Having An Attitude
Attitude: anything a person holds in mind.
It’s obvious that negative thoughts give us a bad attitude which fixes our mind.
Positive thoughts, which are just a temporary fix, still bind us.
In the first instant of seeing or listening, there is no attitude as we haven’t yet made a decision.
That moment is to treasure.
That is our reality – no attitude.
We haven’t started to worry yet;
it’s our happy place.
There Are Other People
There are other people who feel the same way as you,
not being one of the crowd.
They are rare,
and we probably will never meet them,
but it’s good to know that they’re there.
You know what I mean?
How To Have A Happy New Year?
How to have a happy new year?
By knowing the difference between reality and illusions, or by realising that there is no difference? When consciousness recognises it’s living in mind’s illusions … that is reality.
Seeing corruption is the genuine intelligence of pure consciousness.
Reacting is intellectualisation.
Intellectualisation is when a situation is treated as an interesting problem which engages the person on a conventional, rational basis. It is a defence mechanism by which reasoning is used to block inner conflict with an opposite view.
Welcome to a very insightful New Year!
An Insult To Intelligence
The problem is that we taught to believe, which is an insult to intelligence. We acquire bits of information – actually, we’re given masses of bits of information, so much so that it’s truly difficult to sort out what is whole and what is partial.
When people just repeat words and names, beware.
Words are never the truth.
True intelligence comes from pure consciousness,
not from the mind.
Even adhering to the Buddha’s words
is an insult to intelligence.
🙂
How Do We Know We Are Realised?
‘Realised’ is knowing what is real; it is not about knowing about reality. No one can tell us we are realised; it is we who have to know.
So how do we know?
Knowingness is realised as being present. It is spontaneous presence in all circumstances.
We have to look at what we like and don’t like without judgement, allowing insight to see why something is or isn’t happening.
Realisation is being fully aware of what is real
– it’s never about a story.
Realisation is a complete conclusion;
it is the beginning of the path to enlightenment.
Wake Up From What?
To wake up, we have to know what we’re waking up from. We are not waking up to feel good about ourselves; we’re waking up from the dream state that we’re currently in. That dream state is our mind – the ideas that we hold on to.
It’s really quite simple.
Become aware of that which is aware of being aware.
It cannot be found or analysed.
Awareness comes first, before all the ideas in the mind.
It has no name and cannot be described.
Waking up is not about whatever we see.
It is the seeing.
Reincarnation – A Recording
We encode ourselves because we allow ourselves to be influenced by others, never realising that, in this way, a code can be slipped in, fashioning behaviour.
Whether reincarnation is a reality or not, it is still worth considering, because what we do now has an effect on our future. We maintain a continuity of tendencies throughout our life, don’t we? That is reincarnation.
This mind encodes our future self. We all have déjà vumoments, indicating a natural proclivity towards certain subjects. We’re blessed by our previous self, and some things feel natural, while we have to work at others.
The question is, can we put a code in now for the future – something we don’t want to forget?
It’s beneficial to consider out-of-the-ordinary possibilities, as these can affect our next reaction.
Isn’t a reaction a reincarnation?
In the coming year,
“May I be more open-minded.”
Getting Annoyed
Getting annoyed is an unpleasant mental pastime, characterised by irritation, grumpiness, frustration and anger. We become distracted from our natural state of inner peace, and when we become annoyed at certain stimuli habitually, it is we who become an annoyance. 🙂
Even pleasant situations can end up being annoying through repeated exposure; words, sounds in a voice, looks on faces can all become annoying and depressing. The Dharma is irritating as it presents an opposite view to conventional thought.
Psychological warfare involves creating annoyances to distract and wear down the resistance of the target, which is the public. Why put music in every place frequented by the public? Why does the media bless us with trivia and speculation? It all creates annoyance which is the cause of stress that wears people down.
The reason that we are easily annoyed is that
we don’t recognise and value inner peace.
Anger is actually wisdom.
Consciousness sees something is amiss.
We become bright and alert.
If we just rest there,
we will see what is behind the anger.
If we don’t see,
we’ll remain annoyed all our life.
Not-Two
Reflecting on Not-Two:
When we believe in self and other, be it a person or a thing, we are subject to likes and dislikes.
When attention – in the first instant – is purely placed on that person or thing, there is no separation – Not-Two. There is just listening, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling – all non-conceptual, as the mind isn’t activated yet.
We do not notice that our likes and dislikes are not instantaneous with an occurrence; they come a moment later, after the information has gone to our mind for reference, and before we react – or rather, re-enact.
In the gap of empty awareness is inner peace and wisdom. In other words, it’s the clarity of divine splendour. As Gampopa said, “May confusion dawn as wisdom.”
Reflecting on the meaning of Not-Two this coming year will transform understanding.
May The New Year Reveal More Truth
May the New Year reveal more truth,
and less thought-policing of every conversation.
There are things we just don’t talk about.
There are things we must talk about.
When Pure Consciousness Becomes A Self
Pure consciousness becomes a self when it becomes excited, claiming and becoming distracted.
We become what we are not. This distinction is for individuals to recognise, as there are levels of understanding. We can function very well as decent humans as long as we do not lose recognition of inner peace, pure perception, pure awareness. Pure awareness is always present as it’s what we are, but it’s ignored in favour of something ‘interesting’.
We may think, “It’s far too difficult to sustain pure awareness!”
We are pure awareness, pure consciousness. When we forget that we are purity, clarity, uncontaminated awareness, we become something else – a self wrapped up in ideas.
We don’t need to constantly think, “I am pure”; that is a distraction in itself. It’s just a matter of being mindful, focusing awareness on the present moment – being one with the job in hand – and then returning to panoramic vision, pure awareness, pure consciousness.
We can pause throughout a job, just to reflect. When we turn on a light, look through a window, pick up a tool, walk through a doorway … we take a breath …
Pure consciousness becomes a self when it gets carried away.
🙂
Don’t Confuse What Is ‘Spiritual’
‘Spiritual’ is consciousness, conscious awareness, pure consciousness. It’s what we are. There is no place to go to find it. We cannot even find it in our own mind, as it is the very essence of mind.
There are no spiritual places.
There are no spiritual actions.
There are merely places and events to remind us.
Once we know, we can drop the form, and rest in essence.
Religion And Spirituality
Religion: the show must go on.
Spirituality: the show ends.
Why Meditate?
Proper meditation brings a calm spacious mind, where we’re able to cope with anything that appears; we are never panicked, disturbed or alarmed. We are not subject to emotions.
Meditation isn’t adopting a particular lifestyle, typically an unconventional one. It’s a practical method of attaining mental stability.
We gain stability and genuine stillness – which is admirable – but we have a little further to go. Meditation is a method to come to stillness and a feeling of stability, but “I feel good” and “This is it” is still a duality.
Drop any attachment by dropping the meditation. When nothing else is present, that is pure consciousness. If we’re wanting more than this, we have forgotten purity, and we’re back in conventional consciousness … so we meditate again.
The Voice In Our Head
The voice in our head is not our own; it’s a personal instruction manual that we’ve picked up from others, causing communal confusion. We assume that these words are ours – an expression of ourself – but this mind is just a recording machine. To realise this is a total shocking.
We’ve turned into echo machines, telling other people what we think, and thus becoming a conveyor of misinformation. All the while, it is consciousness which is listening to these recordings.
The essence of consciousness is unadulterated pure wisdom. It’s never a voice, but the voices don’t want us to know this. They want us to complain – “They’re doing it all wrong!” – while the commentary actually all in our head.
We stop the voices by pulling out the plug. The plug is the energy of interest and attraction, and boredom is the result of seeing the constant, never-ending desire. This sort of boredom is not a lethargy; it’s that life is no longer an entertainment – a facsimile of reality.
The reality is the observation,
which has nothing to do with whatever is observed.
Trinkets in this ear, trinkets in that ear … when will it ever end?
🙂
What’s The Difference Between Creating A Sand Mandala And Cooking?
A Sand Mandala is a sacred Tibetan art form, representing a perfect universe; the geometric patterns are said to transform the ordinary human mind into an enlightened mind. Destroying it symbolises the impermanent nature of life.
Cooking represents the sustenance for life so we can actually practice Dharma, the path to enlightenment. Eating it symbolises the impermanent nature of life.
We don’t notice how mundane we can become by worshipping the supramundane.
We also don’t notice how the mundane is our vehicle, and therefore our practice.
People can make a meal out of everything.
It’s all the yoga of one taste.
🙂
The Difference Between Religion And Spirituality
Religion is organised practices shared by a group.
Spirituality is individual practice.
What is this spirituality?
Spirituality is personal recognition of non-material, pure conscious awareness.
What is practice?
Sustaining this pure conscious awareness.
Why join a group?
Learning words gets us started.
Why do individual practice?
To realise the meaning of those words, and so no longer be dependent on them, being able to utilise anything that comes along = karmic obstacles.
Stability In Whatever Occurs
We’ve experienced waves of karmic impulses, both pleasant (inspirations) and unpleasant (doubts), from beginningless time. They just turn up. These packages of wonder create the situations for us to work with in order to dissolve confusion and inner conflict, which is fuelled by ideas we’re holding on to.
Our essential nature of pure consciousness is never confused.
Theoretical knowledge increases thought activity – words, words, words 🙂 Wisdom is intelligence beyond thought and, for that, we need to have space in the mind. If the mind is filled with theories and assumptions about this and that – there is no room for expansion beyond the conventional.
When we disengage from thoughts, there is a moment of vacancy, of not knowing. Merely realise that there is an awareness present which is aware of this vacancy, and there you are, in perfect stability and good mental health.
There is no end to both inspiration and doubt,
as there is no end to claustrophobic mental activity.
We just step outside for some fresh air.
Difficulties are there for us to work with
in the form of doubts and inspirations,
giving rise to moments of spontaneity.
Letting Go Of The Past
It’s obvious that the past no longer exists, but its effects are still felt. This moment that we live in now will, in the future, be the past, and so won’t exist, but its effects will. That is karma at work. To a materialist historian, the past is all important as it serves as our memories, traditions, cultures … our habitual way of thinking. This is the mud we enlightened beings are stuck in.
A materialist is someone who supports the theory that nothing exists
except matter and its movements and modifications.
Most of us are stuck in a mindset. This is why there’s no talking to people because they cannot be in the present moment as they are in constant conflict with what’s happening now and memories.
The only reality is right here, right now, in no man’s land, in pure cognisance. Letting go isn’t about being told to let go; that is merely a temporary antidote. Letting go is about seeing whatever we’re holding on to and feeling the effects: anger, frustration, fear – all mental dis-orders – and letting go is the shock of realising this.
Our karma is the effect of our mind dwelling on the past. Our mind is just memories that we impose on to every occasion, where we go through our predictable routine while thinking it’s all new when it’s all old.
The temptation to hold on to pessimism is like attachment to an abusive master,
thinking it’s safer while, in reality, such behaviour only leads to cyclic misery.
Better to realise the freedom of optimism
– that seeing evil is the best of all possible worlds.
Good ultimately prevails over evil in the universe.
How?
Appearances and recognition are simultaneous.
We are free in the moment of just seeing.
If we don’t let go, we are evil’s enablers, gossipers, idle talkers about others.
Letting go is letting go of depression, anxiety, pointlessness …
In the moment now, where is this depression, anxiety, pointlessness … ?
Clarity Can’t Be A Bad Thing
The definition of the word ‘clarity’ is divine splendour; it is that powerful. It’s well worth appreciating. Clarity is being open-minded, willing to consider everything in an unprejudiced way.
We don’t have clarity; we are clarity – which is pure consciousness – but we cling to ideas that cloud this view. It is that clouding that is a bad thing. Ideas help us function in a social way to get through life, and that’s all we do – get through life. Our functioning may be very clever, but what have we understood about our true reality?
Living in clarity is a whole different view of life – ‘whole’ as in complete.
Clarity doesn’t hold on to to any ideas whatsoever.
It isn’t a vacant state;
it’s fully alive, fresh and wondrous, inspiring a feeling of wonder or delight.
It’s a good thing. 🙂
Being too mentally busy to appreciate clarity is a sad thing.
Writing A Blog
Writing a blog is like drawing in a sketch book; through practice and realisation, realisation evolves. You look back and see what you held on to.
Realisation is an ongoing experience. It’s why I cannot write a book, as the words are only a generalisation for that moment.
A question and answer is only pertinent to that instant.
Questions are welcome as they advance understanding.
Don’t Try To Understand
You cannot think the Dharma.
Dharma is pure experience.
Don’t Make A Meal Of The Dharma
Don’t make a meal of the Dharma.
It will give you indigestion.
‘Make a meal out of it’ is to spend more time or energy doing something that isn’t necessary. Dharma is not a thing that we can achieve; it’s what we already are – pure awareness. When we make it into something,we exaggerate it, wear it, name it, polish it, display it, put it on a shrine, put a huge building around it.
The Dharma is the life within consciousness.
That’s it.
What If There Was No Enlightenment Or Reincarnation?
If there was no enlightenment or reincarnation, would it make any difference to the Buddha’s teaching? No. The reality that pure awareness is present in an ever-changing world of deception still holds true. Reality is happiness itself, without any struggling with semantics. Life is fulfilling when we no longer see two.
Painting a window frame is being one with the brush, paint, wood – no drips or splashes, while knowing the wood is protected. What is more satisfying than that? Oh yes, being at one with another person. 🙂
The problem in the world is that people want to be two – divided, and thus, unhappy.
We Do Not Have To Learn Dharma
Learning terminology and symbols doesn’t mean that we realise the Dharma.
It is through realising that we are the Dharma
that the Dharma manifests.
Where Did I Go Right?
🙂
We spend our lives following others who follow others, who have been following others for thousands of years. Sounds a bit fishy, doesn’t it?
For me, following others was miserable and felt wrong as it turned out that they were making stuff up, and then worshipping that made-up stuff. It was a very interesting, holy circus, with decades of retreats … words, words, words, meditation, meditation, meditation, form, form, form.
I had to drop it all for the sake of sanity. And that’s where it all went right. I started to write a blog eleven years ago – January starts the twelfth year. 🙂
The point is that I still feel wrong but, on investigation, that which observes this feeling of habitual wrongness is pure consciousness, so that must be right. 😀
We have to live with a residue of the past and be empathetic to it.
It is that which eliminates karma.
Which Is More Important?
Which is more important:
interesting facts or realisation?
They are two opposing paths.
Facts are learnt words, while realisation is original experience.
Academic: not of practical relevance; of only theoretical interest.
What Is Pure Consciousness?
We are consciousness; we cannot be anything else, but we’re attached to our ideas in the mind. Consciousness is the cognisant space of mind. We are not what we can see, but fall into the trap of believing that we are.
On an ordinary, mundane level, consciousness has mingled with ideas, contaminating the mind and creating emotions to defend the idea of self, which is merely an excited concept about being … something. One such emotion is pride – we take pride in ourself, and we take ourself seriously.
We are hypnotised by thoughts which creates our behaviour; we know we’re doing this, but cannot stop. This clinging to ideas is ‘ego’ or ‘I’, and it’s how we function and organise ourselves. Egos grumbling at egos is our cycle of confused existence, and as soon as we meet someone who doesn’t believe what we believe, they become our enemy, and we shun them.
….
When we become aware of our habitual antics – our foolish, outrageous or amusing behaviour – we notice that this obsession occupies us. We collect ‘interesting’ titbits of information that form our memories, our programming, our behaviour, and these references are what cloud pure vision, pure consciousness.
Evil knows all this before we do. Evil is inbred selfishness. Evil cannot understand pure consciousness, because it gets nothing out of it, and gain is evil’s intent.
It is because we are so intent on gaining (or perhaps thinking we can put things right) that we don’t notice that all this mind activity – which is ignorance – is being observed. That observation is done by consciousness.
When we sit in silent awareness, we notice that we follow thoughts, and become caught up in a dream state. The training is in not following these thoughts – they aren’t ours anyway. 🙂
We then notice or become aware that there is nothing other than consciousness present. Everything else just comes and goes. Consciousness drops any connection with thoughts to the extent that there is purely observation without an observer.
Observation, being instantaneous, is pure consciousness uncontaminated by what ‘I think’. In pure awareness, there is no time to consider; considering is another type of meditation, which is known as analytical meditation, reflection or contemplation – but this can only be done through pure vision.
Pure consciousness
is the purest, simplest principle in the universe
– the essence of life.
We Are Encoded Towards Evil
Encode: convert into a coded form.
Evil: intending harm.
In other words, evil has unconscious followers,
harming the tone of the atmosphere.
Evil is wanting power over others. We all like to win a debate, or tell people how good we are. That is wanting influence and control over a conversation. This goes much deeper as it entails looking down on others – who feel it, having a knock-on effect. ‘Monkey see monkey do’ is learning by observing and imitating others’ behaviours, which is the effect of mirror neurons.
Evil starts in secret behind closed doors, and filters down into the population. There are things we cannot or do not talk about, or we’ll get a strange look. Most of the time, it’s impossible to even discuss reality as we’re too involved in ‘information’. We can talk about things that have happened (history) or where we’re going (geography), but never about what we really feel or think. Nowadays, it’s even worse as the truth is being cancelled.
Goodness is being natural.
Evil is being unnatural.
But do we know what natural is?
Evil filters down into relationships; we can only talk about trivialities/small talk, and cannot hear other possibilities outside the conventional. Adherence to things of little value is an attempt to exert power over others.
Evil thrives when we live in a state of vacancy, a state of not knowing, where the form is more important than essence.
The State Of Irony – The Liar Paradox
Irony is a state of affairs that’s contrary to what one expects. For instance, we judge others, but don’t expect to be judged back; judging others according to our ideas is what divides us.
The great separation and deception is believing in words, and repeating them as if they are the truth.
When the Buddha said, “Do not take my words for the truth …
was he telling the truth or lying?
The Buddha’s advice is a statement which, despite sounding unacceptable or contradictory, leads to direct realisation.
Which leads us to the liar paradox. The paradox is the statement of a liar that they are lying by declaring, “I am lying”. If the liar is indeed lying, then the liar is telling the truth, which means the liar just lied.
… test the words for yourself.”
If repeating the Buddha’s words is not the truth but a simulation of the truth,
then don’t believe anyone,
as they may be just cultural ambassadors.
Only You Can Know The Truth
The internet is full of information.
Other people are full of information.
This blog is full of information.
How do we know if any of it’s true or not?
We don’t.
The only thing that is true is that which sees the information,
as pure consciousness is constant.
Forgeries Are Credible
Forgeries are credible – that’s why we accept them – but they’re not the real thing. Holding on to an idea about reality rather than knowing reality is a fraud which affects our mental health. This idea means that we live in vagueness and confusion.
To identify fake information, we see the effect on people. Are they blind to other possibilities?
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil;
who put darkness for light and light for darkness;
who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight …”
– Isaiah 5:20-21
Confusion was happening that long ago!
Acceptance without proper consideration of the consequences is a psychological disorder that’s been made socially acceptable, spreading symptoms throughout a population where there is no questioning.
Authenticity is only known through the presence of pure consciousness.
Be Kind To Yourself …?
We often hear gurus say this as if the self is real.
What self?
Be kind to something that doesn’t actually exist?
Saying “Be kind to yourself” is ordinary therapy – it’s not Dharma. Self is merely a psychological event in the mind that we have to work with. It’s our teacher, showing consciousness what it’s holding on to. This illusory self isn’t an enemy; it’s just a deluded idea that consciousness fixates about.
Don’t simply accept what gurus say;
see if it’s reasonable.
Test the words.
Test who said them.
Then test your reasoning.
🙂
How else you will know?
When We’re Thinking, We’re Actually Listening!
🙂
Listening to what?
Memories.
Memories placed in the mind.
Placed?
Everything in our mind is socially engineered.|
By whom?
By those who don’t want us to think for ourselves.
If you think you’re thinking for yourself, think again.
Watered-Down Dharma
If we don’t know what Dharma is – the teaching of our reality – we won’t know or recognise any slight deviations. But why would anyone deviate or water-down the Dharma?
Two reasons.
One: people are not ready to realise absolute truth as they still in awe of the form it takes.
Two: gurus want to hold on to followers, and don’t want scare them away.
Watered-down Dharma is easy on the mind, like a feel-good therapy session.
When listening to a guru, mentally discard all the trappings, the name, the mannerisms and culture, and listen to the words. Do the words shock and awaken, or make you feel good?
Never mix cultural mannerisms with teachings.
We are pure consciousness.
Anything else is a obscuration.
Recognising obscurations is the job of pure consciousness.
The Other Side Of ‘Novel’
Yesterday, we spoke of ‘novel’ as an infiltration-and-suggestion technique.
‘Novel’ means interesting, new or unusual – a novelty. When we become attracted to novelty, our focus is heightened instantaneously. It’s the fastest entry point into the human mind, and it’s why we’re addicted to ‘new’ news, or ‘new’ theories.
But … just before the attraction to the unusual, the mind is totally open; pure consciousness is present, empty of conditioning. At that moment, we are either susceptible, or fully awake.
The negative trick is to place something into that emptiness through suggestion.
The positive is to realise that that pure awareness of what we actually are is non-reactive, and not taken in by novelties.
In realisation, we ask about everything, “What is it?” In the moment, everything is fresh and new, and we do not become attached to any situation.
Just come to your senses.
Like feeling the wind in your face,
it’s always fresh, and never the taken-for-granted usual.
Be Aware Of ‘Novel’
‘Novel’ means interesting, new or unusual – a novelty. When we become attracted to novelty, our focus is heightened instantaneously. It’s the fastest entry point into the human mind, and it’s why we’re addicted to ‘news’.
There are codes of obedience through acceptance – there have been lots of social psychology experiments such those by Solomon Asch – which demonstrate the way we just follow a societal script. It’s those who are easily swayed who become the enthusiasts driving the groupthink.
This behavioural blind spot can be hijacked by magicians, hypnotists, influencers, the media politicians, celebrities, gurus … they all know that we look for novelties to pique our interest and feed our curiosity.
‘Pique’ is a French word, meaning to prick, sting, or pierce, so if something piques our interest, it gets our attention in a way we just can’t ignore.
As a society, we have new agendas, new theories, new forms of entertainment foisted on us constantly, policed by enthusiasts. Meditation retreats are no different; although they are good for discipline, they can make us needy: ‘In this retreat, the guru may tell us about something new, like … Togyal!’
We are all impatient for the new,
when it’s same-old repackaged.
There is nothing new under the sun; we just rediscover what is already there.
The new is knowing what we are – just pure consciousness.
Then everything changes.
Organisation Controls The Way We Think
Organisation controls the way we think.
Time and space are precious in order to reflect, to meditate, to realise the truth about what we are – which is beyond any organisation. In doing this, we realise all the utter nonsense that’s being pushed on us.
As long as people are given something to fear and worry about, their precious time and space is being filled.
Be the light;
it’s what consciousness is – clarity
New Realisations And Old Brain
Some things are difficult to explain, because we’re working within an old, traumatised brain that is still running in the background even though we have had new realisations.
We might be able to talk about the Dharma and compassion, but our actions may not match up because our old brain is still functioning as if our outward display doesn’t matter.
Realisation is a piece of cake compared to dropping our habitual, mental patterning. Every time we open our mouth, old brain shows itself.
Whatever we’re thinking or saying, be aware that that is not what we are. Once we identify with anything, we become a biased observer.
What we truly are is observation without an observer.
It is this realisation that frees us from our past.
Memories cause pain.
Dharma Is Repairing, Making Good, Making Whole
We have been broken into pieces, disjointed, confused … not working properly. Repairing means putting back into good order, realising the connection between seeing, and that which is seen. By virtue of seeing, the seen is known. This is what is meant by oneness.
Our broken understanding is built on complexity – ‘me’ and ‘thatness’.
The Buddha’s teaching is based on realising the Vedic teaching of not-two.
There is nothing religious or complex about this.
Not-two is wholeness.
Self Is Just A Habit In The Mind
Self is held together by words and ideas in the mind.
This is not our reality.
When we drop the idea of self/ego/I,
peace and wisdom arise.
No more interference.
🙂
Shunyata, Emptiness, Pure, Uncontaminated Consciousness
It doesn’t matter what word we use, it is direct spontaneous experience, before the mind starts identifying.
We can become hung up on words, and that is precisely Mara’s trick – it’s the dark side of our nature.
It’s common to be divided by words (ideas)
but rare to be united in clarity (just seeing).
Whatever words we say,
invisible consciousness is always present.
Our Dark Side Is Our Path
When we can acknowledge our dark side – our ideas about me and mine – this recognition is the light of consciousness illuminating our addiction to phantoms in the mind. These phantoms seem so potent to us that they destroy friendships and relationships.
Divide and conquer is the way in which we’re separated. Our path to enlightenment is acknowledging our confusion … which doesn’t actually exist. It’s all in the mind.
Our path is sharp discipline to drop our fixated ideas.
Worse Than Groupthink? Groupfeel
Groupthink is people accepting the same set of ideas, and voicing them in the same way.
Groupfeel is when these ideas go deeper and infect attitudes, causing subtle emotions; the result is that each individual learns what not to say.
Groupthink creates an unhealthy atmosphere of conformity which discourages free thinking and blinds the members. Cult behaviour is an extreme form of groupthink – and religion isn’t far behind.
Groupfeel gives rise to the emotional blocks that prevent individuals from expressing concerns, in case they’re seen as ‘negative’ or ‘contrary’ to the groupthink. In other words, there’s a fear of rejection due to insecurity. We want to be accepted and liked, but feel we have no status to speak up. Worrying that we lack enough data to back up our observations, we have a fear of appearing irrational and hold back possible solutions to any problems – while groupthink sees no problems.
Getting along is a unspoken norm, so people wait for meetings to be over to present their queries to others. This turns out to be a big mistake as, although others may initially agree, they quickly close ranks and shun these concerns – and the person, who may be quieter or more thoughtful than other members, finds that their views simply aren’t acknowledged at all.
This is the time we move on from all those emotions, fears, mistrusts, insecurities which may be present in a seemingly ‘harmonious’ group.
There Is Nothing New
There is nothing new
– just different words about the same subject.
We are pure consciousness.
We obscure that pure consciousness with thoughts.
Freedom is acknowledging this fact.
Simple Life = Happy Life
It’s been said for thousands of years,
“A simple life is a happy life.”
Otherwise, we evolve into the machine.
With a simple approach to life, we take time to appreciate a oneness with everything. This isn’t an airy-fairy lifestyle – it’s being practical; clear the drain properly, change and reseat the washer in the tap, repair the wood in a rotten window frame … We aren’t fascinated, just pragmatic; neither ignoring situations nor people is actually satisfying.
Through understanding our reality, rather than following the crowd, life simplifies when we stop over-reacting, exaggerating and being puffed-up. We no longer go along with all the material, emotional or spiritual excitement.
In dealing with each moment with clarity as it arises, there is nothing special as everything is special. This reduces and gradually eliminates karma which is our habitual response of “I think this, I think that, they should do this, they should do that … ” We’re no longer thrill-seekers, as quality of life is more important than quantity.
The result is a happy life.
It may not be comfortable, but it’s workable.
Life becomes happier when we stop following others’ convoluted ideas.
Those are their affair.
Be aware of monkey see, monkey do.
In our own good time, we drop it all.
What Woke Me Up?
The pretence of goodness.
After following gurus, lamas and students for decades, I realised that there wasn’t much – if any – compassion around. No real lasting connection, but just competitive ‘goodness’. Everyone is caught up in the exotic, without any esoteric realisation of wisdom, the full understanding of being.
Decades of chanting ‘compassion’
while all around showed a lack of compassion seemed fishy.
We’re so easily charmed into worshipping that we ignore the essence of reality within all sentient beings; we may revere names, academic theories or religious rituals, but still have no actual empathy.
When we genuinely wake up,
that is the birth of compassion
No defensiveness present.
No pretence. No confusion.
Just a genuine connection.
We learn to bow and scrape – behaving in an obsequious way to someone in authority. This isn’t waking up. The Buddha wanted us to know directly through experience, rather than becoming reliant on others.
A Buddha cannot wake us up; we need a shock which is precisely measured to each individual’s confusion.
There isn’t one word / pill to suit all.
The Dharma Is A Generalisation
The Dharma is a generalisation.
Realisation of the Dharma is personal.
Neither life nor the Dharma are about learning facts;
that is a sleepy view.
Personal experience is alive, awake and constantly refreshing.
If anyone tells you about the Dharma and you accept it as truth,
you will be living their dream.
Because everyone else is doing it,
make sure you know what the it is that they’re doing.
Know the difference between an act and reality
as it can be confusing.
Waking Up To Foolishness
We only wake up when we realise how foolish we’ve been to believe what others say. Realising our ultimate truth isn’t easy, either in the secular or non-secular world. The secular world is only interested in material words for gain. The non-secular world is dominated by religious words for gain.
Words are a biased filter in the mind; actual experience is seeing directly through the eyes, rather than seeing through the ideologies. Well-educated or well-indoctrinated are the same things – being unable to see clearly.
We acquire ideas and then project them as our own, colouring everything that we see. So, we see through a glass darkly. Even if our words are very clever, it’s still second-hand programming, and we get angry and defensive when others don’t believe us. This is so ridiculous, as we now think of disbelievers as an enemy.
When we wake up, we walk alone,
and we are no longer dependent.
Waking up is not complicated; it is just seeing, pure awareness, pure consciousness without any fixed ideas.
In other words, just seeing without attitude,
being neither clever nor special.
Seeing clearly is the clarity of divine splendour.
It is that magnificent.
Splendour: late Middle English, from Latin splendere – ‘shine, be bright’.
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. 