Truth Does Not Defy Reason

It does not matter whether we call ourselves theist, atheist, Buddhist, scientist, a person in a cafe who says “I don’t know”, when we are asked whether we are aware, none of us can say, “I do not have awareness”. Without awareness, we wouldn’t know if we were aware or not!

We may not be aware of some phenomenon ‘out there’, but we have awareness. We cannot be separated from awareness (unless we are asleep or unconscious). Awareness is life. Pure awareness is ultimate, subtle life – the particle with no parts!

(In Buddhism we tend to use the word ‘awareness’ instead of ‘consciousness’, but in certain contexts it means the same thing: traditions use words slightly differently. In Buddhism we have consciousnesses of the mind and body: there are, in fact, eight consciousness or more!).

Awareness is something we constantly gloss over, as we are too busy maintaining confusion. This confusion causes suffering. We are such sensitive beings that the tiniest distraction appears in the mind and we are off, fooled by fascinating phantoms.

At street level, this world of distraction is ‘normal’. At street level, we are merely here to entertain ourselves – or to be entertained – and so pass the time away. Mara/demons (those of selfish interest) feed off distracted beings. At street level, we believe the dream prison.

Ultimate truth is trapped in a flimsy dream bubble, blown this way and that. All we have to do is stop and recognise the presence of pure awareness. This is the purpose of meditation. When clarity occurs, we stop clinging to attractions and aversions. The world changes when our view clears.

The world will always be separated into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. If we got rid of all the nasty people in the world who want to rule over us, there will be others to take their place.

Money-wealth never satisfies.
Wisdom-wealth does.