We Are Ritualistic Creatures
We perform in some way.
We have our routines.
We conform to a type.
We follow habitual patterns.
Go off the rails now!
š
Why?
When others’ know our pattern,
they can add to and adjust it!
Meditation is a useful ritual to go off the rails
– as long as that doesn’t become ritualistic.
Shunyata: The Absence Of An Educated Self
‘Shunyata’ is Sanskrit for emptiness, the uncontaminated state of consciousness.Ā
The ‘educated self’ is what the mind has learnt by solely identifying with being human.Ā
We may be either well or poorly educated.Ā
Well-educated, we get on fine in the relative world and can even become a Samsaric god.
Poorly-educated, we deal more with emotions, traversing the realms of jealous gods or hungry – or any of the other Samsaric realms.
The word ‘Samsara’ is Sanskrit for the vicious cycle of human existence, seeking a happiness that causes suffering.
Shunyata – pure consciousness – has to see through the cloud of an educated self. A belief in this cloud of concepts is the way which we are misguided and imprisoned. Once we realise our true nature, we then work from within this ‘educated’ self.
This is where we have to re-educate our mind to express our true reality through language. Different traditions say the same thing in different ways.
The ‘thing’ – our absolute nature – is esoteric.Ā
The way it is expressed is exoteric.
The taste of an apple is esoteric.
What we say about this apple is exoteric.
Experience is singular
– beyond the average.
Realisation ā The Great Disappointment
Realisation isn’t about being elevated.
It is about fixations being alleviated.
Elevated: puffed-up.
Alleviated: deflated.
As long as we expect, we will be disappointed. Peace begins when expectation ends. Realisation, which is available to everyone, is non-duality where there is no relating to anything, no reference point, no self. ‘Self-realisation’ is the absence (shunyata) of a fixed Self, revealing pure cognisance/pure consciousness.
Realisation is being fully aware that we are, in essence, enlightened beings ā although it may not seem like it because of all the razzle-dazzle surrounding this word ‘realisation’. šĀ
When we receive spiritual instruction from those who look the part in name and appearance, a problem may occur. It’s the fishy, ‘white coat syndrome’ when we believe what we are told by someone in authority. And if we feel that we don’t look the part, we may think that we cannot succeed or gain fulfilment.
This is why the Buddha said, āDon’t take my word for itā. Realisation is perfectly ordinary, and that is precisely why it can seem disappointing. Even though disappointment is sadnessĀ caused by the non-fulfilment of our expectations, there is a final joy of, āIs that all?ā āOh! That is all!!!ā
Now, how to survive realisation
š š š
This is to do with conduct, and the six perfections of generosity, patience, conscience, discipline, concentration, and the wisdom of duality and non-duality having been realised. The six perfections are our safety net, ensuring that we do not fall back into common ways.
Realisation is now sustained until enlightenment occurs ā¦ and even if it doesn’t, we at least feel fulfilled. Good and bad outcomes become a unity. Once we understand this, life is a play of karma which we no longer reinforce. The six perfections see to that!
The only disappointment now
is wishing that we had realised this sooner.:D
We may be at the beginning of our path,
in the middle or near the end.
š
Half empty or half full!
How To Survive Belief
š
Stop believing and know
How many, in this crazy world, believe in something or other? We live our lives in a belief-reality, and don’t even question this dream world. We weren’t born believing, were we? A belief is someone else’s ideas, someone else’s world.
We adopt beliefs and run with them, trying to outshine others’ beliefs, while both of these are empty of any real existence. This is futile diligence. We live by āperhaps thisā, and āperhaps thatā, living and dying in total ignorance. We have merely been playing with other people’s toys, without asking why ā and even the toy makers cannot help themselves.
A.I. (and its handlers)
knows more about us than we do.
We supply the information,
and it sees our habitual patterns,
predicts our movements,
adjusts our reactions and thinking.
We ignore the fact that we do not have an original thought,
believing ‘smart’ is good for us.
Try not looking at your usual sites today.
Try looking at your own patterning.
We survive belief when we know what is actually real. That knowing is consciousness. When consciousness realises its true nature of purity, that is 100% knowingness. We are 100% conscious. If we ignore consciousness, we live in 1% reality.
Belief is a fantasy, and a denial of truth.
Belief is a facade; a false front or superficial image portrayal. Behind that is emptiness ā¦ and this where it gets interesting. Emptiness can be either a vacuous state of mindless hope and fear, or a term for pure consciousness without hope or fear.
When we realise that we are the empty cognisance of pure consciousness,
every thing is known to be a vacuous, impermanent state.
The Shock Of Realisation
It wasn’t fifty years enduring the platitudes of spiritual groups
with their beliefs, conformity and dependency without empathy.
It was the recognition of their platitudes, beliefs, conformity and dependency and lack of empathy,Ā that did it for me.
The awakening to consciousness didn’t come through the teachings. It was the demonic shenanigans going on in the world under the guise of āit’s for our own goodā. Politics, religion and society have one thing in common; dependency on a captive audience. Suddenly, it was all clear – it’s all a field of dreams.
We may recognise that we suffer, and think that’s life ā¦ but it’s not a very nice life or dream.
Communities, spiritual groups, religions, politics, media are all at it, glorifying themselves while cementing madness, brick by brick.
Spiritual traditions talk about our desire for this and that, but this didn’t work for me as all I saw in students was all fur coat and no knickers! š –Ā attractiveĀ onĀ theĀ surface butĀ lackingĀ substance underneath.
I was shocked to realise that aversion worked, seeing how we have all been manipulated for millennia. Now, the teachings made sense! The Buddha never thought about his own suffering – he saw the suffering of others.
Liberation, wisdom and compassion are freedom from all contrivances. We do not lock ourselves away from these manipulations; rather, we see them as being empty and so, we empathise, seeing how easy it is to conform to a vacuous state without understanding the empty nature of everything.
When we realise that we are pure consciousness and that anything other obscures this pure consciousness, we know enough. Our spiritual path is then undoing all those man-made connections.
We weren’t born believing in anything ā neither in Buddha nor God.
We are the substance underneath;
consciousness itself, pure and simple.
Dealing With Change
As we are creatures of habit, change can be upsetting, to say the least. Change is occurring quickly nowadays: everything has been speeded up through technology and media. The result is giddiness, chaos and uncertainty.
Change brings about conflict and, if seen properly, is the cause of evolution on the path to enlightenment. From this point of view, change is actually wonderful. We see things differently, as the seeing is valued differently. Perhaps we no longer judge and react so quickly, staying centred a little bit longer.
The alternative is that we become attacked by mental depression; things and people drop away, and the bottom falls out of our world (been there, done that.)
We may practise and practise something, getting nowhere, and then suddenly it all falls into place.
āOh! And oh! ā¦ There is so much more!ā That is a strange feeling, and it’s difficult to even talk about because it’s a personal background story. We always knew something was wrong!
What is it that keeps us going?
Inwardly, we know something. There is a longing. Many things and ideas are presented to us, and we feel, āNot this, not this.ā Then suddenly,āAh! That’s it! Thou art that!ā To that, we must also then say, āNot this, not this,ā for further change to occur, until non-duality is stabilised.
Once we get a taste of realisation,
there is no stopping, no falling back into that collective trance.
š
Change is coming out of the trance.
Even Buddhas cannot stop that.
In the history of the world, this time will stand out
as the moment when the world started to wake up ā¦ again.
This is due to demonic powers overplaying their hands.
Heaven And Hell Are Not Separate
ā¦ and never were!
Who on Earth con-vinced humanity that heaven and hell were differentĀ places?
They are as inseparable as a mirror and its reflections ā and it’s all in the mind. š
The concept of heaven and hell is psychological misdirection, a slight of hand creating malfunction and confusion in the mind. Fear creates its opposite of hope. Positive as opposed to negative, that’s all. It is fear that has enslaved humanity and, in each generation, the same theme is set differently in the hope and fear that nobody notices.
In our confusion, we fixate about opposites, turning this way and that. It is because of this duality that we fight with one another, and feel righteous about it. This is the humanity trap.
All sentient beings wander throughout the universe, failing to recognise their nature as the wisdom in which all phenomena remains in equality. Due to the power of confusion of dualistic fixation, we grasp at separateness, and are preoccupied by non-duality as being two. For this reason, we are not liberated.
In the moment of an appearance in the mind – which registers as a reaction – recognition takes place, and in that very moment we are free, but don’t notice this. The obsession – our biased judgement and reaction that obscures that first moment ā never existed, but were merely an occurrence in the mind.
We learn how to obscure our reality. When demonic mind said, āSeeing is believingā, that is exactly what the magician intended – believe rather than see. We have been ruled by mind games for millennia.
When we study the Dharma of our spiritual psychology concerning Samsara and Nirvana, all this is explained.
As long as we accept opposites as reality, we stay in ignorance.
Play the magicians at their own game,
and stop believing in fear.
Inspirational ‘Rumours’
We hear things from the past,
and there is no point believing any of it.
There will be, however, something said that will touch and inspire us to experience what those words mean, and take our first steps towards realising enlightenment.
Buddha, Christ, Shiva may never have existed, but there will be something in the ‘rumours’ of what they said that illuminates and enlightens our mind. It could be a text or phrase, or even a couple of words.
At a certain time and place, the penny drops and the dots join up: we get it.
And that is that Buddha, Christ, Shiva all said the same thing ā āNot twoā!
Once we understand the essence of anything, we realise possibilities, and exactly what caused ‘the spanner in the works’ – something thatĀ preventsĀ success.
First, there is one.
Then, there are two.
Then, they are one.
The one is me.
The two is pure being noticing me.
Not two: appearance and recognition are simultaneous.
Slavery And Freedom
Slavery: being excessively dependent and controlled by someone or something.
Freedom: theĀ rightĀ toĀ act,Ā speakĀ orĀ thinkĀ asĀ oneĀ wants.
We all want the freedom toĀ act,Ā speak,Ā orĀ thinkĀ asĀ weĀ want,
and not be controlled by others.
But none of that is actually the case.
What do we want and why do we want it?
āWell, I want to do act, say and think whatever I want!ā
āAnd what is that, precisely?ā
āI want to have this or that, to do this or that, and to say this or that.ā
āAnd your choices come from where?ā
āWhatever’s in the shops or on the internet or in the media, so I can choose for myself!ā
And there we have it.
Our freedom is actually reliant upon slavery.
Freedom is the ability to be released from reacting to the material or mental world.
Whenever we react, we become enslaved by others’ ideas.
We have been – and are being – led to believe that freedom and happiness are otherwise. We chase after freedom and happiness when this search is actually the very cause of dissatisfaction and suffering, because we are led in the opposite direction, into materialism – and spiritual materialism.
Pure consciousness – our absolute nature – is always present, free and happy. That is wisdom. Once established, we can no longer be lured into falsehoods. It is the minorities – the inner circles – that control the majority ā¦ nobody was born believing in God.
āWe have always been free
in the moment of seeingā
-Tulku Urgyen
Another Robot Goes Missing
When someone asks, āWhat am I doing?ā,
a gap in their programming opens up.
WhatĀ areĀ we supposed to be doing?Ā
How amĀ IĀ supposed to be?
Dropping old ways for no ways,
we are suddenly in awe, fresh and alive.Ā
It’s a different sort of intelligenceĀ
that just asks, āWhat is this?ā
HowĀ doĀ I respond?
We stop being predictable.
A residue of karma is still present
until we are fully free.Ā
Spirituality isn’t adopting a new programme;
it is being released from all programming.Ā
When the Buddha within stirs,
another robot goes missing.
Feedback
Feedback:
The action, reaction, action, reaction loop.
We relate to the world through feedback. It is through feedback that we develop a social I, and this is how we become a closed loop: āGood boy!ā āBad boy!ā āAnthony is a dreamer.ā š
Our problem is that we output bias, and then acquire more output bias from others’ input.Ā Simply put, we believe the feedback and act on it, when we should question both others’ feedback, and what we hold in mind.
āOkay, I’m dreamer, and that’s my part in life.ā
orĀ
āHmm ā¦ am I a dreamer? I am not ready for your view.Ā
I need time to consider your theoryā. š
FeedbackĀ occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of aĀ chainĀ ofĀ cause-and-effectĀ that forms a circuit or loop.Ā The system can then be said toĀ feed backĀ into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled carefully when applied to feedback systems, ie listening to others.
Simple causal reasoning about a feedback system is difficult because the first system (us) influences the second (others) and the second system (others) influences the first (us), leading to a circular argument (compounded confusion). This makes reasoning based upon cause and effect tricky, and it’s necessary to analyse (meditate!) on the system as a whole. š
Meditate and watch the feedback-monster release itself from pure mind.
Feedback turns out to be karma.The purpose of meditation is to break the cherished circuit.
Ritualistic Conformity
Humans herd.
We follow one another while laughing at sheep.
š
Humans are easily addictedĀ
to conformity and ritual through fear of rejection.
We often leave our brains at the door.
Of course, we all conform to decent standards of kindness
to get along with one another, but this can easily become
a weapon of curtain-twitching* dictatorship.
People (even authorities) are so confused aboutĀ
the right things to do and the right things to follow
that they exaggerate and make up rules,Ā
becoming obsessed with the need for conformity.
We have to know our own minds before it’s too late.Ā
Unaware of how we have spent our precious life,
we think, āI did it myyyyy wayyyyy!ā
*curtain-twitching: neighbours informing on others.
Stay A Little Bit Longer
Stay relaxed and aware just a bit longer.
The essence of our being ā consciousness – may be realised in a second by just being aware, coming into the present moment. Then, all we do is rest a little bit longer. That moment of awareness is bright, doing nothing but resting in clarity itself. It is interested in nothing, just empty unbiased cognisance. This isn’t being super-alert; it is a relaxed state of awareness, without any feeling of flight, fight or freeze (the 3Fs. š ) The 3Fs of our primitive reptilian brain come along a milli-moment later, and we continue to be the usual type of creature running around on this planet.
The essence of consciousness (what we truly are) is aware of this physical world through the senses, but has ignored or forgotten the source of realisation; consciousness.
Enjoying the senses is fine because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We appreciate being alive. In reality, those senses are non-conceptual – they just hear, see, smell, taste and touch, and are present just before the 3F’s cause us to become active, excited, fearful or indifferent.
Playing with the senses, however, fascinates us and we create our own narrative, our own world in our own imagination. This is compounded by adopting others’ imaginary worlds in addition to our own, and thus we stay a little bit longer.
It is here that we have a choice.
Meditation is being aware of awareness (or consciousness), while dropping or letting go of that awareness of the senses and the imaginary world we have created. In fact, we also drop the meditation ā and stay there a little bit longer. No one became enlightened by meditating – they became enlightened through dropping the meditation and staying there!
We try it for a second ā which is actually a long time – and find that this has a feeling of resolution. It’s a relief that we have to do nothing. Once that relief is recognised, we may be inclined to stay a little bit longer. Realisation is recognising that this is it ā¦ and letting go.
If Consciousness Is Always Present ā¦
If consciousness is always present,Ā
weĀ should always be present, because we are consciousness.
Ordinary consciousness can both think and store information,
but it becomes bound by that information, forgetting consciousness:Ā
it transforms into an ego-information-centre,
predictable and lost in sentimentality
as it’s always referring to something other.Ā
When this ordinary consciousness looks in on itselfĀ
– finding nothing but consciousness –
the realisation of ever-present pure consciousness dawns.
In this way, confusion dawns as wisdom.
Within pure consciousness, we can do, say and think anythingĀ
while remaining aware of potentials.
Pure consciousness is unpredictable,Ā
being able to empathise and manifest compassion to suit a situation.
In this way, consciousness stays objective
rather than being driven by subjectivity.
If we transpose the word ‘God’ for ‘Pure Consciousness’,Ā
theistic text makes practical sense,Ā
rather than being a sentimental ideal.
God consciousness is pure consciousness,
turning experience from exoteric to esoteric.
‘They’ Can Infiltrate Our Minds ā¦
‘They’ can infiltrate our minds,
but can never alter pure consciousness
Who are ‘they’?
Anyone who believes we are anything other than pure consciousness.
Whatever othersĀ believe, it will never be the truth.
Truth of reality is, first and foremost, pure consciousness;
beliefs come along later, implanted in our mind.
The nature of mind is the pure space of clarity,
but this becomes contaminated by identification with concepts.
Let us say that our rulers and their servants want a ‘One World Government’: they can probably make the majority think, say and do anything, but they cannot alter the pure nature of our consciousness.
Seekers after truth know their own reality of pure consciousness, which is beyond the material and mental worlds, and thus cannot be affected.
This is why natural truth will always shine through.
Two Ways To Survive
View No 1: in order to live, we have to learn how to survive.
View No 2: is survival enough?Ā
Our whole life may be taken up by surviving, and then enjoying life, which adds ‘value’ to our surviving. This type of survival is merely keeping up with cultural ideals, believing that material things will make us happy and that that is the only way to live.
A spiritual view of survival, on the other hand, is having enough time and space to trace and retrace the essence of our reality, the heart of consciousness itself. We know when we have enough, materially and mentally.
When consciousness forgets its essence of purity, it sets about creating an interesting self and life, which we simply don’t notice, as we acquired cultural ideals (things to aim for) very soon after birth.
The outer view of surviving; we acquire others’ understanding.
The inner view of surviving; we no longer need what others need.
Clone Or Original?
A clone is a replica = like.
Original is not dependent = is.
Buddha isn’t a clone.
Christ isn’t a clone.
Shiva isn’t a clone.
We may clone teachings into ourself, but they will never be original
until our confusion dawns as wisdom
with the realisation that our confusion never existed.
We have been original, without dependency, all along .
Don’t take the word of Buddha, Christ, Shiva – or anyone.
See!
āWe are free in the very moment of seeing.ā
Clones are subject to dependency and, as such, are predictable.
š
It’s Not What We Know That Matters ā¦
It’s not what we know that matters …
ā¦ it’s how we are that matters
We reflect what we know.
We don’t ask, āWhat do you know?ā.
We ask, āHow are you?ā.
We don’t read minds; we read faces, countenances, behaviours.
We are attracted to the first moment of abiding in the open space of consciousness,
which allows us to relax into the same open space of consciousness.
Intellectual talk is competitive –
the hard-going transmission.
Silence is accommodating –
the spontaneous transmission.
š
The heart of the matter is beyond the thinking mind.
Are We Being Chemically And Mentally Primed?
It isn’t one chemical or idea that turn us:
it is a build up of chemicals and ideas in our substructure,
this is why it is difficult to see a cause.
Everything comes about by causes and conditions.
Not one cause or one condition.
Everything has its opposite aspect,Ā another feature, a side effect.
We are introduced to ingredients
– chemicals / ideas / technology –
and we become addicted, and thereby controlled.
We can only know the complete picture
when we know what it is supposed to be,
rather like a jig-saw puzzle.
Our reality is the clarity of emptiness ā the clear light of bliss.
When this is realised, our mind becomes clear,
and we no longer just accept ideas or beliefs or food presented to us.
If things do not feel right,
then there is a reason.
We need to discriminate, and look more carefully.
What feels right for some
may not feel right for others.
Through realisation, the layers of ingredients decrease
until we reach the clear light of bliss.
Awareness isn’t just about being purely aware;
it is manifestation of carefree confidence.
Life Falling Apart
The feeling of separation does that.
We are just left hanging in a void.
But life is still present.
That is the emptiness of clarity.
Is it uncomfortable?
Yes!
Why?
It’s unfamiliar ā¦ or is it?
š
Our choice is either to go back and want more of the same, or recognise – by direct instruction – thatĀ that emptiness of clarity is what we are. We have just been living with a deluded self image.
Life as we know it is an illusion, a mental construct to which we adhere for safety because everyone else is holding on to the same illusion.
At some point, a crack appears and the dream falls apart.
In the very recognition of this lies the path to enlightenment,
as we now want real change, real security, real happiness.
When we realise the emptiness of clarity,
we recognise that real change, real security, real happiness
have always been present.
We know the truth.
We are the truth.
Falling apart is the practical process inherent to the path of enlightenment.
Life is a series of ‘falling aparts’ –
while we continue to hold the ‘I’ together,
it will, at some point, fall apart!
Being Generous To Our Self
Our ‘self’ is consciousness’s identification with the mind’s projections or collection of ideas. This collection of ideas is not our complete picture, and so we doubt and are confused. We ignore that which is watching over: the essence of consciousness has never been confused as it is pure awareness.
The purpose of meditation is the practice of giving open space for the mind to settle down. If we struggle with our mind, this only serves to make it seem fixed and real when, in reality, it is just circling thoughts, which can give rise to those sh*tty days š
Being generous is being at peace, and patient with this self. We stop feeding the mind’s neuroses, and no longer judge it ā but we don’t give up on our self. We just relax with it ā¦ and the door opens. When we (pure consciousness) recognise that we are free, then the mind will be free, and a friendship dawns. We are free in the very moment of seeing, when the penny drops and the door opens!
Luke 11.9
āI tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him
because of his friendship, yet because of the manās persistence,
he will get up and give him as much as he needs.Ā
āSo IĀ tellĀ you: AskĀ andĀ it will be givenĀ to you;Ā seekĀ andĀ you will find;Ā
knockĀ and the door will be openedĀ to you.Ā For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.ā¦”
There are many doors, and many mansions.
Playing A Part
āAll the worldās a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,ā
Astounding presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbIOZZy54EM
At the death of self, our act falls apart, and we start living.
We may play the part of both student and teacher when,
in truth there is no actual separation.
Truth acknowledges that we are truth.
The reflection and mirror are inseparable.
When We Lose Our Way
We want to know the truth. We find the truth, and realise that it is simplicity itself. The very essence of consciousness; pure awareness. It has no need for elaborations; just recognition that leads to enlightenment.
So why do we elaborate it?
We become interested and enthusiastic, and genuinely want to share it ā but first, we must know what ‘it’ is š Sharing can give rise to problems because we elaborate too much and turn it into something that is beautifully organised. This can hinder personal investigation as we may be following something that has been elaborated, and we become dependent. This can impede personal adjustments, and we become stuck in some else’s expression.
What do we do? What do we follow?
Go back to the simplicity itself. Unadulterated awareness is the inner awareness of clear space.
All we have to do is recognise, experience, realise and remain at peace.
If we make life complicated and find that we’re following others’ enthusiasm for blazing splendour, we will miss that we are the blazing splendour – the luminosity of pure awareness.
Uninterrupted pure awareness is enlightenment, knowing that all sentient beings are enlightened – but that that enlightenment is enchanted by elaborations.
We lose our way
when we become attached to the lights in the darkness.
Our reliance on those lights guides us,
but it is difficult to let go.
When we realise that we are the Light that illumines darkness,
it is the darkness that goes.
Not Too Dry, And Not Too Wet
The Buddha said, āNot too tight, and not too loose.ā
The following can equally apply; āNot too dry, and not too wet.ā
There are cycles of expression in the teachings – there are dry times and there are wet times. Perhaps the ‘new age’ approach is the age of wetness. Individually, we go through both dry and wet times and, somewhere in the middle, the mud is just right š
There may come a time when we find that our approach to a teaching differs slightly from that of the teacher. The teacher isn’t wrong – and we may not be wrong either. We genuinely find that a certain emphasis attracts us; this is natural, and is the reason why there are many traditions. Some move with the times, while others go back in time. Our paths might have different emphases, and different approaches to clearing personal confusion.
Quite often, a student (or child) will see things differently. A teacher (or parent) may be strict, while the student or child may tend to be looser. The converse may also be true, when the teacher or parent may be soft and gentle, while the student or child turns out to be more focused.
Being too dry, we may become bound by the theory of emptiness and forget awareness; as a result, we lack empathy and compassion, as we are too academic. Nothing disturbs us as we are focused on our knowledge.
Being too wet, we may forget or ignore emptiness, feeling too much in love with our self and how we feel. Religious people are like that; they feel wonderful but are easily disturbed, lacking the ability to truly empathise and have compassion.
The Middle Way
Genuine (rather than theoretical) empathy and compassion come from personal realisation of the nature of mind – empty awareness that knows that every sentient being is the same pure awareness that goes unnoticed.
A genuine sadness – and even anger – arises. It is this sadness and anger that we have to balance for the arising of energy that is needed to do something about it. We no longer have to feel guilty that we see things slightly differently from others. Everyone follows their heart and mind, and it is that that we are balancing.
Whether the mud is soft or hard,
it is always workable.
Life Acceptance Reduces Karma
The expression of Rigpa (pure consciousness) is the compassionate movement in the mind. It changes the way in which we see and interact with others. Life is no longer a challenge: dare I say it? ā¦ It is love.
In Rigpa emptiness, anything is allowed as we don’t react in the same old way. It is this that reduces both karma and the path to enlightenment (although ultimately, there is no path as we are already here, but standing in mud š ). The moment now is the same moment as infinite lifetimes ago. The ‘rigpa moment’.
When recognising this moment, we give up hope of achieving anything, and so become hopeless – and therefore fearless. In response to situations, an inner energy, inner wind, rises in the (subtle) body: as we progress, we become more responsive, and the more this inner wind/energy rises.
In the arising of this energy – and the acceptance of this response – we find that we are more responsible! This response becomes a clear reminder; the more fearless we are, the more we give up hope of ‘getting it right’. We just respond as skilfully as we can to others, no longer fearing our reactions ā or those of others.
Not Feeling Good Enough?
Not feeling good enough is an excellent position to be in. Why? Because we are always feeling our way. That is our path! This is the same as experiencing uncertainty in meditation; if we feel that we’ve got it, we’ve fossilised it, and the juice has run out. š Feeling our way, we expect the unexpected. Life isn’t all same-y.
If we only learn the ropes (a sailing term – theĀ establishedĀ procedures), we only become efficient, institutionalised, ritualised, organised … religious. The more this display of ‘perfection’, the more others try to conform, never feeling good enough. That is the age-old problem that goes unnoticed.
The ‘good’ people in an organisation certainly miss this point as they are too busy outdoing one another. Enter The Great Pretence. We don’t have to become perfect; we are perfect already, each having their own perfect amount of karma to clear away.
Of course, in not feeling good enough, we might give up ā¦ but we needn’t be taken in by the perfect monsters š
The reader may not agree with this view, and that’s okay. We all have our own way to proceed. Organisations can help, but we must not loose our critical thinking skills. This is an age-old problem.
āWesterners should know that the maintenance of the same clear, critical attitude which they try to use in their daily lives is necessary in Dharma too.
A healthy common sense is not only a prerequisite of the spiritual practice but also a good protection against drastic mis-development.ā From TIBETAN REVIEW October 1992.
– Dagyab Rinpoche
The whole article – https://info-buddhism.com/Problems_of_Tibetan_Buddhism_West-Dagyab_Rinpoche.html
āIs This Or Isn’t This Pure Consciousness?ā
Our problem is that we just make do, when we should be making do and mending.
How do we mend? Because spiritual teachings (or Dharma) are not being fully explained – or we aren’t listening properly š – we are left with a spanner in our works; confusion in our mind. We doubt, but make do with questions that go unanswered. We receive generalisations (set pieces) that lack insight. Actually, we have to answer our own questions in the end, as that is our process, and no one is going to do this for us.
How do I know pure consciousness is pure consciousness?Ā This goes straight to the crux of the matter.
It is through our personal practice and experience that genuine questions arise. Emotional upsets and theoretical questions are relative concerns, and are for a therapist. Here, we are talking about consciousness itself – our very nature that can be proven and, in fact, solves all our problems. To understand this, we have to be on the verge. If there is a relative doubt about the whole process, we are not ready for this step into the unknown.
In awareness meditation, consciousness becomes aware of consciousness. It finds nothing except consciousness, but a slight doubt occurs, an uncertainty; āIs this pure consciousness?ā We aren’t completely confident. There is neither knowing nor not knowing; neither existence nor non-existence. It’s like opening a door or looking through a window; we scan the scene. Seeing is present, but we aren’t sure yet what we are seeing.
That is it.
Pure consciousness is like that.
It’s not captured by the glue of projections yet.
It’s an in-between state of knowing and not knowing. Why? Feeling confident that āThis is it!ā is a duality – a just ‘off’, not-so-perfect purity (which is a good state, and part of the process).
It is in knowing unknowingness that knowingness actually occurs.
A slight uncertainty in the experience is fully transparent.
This is how we make do and mend the mind with clarity.
Emptiness sees through everything:
all our projections
– and even itself.
Living With Demons
Demons like nothing better than to dislike.
It is their raison d’ĆŖtre, their soleĀ purpose.
Demons lie in ambush waiting to exploit any situation.
Sounds familiar?
We have to make judgements in order to survive, but these judgements aren’t the same as liking and disliking; it is about balance. āNot too tight and not too looseā – Buddha.
When we succumb to likes and dislikes on the see-saw of emotions, the demons make an appearance.
It’s important to remember that demons arise within our relative reality, never in ultimate reality. To remain balanced, we have to take care of both our material welfare and spiritual welfare.
We may recognise when inner demons make an appearance, coming to light within our mind, but now we experience the demons arising within others ā and we find that we are living with demons š
These demons now become our precious teachers.
Fools who want to run the show reveal their raison d’ĆŖtre
– to exploit, and get a reaction.
From Dependence To Independence
The antidote to our obsessive, materialistic life.
The whole point of spiritual teachings is to become independent:
free from others’ limitations.
Teachings are not a set piece to learn; we each learn sequentially through experience. There are levels of realisation of the ‘words’, but it is personal experience that leads us to the next level of realisation, which a teacher cannot do for us.
The key is conflict.
Funnily enough, it is the criticism that we generate that can be fundamental to change taking place. When we alternate between panoramic view and focused view (see both the big and individual effects) we realise that this criticism is all about me … āAh ha! There I go again!ā There is no need to have to let go as natural spaciousness then occurs spontaneously, and letting go is automatic. Putting it simply, we grow up.
Spiritual teachings are about the nature of our mind; our essence rather than the teacher’s.Ā This is why the Buddha said, āTest the teaching for yourself.ā
We keep falling into the same (huge) trap of spiritual dependency. Until we are independent, we are not free. Any teacher of any subject will be happy that someone understands, and goes off and lives a satisfied and fulfilled life. Unfortunately, as spiritual groups, we are encouraged to become attached – especially to the teacher – and this creates fear and competitiveness, and therefore guilt that we aren’t good enough. This is why we doubt.
We surround a teacher with holiness that actually separates us, creating insecurities that make us feel needy. We don’t even allow ourselves to question if this particular path is practical for us – and a teacher certainly won’t say, āTry a different path.ā
So we become spiritually attached, wanting to be accepted by the elite inner circle, and full of hope, waiting for the guru to see our good qualities. You know what I mean? It’s what humans do ā¦ queue!
This holiness is the pure consciousness, empty cognisance, pure perception that surround our illusory self image.
Holiness is to be whole, complete, illumined, having the light on.
We are living holiness – when we remember
š
Do we follow the queue?
Or do we realise original ordinariness now?!
Is That All There Is?
If we believe we are our thoughts,
that is all there is to life.
If we realise we are pure consciousness,
that is all there is to life.
Belief limits our potential,
and sets the pattern of our mind.
Realisation actuates our enlightened potential,
and frees the pattern of our mind.
Believing is the foundation of compassion for the selected.
Realisation is the foundation of compassion for all.
It all depends to what we refer.
Are we referring to conventional, conformative generalisations?
Or are we referring to the unconventional, not based on beliefs and generalisations?
It is important to consider that, from an enlightened point of view, most of this entire planet is unenlightened. Do we follow the unenlightened and conform, or do we follow the enlightened who have not conformed?
Christ wasn’t Christian.
Buddha wasn’t Buddhist.
They did not conform.
In conforming to the unenlightened, we will never realise our complete picture.
Question: if enlightenment is our reality, why do so few talk about this?
Answer: the unenlightened are busy conforming to the unenlightened.
That is all there is to conformity.
Emptiness is all there is to enlightenment.
Have Or Are?
Complexity or simplicity?
Thinking we have consciousness,
we will never realise what we are.
Our collection of ideas is our reality.
Realising we are consciousness,
consciousness is our reality.
Nothing other.
Arisings are now within consciousness and are not separate,
as with the moon reflected in a pool.
Confusing Consciousness
Confusing consciousness confuses us.
Do we have consciousness, or are we consciousness?
Two paths that lead in opposite directions.
Because of this, we only communicate on a relative level.
True communication is rare.
Most humans believe that consciousness is just an organ of perception. This isn’t the complete picture, as consciousness can realise its true reality, its enlightened reality.
If we reason that we are the sum total of our perception, we may think that the more we perceive, the cleverer we are. The cleverer the ego? Clinging to ideas, we become more gross in absolute terms.
From the Dharma point of view, we are consciousness, pure and simple. How did this change into a gross consciousness?
Let’s take a closer look:
We are born with particular unique, subtle tendencies. Whether this due to previous lives or just one of those things, what matters is that we have certain inclinations that are different from others. In general, we are – more or less – open books but, depending on our upbringing, we are influenced by local and cultural ideas, and either go along with these or reject them – more or less. If we don’t question the direction in which we are heading, we will follow the collective in its belief that we have consciousness – and join a world of chaos, competitive confusion and indifference.
A time will come when each of us will question our current path or way of life.
Debt
Debt is karma
Our world has become over-excited and over-loaded due to misguided thinking; we buy into beliefs at the drop of a hat and this maintains our reliance, and we become indebted. This neediness builds and maintains our karmic, habitual attitude where we lead a life projected by others.
We borrow fantasies and live them. Debt and karma have to be repaid: until then, we are owned. Our problem is that we have become so reliant that the debt compounds, and it may take our entire life to repay this debt. It’s like trying to lose weight – old habits return. As long as we have to keep paying, we are owned. We get into a relationship, and that relationship owns us. Religion is like that.
If we live beyond our means, we get into debt and pay for it. The donkey’s carrot is the dream job, the dream lifestyle, the dream car, the dream family ā¦ the dream money ā¦ the dream life. Everything is based on suggestion, and our consent. There is gross advertising and subversive indoctrination – āBetter yourselfā; āPush yourselfā; āImprove your lifeā; āIncrease others’ profits and powerā.
Realisation is the way out of the debt of karma, when we stop re-enacting the past as we no longer believe this is all real and this is all that there is. The debt is repaid.
The practice of meditation is seeing through all the crap – even the meditation crap.
Crap: unwanted articles.
Meditation isn’t an adornment to our lifestyle.
Meditation is seeing clearly without attitude, without karma, without self!
Consciousness has no karmic debt;
karmic debt is that which we hold on to in the mind.
Consciousness: where would we be without it?
Gone, gone, gone beyond*!
š
It’s qIt’s quite a shock to realise that we are living in a dream world.
*from the Heart Sutra
They Knew The Truth Thousands Of Years Ago
So what has happened?
Only you can decide.
The truth was – and is – that we are beings of consciousness. We are the very essence of consciousness, pure and simple. Consciousness has no needs but, due to confused understanding, it took on an embodiment which has requirements in order to survive. Some realise this and some do not. For those who do realise their true nature, they understand that they are here to bring an end to negative propensities.
We are more than just human beings trying to compete with one another. Our reality has been downgraded into trivial pursuits, as we are confused about what life is actually about, which is mutual support in humanity’s endeavour to realise our truth.
It isn’t easy finding information about the nature of consciousness. It’s described as just a state of awareness that responds to our surroundings – an organ of perception for us to use. This definition is incomplete, and turns consciousness away from further inner investigation.
Why should we bother?
When we realise that we are free beings,
then no one can control us.
That is what it’s all about.
We are now free thinkers.
How are we controlled?
Through fear and disorientation.
Crimes against humanity limit freedom
using any suitable situation to facilitate power over society.
Life With Fruit And Vegetables
There are two sides to our being:
Fruit; the realisation of our true nature, which is pure consciousness.
Vegetable; ignorance of our true nature, which is pure consciousness.
We are brought up to think that we are fruit when, in fact, we are a vegetable š
Dissatisfied with being a vegetable, we want our life to become fruitful.
It is in the recognition that we have become vegetables that we can realise our potential of being fruit. The product of any growth is to realise its function. Although a potato is called a vegetable, its fruitfulness is the delicious tuber.
Life become fruitful when we realise that we no longer need to play the witless vegetable. We are, indeed, wise beyond compare. Life is our symbolic teacher of reality, and this doesn’t only have to be in words. Fruit is everywhere – and so are vegetables š
It doesn’t matter what we associate with in life, all appearances and recognition are indivisible from the one truth ā that everything is only known by virtue of pure consciousness. In that moment of seeing, there are no concepts involved. No thinking, and so no judgements or reactions.
The vegetable realises its true potential,
and life becomes fruitful.
Vegetables may think fruit fools,
but a jester knows how to juggle
obscurities and insight.
Taking Care Of Our Emotional Health
We often succumb to feeling down or flat – sometimes for no reason – and that goes for when we feel happy for no reason too. It’s karmic. Karma is our stored propensity from past experiences and reactions and, as a result, a ‘feeling’ just comes over us.
The one thing that our mental health doesn’t need (and which is always offered to us) is a pick-me-up or antidote to make us feel better, when it is our karmic, clinging mind that needs seeing to, because it is the very cause of dissatisfaction! Making ourself (our mind) feel better is a temporary measure that sows seeds for further up-and-down times. The reason we feel down is our habitual, karmic reaction of criticism; instead of complaining, we need to do something about it, but first we need to find the cause.
It is the chasing after happiness that is the cause of suffering as we do not recognise that our natural state is already happy. Consciousness itself is neutral. It neither wants to be happy or wants to be unhappy; it’s quite satisfied with what it is. We may need to feel good, to feel right, but that is associated with conventional subjectiveness, which is our constant ‘make-me-happy programme’.
Our true, emotional wellbeing derives from EQ – emotional quotient – as opposed to IQ – our intelligence quotientĀ which indicates how clever we are.
EQ is our ability to empathise with others and act to bring about inner balance, inner peace and inner happiness. This is more important than IQ, which might make us seem clever but doesn’t bring happiness.
Our EQ is the level of our ability to understand our self – our inner ‘muckraker’ that is a product from our past.Ā This muckraker finds fault, complains, blames, grumbles, moans, whines, kvetches ā¦ because life isn’t as good as we think it should be.
We can get out of the muckraking race and lead a simple life. Getting out may take some time as we’ve made it so complicated, but least we have a goal. We can take care of our emotional health when we see that all those negative emotions are actually wisdoms. They don’t tell you that, do they?
This blog goes into great detail about this subject. Basically, in the very first instant of an arising of emotion such as anger or fear or pride, consciousness brightens, and the mind is illuminated. That is the clear light of wisdom that reminds us that we are, first and foremost ,pure consciousness able to perceive without judgement. That is our original being. It’s a matter of catching that moment before reactions take over. Through practice, we become familiar with this first moment. Beginner mind, Zen mind!
The promotion of IQ turns us into clever performers.
The promotion of EQ turns us into ordinary healers.
Recovering Egoholic
š
Hi. I’m Tony and I’m a recovering egoholic.
I’ve felt crap all my life, and been very angry.
The only help available was pretence,
fuelled by fear of not conforming.
Copying other spiritual inmates
made me feel even worse.
How did I start to recover?
I took another look at the array of teachings,
and realised that everyone is right
from their point of view and at their level of understanding.
So what was wrong?
My criticism.
When we acknowledge that others’ expression has no permanent reality,
we realise that the ultimate source of truth is consciousness
that isn’t based on anything.
NB. I’m no longer angry and I no longer feel like crap.
Recovering egoholics do not take one day at a time:
they take each moment at a time.
How Do We Test A Teacher?
We are told to take a close look at the teacher before we commit ourselves,but how do we know if a teacher is suitable for our needs? Tricky. Just because someone is called a teacher doesn’t mean they are; they could just be someone who reads and repeats text without explaining its practical use.
Everything depends on our understanding, and how we see things. It is we who give another the authority to teach. Names, titles, palaces, temples, gompas have to mean something to us, rather than meaning something to others. We should not just follow others.
Is the person compatible?
Compatible: from medieval LatinĀ compatibilis,Ā fromĀ compatiĀ -suffer with. To be empathetic.
More importantly, are the students able to be empathetic? ‘Selflessness’ can very easily turn into indifference.
The problem is teacher worship, guru worship. That, in itself, takes away any understanding of others’ needs – or the ability to listen without judgement. Lack of compassion is fear, whereas the hallmark of any genuine teaching is genuine compassion.
Don’t take the Buddha’s word for it.
Don’t take the teacher’s word for it.
Don’t take a student’s word for it.
Don’t take my word for it.
Don’t even take your own word for it.
Start with the genuine experience of realisation beyond words.
When we take care, we are the ones in charge.
There is no greater teaching or teacher
than unconditional caring.
Love.
We Each Progress In Our Own Way
We each progress in our own way.
All we need is tenacity.
Tenacity comes from understanding, experience and a realisation that there is but one truth, and that is consciousness itself. It does not matter what we do, consciousness is always present. If we go online to read about truth, this subject can go off in many directions. Truth-seeking philosophers and universities may seek the truth about this and that, but they forget that consciousness came first. Many spiritual traditions care more about their display than simple truth that isn’t reliant on any thing.
So, for truth, we have to look into consciousness. We do this on our own, as no one else can do it for us. The confusion now arises, āWho are we?ā We are the very essence of consciousness. Pure and simple.
All we have to do is stop, and see, smell, taste, touch, hear. The senses are non-conceptual ā there is no thinking involved. That direct experience is pure perception, pure consciousness. Pure and simple. That is what we are ā it’s not who we are. Who comes along a moment later to claim the event of sensation.
We keep using the word ‘meditation’ but, when we meditate, all we should be doing is shutting up, rather than closing down. There may be loads of methods, jargon, elaborations and confusion, but it all comes to the one point of purely being. Meditation is simply about noticing, and dropping whatever is noticed. We can come back to whatever was noticed when we reflect.
It’s all about consciousness being in union with its essence; purity. The word ‘purity’ needn’t be a scary word, or a holy word. It simply means unadulterated – notĀ mixedĀ or diluted with any different or extra elements; complete and absolute.
The moment when we sneeze, there is nothing to think about. That is pure experience. That’s it! The moment we walk through a door and just survey the scene – that’s it! The moment when ā¦ we give up!
Being Watched? Watch Back!
Negative events are promoted and meant to be seen so that ‘watchers’ can monitor how we react and how far we can be pushed. Propaganda (misleading information that promotes an idea) can turn ordinary people into narcissistic and sociopathic trolls.
Internet trolls – which includes all media – make intentionally inflammatory statementsĀ to elicit strong emotional reactions, or to steer the conversation off-topic, making it personal. This psychology can come in many forms from ordinary low-level trolls to highly sophisticated psychologists behind political agenda.
These events are managed to preoccupy us so that we forget we’re being watched. We’re so accustomed to reacting online that this surveillance becomes invisible when integrated into our culture, our custom – turning propaganda into fashion.
What can we do about this? Watch back!
Statements say more about the author than the actual statement did. Look out for the process of manipulation and suggestion and observe how your own and others’ minds react, and how a situation can escalate, teased out for further manipulation. It’s all too easy to take on subliminal ideas.
This can turn ordinary people into obedient, unempathetic narcissists, and narcissists know how to play games; they become conduits of the original propaganda, unwittingly passing it on. Then we are on a downward slope to group narcissism,Ā xenophobia, sociopathic behaviour, supremacism and psychopathy.
Propaganda misleads to make perpetrators feel innocent of the act, but they are no different from the instigator, although the intensity of karma will be different. An example of this; the instigators made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Looking back at the site, the co-pilot (the perpetrator) exclaimed, āMy God. What have we done?ā
Love can turn to dislike, then to fear and ultimately hatred when we become manipulated or pushed. To understand this more, read about how the six neurotic psychological realms work from the Tibetan Buddhist viewpoint. How we work! *
Know your own mind.
Watch the inner watcher
– consciousness itself –
reacting.
Ask not what your mind can do for you,
but what you can do for your mind
š
Our mind needs clarity, free from bias.
Meditation is the way to see clearly – if meditation is done properly. In empty awareness, which is uncontaminated consciousness, there is nothing to watch, as we are that which watches. Always remember, we are free in the very moment of seeing.
.
.
*The Six Realms
Tibetan text mentions six types of neurotic human characteristics: God, Jealous god, Human, Animal, Hungry ghost and Hell being, each of which correspond to the six negative emotions of pride, envy, desire,Ā ignorance, stupidity and anger.
We all have a tendency to one or more of these characteristics, although we also move sequentially through these state all the time.
God realm ……………………… have it all, but will suffer when everything is gone
Jealous god realm ā¦………. Ā build defences around themselves, are competitive, and argue
Human realm ā¦……………… passion
Animal realm ā¦……………… lack of humour, serious
Hungry ghost realm ā¦……. Ā greed
Hell being realm ā¦………… Ā frozenĀ
But, as usual,Ā there is the other side ā each realm also corresponds to one of the five enlightened qualities.
We believe whatever comes into our mind to be real, when it is just another neurotic state.
When noticed, however, this neurotic state becomes pure light, pure consciousness.
Nothing Is Permanent
This has been said many times before, but it’s worthwhile reflecting on it so that we remember what reality is really is.
If things were permanent, then they could not change ā and obviously, things do change. Due to attraction and repulsion, things are created, dwell, and come apart, ready to change into something else.
Things have no permanent existence because they are actually empty space occupied by temporary elements.
Consciousness is like that; cognisant unoccupied space. That unchanging cognisant unoccupied space is what we are. Thoughts are merely ever-changing elements within this.
When consciousness fixates on phenomena, however, a self identity is created, which becomes judgemental about temporary phenomena. It is this constant judging that causes us excitement and suffering.
When we realise this, then we cannot become so attached, and are free to see the beauty in how things change. Enemies become friends. Negative emotions become wisdom.
By acknowledging change, we ascend the levels.
When we separate ourselves and find fault,
we descend the levels, play the victim and suffer.
All we have to do is note which way we are facing,
and change just happens.
āWe are free in the moment of seeing.ā
Permanent: remain unchangedĀ indefinitely.
Wisdom And Power
Wisdom is silent awareness.
Power is talkative awareness.
Wisdom is ultimate power.
For power to become ultimate power,
it must surrender power.
The Buddha had to make this choice;
any Buddha has to make this choice.
Mara – the power in our mind – has its likes and dislikes.
This power cannot be subjugated
as that would give it a reality.
Mara loses its power only when it is recognised
within the space of compassion.
We have a choice:
worship power or worship wisdom.
There Will Always Be Problems To Worry About
As long as we believe that we need to solve these problems, there will be problems to worry about. As all things must pass, so why worry? It’s like watching the tide come in and go out; it’s what it does. Unenlightened humans stick to things and become bound; it’s what we do.
If we could get rid of all those who create problems, there would be none of us left š
It’s acknowledging the very cause of problems that is the path to enlightenment.
The cause is believing that problems are real, while consciousness sits and watches.
Getting Over-Excited About This World
Humans can always be stirred up about something and,
in relative terms,
this is understandable.
Having identified one problem, another will come along
and we compound it.
Throw a pebble in the water and watch the ripple effect.
How on earth do we release ourselves from this ripple?
Know that the ripple effect takes place in the mind:
We become stirred up.
In actuality, it is the mind that becomes over-excited
with retaliations.
When the mind is allowed to settle,
we are free to see clearly.
Being Organised
Being designed.
The trick of creatingĀ chaosĀ and then seizing power
under the pretence of putting things back inĀ order
is a tried and true method of deception and manipulation.
It’s theĀ meaningĀ behind the Latin motto:
ORDO AB CHAOĀ meaning ORDER OUT OF CHAOS.
Create dis-order so the people will demand order.
The price of order always entails a handing over of control
and loss of freedom on the part of the citizenry.
Out of ‘chaos’ comes ‘order’.
When we become dependent, we need organising.
When recognised as the obstacle to our freedom,
karma (our addictive dependency) is our teacher.
I’m Selfish
I thought I had problems.
I now realise that I am blessed.
I’m sorry for having taken everything for granted.
Redemption: clearing one’s debt.
Feeling fulfilled, blessed, fully satisfied, relieved.
I cannot believe in a God,
but believers feel fulfilled, blessed, fully satisfied, relieved.
In the moment of fulfilment, how can I say we are different!
Teacher Karma, Karma Teacher
Through karma, we find a teacher.
Through a teacher, we realise that karma is our teacher.
Karma is reactions.
As reactions diminish, karma diminishes.
That is the path to enlightenment.
Our reactions diminish due to us realising
that they have no permanent existence.
Our reactions tells us
what we need to know about our confusion –
that it was all in the mind.
Acknowledging consciousness is pure consciousness.
Teacher and karma have never been separated.
That is the path to enlightenment.
Knowing Fact From Fiction
Tricky.
So-called facts are about the relative, physical world.
Relative refers to whatever we (absolute consciousness) relate to.
The physical universe is transient and impermanent and thus,
it has no absolute reality as things come and go.
From this perspective, calling anything in the physical world a ‘fact’ is fiction:
it is the natural laws of attraction and repulsion
– brought about by causes and conditions –
a thing that is knownĀ orĀ provedĀ to beĀ true.
True: according to reality.
Reality: theĀ stateĀ ofĀ thingsĀ asĀ theyĀ actuallyĀ exist = non existent
Things: inanimate materialĀ objectsĀ asĀ distinctĀ fromĀ aĀ livingĀ sentientĀ being.
Sentient beings: able toĀ perceiveĀ orĀ feelĀ things.
Perceiving: being aware, conscious.
Reality does not change;
only things change, while consciousness does not.
Everything has only an illusion of reality.
Promoting a belief that fiction is fact
is deceitful, and a sin.
Sin:Ā anĀ actĀ regardedĀ asĀ aĀ seriousĀ fault, offence, orĀ omission.
What sort of world do we want to live in?
A sin-bin?
Sin-bin: aĀ placeĀ where offenders are sent
for detention, punishment, or rehabilitation.
Facts are all in the mind,
and are therefore fiction.
The only reality that is provable is pure awareness.
š
‘Jobsworths’ = Groupthink
= limitations = fear = lack of empathy
Jobsworth: Anyone who upholds petty rules, even at the expense of humanity orĀ common sense.
This comes from the saying, āIt’sĀ more than myĀ job’sĀ worthĀ to break the rulesā – which is to say, āI was only obeying orders.ā
A time comes when an individual decides to think for themselves. This, of course, has consequences. We may all consider that we do think for ourselves, but in reality, this is a rare occurrence.
If we are to realise the reality of truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then we will be at odds with the collective mind set of groupthink that believes it already knows because of what it’s been told.
Human collectives of all kinds are prone to a mentality that values consensus and conformity above all else while, at the same time, discouraging individuality. This is an oxymoron, because we all actually admire great scientists, great writers, great musicians, great artists and great spiritual teachers who have all worked alone.
As a society, the groupthink (and even minority-groupthink) mentality discourages individuals who don’t conform or promote the ideals of the group. This limits and confuses thinking.
In order to work independently in solitude, where the mind is free to realise truth without outside pressures, we need mental space to meditate and think expansively to work through the options, without thought-police or influencers looking over our shoulder.
Unanimity is an illusion perpetrated by collectivists whose primaryĀ goal is to control; the way in which they exert control is by putting pressure on dissenters and rewarding fellow believers. They are societyās self-appointed minders who push conformity to foster the only beliefs that they know.
Realising our enlightened essence
needs freedom from both conformity and extremism.
The more we meditate and realise
our truth nature of compassionate intelligence,
the less hostility there will be in the world.
Renunciation is a matter of relinquishing those things which cause the limitations that create attachment, jealousy, aggression etc.
Compassion: we know that every sentient being is perfect and free and so, when someone ignores this fact, compassion arises because we know that ignorance is relative and temporary.
Devotion is not a dualistic dependency worshipping an external god. We are potentially Buddha, wishing to be like Buddha. We are not something separate from Buddha. We have always been Buddha, free from limitations.
We have been exploring and adventuring – and we haven’t got very far! We’ll never stop struggling until we become Buddha, when mind has no more limitation.
We love freedom.
We dislike limitations.
Limitations are created by fear.
If the world was kindness itself
then we’d want to follow the groupthink.
But it isn’t is it?
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. 