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.

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.

Mysticism

Mysticism: Transcending ordinary human understanding. A sense of spiritual mystery, awe, and fascination concerned with spirit, rather than with material things.

Whether mysticism is a mystery or not 
depends on our understanding

When we wake up from our idealistic dream 
to our reality of pure consciousness,
life – the mystery – is no longer a mystery.

Why We Don’t Perceive Reality

Reality – which is pure consciousness – has been sidetracked due to education, society and the media to see through a veil of concepts-restrictions. Concepts alter our pure perception. As long as we go along with the state of collective social understanding, we will think exactly the same way as others, and repeat the same everlasting conversations. 

This is living in a disguised dictatorship where we have the freedom to choose between ‘this’ or ‘that’ from a pre-written menu.

We learn to love and take pride in our menu.
Menu: from Latin, minutus, ‘very small’.

What Are We Proud Of? 

We’re proud of our menu of ideas.
Menu: from Latin, minutus, ‘very small’.

Pride is our personal dungeon of existence.
What are we trying to impress?

Others’ menus.
😀

Emptiness Is The Ultimate In Sophistication

Emptiness is the ultimate in sophistication.
There is nothing more sophisticated than pure awareness.

Like infinite space, it contains everything.
The essence of mind is total openness,
without exaggerations.

There’s Something Wrong, Isn’t There?

There’s something wrong, isn’t there?
Or are things going right?

It all depends on one’s point of view.

If we are evil, things are going right.
And if we understand about cause and effect, 
things are going right.

Things are only going wrong when we live in hope.

Buddhism Isn’t Anti-Life

Buddhism is living life to the full, 
experiencing everything that comes our way as our teacher.

Life teaches us something when perception is fully open. Buddhism isn’t about suffering; it is the path to alleviatesuffering, dissatisfaction, conflict, confusion …

It is happiness beyond reason
– or it should be.
😀

Have You Ever Met Anyone …

Have you ever met anyone you can truly talk to?

People talk about anything but actual reality. 
To truly talk, we have to step outside the cycle of speculation.

Gaining confidence is expanding our horizon – our view.
Our pure view is pure consciousness.

It’s All A Cover-Up

It’s all a cover-up.
“What is?”
Our true reality.

We live in a make-believe world, 
where truth is rarely spoken.

We may talk about a cover-up, 
but do we know what the cover-up is covering up?

As long as we see through a filter of beliefs, 
we will never know our true reality.

My Turning Point

My turning point was when I realised
that the Dharma is within,
and isn’t reliant on anything or anyone external.

The Buddha was right.

The external is a starting point to realising 
that corruption and the path are the same thing.

The Vicious Cycle Of Existence?

The vicious cycle of existence … really?

The phrase ‘the vicious cycle of existence’ is an idiom that is trotted out all the time among Buddhists. Do you ever wonder why we say things – or rather repeat things – that sound right, and then think … “Hang on a minute!? I don’t see it as a vicious cycle of existence but rather, a confused cycle of existence.”?

There are many things we hear and just accept, when they were actually written by a translator who saw it to their level of understanding – in this case using the archaic use of the word ‘vicious’ which means ‘imperfect or defective’. In contemporary English, however, ‘vicious’ is defined as ‘deliberately cruel or violent’, and that makes no sense to the modern ear in this context.

We have to see things in the way we experience and understand, and go from there – and so you have every right to disagree with my conclusions. 🙂

It’s a process of refining personal understanding, as there isn’t one answer to suit all. This is why the Buddha saw the Vedanta in a new light, and why he said, “Do not take my words for the truth; test them for yourself.”