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.

The Dharma is Understanding Mara Activity (Evil)

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

Conventional suggests that “Better the devil you know” is something we can put up with it. That is not the meaning here. “Better the devil you know” means that we are prepared.)

If we cannot recognise Mara activity – “Trust me” – we are just a rudderless ship of fools. Mara lies in ambush at every moment when we are absent-minded or distracted. It is active when we cling to ideas and the senses for satisfaction.

When people profess to be ‘good’ and say that we should trust them, this is Mara activity. Good people have theoretical compassion for those afar, but never have time or the ability to connect with whatever’s in front of them. On the other hand, Mara does, by making us competitive.

Mara exaggerates everything. We encounter this every day, and we join in, becoming captivated. Evil can be trusted as it cannot stop itself, and it’s therefore predictable. It’s more difficult to trust ‘good’ people as they put on an act until they are enlightened.

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
😀

We can have empathy for those who suffer,
and compassion for those who are ‘happy’.
🙂

Fashioned to Fail

Each generation is encouraged to complain and rebel against the previous generation that was also fashioned to rebel, so there is a lack of continuity. This maintains chaos, confusion and suffering, which most people ignore; we unconsciously adapt without noticing that we’ve been ‘got at’ and influenced to self-censor by being made to feel wrong.

Thus, the minority prevails over the majority, not realising that each generation is fashioned or shaped by unseen hands. 🙂

Creating an imbalance in society reduces people into being ‘alarmed and distressed”. If we point out these disparities, we can be arrested which, in itself, is alarming and distressing. This is how the world is controlled – believe what we say, or be punished.

We must take control of our minds and not react,
as reactions will be used against us.

Weak people create confusion,
but recognising confusion creates the path to enlightenment.

A Great Mind Or A Wise Mind?

The essence of mind is ethereal pure consciousness without thoughts. When pure consciousness forgets its essence, it clings to thoughts, which creates the characteristic of a self. Consciousness then becomes materialistic.

People admire someone with a ‘great’ mind who invents things or who has skills. When a ‘great’ person dies, people talk about their achievements, rather than whether they realised the truth of being.

Blindly, we try to emulate these ‘great’ minds, and even want to be recognised for admiring them. This a psychological trap of intellectualisation – the world is ruled by clever inventions, after all.

The formulations in the mind can invent beneficial or harmful things, but what is beneficial to one may be harmful to another, as in splitting the atom, adding sugar to food, believing words to be truth ….

Realising the essence of mind of empty cognisance is wisdom,
where nothing is created but by which everything is known.

Wisdom knows.
Great minds know about.

The Same Old Dharma

Dharma is our original reality of pure consciousness. As long as there are sentient beings, there is Dharma. It is timeless, before any books are written. It’s like maths; it wasn’t invented, it was discovered, and then applied for good or evil.

There are many traditions that create forms and vehicles. The traveller has to discover and decide which path to take to the destination of enlightenment.

The journey starts with recognising the confusion that causes us suffering.
Our path is undoing our confusion.

The Undeniable Truth

Truth about a situation is a personal preference,
but the truth about the first instant of awareness
is the same for everyone.

There Is No Stopping Truth

Evil spends its time misdirecting our minds. Once we’re aware of this activity, evil has to move on. Unfortunately, as long as there is a self in the mind, that mind can be manipulated.

Fortunately: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

Unfortunately: “A fool contributes nothing worth hearing, and takes offence at everything.” – Aristotle

Evil observes all sentient beings, collecting data to see our weaknesses in order to misdirect us or give us more of the same.

When this is realised, we are more alert, and thus evil becomes our teacher. That’s why evil can never completely succeed.

The Teacher-Of-All-Phenomena

A human teacher can only help us to recognise and then realise the teacher-of-all-phenomena: that every encounter, and every thought, and every interaction with others is a teaching, by showing us the habitual reactions that cause us suffering. The realisation that we are clinging to any experience is the Dharma in action, which eliminates the suffering of mental anguish.

Before this, teachings are just theories.

Whatever we encounter is due to our past, so every situation is karmic; it’s the result of previous reactions, and is our personal path to enlightenment. Ignoring this recognition is our path to maintaining endarkenment.

It’s not necessary to present the teachings in a religious fashion.
The teachers and the temples won’t always be there.

Always remember that people cannot tell the truth – not even the Buddha.
The truth is the verification through pure experience.

Why Do We Like To Believe?

Remember: belief is acceptance without evidence, which is mistaken for knowing. When we actually know, we no longer have to believe. Proof isn’t written down in a book; proof is personal experience. That is the authority.

We believe because as that doesn’t require us to use much intelligence; we rely on others, because others rely on others. We cannot even trust the Buddha as he said, “Do not take my words for the truth; test them”. 

We doubt, and so we rely on the past. We’re told stories which have a greater impact on our lives than the present moment of experiencing pure awareness. This is living in an ancestral illusion that binds us. Belief is simply entrapment in a system.

In pure awareness, we are open to all views, so when a situation arises, we don’t jump to our habitual conclusions. Being aware of what karma brings up is our path, whether we ascend or not (karma is the situation and our response to that situation). In belief, we go nowhere, remaining in purgatory.

It is knowing that is satisfying and fulfilling. 

We Are Born Infidels – Non-Believers

We are born without belief; we are just aware, playing with our toes. We’re then indoctrinated into beliefs about life in one form or another, and those beliefs become more important than original awareness or pure consciousness – and playing with our toes. 🙂 

Belief is a man-made game with man-made rules of acceptance without evidence. If we don’t believe, we’re called infidels. Doesn’t that sound crazy?

Infidels are non-believers, so are Buddhists infidels?

Buddhism isn’t about belief. It is supposed to be the psychological evaluation of a mind which has adopted ideas that make us crazy. Buddhism should cultivate an ethical and realistic frame of mind in order to refrain from false ideas that create harmful speech.

Pure consciousness is the infidel of our mind
– the observation of all things. 

We are all original infidels,
when we are in our right mind.

Simple, But Not Easy

Our true reality is so simple; we see, hear, smell, taste, touch without comment, experiencing pure awareness and, through meditation, realise that we are this pure awareness. Meditation is the silent method to observe. 

Once we are purely aware, we drop the meditation and just be. That is pure consciousness with no self-identity present. Simple.

It’s not easy, because we habitually claim the seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching with comments, and find it all very interesting. Pure awareness becomes forgotten; we think we are interesting, and consciousness immerses itself heavily into a self-identity. 🙂

It’s a Mara-run world, controlling our minds by encouraging us to react, feeding off our emotions. We have distractions – ‘news-entertainment’ – thrown at us daily, purely because there’s a risk that we can wake up in an instant.

Once we are awake to our reality, 
we can detect any “disturbance in the force/emptiness”.
😀

Knowing Our Problem Is Solving Our Problem

We need to defend ourselves against both manipulation and the resulting reaction in our mind that makes the manipulation seem more real. How do we do that? By noting whether anyone is suggesting or demanding that we change our thinking to suit their way of thinking. This includes everyone as we’re all part of a system. 🙂

Real Dharma isn’t about not thinking; it’s about being aware – being conscious of those thoughts and their effect in our mind which causes us to live a sanitised life of groupthink.

Sanitised: make something more palatable by removing elements that are likely to be unacceptable or controversial.

Being in a group, where we use sanitised language that seeks to clean up the appearance of events through euphemism, and abstract words or phrases, doesn’t mean we’re safe and protected. Euphemism is the art of war, when we just follow a narrative – a story of one side or the other. 

It’s not a matter of agreeing;
it’s a matter of seeing.

Life is then never the same again.

Looking For Secrets?

If we are looking for secrets, we have been misled.

In looking for the ‘good stuff’, we will miss the actual good stuff. The good stuff is in personal realisation and not in others’ words – those are secondhand. 

Whatever is written down is not the truth, whether the words are Togyal, Trekcho, Dharmakaya, Dzogchen, Self, Turiya, Zen, Dao, God, someone’s name …

The absolute truth is the pure consciousness that sees the words and the world around us. That pure seeing is the truth, the obvious secret. We are ethereal pure spirit of consciousness – pure awareness. It cannot be controlled, but only distracted with our consent.

The real shortcut to our reality is in direct experience … just seeing … but that sounds too ordinary so we overlook it.

This is how we’re misled, hoodwinked, deceived, and confused.
It is not “Seek and ye shall find”
(a subtle misdirection).
It is the seeing.

We are ordinary; 
we’re without special or distinctive features; 
we’re not interesting or exceptional; 
we’re commonplace.

There is a sanctity about pure consciousness as something of ultimate importance to be preserved but, if we make more out of it, it becomes a material fascination – which is another subtle misdirection.

Everybody’s Talking About ‘Me’

Everybody’s talking about ‘me’;
they never listen to a word I’m saying
– they only hear echoes in their mind.

Sound familiar?
🙂

It’s Nice To Communicate

It’s nice to communicate, but fear gets in the way. 
If we don’t dare, we can never succeed. 
Communication isn’t about ‘me’ or what I’ve read; it’s about what’s experienced.

Communication: from Latin communicatio(n-), from the verb communicare ‘to share’.

Communication isn’t about what others have said.
Communication is empathy.

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Altruism Without Egoism Is Tricky

Until enlightenment, there will be a little ego to be sociable.
We have a social I. 

Confronting an obsessive ego is tricky as obsessiveness is Mara activity. Altruism has to be skilful, being aware of people’s games. 

In the first instant of an encounter, we neutralise obstructing spirits by not reacting, thus offering an open atmosphere.

What we do then in life is down to our level of perception.

Thinking The Unthinkable

We are created by devilry.
We are devilry’s minions.

There is no actual demonic deity; it’s just the likes and dislikes encoded in our minds that control our behaviour. That’s the devilry at work.

It’s sort of Gnosticism, 
where beings are trapped the material world 
until they regain divine knowledge.

It’s because we are ignorant of our true reality – pure consciousness – that we became diverted into the creation of demonic minds. We only have to look at world history to see that there has been conflict for thousands of years. The history of the world is a history of wars.

If we were created by a loving deity, shouldn’t we love one another? We don’t. We argue about putting things right, while the blind lead the blind and the devil laughs.

When we think the unthinkable, 
everything makes sense.

We Don’t Realise The Problem

Psychopathic entities without empathy confuse the minds of people by presenting opposites, creating those ‘for’ and those ‘against’. It is because we are unaware of this insidious activity that we experience stress.

In each generation, 
cultures are fashioned to maintain instability.

What Can We Rely On?

All phenomena, including thoughts, are temporary events, and therefore have absolutely no reality. We can’t even rely on words as they’re either interpretations of someone else’s experiences, or repetitions of someone else’s translation. 

Everything passes as in a dream, a memory, an illusion of reality. We never stop to wonder whether things are true; we just follow others’ say-so. Whenever anyone speaks, they’re talking from their own personal dungeon of existence, and we use up our lives following others’ social, religious and political ideologies. 

There is only one reality, and it’s not what we think. It’s something we all have in common, and that’s consciousness. On rare occasions, we may meet in pure consciousness, in an instant ofsilent recognition. 

Through ignorance of this experience, however, we revert to memories as we’re unfamiliar with that pure moment, and can feel uncomfortable. 

The recognition of this ignorance is the birth of compassion,
and reveals the purpose of life. 

We Are Set Up For A Fall

We are told to accept a minority’s fantasies;
the majority react, and are punished.
This is communism, where the minority takes control.

In any organisation, 
there is an inner group that controls the majority.

How?
People aren’t seeing. 
hey just look.

We have to be aware of the effects of manipulation.
Simple meditation clears the mind to allow us just to see.

Any Questions?

Questions can result in conflict, 
but that is how we make progress.

We don’t make progress by mere acceptance of an answer.
When we question, we look at our reaction,
rather than the reply.

It is how we react that tell us the truth.
All that matters is awareness watching the mind at work.

Unwittingly Clinging To Words And Rituals

Unwittingly clinging to words and rituals for good luck is easily done. Words and rituals are reminders, but if we don’t let go, we remain in intellectualisation and belief. The more we realise, the more those insidious thoughts are seen, as our likes and dislikes lie in ambush.

Insidious: from Latin insidiosus ‘cunning’, from insidiae ‘an ambush or trick’, from insidere ‘lie in wait for’.

Letting go is the completion stage of any practice.

To Be Inferior Or Not To Be Inferior

Relating to gurus and lamas shouldn’t be like relating to a leader of North Korea; bowing and scraping and prostrating is totally unnecessary, and shouldn’t be encouraged – it’s a form of mass intimidation, and it’s another’s culture.

We don’t do that to individuals in any other walks of life. We pay respect to a teacher by simply turning up because we’re interested in what they have to say, which means that we’ve made a commitment of time and money. The appreciation comes in the form of whether we go away and practise – and change occurs.

Subservience is not required to realise our true reality. Realisation is not a socio-political event. How did such compliance come about? 

The Buddha saw that all sentient beings are Buddha nature, but for thousands of years, we’vebeen taught that we are inferior.

The Pointing Out And The Realisation

Become aware that, although there are comings and goings in the mind, there is that which never changes. This is the pure observation of consciousness. Our original being is without thought; it is clarity – pure consciousness – the essence of mind. This is what we are, but we’re embroiled in a muddled mind full of memories, information, stuffing. 🙂

Embroiled: deeply involved in an argument, conflict, or difficult situation; from French embrouille ‘to muddle’.

If we see a red car go by, we don’t have to think, “There’s a red car!” We already know it. This is the same as encountering an opinionated person, for example; we know instantly, without thought.

Even before this silent identification, there is just pure consciousness, just awareness. That is what we are.

When we realise what we are, we notice distractions
– the stuffing and the stuffers at work –
and so we don’t get carried away.

Distraction: a thing that prevents someone from concentrating. A diversion or recreation, almost to a state of madness.

There is nothing religious or cultural about this.
Observation is not judgement.

Finding Others In The Light

Finding others in the light of reality is a rare event.

Everyone is the light but they don’t know it as either their interests lie elsewhere, or the light has been formalised, dwelling in dim ideas, concepts and obsessions, all relating to a ‘me’.

Can we recognise the light in others who know that they are the light? Tricky. People may talk or write about the light (I’m doing this now), but actually connecting is an extremely rare event. 

This light isn’t something ‘holy’ or special; it’s natural clarity – perception without expectations.

Never Think You Know The Answer

Never think you know the answer.
You are the answer!

Thinking that we know is Mara activity, demonic activity, where we just go round and round in conflicting circles in pointless, polemic, controversial debate or dispute. When we actually realise what we are – pure awareness – there is no debate.

Polemic: from Greek polemikos, from polemos ‘war’.

Some people like conflict; it entertains them. 
How can anyone dispute awareness?

Fear And Hope In Spiritual Groups

Adoration is spiritual materialism. 

It’s the eternal play of hope and fear 
– hoping to be accepted, and fearing rejection. 

We fall into acting, 
while the essence of the teaching is to know thy self thy self. 🙂

To Be Hinged Or Unhinged 

To be hinged or unhinged; that is the question.

Whether to suffer the unhinged or, by opposing, become hinged. 
Whether to assume we are normal or to question this ‘normality’.

We all assume that we are hinged and working properly, when we are actually unhinged by merely conforming to another’s idea of normality. 

When we are fully hinged, we are free of obstructions. 🙂

Being Out Of Sync

We read or hear words, but they don’t quite hit the spot. Why not? 

We’re all at different stages of evolving/awakening; the words stay the same, but our understanding is out of sync. There is recognition, but there’s no training, no discipline, no experience … yet.

If we are always looking for something new,
it’s because we haven’t started yet.

When we start, we see the world differently, 
because we are different.

With the right intention, we will synchronise with the words
when the experience is realised before the words.

What’s Inside Comes Out

If we have wisdom, that’s what comes out.
If we have hatred, that’s what comes out.
If we have indifference, that’s what comes out.

Whatever’s inside comes out.