Words Are Nearly True

The reason this blog goes on and on about words is because of the pride to which we all succumb in using them.

Words are nearly true. They are the menu that we have to taste. If we don’t taste, we won’t know if the words are beneficial or harmful. Beneficial means opening up our mind, while harmful is filling it up with yet more intellectual concepts.

Gurus and lamas talk about the truth and do it very well, but unless we practise detachment and pure awareness, we’re merely walking around in our inner library – our storehouse of memories – and we have no pragmatism.

Pragmatic: dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

This mere acceptance is spiritual materialism, the act of collecting concepts, titles and philosophies to enhance the ego rather than dissolve it.

The Buddha explicitly gave permission to doubt and test his teachings. He instructed seekers not to believe anything out of blind tradition, respect for a teacher or pure logic. Instead, he argued that we must know through direct practice whether a state of mind leads to harm or well-being. Pride is not well-being.

Without practices such as pure awareness, detachment and empathy, the most profound spiritual truths remain just another form of conceptual entertainment. The tasting happens in the silence between the words.

There is so much information out there, and that can befuddle our minds. Near truths and repeated phrases, all coming from ancient sources … all they’re describing is what we are now.

In merely accepting with blind faith the many interpretations which water down the truth into beautiful poetry, the application of those words drifts out of the window. Wisdom is in the practicality of the teachings.

All we have to do is just be aware without elaboration.
We are that pure awareness.
What was then, is now.