Our Enemy Shows Us Our Strength …
Our enemy shows us our strength …
… and where we are weak.
Therefore through our karmic reactions,
our enemy is our teacher.
Who are the enemy?
Our own likes, dislikes, and indifference.
As pure consciousness matures,
the subtler the enemy becomes,
until we realise that the enemy has never existed.
Subtle: Middle English – ‘not easily understood’
Our strength is compassion.
Our weakness is lack of compassion.
What Or Whom To Trust?
If the Buddha said, “Don’t take my word for it … ”, then we shouldn’t trust anyone’s word, because their life is based on trusting others.
Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.
Belief: an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially without proof.
Quite a ‘merry-go-round’, isn’t it?
It is we who are the final authority on whether something is true or not, but much depends on the quality of our judgement. We cannot really trust our mind as that has been contaminated with others’ ideas., and this is why we get upset, doubt and lack confidence.
There comes a time when we feel sick of being whirled around by assumptions, which causes stress that affects our mind and body. How do we get off the merry-go-round?
Through wisdom, we realise that we have been living in others’ illusions, and we no longer want to continue in this way.
Wisdom is first-hand, direct experience that doesn’t get carried way with emotions of self-importance. Wisdom isn’t reactionary. Through clear seeing, we do what is beneficial, and then drop it, thereby never remaining upset or causing harm. There is still a feeling of sadness, however, at the endemic indifference to our actual reality of pure consciousness.
What can we trust?
That which sees the not-so-merry-go-round-mind being upset.
Acknowledging Conditioned Self
The conditioned self is a mental construct that consciousness has built by relating to conditions and fixating upon those conditions, judging everything. This is how we act as human animals – by our likes, dislikes and indifferences.
Is there an un-conditioned self?
We cannot be what we see, but there is a seeing present that does not rely on conditions or names. Recognising this conditioned self – which is the very cause of suffering as it is highly reactive – is the Buddha’s second noble truth. This illusory self and that which sees this self is, in fact, the Buddha’s entire teaching.
Just look at the word ‘myself’.
We use ‘myself’ to emphasise an identity,
which creates and maintains a duality.
Myself : Old English me + self.
The cause of suffering is the constant preservation of this duality
which separates us.
What am I?
I am an illusory self and pure consciousness.
It all depends on what is most valued.
Acknowledging Conditioning
Conditioning: the process of accustoming a person or animal to behave in a certain way or to accept certain circumstances.
We are conditioned by others who are conditioned.
Being conditioned, we do not have free-will, and so we suffer.
Acknowledging this suffering is the Buddha’s first noble truth
on the path to enlightenment.
It is only through acknowledging suffering
that we realise it is pure cognisance which sets us free.
The Opposite Of Absolute Is Limited
The opposite of the word ‘absolute’ is the word ‘limited’.
This is why we speak of absolute truth and relative/limited truth.
One is our true reality, and the other is our conventional reality.
An absolute reality is complete freedom. A relative reality is partial.
Absolute: Not being dependent on anything else = non-duality.
Relative: Relating to something else = duality.
Non-duality is just seeing, pure seeing, pure consciousness, no seer, no time delay.
Duality is constantly relating to things – me and the object – requiring time to judge whether good or bad.
We need a little I or ego to function, but when the ego – which consciousness clinging to concepts – becomes overwhelming, we (consciousness) lose all sense of absolute reality. The middle way is not too tight and not too loose.
The test is noticing this, and re-addressing the balance.
Ordinarily, we swing in large strokes like a weapon.
Gradually, the swinging reduces until it is imperceptible.
Evolution is from coarse to fine.
So Where’s The Proof?
Where’s the proof?!
Someone once asked,
“Where’s the proof about consciousness?
How do you know it is good?”
Wanting proof without looking for oneself is mere laziness. Thinking that words are the proof is intellectualisation. Without the practice of looking and tasting, any words are like casting pearls before swine*.
‘Casting pearls before swine’ means wasting time offering something that is helpful to someone who doesn’t appreciate or understand it. They do not value what should be valued.
Those who want your proof will not understand it, and will become hostile. The proof is only in personal tasting. If I say, “Here’s the proof!”, that demands that you believe me. And that is idiotic.
*Matthew 7.6:-
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs;
nor cast your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet,
and turn and tear you in pieces”.
Are ‘Soap Operas’ A Brain Washing Technique?
As people mistrust the media more and more,
notice the messages in TV and radio soap operas.
Technic: early 17th century ‘to do with art or an art’): from Latin technicus, from Greek tekhnikos, from tekhnē ‘art’.
Brain wash: pressurise others into adopting radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible means.
Soap opera: a television or radio drama serial dealing typically with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters.
Still think our mind is our own?
The Cambridge Dictionary: “the lowest common denominator” is used to refer in a disapproving way to the sort of people in society who are least intelligent, and who will accept low-quality products and entertainment: ‘The problem with so much television is that it is aimed at the lowest common denominator’.
We own our mind by clearing it.
This is how meditation and clarity work.
Beware Of The Exotic
If we are looking for the truth about our reality, we cannot find anything simpler than pure consciousness. If we are mesmerised and obsessed by the exotic, we will make truth something that it’s not.
Exotic: originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country. Late 16th century: via Latin from Greek exōtikos ‘foreign’, from exō ‘outside’.
Other people’s ways/paths are their ways. Each of us has to undo our own obsessions to realise the essence of our reality. We go alone, but we rub shoulders with others for short while.
Initially, things do rub off on us by association, but there comes a time when we have to leave those ideas behind. When starting on our path, others may seem above us, and may even flaunt the information from books they have read. But once we’ve read the same books and reflected, these people don’t seem so advanced … and they’re still reading the same book 🙂
Let go, let go.
Gone, gone, gone beyond.
Non-Stick Pans & Memory Foam Mattresses
When we get involved with someone or something, it leaves a mark, an experience, a ‘wound’, a little trauma, whether pleasant or unpleasant … a memory.
All too often, we hear Tibetan lamas laugh at westerners ‘wounds’, and their psychological drama. These wounds that they laugh at are merely memories – that we ALL have. Incidentally, when the students join in with the laughter, they are merely re-enacting their own memories.
Where is understanding and compassion? Their laughter at others’ wounds left a memory in my mind that’s still there thirty years later. Whenever we get involved with others, we acquire a little of their karma as well: our mind takes the shape of our experiences, and we become memory foam mattresses, creating a life of hysteria and wildly uncontrolled emotions.
In our mundanity, we believe that we don’t have wildly uncontrolled emotions … or so we think. I remember ‘not having emotions’ until it hit me like a bolt of lightening that the very reason I was judging people was because of emotions.
To a realised person, these emotions shout out loudly and clearly,
and that
is the path to enlightenment.
A realised person is a non-stick pan:
things still stick,
but they’re easily washed off.
😀
We Cannot Buy Truth
Absolute truth comes from direct experience and realisation, both of which we have tested. If it isn’t tested, then we do not know. Information tested becomes knowledge, and gradually leads to wisdom and enlightenment. Absolute truth is our innate essence of pure consciousness.
From an enlightened point of view,
all unreliable information shows us the way.
Light reveals the shadows.
You don’t have to pay for truth;
you already own it
Acknowledge Thoughts, Don’t Follow Them
When we acknowledge our thoughts and don’t follow them,
we remain in equilibrium.
Equilibrium is the relief/happiness
of not being controlled by thoughts.
Relief isn’t gain; it’s release.
This is meditation in action.
Finally, we drop the meditation
so that we don’t hold on to the happiness of equilibrium,
as that is the cause of suffering.
This is how we ascend the bittersweet levels
of happiness and sadness.
The Utopian Ideal Leads To Hell
It keeps us hoping.
The utopian ideal – satisfying one’s concept of what is perfect – leads to hell.
Why? Because people have different ideas of what a perfect world should be.
Physics or physical existence is naturally impermanent as it’s all about change, so nothing is truly existent. How does one make impermanence a utopia?
We hear people say, “We should do this”, or “We should do that”. Their ‘this’ and ‘that’ will be different to our ‘this’ and ‘that’.
When we analyse it, utopia or perfection is only within the essence of consciousness. Everything else is just a concept. A utopian society is one where everyone realises their enlightened state. That isn’t going to happen too soon, is it? As long as we live in hope and fear, we live in hell = great suffering.
If anyone says they want a utopian society,
you can bet they will want to run it!
😀
Suffering does not exist in the essence of pure consciousness.
It’s Worse Than You Think, And …
it’s better than you think!
At an ordinary level, things look very bad in the world. Stupidity upon stupidity, manipulation upon manipulation, reaction upon reaction, and more stupidity upon stupidity. Trying to keep up with this stupidity creates suffering, because our reactions maintain a befuddled self-image.
We are stupid when we underestimate the amount of stupidity in the world and go round in circles, never escaping the “ring pass-not” – an allegorical circle confining all those who still labour under the delusion of separateness.
However …
It’s better than you think!
Because we are stupid and believe everything to be real or permanent, we ignore that we are all potentially enlightened beings when we’re told this. From a stupidity point of view, this enlightened state sounds ridiculous – that’s because we are stupid 😀
But if we can consider that this enlightened state is the reality that is missing in our life, then our view and behaviour change, and every stupid thing that happens reminds us that stupidity is not our true reality. We then become free of this stupid cycle of existence.
We are not just consciousness having an experience; we are the same pure consciousness as the enlightened ones.
What made us so stupid?
Believing in stupid people
who believe that they are not stupid.
That’s how I became stupid.
😀
Realisation is the fact that we are pure consciousness
– the same innate state of the enlightened ones
who have passed through the ring of delusion.
Something I Don’t Like To Think About
Shunning.
Shun: to avoid, ignore, or reject …
To dislike, showing a lack of empathy and compassion.
For some reason, this applies especially to ‘religious’ people. If someone has problems with the manner of a group, and feels that they have to leave – or is kicked out – they are immediately shunned, rejected by the others.
If shunning means to avoid, ignore or reject, this is aversion or fear. Where is the empathy or compassion? Shunning shows immaturity, a lack of understanding and a fear of being contaminated by unconventional or awkward questioning.
The essence of a subject is more important than the form which attracts believers. Religions cannot help turning people into obedient and excessively servile followers to a degree that feels a little too … well, you can put the word in! (for me, it’s ‘creepy’ :D)
Even in Buddhism, we are expected to fall in line with mannerisms,
so we learn just to smile and walk on.
A path isn’t about joining others’ confusion. It’s an individual’s ability to cut through their personal confusion and judgements. Once we get a taste of freedom, we naturally want to share this freedom – without proselytising.
There are many traditions, and there’s a reason for that; they don’t quite see things the same way. It’s acceptable for groups to agree to differ, but when it comes to an individual within a group, difference becomes a reason to shun. Being shunned is a test of our generosity and patience – and therefore, our confidence.
Growing In Confidence
As we realise certain truths about our being, doors close on others’ ‘certainties’, and new doors open. We learn sequentially at an individual level. We do not learn en masse; we can hear en masse, but that doesn’t mean we understand en masse.
There is no one answer,
as answers opens up to more meanings.
Or they should do 🙂
It is not that others’ answers are wrong;
there are different levels of understanding.
Anyone who thinks that the Dharma (the teachings on our reality) can be taught academically is merely a scholar, a schoolchild. If we are talking about our absolute reality, scholarship is futile diligence, but good for the archives.
Scholar: Old English scol(i)ere ‘schoolchild, student’.
“There are many who practise stupidity as meditation
without having gained clear understanding.
There are many who engage in futile diligence…”
– Patrul Rinpoche 1808 – 1887
Nyingma master of Tibetan Buddhism
When we actually realise our true essence, a person who says we’re wrong will have no effect as we understand where they are coming from, and genuine, compassionate confidence grows without arrogance.
Realisation = the great relief!
Realise The Outcome, Recognise The Journey
Until we acknowledge our confusion, we can never recognise how we became confused.
When we acknowledge our confusion, we can then recognise how we became confused.
Until we acknowledge that evil wants to control all minds, we can never recognise how it happens.
When we acknowledge that evil wants to control all minds, we can recognise how it happens.
Until we acknowledge that our true essence is enlightened, we will never cut through our emotions.
When we acknowledge that our true essence is enlightened, we will recognise how to cut through our emotions.
Until we acknowledge that we are consciousness rather than the mind,
we can only speculate through mental confusion and distortions.
We know so much;
we just have to uncover it.
Easy Dharma, Difficult Dharma
Dharma: our natural qualities.
Ordinary dharma is easy because it’s interestingly complex …
Real dharma is difficult because of the simplicity of facing ourselves.
Being complex, we have lots of information to acquire …
Being simple, it is emptiness.
Ordinary dharma is words …
Real dharma is the experience of the meaning of the words.
Ordinary dharma talks about compassion …
Real dharma is compassion.
Ordinary dharma; a ‘path’ to enlightenment …
Real dharma; self is the path.
Ordinary dharma; there is a self and a path.
Real dharma; the realisation that neither self nor path exist.
A Genuine Practitioner Is Practical
We all know that the world is ‘off’ in some way. When we only choose one or two aspects of this ‘off-ness’ and identify with them – making us ‘off’ as well – we do not see the complete picture. It’s a chain reaction! It has always been so.
Just because the world is ‘off’ doesn’t mean we have to be ‘off’ as well. As practitioners, we have to face our negativity to resolve its cause. To be a practitioner, one has to practise, and therefore we become practical. The practice is being aware that we are pure consciousness, empathetic and compassionate.
If we do not practise,
we will be neither practical nor empathetic.
For a practitioner, it’s all about others.
For a non-practitioner, it’s all about me.
Meditation doesn’t make us a practitioner; dropping the meditation does, because we realise the full extent of letting go of a me.
Is The World Full Of Bots?
Not all bots are machines.
A ‘bot’ is short for ‘robot’, and is also known as an ‘internet bot’. It is a computer programme that operates as an agent for a user or other programme to simulate human activity. Bots are normally used to automate certain tasks, meaning that they can run without specific instructions from humans.
Don’t be fooled
by everything you hear or read.
Bots can be controlling the narrative.
Bots are not just found on the internet. We are bots; we mimic whatever we see, hear or read, down to our day-to-day interactions with the people around us. It’s why everything about the world feels off.
Until we know our own mind, we will remain robot-ish, merely reacting to whatever comes our way.
Meditation Is Doing Nothing
It’s that simple.
Consciousness doesn’t do anything: it merely observes. Even while the body is doing things, consciousness is just aware. An example is fastening our shoe laces; we’re simply aware of the fingers, and no thought is required. We see something needs doing, and merely do it.
This is how meditation can take place at every moment. It’s being aware, and dropping the effort of being aware. Just pure awareness.
Unfortunately, consciousness can be distracted to become fixated on some thing, and that is the usual way for humans. We can even become distracted in meditation, when we try and do it.
We don’t have to make a big deal about meditation.
That’s just acting-meditation.
The moment when we do nothing but be aware is meditation.
Extremely Subtle Disinformation
Disinformation: following the form, rather than the essence.
Form: the visible shape.
Essence: the essential nature.
We are encouraged to look at appearances, rather than what these appearances represent.
Disinformation isn’t exactly a lie, but it is selective information. It needs to be close to the truth, otherwise it would be immediately identifiable as not being the complete picture.
Everything that we hear is tainted in some way, capturing our attention in order to obtain a reaction.
When we react, we take sides, and thus division, chaos and confusion are maintained. That is the history of the world 🙂
Belief cannot be the complete picture
as it is acceptance without proof … and the road to hell!
An Embryo Of Consciousness
Embryo: a thing at a rudimentary stage that shows potential for development.
That is what is said to reincarnate at conception, and goes on reincarnating at every moment.
Our potential depends on our understanding. Some think our potential is their wealth and power. Others may think it’s entertainment or their mind, while a few realise their potential is enlightenment for all.
This embryo represents whatever consciousness is interested in; this has consequences, and will develop accordingly.
The full development of an embryo is enlightenment.
That is our potential.
Don’t settle for anything less.
Mind: A Perception And Recording Machine
We may assume that it’s the mind which thinks. The mind is the software of information-programming that constructs our brain, which is the hard drive.
It is consciousness that thinks, and relies on the mind for the information that the senses have provided. We talk about my mind. Whose mind? Consciousness’s. We don’t talk about my consciousness, do we? If we did that, what would we go back to? If we don’t know what we are, that is the source of our confusion.
Those who think that they are their mind are merely walking, talking, recording machines, programmed by other social repeaters. If we ignore what is going on in our mind, we are not in control – the information is. When we talk to a repeater, it’s not much of a conversation 🙂
Know what you are, rather then what you think you are.
Information is just programming.
This is why the Buddha said, “Don’t take my word for it; test it.”
Consciousness is only confused by what it believes. When consciousness stops believing, it then knows. Our problem is that we want to know something special, and ignore our original naturalness of pure consciousness that, in fact, doesn’t know anything. 😀
It is knowingness itself that doesn’t need to know much
to realise its enlightened essence.
It is consciousness that knows what the senses see, smell, hear, touch, taste. Ordinary, biased consciousness relies on memories to translate what it sees, and so it never sees anything anew, whereas it is the clear light of pure consciousness that sees without preconceptions.
We don’t have to feel guilty about becoming a repeater. We just need to be open to fresh, raw experiences, and then know that knowingness is taking place. That is pure consciousness.
As sentient beings, we are ordinary, confused consciousness; incomplete and partial.
As practitioners, we are pure, unadulterated consciousness; complete and absolute.
Attachment = Loss Of Clarity
When attachment arises, we do not have a clear view.
It is biased by preconceived ideas.
Attachment is the conceptual mind fixating on things.
Our minds are therefore constantly preoccupied.
As long as we have attachment,
the clear view will not arise.
When we drop attachments,
the wisdom of carefree-clarity manifests.
Never Exaggerate Demons
Demons – our likes and dislikes – are always with us until enlightenment.
The images of demons that we’re familiar with are either in illustrations or horror films, and these have nothing to do with demonic activity. Demonic activity lurks in the shadows of our mind when we are judgemental, exaggerating our likes and dislikes as opposed to reflecting on a situation in the moment now.
If we don’t want to hear about demonic activity, we’re not ready for it as we dislike the idea due to misunderstanding. Hmm… We may like the ideas of angels and gurus. Hmm…
We fall for demonic likes and dislikes at every moment, and when they become permanent fixtures in our mind, we live in a demonic place. This is why we have to be self-aware, and never take our eye off the ball.
The higher we go, the more we see.
Demons Are Merely Our Emotions
… and our path to enlightenment.
Once we acknowledge our emotions of pride, jealousy, desire, aversion, ignorance … our path starts to become practical and realistic. This acknowledgement is not a battle; it merely takes kindness, through the six perfections of compassion (for more detail, type ‘the six perfections’ in the search box at the bottom).
Want to see demons at work? We need to recognise our fixations as they arise. Just hearing a name, off we go! 😀 The very moment emotions are recognised, they vanish. That is the practice. Our demons don’t like the light, as it exposes our strong self-identity. These emotions become our guards that lie in ambush, ready to pounce on others. As this feels uncomfortable, we don’t see it, and pretend to not have emotions … or demons. To admit that we have pride, jealousy etc takes understanding.
When we shy away from acknowledging our emotions and how we really do feel, guilt arises (another emotion) and that becomes the behaviour of our life. Guilt makes us into victims, and we constantly feel vulnerable. Emotions don’t give up, as long as we are susceptible to holding on to a self image – ‘me and mine’ – which is promoted by others’ demons.
Demons have no reality.
Emotions feel real as they’re exciting,
but they don’t want to be exposed,
so they depend on us ignoring them.
🙂
Demons are our teacher. They pump us up to become wind-bags … or writer-bags 😀
Realising this, we are free of them, but they still bother others. As long as there are sentient beings, there is good and evil. In pure consciousness, however, there is neither good nor evil as there is no self-identity.
We can function well with a small social I,
and just enough ego to communicate and empathise.
😀
Sharp Or Dull Intellect
Whether our intellect is sharp or dull doesn’t matter:
we all know when the sun is shining.
Within us is the ability to realise our true reality of pure consciousness which does not depend on our brain. This pure consciousness shines all the time. Anyone, at any time, can realise this. It’s not as complicated as some would have us believe. It has been made complicated by breaking down the teachings into parts, and giving those parts exotic names – which can go right over our heads. Even though we may nod in agreement, we need time to assimilate as accepting or rejecting becomes an obscuration in itself, which is a barrier to just seeing.
Don’t be put off by fancy names. Similarly, don’t store them up to sound ‘right’ by becoming a repeater. When others need help, it needs to be practical help, rather than theory.
The teaching is only about our reality of pure consciousness which is reading these words right now, while remaining neutral. It’s not something that we have to acquire.
What does it take to realise our true essence?
Leave it alone. Don’t be easily distracted, grasping at anything that comes along. Don’t try to impress. Remain neutral, without taking sides.
There is nothing wrong with the world. It is what it is. Criticising it is like saying dark is wrong, when dark is only the absence of light. People running amuck is only the absence of the wisdom which is actually present in all of us.
Wisdom is the recognition that we all have a good heart
– and that is all that’s needed.
And … to take a break from social and mainstream media.
Natural Immunity From Suffering
Suffering: the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.
Immunity: lack of susceptibility when something unwelcome or harmful happens.
Susceptibility: the state of being likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.
As long as we (consciousness) identify with a self-image, that self-image is susceptible to relating to things through likes and dislikes, and therefore suffer. Things do not cause suffering or relieve suffering; our ideas do.
There is a naturalness within us all, which we can call pure consciousness, that can never suffer. It is perfect observation without there being an observer. Before we decide whether it is hot or cold, there is just pure experience. The experience of this pure observation is our natural immunity.
As long as we have desire, aversion and indifference, we will suffer. These three emotions are needed in the moment now to decide what to do, but when they become a fixture, they control our entire life and behaviour, causing a lifetime of subtle suffering.
When we let go of thoughts (past and future assumptions), we are not suffering. There may be pain, distress or hardship, but we adapt. That ability to adapt is our natural immunity … and it’s amazing.
Transformation Of Being
We are encouraged to be over-stimulated.
Stimulate: from Latin stimulat- ‘to urge, goad’
Our minds are full of agitation, allowing no time for silent, relaxed contemplation.
To realise our potential of enlightenment, the ability to focus our mind is essential.
The fresh light of emptiness allows the mind to retrieve deep inspirations that go back a long way.
Realisation is the actualisation, fulfilment, accomplishment and attainment of our enlightened qualities,
bringing to fruition our divine essence.
As long as we are scattered, distracted or disorganised, we will never transform confusion into wisdom.
Wisdom is the appreciation
of the cause of confusion.
The Age Of Conflict: The Fast Age
If you hadn’t noticed, it is
the age of Kali (demons),
the age of darkness,
the age of misery,
the age of quarrel and hypocrisy …
and it is also the fast track!
When life is tranquil and pleasant, why change?
When life is in turmoil and unpleasant, we want change.
The constant reminder of conflict speeds us on our way.
For this reason, demonic activity can never succeed, but can inspire.
Within us all is good and evil, and our enemy reminds us of our choice.
If we only want the pleasant, that choice is not without consequences.
If we realise the cause of the unpleasant, that realisation is not without consequences.
Consumers Of Confusion
Why are we the way we are? We are all influenced from birth by the propaganda mill of confused information about any meaning to life. We’re consumers of confusion. It’s just brain-washing = nurture, plus a nature – a tendency which is different from those around us – which we may have brought with us from birth;
How do we avoid being brain-washed?
Within us all is a knowingness. We may not be able to express this because our minds are clouded by brain-washing, and we consider misguided opinions about our confusion to be normal.
Intuitive knowingness is strong in some while, for others, this is just being fussy. When we ask inner questions, answers come our way; a person, a path, a book appears and meets us halfway. Once we get a taste of freedom, there’s no looking back to our past and wondering what it was all about!
Doubt has always been present and, when others feel it, there is a meeting of minds and the magic occurs. Unfortunately, many cover this doubt with sentimental brain-washing.
That feeling of dissatisfaction
is the beginning of our path to enlightenment,
and life communications become meaningful.
Letting Go Of Well-Being
Well-being is a great feeling,
but it comes with a subtle trap of attachment and arrogance.
“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
Mara: demonic characteristics.
The Six Perfections Are Not Separate
The six perfections aren’t separate,
being qualities of compassion.
If one perfection is experienced, all are present,
whether we notice wisdom or not.
We don’t have think about it;
just be aware.
Om Mani Peme Hum Ends Internal Struggle
Suffering or dissatisfaction is due to consciousness identifying with a set of ideas, creating a confused self-image that becomes subtly hostile because it doesn’t get what it wants. Consciousness needs guidance to bring it back to its normal state of perfect well-being.
The mantra, ‘Om mani peme hum’, brings misguided dissatisfaction to an end. We will still get old, and become sick and die, but we are able to accept or tolerate delays, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
Om mani peme hum is the mantra of compassion, and it works … if we know the meaning. Realising the meaning makes our world a better place.
The mantra is the six perfections of generosity, patience, morality, discipline, concentration/meditation and transcendent knowledge = wisdom.
The first five perfections are decent human qualities that anyone can understand, more or less; even animals can have these qualities to some extent.
It is transcendent knowledge or wisdom
that changes everything.
Most paths start with the first five perfections, and practitioners hope to attain some sort of ‘enlightenment’. There are rare paths, however, that start with ‘enlightenment’ and practitioners use the other five as a support to maintain stability in their own mind: they use the meaning of the mantra in reverse. This ‘enlightenment’ isn’t something that we don’t already have, but it is covered in layers of confusion and dissatisfaction.
In experiencing the five perfections, we see how they work in all situations. They act like a brake that stops us running away with our ideas and opinions out of habit – and shuts us up for a moment! 😀
Transcendent knowledge or wisdom is realising that we are all pure consciousness. By knowing this, compassion arises because we can empathise with others who do not realise this ultimate truth about their ultimate reality.
It is through pure consciousness that our confusion is known.
All our problems start with pure consciousness being ignored.
All our problems end with pure consciousness realising its ultimate nature.
Good And Evil
As we refine our understanding, we see more subtle demonic activity in the world. Demonic or evil activity is anything that intentionally causes harm to the body, speech or mind of sentient beings, limiting that understanding.
If we understand cause and effect, so does a demonic mind – and it does it better. Demonic minds know how to cause a chain reaction so that the original cause fades in our memory, to the extent that we defend demonic activity because we forget or misunderstand the original intention.
Think evil does not exist?
Demonic minds are very sophisticated, more than the minds of ordinary folk. They are narcissistic to the extent of being religious in everything that they do. They, or their group, want to live forever. Whatever they call ‘beneficial’ lacks genuine empathy for ordinary people … “This pill is good for you, and so good for us.”
Goodness knows what is going on;
just don’t ignore it.
Truth is bad for demonic business.
What is goodness?
An empathetic mind.
Noah, The Flood, Two Of Each Animal … Really?
If you are a believer, do not read on.
😀
When realisation occurs on the nature of reality,
a flood washes away negative fixations,
and all we are left with are the natural opposites in nature.
Now we can learn something.
When the shutters are opened in a house
that has been in darkness for thousands of years,
everything is illuminated in an instant.
When the dark is recognised, that is the light.
Non-duality means not two.
Really!
Acknowledgment Is Important
Acknowledgement helps with our progress.
In meditation, we acknowledge thoughts arising, but do not follow them. It’s that simple.
If we do not acknowledge these thoughts, they take over insidiously. All demons want is recognition. Give it to them, and let them go. No conflict needed.
The Recipe For Disaster
Ignoring whatever infiltrates our mind.
Why Do We See Things Differently?
Everyone’s pure perception is the same.
An apple or a familiar name is placed in front of us, and immediately, we acknowledge what or who it is – without words. This is pure consciousness.
Pure consciousness is already aware, before we colour the situation with names, ideas and bias.
Pure consciousness dims into ordinary, opinionated consciousness, and that is the reason why we see things differently.
How we interpret what is seen depends on our experience and imagination – the faculty of forming new views not present to the senses – and seeing possible consequences.
Books can never tell you how it tastes.
We may hear about consciousness,
but do we experience it?
If milk isn’t churned,
we will never get butter.
Likewise, if the mind is not agitated,
we will never see how it works.
Machines Can’t Do That
If we explore our mind, we know how our mind works. We are no longer merely mechanical automata, just perceiving and reacting. When we decide to sit in silent meditation (machines can’t do that), we see how the mind wanders off, following random thoughts (machines can’t do that). It is our confusion that can dawn as wisdom that leads to enlightenment (machines can’t do that).
Once we realise that we have all we need, we stop shopping for more, or for a better colour. We are not spiritual consumers any longer; we are spiritual practitioners. Meditation is a method to help us see what we are, and what we are not.
What is it that we realise?
We realise that we – consciousness – are programmed by desire, aversion and ignorance. When consciousness realises the cause of its confusion – an imaginary self – wisdom dawns. These negative emotions now serve as an immediate reminder of our absolute reality of pure, compassionate consciousness.
Darkness and light become one!
Who Is To Blame?
From birth, we are besieged by trivia, and we lap it up.
So who is to blame for the illusion in which we live?
The answer depends on our level of inner awareness.
Illusion: a deceptive appearance.
We are educated to ‘better’ ourself, which becomes competitive. This pressure creates early identification traumas when we label ourselves. How we appear to others is important to us, but that’s not the real us – it’s a social image.
Self-image is the mental picture that we have; it’s an ‘internal dictionary’ that we characterise as our self, imprinting an image on our mind.
Character: from Greek kharaktēr, ‘a stamping tool’.
Is the job we are doing or life we are leading what we really want?
Who is to blame?
Karma!
😀
Karma – the result of previous actions –
means that we are in the right place at the right time
to learn something about our self.
Where else are you going to be?
There is no one to blame.
Karma is our personal life-guru.
🙂
We Live In A Psychological Trap
We live in a psychological trap of beliefs, accepting everything without proof. We use the word ‘believe’ as if it means ‘to know’, and that is the trap. If we believe, we don’t know.
Most of us don’t question what we believe precisely because those around us believe and, in this way, we all conform like a religion.
When we emulate others, we can become competitive, trying to be ‘holier than thou’. It’s bonkers, crazy, insane … it’s the collective trap.
We know intuitively there is more to us but unfortunately, we settle for whatever comes along for some sense of limited security.
Does the media treat us like children?
Do spiritual teachers treat us like children?
Do we want to please and get attention?
This is the trap for consciousness.
To break out of this entrapment, we have to realise what we know intuitively through meditation.
The only reality is knowingness, awareness, consciousness. That is what we are. It is our starting point – but there is more! This reality is uncontaminated by elaborations. It’s pure, and it’s outside the trap. All we have to do is recognise, and we’re out!
We realise the trap isn’t real.
We play our part within the trap,
without believing in it.
Never believe you know.
Know!
Does The Past Exist Now?
Yes – through our karma. ‘Karma’ is a Sanskrit word for the residue of past actions lodged in our mind that creates our habitual re-enactments such as, “There ‘I’ go again”. This is why most of us are predictable; we keep reliving the past, and it colours all our actions … now.
‘Samsara’ is the Sanskrit word for the vicious cycle of existence. We go round in circles, and up and down … never realising how much we know.
How do we get out of this conundrum, this riddle?
Recognise it, and stop re-enacting. Stop dragging up the past. Cut it dead, and only bring it up when it’s truly necessary. Gradually, through the practice of meditation, the effects of the past recede, and we begin to realise new inspirations, new potentials, a new ‘us’, as old ideas that limited experience drop away, and we realise how much we know!
We are no longer dependent on others’ views. When all ideas have dropped away – even for a moment – we experience pure awareness, which is the effect of pure consciousness.
Until perfect enlightenment,
the past is always here in some form.
Buddhism Destroys Buddhism
In the moment of pure consciousness,
we drop all ideas.
The meditation, me, the Buddha, Buddhism …
everything goes.
Consciousness Is Subjective
Ordinary consciousness is subjective:
it’s all about me.
Pure consciousness is objective:
there is no time for a me.
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. 