments of just being but, through habit, it slips away. The purpose of non-dual meditation is to realise this.

Monks and nuns spend their entire lives on this topic; they are told what to do and when to do it. We, as town yogis, have to balance life between the material and the spiritual. I actually think this is an advantage, as the rawness of life makes us face our stupidity. This takes more discipline, as our practice can turn into spiritual materialism.

The more we practise remembering what we are, the simpler life becomes. Realisations upon realisations is a shocking process 🙂 It is a continual journey until there are no more questions.

We have to accept our karmic cognitive bias, but this slowly dissolves when we are able to halt our explosive reactions, and notice that our attitude has changed. We are more considerate and empathetic.

Religious traditions make great elaborations
out of enlightenment and compassion,
when enlightened compassion is simply unbiased listening.

Life Is Exasperating, Intensely Irritating, And Frustrating

We live our lives according to worldly and spiritual materialism, promoting a self-image that seems to be more important than what we actually are. Conflict arises everywhere, and it’s exasperating when we know it needn’t be like this. Exasperation is the spark for enlightenment, before compassion can arise.

We hear that we should be compassionate, but compassion should not be used to cover up the tricks we play in order to convince ourselves that we are right. Conscious living is constant awareness of whatever we are doing, saying and thinking. We don’t have to be perfect; that is merely an elaborate dressing up. The perfection is what is seeing, which is original pure consciousness.

All we have to do is be consistent in our endeavour.
Behind the scenes, the view is gradually refining.

What We Are Now

What we are now
and
what we will become
will always be the same.

Pure consciousness is exactly that.

Becoming Judgemental

We all need to judge whether a thing is beneficial or harmful but, in being fixated and obsessed about those judgements, we become judgemental. One is momentary, while the other is our programme for life.

If we do not like someone or something, or a group of people, we have to look behind whatever caused that situation. This stands to reason, doesn’t it? Because a small inner circle controls a society, it doesn’t mean everyone agrees.

If we “throw the baby out with the bath water”,
we lose the good parts as well as the bad,
because we rejected it as a whole, instead of just removing what is bad.

Before we are judgemental about others,
we should look at our own motivations.

“You hypocrite!
First take the speck out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly
to remove the speck from others’ eyes.”
– Matthew 7.5

Sharing Knowledge With Dissenters

Sharing knowledge with those who have a closed mind is idiotic,
as it will end in conflict.

Belief closes minds and destroys unity:
truth and belief are not amicable bedfellows.

“Do not give dogs what is holy;
do not throw your pearls before swine.
If you do, they may trample them under their feet,
and then turn and tear you to pieces…”
– Matthew 7.5