Sunday 17 March 2013

The God Particle


As I write this the search for the so - called god particle continues. As I understand it the god particle is the particle that will explain why the universe when looked at very closely seems not to exist at all and yet appears to be solid and real. How is it that something that seems not to exist has the appearance of existing, or if a rock does not exist why does it hurt when someone throws one at me. I thought that this question was about matter and how matter that does not exist seems most conclusively to exist as in the example of the rock or in the way the universe manifests itself. This I feel now is the wrong way to approach this question. There probably is no god particle - what causes the universe to exist in the way it does is more likely to be found in consciousness. Without consciousness there is no universe and no rock to hurt me, and no hurt to be felt. There seems to be an assumption in science that the universe exists regardless of consciousness but without consciousness what appearance would the universe have. Let us leave aside the bigger questions regarding the way in which the universe appears to exist and focus instead on our human experience of how we exist in relation to the universe. It is not that plants, insects, animals and all forms of life are any different from the human form of life in regard to this question it is just that humans seems to be the only species that is interested in these questions. The closest we can come to a god particle will probably be found in the area of belief. Belief is the ingredient that works with consciousness to construct what we feel, what we do, and how the universe and all it contains appears to us. We know that the body, the brain and the sense organs work together to construct what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell. This information is not about what is actually there but an approximation of what is there. This process of constructing workable information about the universe has been proceeding since the earliest forms of life arose. Information is the same as belief because whatever the form of information there is can only have meaning through the operation of belief. These beliefs are not only the obvious beliefs like ‘I believe in god’ they also occur in our ‘knowing the colour red’ or in knowing the sound of a dog barking or anything else that appears to the senses before the thought that tells us we know. Once something is ‘known’ in this sense it is known forever after or until this same information is interpreted in a different way. Since the beginning information received through the senses has become more and more sophisticated. Information received by the eyes that tell us of redness probably does change but only after millennia. Other beliefs or information may not take so long to change such as the beliefs that change in each of us as we move from childhood to adulthood. Beliefs like the colours and sounds we experience do not need to change in the short term as they are practical and useful to us. Some beliefs we hold are not practical and useful and may even be dangerous for others or ourselves. In between there are beliefs that make little difference one way or the other like which is the best football team. Beliefs that are not practical and useful must inevitably end. Even in science it can be seen that beliefs about the universe and us have changed dramatically over the last few thousand years. There is no reason to assume these changes in beliefs will stop anytime soon. There is nothing practical or useful about any negative belief, in fact a negative belief is by definition a belief in something that is not true. What we call depression can be seen to be a cluster of negative beliefs about the world and ourselves that are clearly not true. Beliefs continue only so long as we believe they serve a useful purpose. Of course our belief that our beliefs serve a useful purpose can also be false. It does not matter whether or not we think our beliefs serve a useful purpose if the belief is negative it must end even if that end occurs at the end of our life. Holding a belief that is not true even though it serves no useful purpose can only occur because we want to hold that particular belief. This means that we are responsible for all our beliefs useful or not. The fact that we do not know why we believe something makes no difference as what ever it is that is wanted and believed will manifest itself in our life. The proof of this is in all our actions, try to do something you do not want to do, this is impossible for the moment you do something some part of you has already decided that this is what you wanted to do. Even our feelings are subject to this rule, if they are there, anger for instance; they are there because it is what we want even though we may no longer know why we want it. Although there is probably no god particle to be found, in some ways when beliefs become real through the potential of consciousness it is as though there really is a god particle, or more precisely we become god like in our ability to create our own reality. The problem with this god like ability to create our own reality is that most of the human race are unaware of this ability. Assume this is true and look around you and notice the infinitely varied realities that are being created, notice also how many of these realities are negative. The power to change our reality lies in what we want, if we want something negative you can be sure this is what we will get. Again the problem here is that we do not know that it is our own unconscious need for negative experiences that creates through the action of belief and consciousness our own personal reality.  Observe the reality you create for yourself, look for the patterns that are always there, patterns of repeating the same mistakes over and over again and never seeming to learn. This ability to not learn from our mistakes is often mistaken for addictions. Not knowing that we create our own reality we make excuses for what we do and why we do it. Making excuses takes us away from responsibility and makes it increasingly difficult to rectify the situation. Be assured that whatever it is you want you already have, anything you want to change needs to be changed now and not in the future. Without awareness of what it is we really want it is impossible to change anything. The task then is to increase awareness of what it is we really want. There are many ways to increase awareness including meditation but the catch is we have to want that.

43 comments:

  1. Hi,
    It is very tempting to 'believe' what you are saying as this principle gives me hope of deliverance. Although I cannot see this for myself at present, it is inspiring to know that I create my own reality and if that is the case I can also change my reality, once the awareness of what I really want is clearer.
    However where does that leave the question of no free-will. I can't possibly create my reality and have no free-will at the same time, or are they two seperate things?
    How does a small child for example create his/her reality if there aren't any beleifs formed enough for him to really 'want' anything except for the bare necessities? Or animals for that matter. Is there a distinction that you make between the internal reality that can be formed because of what we want and an external one which we seem to have no control over?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I said in 'the god particle' we are not always conscious of what we want but this does not stop us from wanting something and doing something about it. The issue of no free will is difficult to see for this very reason. The fact that what we want and why we want it can remain unknown to us yet not interfere with us choosing something. One of the key aspects of psychotherapy is to discover what is contained in our unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is unconscious because there are certain things we would rather not know that we know. Jung referred to this as the shadow. This means we can want something yet not have the discomfort of knowing why it is that we want it.
      As to the small child or animals my view is that there is an ego involved but that this ego is not as sophisticated/complicated as it may later become. An important point to recognise is that everything that is experienced through thinking or through the senses of the body is experienced through the action of beliefs and consciousness - this principle applies to any living creature. The 'beliefs' of each creature are determined by the body form of each creature. The 'beliefs' of the tree are clearly not the same as a human yet humans may still hold aspects of these same 'beliefs' from the distant past. When I use the word belief I am not using it the way most people use it. To me this word implies much more, it implies the way we experience the world not just the way we think about the world.
      Not sure I understand the last part of your question, do you mean for instance that if it is raining that must be because I want it to rain. If that is your question then the answer is, not necessarily, beliefs are involved in the way we experience the rain and in other cases may be involved in the creation of something, for instance if we believe we are a failure then this belief is very likely to create a world where this is true.

      Delete
    2. Ok, that may be right, however why is this process like this in the first palce? Why or What has created this process? Hasn't all this play of Consciousness and Belief come from the same Source? I mean why should it happen unless it was wanted by the same power that enables Consciousness and the rest that follows, to be so. There must be power that has deliberately lost itself including the ability to not be able discern the conscious self from the unconscious part.
      Isn't it true for everything that exists as well? I mean it can't possibly be a mistake that all these beleifs are taken as true, including and especially the negative ones, unless it was part of the cosmic play directed by the Absolute (or whatever other name suits the palete).
      Shouldn't everything be accepted as part and parcel of the One from which the multitude springs?

      Delete
    3. You seem to be suggesting the presence of an all - knowing God. I don't think it works like that. I assume the Absolute needs to do it this way and this way involves beliefs of various kinds. The belief aspect I see as an aspect of an evolutionary process. That is as the ego becomes more sophisticated in its beliefs there is a process whereby these beliefs are honed until they become more and more accurate. Evolution is not just to do with physical organisms it is also to do with the mental aspect of these organisms. To get to the point of optimum usefulness of beliefs involves the collapse of beliefs. It is only with the collapse that beliefs can finally be seen clearly as to their usefulness or not. I cannot explain the origin if any or ultimate purpose if any of all this. What I am interested in is where the process of belief and consciousness is at this point in time. Because I or anyone else does not know the point of all this does not mean there isn't one. Human belief/consciousness seems to be only one possibility of what is available to the absolute, my sense is that any ultimate meaning would be incomprehensible to us. None of this should concern you, your particular purpose is to wake up from the dream of the ego. When this happens you will I am sure not be concerned with these questions of meaning.

      Delete
    4. Could you elaborate more on what you really mean by the collapse of all beliefs. I have always taken it for granted and presumed it meant something like my previos understanding of 'Enlightenment' , which to me meant the end of a seperate 'me' and any negative emotion along the feeling of oneness & love for all beings and things. Is this different from your view or does it share some aspects from it but not all.
      Can you talk about how you view your existence after the collapse at a deepest levele possible to put into words please. I understand words are going to limit the possibility to share exactly what you are experiencing, but try to as realistic and simple as possible as you can.
      Thanks

      Delete
    5. I was sorting through some of my old books and came across a book which I had not read called 'Secrets of Kundalini in Panchastavi by Gopi Krishna. I remember reading another book by this man in which he talked about his experience of Kundalini awakening. His description of this sounded much like insanity, in the Panchastavi book he puts all of this into more perspective. He seems to be saying that this Kundalini experience is no different to what I experienced, the difference is in the speed of the process. What I mean is that if this kundalini is experienced without enough preparation then the result can be very dramatic even dangerous. My experience which I refer to as the collapse of belief seems no different to the way this man talks about his experience. What happened to me was much more gradual, over many years beliefs were slowly whittled away until a point of no return is reached - a tipping point where there is no longer any need to whittle away beliefs (not that this whittling was done consciously) it suddenly became clear what beliefs actually are. This is what I refer to in my book as, not what do I believe rather it is what is the nature of belief itself. This did not happen as a result of anything I was doing or thinking it was just a moment of spontaneous comprehension of the nature of belief.
      The result of this comprehension was not immediate there was a short period of intense fear, perhaps this was the ego beginning to see its own end, this period of fear lasted no more than a day and then the final comprehension occurred which is that if there is fear there is a belief that is not true, at this point fear dropped away forever as did suffering. With beliefs out of the way and fear and suffering gone what is left is absolute peace in any circumstance there is nothing dramatic about this in fact I know that this is what everyone experiences it is just that most people only focus on the part that involves beliefs and not the consciousness that underlies those beliefs. This is why I do not think of this as enlightenment or something special it is surprisingly not special but it is perfect peace. Perfect peace may sound special but this would only be because of the self -created suffering that usually comes with belief. Oneness and love tend to be ideas the ego has about the idea of enlightenment. It is not that these are not there they are just not seen as anything special. Likewise the end of a separate me is true but not seen as anything special. When the false idea that results in fear goes then the false idea that results in special-ness also goes. It is ok to ask these questions but it would be better still to find out for yourself. My description could never give you what you are looking for, it is in the area between what you believe and what belief actually is and this is the area to focus on.

      Delete
    6. Sorry I didn't understand the last sentence. Is there such an area between the two?

      Delete
    7. I am just saying there is a difference between these two and to focus on what it is you believe and what belief actually is.

      Delete
  2. Funny, I recently heard the Higgs Bosum particle, better know as the God particle, has actually been discovered. It's the driving force behind the behaviour of all sub-atomic particles and in some way this particle brings order and place to the universe as we perceive it. But as Ray says in his article it's discovery doesn't change my universe much. Maybe it does add a certain passing wonder. But if I am caught in in some conflict or struggle with my own life the Higgs Bosum can take a hike for all I care.
    Let's say, I cut my knee, my mind says, hey, look for a bandage, clean the wound. All well and good but when the mind is engaged in trying to deal with some psychological problem such as lack of confidence or a need for a partner, well, then we are asking something the mind is simply not capable of delivering. So why does the mind continue on this path of what really amounts to self torture? The mind tries to deliver, fear becomes exacerbated and a vicious circle is thrown into being, the bottom line being severe depression and quite often, suicide; our own mind can kill us.
    cont...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nigel I also heard that the Higgs Bosun particle had been discovered then soon after that it had been a false alarm. Thanks for your comments and welcome to the blog.

      Delete
  3. If you take worry, a state where we are perhaps thinking about a future event that generates an uncomfortable feeling, let's say some exam that you really need to pass, then the mind worries about failing, imagining living some future scenario where we are a failure and once more fear is exacerbated which actually reduces our ability to study for the exam and so this mental behaviour may be the actual reason we fail the exam! It is madness.
    There is actually another option. A simple option, other than relying solely on the limited mind. The mind is fine in certain fields, excellent in fact! Just see how you are understanding these words as you read them effortlessly. Do you see how that happens? Do you understand the process by which words are transformed into meaning?
    It seems, we have taken it for granted that the mind will always deliver even in a field based on psychological "beliefs", as Ray has pointed out so clearly. We demand security from failure and expect the mind to deliver us into being successful people. We don't do it knowingly, it just seems to happen. The hypnotic mind compels us to believe.
    Perhaps the mind has become a habit, or rather a serious addiction. We appear to prefer sitting back, in a semi-conscious state, leaving the "automatic pilot" to try and deliver the impossible for us: total security and ever lasting happiness and peace. As, Ray, points out, we don't seem to have noticed that it can't deliver, so the mind is on constant overload.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The trick, the way out of this madness is simply to allow full conscious to be, i.e. not to fall into the semi-conscious state. How do we do that? This is where it sounds crazy but we need to learn the art of "not doing". It's that place where you give up trying to be anything, you've lost all hope so you just face who you are head on not allowing the mind to slip in trying to help you find an escape route a from feelings you "believe" you don't like!. Certain beliefs have become so ingrained that we have taken them to be truth. Letting go can only happen in full consciousness. This process may take a longer or a shorter time. we can never know about that so it really doesn't matter. That would just be more mind speculation. The only thing that matters in life is coming back to full consciousness. In the end, all the "knowing and believing" that we held so dearly is seen to be totally unnecessary. Even the words here can be held as "knowing" and very often we derive a buzz from words and the feeling "ahhh now I know, great". Rather like the starving man forever caught up in reading the menu. But "knowing" is of absolutely no value. What has real value is "seeing" that in truth you know absolutely nothing at all. We only thought we knew anyway! This is the "collapse of belief" and that plunges us into the miracle of life. The wonder of being a human being here at this moment seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, a manifestation that is totally beyond comprehension, beyond mere words and we are that!
    We always believed that in some way "knowing" would save us, when in fact, all that "knowing" does is blind us and set us up in ever closing circles of bondage that make life nothing but a nearly unbearable struggle of survival when in actual fact life is a gift beyond all measure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/23/higg-m23.html

    Hi Ray, nice to be here too! This is the link to the most recent news on the Higgs Bosum. Fascinating stuff!
    all the best

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very interesting article but I am still not convinced by it for instance -

      Almost immediately, it 'looked' as if the theory could be used to explain a more general question: Where does mass come from? All current particle masses are experimentally determined parameters inserted into the Standard Model. They do not come out of the theory itself. It is 'hypothesized' that the mass of all particles is based on the interactions of the Higgs field and its mediator, the Higgs boson. This discovery will help clarify this problem.
      A last and somewhat subtle question remains. The Standard Model, while powerful, is not a complete description of matter at the fundamental level. Outside of finding the Higgs, one of the main tasks of the Large Hadron Collider is to peer into possible realms beyond the Standard Model. In one of these models, known as supersymmetry, there are potentially five types of Higgs bosons. 'Only further measurements' of how this Higgs decays will determine whether the particle that has been discovered is the Standard Model Higgs or one governed by the physics of supersymmetry. Either outcome will be a major advancement for our understanding of physics and both will open up new vistas of study.

      It sounds like they have found something but what that is and what they say it means does not sound conclusive to me. If it turns out to be so I still think that without belief and consciousness none of this could be understood anyway and that still applies to the way we experience the universe whatever particles actually are contained in that universe.

      Delete
    2. Can Consciousness not discover itself, without the use of such high intellect and theories? Why is there any need to use science, philosophy, psychology or spiritual dialougues to understand who we are and what This is all about anyway?
      I mean all said and done, how would all this be explained to a simpleton or a 8 year old child? Or is this journey of self-discovery only for the ones priveledged with a high intellect?
      My intellect has got me nowhere as Neil has said, knowing only blinds us in further bondage.

      Delete
    3. Sorry I meant Nigel, not Neil

      Delete
    4. Consciousness does not need to discover itself it is absolutely perfect as it is. Intellect does not help us discover what is already there. It is like Plato's cave allegory we sit looking at shadows and taking them to be real. We discuss them, argue about them, wonder what they are made of (Higgs Boson). What is aware of the shadows is consciousness what is aware of that which is not shadows is also consciousness. We can if we wish sit in a cave entranced by shadows thinking that nothing else exists apart from those shadows or we can get up and stroll around in the sunshine. Taking shadows to be real we suffer and strange as it seems this can only be because we want to suffer, in the world of shadows this is taken to be normal. There is no need to use science, philosophy, psychology or spiritual dialogues to understand who or what we are but we can if we wish. A simpleton or an eight year old child are unlikely to have any interest in these things and do not need anything explained to them as they are generally more in touch with consciousness than are adults. Yes knowing does blind us but we are all born into a world where knowing takes place but the knowing that takes place always leads to suffering and suffering is probably the only thing that can lead us out of our own beliefs (shadows). Therefore my assumption is that everything is as it should be.

      Delete
    5. Yes, Kite, the intellect can be a huge disadvantage as far as I can see in the search for truth. I dabble only. It's something of interest to me, but I certainly wouldn't invest too much time theorising about stuff on the edge of the known.

      The beauty of self inquiry is that it is there for anyone who wishes to look. As Ray says, we are conscious beings already. There is nothing to gain here, no requirements, just unloading unnecessary baggage. It is the will to look, perseverance and patience that leads us into full consciousness.

      As a curious point: a lot of physicists are ardent meditators! I don't know if you have seen the documentary "Down the Rabbit Hole" but Quantum Physics really takes you to a spiritual place as they have discovered that in some experiments, most significantly the double slit experiment, an observer changes the result. One of the big questions was about the nature of light. Is it a wave or a particle? When there is an observer the wave collapses into a particle! Einstein called it spooky physics. can't help agreeing! Bloody amazing stuff!

      Delete
  6. I'd say some knowledge is not only interesting but absolutely necessary. I need to know my address to get home. It's useful to know how to use a computer etc. The problem lies in false knowledge that we have taken on assuming it to be true. That field is the psychological field, my fears, hope, projections, this "false knowledge" is the cause of all our suffering.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Agreed, there is false knowledge and there is knowledge that is practical and useful. If we can identify the false knowledge what is left tends to be practical and useful but this practical and useful knowledge is only required for short periods of time, mostly it is unnecessary, on the other hand the knowledge of the senses is always active, even in sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes, I agree, more importantly practical knowledge carries no emotional baggage. It would be odd if someone got upset if said their address incorrectly!

    "Knowledge of the senses"? Seeing requires no knowledge, nor does hearing... nor taste no feeling.. they just happen without a me. What do you mean by "knowledge of the senses"? Don't get it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't mean knowledge as it is usually taken to mean. The knowledge of the senses requires no thought but something is 'known' if we look at a tree we see something, that something could not be known without the knowledge I am referring to. I think of this as knowledge that has built up since the beginning of life. The eyes and the brain see shapes and colours and perspective but do not see meaning.actually even shapes colour and perspective are also aspects of belief or knowledge and this knowledge was there millions of years before we had language. Anything that can be known requires knowledge or belief of some kind. Belief as I see it is not limited to thinking, in seeing there is a much more subtle sense of knowing and belief going on. You referred to Down the rabbit hole, in that there is a bit where they talk about natives not being able to see Columbus's ships as they had no concept of ship, this is similar to what I am saying. All of this takes place through the magic of consciousness. All life has consciousness even a tree or an insect but the life form determines how that consciousness is used. Consciousness is limited by the body and when that body dies it is no longer able to use consciousness. Behind consciousness is the absolute which cannot be known except by implication. The absolute is not different from consciousness as there is no duality in the absolute, duality could be said to be all the knowledge that arises from consciousness that only arises as the appearance of something separate, maybe that is what the word 'samsara' means. Just checked the meaning of the word samsara, here is part of it - literally meaning "continuous flow", is the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. The Buddha taught that there is no beginning or end to this cycle. The goal of Asian religions is to escape this process, the achievement of which is called moksha. In popular use, Samsara [a westernized spelling] may refer to the world (in the sense of the various worldly activities which occupy ordinary human beings), the various sufferings thereof; or the unsettled and agitated mind through which reality is perceived.

      Delete
    2. Never did believe that natives could not see Columbus's ship. Who knew they didn't see it? And usually natives see stuff they've never seen before... they may give them names like fiery charriots or something but anyway.

      Yeah, I agree, I suppose life without words is good. Have a nice evening, Ray! Got the cat snoring here at my side and a cuppa Rooibos. Cheers!

      Delete
    3. Just an after thought, the above may sound a bit convoluted but the point of it is that unless we realise that everything that appears in the mind including what I refer to as sense knowledge is belief i.e illusion then we are likely to remain attached to these illusory aspects. It is only when all aspects of the illusion are seen that we can be truly free.

      Delete
    4. You know what, Ray... I've given up. I no longer care about being attached, free, bound, unenlightened, enlightened, about being someone...no need to be other than this here, whatever that may be, on my sofa, no purpose, no meaning. There's just the cat here still snoring, a film on tv. And you know what? It's all more than enough. I am a huge no one, not enlightened, I don't know what I am and I don't care. I just am, for some mysterious reason, here in this weird, mysterious life.

      Delete
    5. Nigel, You know I've been in this state you described in your in this state you've described in your last comment, several times in my search, only to discover that this state didn't last as the restlessnes and the yearning for the truth stirred up more questions and the energy to find the truth continued on, not to mention the suffering that impelled the drive in the first place. If it is a permanent state then my heartiest congratulations to you on discovering the peace within yourself and to abide in that abode forever more. As for me there is no such resting for long as something beckons me along before I can catch my breath in peace.
      Ray, I sometimes wonder if there will ever be a 'collapse of beliefs' for me as the illusion that you mentioned is too intricate, complex and deeply inherent at the bottom of one's being. It is so chaotically knotted that it seems very unlikely that this will end in this life (not that I beleive it will happen in another life. The only promise seems to be death where there is a possibility of release although it will be of no value then as I won't be around to experience it.

      Delete
    6. I know it sounds intricate, complex etc but this is more about trying to describe something that cannot be described, I have tried to describe it as simply as possible, it is truly simple in the end but our minds have become so complex that it seems impossible to see the simplicity. It seems to me inherently difficult to describe this process, when I see what I have written I know it is correct but also know that it appears complicated. It is as though we have to unravel a huge knot only to find when it is done that one simple pull in the right place and it would have unravelled itself.
      What I am doing is challenging all the complexities of the mind. There is a point where all beliefs collapse but there is nothing you can do other than what you are already doing to control this or speed it up. If you believe that the process is difficult then it will be if you believe that being chaotically knotted seems unlikely to ever end then it will become so. Be careful what you believe because without fail it will come true. Observe what you already believe and you will see it already is true.

      Delete
    7. I think 'Time' is one of the strongest and most omniprescent belief that exists as everything else is based on that. Even in my last comment I started projecting on words like 'never' 'search' 'find' 'will end' 'this life' which all imply a sense of time, and as you so appropriately pointed out to me once when I was caught up in figuring out 'the process', to be mindful of the belief of time, as it was just another construct of the ego.
      If I pull out time from all of this intellectual antics then there is no base for all the rest of the beliefs as I feel it is a very core belief. Correct me if I'm wrong please. However the fact still remains as to whether I really want to withdraw this belief of time or not, right?

      Delete
    8. Yes time is a belief that allows all other beliefs to exist, it is a construct that although it does not exist we take as real and once this happened all other beliefs were attached to it. As Nigel pointed out this can be useful but it can also be the cause of all suffering. Without time there is just the play of consciousness. A clock tells us the time but we know that this is relative to where the clock is in the world and strangely according to Einstein not just where the clock is but how fast it is travelling. It is the mind that decides that time is real and as well as this meaning adds all the other possible meanings, all these meanings in a way collude with each other to create an intricate and complex appearance. All of this is illusion except consciousness in which it all arises. Part of the process is to be able to use time and beliefs without being controlled by them. Consciousness is able to do this - to switch from timeless consciousness to apparent time and meaning in an instant and back again all as our present circumstance requires. Once beliefs are seen for what they are (illusion) consciousness is free to orchestrate them as necessary and where they are practical and useful and when not necessary to leave them alone.

      Delete
    9. Can you explain your last statement from your second last comment:
      "Observe what you already believe and you will see it already is true."
      You have said that before as well, that we already have what we want. I don't understand what you mean by that.
      Thanks

      Delete
    10. It is impossible to do something you do not want to do therefore everything that you do is what you want. Your life as it is now is entirely the product of your beliefs, this even applies to feelings. As I have said before why this is so difficult to understand is because so many of our beliefs are unconscious (beliefs we would rather not know about). If you look carefully at your life as it is you will see that all of it is precisely what you want. The problem here is to see your own unconscious beliefs. These beliefs are assigned to the unconscious file and until you are ready to see what you have placed in this file the contents will be unknown to you except through observing what it is you do. Much of what you do comes directly from the unconscious and while you may not see what is in the "file" you can see what it is you do.

      Delete
    11. Whether the state I find myself in is permanent or not is unknowable, it is also irrelevant as nothing is permanent and I don't expect anything other than life doing what it does. I'm going to die one day... sooner or later... all things come and go. One thing the mind always tries to do is freeze reality into something nice for ourselves. We try to cling to nice states and try to avoid disagreeable states. It's simply a pointless pursuit. You can't fight reality. We've tried for a long time. And now the new struggle for so called enlightenment is the new place we search for. A nice place where we will be free of suffering. But if you are intelligent you will continue to struggle to find that place and one day you'll give up all hope and if you decide to carry on living you'll face all sensations that come and go without trying to do anything about them. And as we leave them alone they just come and go quite quickly. They become the colours of life and they are all welcome. It may even get to a point where the feeling is so direct that mind interpretation ceases and you don't even recognise them as good or bad. They are just sensations. Storms come, blues skies come, windy days and calm days... that's life. And it is an extraordinary miracle.

      Delete
    12. If you ever get to that place where life just isn't worth living, well then you have nothing to lose. So hey, you might as well just hang on in there and observe the movements of sensations. Focusing on sensation cuts out the automatic mind thoughts geared to try and free you from them. Face fear, see what happens. Just look at it. If fear is running and we are unconscious it, we become it's slave.

      The reason you eat has nothing to do with thoughts. It's a sensation that gets you up to make a sandwich. It's a world within us that is on the animal level, but our minds automatically kick in as soon as sensation arrives. Breaking that automatic pilot is not easy, especially in the case of fear. We don't want to feel fear. Ask yourself why? Is it really that big a deal? See.

      Delete
  9. Thanks Nigel for your thoughts. Makes sense.
    Ray I'm sorry but I still need to ask you further on this:
    WHY? Why do we want to hold on to or want negative beliefs. I really want to understand this as I sense the truth of this although very vaguely at present. Can't put my finger on it but somehow intuition tells me its true. But I need your help: WHY is it like this?
    After reading your last comment I experiences a lot of negativity and rejection of all your concepts as a sort of retaliation to what you said. My body started feeling aches and pains as if in some sort of fever and I have lost sleep as well since I'm up since 1:30am. Something seems to be resisting this proposition. I'm better now when I write this but I still can't understand WHY!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thats quite a reaction you had to my last comment. I think it is because that comment was mostly about the unconscious. It reminds me of a client I had who whenever I touched on certain unconscious material he would literally fall asleep in his chair, after a few minutes he would wake up and I said the same thing again and again he instantly fell asleep. its possible I was boring him to sleep but I don't think so, the timing was exact, as soon as he heard these particular words he fell asleep. Over time I was able to see some of his unconscious beliefs and say them but still he was unwilling to listen and this was not conscious but deeply unconscious. With you not having been in therapy with me I can only say in a general way that these unconscious beliefs are to do with your secret beliefs about yourself. These beliefs are almost always to do with negative experiences you had when you where a child that cause you to conclude (unconsciously) that you are unloveable. From this conclusion you design a strategy to deal with this again unconsciously. As I said in my last comment this strategy is in what you now do and this is the place to look if you want to see what that is. You have asked me this same question many many times and I have answered it many times the answer is also contained in both my books which you have read. This tells me that you are not yet ready to hear the answer or to know what it is you want. Amnesia does not occur by accident it occurs when the mind is unable or unwilling to face certain truths. You are looking to me to supply the answer to this mystery but the answer lies with you and this is true for each of us. Through meditation I found the principle of resistance, this is all the things that we resist in life, it may be we resist doing certain things or hearing certain things and our tendency is to just avoid these things. Avoiding means burying our problems and their solution and so they alway return, you can push certain things out of your awareness but you cannot stop the problem from reoccurring. In meditation this starts to become more and more obvious and in time we begin to become interested in these moments of resistance and then it becomes possible to know precisely what we resist and to begin exploring the possibility of not resisting. As we learn to stop resisting life begins to flow, the flow is a sure sign that we have solved or are solving out own resistance. This resistance often manifests as pain or negative experience.

      Delete
    2. Got that, thanks.
      Sorry but I didn't even realise that I was repeating myself/ (as you said it was unconscious)
      Ok so I've got to figure this out myself. I completely agree and understand that and I will try my best to go past the resistance in meditation and daily life.
      I was reading your blog on Boredom today and I feel that majority of the resistance is in the form of boredom. I just cannot get through with anything including going towards the resistance aspect in me as I get really uncomfortable and bored (I think they are two sides of the same coin) to maintain the drive and courage to get through the thicket of deliberate strategies to keep something protected.

      So thanks a lot for pointing that out to me, I will sit and face this resistance which manifests in my body as sensations as you and Nigel have said. I can't see any other way at present

      Delete
    3. Boredom is one of the manifestations of resistance. This is one of the barriers that arises in meditation that need to be passed through. This is not easy as when you sit in meditation and boredom arises the unconscious mechanism I mentioned may kick in and we become sleepy. With persistance this will fall away - I sometimes refer to the ego as a defence system and that is true, the ego is a master of defence - trust that consciousness is more powerful than the ego then with persistance you will solve this.

      Delete
  10. Wishing you well Kite. One last thing that helps me, adopt a warrior attitude. Never indulge in self-pity, it gets you no where fast. Demand only the highest of your resources. You will fall, we all do, that's normal, but a warrior gets up quickly, he doesn't linger on the ground. He just gets on with the task at hand. Have no expectations and always chose a path with heart. Life is a mysterious unknowable miracle no matter what's going on, and so are you.
    wishing you who we all are.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a piece by Jeff Foster, a guy I really like.

    An unexpected piece of news comes your way. An unforeseen occurrence, an out-of-the-blue revelation. Something you thought was yours is now lost, perhaps forever. An old way of life has fallen away. Old friends now come to visit: That sinking feeling in the stomach. That shortness of breath. That primal sense of disorientation. Who are you? What can be trusted? What will happen now? A dream of how life "was going to be" is dead and dying. An old identity is melting away. An old future has become void. The invitation? Stay with this death. Breathe through it. Stay present in the midst of the movement. Ground yourself as the old ground falls away - it was never the true Ground anyway. Know that only the false is crumbling, and the real cannot crumble. Life itself cannot go wrong, who you truly are cannot perish, only your plans. "My life" is always changing, that is its nature, so let the change be natural, and let the false crumble into the Life that you are. Let truth reveal itself, moment by moment, without rewinding or fast-forwarding the movie. Lean into the seeming mess, relax into the present scene. See the aliveness and creativity in the cyclone - you are only witnessing the death of dreams. Know yourself as the deep and unshakeable calm at the timeless eye of the storm. Who you are has always witnessed the passing of storms. Crisis is not disaster, it is birth. This is your invitation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just watched this amazing video on Youtube check it out here -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbh5l0b2-0o

      Delete
  12. Yeah, I've seen it, "Athene's Theory of Everything". Pretty cool stuff. Have you seen "Imagining the 10th Dimension"? The guy gas a load of videos about string theory, and it's pretty clear, and entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, I saw that Nigel and do watch Robert Lanza's theory on Biocentrism on YouTube as Ray suggested. Pretty believable.

    Ray, I tried to search our past emails and blogs but could not find your reply to me regarding love. I'm sure you had written to me regrading this with something like Consciosness having the same characteristic as pure love or something to that effect.
    After all this intellectualisations I tend to keep thinking where does the 'heart' fit into all this. Shouldn't it be before the conceptual mind and isn't 'Love & Compassion' at the heart of everything as it is in Buddhism?
    Could you write a full article on Love & Compassion please as I feel this topic deserves justice from the viewpoint of 'all beliefs being false'. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ok Love and compassion will be my next post

      Delete