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.

‘Good’ Trauma …?

Trauma is usually associated with unpleasant events or conditioning which leaves it mark throughout our life. They are ‘wounds’ we carry around – fear, anxiety, phobias – and this gives us the potential of being able to empathise with others’ suffering because we too have felt it.

‘Good’ trauma has the same effect of leaving its mark; good education, a nice upbringing and a good job, giving rise to pride and entitlement … and an inability to adapt to or empathise with the suffering of others. We can have a good start in life, mixing with the nice people and being been told what to do and how to do it, and so we fit in.

But can we deal with the unexpected? This is when we experience fear, anxiety and phobias about dealing with other people outside our spectrum.

Unpleasant trauma is suffering, and is the first cause on the path to enlightenment. 🙂 Never look down on others – even if they feel they are superior – as we all carry around our own burdens.

For those who are ‘happy’, we have compassion.
For those who are unhappy, we have empathy

The Invasion

Invasion: an intrusion into another’s domain.
That domain is the mind.

There are physical invasions, but before that comes the mental invasion – the preparation of the mind by agent provocateurs. In modern terms, this is referred to as ‘undercover operations’ to entice or incite others to go along with an idea without people noticing that their mind and attitude have been altered.

An indication of intruders is that we think this is all normal.

To expel these demons, we have to practise being aware by not reacting. The clarity of meditation dispels darkness. Once we know our true reality – the light of pure consciousness – this illumines all intruders, especially subtle emotions lying in ambush just under the surface, like agent provocateurs …

We need a smoke-and-mirrors alarm
to alert us to any proposal that, when examined closely,
proves to be an illusion.

The Problem With Insightful Statements

Throughout history, there have been many insightful statements – which make no difference to us. They are mainly filed at the back of our mind as clever and interesting, but they don’t change our attitude. This makes words meaningless, which they are until we investigate them personally to see if they are true or not.

Just because a guru says something doesn’t make it the truth. And it’s here that we have a problem. We may have good intentions, but these cloud reality when we jump in with both feet without realising that we’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of wonderland. Believing is not the same as knowing.

Drop everything.
What is left?
Awareness.

What was it we dropped?
🙂

The Highest Form Of Ignorance

“Condemnation before investigation is the highest form of ignorance.”
Albert Einstein

If we condemn others before we know why they think the way they do, we are peddlers of ignorance.

The Buddha said, “Do not take my word for the truth; test it for yourself.”

How do we investigate? We watch the mind at work, and note the effect of likes and dislikes. That which notes has no likes and dislikes; it is just aware. This is pure consciousness. We are the investigator, which is realised as pure observation.

If we ignore this, we condemn ourselves to perpetual ignorance, the root of all evil.

“Those who tell the stories rule society.”
Plato

Before Awareness Is Emptiness

The ultimate teaching.

We open a book and, in the very, very first instant before being aware, before being aware that we are awareness, and before we start reading, emptiness is present. As a note for the uninitiated, the word ’emptiness’ is used as our pure state of being with nothing going on. Finding a better word than ’emptiness’ is difficult; the word shunyata is often used, but the meaning is still ‘an uncontaminated state’.

This emptiness is not something we can get hold of as it’s what we, in ultimate truth, are. Awareness or consciousness is our ordinary state; not knowing this is our deluded state. Shockingly, the ultimate teaching reveals that everything we think to be real is false, and this can be disturbing, to say the least.

“I am not deluded!” The first step to enlightenment is recognising that we are deluded, that we are easily aroused, and that we have become a product of mind, indoctrinated by the unenlightened collective.

Before we notice anything – even before being aware – emptiness is present. Emptiness is our original state. That emptiness is our uncontaminated being of no movement, before we start operating and referring to memories stored in the mind to relate to everything. That’s how relative reality comes about.

It is important to register this sequence.

One of the problems with using words is that what is meant may not come across. The words ‘pureawareness/consciousness’ can be perceived as one thing when, in reality, it is the unity of two extremes. These two extremes are emptiness forgetting awareness, and awareness forgetting emptiness. We either become over-excited and fixated (awareness) or spaced-out and, sorry to say, stupefied (emptiness).

Emptiness and awareness/consciousness
are a unity when realised.

When we become constant practitioners of meditation, this becomes clearer and clearer. It has to be experienced to be verified, and is definitely not an intellectual exercise of hear it, know it.

There is nothing new under the sun
except our change of view.

This may be disturbing because we think we know, but it will come. It takes conscious time, it takes practise. It’s like studying anything; if we do not have a foundation in a subject, things won’t click together quickly – but they will, with perseverance. 🙂

It’s not a learning process to become extra clever and adored;
it’s a process of personal uncovering.

Playing A Part

We all play a character that thinks it’s fixed.

Character: via Latin from Greek kharaktēr ‘a stamping tool’, a distinctive mark, a token, feature, or trait: a description, especially of a person’s distinguishing qualities.

This persona comes from adopting the social I created during our upbringing. It is a reflection of others’ responses to us, and we play that part – “Good boy, stupid boy”. This develops into a persona with distinguishing marks, whether proud, fearful, judgemental, gormless … :-). “Oh look, there’s gormless Tony!” to which I’d reply, “Oh, hello.”

We are none of the above, despite the fact that we assume that character. I did, being fearful and gormless – it’s a personal prison. Self identity is a personal prison, but when a group identifies with some idea, it becomes a collective prison as we all keep in group character on the stage, with ‘a usual pattern of behaviour and motives’.

‘Know thy self’
is to know the behaviour that we have fallen into.

We know in part but, when we know as the enlightened know,
pure consciousness is our completeness.

Thinking And Consciousness

Whatever and whenever we think, consciousness – pure consciousness – is already present. We merely have to recognise this, and realise the significance. It sounds so obvious when we say it, but it’s what we ignore in favour of our thoughts, our memories, not realising that it is these thoughts that wind us up.

This is the difference between dark and light, hell and heaven. Our thoughts are the problem as they are memories – the fixed script that is the dream-state to which we constantly refer. When we live in our dream-state, we cannot communicate as we just project memories at each other. This mind-state, or ego, is not a monster; it is our teacher.

As long we fall for interesting things, we will never awaken to what is actually taking place. In fact, we hardly need to think. When hitting a nail with a hammer, we don’t think about it; we are aware and naturally adjust. Writing this article is merely a matter of describing what is taking place.

We use the words ‘religious’ and ‘spiritual’, but it’s all about consciousness that cannot be found as it’s what we are. The effect of words is just an add-on to that which is indescribable. When realised through meditation of just being aware, we suddenly acknowledge that there is only consciousness present, which is pure consciousness.

We cannot think about this, only realise it.

Staying Alive

Staying alive is staying open to all possibilities in the moment now. It’s not about carrying a load of information around, or being mindful; these are merely devices to remember to be aware.

Awareness itself needs no devices. Staying alive is experiencing the rawness of situations – pleasant and unpleasant – with no judgment in the first instant.

Going to where it’s peaceful and serene is an illusory fix that maintains an illusion. The real peace and serenity is pure consciousness. It’s what we are. Just pause and see.

When we dwell in our thoughts and ideas about those thoughts, we cause movement and agitation, and find no peace – just a dark fossilised place in our mind.

The moment of reality is … not knowing.
What?!

Exactly.
It’s empty cognisant space of what?!

Judging Others From Our State Of Mind

Our personal mind is limited to our perception – the way we see. Whatever we think we know, others will know much more. We judge from mind memories; this merely makes us predictable and reveals everything about us.

To judge whether something is right or wrong, we can use the words ‘beneficial’ or ‘harmful’ from from the point of view of pure consciousness. First, we assess our own mind before judging others. This has been said many times throughout history.

We can make observations,
but our judgement say more about us than whatever we are judging.

Knowing What’s Within Teaches Us What’s Without

A teacher is something or someone whose advice can dispel anxiety, alleviate worry and enlighten darkness, so giving confidence. A mind-wound or trauma from early life may still be present, but now it doesn’t take over our life. Healing starts from within when we realise causes and effects – things don’t just happen. Living with karma is living with the effects of our previous decisions and learning from them.

Teaching isn’t about being obliged to obey a set of rules or conform to the mould; it’s about personal experience and how life is for us now. We are not all the same at the same time. People are imprisoned by opinions that they’ve adopted from others’ opinions. In other words, we live our life guessing. 🙂

‘Dispel’ is an interesting word. We dispel darkness when we are no longer under the spell of the illusory mental fabrications which causes confusion; the outcome of that confusion is the blankness of not knowing. The Dharma (the teaching) dispels darkness through the light of wisdom that is already within. We all know but haven’t learnt to express it, and that’s why we feel uncomfortable.

Expressing what we know is challenging. This isn’t about repeating what others – even a teacher – say. It is realising the essence that connects it all, which results in originality.

Understanding the Dharma – and everything – is the same as understanding the escapement mechanism of a clock, which is the essence of all clocks; this is what connects and drives all the parts.

The essence of pure consciousness is clarity that expresses itself in compassionate effulgence. 🙂

Differing Views Cause Conflict

We may differ on what we see, but we can never differ on pure awareness. People can argue about this and that quite eloquently; humans are very good at making their views believable, but we cannot deny that which is pure observation, before words.

People who object to that have a limited understanding, and won’t be reading this anyway. 🙂

I used to be ‘Buddhist’, but now reflect on the understanding of the Buddha, who reflected on the Vedic understanding of the mirror and reflection of ‘not two’ = non-duality = the unity of opposites.

When someone tries to abuse or criticise us, consciousness brightens, and we feel alert. At that moment, we can either become upset and retaliate, creating duality and more karma, or we can realise that that brightness is pure consciousness, the unity of mirror and reflection – the maintenance of non-duality.

“Not a lot of people know that.”
🙂

Our Minds Have Changed Ownership

Our mind changes ownership when it believes something, and becomes an acquisition no longer able to tell the truth – mundane ‘political’ facts perhaps, but not truth.

We may think we own our mind, but why is it the way it is?
Our mind isn’t what we are.
We are the observation without an observer.
This is only realised in meditation practice.
Mind is a tool – a reactor – and, as such, a teacher.

If we want to know what’s going on in the world, we only need to look into our mind and see how it reacts to names, words and, strangely, music, which create the effect of earworms. Earworms are said to be associated with music, but it’s much more than just that; during the second world war, Goebbels was aware of the power of repetition.

An earworm – or brain-worm – is a catchy piece of music or a saying that occupies a person’s mind, triggering emotional flashbacks long after being played or spoken. Thoughts don’t just happen – pre-bunking (being primed) has already taken place.

Never take anyone’s word as truth;
test it for yourself.

Does the mind light up, or just accept?

Long-Term Subliminal Reactions

It’s amazing how many non-theistic people say,
“Jesus!” or “Oh my God!”
when something suddenly happens.

What gets in, stays in,
unless we are aware of it 🙂

‘I’ Is A Fiction, And A Misdirection

There is a trap in the English language which we all fall into that reinforces the idea of self. That word is ‘I’, which comes from the Latin word, ‘ego’. In consciousness-awareness terms, ‘I’ means a reinforcement of attachment to a constructed self. This trap creates egoism ie self-interest as the foundation of moral behaviour that we don’t notice in operation. As such, we become immoral because of self-interest, hence the misdirection; the hallmark of this is the arising of emotions.

It’s not easy to shake off! 🙂

Sometimes, we may use the word ‘I’ in a friendly manner, as in “I hear what you are saying”, which sounds better than “There is acknowledgement of your words.” 🙂

Just being aware of the use of the word ‘I’ can help us navigate communication in order to stay objective. First, we notice how much the word ‘I’ is used in everyday conversations to reinforce opinions rather than facts, thus arousing emotions. When we use the word ‘I’, we prop up subjectivity. It’s a mental trap.

On an intellectual level, the word ‘I’ is described as that which is aware, but this actually downgrades or obliterates consciousness, as we vaguely assume that consciousness is something ‘I’ use, but never question what ‘I’ is.

Confused?
I am always confused.
“May confusion dawn as wisdom.”
– Gampopa.

In pure consciousness
– which is spontaneous presence –
there is no time for an dualistic ‘I’.

Try not using the word ‘I’ for a day … Kathie and the person who wrote this article did, and it’s very funny 😀

What If Enlightenment Is Not As It Is Portrayed?

Humans are extremely clever, and extremely stupid; both states are distractions.
What if enlightenment is merely understanding, experiencing and realising the fundamental reality of our natural being, of just being aware for a moment or continuously.

We have heard all the wondrous stories from the past, but do they happen now, in front of our eyes?
Has there been a wondrous Buddha in the past 500 years? What if the enlightened are quite straightforward and natural, and the rest of us are so stupid in our cleverness, when we merely have to transcend confusion by not believing anything.

The point is that we may meditate and think that it’s leading somewhere better, when it’s just a matter of dropping the act, with its repetitive script.

But what about religions?
Humans are extremely clever about making something out of no-thing = empty cognisance.

This simple understanding takes the pressure off,
by us not being taken in by appearances.

We Don’t Want To Be Taken In

All beings are perfect in essence but, through ignorance of this reality, we became embodied in a form, being taken in by the measure of our uncontrolled fixations and emotions. We can see ourselves walking, talking, squawking in this atmosphere, and think it’s us.

There is nothing mysterious or fanciful about our true reality; it’s quite simple. There’s no need for long term mantras and chants in a special language. There’s no need for special clothing that separates us from others, and there is no need to be in conflict with anyone.

In reality, we don’t belong to dualistic belief systems; we are free beings, but we’re wrapped in karmic clutter of self-cleverness. The result of clinging to the collective historical clutter is a mountain of utter clutter 😀

When the term ‘emptiness’ is used, it refers to uncontaminated knowingness of awareness. That is the clarity we are, right here, right now. It has no name, ergo we have no name.

We are not unique as we are all enlightened nature, but we just don’t accept this. Why? Because of our adherence to a history and culture created by an ignorant world, full of pride and entitlement. This evil intent – selfishness – causes division through a sense of self-importance.

Spirituality and evil are closely linked. How? Those who don’t care have already been taken in. 🙂 People who turn to religion are at a turning point, but can easily be convinced that appearances are more important than essence … taken!

After realising the truth of our being, it’s challenging to see that practically all beings on this planet think they are someone, with a name, family and job – and that’s it.

It is this very understanding that keeps us from being taken in as well. 🙂

Never Underestimate Stupidity

Never underestimate how much stupidity there is in the world. Enlightened beings are walking around everywhere, but don’t know it. When evidence beyond ‘normal’ thinking is provided, stupidity asserts itself because of a stagnant view in a confined mental atmosphere.

The evidence of stupidity lies in not knowing what we are. The opposite to stupidity is wisdom. The evidence of wisdom is the recognition and knowledge of what we are.

The chance of meeting someone not stupid is rare. Recognising that we have been stupid is the first step towards enlightened wisdom, just before we switch off again. 😀

The practice is remembering that we are pure consciousness stuck in the mud of concepts which have no reality.

The Pointlessness Of Protest

Protest merely maintains the existing structure.

When we protest, we activate, and promote division: “We can’t let them win!”? Either way, ‘they’ win, by the maintenance of the status quo, which refers to the current state of social structure or values. This policy of debate (protest) is to maintain things the way they have always been, and this is why people turn to alternative ways of thinking (religion) that results in more of the same.

The Reformation was a protest against perceived wrong doings by the Catholic Church. The followers of Luther and Calvin became known as Protestants, because of their “protesting.” The same with the Cathars, and the Inquisition … all were heretics against the establishment. Communism uses the same tactics of persecution of individuals who dissent.

Of course, we may disagree with the over-elaborations and complexity, but all we have to do is let go. We’re not going to change it. All through the centuries, there have been convoluted forms created – especially in religion – where those who regarded these elaborations as counter-productive protested. Retaliation was extremely heavy-handed, and included torture and death. Nowadays, it’s media assassination, and the crowds take sides.

If a structure no longer satisfies, it is we who must move on, rather than trying to change the situation. The structure/organisation will simply dig its heels in and refuse to change opinions or plans, especially when someone is trying very hard to make them do so.

This how the ‘Yanas’ or levels work;
we refine understanding, and move on to higher realms.

Protesting and shouting slogans/cliches is part of world slavery. There has always been a ‘power’ on Earth that thinks it’s entitled and divides people to maintain its position.

“Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.”
This phrase was first used in 1650 by the politician, Anthony Weldon.
We should learn from others’ deceptions.
If we don’t, we’re only have ourselves to blame.

Fairness isn’t part of the status quo, unfortunately.
Voting is just organised protest.
🙂

Democracy Is An Illusion

Democracy is an illusion. As all opposites are a unity – you can’t have one without the other – so is government. The two main parties are two sides of the same coin, and other parties are smaller currencies (loose change 🙂 ). Some countries have a blatant one-headed coin.

The illusory sides work to maintain a single agenda of divide and conquer through the illusion of argument and disruption. Science and religion are the same, each dictating the way to go and creating opposition. There are ‘two’ news systems each describing a situation according to one of the ‘two sides’ of democracy. We believe we’re part of this illusory circus … but we’re not.

We have to get our minds straight about the way in which we are dictated to, in the guise of freedom of choice. This trap that we live in is all in the mind; it’s a constant world war on consciousness. Whatever we are led to believe is going to happen has already happened; the usual weapon is delay by conjecture, when decisions are not transparent, and the public don’t find out until the perpetrators or generation have died. We cannot use our usual intelligence to out-think this manipulation,because we think too small.

The only way out is realising that we are consciousness itself, outside manipulation. We step out of this one-ring circus by not believing what we see, while knowing the consciousness that is seeing. Suddenly, we see everyone rushing around like hungry ghosts, believing in this and that, while we remain in the stillness of pure awareness, watching the movement like a zoescope*. We stop being an audience which claps at the entertainment.

The status quo is maintained to keep humanity in waves of oscillating confusion. In fact, the true nature of all beings is the stillness of pure awareness, but they are unaware of this.

We can stop at any moment and, through practice, rest there. This doesn’t mean we don’t know what’s going on, but we are no longer fixated by it.

Democracy is the illusion of a self taking sides with something that doesn’t exist 🙂

*Zoescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2t9ttUcLmo
The mesmerising illusion that many people can sit around and be entertained.

Becoming Dependent

Everything is up for interpretation, depending on our perception; perception depends on our experiences, and experiences depend on our environment which, in turn, depends on the collective thinking. What we digest, we become.

It takes close investigation to realise why we think and act in the way we do.

How do we become independent?
We go beyond thoughts, and drop our addiction.

How?
Realise that we are only pure awareness.

How?
Meditate, and then drop it.

How?
See for yourself.

Addiction To Information

Evil is that which obscures our reality and, by doing so, causes harm. This happens through being addicted to enthralling information, arousing insatiable curiosity.

All information creates a formation in the mind. It’s a form of hypnosis, and can be introduced as double-speak, having opposite meanings which causes confusion. Deception has a whole range of weaponry.

Doublespeak: deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words can be euphemisms, jargon, gobbledygook, bureaucratese, and inflated language; each is used in business, advertising, medicine, government, and the military.
Inform: Middle English ‘give form or shape to’, also ‘form the mind of, teach’.
Addiction: to become dependent.

We’re all addicted to information or news. News is not truth; it’s about the state we are in due to past information, and perpetuates the vicious cycle of existence. Evil intent wants to keep us dependent in every walk of life; it is only when we are independent that we can think outside the box and be free of addiction, vertical thinking, exoteric thinking.

We are the secret of life, of pure consciousness trapped in an illusory cycle of existence. It is that terrifying.

At the moment, we’re buried deep in concepts and have, unwittingly, become addicted to others’ interpretations of information. Waking up from this is also terrifying, as we see for the first time what we – and everyone else – have been doing.

No Off Switch

Most people cannot turn their self off.
If we cannot switch off, we find no peace.

When, in meditation, we do switch off, we come to stillness.
The silent awareness of consciousness.
Short moments many times.