Once it is seen that no symbol or language can be used to express truth we are free to examine with a truly open mind whether or not an idea or belief is useful or not. Knowledge is based on assumptions that something is true or it is false. Either of these conclusions would be wrong. True or false cannot be proven as the language these words are composed of can only ever have the meaning we choose to give them. Meaning will always be decided by individual preference. Any preference must be conditional, that is it must be based on whatever knowledge we have accumulated through our individual life experience, which by its nature will always be different from another's experience. Who is to decide which of all possible life experiences will lead us to the correct conclusion. Knowledge based on assumptions can only lead us around in circles forever replacing one belief with another, non of which can ever be true. All of history is composed of this process.
True understanding is equivalent to consciousness.
False understanding creates an illusion whereby consciousness is hidden.
True understanding occurs when beliefs are seen to be illusions that may be useful or not.
When this is seen/understood the illusion dissolves to reveal the truth.
The truth is that which remains when the illusion dissolves.
This is consciousness.
Could you please interpret what you have written in the blog as to how it relates with the ego. How does the false sense of self come about when making these false assumptions using knowledge.
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The false sense of self (the ego) is created by the simple act of believing whatever false assumptions we may hold. This is very subtle yet very powerful the best analogy I can think of is when the gears of a car are in neutral nothing happens (consciousness) when the gears are engaged there is movement. You could say that the intention to move is created by the disturbance we feel when we are still. We do not engage the gears because there is somewhere to go but because we (the ego) cannot tolerate stillness (consciousness)
ReplyDeletePerfect! That metaphor makes a lot of sense. Of course pure stillness is consciousness. Although the word stillness has been used so often in religious and spiritual circles, the essence still remains. Consciousness is perfect stillness and all movement is temporary and abstract and therefore synonymous with belief and therefore illusory. Is that true? And if so so the next obvious question comes even though that is the whole point of this search: How do 'we' remain still?
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There is a zen parable in which the question is raised by two monk 'is it the wind that moves the flag' a third monk says no it is mind moving. It could be said that nothing moves except the mind. The only way movement can be seen and verified is with the mind. How do we remain still? thats easy just put the gear in neutral - if only it were that easy. Do you remember me telling you about the sequence of events after the collapse of belief. Without beliefs I became aware of an intense fear, all my internal sign posts were gone. All the internal stories I had used to give meaning to my life were gone. Suddenly I realised that if there was fear there was still belief and understanding that belief is never true I finally understood that fear is a belief based on something that is not true, suddenly the fear was gone and has never returned. When I look back over my life I see that the biggest shifts came when my fears were revealed and understood. All movement (stories) revolve around fear. From almost drowning to the collapse of beliefs fear was the critical element that needed to be understood, there were many other instances in my life were fear was instrumental in my understanding going deeper. For many fear is something to move away from but for whatever reasons it seems I was not allowed to move away from it but instead was forced to go into it. Your question had the effect of dominoes falling in my mind each one connected to fear. This is why it is so difficult to be still, how can we be still when we have so many fears. Remember fear is not something real it is ultimately a belief that is not true. Become aware of all the fears you hold and then consider the source of all fear - if there is fear there must be a source.
ReplyDeleteIt's so strange that you spoke about fear stemming from my question as last night I awoke at an unearthly hour starting off by feeling just a little uncomfortable. Thereafter whilst listening to some music I suddenly felt some sort of dread arising along with accompanying guilt and anxiety. This fearful feelings were very uncomfortable and I wanted to speak to someone but obviously due to the time I couldn't connect with anyone. And believe it or not I started thinking about what you went through when the flip occurred and how you'll went through the fear to come out free the other side however I felt as if I missed the opportunity as I continued distracting myself by reading the news especially the dreadful stuff happening in the Middle East etc. instead of being with those difficult feelings. I distracted myself as the fear was very uncomfortable to endure. I'm sure I'll get another opportunity to stay with these feelings in order to uncover the source as you said. But it's so strange that you wrote about fear just after my experience last night even though my question was specifically on stillness.
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