Samsara
is the mind turned outwardly, lost in its projections. Nirvana is the mind
turned inwardly, recognizing its true nature. ~Sogyal Rinpoche
Perception
is a mirror not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. ~ A Course In Miracles
We are all deeply
involved in samsara. This means we are
all busy creating suffering for ourselves and others while believing that we
are seeking happiness. The root cause of
this is avidya or “ignorance.” For now
we can just call it universal stupidity.
It’s the reason we’re all here.
Of course we’re also here to help us wise up.
Like everyone else in this world of ours,
I am deep into my own stupidity.
However, I am among those of us who are interested in waking up. Because of this I pay attention to my
thoughts and emotions and I differentiate between them and my essential
self. I am also aware (sometimes) that
the “world” that I encounter through my senses is a neuro-psychic hallucination. Because I am pretty much just like everyone
else I can also get lost in fear, lust, anger, jealousy, need for control, guilt
and/or desire. We pick our poison based
on our unconscious predispositions, or samskaras.
Ego, in the spiritual sense, is just our
false identification with our mind. We
tend to believe that “my mind” is somehow not the same as “your mind.” In reality it is all Mind. No matter how you try you cannot escape the
fact that everything we experience is a predicate of Mind. So this is how I have been really stupid for
a long time. I have fallen into the
belief that I am a body and that I am somehow separate from everyone and
everything. I have swallowed the
narrative fed to me by my culture, family, religious upbringing, friends,
enemies, lovers, media celebrities even.
I have nothing to do with any of that.
It is all hallucination for me and on a group scale. At the same time it does have meaning. We have pay attention because it reflects who
we think we are.
Pay attention but don’t believe the
hype. Be true to your Self. This is our dream and we can make of it what
want and we can choose to fully awaken.
