Playing with Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

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The masses have never thirsted after the truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.

— Gustave Le Bon

 

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It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:32 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

What is shame?

[UnbornTao]

Whenever you are fully engaged in some activity, there's no resistance, and this increases your vitality.

Edited Wednesday at 04:48 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:29 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Answers are irrelevant when it comes to contemplation; insight is the goal. People often confuse two similar expressions as if they arose from the same experience or consciousness.

Are you conveying an authentic realization, or simply passing down hearsay while trying to convince yourself and others of its validity? Parroting is much easier--and therefore the more common approach. But this is a subtle form of self-deception.

For example, we might hear a profound axiom or truism, such as: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Yet without the direct consciousness that gave rise to such a statement, can we truly say we understand what it's pointing to? Do we experience the reality that originally sourced the insight?

Make the work yours. Be the one in the driver’s seat, generating insight independently of preference, opinion, and belief. That’s the only way it will work.

Edited Wednesday at 09:19 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

As a practice for developing personal integrity, commit to doing a relatively simple act habitually, something you’d feel ashamed not to do. For example, if you can’t stand half an hour of daily meditation, do it for a minute (or even just 10 seconds)--something you’re certain you’ll follow through on. Over time, as you consistently keep your word, your self-esteem will grow, and what you say will begin to carry power. You’ll come to know yourself as someone who can be trusted. At that point, you’ll need to be mindful of what you commit to, because whatever you give your word to, you’ll follow through on.

Also, notice the consequences of being out of integrity. You don’t need to commit to anything--you can remain bound to your impulses, chasing gratification and avoiding discomfort. But this creates a disempowering experience. Being out of integrity becomes “evidence” that you’re someone who can’t be trusted. Each time you make a promise, even if only to yourself via thinking, and fail to honor it, you sense it. As a result, you begin to lose trust in yourself. So whenever you give your word--even casually--keep it. Otherwise, don’t give it in the first place.

Edited Wednesday at 09:23 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

When you start to set aside everything that isn’t a direct apprehension of the nature of something, what do you know for real? What is it that you have relative to most things? 

Edited Wednesday at 05:08 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Shit, this was heartbreaking. Watch the whole episode.

 

Edited Wednesday at 05:08 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Learn to handle problematic situations or outcomes before they arise. What results are your actions creating? Where are they leading you? What long-term outcomes do you expect from your current behavior patterns? Pay close attention to their trajectory, and adjust course immediately if needed. Don’t wait for potential issues to gain momentum--the stronger the inertia, the more discipline it will take to change direction.

Edited 7 hours ago by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Is happiness circumstantially-derived?

Edited March 25, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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To discover something for oneself is not a matter of stepping back to think about it, or figuring it out, or conceptualizing it, theorizing about it, or the like – it’s a matter of direct engagement with something. As we would say, "being out here" with it.

Getting clear about what something is may be a required step toward discovering it for oneself, but is not the state change that is discovering it for oneself.

It’s not a matter of stepping back to think about, figure out, conceptualize, theorize – it’s a matter of direct engagement with.

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... among the worst things we can do is to give [students] the impression that they understand something they do not really understand, that something has been explained when it has not been explained, and that a problem has been solved when it has not been solved.

– John Searle

Edited Wednesday at 09:42 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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But now I realize that apart from a few special days now and then, life mostly does consist of one dull, insignificant day after another. Human beings are attracted to drama and variety. The humdrum we hold in disdain. Wrapped up in the routines of our daily lives, we let them slide by unnoticed. But I believe that hidden in these ordinary, unremarkable routines of life is a great truth that requires our attention.

The business of living is not in the least special. In a sense it all comes down to two things: eating and excreting. These activities are common to all life forms. Every creature on earth is born, through eating and excreting helps maintain the balance of the great chain of being, and dies. In the realm of nature, these activities are essential to the continuity of life, and they give value to each being’s life. People are no different. If human life has meaning, it lies above all in the essential fact of our physical existence in this world. This is what I strongly believe.

By contemplating life as it is, stripped of all extraneous added value, I found I could let go of a myriad of things that had been gnawing at my mind. Through the prosaic repetition of Eiheiji’s exacting daily routines for washing the face, eating, defecating, and sleeping, this is the answer that I felt in my bones: accept unconditionally the fact of your life and treasure each moment of each day.

— Kaoru Nonomura, Eat Sleep Sit.

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:37 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Edited Tuesday at 06:34 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

By attempting to modify, add to, withdraw from, or hide--acts rooted in misrepresentation--we are conceding that our experience of ourselves and of life is not enough as it is. As a result of this way of relating to others, a continuous struggle emerges as our underlying condition.

Edited Wednesday at 09:48 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Fear is so accessible and constant a condition for us that it often goes unnoticed, receding into the background of our experience--subtly and grossly tainting the way we live.

Edited 6 hours ago by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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Students today can't get anywhere; what ails you? Lack of faith in yourself is what ails you. If you lack faith in yourself, you'll keep on tumbling along, dragged this way and that.

— Rinzai

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:40 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Notice how language (your mind) subtly influences the way you hold infinity to be "something"--an object, a perception, a state or experience, something "huge" out there to be attained. Seriously, whatever you have regarding this "absolute" matter is not it. At best, it is a grounded notion or possibility; at worst, a complete fantasy based on wishful thinking.

Whatever it is remains to be personally realized by you and you alone--and will remain so until you are completely, entirely, and profoundly conscious of everything there is. So be humble and do not fool yourself. And when you do, admit it instantly and keep inquiring.

Edited Wednesday at 10:00 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Enjoying the Shogun TV show.

Edited February 29, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

The mind is constantly struggling for certainty and safety.

Edited March 19, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

How do we approach real change?

Can your attempts at "resolving" yourself, or life, ever be effective?

For instance, feeling inadequate, you might pursue strength, popularity, or wealth to pacify inner lack--hoping these will "fix" you. I’m not disparaging such efforts but pointing us toward investigating their motives. Don’t use doubt to undermine action; instead, do what you want, but clarify why.

It’s like being blind and--wanting to recover your sight--going about changing your surroundings. This analogy reveals how we address only superficial manifestations, leaving intact the very conditions that source our struggles.

What recurring challenges do I encounter? What’s the root of this condition?

Edited yesterday at 08:56 PM by UnbornTao