Walking In Others’ Shoes

Let’s say you dislike a group of people and their way of life intensely. They, in turn, dislike you and your way of life. This situation is due to our ideas about others’ religion, culture, politics … and each side believes it’s right.

What if our mind is filled with so much dislike that, due to karma, we were then born into the very group we disliked. Wouldn’t we then be disliking the people we used to be? 🙂

Dislike is the karma we carry with us. Liking too much is also karma, which could be why we’re so easily addicted to certain things or ideas.

We live on a precarious tightrope when we ignore this, and continue in a vicious cycle of samsaric existence of me, my likes and my dislikes, all because of a self-identity that forgot it is pure consciousness.

When we identify with and obsess about others’ ideas,
we walk in others’ shoes.

Our true reality is pure consciousness,
sans likes, sans dislikes, sans everything.

We Are More Than Just Recording Machines

A recording is a repetition which is acceptance without verification.
We are more than just recording machines;
we have intuition.

Intuition: the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning, denoting spiritual insight.

We are intuition itself,
because insight is pure consciousness, which is intrinsic wisdom.

We Don’t Have To Be A Prophet To Be Prophetic

There is nothing new under any sun.

Here’s one prophecy:
Governed by their likes and dislikes, people will ignore their true reality.

Here’s another:
If we become reliant, we will adopt others’ ways of thinking.

And another:
Hell is the thoughts in our mind. Heaven is the clarity of mind.

Being a prophet is just using common sense, rather than being a good story teller. Nobody walks on water and nobody flies in the sky, but people prefer belief, rather than relying on simple reasoning.
In fact, the simpler the reasoning, the less they understand because of belief in ‘miracles’.

We go to ‘holy’ places to seek realisation, when the wholeness we are searching for is our true essence of pure consciousness, which is here, now.

If we’re looking for miracles,
we will be given with a string of stories.

When we lose our reality in the mud of concepts,
it will be found in meditation

Nitpick Yourself

Instead of finding fault with others,
first seek out your own faults.
“Seek and you shall find.”

Having identified our faults,
we can empathise with how others got theirs.
Every emotion that they’ve ever felt, we have also.

It’s not fair to nitpick others when we don’t nitpick our self.
When we have nitpicked our self,
no one can nitpick us as we’ve already done it,
and there is nothing left to defend.

Once you get a glimpse of the Great Perfection – Dzogchen –
try the Great Nitpick.

😀

Pure Awareness Can Never Be Wrong

Ideas and beliefs can be wrong,
but pure awareness is never wrong.

It is this that people cannot understand.
Prove pure awareness wrong …

We Are Coaxed Into Ignoring

We are coaxed into ignoring that we are, in reality, the essence of pure consciousness.

Why are we coaxed? In favour of a belief system. Why? Partiality controls people with an incomplete picture that stimulates our imagination. This is the reason that the world is in the state it’s in; we try to influence one another to take a side, and condemn those on the other side. Separation is the madness in this world.

Over-reaction turns people against one another, transforming opposition into dislike, and dislike into hatred, which is intense dislike – all because of beliefs that we unload onto others.

Like and dislike are ideas we carry around as banners of righteousness; they aren’t the same as knowing what is beneficial and what is harmful to the mind and body in the moment now.

The only sanity is what we all have in common, and that is consciousness, the pure view in the moment now of just seeing without judgments, sides or colours. In pure consciousness, no beliefs are present. It’s the moment of unconditional oneness, which we lose the instant we fire up our likes or dislikes, and forget our commonality.

A strong mind is an empty, cognisant mind
– not predictable, and full of potential.

Empty cognisance (open space) is filled with possibilities, and is the opposite to holding the preconceived ideas which make us disagreeable and predictable. When we become worked-up about other people, it is we who are a danger to others.

The thing that is o
f utmost importanceis recognising what we all have in common
– rather than our different beliefs.

Deliberate Avoidance

Deliberate avoidance is shunning a fact as being an enemy.
This is just another name for ignorance.

Avoidance is the result of our fear of not knowing, when we pretend that the other side of a narrative doesn’t exist for fear of being influenced. If we ‘bury our head in the sand’, we give out a signal of a lack of perception or awareness, which is ignorance.

The ultimate fact or truth doesn’t lie in one side or another;
it is in unbiased, panoramic vision – just seeing.

Ultimately, panoramic vision of pure consciousness is our starting point, rather than relying on a preconceived an idea or opinion formed before having the evidence for its truth or usefulness.

Basically, avoid ignorance
😀

All You Need To Know

You are all you need to know.
You are the pure knowingness of consciousness,
which is mind essence.

We have all ignored this
in favour of ideas programmed in our mind.

With realisation, we see the world differently,
free of speculation, mysteries and devilment.

Follow The Science? Follow The Teaching?

This an extract from yesterday’s UK Covid enquiry:
‘Professor Vallance (top scientific advisor) admitted there is “no such thing as ‘the science’”. “Science, by its definition, is a moving body of knowledge that tries to overturn things by testing the whole time,” he said.’ The Government said it was about a consensus that supported its political agenda!

The very same can be said of the Buddha’s teachings.
There is no such thing as ‘the teaching’. Spirituality, by its definition, is a moving body of knowledge that tries to overturn things by testing the whole time. If we think we are supporting a consensus – Buddhism – we will forget the Buddha’s words, “Do not take my word for the truth; test it for yourself…”

This is why we use analytical meditation.

Does the Buddha’s teaching work?
What do the words mean?
How do emotions obscure clarity?
Am I controlled by pride …?

What is enlightenment?
What is self?

What is the reason humans just accept what they are told?
What is asking these questions?

… silent reflection …

Only you can answer these questions.
Once you get an answer, ask again … and again …

(and then write a blog! :D)

Can You Laugh At Your Self?

Does your old self make you feel ‘icky’ … unpleasantly sticky?

We all do and say daft things that we picked up from others. It’s not our fault – unless we keep doing and saying the same daft things.

There are two ignorances: one where we ignore our true reality, and the other where we maintain this ignorance.

When we are honest, we can laugh at ourselves, and when we do this, the world laughs with us.
If we take our self seriously, we isolate our selves.

Just Functioning

Most humans function on a limited level of existence. In fact, we are malfunctioning. If our only concerns are family, career, entertainment (which include politics, technology and religion), we are merely going round in circles, repeating the same experiences. We live on memories – the nostalgic programming of the familiar – and the way in which we relate to things shows our history of relative reality.

The problem is that we are unable to break out of this cycle of existence until we recognise that it is causing us anxiety and suffering. We do not realise our full potential of being enlightened – Buddha-like – and live dream-like instead.

To function properly to our full potential, we need to be open-minded, moment by moment, rather than merely claiming, “Oh, I’m open-minded.” That’s easy to say. Being open-minded in every moment is fresh, and means not relying on assumptions … ever.

This is the difference between vertical thinking, which uses conventional logic, and lateral thinking, which is viewing in a new and unusual light.

In other words,
we live either within the dim light of ego
or the brilliant splendour of pure consciousness.

The path to enlightenment is the discipline of detachment
in the moment when we recognise attachment.

All encounters on our path are relative situations, revealing how we relate. We can either relate by becoming caught and held, or the situation can become our teacher as a reminder of our reaction which is observed by pure consciousness.

Pure consciousness is fully functioning: full of compassion, full of understanding, full of gentle empathy for others’ predicament.

Malfunctioning: a failure to function normally; being abnormal; deviating from what is normal typically in a way that is undesirable or worrying. Abnormal: from Latin, abnormis ‘monstrous’ 😀

Meditation Is Our Natural State Of Being

When we are not in vacancy or thinking and talking, we are just being aware, open to the elements with the the senses fully experiencing, watchful, able to see clearly and at peace, that is meditation. In this natural state, we can do everything mindfully.

There is nothing religious about this. Nothing convoluted. There is no system, no outer worship, no beliefs – just naturally being aware. That is the innate presence of pure consciousness. It is home, our permanent being.

So what is unnatural, and why are we all confused?
Consciousness doesn’t know its natural state, and so becomes addicted to selected ideas which have no permanent reality.

When we are lost in vacancy, thinking or talking,
we are in our dream state of memories.

Merely notice that which is aware of this dream state,
and there you are, back in natural wakefulness.

We Are An Invention Of The Mind

We are an invention of the mind
… clones of others’ minds.

Are you doing or thinking anything original?

Our only originality is the essence of consciousness.
It’s original because it never changes.

If we understand that, we are on the path to full realisation of the nature of everything.
If we do not understand that, we are merely an figment of someone else’s imagination.

It’s shocking when we realise this! 🙂

Losing Losing Your Temper

Temper: an angry state of mind.
Temperamental: the tendency to behave angrily or emotionally.

The speed at which we lose our temper and become angry indicates the degree of volatility in the mind we are working with. When we lose our temper, we cause havoc. Losing our temper is over-reacting.

Losing that temper:
That temper isn’t us;
it is the state of our mind
– our mind-set.

We can actually lose that temper
by being aware of its effect.
That is precisely why it is our perfect teacher.

This is the work on the path to enlightenment.

When Life Becomes Overwhelming

Remember: nothing lasts, but that which is aware of being overwhelmed.
That – and not what happens – is the secret of life.
Pure consciousness is the only stable truth.

We may look at politics, religion, science to make sense out of life, but these will not satisfy as they all offer different commentaries and conclusions.

Nothing will please everyone, except that which is aware of being.
If we look for something more, we will be overwhelmed by speculation.

Overwhelming Negativity

Overwhelming negativity is due to a closed mind. The meaning of the word ‘negative’ is denial. This can become a cultural meme through the propaganda machine that sees to it that we stay trapped in the illusion of negativity. It’s an illusion, because negativity closes a natural, open mind of clarity.

Negativity creates a cultural dis-ease of living in an illusion of ever-changing ideas and concepts.
The very moment when we recognise this dis-ease, the mind opens to pure consciousness
– but just for that moment.

To stay focused and open, and be able to reason for ourselves, we need personal discipline of non-reaction, patience to allow space to occur and morality of knowing what is truly natural.

The more we notice our negativity, the more positive and naturally open-minded we become.
It stands to reason – it’s obvious.

Can we be overwhelmingly positive?

Being over-positive is having an obsession with ‘positive’ thinking, which becomes toxic when people put a spin on all experiences, in the belief that problems can be solved by dismissing negative emotions and focusing on the positive. This is just an antidote – a temporary measure – as negativity will return.

In truth, this is a negative approach as there is denial that the negative is present. In separating the extremes of positive and the negative, we will never see them as a unity.

In realising the connection between positive and negative,
we don’t become overwhelmed:
we see them as inseparable,
like dark and light or a mirror and its reflections.

Appearances and recognition are simultaneous.

The Qualities Of Pure Consciousness

The very essence of pure consciousness is the quality of clarity. One might say, “Is that all?”

Clarity: Middle English (in the sense ‘glory, divine splendour’): from Latin clarus ‘clear’.

Meditation is a method to open the mind to realise the clarity of pure awareness; when pure awareness is realised, the method is dropped. In pure awareness, there is nothing doing. There are none of the conventional qualities that we may have been led to expect or believe in by religions and the intellectualisation of philosophers. There is just clarity.

Once established in the clarity of pure awareness, the qualities naturally unveil themselves in daily life, and in our ability to relate to things. Pure conscious awareness is our ultimate being: this is absolute truth. When we start relating to things, this is relative truth – but now, these go hand in hand.

Having realised what we are, we also realise that every other sentient being is individual pure consciousness, but hasn’t yet realised it – or is ignoring it for something more interesting, for something ‘better’ to come.

Knowing this, we can have empathic compassion for their dilemma and, depending on our level of ability, we may be able to bring about a sense of balance.

Maybe!
Not everyone is ready,
because they are still living in a hope that divine splendour
has bells and whistles and other additional features.
🙂

The quality of pure consciousness is waking up to the laws of the universe.