Food satisfies hunger; and the thought of food increases the urge for satisfaction, fulfilment, completion. Is the truth about any psychological aspect at a distance from the observer, from the me? Or the desire to find out the truth about oneself is what creates the me. The desire to find the truth is what energises the me. And yet time isn’t involved in the perception of this fundamental truth. Therefore perception is outside the me altogether.
What is the nature of this passion? Is it content merely to look? Or is it looking for clues? Is it an active looking, selective, comparative, still rooted in self-concern? Is thought still involved in the field of observation?
It wants to grok (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/grok).
Sometimes, not always.
Sometimes, not always.
The desire to find the truth can energise the me. Indeed, any desire can energise the me. But you seem to think the desire to find the truth always energises the me, that you can’t have one without the other. ?
I don’t know what silence is, and if I thought I did, I wouldn’t believe it.
Is the truth far away or close by? Desire always means thought and time - which is the me - because one can only ever desire the memory of an image. That’s what one is chasing.
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Can it grasp totally the nature of its own passion, which is terribly limited?
Suffering, which is the function of self (a survival instinct) is part of our biological/psychological conditioning. Suffering brings about further suffering : through fear projected into the world whether as anger or as pleasure seeking etc.
My cultural conditioning (as a comfortable westerner) brought me down similar roads as my heroes - I am not special - only the details change. I was lucky to have K and zen on my side, I could easily have been a Christian sinner. (And Christian doctrine is probably the most difficult to grok - K is simple grandmotherly pointing)
The unknown seems so weird because we compare it to what we know - like trying to understand whats outside in the dark by examining the contents of our living room.
We are confused and angry (or attracted) because we think that our projections are real - as soon as we bring the projector into the equation, we have a better chance of realising whats going on.
I doubt anything can grasp totally its own nature. Even if it could, it wouldn’t want to, unless its nature were the object of exploration.
Is not our nature the object of interest ? If so : step 1 - point the flashlight in the right direction.
Its not what I want that is important, its the idiot behind the eyes - In fact both are the same
Our eyes could be a doorway between 2 worlds : the one embracing the other - instead they are often shallow orbs of greed.
Desire, thought, time, and self are clearly interdependent. But to posit that “desire always means thought and time” and that “thought and time is the me” seems way oversimplified, the reduction of an unfathomably complex network of mutual causality to a facile formula. ?
Then I do know that I don’t know what silence is.
The skeptic is anchored in the reasonable and the believer in fancy. The separation however is the same in both cases.
The key must lie is consciously experiencing the actual nature of separation, that is the limits of thought. Not in explaining it.
If our projections are not real, what is?
I find the self endlessly fascinating. Ditto for the world, not-self. The whole schlemiel fascinates me. You?
Again, this is the mistake of the entity that fears. Turn the flashlight around. Your job is not to find El Dorado, it is to be free of the Conquistador. Your job is not to get a glimpse of paradise/ultimate reality/the unknown treasure, your job is to see the whats causing the confusion.
If all I am is fear and confusion, I must work with what I have, not try to escape or grasp the magic solution.
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Okay - this has got my brain in a twist.
Of course, “not in explaining it” that is obvious - to those that see the colour blue, no need to explain; to those that don’t : good luck trying. (spoiler : it doesn’t exist, its all about how your brain interprets some kind of wavelength wtf? its somewhere between green and purple?)
Consciously experiencing the actual nature of separation? Thats going to keep me awake for awhile - good night folks.
My job … ?
I must … ?
It sounds like you envision a goal that calls for a certain path. And that’s appropriate, for you, your goal and your path. Mine are quite different.
With work and good intentions, we might be able to help open up each other’s views a bit and perhaps even to find bridges between views.
Your mission - if you are crazy enough to accept it.
If this … then necessarily that (sorry, it was a logical conclusion, I wasn’t insinuating that I was your boss.
Bon voyage - didn’t mean to offend, just the usual Kinfonet stuff
Fear is the main problem of man . To understand fear one has to go beyond the words and
explanations… We can substitute one word for another but the fact of fear remains unchanged.
All good. 