The man-made traps are the brain’s unnecessary conditionings that operate reflexively?
(Like a knee jerk, involuntarily?)
“Voluntary” - dependent on “will”. Whose will?..
No will. Just conditioning. Thought’s creation of the thinker gives the illusion of a ‘driver’, me.
K. All that you have to do is to be aware from the beginning to the end, not become inattentive in the middle of it. ”
The main man-made trap is that the brain is conditioned to resist the above, ie. ‘Dying to the known’. But without that freedom from the known, there is no ‘space’ for ‘attention’?
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thought depends on the known. without the known there is no continuity, no perspective - who would want to aspire to that?
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Any ‘aspiration’ is going to be to some image. We’re talking about the possibility of freeing the the mind/brain from the unnecessary conditioning of the past. keeping the status quo seems to be a course of destruction. Any attempt to reform the ‘system’ can only come from the conditioned system itself…so this ‘attention’ looks at least worth looking into?
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Especially when it’s described in this way:
K. “ This new quality of awareness is attention, and in this attention there is no frontier made by the ‘me’. This attention is the highest form of virtue, therefore it is love. It is supreme intelligence,”
Is it clear that there is nothing I can do? - that the drive for me to do is what we are looking at?
When I have seen that I am the source of harm and that it is seen very clearly that harm is neither necessary nor acceptable ie. harm is not good - then I can accept death.
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“Freedom is born with the perception that freedom is essential”.
It seems to be related to the fact that I am the source of harm. I (we), who had the human consciousness instilled in me (us) as children, internalized it and now live it, a representative of this consciousness. It is something internalized and not something that can only be seen externally as war or injustice. I’d say we are not guilty in the same sense as someone who would have done something on purpose. But now that I am that, I am responsible for it. When it is clear that the nature of human consciousness is causing harm, it cannot be sustained.
I think: guilt as well as a responsibility are likely to be ideas. But I can see things in myself, things that cause “harm”. When I am just aware of these things, without choise, without any personal attitude - are these things any more?
If a robot that does what it is programmed to do is guilty of what it does - then what is guilt?
Maybe we can say that the simple chemical processes that succesfully managed to replicate are the ones deserving the eternal justice of hellfire?
Because our programming was already perfect before we were born. There was never any innocent baby. We were born to win.
The only question is if it is possible for the chemical processes we call life to awaken to love and responsibility? The story is that humans may have that potential for love. We certainly have the power for destruction.
We are not robots, it is not an analogue
If an animal that does what it is conditioned to do is guilty of what it does - then what is guilt?
Are we nothing more than animals? even though we are them
If a human, or an octopus, or an alien etc…then what is guilt?
What makes you ask your question? Is it to do with our religious education? Are we more special than a bat? more special than cyanobacteria ? more special than the wind? Am I the most special one?
Is a bat able to be aware of itself?
If grooming itself indicates self-awareness, then indeed, because bats groom themselves daily.
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Is not this like an instinct? Can a bat not to groom itself? Can it see something like “harm” in this action?
Can you be responsible for your actions if you don’t realize that you are causing harm with your behavior?
For example, if this behavior is socially accepted and perceived as normal?
Can’t you only be responsible when you realize what is wrong or brutal about it? That one’s own action, legitimized by society, is basically violent?
Does this socially accepted behavior end without further ado when you realize that it is wrong?
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I think a lot depends on what we call responsibility and being responsible. More of it, usual understanding of these terms can be misleading