Did you know most, if not all, people believe that there is a concrete truth "out there" that can be experienced and known? As these believers go through life, they collect knowledge, memories and information from their interactions with reality. This personal collection of information is what these folks believe as the truth. Indeed, The Image is considered to be the truth for people all over the world.
What is truth? Is it a collection of facts and memories about reality? Of course not. Truth is quite independent of your recollections and beliefs about it.
What is truth? Is it to be found in the writings, minds and formulas of others? Of course not. Truth is not a concept. Truth is not reducible to a list of facts or formulas or a string of words. Truth cannot be captured or held or shared with others. The best one can do for you is to help tear down The Image of truth so that truth can finally be seen.
What is truth? Truth is reality and reality is truth. The two are one and the same. If something is "true" it is in agreement with reality. If something is "false" it is in disagreement with reality. Isn't this obvious?
Because truth is reality it cannot be known. Open your eyes and look at reality... you will immediately notice one fact: Reality is always changing. Reality is never the same twice. Indeed, truth is reality and reality is changing. This means that truth is changing. When you try to capture truth as knowledge, you cannot succeed. It's a fool's errand... a dog chasing its tail. It is quite impossible to know truth; for as soon as you have captured reality as knowledge, reality is different again -- the truth has changed again.
Seeing this aspect of truth and reality is liberating because it frees you from the illusion that you can ever know. Once you clearly see that you cannot know then you finally have the opportunity to learn and to grow. Like truth and reality, learning and growing are synonymous with change.
To learn you cannot know and in your ignorance comes the light of awareness -- you will no longer know but you will finally see. What you see will become your truth and that truth will always change. Admit your total ignorance of truth and you will have the opportunity to see truth.
To grow you must let go of what you believe. Your knowledge, conclusions and beliefs are barriers to growth. Your belief in The Image is what stops you from growing. You know and, because you know, you cannot grow. Stop resisting the drive of nature. Let go and let nature show you how to be what you cannot speak but are deeply aware of.
Do you want to see truth? If so, then open your eyes and see the ever-changing nature of reality. See fully the connection between reality and truth. See clearly how knowledge, belief, conclusions and The Image cannot ever be truth. See the futility of constructing formulas that describe truth. Throw away every conclusion you have about reality and get to the business of seeing reality as it is. You know, as long as you believe you know what reality is you will never see reality as it actually is.
If you do this then you will finally see that truth can be sensed but not known. Truth can be felt but not captured. Truth can be glimpsed but not understood. In this state of seeing you will drop all attempts at trying to tell other people the truth -- it is unspeakable and uncapturable. It is a task that is beyond all measure.
Do you want to see truth? If so, realize now that truth is an illusion that cannot be captured. Truth is a mirage that always eludes your attempts to catch it. With this realization, open your eyes to reality and you will see truth.
Saturday, September 27. 2008
Accepting The Unacceptable
How does one accept the unacceptable? This seems to be an important question to answer if you are to live peacefully in the world. Most people don't accept things as they are. They fight and strive to make the world meet their expectations. They get upset when things don't go their way and hold on to grudges and the resulting pain for a long long time.
Do you want to live in peace, regardless of what is happening to you and around you? If so, then you must understand what it means to accept the unacceptable. You must see clearly what causes you to refuse acceptance. Once you see this clearly then you can finally make the choice to accept.
What does it mean to accept something? Remember a time that you encountered something that was hard to accept... something that took time to accept. What happened within you that allowed this previously unaccepted thing to become accepted? Isn't it clear that in most cases you don't actually accept the thing? You simply allowed your memory of the thing to fade enough so that the pain no longer bothered you. You know this is true because when you recall the thing that caused you so much pain, the pain is still there waiting for you. That isn't acceptance at all... it's avoidance. True acceptance is without pain.
To truly accept something you must understand what unacceptance is. Unacceptance is a state of conflict between your image of the world and how the world actually is. Reality is doing something that you disagree with and steadfastly refuse to allow to be as it is. This refusal is, of course, completely unimportant to reality. Reality is doing what it's doing regardless of what you want to happen.
Whatever it is that you cannot accept, the root of your unacceptance is incorrect thinking. Your image is distorted and out of alignment with reality. This lack of alignment brings you to create all manner of negative emotions within you: anger, jealousy, resentment, disgust, sadness and depression. Your refusal to allow reality to be what it is is the cause of your pain...
If you want to accept the unacceptable then you must clearly understand that reality is what it is. It cannot be any other way. Put away your hope that reality will be better in the future. Put away your notions that reality is currently wrong. Reality cannot be wrong. Only your thinking about reality is wrong.
If you want to accept the unacceptable then see clearly that there is nothing in reality that needs to be accepted. Acceptance is an illusion born of The Image that you have built and protected for so long. You believe in your image of reality over reality itself. This false belief is your barrier to true acceptance. Simply seeing the true nature of acceptance is the key to rising above the need for acceptance.
See clearly that you have no need to accept anything... that your need for acceptance is a lie that you keep telling yourself... that acceptance is born of your refusal to see reality as it truly is. On glimpsing this you will understand that you cannot accept a thing and all things are already accepted.
Do you want to live in peace, regardless of what is happening to you and around you? If so, then you must understand what it means to accept the unacceptable. You must see clearly what causes you to refuse acceptance. Once you see this clearly then you can finally make the choice to accept.
What does it mean to accept something? Remember a time that you encountered something that was hard to accept... something that took time to accept. What happened within you that allowed this previously unaccepted thing to become accepted? Isn't it clear that in most cases you don't actually accept the thing? You simply allowed your memory of the thing to fade enough so that the pain no longer bothered you. You know this is true because when you recall the thing that caused you so much pain, the pain is still there waiting for you. That isn't acceptance at all... it's avoidance. True acceptance is without pain.
To truly accept something you must understand what unacceptance is. Unacceptance is a state of conflict between your image of the world and how the world actually is. Reality is doing something that you disagree with and steadfastly refuse to allow to be as it is. This refusal is, of course, completely unimportant to reality. Reality is doing what it's doing regardless of what you want to happen.
Whatever it is that you cannot accept, the root of your unacceptance is incorrect thinking. Your image is distorted and out of alignment with reality. This lack of alignment brings you to create all manner of negative emotions within you: anger, jealousy, resentment, disgust, sadness and depression. Your refusal to allow reality to be what it is is the cause of your pain...
If you want to accept the unacceptable then you must clearly understand that reality is what it is. It cannot be any other way. Put away your hope that reality will be better in the future. Put away your notions that reality is currently wrong. Reality cannot be wrong. Only your thinking about reality is wrong.
If you want to accept the unacceptable then see clearly that there is nothing in reality that needs to be accepted. Acceptance is an illusion born of The Image that you have built and protected for so long. You believe in your image of reality over reality itself. This false belief is your barrier to true acceptance. Simply seeing the true nature of acceptance is the key to rising above the need for acceptance.
See clearly that you have no need to accept anything... that your need for acceptance is a lie that you keep telling yourself... that acceptance is born of your refusal to see reality as it truly is. On glimpsing this you will understand that you cannot accept a thing and all things are already accepted.
Sunday, September 21. 2008
The Gift of Pain
You may not know this, but pain is a signpost that points to truth. Pain is a gift that shows you something is wrong or out of place somewhere. Physical pain shows you something is wrong with your body. Emotional pain shows you something is wrong with your thinking.
This is obvious for physical pain, isn't it? The burn that comes from a hot stove shows you clearly that your hand is in the wrong place, doesn't it? The pain draws your complete attention and you move quickly to change the placement of your hand. When you stub your toe, isn't it clear that your foot was in the wrong place? The pain draws your complete attention and you remember to be more careful in the future with your steps.
It takes no great intellect or subtle thinking for you to see the value of physical pain. Why then, is it so difficult for you to see the value of emotional pain? You know, I can think of many reasons why seeing the gift of emotional pain is so difficult...
The first reason is that you don't understand the cause of emotional pain. What is the cause? Remember a time that you were emotionally hurt -- perhaps by an unkind word or dastardly deed. Wasn't this pain caused by a conflict of your thinking with reality? You didn't like what was said or you didn't want what was done and so the pain arose. Isn't it clear that your disagreement with reality is the first cause of this pain?
The second reason is that you fear emotional pain and, because of that fear, you cannot stand to look at it. When emotional pain arises, you don't observe it. And, since you don't observe it, you cannot see its root in your thinking. The conflict is there and you cannot see it because of your fear. You flinch. You think of other things. You occupy yourself with work or drugs or entertainment. This lack of looking at your pain as it occurs is a large barrier to you seeing its value.
The third reason is that you do not learn from your emotional pain. You are moved by your pain to try and change the world around you -- but you don't learn any real lessons from it. You try mightily to direct your pain at others... lashing out at them in the hopes that they will change to suit your idea of them. This lashing out never solves the problem though, and so you are doomed to repeat the pattern again.
How many times have you repeated the same pattern that causes your emotional pain? Perhaps you pick the same kind of no-good relationship over and over. Or, perhaps you start the same kind of arguments again and again. It may even be as simple as the negative things you say to yourself when you look in the mirror. Whatever the form of the pattern, like a glutton for punishment, you keep doing the same painful things again and again.
The gift of pain is clear to see if you would but look at it. See clearly the seed of pain that lies in the conflict between your idea of the world and the realtiy of the world. Look unflinchingly at how you avoid pain and at your defeatist strategies to pretend it's not there. Feel your pain, don't avoid it. Observe it fully and understand the thinking that leads you to repeat the painful pattern.
If you do this then you will know at last the value of your pain. You will finally see that your emotional pain is the golden path to truth and understanding. You will finally understand that your pain is a seed of self-discovery and growth that only needs your attention and awareness to flower.
This is obvious for physical pain, isn't it? The burn that comes from a hot stove shows you clearly that your hand is in the wrong place, doesn't it? The pain draws your complete attention and you move quickly to change the placement of your hand. When you stub your toe, isn't it clear that your foot was in the wrong place? The pain draws your complete attention and you remember to be more careful in the future with your steps.
It takes no great intellect or subtle thinking for you to see the value of physical pain. Why then, is it so difficult for you to see the value of emotional pain? You know, I can think of many reasons why seeing the gift of emotional pain is so difficult...
The first reason is that you don't understand the cause of emotional pain. What is the cause? Remember a time that you were emotionally hurt -- perhaps by an unkind word or dastardly deed. Wasn't this pain caused by a conflict of your thinking with reality? You didn't like what was said or you didn't want what was done and so the pain arose. Isn't it clear that your disagreement with reality is the first cause of this pain?
The second reason is that you fear emotional pain and, because of that fear, you cannot stand to look at it. When emotional pain arises, you don't observe it. And, since you don't observe it, you cannot see its root in your thinking. The conflict is there and you cannot see it because of your fear. You flinch. You think of other things. You occupy yourself with work or drugs or entertainment. This lack of looking at your pain as it occurs is a large barrier to you seeing its value.
The third reason is that you do not learn from your emotional pain. You are moved by your pain to try and change the world around you -- but you don't learn any real lessons from it. You try mightily to direct your pain at others... lashing out at them in the hopes that they will change to suit your idea of them. This lashing out never solves the problem though, and so you are doomed to repeat the pattern again.
How many times have you repeated the same pattern that causes your emotional pain? Perhaps you pick the same kind of no-good relationship over and over. Or, perhaps you start the same kind of arguments again and again. It may even be as simple as the negative things you say to yourself when you look in the mirror. Whatever the form of the pattern, like a glutton for punishment, you keep doing the same painful things again and again.
The gift of pain is clear to see if you would but look at it. See clearly the seed of pain that lies in the conflict between your idea of the world and the realtiy of the world. Look unflinchingly at how you avoid pain and at your defeatist strategies to pretend it's not there. Feel your pain, don't avoid it. Observe it fully and understand the thinking that leads you to repeat the painful pattern.
If you do this then you will know at last the value of your pain. You will finally see that your emotional pain is the golden path to truth and understanding. You will finally understand that your pain is a seed of self-discovery and growth that only needs your attention and awareness to flower.
Wednesday, September 17. 2008
The Image
As you go about your daily business did you realize that you're accumulating knowledge about the world and the people and things within it? When you meet someone and interact with them, you store away important details that you learn from their behavior. "He's smart." "She's pretty." "They were mean to me." "I love her." All these observations and memories are accumulated and stored for later use.
This accumulation of knoweldge, memories and information is what I refer to as The Image. You cannot help but to build The Image. It is what you do. Don't fight The Image... understand it. The first thing to understand about The Image is that it is both a blessing and a curse.
What makes The Image a blessing is that without it, there would be no continuity of experience. You could not drive your car, walk across the room, read this text or distinguish yesterday from today without it. Knowledge, information and memories are necessary to interact with the world in any meaningful way. The Image is a blessing because it allows you to build a model of the world and use that model to predict outcomes and recognize patterns. The Image enables communication and interaction. It's these things that The Image provides that I feel grateful for. God bless The Image for what it gives us.
What makes The Image a curse is when we confuse it with reality. We are so used to building, cherishing, protecting and paying attention to The Image that we forget that it is just an image. We forget that it's a tool to help us interact with reality... not reality itself. Through laziness and habit, we become hopelessly reliant on The Image to interpret everything that we see within ourselves and the world around us. The pattern matching power of The Image becomes a curse when we believe it over what is real.
Example: Remember a time that you got angry when you heard someone say something only to find out later that you misunderstood them. When you first heard what they said, you relied on The Image to interpret what was said. The interpretation wasn't favorable and so you gave yourself the feeling of anger. Later, when you learned the truth about what was said, you relied again on The Image to interpret things. The interpretation became favorable and so you stopped giving yourself the feeling of anger.
Another example: Imagine an old bigot that has built an Image that black people are less than human. Just like you, this bigot interprets everything he sees through The Image. When he sees a black man the bigot becomes agitated and emotionally upset. The bigot's interpretation of his Image causes him to create negative feelings. Once the black man is out of sight and forgotten, the bigot's interpretation of his Image allows him to stop creating negative feelings.
The mechanism is obvious, isn't it? When reality matches The Image, we give ourselves pleasure. When reality doesn't match The Image, we give ourselves pain. The Image is not reality, but we believe in it so completely that it rules our emotions in every moment. This belief of The Image over reality is the source of all emotional excitement and upset. Observe your own reliance on The Image in your daily life and see for yourself. This is the curse of The Image.
The second thing to understand about The Image is that it is changeable. It can be easily changed if you don't believe in it. Indeed, you don't have to believe The Image to use it. Believing in The Image makes it seem more real. The longer you believe in it, the more real it seems. At some point, it seems impossible that The Image isn't real. Does it seem difficult to disbelieve The Image when you've believed in it so long? If you're interpreting this through The Image then it will seem to be quite an impossible feat.
You know, in reality, disbelieving the image is as simple as breathing. All you need do is observe yourself and your reliance on The Image. Observe, without judgment, how you interpret all things through it and decide what things mean out of laziness and habit. See clearly how you don't actually see anything clearly when The Image is involved. This simple act of seeing will reveal the true nature of The Image. Once you glimpse this, you will never see yourself or The Image in the same way again. Seeing The Image is the way to being free of The Image.
What's it like when you're free of The Image? You no longer take The Image seriously. You see clearly that it is an experiential tool and nothing more. You no longer beleive in it and you no longer give yourself pleasure and pain as The Image commands. What's it like when you're free of The Image? You finally forgive... you finally have peace... you finally love...
This accumulation of knoweldge, memories and information is what I refer to as The Image. You cannot help but to build The Image. It is what you do. Don't fight The Image... understand it. The first thing to understand about The Image is that it is both a blessing and a curse.
What makes The Image a blessing is that without it, there would be no continuity of experience. You could not drive your car, walk across the room, read this text or distinguish yesterday from today without it. Knowledge, information and memories are necessary to interact with the world in any meaningful way. The Image is a blessing because it allows you to build a model of the world and use that model to predict outcomes and recognize patterns. The Image enables communication and interaction. It's these things that The Image provides that I feel grateful for. God bless The Image for what it gives us.
What makes The Image a curse is when we confuse it with reality. We are so used to building, cherishing, protecting and paying attention to The Image that we forget that it is just an image. We forget that it's a tool to help us interact with reality... not reality itself. Through laziness and habit, we become hopelessly reliant on The Image to interpret everything that we see within ourselves and the world around us. The pattern matching power of The Image becomes a curse when we believe it over what is real.
Example: Remember a time that you got angry when you heard someone say something only to find out later that you misunderstood them. When you first heard what they said, you relied on The Image to interpret what was said. The interpretation wasn't favorable and so you gave yourself the feeling of anger. Later, when you learned the truth about what was said, you relied again on The Image to interpret things. The interpretation became favorable and so you stopped giving yourself the feeling of anger.
Another example: Imagine an old bigot that has built an Image that black people are less than human. Just like you, this bigot interprets everything he sees through The Image. When he sees a black man the bigot becomes agitated and emotionally upset. The bigot's interpretation of his Image causes him to create negative feelings. Once the black man is out of sight and forgotten, the bigot's interpretation of his Image allows him to stop creating negative feelings.
The mechanism is obvious, isn't it? When reality matches The Image, we give ourselves pleasure. When reality doesn't match The Image, we give ourselves pain. The Image is not reality, but we believe in it so completely that it rules our emotions in every moment. This belief of The Image over reality is the source of all emotional excitement and upset. Observe your own reliance on The Image in your daily life and see for yourself. This is the curse of The Image.
The second thing to understand about The Image is that it is changeable. It can be easily changed if you don't believe in it. Indeed, you don't have to believe The Image to use it. Believing in The Image makes it seem more real. The longer you believe in it, the more real it seems. At some point, it seems impossible that The Image isn't real. Does it seem difficult to disbelieve The Image when you've believed in it so long? If you're interpreting this through The Image then it will seem to be quite an impossible feat.
You know, in reality, disbelieving the image is as simple as breathing. All you need do is observe yourself and your reliance on The Image. Observe, without judgment, how you interpret all things through it and decide what things mean out of laziness and habit. See clearly how you don't actually see anything clearly when The Image is involved. This simple act of seeing will reveal the true nature of The Image. Once you glimpse this, you will never see yourself or The Image in the same way again. Seeing The Image is the way to being free of The Image.
What's it like when you're free of The Image? You no longer take The Image seriously. You see clearly that it is an experiential tool and nothing more. You no longer beleive in it and you no longer give yourself pleasure and pain as The Image commands. What's it like when you're free of The Image? You finally forgive... you finally have peace... you finally love...
Tuesday, September 16. 2008
The Illusion of Trust
What is trust? In answering this question fully and with clear vision there is freedom... freedom from the pain of betrayal. This is because, once you see trust and betrayal clearly, they will no longer have power over you.
What is trust? It seems to be such a fragile thing that can so easily be broken. A single out-of-place deed can toss trust right out the window. And, when trust is broken, pangs of fear and pain and doubt set in.
What is trust? It is an emotional illusion created by an image in our mind. It is the outcome of a lie that we tell ourselves about those we supposedly trust.
"How could she do that?!" "I never expected he would steal from me... why did he?" "He broke his promise... how can I trust him?" These are the questions of a mind suffering from the illusion of trust. Each of these questions and all the similar varieties are meaningless if you want to understand what trust is. Indeed, focusing on these questions drives you further into the darkness of the illusion of trust.
When you trust someone, what are you actually doing? Haven't you built an image of the person that you take comfort in? Think of it... perhaps you observe someone and see behavior that you consider trustworthy. When you do, you store the memory of it away for future reference. Or, perhaps a trusted friend gives you words that you use to build an image of trustworthiness in another. In any case, aren't you always working from an image of the person that you trust? Aren't you always working from an accumulation of knowledge about another? Is it possible for you to trust someone if you have no knowledge of them? Of course not...
If you look closely, this is clear isn't it? What happens when someone betrays your trust? They've simply done something that doesn't match the image that you have of them. Perhaps it's a close friend that cheats you in a business dealing... or maybe it's a spouse that sleeps around on you... it may even be as simple as a catching someone in a lie. The break in trust has the same cause each time, doesn't it? The person has acted in a way that you didn't expect. They acted in a way that doesn't match the image you have of them.
When this happens, don't you experience pain? Don't you experience anger or frustration or unhappiness? Don't you want the person who betrayed you to match your image? You try mightily to make the person match your image, don't you? Why? Why do you give the image so much power over your emotions? Is it because you never realized that you trusted an image and not the person at all?
Let's be clear. You're trusting an image of the person, not the person at all. You know, you cannot trust a person. All you can do is pretend to trust the image of a person. You've fooled yourself into believing that the image is the person and have lost sight of the person altogether This is a liberating truth because once you see it then you can choose to drop your belief in the image as reality. If you see the image clearly then you see that it cannot hold sway over you without your consent and belief.
People will act the way they act, regardless of your image of them. Reality is what it is... your image be damned. Knowing this, you will see how you torture yourself when someone doesn't match your image of them. Oh, how you love to torture yourself with hurt feelings when someone doesn't live up to your expectations of them. You love to play the victim.
But, you know, you don't have to play the victim. You don't have to believe the image. How can you stop believing in the image? Simply by seeing the image for what it is and seeing the reality of the person that you've built the image around. That person whom you've mistaken for the image is right in front of you. All you have to do is open your eyes and see them. Drop the image for the stinking garbage pile that it is and look at the person here and now.
Once you see them you will never be fooled by the illusion of trust again.
What is trust? It seems to be such a fragile thing that can so easily be broken. A single out-of-place deed can toss trust right out the window. And, when trust is broken, pangs of fear and pain and doubt set in.
What is trust? It is an emotional illusion created by an image in our mind. It is the outcome of a lie that we tell ourselves about those we supposedly trust.
"How could she do that?!" "I never expected he would steal from me... why did he?" "He broke his promise... how can I trust him?" These are the questions of a mind suffering from the illusion of trust. Each of these questions and all the similar varieties are meaningless if you want to understand what trust is. Indeed, focusing on these questions drives you further into the darkness of the illusion of trust.
When you trust someone, what are you actually doing? Haven't you built an image of the person that you take comfort in? Think of it... perhaps you observe someone and see behavior that you consider trustworthy. When you do, you store the memory of it away for future reference. Or, perhaps a trusted friend gives you words that you use to build an image of trustworthiness in another. In any case, aren't you always working from an image of the person that you trust? Aren't you always working from an accumulation of knowledge about another? Is it possible for you to trust someone if you have no knowledge of them? Of course not...
If you look closely, this is clear isn't it? What happens when someone betrays your trust? They've simply done something that doesn't match the image that you have of them. Perhaps it's a close friend that cheats you in a business dealing... or maybe it's a spouse that sleeps around on you... it may even be as simple as a catching someone in a lie. The break in trust has the same cause each time, doesn't it? The person has acted in a way that you didn't expect. They acted in a way that doesn't match the image you have of them.
When this happens, don't you experience pain? Don't you experience anger or frustration or unhappiness? Don't you want the person who betrayed you to match your image? You try mightily to make the person match your image, don't you? Why? Why do you give the image so much power over your emotions? Is it because you never realized that you trusted an image and not the person at all?
Let's be clear. You're trusting an image of the person, not the person at all. You know, you cannot trust a person. All you can do is pretend to trust the image of a person. You've fooled yourself into believing that the image is the person and have lost sight of the person altogether This is a liberating truth because once you see it then you can choose to drop your belief in the image as reality. If you see the image clearly then you see that it cannot hold sway over you without your consent and belief.
People will act the way they act, regardless of your image of them. Reality is what it is... your image be damned. Knowing this, you will see how you torture yourself when someone doesn't match your image of them. Oh, how you love to torture yourself with hurt feelings when someone doesn't live up to your expectations of them. You love to play the victim.
But, you know, you don't have to play the victim. You don't have to believe the image. How can you stop believing in the image? Simply by seeing the image for what it is and seeing the reality of the person that you've built the image around. That person whom you've mistaken for the image is right in front of you. All you have to do is open your eyes and see them. Drop the image for the stinking garbage pile that it is and look at the person here and now.
Once you see them you will never be fooled by the illusion of trust again.
