Conscious-mess

That’s us!
😀

Conscious-ness.
And that’s also us!

We have become a duality.
The moment conscious-ness recognises conscious-mess
is the moment of non-duality.
Appearances and recognition are simultaneous.

Don’t Take Your Self To Seriously

It makes life happier.

We become self-obsessed due to the set of ideas we’ve acquired. Clinging to this collection creates an I, an ego. The more we cling to ideas and beliefs, the more egocentric we become, the more narcissistic we become, the less empathetic we become.

We are individual pure consciousness. Believing we are part of a collective consciousness gives rise to inner conflict. Feeling ‘split’ is the foundation of either mental illness or enlightenment: there’s a very fine line between sanity and insanity. Once we take sides, it’s very difficult to know the complete truth. We need to be able to see both sides as one, and that is the key to non-duality. Appearances and recognition are simultaneous.

We are a mess because we take our self (our side) too seriously. We ignore the fact that we actually have individual experience which is conscious awareness; life itself. That is significant. Life itself – conscious awareness – comes way, way, way, before whatever we acquire and develop into an idea.

This self identity became important to us in order to shine within the collective. We are proud of it … and so are the other inmates. We hope our projection makes people think well of us, and we prefer this projection to our true reality of emptiness – uncontaminated consciousness. As humans, we believe that we – and what we do – is important, while it is the first moment of conscious awareness that is the key to sanity. But even that cannot be taken seriously as to do so would still be an idea. Our reality is way, way, way beyond that – and it’s nothing special. We are all ordinary pure consciousness – and “nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about …”

Watching is meditation. In watching – being consciously aware – we realise that there is no self. Who are we? We are pure seeing. Meditation ‘seeing’ pierces the illusion of a self. There is merely observation without an observer – but we have to actually do it to see (‘doing’ is sitting, seeing, dropping all reactions and expectations).

If we keep complaining about others, 
we may miss the thin line between sanity and insanity. 

Life is significant, but we are not significant. 
We/self is a personalised addiction, 
while the source of life is consciousness. 

When consciousness looks at itself, a self cannot be found. 
There is only watching. 
We are whom we seek.

Not taking our self too seriously,
we can have more fun
as there are no limits.

Turning People Into The Enemy

Turning people against themselves.

If we give in to others’ fears, beliefs and conformities, 
we will avoid people and separate ourselves,
becoming divided and conquered. 
We lose our sense of both humanity and spirituality.

There are ‘elements’ that turn us against ourselves,
where we don’t know what to think anymore.
We compete with one another.
We dislike one another.

Once a population is convinced,
it goes to war.
Nowadays, it’s a domestic war.

Why?
Unity, harmony and good health aren’t conducive for business
which needs the power of science, technology and the media.
And we end up confused.

We are free in the moment of seeing the effect of what is happening to us:
empathy is missing.

Get the empathy vaccine today.

Vaccine: a substance used to stimulate the production of
antibodies and provide immunity.

When we have empathy, we know what dis-ease is like,
and we will never be indifferent again.

Hiding Behind A Mask Or Label

In hiding behind a mask, we create a persona – a de-personalised reality which is a conformity to a type. This persona is a subconscious inhibitor. We keep ordinary consciousness happy by feeding it the dopamine effect (the main chemical of pleasure or reward) while, at the same time, the subconscious is infiltrated with subliminal ideas and we become addicted to political correct-mess. 

Obviously we see the manipulation … but we still do it. We have become submissive by consenting to obscure consciousness, and our perception changes as a result. This training reframes perception and alters personality with a mindset replacement. Becoming dependent lowers IQ. Is education – or a lack of it – screening for certain labels?

Spiritual awareness sees through all this confusion. Meditation is clarity training, undoing the mask. We train in order to have courage to deal with the shock of seeing what’s going on, and how – the dopamine effect – is working on people.

Through all pain and pleasure,
pure consciousness is always present 
and absolutely reliable.

Take at look and see today.
Meditation only takes a moment for us to break free.
Once free, we can stay free.

There is nowhere to hide.
Pure consciousness is always present, 
has no need to hide.

Pyramids Of Humanity

Humanity: Pyramid of Ignorance
Humanity: Pyramid of Buddhas

Both pyramids have levels of self-consciousness.

Self-consciousness has two aspects:
awareness of self
and 
self aware.

Spiritual Science

Science is investigating, seeing and realising.
Spirituality is investigating, seeing and realising.

The microscope is not just consciousness; 
it’s pure, unbiased consciousness.

We don’t have to be scholars to be spiritual scientists.
Just look, see and drop all preconceived ideas,
realising that the seeing is the reality.

Whatever is seen is the exoteric, and is therefore a duality.
Our reality is esoteric; the seeing, which is non-duality. 

The exoteric only sees the material.
In seeing the exoteric, the esoteric recognises inseparability.

All Effects Have A Cause

“If you cannot understand why someone did something,
look at the consequences and infer the motivation.” – Carl Jung

If an action produces confusion, perhaps the aim is confusion.
If this confusion is en masse, perhaps the aim is strict uniformity.

The deeper we look,
the deeper the shock …

… and the deeper we realise
we’ve been had!

Being had: being mistreated, cheated or dealt with badly, is known as being had. Getting someone in one’s power or at a disadvantage.

There Is No Need To Solve Problems

There is no need to solve problems,
as reaction only creates another reaction.

A problem is an effect.
Look for the cause, and the effect dissolves.
If we try to alter the effect, we will only create another cause.

Someone abusing us is an effect.
In trying to deal with the effect, we create another situation.
If we look at the cause of the effect – the abuse – we see a misguided imp.

Seeing this misguided imp, we can only smile.
We have resolved the problem!
That is confident realisation.

Similarly, the suffering we experience is an effect.
When we look for the cause of that effect, we find the same misguided imp,
which is a misguided self identity 😀

To actually solve a problem and see its cause,
we merely have to question it rather than judge it,
Our misguided imps need empathy in order to be liberated.

Imp: Old English impa, meaning ‘young shoot’,  based on Greek emphuein ‘to implant’. In late Middle English, the noun denoted a descendant, especially of a noble family, and later a child of the devil or a person regarded as such; hence a ‘little devil’ or mischievous child (early 17th century).

Everyone Is Right

In our own eyes, we are all right, morally good, justified and acceptable :-). There isn’t any point in arguing; we can only empathise and say, “I see your point.” This doesn’t mean we agree, but taking into account another’s background, we can see how they may have come to their conclusions. 

When we start to consider that we may not actually be right, inner conflicts – and therefore possibilities – arise. 

Right: from Latin ‘rectus’, rule … makes you think, doesn’t it? We are ruled by the feeling of rightness. 

If we consider ourselves ‘right’, by deduction others must be wrong. Beyond thoughts is pure consciousness, which doesn’t consider anything to be right or wrong. Things just are, by cause and effect.

Then, how do we solve problems? We don’t. Solving a problem creates another cause. Once we realise the cause, the effect dissolves.

Trying to solve a problem by making the ‘right’ move will have an effect. Was this ‘right’ move intentional, a cock-up or just a reaction? The game of chess – and life – is played on many levels. 

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!
😀

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. 
The ‘educated self’ is what the mind has learnt by solely identifying with being human. 

We may be either well or poorly educated. 
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. 
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 – 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 – although it may not seem like it because of all the razzle-dazzle surrounding this word ‘realisation’. 😀 

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, “Don’t take my word for it”. Realisation is perfectly ordinary, and that is precisely why it can seem disappointing. Even though disappointment is sadness caused by the non-fulfilment of our expectations, there is a final joy of, “Is that all?” “Oh! That is all!!!”

Now, how to survive realisation
😀 😀 😀

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 … 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.
🙂

Half empty or half full!

How To Survive Belief
😀
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 “perhaps this”, and “perhaps that”, living and dying in total ignorance. We have merely been playing with other people’s toys, without asking why – 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 … 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, 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 “it’s for our own good”. 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 … 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! 😀 – attractive on the surface but lacking 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 – 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.

“Oh! And oh! … There is so much more!” 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, “Not this, not this.” Then suddenly,“Ah! That’s it! Thou art that!” To that, we must also then say, “Not this, not this,” 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.
😀

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 … again.

This is due to demonic powers overplaying their hands.

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 – “Not two”!

Once we understand the essence of anything, we realise possibilities, and exactly what caused ‘the spanner in the works’ – something that prevents 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.

Another Robot Goes Missing

When someone asks, “What am I doing?”,
a gap in their programming opens up.

What are we supposed to be doing? 
How am I supposed to be?

Dropping old ways for no ways,
we are suddenly in awe, fresh and alive. 

It’s a different sort of intelligence 
that just asks, “What is this?”

How do I respond?
We stop being predictable.

A residue of karma is still present
until we are fully free. 

Spirituality isn’t adopting a new programme;
it is being released from all programming. 

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: “Good boy!” “Bad boy!” “Anthony is a dreamer.” 😀

Our problem is that we output bias, and then acquire more output bias from others’ input.  Simply put, we believe the feedback and act on it, when we should question both others’ feedback, and what we hold in mind.

“Okay, I’m dreamer, and that’s my part in life.”
or 
“Hmm … am I a dreamer? I am not ready for your view. 
I need time to consider your theory”. 😀

Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to feed back 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. 😀

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.

Stay A Little Bit Longer
Stay relaxed and aware just a bit longer.

The essence of our being – 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. 😀 ) 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 – 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 – 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 … and letting go.

‘They’ Can Infiltrate Our Minds … 

‘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 others 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? 

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.

Playing A Part

“All the world’s 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,”

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.

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? … 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 😀 ). 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 – 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. 🙂 Feeling our way, we expect the unexpected. Life isn’t all same-y.

If we only learn the ropes (a sailing term – the established 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 … but we needn’t be taken in by the perfect monsters 😀

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.

Problems in the development of Tibetan Buddhism in the West

“Westerners 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.” From TIBETAN REVIEW October 1992.

– Dagyab Rinpoche

The whole article – https://info-buddhism.com/Problems_of_Tibetan_Buddhism_West-Dagyab_Rinpoche.html