I have a problem with contemplation

[Pouya]

For example I am contemplating Resistance.

I already know what it is as an idea or a premade answer in my mind.

Then I write down: it is the opposite of acceptence. Ego resists because it helps it to survive. Resistance is caused by not letting go, which includes not letting go of the joy and suffering.

I resist the passing of joy and the comming of suffering.

At the same time, I don't resist the ordinary grey stuff.

I don't resist the things that are between joy and suffering. Grey stuff.

 

Obviously these are just ideas that i knew before contemplating. Here is where I do my ultimate trick: Why the hell am I wasting time on contemplating.

 

The goal of contemplation is deconstruction of beliefs and ideas and reaching not knowing, and see the things as they truly are.

But how can I do that when I already assume I know the answer and I can't even see them as beliefs? Because the ideas that I wrote about resistance make sense for me and I can see them in first hand experience examples.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Pouya

[Truth Addict]

@Pouya

I would say: instead of asking "what is resistance?" and coming with answers, you need to realise that resistance is just resistance. You already know that every answer is not it, because the answer has to be another thought. So it's a circle.

A thing is just itself and nothing else.

[Pouya]

@Truth Addict how can one contemplate on something that is just itself.

I mean i have felt resistance in my life so defining it is not useful when I can know what it is actually when I feel it.

I'm trying to start with contemplation before going into self inquiry.

If im not going to answer, then what am I supposed to do in contemplation?

[Truth Addict]

@Pouya

Here's an example of useful contemplation:

Imagine we're talking about food, and you mention bananas to me.

Would I experience a banana or would it be just a thought of it?

I ask you: what is a banana?

You could spend hundreds and thousands of years trying to explain a banana to me.

You could say: it's a yellow curved fruit that tastes delicious, etc..

Or: it's a complex of cells that work together blah blah blah.. 

Or: you could show me a picture of it, which still isn't it.

Or: etc...

Would any of that be an actual banana?

For me to know what a banana is, I need to directly experience it (sensory experience).

So, to sum up, always look for actuality.

And use this thought as a guide: a thought of a banana is never an actual banana.

Now, apply this example to anything you want, including resistance, look for the actual resistance, not the thought of it, not a lecture about it.

Look for resistance in your direct experience using the guidance of bananas 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Truth Addict

[WelcometoReality]

@Pouya Resistance is based around a belief that things should be another way than it is or shouldn't be the way they are.

When you have identified a belief you can ask yourself, is it true?

 

[who chit]

1 hour ago, Pouya said:

I already assume I know

Is the first ignorance. Instead of trying to reach "not knowing" from knowing,start from I know nothing,which is true.
Everything you "know" has been put into you (conditioned into you), from outside of you,from others who themselves assume they know ie. peers,teachers,books,movies,tv,"authority" figures etc.,

Contemplation is using keen discernment/discrimination to prove the reality,existence,truth or the non-reality,non- existent,untruth, of a belief,idea,concept etc.,

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by who chit

[who chit]

2 hours ago, Pouya said:

I mean i have felt resistance in my life so defining it is not useful when I can know what it is actually when I feel it.

So you have felt resistance. Which means it is a sensation or feeling. What is a sensation or feeling? A sensory experience happening in the body. When it is happening,you know it. It is an object of experience,and you are the knower of it. So saying I feel or I am the resistance is not true. You don't deny that it is there,happening in the body. You're not trying to use denial,which is aversion.
You are knowing, of the sensation or feeling that is happening, and not the feeling or sensation itself. You are the seer. The resistance/feeling (object of experience) that is happening, is the seen. Knowing this,you are free from it.

Edited February 14, 2019 by who chit

[Leo Gura]

@Pouya Sounds to me like you are on the right track but just second-guessing yourself.

Just observe more rather than speculate.

Sit down and observe what resistance is, how it works, when it arises, why it arises, when it passes, why it passes, what function is serves, what it feels like, etc.

Those are all great questions.

The purpose of contemplation is not deconstruction per se but to get to the truth of the matter, to see what is actually the case.

What is actually the case about resistance? To answer that you must spend a lot of time observing it. The mistake is speculating about it based on your assumptions and theories. Stop doing that! Rather, observe it from scratch and make mental note of what you see.

Study it like a rare tropical butterfly under a microscope which you are seeing for the first time in your life.