Space Is Basic To Everything
The emptiness of consciousness is basic to all sentient beings.
It is pure intelligence.
What more is there to understand?
Oh yes … ignoring this.
When we realise our natural purity is content, never forget it,
otherwise we will continually whirl around,
ignorant that we are this precious space.
Pure Consciousness, Religion and Culture
Mixing them up can cause confusion.
“For where two or three gather together in my name, there am I with them…”
– Matthew 18.12
Who actually wrote this?
‘When two or three are gathered in my name …’, we will have a committee, an inner circle, a religion and division. Religions capitalise on ritual to create a culture that captures the imagination in the mind.
Exoteric teaching: understood by the many – group therapy.
Esoteric teaching: understood by the few – personal realisation.
Religion: to bind.
Culture: cultivation of the mind, and mannerisms.
Pure consciousness: free of mind, and mannerisms that bind.
Meditation is breaking the habit
of identifying with ideas and images.
The Big Screen Meditation
This is the direct pointing out instruction into the essence of mind.
Sit with eyes open, but not staring consciously. Be relaxed, taking it all in. Allow everything to just enter the eyes without focusing on anything, but be aware of all that is taking place. Sit as if there is no ‘perceiver’, just perception. That’s it.
Practice is testing, and then realising.
This is quite ordinary – nothing religious about it.
The big screen is the great view.
Pure perception is pure awareness; it’s what we are.
Is God Just The Universal Principle Of Pure Consciousness?
Pure consciousness has no need to create, as it has no desire.
It is just perfect harmony, at one with all.
That which is unaware of pure consciousness desires to create,
which brings about disharmony and division.
Fortunately, this impermanent creation
is a excellent vehicle to realise what isn’t true!
The universal principle is pure consciousness;
is it that simple?
Is There A True Self?
Certainly.
It has many names, and it has no name.
I call it pure consciousness or pure awareness.
Sometimes, ‘pure consciousness’ sounds like a thing that we have, and sometimes it may sound too aloof. It’s simply what we are. It’s the happiness we seek. It is just that which sees, without attachments. Some call it ‘Atman’ or ‘soul’, so may ask, “Well, is there a God or Brahman then?”
All is revealed through personal realisation of non-fixation. God or Brahman is the universal principle of enlightened pure consciousness. The little self we call ‘me’, has to let go of selfishness to realise its greater pure self, pure consciousness or pure awareness.
In this non-state, words and meaning vanish into non-duality. Those who become stuck on names and -isms, have not reached the oneness (non-duality) of appearance and realisation as a unity.
If we still think that we are part of God or Brahman – or universal consciousness – then we are still deluded in exoteric thinking. The esoteric experience is pure, beyond division.
True self or pure consciousness is true happiness that never changes. If there was happiness in the outer world then, by now, you would have found it. Happiness will only come from that which is complete and absolute.
Pure awareness has no name or form; it is pure knowledge, pure wisdom that is neither created nor destroyed.
It is our expectations and presumptions that give rise to confusion and unhappiness. Pure consciousness is above worldly knowledge. Detachment from the world/phenomena/thoughts becomes our true teacher.
Meditation is awareness that is self-aware. Wherever we go and whatever we do, pure awareness is always present, even when we ignore it. We don’t have to go to a special place – going somewhere special is based on desire. Self-awareness doesn’t have to go anywhere to be happy.
If we don’t realise this, we will wander, and keep searching for what we already are. We need a teacher to help with this realisation but, once realised, we become the self-teacher.
How do teachers help?
A word or gesture – perhaps something unpleasant, as in crazy wisdom.
We learn by seeing what is wrong.
A teacher may irritate us, but that is a constant reminder!
When we see everything as genuinely positive, we are well on our way.
As long as we doubt, we will need a teacher.
Once all doubts are cleared, we are free.
How does a teacher become a teacher? Through study, and practice by testing. It is through the practice of testing that we understand and realise, not by talking and discussing.
When we know true awareness, we know true knowledge.
This is self-realisation.
A lotus flower opens above the water,
as realisation opens above world knowledge.
The lotus does not touch the water.
Those who realise their true essence remain detached from the world
while living within it.
What Is Merit?
Om Mani Peme Hung:
the mantra of compassion.
Generosity, patience, morality, discipline, meditation, transcendent wisdom; the mantra of compassion. The more we gain in understanding these six perfections, the more we gain in good qualities, right understanding, right conduct toward others.
Merit isn’t about how much money we give
– that is desire for reward.
Merit is how much we personally attend to others
– without expectation.
Loneliness Is Only A Problem
Loneliness is only a problem
when we do not appreciate our individual nature.
किं एतत् अधिकं प्रामाणिकं दृश्यते ? Does This Look More Authentic? त्वं यद् अन्विषसि तदेव शुद्धं चैतन्यम्। You are what you seek, and that is pure consciousness. When you know what you are, special words aren't needed.
Believing In God; Not Believing In God
Belief is acceptance without proof.
Believing in God; not believing in God.
Believing in the Buddha; not believing in the Buddha.
It doesn’t matter what we believe, as belief is in the mind.
There are texts for us to reflect upon and practise, to see what is true. If we remain only believing in texts, we do not actually know. Not knowing makes us volatile – to fly off the handle, from Old French volatil or Latin volatilis, from volare ‘to fly’.
When we realise for ourselves what is true, then it is no longer in the mind; we experience the reality and non-reality of everything. This realisation is expressed in our conduct of empathy for all. Empathy is experiencing what it was like just believing rather than knowing.
Our supreme reality of pure consciousness is the very essence of mind.
Some call it God or Buddha or Truth … but it’s never words out there.
Truth is beyond religion.
Truth is that which sees.
Religion makes believers.
Philosophy makes disbelievers.
Realisation makes understanding.
We Do Not Have To Translate Words
We do not have to translate words
when we can translate natural experiences.
How Do We Practise OM MANI PEME HUNG?
If someone tells you, when anger or irritation arises in the mind, to chant OM MANI PEME HUNG as an antidote, they are delusional. An antidote is just a temporary measure. This is the realm of belief.
Knowing what OM MANI PEME HUNG actually means is practical practice. The syllables OM MANI PEME HUNG represent the six perfections of generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration/meditation, and transcendent realisation.
Even knowing what OM MANI PEME HUNG means, there are two approaches. One is where we practise OM MANI PEME hoping to realise HUNG, while the other starts with realising HUNG and using OM MANI PEME to sustain HUNG as the finality of emptiness.
Actually, even if we said, OM MANI PEME NUM but knew what it represents, this is still a superior practice.
There are two types of people in the world: believers and knowers.
This is the difference between theistic (duality) and non-theistic (non-duality) approaches to life (and even Buddhism). In the theistic traditions, we believe in a figurehead, and in their words. In the non-theistic traditions, we do not believe either in a figurehead or the words; we test them to realise them.
Teaching must be tested. Teachers must be tested. OM MANI PEME HUNG must be tested.
Test: a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something, revealing the strength or quality of someone or something by putting them under strain.
OM MANI PEME HUNG
is the challenging path of wisdom and compassion.
Buddha And Christ Had Different Approaches
They may have had the same realisation, but it was expressed differently
– or maybe translators understood differently. 🙂
We can only know what is true when we practise what was spoken.
Do we stay with belief, or do we want to know for ourselves?
We are the translators!
Through realisation, we can explain the meaning.
Of course, others will have their own approaches.
As Long As People Believe In Something
As long as people believe in something,
conflict is inevitable
Conflict happens when we take sides.
For ordinary people, taking sides is what they do, but as seekers of truth, we have to remain impartial, even though we see both sides. There is always a cause and an effect that creates another cause. Every event has a history.
The true essence of all sentient beings is neutral pure consciousness. It’s our happy place. When we ignore this happy place, we suffer, because we lose our balance. All beings embodied in a form experience suffering of some sort, change being one.
If we ignore why others suffer,
what kind of being are we?
Well, we’re definitely not a kind being.
I do not believe in the Buddha – any Buddha.
Nor do I believe in their words,
but test their words and live by that experience.
In the Garden of Eden, there were two sides;
both has a point of view about good and evil.
New Mind And Old Brain
When we learn something ‘new’, it may take a while for our old brain to catch up, if ever. 😀 That is why we have inner conflicts.
Through experience, the brain acquires pathway/memories/feelings, and the mind saves and creates a library of words and images. These become heavily ingrained as habits, and can limit further understanding. It’s just one of those problems in sentient life.
When seeking knowledge about our reality, we may find it difficult to understand a new approach, because we are stuck in our old established way of thinking, and that unfortunately causes us suffering.
Practice makes perfect, and practice needs tenacity, and tenacity needs a reason. A reason needs dissatisfaction with established ways. The result is direct realisation, and not merely something learnt in order to maintain our pathways, and our same old predictable responses.
The key is that we must want to change
because we see the need to change.
Being Adaptable
Adaptable: able to adjust to new conditions.
Being adaptable means not being fixed. Being fixed is being one-dimensional, unable or unwilling to see all sides.
The Dharma has to adapt to a particular period in time. Dharma itself is timeless; our true essence is timeless; the universe is timeless. Timeless means it is constant, and does not run out.
The essence of Dharma has no sides, and therefore our true essence has no sides. Pure consciousness has no bias. This is why we can constantly adapt to causes and conditions.
Religion is fixed.
Spiritual consciousness cannot be fixed
as it is not a thing,
and has no temple, no land.
Fixation causes inflexibility, creating enmity.
Being adaptable is staying fresh, balanced, impartial and kind.
Beyond Religion
When it comes to pure awareness, nothing is more real. It is real because, being real, it is empty cognisance that never changes. All phenomena change, including ideas, but pure awareness or consciousness does not.
Like infinite space, pure conscious awareness is never born and never dies. It is only through ignorance of this basic truth that consciousness takes on a new body, commensurate with its karmic tendencies.
As we progress in our training, we become more refined. Generally, we cannot remember previous lives, but we find that we have strong tendencies which feel natural to us, but maybe not to other members of the family.
The new mind and body we will enter won’t remember us now, but our tendencies will carry over, and we can re-establish our heart’s desire – whatever that is. 🙂
This is a psychological event, beyond ‘psychology’ and religion. Religion is a vehicle, but once we know where we are going, we have already arrived. This realisation merely needs to be stabilised.
Our next body won’t remember us,
but will be grateful for natural understanding.
It’s Obvious
The more we look, the more we see.
The more we drop what we see,
the more we are able to see
(holding on limits complete understanding).
When we drop all that we see,
all we are left with is pure awareness
(ready for the next fresh moment).
Not many people get this
(not many want to).
Pure awareness has nothing to do with religion.
Religion is a vehicle to go beyond religion
(it’s obvious; don’t get stuck).
What If This Blog Is Wrong?
How would you know?
To know is to be absolutely certain through observation.
If you are absolutely certain, free of doubts, then the observation is pure.
It is not a question of being certain about some thing;
it is being absolutely certain that pure observation is taking place.
“There are no absolutes!”
Are you absolutely sure?
Are We Made To Believe?
Are we made to believe in a deity or a self?
Either way, these are merely ideas.
When we believe anything, we are caught up in an illusion, a duality, a conundrum that creates confusion … “Is there or isn’t there?” Once we agree to believe, we can be encoded to believe anything.
Non-duality is pure awareness with no identity.
That is what we are.
Sitting in room, there is just the room,
without relating to a deity, self or ideas about phenomena.
Pure awareness is the ultimate truth we seek.
It is not make-believe as, by it, everything is known.
We will all wake up
– but not at the same time.
We are not all one consciousness, otherwise when one person realises their true reality, we all would. That doesn’t happen. Even Buddhas can’t do that, but they leave clues for us to piece together. 🙂
Defilements
Defilements: our personal demons in the mind.
To ascend the levels of realisation to enlightenment, we have to eliminate the spoils in our mind.
Through generations of misunderstanding, karma affects our attitude right now. Pure consciousness
(what we are) can never be defiled, but it sees through a veil of self-possession in the mind that produces negative consequences.
There are many descriptions of these defilements but, as we progress, each become more obvious, more dominant in the games we play to justify our attitude.
All we have to do is be aware of their hindering factor, and how uncomfortable we feel. These defilements will gradually dissolve, but will still leave a ghost residue for a while, for us to be aware of. Some will naturally drop away, where we realise that we don’t react that way any more.
We all feel uncomfortable about certain situations with people; this is evident in what we say, or don’t want to talk about. Eliminating defilements is an opening up, being less fearful, and more willing to meet others’ minds; love without expectations.
We let go of anything that is no longer needed, like our mental crutches of memories. Memories merely bring up those defiling demons. 😀
We are talking about the path of a Bodhisattva.
Bodhisattva Vow
This the vow to work for the benefit of others is not taken lightly. There are nine levels of bodhisattvas, up to enlightenment. Taking this vow means one’s life will never be the same again.
Bodhisattva Vow
Just as the earth and the other three elements, together with space,
eternally nourish and sustain all beings,
so may I become that source of nourishment and sustenance which
maintains all beings situated throughout space, as long as all have
not attained peace.
When the Sugatas of former times committed themselves to the Bodhicitta,
they gradually established themselves in the practice of a Bodhisattva.
So I too commit myself to the Bodhicitta for the welfare of beings,
and will gradually establish myself in the practice of a Bodhisattva.
Today my birth has become fruitful; my birth as a human is justified.
Today I am born in the Buddha family; I am now a child of the Buddha.
Now I am determined to perform those acts appropriate to my family;
I will not violate the purity of this faultless noble family.
Just as a blind man wandering about comes upon a jewel in a heap of refuse, so, apparently by chance, the Bodhicitta is born in me.
That supreme amrita destroying death.
The inexhaustible hidden treasure relieving the universal poverty.
The supreme cure for calming the universal ill.
The tree which shelters beings weary of wandering the paths of samsara.
The vehicle for all travellers passing over distress.
The moon of mind which cools the heat of desire.
The great sun dispelling the obscurity of ignorance.
The butter made from churning the milk of the Dharma.
The great happiness for those travellers wandering the path of samara,
searching for objects of enjoyment.
In the presence of all the Buddhas, I have invited all the Tathagatas
and all beings as my guests. Devas and Asuras rejoice.
.
.
“Taking the Bodhisattva vow is an expression of settling down and making
ourselves at home in this world. We are not concerned that somebody
is going to attack us or destroy us. We are constantly exposing ourselves
for the benefit of sentient beings. In fact, we are even giving up our ambition
to attain enlightenment in favour of relieving the suffering and difficulties of people.
“Nevertheless, helplessly, we attain enlightenment anyway.
Bodhisattvas and great tathagatas in the past have taken this step,
and we too can do so. It is simply up to us whether we are going to
accept this richness, or reject it and settle for a poverty-stricken mentality.”
-Chogyam Trungpa.
Is The Universe Conscious, Or Is There Consciousness In The Universe?
It’s for the individual to decide.
🙂
There is, however, a third option; the laws of nature.
The laws of nature are both gross and subtle.
The gross are understood by all sentient beings.
The subtle are understood by a few.
The gross laws are attraction, judgement, and indifference = unconscious of the subtle laws of our true reality. When we walk into a room full of people, we see these laws come into action clearly.
The subtle laws are emptiness, cognisance, and compassion = conscious of true reality and the gross laws. When we walk into a room full of people, we just walk into a room.
In gross laws, we take sides = ideas in the mind that start wars.
In subtle laws, we do not take sides = the essence of mind, pure consciousness, cannot start a war.
“But there are injustices in the world,
and I don’t like my neighbour,
I like nature …
I’m not bothered about consciousness!”
There will always be injustice caused by gross sentient beings clinging to their likes and dislikes, indifferent to their and others’ true reality. Once we realise that the essence of mind is pure consciousness, then whatever we do in the world will have that one taste.
If we think that there is a universal consciousness out there which we are part of, how is this manifesting in us? How do we know if consciousness is good? Goodness is clarity, that’s all.
Does the universe care about you?
How I Capture ‘Evil’ Mice
When we know evil’s ways, we are free of their terrorising.
We live in an old property, with wooden cladding over the brickwork. If anything is left leaning against the outside wall, the mice climb up into the cavity between the wood and the bricks and find their way into the house.
Having observed the ways of the mouse, which uses scent in the darkness, I cut a small section of the floorboards in the upstairs bedroom and placed a humane trap in it, laced with peanut butter. All the evil mice make their way to this trap – they can’t help themselves – and in the morning, I take them for walkies.
The evil mice are not getting the better of us, and are a constant reminder not to leave anything leaning against the wall.
In this way we can define the unity of heaven and hell;
we can’t blame the mice for they know not what they do,
but that can remind us of our lazy habits. 🙂
The ways of the evil keep us alert.
😀
The Garden of Eden Is Interesting
We have to know what is good and evil, right and wrong, beneficial and harmful. There can be no guessing. Our level of understanding dictates our morals; they shouldn’t be based on our likes and dislikes.
The Garden of Eden is interesting. God didn’t want man to know good and evil. Not have morals?
The ‘serpent’ is a metaphor for wisdom, and gave instruction. Good and evil is the difference between knowing and believing. Believing delays knowing, ergo belief is evil as belief is not knowing.
Thousands of years ago, humanity was divided by belief, and most fell for this. Why? It’s easier to become dependent on others’ views, than to take personal responsibility.
If we don’t know what goodness is,
how can we have morals?
Realising this can shock the mind into understanding that
we are both good and evil.
“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.”
– Tsoknyi Rinpoche 1st
The Nature Of Mind
The nature of mind, or the essence of mind, is pure consciousness.
That is our essential being.
It is the empty atmosphere of uncontaminated clarity, while thoughts whirl in turmoil within this space, contaminating our mind.
It is our belief in and fixation upon these contaminants that causes us subtle suffering, because we believe these thoughts to be what we are – our self.
Inner space and outer space are pure emptiness.
Inner space is in conscious harmony, at one with everything.
This is non-duality; appearances and recognition are simultaneous.
In this way, the essential nature of mind
becomes the nature and energy of compassionate empathy.
Why Do I Talk About Belief So Much?
To engage in anything, we first have to trust or believe that the information may be correct. If we merely go through the routine of belief, we just repeat the information. I’ve spent fifty or so years in ‘spiritual’ practices, and they all depended on belief – I didn’t actually know. Why not? I had become dependent on the teacher, and assumed that I didn’t know enough, so kept going back. The truth is in the Buddha’s words, “Do not take my word for the truth; test it for yourself.” So I did just that, and no longer have to believe!
We all become dependent on the figure-head, and the figure-head encourages the dependency. I’m saying this because I’ve never met anyone with enough empathy or confidence to talk to about belief and actual knowingness. They were all adherents to words and rituals.
Beyond belief – any belief – is pure consciousness, which is exactly what we are. Why would we believe anything when we know what we are? Anything ‘other’ is belief; an illusion.
It is here where we can truly define good and evil.
Why do we believe?
We choose to believe, or are led to believe something.
We don’t want to be the last to believe;
we want to be in the in-crowd,
the inner circle, the ones in the ‘know’.
It’s where the praise and glory is.
This happens in all walks of life.
Delay is the tool of evil because belief delays knowing. Why? Because we are intellectually lazy. We want to appear to know, and we learn all the ‘information’ without actually knowing. Information is flawed when it doesn’t get to the point immediately. Belief is superficial fluff, and it’s unreliable.
Once we know beyond words, we can immediately pick up when something doesn’t smell right. Belief isn’t the complete story, and therefore censorship is at play.
When we collude with a belief, we group-lie, and stand on thin air. This is the death of evidence-based spirituality. The evidence is in actual seeing without bias or comment – just pure consciousness. When pure consciousness is experienced and realised, there are no doubts.
The evidence is here now, but we take no notice/ignore, and continue to chant gossip and bang our drum (louder gossip).
Belief is the first law of ignorance; the belief in an I.
It’s not what we are.
Wake Up Before It’s Too Late
The Global Attempt To Control Humanity
Think it’s not possible?
You and your government will have no choice, no free speech, no voice of objection.
Listen to this short video by Philipp Kruse at the Health and Democracy Conference, 13th September, 2023 EU Parliament Strasbourg regarding new proposals by the WHO:
The imposition of global restrictions.
Impact on countries’ sovereignty and people’s self-determination.
Granting self-authorisation and the ability to impose measures on people.
Total control through monopoly on information.
Violation of the principle of informed consent.
Imposition of diagnostics, assistive products, and gene-based therapies.
The Problem With Being Enthusiastic
The problem with being enthusiastic:
it puts people off.
🙂
People have to come to the realisation of their true reality in their own good time, and that will depend on karma – the result of previous actions and tendencies. It’s better to do this sooner rather than later or we’ll miss the boat, and die in oblivion.
The world is in a very dark place, but some people are actually waking up to this – not by waking up to injustices, as those scenarios are merely accelerators of darkness – but by genuinely asking inner questions, and not just reading and assuming they know ‘something’.
Those who want to control everything
will not like this new-found freedom,
and so will instigate restrictions and censorship.
As the majority complies with these dictates, the situation isn’t going to change any time soon, but those who have eyes to see will not die in oblivion.
The problem with talking about such things to the unaware is that it seems ludicrous, and they go back under the blanket. This isn’t their time. Feeling uncomfortable is subtle suffering, and for some, it’s excruciating. The blankets don’t help; they only muffle. 🙂
Be ready sooner rather than later.
Take a hold of yourself
– get control of your thoughts and emotions –
Occult
Occult: to keep secret, to hide, to conceal …
… the truth.
There are no mystical, supernatural or magical powers;
these are illusions.
It is truth that has been kept a secret.
Why?
Creating belief in ‘magical’ powers exaggerates belief.
The absolute truth is that we are uncontaminated awareness beyond mind and body. We are the pure light of consciousness, and always have been. When this is realised, we are free from mystical supernatural, magical powers, and corruption.
Thousands of years ago, these fantasies were expertly conjured up to deceive people by creating the magical mystery industry which promoted an idea of ‘good’ and ‘evil’. We all like a goody-baddy story, don’t we? With the cool dude who wins the day? We watch and become caught and held – but the subtle message is that good and evil are out there rather than within, and we all fall for it.
The occult is the truth within.
Talk about the ‘truth’ only goes so far, but soon morphs into names and appearances again. When we realise that the form-of-appearances is not the real thing, the secret is out. The authentic practice isn’t rituals, but direct experience of nowness beyond religious elaborations. Nowness is ordinary clear seeing, clear light.
We live in a virtual reality of projections in our mind. Our attention is constantly being diverted and confused. Divide and conquer, and evil wins. Evil likes a ‘good’ polemicist; a person who engages in controversial debate.
Whatever we may think evil is,
it is many steps ahead of our ability to think
because it practises more!
🙂
Evil can out-think the masses as it’s busy, day and night.
Wisdom can out-think evil, as evil is seen being busy, day and night.
Wisdom is occult.
Evil is pseudo-occult.
😀
Evil can fool most of the people most of the time … but not all.
The Simpler It Is
Is: being present.
That is what we are.
It has no name;
some call it pure cognisance.
The more we experience being present, the simpler realisation becomes. Teachings are all about this moment that always is, and whatever obscures it. ‘Spirituality’ can spoil it, and meditation can spoil it when we make a big deal out of it.
‘Spirituality’ attached to religion can become pretty complicated, where we do this, and this, and this, and get lost in centuries of comments. We do not find our way back by learning all the comments; we realise the simple essence – that we are what we seek.
In this day and age, we should start by knowing what the end is, otherwise we may follow others’ culture and become caught up in the form, forgetting the essence. Every culture has its form and that is good for stability, but we each have our own culture and language to work with (even though it may seem pretty crazy).
If we read the word ‘Dharmakaya’, we have to translate it into our language, and then experience it as uncontaminated emptiness, or gap … but we don’t need to seek this. We are this already.
Meditation is the method. Once we calm down into simply being, we drop the meditation, only to return to the method when we forget. When we know, we don’t have to keep knowing! 🙂
Samsara (the vicious cycle of existence) is complex.
Nirvana is simply seeing Samsara as a reminder of just seeing – pure cognisance.
In this way, everything is teaching.
Ergo, Others’ Minds Are Lying To You
This is mostly unconscious, as it’s a continuity of collective ignorance or indifference to our actual reality of pure consciousness.
We do, however, consciously exaggerate to prove our point, but all we’re doing is building a picture to believe in and maintain.
Realisation is the understanding that we have woken up in hell and, at that moment, the exaggerated mental projections are seen as illusions.
Dante’s Inferno describes hell;
“In the middle of the journey of our life,
I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.”
It’s where we are now
– and is the beginning of our journey.
We realise that this self is not what we are, and that is a moment of enlightenment. Our practice now is to remember the straight way, and not to be lost. This is related to our conduct.
Formation: The Power Of Suggestion
Formation: the action of forming or process of being formed or moulded.
How? By neurolinguistic programming (NLP) = information delivered in a certain way that forms the mind – and forms us – through selected words and images. It’s never a lie; it’s just selected, and mixed with a load of boring stuff that dulls and confuses the mind. That’s what hypnosis is all about; the power of suggestion – when people are suggestible, they will believe anything. It’s not magic, it’s psychology.
Something unusual is brought to our attention and, for a moment, we are flummoxed. If anything out of context happens at that moment, we become vulnerable, confused and susceptible to suggestion, and that is how we acquire pseudo-knowledge, pseudo-spirituality. Conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs, we build our story, our dream state, our placebo and nocebo.
Pseudo: from Greek pseudēs ‘false’, pseudos ‘falsehood’.
Nocebo: from the Latin ‘to harm’. The effect is the opposite of the placebo effect. It describes a situation where a negative outcome occurs due to a belief that the intervention will cause harm.
Suggestion gives rise to belief that can last a lifetime, and shows a lack of an individual sense of responsibility.
The only thing we can know is direct experience now. This experience is not to be used later, as a similar situation will have a different atmosphere. Memories do not fit all moments, otherwise we would just live on memories – usually others’ memories – and we’d sound ridiculous.
Wisdom is actual experience of reality;
it is just pure consciousness in the moment now.
Belief is a take-away snack.
Wisdom nourishes forever.
With wisdom, we step out of line and pay for it,
but it’s worth it. 🙂
Think enlightenment.
Live it.
Become it.
Getting It Out Of Our System
Getting what out?
The madness of a fragile me.
It’s the reason why we lack confidence and doubt ourselves. Note that we always say “my self”, but we are not this ‘self’ identity. Since birth, we have been downgraded into obedience to The System through education, fashion, music, news, television, religion, films … all of which become ear worms / mind worms in later life. It’s ‘brand’ awareness. Once we become victims, it’s hard to get the system out of our system.
This is exactly why to meditate
– to experience the suffering of mental torment,
and thereby release it.
“It’s not mental torment! It’s my music!”
We cannot talk to people who are in The System …
Once we realise that we are not this feeble self-construct and that we are, in reality, pure consciousness, the question may arise, “Why do I still feel uneasy?”
This is because of a residue from our past (mind worms), and an expectation that our life should be better. Our karmic gearing still needs to be disengaged; if we don’t understand this, we drop back into lack of confidence and doubt, relying on automatic mode.
We still have to pay bills, repair property, mix with others, have our likes and dislikes, but we no longer doubt our essence, even though all those around us are still competing with one another.
The System is built on bullying/competing, where individuals and small groups who take advantage of the rest, habitually intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable. This is how we are subtly confused and divided. Bullying is also called ‘mobbing’, where others will assist to reinforce their system. The System doesn’t like individual free thinkers.
Getting out of The System is understanding The System. But first, we have to acknowledge that we are in it to want to get out. Getting out is accepting that it’s not going to change so we work with it, as it is now our teacher.
The darker the shadows, the brighter the light!
Empathy In Compassion
Empathy in compassion
saves us from ourselves.
Compassion is pity, and creates pride.
Empathy goes far beyond compassion.
Compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. Latin compassio(n-), from compati ‘suffer with’.
If we ‘suffer with’, then two people are drowning.
Empathy is the ability to understand the suffering. Empathy knows, while compassion is belief. The most decent human quality is empathy, knowing how difficult it is to change.
Compassion: The theory of the six perfections: generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration and transcendent wisdom.
Empathy: The actual practice of the six perfections: generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration and transcendent wisdom.
The difference between compassion and empathy: is “Om mani peme hum” chanted as a belief, or is there knowledge of what it means, and is it actually put it into practice?
Doubt, Fear, Aggression, Pride = Instability = Doubt …
It’s all very subtle.
We live in a vicious cycle of existence but don’t know it,
because we don’t want to know.
We prefer to believe in
others’ doubts, fears, aggression, pride, instability…
and the show goes on.
It’s all very subtle.
The media points the finger and we run. Who tells the media which way to point the finger? If we say it’s just a cock-up, we are merely following the finger of not wanting to know … If we want to know, we can trace it back to the conditioning of our ‘self’. What is the arbiter of truth?
We already know!
Arbiter: supreme ruler = pure consciousness.
If we do not know that we are pure consciousness, then unfortunately, we will remain mentally unstable.
What happens when we know?
We then become religious and develop pride!
This is why empathy in compassion saves us from ourselves.
It’s Good To Know
Goodness is just the knowingness of pure consciousness.
It is our natural quality of pure clarity.
This isn’t about how much we know.
It’s about the life force itself
– consciousness –
for without that, nothing would be known.
I was asked, “Why is consciousness good?” We can read too many philosophies and become confused. The pride of competing with others intellectually obscures the unity of knowingness within all of us.
To realise that we don’t know something,
there must be a knowingness present to know this!
It’s that simple.
There Are No Supernatural Events
Supernatural: a manifestation or event attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature: unnaturally or extraordinarily great.
Science: from Latin scientia, from scire ‘know’.
There are no supernatural events, except for the human stupidity of believing in anything without evidence, without knowing. Things only seem extraordinary to those who do not know.
We all live under the laws of nature, both gross and subtle. The gross laws of nature are attraction, aversion and indifference. To those who understand that there are subtler laws of emptiness, cognisance and compassion (which correlate to the three gross laws), it seems extraordinary that we are bound by those three gross laws.
Simply put, our true being is pure/empty consciousness that realises the nature of all beings and has compassion for their misunderstanding.
Pure/empty consciousness is uncontaminated by thoughts of the past. Through attraction/desire, however, we fill up emptiness so that consciousness forgets its purity and attaches itself to ideas in the mind; this creates judgement that creates aversion, and so we lack compassion.
To repeat: to those who do not know, everything is exaggerated as extraordinary and supernatural – we do like elaboration and excitement, and because of this, humans can be manipulated.
The force beyond scientific understanding
is knowingness/consciousness itself
– before anything is known!
Subtle Suffering
Subtle suffering:
Not having (materially and intellectually),
having too much (materially and intellectually),
and feeling the pressure of conditioning.
This is why we feel uneasy most of the time,
and spend our lives conforming, and being moulded.
Pure consciousness cannot be squeezed into something so limited;
for this reason, we feel uncomfortable and suffer.
How Do I Know Meditation Is Working?
Others notice a change.
This doesn’t mean they’ll like it,
as people prefer the familiar.
🙂
Our behaviour may not be perfect as we still have emotions, but now they are guides. We are just more aware, more responsive, more adaptable, more intuitive, more positive, more tenacious – and we could even be more angry. 🙂 All this is energy.
It doesn’t mean we are all smiles; that is for the public face. We are concerned with the situation and pay attention. The world is seen as shocking, in its fixation with taking sides. We see the cycle of things, and this causes conflict as our early traumas are still active.
Meditation works,
because perseverance works.
Light attracts shadows – mere reflections in the mirror.
This realisation is where our power and protection lies.
Empathy is knowing the nature of suffering that cannot be ignored.
This is all about non-duality.
Pure consciousness.
Compos Mentis, Lux Mentis
Compos Mentis: having mastery of one’s mind.
Lux Mentis: light of the mind.
The light is pure consciousness.
We are the light of consciousness.
If we have no mastery over our mind,
we are non-compos mentis: of unsound mind.
If we have no mastery over our mind,
we have no understanding or empathy.
Lux mentis is always present,
but appears dull when obscured by the mind’s ideas.
Simple But Difficult … But Simple
Our true reality is simply pure awareness. Its presence is precious timelessness. We do not have to do anything to know or realise this. So why is it difficult? It’s difficult to comprehend as we attach more importance to the ‘intellectual’ theoretical self-image in our mind than to our actual reality.
We may think that enlightenment is as high as the sky but, in actuality, it’s right here, right now, while we maintain a personal position many fathoms down, stuck in an ocean of mud.
The main problem with realising the simplicity of our actual reality is the way this absolute truth is dressed up in the mud by religion and intellectualisation.
No one directly tell us, “You’re actually in shit!”
Instead, they suggest a sing-along, or chant-along … 🙂
Whether we have good karma from good life-education, or bad karma from bad life-education, we are all in the right position to come to the surface … no higher. With good karma, we are ‘happy’ to stay where we are. With bad karma, everything ‘stinks’ so we want to get out. Why don’t we?
This brings us the the question, “What is evil?” Evil is happy in the mud, and wants everyone else to play there with them. Evil exploits our likes and dislikes, while we ignore our current environment and predicament. We’ve got used to it, and we’re hoping for the tea and crumpets to arrive. 🙂
What is simple?
The moment when we recognise the shitty mud … we are free.
The more we recognise the stench of self-righteousness everywhere, the more we want to be free.
If we see evil as a monster, we make life difficult for ourselves and others. The snake in the Garden of Eden did us favour and instructed us on the path to enlightenment, knowing good from evil.
But what about, “… or you shall surely die?” This means to bring an end to suffering. It’s an upside-down world; the story of the so-called Garden of Eden was written by people who didn’t want us to be aware.
‘Evil’ actually shows us the way,
rather than charming us into staying as we are.
It motivates us.
Funny, that!?
Doubt only arises when we believe others’ apathy.
The Cracks In Evil
Evil has cracks in it.
Goodness is those cracks.
The more we meditate properly,
the wider the cracks.
Meditation Is Seeing Clearly
Ordinary people see with their thoughts and feelings, and so suffer.
Meditation is impartiality, seeing thoughts and feelings and suffering as the path.
Togal, Trekcho, Shunyata, Dharmakaya …
Togal, Trekcho, Shunyata, Dharmakaya …
… all become cliches – overused, and betraying a lack of original experience.
Certain Tibetan or Sanskrit words get special interest, which is very sad as it’s terminology-based as opposed to ordinary, natural experience. Our natural, pure experience can know the meaning beyond words. That is of vital importance, so that we can express experience in our own words for that moment now. This shows empathy and understanding, rather than merely being clever titties.
You know what I mean.
Togal is the gap; trekcho is the moment of the gap; Shunyata is the emptiness of the gap; Dharmakaya is the gap; Dzogchen is the gap; Mahamudra is the gap; Maha ati is the gap …the gap is the clear space observed by pure consciousness where everything takes place.
Repeating words is second-hand reality.
Direct experience is first-hand reality.
The Garden Of No Morals
The middle way is to know both sides, and therefore have full knowledge, free of ignorance. Morals are knowing right from wrong, good from bad, depending on our level of understanding.
If we do not know what is good and what is evil, then we have no morals; even though we may appear to have morals, they are based on our personal likes and dislikes. Confused? It’s meant to confuse.
Why would anyone say, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”?
This would mean that we have no morals at all. Why create beings without morals? This isn’t a good place to start, is it?
Why the threat of, “… or you shall surely die”? That’s a very strange edict laid down thousands of years ago, to which people still cling. Why? Because it is dressed up in regalia. Take the uniforms away, and all that’s left are polished cliches. In the moment now, we have to search for the words to express an actual experience, rather than repeating from memory.
This piece of scripture sends a mixed message deliberately, so that we will not realise that we have always been free to know what we are; pure consciousness, pure awareness that is able to see clearly.
Knowing right from wrong arises within clear seeing,
and not from blindly obeying even a Buddha.
When we test the truth of morality for ourselves,
we know what the truth is.
Remember, Adam wasn’t an enlightened being. We have to work that out for ourselves. The problem is that, initially, we are innocents = pure consciousness, but innocence can become gullible instead of remaining guileless, without deception.
Knowing Good And Evil Frees Us
Not knowing, we live in a fool’s paradise,
enslaved by extreme apathy.
Not knowing, we are not bothered.
Do you see the whole picture?
We’ve become clever primates, scratching one another’s backs, and hoping for something in return.
All the while, pure conscious awareness – for that is what we are and not the body – is caught up in an illusion of reality. All phenomena is impermanent, while pure consciousness never changes.
What is good and evil?
Goodness is seeing clearly without likes and dislikes; the moment of pure consciousness.
Evil is quite simply being caught up in those likes and dislikes.
To function as wise beings, we test to see if something is good or bad.
In over-indulging, we become evil as we never have enough.
Homo sapiens: wise being … not monkey, see monkey do.
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. 
LOOKING THE OTHER WAY ROUND
Looking The Other Way Round
Instead of looking out and just seeing, allow everything to look into you.
It is such an unusual thing to do that there is nothing to comment on.
This is a pointing out instruction that I received from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche some time ago.
It might sound odd (it did to me at the time), but waiting in a hospital triage area for eleven hours recently, ‘everything looking in’ describes exactly how it was. The coming and going and coming and going is merely noted without comment or attitude.
There wasn’t even a feeling of waiting.
No, it wasn’t a vacant state; it was a relief.