BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog – a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts.

Worry

is turning what is into what if,

anticipating something unfortunate

happening in the future,

as opposed to what is actually happening

now.

There are no advanced levels of spirituality

we merely return to the beginning.

Our task is deconstruction!

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Worry.

Worry isolate us.

Worry is dis-ease.

If we are ill-at-ease

Our minds are disturbed.

Being at ease is natural.

Worry…Anxiety…Fear…Depression…depleted immune system…poor physical and mental health…all these arise from dis-ease.

This is our ‘lot’. This human realm is governed by desire and frustration, and these very words describe addiction. Whatever situation we find ourselves in was our creation! Our job, family, home, life style, are a product from our past…with a little help from the ‘corporations’.

As this is our creation, we have to allow it to dwell for a while and then dissolve, without creating new creations! If we maintain our desire for things to be perfect, this will only make things worse. The search for happiness is the cause of suffering. You are already happy but fail to recognise it.

I have a noisy neighbour one one side of my terraced house: she is noisy because she is hard of hearing. And when the other neighbour’s family comes to stay, it’s like a chicken gathering! It never lasts long, so there is no point in complaining. Other neighbours, a long way away, are bombing one another, and I cannot do anything about that…so again, there is no point in complaining. If we can do something about a situation, we do something, without making things worse.

How we react reveals our level of understanding and capacity, so we have to tread carefully. On a coarse, human level, we fight and retaliate. We read this day in and day out on forums, where people are trying to wind one another up, in order to prove a point (and their superiority).

I once had a discuss with a Tibetan Lama about another lama whose behaviour was…well, to put it in my teachers words, “Enthusiastic.” We could have used more colourful words, but the point was that my teacher did not want to disturb his own mind, my mind or anyone else’s mind. When you are working at that level, every moment is significant.

Worrying is pointless: we just get stuck in a loop, and are not thinking constructively. We merely have be aware of what is going on, and the causes of that. Then, where possible, we find a solution, and act on it. We are not going to change the world, only ourselves.

It is natural to be dissatisfied.

That is the cause for change.

Worry takes us in one direction,

Acceptance in another.

Neither accept nor reject,

But merely be aware of what take place in the mind.

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Love is absent minded.

Love is spontaneous and carefree.

It’s nothing you do, but are.

Love does not seek recognition,

it is absent minded.

Dignity with no expectation.

Repetition.

Throughout life we practise our karmic behaviour.

If not countered, we merely repeat.

The meaning of pray, chant and reciting

are positive antidotes.

At death or in turmoil they will come to fore.

A set routine sets a good foundation,

sets a good foundation for those around.

Finding fault.

Finding fault with others.

Corrupts one’s own mind.

However, a mistaken view

does not go unnoticed.

In that very moment

look into one’s own mind,

to see that cloud first.

Harsh words.

Harsh words disturb other’s mind.

They create a reaction,

sending back arrows of destruction.

Precise words of clarity.

Precise words of clarity.

shock the mind into stillness,

cutting the arrows of destruction.

Creation.

We competitively accumulate and create endlessly,

therefore this has to be maintained and protected.

Love is to let go of everything,

therefore there is nothing to maintain or protect.

The tap of inspiration.

If we turn off love,

the well runs dry.

Open the tap,

and blessings flow.

The whole universe is waiting for us.

To ask for help,

so we can also help.

Pass it on.

I like me.

When I found that I didn’t have fit

into others’ expectations,

I was free.

Why bother?

You don’t, that’s why you’re still not bothering.

Spirituality does not exist.

It only exists when we are still in the mental realm.

When we are in it, nothing exists.

Spirituality is reality.

When we are in it, it exists.

When we go beyond,

it neither exists, nor

not exists.

Reality.

Is neither real nor not real.

It is the constant play of

one in another.

Using truth as poison.

Truth can be a two edged sword.

It is either something that you want,

or something that you are.

The poison is

being led to believe truth is

somewhere else.

Living the dream.

Living the dream is always

living someone else’s dream.

Ours dreams are nightmares

wanting to wake up.

We put up with it because

we know no better.

Once we become aware,

we will know better.

The jabber clatter.

Everywhere we go there is jabber clatter,

music, noise, conversations, are the

jabbering cluttering-chatter,

of distraction.

Its vibrational sound

dulls the mind.

Digital god.

We seek the answer

from the digital god

the mobile.

It is an addictive religion.

I’m too busy to stop.

We spend our life either

vacant, occupied or asleep.

And never find the time

to know who we truly are,

or wake up.

Cruelty.

There will always be

vigorous carelessness in the world.

People justify their actions with

selfish righteousness.

Maybe it’s their first

human incarnation.

They seem to like uniforms and rules.

Precious human life.

Our time here is so precious,

to realise our true essence.

and what do we do with it?

We only know we have choice,

when we have a choice.

Class.

I am better than you,

but he is better than me.

He thinks he is bette than us,

but we know we are better than him.

She’s just as bad!

We divide ourselves to appear to be better.

Appearance isn’t everything.

Nothing ever happens.

Because these bodies do not permanently exist,

they cannot be said to have done anything.

Because this mind cannot be said to exist,

it too cannot be said to exist.

Therefore, nothing ever happened.

Crazy!

Crazy wisdom.

Crazy wisdom is said to put one’s mind into neutral.

At the dining table a teacher took the food out of his mouth

and handed it to a student.

The student ‘was’ disgusted.

Then took it, to swallow his pride.

Don’t try this at home!

The right time, the right place to the right person.

The pointing out instruction of the nature of mind

has to given at the right moment.

For some it is a word, for others a gesture.

You may or may not ‘get’ it.

But the seed will be sown.

Joy.

If you have joy in other achievements,

that joy is real, as pride has totally gone.

Exaggeration.

Don’t!

It only deceives you and those around you.

Cliches

Are not worth the paper they are printed on,

unless put into practice.

Apathy and Empathy.

 Apathy is self destroying.

Empathy is destroying the self.

There is a personal drama unfolding.

Apathy does not understand Empathy.

Empathy understands Apathy.

Waking up means toughening up

All we need is to lose the separation.

Compassion is love.

Love heals all.

How does one prove the existence of ‘being’?

 One of the reasons I keep writing is because we have to keep looking at truth from all angles, and maybe a phrase will truly hit home. There could be an crazy absurd moment where everything looks upside down, and we don’t know where we are…and there we are! This is not one of them!

Our usual answer to ‘being’ is, “I know I am,” or “I think, therefore I am.” But this is maybe just an expression of being: it is not ‘being’ itself.

There are teachings in Buddhism called Madhyamika, which negate everything: when nothing is left, even that nothing is negated. This teaching really blows your mind, which is great if you want to become a lawyer, or a scholar. In ancient teachings there is a saying, “Not this. Not this (to all appearances). Thou Art That.” And, then one says, “Not this. Not this”to that also.

We still need proof. How does one prove to a conceptual thinking mind that it does not exist? One cannot outsmart a concept with a concept.

So where are we?

Our mind wants to express itself in words, and that’s ok – this is still workable, and that is what we have to use. But do you notice that we say, “My mind”? We have a subject and an object! We keep falling into the same old trap. We keep failing to notice that there is that which is aware of the mind!

In the practice of sitting still, and observing, we become aware of the awareness itself. The moment we think about it, we are back in the mind again. Practice is needed in order to keep letting go, and to allow awareness…to be. Just say, “Thinking.” When there is mere awareness, it becomes pure awareness, empty of any contamination…that is ‘being’.

Inner ‘being’ knows all this but gets fixated on the thinking mind, which creates an inner conflict. This inner conflict is part of the process. All we need to do is expand our inner awareness to encompass all.

We divide ourselves.

Being divided, we suffer.

As sentient beings, we can work in space.

This space is our true reality.

Crazy!

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What is spirituality? What isn’t spirituality?!

 Sometimes we use the word spirituality in a general way, and so experience, experiencing and experiencer get a bit muddled up, and we end up just sniffing incense! But to be more specific I suppose we are are talking about the spirituality psychology. Ordinary psychology deals with the human/primitive mind, and how to get along in a society… ‘functioning well’!

 Spirituality psychology is more like being a spiritual engineer, ie if that doesn’t work, try this.

 This is also the area that the mind can be influenced to conform to …’functioning well’ in society! This is pseudo spirituality psychology – polishing up the ego – achieving an enlightened ego – making us feel good in society. It’s spiritual materialism.

 This is why we have to test information, and the teacher. The Buddha said, “Weigh my teachings as if testing for the purity of gold.” Spirituality itself is beyond description in silent experience.

 Every experience is spiritual!

Whenever there is an appearance in the mind, there is that which is aware of it. That awareness can then note its own awareness, without manipulation….that is pure awareness. Sometimes it is called Emptiness, or “God”.

 For me, the right brain is feelings and pattern, and the left brain translates these feelings and patterns. I spent most my life in the right brain, without able to explain it, and it’s only in the past couple of years that it seems my left brain has finally kicked in!

 Someone asked on a forum about meditating on a symbol.

This is to do with visualisation practice, be it a letter, sound, symbol or figure. Sometimes we are drawn to an image or a sound and have a feeling for it which cannot be explained: maybe it is a feeling of longing or a sense of satisfaction. Then we find out what it means, and it makes more sense, but…that longing, that satisfied feeling was right all along, and that was what it was all about. Personally, I find this with the mantra OM MANI PEME HUM.

 This image or sound could have stirred a forgotten memory from a previous life – “Hmm… this seems familiar, it doesn’t seem strange.”

 Sometimes we hear a teaching and understand it (left brain), and then all we need is a symbol to remind us (right brain).

 Our final teacher is every interaction within the whole of phenomena: this is known as the symbolic teacher. To repeat, everything that arises has an impermanent appearance…especially our emotions!

 However, in whatever happens, there is always that which knows.

So everything is a reminder of that….our true nature.

THE KEY IS THE REPTILIAN BRAIN.

 The reptilian brain is a name for our basic primitive brain, with its basic function to survive – fight, flight or freeze. The term reptilian brain can be misleading, and can become a bogey man. The primitive brain functions as “Might is Right”. Primitive does not mean unsophisticated, when embedded into the human mind.

 Interestingly, in history, this basic brain has been connected to the Serpent, the Devil and Evil. Now I would like to investigate another connection. Firstly, I have to say that everything is a figment of our imagination – our collective imagination. Things exist at a relative level, but we exaggerate – and some people/cultures do this more than others.

 This primitive brain has three instincts: FIGHT, FLIGHT AND FREEZE. The three basic negative emotions in our consciousness are DESIRE, AVERSION AND IGNORANCE, or to use other words – HOPE, FEAR AND INDIFFERENCE. This is what drives us, day in and day out. You can see the connection: they are a control mechanism for personal “I” survival.

 These three principles not only help us survive in a coarse physical form, but they also keep us imprisoned in a mental state, of not knowing our true identity. These three basic negative emotions obscure our connection to higher functions, and limit our potential. That is why they are the devil…and by the way, the devil does not exist!

 What we can now see is The Corporate ‘Reptilian’ Brain at work. Psychologists are finely aware of our likes, dislikes and don’t care attitudes, and use them against us, for their own profit. In order to make profit, the more control you have, the more wealth you create. Simple! The corporate primitive brain is based on “might is right”. They may appear to be sophisticated but use no higher functions, especially empathy and compassion!

 If you fight against the corporate ‘primitive brain world,’ you are using your ‘primitive brain’. The same applies if you run away, or if you do nothing – you are complying with primitive brain orientations.

 The way to breaking out of this prison is to know how your mind works and recognise your true nature. I won’t go into it now, but the secret of nature of these three poisons (desire, aversion and ignorance) is wisdom.

Reptilian Brain

Innermost in our brain is what is called the reptilian brain, its oldest and most primitive part. The reptilian brain appears to be largely unchanged by evolution and we share it with all other animals which have a backbone. 
At this level of evolution, behaviour relating to survival of the species, such as sexual behaviour, is instinctive and responses are automatic. Territory is acquired by force and defended. Might is right, based on fight, flight or freeze.


Mammalian Brain

Next to evolve from the reptilian brain was the mammalian brain. An enormous change took place as mammals evolved from reptiles, the mammalian brain containing organs for some conscious feelings about events (amygdala).

To this extent the mammal is more consciously aware of itself in relation to the environment. Millions of neural pathways connect the hippocampus and amygdala structures to the reptilian brain and behaviour is less rigidly controlled by instincts. It seems that feelings such as attachment, anger and fear have emerged with associated behavioural response patterns of care, fight, flight or freeze


Human Brain

 And the mammalian brain became the human brain by adding the massive grey matter (neocortex) which envelopes most of the earlier brain and amounts to about 85 per cent of the human brain mass. 
This massive addition consists mostly of two hemispheres which are covered by an outer layer and interconnected by a string of nerve fibres.
The brain is actually divided into left and right ’hemispheres’ .

The aim of The Corporate ‘Primitive’ Brain is to disconnect – as much as possible – the functions of these two parts of the brain. We can be manipulated through the right brain, while only being conscious of the left. This is neurosymbolic programming.

 Thoughts, responses, and images are planted in the right brain, through symbolism and subliminal imagery while imprisoning the human consciousness in the left brain – the thinking hemisphere.

 This is why the media system is designed to talk to the left brain via the right brain. The Corporate Primitive brain can enter the human brain through the right side, undetected, and these images and subliminal messages then enter the left brain as consciousness to be decoded. People therefore think that their thoughts and actions are their own: this is subtle neurolinguistic programming.

 They know that by going through the right brain with suggestion, they can enter our mind and tell our left brain how to decode it into conscious language eg “I want to buy that car”: notice how all car advertising is done through imagery and sound, with no mention of the superior mechanics of that particular model.

 The ‘media’ creates a make-believe fantasy world in endless forms: the “reptilian devil” was created in the very same way, and forums play their part too. Its aim is to open up the right brain and allow the ‘primitive’ brain to justify reactions in the left brain. This keep consciousness embedded in a mental prison.

Know the enemy.

Know your own mind.

Know how to be free.

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Ego.

Ego is just our mind desperately clinging to a self identity, that’s all.

It shouts and screams,

obscuring pure perception.

Pure perception sees through ego’s games.

“There I go again!”

Little devil…

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Exchanging negative energy for positive energy.

To combat negative energy with more negative energy is foolish: this just makes a bad situation worse. Fighting a concept with another concept results in the the mind never breaking free. Rather, it merely goes into turmoil, justifying itself with many after-thoughts. One may even find one cannot sleep that night due to the residue of circling thoughts!

Positive energy is seeing through the games being played (kindly), and bringing the negative energies back to normal – and that’s all! Positive energy is not used as a weapon to win an argument: it is there for the sake of clarity and kindness. This is compassion, and not something sentimental. Once the situation is freed, we can then drop the positive energy, otherwise it smothers. Holding on to it creates pride. Positive action produces no justifying thoughts – as everything is dropped.

Compassion has power. It can neutralise a situation, support a situation, add knowledge to a situation, or destroy a situation. Remember that negativity is all to do with ego’s games (ego is our consciousness clinging to ideas, which ends up creating suffering).

Compassion works on many levels. This depends on the depth of one’s understanding…which can always do with a little improvement ;-)-! We all over-do it, get too involved, want everything to work out nicely – but it doesn’t happen that way. As soon as we have done our bit for a situation, upon walking away, it all seems to collapse! That is just part of the process.

The individuals involved in each situation have their own evolving to do. All we can do is sow a “compassion seed” by merely creating space. Maybe sometime in the future, that seed will grow… when enough manure has done its job!

In a funny old way, this crazy world is actually helping us

To evolve in the fastest possible way

 Because this crazy darkness is uncovering the darkness in our own minds.

 That’s the special quality of the Kali Yuga.

We are pure awareness.

Sacred clarity.

Everything arises within this, and the awareness stays pure.

When fixation on appearances within this sacred clarity

Obscures pure awareness,

Darkness rule.

We have two potentials – light and darkness.

The expression of darkness is doubt and fear

which can be used as a weapon.

The recognition of that activity is liberation.

Recognising the darkness reveals the light.

It is the light recognising itself.

That is pure awareness.

Be aware of the mind’s emotional dark corners.

Satan is necessary

 Mara is the Buddhist equivalent of Satan. It is also part of us, and we need it to find the Buddha (‘bud’ means awake, and ‘dha’ means pure, with all karma exhausted).

The Buddha describes Mara as ‘the maker of limits’. Psychologically, if I’m in a state of anger or attachment, I’m limited. I’m trapped in Mara’s snares. Mara is that which blocks our way, limiting our capacity to realise our true potential – Enlightenment.

In the traditional story of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, Mara tried and failed to tempt the Buddha back to worldliness. Mara was defeated. But that does not mean he has gone away.

If we take Mara out of the picture, we lose sight of that part of the Buddha with which we can identify – our negativity. Remember that the nature of negativity is wisdom. We can appreciate and see ourselves in Mara much more easily than we can in the Buddha: until enlightenment, we won’t know what true Buddha qualities really are.

If can bring these two parts together, we can see the unity of the two truths: the Buddha in humanity, and Mara in enlightenment!

In this sense, Mara is not just a problem – Mara is necessary for Enlightenment to happen. Mara is the problem without which there would be no solution.

Satanism is reflected in our own negative emotions of: hatred, pride, jealousy, desire (hope), aversion (fear) all because we do not recognise (ignorance) our true nature.

The way we can practically achieve this, is to understand the true nature of our negative emotions -which is wisdom.
We need to deepen our understanding.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody 2.

Everybody said, Nobody should meditate.

Somebody asked if Everybody knew if Anybody meditated.

Anybody assumed Nobody meditate.

And so Nobody did.

Somebody asked did Everybody ‘know’,

Everybody thought Somebody ‘knew’.

Anybody could have ‘known’, but didn’t.

And Nobody did.

Everybody thought that Somebody must be enlightened.

Somebody thought that Anybody could be enlightened.

Anybody could have been enlightened.

And Nobody was.

Nobody, everybody, somebody and anybody.

I am nobody,

Nobody is perfect.

Everybody is perfect,

But Nobody knows.

Somebody knows,

That Anybody could be perfect,

But Nobody was.

I am Nobody,

You are too

Stop the killing!

Finding yourself, is an impossibility.

Not finding a self, is possible.

If you find a self, kill it.

That which seeks to find, is already found,

That which keeps looking will never be found.

If you find a self, kill it.

Do you have a soul?

Are there two of you?

If you find a self, kill it.

Do you have a higher self?

Are there two of you?

If you find a self, kill it.

You are not your body.

You are not your thoughts.

You are not anything.

You are just…pure awareness.

Nothing more, nothing less.

When you realise this,

The killing can stop 🙂

Reaction and karma.

 Just to clarify.

If we merely react in a negative way, we deepen the imprint in the mind, and deepen our bad karma.

 If we do nothing and ignore the situation, we create an imprint in the mind, and create bad karma.

 If we do nothing and note the situation, there is no imprint in the mind, we do not create karma.

 If we redress the situation to bring about balance, we create an imprint in the mind, and create good karma.

 If we do nothing and note the situation, but our mere presents is enough to change the situation, there is no imprint in the mind, we do not create karma.

 ( This last one is interesting. It is like a tough boss who is about to join an organisation, and some people on hearing this appointment, just leave the organisation automatically without even meeting the boss..! When knowing is present, not knowing disappears.)

 Not reacting does not mean we do nothing, that’s why I write and share.

Tony

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Unconditional love.

 We can spend our precious life looking outside for answers about our true identity, where none will be found. Even if one goes to teachings, but still we have to do the real work ourselves. The answer is always within, buried under many layers. Each layer has an element of truth about it, but each is but a stepping stone to a more refined layer. All we have to do is make the decision to look and recognise. In making that decision, a new world opens up to us: all that entails is being open.

 And, to tell you the truth, inspired knowledge comes from goodness knows where!

If we look outside for answers, we are going to be distracted from looking within. Part of us maybe thinking, “But I want something really interesting!” This is exactly what the world and our infested minds want – and gets – looking elsewhere for the truth about our true nature!

The human mistaken mind will always create new ideas and gadgets…this is merely entertainment to pass the time away: it is never ending, and constantly misses opportunities of going deeper.

The decision to refine our view is a great turning point in our lives. It means we are dissatisfied with the games being played. This may express itself in depression, boredom, fed-upness, a feeling of pointlessness, or just admitting experiencing some sort of suffering

In Buddhism, there are nine vehicles/yanas/levels in which the same words are used, but the meaning is different. The meaning is true at each level: it satisfies for a while, and then we refine our questioning and understanding.

There are also nine levels of bodhisattvas – beings who work for the benefit of all sentient beings – the tenth level is Buddhahood…we are still on street level! But hey! We all have to start from somewhere 😉

A few days ago I heard someone say, “I have unconditional love for my children.” That sounds good, and it is good. But, like everything, there are deeper meanings to the phrase ‘unconditional love’. Of course, this may have been a figure of speech – and there’s the rub, as we often don’t look at what we are really saying. Again, this is the sort of world we are living in, where we talk the talk, but don’t actually walk the walk.

Unconditional love has no conditions attached to it. It is a love that does not rely on any conditions. It is just unconditional love for all sentient beings. We can go from street level to Enlightenment with this very phrase, with its various meanings.

We have to be very honest about this. “Unconditional love for my children” is in fact conditional love. It is just love as we all have at a street level, where we chose whom we love. Unconditional love is the outcome of knowing one’s true nature – Pure Awareness. Pure Awareness is beyond conditions.

Proof that there are aliens on Earth.

 …….it’s us 😉 !

 If we can agree that Essence, and this temporary body, are not the same thing, and that rebirth does take place –     then we must have come from somewhere. We just cannot remember where!

 People talk about the Annunaki, Nordic, Pleiadians, Reptilians, and many other species, as if they were separate from us. Well, we have been all of them, if they exist! From a buddhist point of view, we have infinite reincarnations, so therefore every sentient being has been our mother. That is why we should remember their love.

Of course, they don’t tell you that every sentient being has also married your sister, eaten you, and run off with your watch! Now that is something for which we can have empathy and compassion, as it’s happened to everyone else too!

Aliens are no big deal. There is stuff going on in the universe that we will never know about –  or remember – until we are enlightened.

Daisy posted a query about being judgemental.

Being able to judge if something is correct or not is part of being sentient.

 We all have a longing for things to be perfect. I know I do, for if everyone was nicer, it would make my life easier! Still, we all feel the same way: this could be a better world.

 We live in a conventional, relative existence, so we have to deal with what we have…it’s called samsara – the vicious cycle of existence. We seek happiness, usually in conventional things. If we find a form of happiness, we have to then maintain it and protect it, and then we get frustrated that it does not last. This leads to anger, and then we embark on another hunt for happiness somewhere else. Exhausting isn’t it? We can see that the search for happiness actually causes us suffering.

 Recognising that is the first noble truth – the recognition that we suffer. The other three noble truths are: realising the cause of suffering, finding the path/method to dissolve that suffering, and then treading that path.

 And so it is that we are judgemental about people, which creates emotions in our minds. When we recognise that life cannot be perfect – when we truly recognise this – we can start to relax…and give up trying. We are all on our own paths or journeys to find our way home: some travel faster, and some more slowly. The term “path” refers to the confusion surrounding us, which has to be dismantled, or recognised as not truly existing.

 As we are not enlightened yet, judgements will always arise. Judgement is a response to a situation..but it was not the first response! It was the third response:

there are eight consciousnesses – the five of the senses, and then the 6^th,7^th and 8^th of the mind (the 6^th is perception, 7^th judgement 8^th memory). When we perceive something through the senses, that is the 6^th consciousness. That perception almost immediately goes to the 8^th consciousness for recognition, then down to the 7^th for judgement, to see whether we like it or not. That is our usual loop of operation as sentient beings. It just happens – it’s our survival mode.

 We just have to accept that judgements will arise. This is just our karmic reaction – it is a product from our past, so we do not have to feel guilty. If we react based on that judgement, we merely deepen our karmic reaction (habit), thus creating more karma. However, if we do not re-enact, a gap takes place in the mind: a space occurs, and no karma is created. Then we are free to choose whether to respond or not.

 If we will respond for the benefit of others, good karma is created. If we remain silent, this crates no karma. Although good karma eases our path, both bad and good karma finally have to be exhausted.

 I know this is a long answer, but there may be others reading who want to know some details. Basically, the mind will judge – merely note it. Gradually, all judgements will reduce in power. As with the emotions, their immediate presence shows a sharp mind, and merely reflects what is seen.

 We should always check that what we judge is not in ourselves also. However, sometimes we may have to bark…but not bite! This takes us onto the four enlightened activities of: pacifying, magnetise, enriching and destroying…but I’ll leave that to another day!

All the best,

Tony

Jesus and Buddha.

It could be seen that the Buddha and Jesus say the same things. Firstly, I have to say that, as a Buddhist, I do not believe in God – but I believe in the very nature of God. Not God as an external, but within.

Of course, these may be seen as totally different statements if you are A Buddhist! or A Christian! but to me, they do look the same. Maybe something got changed in the translation, or they are meant to appear different.

As sentient beings, we have two aspects: one is our absolute true nature and the other is a mental fabrication. An absolute truth and a relative truth. These are inseparable – by virtue of one the other is known. So the “I” is our relative truth, and “Father” is our absolute truth. I am that, which I seek.

This is not only logical, but provable. We are awareness – pure awareness. Without awareness nothing would be known, and you wouldn’t be reading this! So that is proof in itself.

Now, this awareness can either be aware of something ‘out there’ – which is relative, conventional truth – or it can be aware of the awareness itself – pure awareness/absolute truth, empty of any fabrications.

Jesus and Buddha are of the same Essence Love: they just express that love slightly differently…as we all do.

Taking ourselves out of the picture is exchanging negative energy for positive energy,
“Thy will be done” is natural expression of spontaneous pure awareness, expressing Essence Love.

“My will be done” is the devil-game we play now. There is no devil out there. The devil is ‘me’, playing with a mentally acquired image of myself.

Evil

 We will all have a problem with this word “evil”, because of our background and education: it is a trick of religion to control and generate guilt. when looking at this word, we have to suspend our preconceived ideas of what that might be. As we have seen before, a word can have many depths of meaning: evil could be seen as closed mindedness, to lean away from, to have an aversion, dislike, fear, hate. The words “lie” and “exaggeration” can be seen as having different meanings, but they have the same flavour of deception. Anything that closes us off is seen as a poison. These are all degrees of harmful thoughts and actions, which create suffering towards, and for, others = evil.

 If we can keep the idea that the evil is outside us, then we can mistakenly assume that we are the good. We have to look within. Evil is not just a obvious grimacing, black, cloaked, fiery, figure with a forked tail, horns and cloven hooves who eats babies (actually, the universe is vast so that’s not impossible!) Evil is something within our own consciousness – our likes and dislikes – it is in our hopes and fears that it resides. Anything that keeps us in the darkness of ignorance can be seen as evil, and that is the darkness of our conceptual minds – our job is to illuminate that darkness.

 I had a great difficulty with the concept of evil, until I stated doing devotional Tibetan deity practice. It’s a long text that I chant every day, thinking that this was a Tibetan ‘thing’.

…pacify all illness, negative forces and obstacles…

…turn way black magic and evil spells…

…pacify the mental obscurations, insanity, strokes, and illness…

annihilate viciousness and ill-will…

(strong stuff!)

“There is no real evil,” I thought, “well, not in the west anyway”…hmm!? Then, I noticed what was going on in the world, in life and in the mind, and how like attracts like, and thought, “What did the Buddha know? Perhaps he was preparing us for the Kali Yuga.”

 This is another prayer we say:

Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Don’t wander, don’t wander, place mindfulness on guard;

Along the road of distraction, Mara lies in ambush.

Mara is this mind, clinging to like and dislike;

So look into the essence of this magic, free from dualistic fixation.

Realise that your mind is unfabricated primal purity.

There is no buddha elsewhere; look at your own face.

There is nothing else to search for, rest in your own place.

Non-meditation is spontaneous perfection, so capture the royal seat.

(Mara are demons.)

 I’ve been on several retreats where there was talk of demons: there are two forces in the universe – enlightened (light) and unenlightened (dark). We as sentient being are unenlightened, having both these potentials – the dark and the light – and can divided into two groups, practitioners and non practitioners.

 It is said that to achieve a human existence is as rare as a blind turtle coming up the surface of an ocean, once every hundred years, and putting its head through a rubber ring. A practitioner is even rarer!

 However, practitioners also have a problem of developing certain skills, and going no further – (this was the case with Milarepa). They are not enlightened, but realise a partial truth, and gain certain powers which they enjoy…but it is also a curse- they can find no real peace. They hate those who practise and find peace and compassion. These practitioners who have stopped practising have become the demons! They hate people being happy, and feed off our negative emotions – they cannot help themselves.

 We can even get a feeling of this in ourselves, when we gossip and find fault with others. It’s a feeding frenzy that attracts others to be negative. Those who are pure are easily condemned…and even killed – just look at history! Neurolinguistics are used to create an enemy, and sentient beings follow.

 So, when we give in to negative emotions, life gets worse.

 The answer is simply to understand the true nature of the emotion, and remain in Emptiness. Evil demons do not understand Emptiness, as they did not complete their training. But they do need our compassion. Compassion is grown up work. The evil is not outside, it is the mind caught in the darkness of ignorance.

Manipulating the population.

 We all know the old ‘good cop bad cop’ routine. Well, this is exactly what is happening in the world, at both international and local levels. ‘Someone’ has their hands on a metaphorical social-political-military ‘Machine’ with knobs on it!

There are two knobs on this ‘Machine’: they read, ‘righteous’ (good knob) and ‘subversive interference’ (bad knob). They are both, in fact, subversion knobs, but one is more obvious than the other. They work by changing the frequency of a situation.

Simply put, the bad knob is turned on and gives power to an opposing force. Some years later, the righteous knob is then turned on to correct the imbalance that was created by the bad knob. The power is changed back again – all in the name of righteousness. And, of course back again years later! It keeps people very jumpy, and never sure what is going on…because the ‘Machine’ is in charge!

Whoever set the ‘Machine’ in motion is long gone, but will be a member of the same club who controls the ‘Machine’ now. Left or right, it’s all the same…the ‘Machine’ is in charge, and socially engineers everything. There are two knobs, but only one hand operating them, and so it is an illusion that there are two opposing sides.

As an example, we all know that children in schools should get exercise (good knob on). Excessive laws of health and safety are applied, which then has the effect of children’s activities being reduced (good knob off, bad knob on). But then, we know that children should get exercise (bad knob off, good knob on). This is how the ‘Machine” works: we are being manipulated by being told what is common sense, which makes us doubt our own common sense.

 Have ever wondered what on earth was going on

WITH ALL THESE CHANGING RULES?!

 It doesn’t matter which sphere of life we are talking about – Politics, Health, Diet, Local Authority power, Education – it’s all the same…by alternating the knobs, everyone is kept jumpy!

 These knobs are especially useful within spirituality: righteousness becomes a weapon of righteous anger, which is then justified using righteousness again…creating a very jumpy consciousness. This is not just happening on the global political stage, it is happening right down to our personal relationships .

Control your own knobs,

because someone is doing it for you.

The ‘Machine’ can only function if we react.

What do you think?

 Just to clarify.

“Not reacting” means not falling into one’s habitual patterning of behaviour.
Not reacting clears the mind, and allows us to see a situation through fresh eyes.
We then can take an appropriate action according to our capacity.
It is not doing nothing: it is finding out what to do, and then doing it.

If we re-act, we can be manipulated. We are then subject to the old one-two – provoking a reaction out of you in response to a feint!

To think that we are all the good guys is a mistake: we are only fooling ourselves.
Knowing that we make mistakes means we can learn, as there is always further to go.

Karmic Recognition

Sometimes we hear a name, or a sound, or read a word and it sparks something within us: we may get a tingling sensation of recognition.  It could be that we have a karmic connection from a previous incarnation, and it’s worthwhile taking a second look at that experience.  For me, the name Milarepa stirred something.

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Compassion in action.

Compassion is a tricky subject. We start by being kind to ourselves…”There I go again! But at least I learned something.” 
We all assume that we are compassionate – until the moment our button gets pressed, and then off we go…
that steaming-snorting-smelly-self-righteous monster appears again! And if we are a ‘spiritual person’ we do this with a ‘loving’ smile!

We have to be honest, but not be too hard on ourselves. If we are spiritual warriors, we can, in fact, be joyous at this test. 
That very steaming-snorting-smelly-self-righteous monster is our teacher!

If we have the guts to face our demons, they just disappear.: they are our own likes and dislikes that are always waiting to ambush us.

Compassion is the outcome of recognising our pure, cognisant nature. When this happens, 
an unshakeable confidence arises – together with a sense of relief and joy: this is compassion and we can now face anything.

When this three-fold nature of Pure Cognisant Compassion looks out, it recognises sentient beings’ true potential 
as having Pure Cognisant Compassion…they simply do not recognise it. Seeing that, loving, spacious compassion naturally arises.

However, an inner conflict can occur when ego-clinging is still present, and Compassion arises at the same time. 
Let’s be honest: we’re not enlightened yet! We are pulled in two directions at once. We all know the feeling of the love-hate scenario.

The most important point is that when a situation arises, and one is about to get angry (or any of the other emotions arise), 
it is an opportunity to see one’s own state and be honest. In not reacting, space is created and compassion can take place…sometimes, silence is golden!

There are also the enlightened, compassionate activities of pacifying, magnetising, enriching and destroying, 
but in these there can be no ego present, otherwise it will backfire.

Compassion in action comes from the fearless dignity of knowing one’s true nature, and that of others.

No outside force can ever disturb this!

Spirituality is tough on ego. Tough? Its job is to destroy ego’s game.

Tony

Six Advanced Paramitas.

There are six aspects that help us on our journey: they are called the six paramitas – generosity, discipline, patience, perseverance, meditation and transcendent knowledge. When we first look at them, they sound straightforward enough. They are practised with effort, but, as in all teachings, there are deeper meanings, or more refined meanings. These are practised without effort!

I try not to use strange words, but the expression ‘pure awareness’ or ‘pure perception’ is called Rigpa in Tibetan, and Vidya in Sanskrit. In Tibetan, one word can have many meanings, so it all depends on the context in which the word is used. This is why teachings need a commentary…and quite often we need a commentary on the commentary! Then, we have to engage in our own reflection and analysis.

It is important to remember that the experience is beyond the words. Tibetan was created from the Sanskrit language and is based on spirituality, and it is therefore difficult sometimes to find an equivalent English word (goodness knows what texting will do to the language of future generations!).

Once we have a glimpse of pure awareness (Rigpa), the continuity of that is conduct. Conduct is the practice while the mind is in rigpa, and also in everyday life

The six advanced paramitas.

These six paramitas (generosity, discipline, patience, perseverance, meditation and knowledge)  are included in Rigpa/pure awareness.

 Rigpa Generosity.                                                                                                                                                                        Generosity here is non-fixating and so there is no clinging. Non-fixation is the practice of generosity. Rigpa generosity is not the generosity of giving away, which is the conceptual generation of merit: when it is included in Rigpa, it belongs to wisdom – it is transcendent generosity. So we are practising generosity at the relative level and the absolute level at the same time, as they are inseparable. The essence of generosity is non-clinging.

Rigpa Discipline.                                                                                                                                                                                        In Rigpa, there is no attachment, and that is the paramita of discipline. In keeping discipline, one may become conceited and attached. Discipline has the function of binding your negative actions so that you can remain in a virtuous state. But it has side effects – you can become conceited because you are so pure…this can result in the creation of a social “I”. This can also happen with the view – one can become attached to this view also. The essence of discipline is non-attachment.

Rigpa Patience.                                                                                                                                        While you are in the continuity of rigpa there is no fear, and that absence of fear denotes the paramita of patience. The essence of patience is fearlessness.

 Rigpa Perseverance.                                                                                                                                        In rigpa there is no effort, and so therefore there is no perseverance. When you are distracted you make effort. The essence of perseverance is effortlessness.

 Rigpa Meditation.                                                                                                                                                                                    This is not being distracted. The essence of meditation is effortless remaining.

 Rigpa Transcendent Knowledge.                                                                                                                                                  This is Rigpa. It is wisdom itself – pure awareness. Wisdom resting in the ground in its innateness. The essence of Rigpa is clear view.

Within Rigpa, conduct is meditation in action- the six paramitas. Our mind does not leave the clear view. Conduct is the 6 paramitas being automatically expressed, without effort. You will be naturally generous etc.

To summarise, there are the paramitas that are practised with effort, and those that are practised without effort, and which come automatically out of the view (known as the all-sufficient king).

It is like a healing coming from within: if we are doing something wrong, when Rigpa is remembered, it will have an effect on our outer behaviour = CONDUCT!

Mantras.

 Where science meets the spiritual.

 A mantra (Devanāgarī: मन्त्र; Tib.སྔགས་ ngak; Wyl. sngags) [1] is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of “creating transformation” (cf. spiritual transformation).[2] Its use and type varies according to the school and philosophy associated with the mantra.[3]

 I am not an expert on mantras, I just repeat hundreds of thousands of them!

 Mantras seem to have started in the Sanskrit language, in India. As Sanskrit is a spiritual language, the words are said to hold a power. The Tibetan language is based on Sanskrit, so that too holds a power. But probably any sound that holds a meaning can be used!

 A mantra consists of a number of short words of one or two syllables, which make it very easy to chant and memorise. That’s why Sanskrit is so useful. Whether it is psychological or literal, it work.

 Mantras are a very powerful tool, and work on many levels. Mantra works on the mind, body and subtle body. They can either be chanted out loud, or internally so that they can resonate in the body and the mind. The psychology of mantras works, as their repetition can remind the mind of certain qualities.

OM or AUM is fine to use. By the way, Sanskrit is built on the vowel sounds and modified by the shape of the mouth. In fact everything comes from the sound A! which is the natural sound of a baby, and some say it is the sound of the universe.

 Let’s take OM MANI PEME HUM.

This is a mantra to imbue compassion – our natural, innate compassion.

It means ‘Jewel in the Lotus’ – Emptiness in Compassion, which is Unconditional Compassion.

Knowing the full meaning is not necessary: one just needs a flavour. Sometimes, we get too bogged down in concepts. There is a hundred syllable mantra which clears negative action and thoughts, but I’ve never bothered to find out what every word means: I just understand the general meaning and it seems to work!

In certain practices, as one chants, one can also visualise.

What is interesting – and is the reason for writing this – is that, if one chants internally, one realises that one cannot think of two things at the same time! However. one can still visualise, and have all the senses open. Therefore we can cut through extraneous thoughts!

 Now this is the science, we cannot think of two things at the same time! So I’m wondering, if this is so, while chanting nothing else (accept the meaning of the mantra) can be transmitted to us!

 So. if you are having a problem with thoughts during meditation, try a mantra. Gradually slow the mantra down, a space will develop between the soundings. Then you may find that the sounding only needs to be made every now and again like hitting a bell. When the sound goes, resound.

 What is important in meditation is the space created, just to be. But sometime in meditation we need to engage the mind in something different, just for a change!

 Another point about mantra, is that it supplicate divine help. There are deities (enlightened beings) that have certain attributes, which are also within ourselves, so this helps enhance them. This is part of devotional practices. When we supplicate we receive blessings, or rather we are more open to them!

 Phat!!! (pronounced pheh!!! sharply) Is supposed to shake conceptual thinking, and put you straight back where you belong! Shout this several times if you are feeling sleepy.

 The mantra OM MANI PEME HUM is a supplication to the Lord of Compassion. Now that Lord can be any image we wish, it’s still Compassion!

 Om mani peme hum is actually the mantra of Chenrezi(g). The reason I mention this is that at death, and during the after death process, and just before taking a new incarnation, if one does not have a specific practice of any method, one can call on the ‘Lord of Compassion’.

 The point is, as we are driven by our karma we will not be sure of our next incarnation, unless we recognise all the stages of what is called the gaps between death and birth (Bardo). So, calling on the Lord of Compassion and seeing everything as ‘Unconditional Love’ and all potential couples in union as deities, then this pure intention will help for a positive incarnation.

Because of all our differences in understanding, and use of language, you may wish to have some expressions that I’ve used redefined, so please do feel free to question. You may want to have the distinction between “perception” and “awareness” clarified, for example – I can’t say I’d have the exact answer, but I’d have a good attempt!

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I am a biscuit – I’ll explain.

For a biscuit to exists, it needs ingredients – flour, water, sugar, butter – and cooking.

Every thing is made up of ingredients, just like a biscuit, and all the components have to be there in order for it to exist.

The “I” is made up of ingredients – form, feeling, perception, karmic formation and consciousness: these are called the five aggregates, or skandha. These are the ingredients to make up a sentient being. If we take one of these parts away and ‘we’ fall apart, just like taking the wheels off a car – it no longer functions as a car.

So how did this come about?

 What we are is pure awareness – sacred space, with no embellishments…no ingredients! One day, this pure awareness was attracted to something – it was attracted to being aware! It had a feeling of personal existence – an I – thus creating the skandha, and it forgot pure being.

 This incident (which is maintained every moment now!) initiated the filling of open space with concepts. Through desire, emptiness became filled with concepts, and that was the beginning of ego-clinging …ignorance …and suffering! To hold the whole thing together, we needed ingredients – the five skandha.

 So sentient beings are created out of ignorance of their true nature. Then, that sentient being just went on creating, and enjoying its creation…until it found that this creation is the very cause of its suffering. This creation then has to be maintained and defended, giving rise to aggression and hatred and all the other negative emotions. “Oi, do we suffer!”

However… once we recognise our true nature, we can enjoy the biscuit, but know it has no reality! Then bodhicitta can arises (working for the benefit of others), which becomes the reason to create…love!

Each moment is an opportunity to re-establish our true nature, by not re-acting.

Our only problem now is that, in having made the biscuit in the kitchen, we now have to clean up all the residue. That is the process of eliminating karma (it is that which is still holding the biscuit together). We do this by not re-acting.

When we finally put everything away, and no more biscuits can be made, we are free to do whatever we choose! The end of the ‘biscuit business’ brings the arising of unconditional love…so what are you going to do with that?!

Jumpy people.

This modern world is very alert, very cognisant, and full of jumpy people. We live on speed!

This has the effect of making everything seem super real…bigger…faster. It is as if someone has turned the ‘frequency knob’ up to 11, which has the effect of creating emotional stress and exhaustion. This illusion, if justified, becomes a delusion.

That is the road to serious mental health problems, which will have an effect on our immune systems: we will be told to take a pill for this, and pay the price. By now, we must feel that something is not right.

On forums, as in life, people are running around trying to find where ‘it’s’ at, believing in all sorts of nonsense, and trying to reinvent the wheel. This is because they do not believe the wheel they already have is actually a wheel. Arguing about everything only serves to make the illusion real and keeps us trapped. You can see where this is leading – a planet of insane, jumpy people!

Of course, the special people who are reading this ‘know’ where it’s at  😉  …but we still get caught up in the frenzy, don’t we?

In the old world, people were not so alert and jumpy: their emotions were more stable, and therefore their minds were clearer. Maybe they didn’t bother so much…“There’s always tomorrow…” This is why, in meditation, we are barely aware, and not super aware. We have to slow down and relax for clarity to occur. There is no rush. Being barely aware, we noticed more, and we are more at peace.

The world in which we physically live is created by other’s dreams – or nightmares! The “You can have it now! You can do it now! Yes, you can!” society. Years ago, everything was done by hand with great skill, whereas now a machine does it, and then corrects it for us.

I suspect that social engineering is taking place in a big way, with the aim of making people jumpy. It’s a laboratory rats’ maze. This is where I would differ from traditional teachings…your ignorance is not all your fault.

But this does not mean we waste our time blaming others. We have to deal with it ourselves. Even the Buddhas cannot do it for us. Through inspiration, they indicate the way, and all we have to do is stop following the chattering mind.

(That ‘frequency knob’ is interesting. I get the feeling someone has their hands on two knobs – one is normal (common sense) and one is abnormal. From time to time, the knobs are alternatively switched on and off. For example, children should get exercise (normal knob on) but this requires more and more health and safety laws, so less exercise is the outcome (abnormal knob on/normal knob off). Then…children should get more exercise (normal knob on/abnormal knob off). Politics, health, diet, local authorities, education…it’s all the same…the result is to make people jumpy! There are also very subtle, insidious knobs, and that is to do with spirituality.)

Desire and Frustration Create Addiction

 There are good and bad things happening in the universe,

which we cannot know or do anything about.

So there is no point worrying about them.

There are good and bad things happening in our country

which we will cannot know or do anything about.

So there is no point worrying about them.

There are good and bad things happening in our family,

which we cannot know or do anything about.

So there is no point worrying about them.

There are good and bad things happening in our minds,

which we can know and do something about.

So there is no point worrying about them.

We worry, because we fantasise.

Fantasy is wanting something we cannot find.

Desire and Frustration is the human condition.

Desire and Frustration is addiction!

 There will always be agreeing, arguing, hope and fear…that is the busy-ness of being human, an animal or an alien. And, this will never change as the universe is infinite.

 The only thing we can do something about is the state of our minds. We can know its true nature, and be happy. It may not change the universe, country or our family, even the buddhas cannot do that. However, it will change the way we see things, and open us up to our true potential. The moment we know the nature of our minds, we start to infuse every situation with compassion.

 I guess that is what the enlightened ones are doing, if we could only awaken and receive their blessing. Perhaps they too are a fantasy… but they do inspire.

 These blessing start us on a journey to understand the good and the bad things happening in the universe, and perhaps do something about them. All we need is the right intention, and our way is somehow made clearer!

 We have two natures – light and dark. If we listen to one, the universe gets better. If we listen to the the other, the universe gets worse.

The five Skanda.

In Buddhistphenomenology and soteriology, the skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāli, aggregates in English) are the five functions or aspects that constitute the human being. The Buddha teaches that nothing among them is really “I” or “mine”.

The five skandhas

The sutras describe five aggregates:

“form” or “matter”: external and internal matter. Externally, rupa is the physical world. Internally, rupa includes the material body and the physical sense organs.

“sensation” or “feeling”. Sensing an object as either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.

“perception”, “conception”, “apperception”, “cognition”, or “discrimination” : registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).

“mental formations”, “impulses”, “volition”, or “compositional factors” all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.

“consciousness” or “discernment”-shes-pa):

in the Nikayas/Āgamas: cognizance, that which discerns

In the Abhidhamma: a series of rapidly changing interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.

In some Mahayana sources: the base that supports all experience.

( There are many buddhist traditions, and will describe words slightly differently.)

The Illusion is Real.

 Anything constructed in the universe is not of a permanent state. At some time every thing breaks down into its subtle elements. So, every thing only has the illusion of reality.

 The very nature of everything is its lack of reality. That lack of reality is real, hence the illusion is real! This is so vital to understand that I wish there was a bigger word to emphasise how big and important this is!!!

 This is the basis of the two truths – relative and ultimate.

One could say, the ultimate in the relative.

This is also the basis for the symbolic teacher.

 Every moment that an appearance happens in the mind (due to external events, which includes thoughts in the mind) is the cause of a reaction, which creates an emotion. Neither the event nor the reaction has any basis of reality. However, they have a basis for reality, as there is an awareness of these appearances: this awareness is the relative aspect of our being, and remains in the realm of relative truth. The other aspect is our absolute nature, which is pure – pure perception – which is emptiness, or in sanskrit, Shunyata.

 Understanding this means that we can give things – and people – their true value, as no thing lasts. We can respect them, have fun with them, love them, but have no permanent attachment to their relative state: we can, however, recognise their true nature as being absolute truth. So, everything now becomes our ‘symbolic teacher’ – a reminder of everything’s true nature.

The two truths are inseparable: by virtue of one, the other is known. But first we need to have recognised our inner teacher, which is pure awareness. This can only be known by having access to an outer teacher, who reveals the inner teacher to you. Without this, we will remain in concepts: it is very easy to assume that we know our inner teacher when it is still our thinking mind.

Some of these teachings can take weeks to explain: reflect upon them, and digest them slowly!  

“There are no Absolutes!”

“Are you Absolutely sure about that?”

It’s an absolute win win situation. If one says, “It is absolutely true that there are no absolutes,” then that is an absolute. If one is not sure that there are no absolutes, then that leave room for absolutes to exist.

Isn’t life fun?

We have spoken about the Tibetan Buddhism six psychological realms. These are the god realm, the jealous god realm, the human realm, the animal realm, the hungry ghosts and the hell realms.

 I just happened to come across Chogyam Trungpa’s description of the animal realm in his book, The Myth of Freedom, which you may find interesting. This describes the type of people that are serious, lack humour and are mechanical. It seems to describe the New World Order mentality.

Stupidity.

 The descriptions of the different realms are related to subtle but distinct differences in the way individuals handle themselves in daily life – how they walk, talk, write letter, the way they read, eat, sleep and so on.

 Everyone tends to develop a style which is peculiar to them. If we hear a tape recording of our voices or see a video of ourselves, we are often shocked to see our style as someone else sees it. It feels extremely alien. Usually we find other people’s point of view irritating or embarrassing.

 Blindness to our style, to how others see us, is most acute in the animal realm. I am not speaking literally being born as an animal but of the quality of mind, a mentality which stubbornly pushes forward towards predetermined goals.

 The animal mentality is very serious. It even makes humour into a serious occupation. Self-consciously trying to create a friendly environment, a person will crack jokes or try to be funny, intimate or clever. However, animals do not really smile or laugh; they just behave.

 They may play, but it is unusual for animals to actually laugh. They might make friendly noises or gestures, but the subtleties of a sense of humour are absent.

The animal mentality looks directly ahead, as if wearing blinkers. It never looks to the left or right but very sincerely goes straight ahead, trying to reach the next available situation, continually trying to adjust situations to make them conform to its expectations.

 The animal realm is associated wit stupidity: that is preferring to play deaf and dumb, preferring to follow the rules of available games rather than re-define them. Of course, you might try to manipulate your perception of any given game, but you are really just following along, just following instinct.

 You have some hidden or secret wish that you would like to put into effect, so when you come to obstacles, to irritations, you just push forward regardless of whether or not you may hurt someone or destroy something of value.

 You just go out and pursue whatever is available and if something else comes up, you take advantage of that as well ans pursue it.

 The ignorance or stupidity of the animal realm comes from a deadly honest and serious mentality which is quite different from the bewilderment of the basic ignorance of the first skandha. In animal ignorance you have a certain style of relating to yourself and refuse to see that style from other points of view.

 You completely ignore such possibilities. If somebody attacks you or challenges your clumsiness, your unskilled way of handling a situation, you find a way of justifying yourself, find rational to keep your self-respect. You are not concerned with being truthful as long as your deception can be maintained in front of others. You are proud that you are clever enough to lie successfully. If you are attacked, challenged, criticised, you automatically find an answer. Such stupidity can be very clever. It is ignorance or stupidity in the sense that you do not see the environment around you, but you see only your goal and only the means to achieve that goal, and you invent all kinds of excuses to prove that you are doing the right thing.

 The animal mentality is extremely stubborn, but this stubbornness can be sophisticated as well, and quite skilful and ingenious, but without a sense of humour. The ultimate sense of humour is a free way of relating with life situations in their full absurdity. IT is seeing things clearly, including self deception, without blinkers, without barriers, without excuses.

 It is being open and seeing with panoramic vision rather than trying to relieve tension. As long as humour is used as a way to relieve tension or self-consciousness or pressure, then it is humour of the animal realm, which is actually extremely serious. It is a way of looking for a crutch. So the essence of the animal style is to try to fulfil your desire with extreme honesty, sincerity and seriousness.

 Traditionally, this direct and mean way of relating with the world is symbolised by the pig. The pig does not look to the left or right but just sniffs along, consuming whatever comes in front of their nose; it goes on and on and on, without an sense of discrimination – a very sincere pig.

 Whether we are dealing with simple domestic tasks or highly sophisticated intellectual projects, we can have an animal style. It does not matter whether the pig eats expensive sweets or garbage. What is important is how he eats. The extreme animal mentality is trapped in the continual, self-contained, self-justifying ground of activity.

 You are not able to relate with the messages given to you by your environment. You do not see yourself mirrored by others. You may be dealing with very intellectual matters, but the style is animal since there is no sense of humour, no way of surrendering or opening. There is a constant demand to move on from one thing to the next, regardless of failure or obstacles.

 It is like being a tank that rolls along, crushing everything in its path. It does not matter if you run over people or crash through buildings – you just roll along.