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.

Enmeshed

Enmeshed: in a difficult situation from which it is hard to escape.

Just like the ‘news’.
🙂

When we are entangled in the contents of the mind, we’re caught and held. Thoughts are like entertainers that keep us occupied to the extent where they become our prison guards, maintaining groupthink.

We escape the control of thoughts by being aware of them. They just stop. We come to our senses, which are non-conceptual. Few people understand that we can see without thinking about it. Thoughts are merely memories which we impose onto whatever we see, affecting our actions and behaviour. 

Once we’re free, we can think for ourselves.

What do we do then?
Being free of thoughts – which are dreams – we wake up. 
We don’t become caught up in idle chatter, 
or orate for an ovation.
🙂

No longer enmeshed in words,
now, when we do talk, it’s only about what’s necessary.

Boring?
It’s actually allows space for enlightened activity. 

Warped Consciousness

Warp: to make or become bent or twisted out of shape, as a result of manipulation, corruption, perversion.

We use the word ‘consciousness’ generically to describe perception, as in “I have perception”, or “I have consciousness”. That word have is the warp factor.

There is a choice.
If we have consciousness, then what are we?
Or are we consciousness?

The answer affects our behaviour, and the way we live.

Cutting The String Of Our Yo-Yo

Our life is a constant oscillation, a yo-yoing of up and down, up and down. When we seek happiness, we are seeking a condition – a temporary event of body or mind – to feel satisfied, and we come to rely on that condition. When the condition stops we become unhappy, and so we look for that condition again. This creates addiction.

To stop this constant yo-yo effect, we have to notice the craving, and pause … which cuts the reaction of attachment to an idea. The relief of being aware is the happiness we seek. That is meditation – just coming to rest.

True happiness does not rely on conditions;
it’s the absence of being conditioned.

What Is Being Awake?

Waking up is awareness; that which is always present before thoughts in our mind. It is a fully aware and non-reactive state.

Living in thoughts and emotions is our dream state, 
where demons can enter.
Every time we react we are back in that dream state.
It’s a very subtle on/off switch.

The awakened state is always naturally present, but is obscured by thoughts. This state of wakefulness is pure consciousness or, as someone said, intuitive knowingness. This is the magic reality of all sentient beings, having the power to influence events by not being taken in by beliefs, and other entertainments. 

Even sophisticated philosophical and scientific ideas and religious beliefs can keep us in a very clever dream state. Noticing distraction is the on/off switch. This is why, when we are awake, even if evil attempts to distract us, it reminds us to stay awake and alert. 

In wakefulness, there are no thoughts, no words, no me.
True communication is to ponder first,
feeling one’s way, rather than becoming a reporter of ‘news’.

The dream is the illusion we live in.

What Decides?

What decides?
Or rather, what forms judgements: what likes and dislikes?

Pure consciousness (which is what we are) is the cognisant empty essence of mind (our being) that does not judge – it observes. It must be obvious that observation must come before a decision is made. Our problem is that we’re so used to judging everything that we miss that precious moment of pure perception. 

We have to judge to survive in this body so that it remains healthy, to give us time to contemplate and realise our reality, without distractions. 

Unfortunately, we love those distractions – they are our entertainment. We enjoy judging, and therefore lose objectivity and become subjective and fixated. This subjectivity forms the illusion of a self with its likes and dislikes; these mental images cause ignorance, which obscures pure objectivity. 

Judgements take place, depending on what memories we put into the mind. This is the birth of ego or I, but this identification needn’t be a permanent fixture. Meditation is the practice of letting go.

We cannot find that which decides. 
Consciousness only notes what is taking place.

I Don’t Belong Here

Do you ever get that feeling? We do belong here as this is our karmic destination, but once our karmic load lessens, we are no longer part of the illusory social fabric that binds us all together.

The feeling of ‘not belonging’ is freedom from this illusion. It is being free to be alone = at one.

‘I don’t belong’ is the realisation that this ‘I’ identification does not belong in the essence of mind, which is pure consciousness. Consciousness can get along very well without an I identification and naming. 

We see a person from a distance, and before we know who it is, we recognise whether we know them or not. That’s just the view; the I doesn’t need a view about them, as this merely maintains a narrative.

The ‘I’ does not belong to the view of pure consciousness.

Forgetting Our Basic Goodness

Just seeing without an opinion is the basis of goodness – we haven’t judged yet. That ‘just seeing’ is pure consciousness as opposed to our usual consciousness which identifies with thoughts and our rules of engagement. Those acquired rules are when we judge others, which is our downfall from goodness. By judging others, we’re looking down on them because they don’t believe what we believe.

When we feel superior in this way, we become isolated and that’s not good, because then we see others as an enemy. However, isolated but open is not the same thing as cutting ourselves off. Until we are fully enlightened (whatever that means), we will appear aloof – not friendly or forthcoming; cold and distant.

If enlightenment is total, never-changing, unconditional love, ignoring this is the cause of unhappiness.

Realisation Is Like A Bonfire 

Realisation is like a bonfire; at the right time, the wood ignites, and burns itself out! The sap has dried up. Likewise, all our opinions and beliefs dry up, and burn themselves out. At the right time, a small light – just a suggestion – and whoo-mph! the realisation of emptiness.

There is nothing else … is that it?! 
That’s it!
Just being, without being something.

That moment of realisation cannot be broken. This isn’t enlightenment, as a few twigs are still damp – a little bit of hope and fear remains. We have to understand that the garden, the earth, will still grow more twigs of misinformation, opinions and beliefs 🙂