Tagged: belief
The “truth,” “facts,” and “beliefs.”
Any seeker looking to find “truth,” is only using the conditioned mind to understand Life. That cannot happen, for the conditioned mind has parameters to look, to search, and those parameters are very small. Life is immense.
Any “spiritual” class or talk given by someone deemed to be “advanced” is bound to be misunderstood. Those words cannot be taken literally. Those can only be small pointers. “Truth” cannot be put into a paragraph. No one can ever have the objective “truth.” We can only have facts.
What is the difference between facts and truth?
Facts are coming from the same parameters accepted by a group of people or society and thus, seemingly objective. Truth is subjective, according to experience. So, there is “my” truth. To find our “truth” is all there is.
If we say that “truth” is according to fact or reality, we are merely sugar coating a fact, for the word “truth” has authoritarian connotation.
Person A pulled the trigger and killed person B. That fact could be proven.
Person C died due to “mysterious” causes (meaning unknown.) Some say it was medical negligence, others go for some sort of sorcery, witchcraft. That cannot be proven. However, Life will bring consequences for the ones killing others. Since we are part of Life, we cannot escape Life.
My last sentence may seem like some fact, but it is only a belief unless we have the experience. Then, that becomes our truth. It doesn’t become a fact.
Is God a fact?
God is someone’s truth, but a belief for those without the experience.
In our society, we value facts. Life for the ones living in awareness, is about finding our own truth. That is a continuous task. Those who make a philosophy out of their own findings, are trying to make a fact out of their own truth. Followers will believe that to be the unquestionable “truth.”
Living Life in awareness and learning to swim, has many things in common.
Swimming is not floating. Yet, some who can only float will call that swimming. There are some who can swim, but their movement is not efficient and enjoyable. Are they truly swimming?
Someone who is perfecting his swimming style, could watch many videos from the “experts,” but until we are able to become self aware and catch our own movements by feeling them, then we will able to recognize some of the words given by the “experts.” That recognition through experience is knowing.
The bottom line is that each swimmer will need to find out what actually works for them. That is to find our “truth” at every moment and to be authentic, true to ourselves. That is honesty.
The path of honesty is not easy, but there is fulfillment in that journey. Nevertheless, many prefer to follow “the truth,” as given by someone else and believe in it.
A believer does not have facts or truth, but only a belief.
The quest of identity
Who am I?
There are many answers, depending on our level of consciousness. Thus, all good.
If we try to define and identify ourselves, what we obtain is entertainment and empty reassurance for the mind.
“I” am a human being, a lawyer, a parent, a spirit, a soul, or simply, “I” am John Doe. Many labels that “I” can be! But… I am not the label nor the idea behind it.
Consider this “secret.”
Any question is already defining the scope of the answer.
Why does the Sun set? The Sun does not set in the horizon. It only appears to us that way. Many things that we consider “realities” in Life, only appear to be that way. Even though we know through science that is the Earth moving, our experience does not agree with that. Can I deny my experience to embrace a belief even though labeled as “knowledge”?
Enjoy the sunset! That is fulfilling. That is what truly matters.
Let us go back. Who am “I”? It appears that there is something static to call “I” to hang onto; but there is nothing static in a changing Life. We heard “Life is change” but we cannot easily accept that Life is uncertain, mysterious.
“I” was 5 years old. That “I” is nothing like the one living “now.”
Am “I” the same? Not a chance, but my mind believes it through dead memories.
The word “I” must be used to make sense in language; but we believe that there is something static which we call “I.” However, that does not agree with what IS.
Then…what IS? Change, uncertainty, everlasting movement.
Can we confine everlasting change into an “I”?
Only in our conditioned “reality.” It is a core belief which has lived for centuries in our human psyche; coloring religions, philosophies, educational systems, etc.
We cannot understand Life until that primal conditioning is uprooted, for we see Life only through that lens.
When we are at peace with change, uncertainty and unpredictability, we ARE living Life. We ARE “spiritual.”
Believe in everything to believe in Nothing.
Anything that enters our mind as “knowledge” or “truth” to live Life, is only a belief.
There is no way to frame Life with a little belief system, whatever it is.
When we live in the mind, the above is not “true.”
We need belief systems from how to raise a kid to political, economic and social/religious belief systems. All of those beliefs will give us certainty that we are DOING the “RIGHT THING.”
However, that is only a belief. A system is created to frame our Life, to delimit it. That is all there is. Ahnanda is not saying that this is “bad” and we need to CHANGE it or CONTROL it or REBEL against it.
Those are childish beliefs meant to increase our ego mind through a fake purpose. Change it to what? Control it to what? Rebel against it for what?
For something that “I” consider to be “good.” My belief.
Ahnanda is just pointing out, that most human beings have their life framed by belief systems. It is that AWARENESS alone, the one that will allow us to enjoy the game offered by a system.
It is no longer a serious thing. Something to be preoccupied with.
Have you considered why a self-realized being is not interested in becoming a world leader or the president or CEO or any big title that we could imagine from our society?
Those only could frame his experience. He is confined by a role made up by a system. A self-realized being cannot be defined as belonging to a party, a religion, a nation, a particular belief system. All of those are made up by followers.
Of course, Ahnanda is “lying” by verbalizing something which comes intuitively, without any thought on the matter. The above “why” is not the “real” why, for there is none. It just IS.
A “Why” in Life is a meaningless question.
There are no “why’s.”
Why is the sky blue?
What is the sky? Is it the clouds? is it the space above the atmosphere? Is it the cosmos?
And for God’s sake, what is “blue”?
The sky IS.
Of course, in our society; “Why” is a synonym of intelligence, of someone who is looking to “know” the facts, to be well informed; for information is “power.”
Do we see the contrast?
Thus, “Why” is meaningless… but it is not.
In Life things ARE AND they AREN’T.
In our society, things ARE OR they AREN’T.
How do we compromise that madness?
Believe in everything. Dogs can fly, aliens are among us, etc. It is not a matter of having the “truth” or not. That doesn’t matter at all.
It is a matter of opening up to all possibilities. Thus, also believe in dogs not being able to fly and that aliens do not exist.
See the “exercise”? 🙂
Now let me push the issue: What about God? 🙂
You follow me?
Believing in EVERYTHING means to believe in NOTHING.
The minute we believe in something and not in its opposite, we define ourselves. We are stuck in our own struggle. For in Life an opposite is a complement just like day and night…. But for our society of dualities, Day is “good” and Night is “bad.” Not realizing that one calls for the other, that is why in Life there is no need to “control” to “oppose” or to “change,” for everything comes at its own time.
When we are engrossed in the mind-supporting teachings of our society, we cannot understand the above.
Why do you live?
To earn money.
For what? So I can live better.
What is better?
To have things… and for that we need money…
“Better” is to “have things.” That conditioning is only possible in our society… not in Life.
Looking into meaning behind “Spiritual” words
Spirituality is a deceitful word.
Forget that word and you may find Life. By finding Life, you may start living it. By living it, enjoying it. By enjoying it, finding the meaning of spirituality. It is not a concept.
To find honesty within ourselves, sooner or later we may learn to forget everything we have been taught, only to find who we ARE.
Every experience in Life only will show us who we ARE at that moment in time.
When we learn to accept ourselves as we ARE in an unconditional way, then we may be able to accept “others;” not as an idea, a concept, a “spiritual” virtue to practice, but as genuine, unrehearsed, unlearned, natural way of being.
Want to practice empathy?
Want to work on being more loving?
Want to practice detachment?
Do you have sainthood as an objective?
Want to teach peace to others?
Yes?
Then your mind is engaged in the intellectual world of ideas, concepts and “spiritual” words.
When the mind empties itself from the intellectual world, there is knowing in BEING.
Does not make any sense?
Wonderful! That is a step forward.
Forget the “practice.” Forget to label virtues. Forget all dictionary words defining Love.
Unlearn all of those concepts.
“To surrender,” is not to give up something in Life. It is effortless openness when the “I” dilutes itself.
“To love someone” is not just a mushy feeling. It is to allow that one to be, without conditions. To grow together in joy.
“To be detached” is not to be insensitive, aloof. It is to acknowledge the process of another, knowing that we have our own.
“To go with the flow” is not to follow what Life offers for there is no option to choose from. It is to BE one with Life.
If you “practice” any of my “definitions,” you will deceive yourself. If you repeat any of my definitions, you will not be honest with your own findings.
Know that your own definitions will need to change in time, just like mine. That is what we have in common. Change.
It is said that to know “Spirituality” there is a need of a teacher to teach.
I am assuring you that none of the “spiritual values” can be taught.
It can only be found in your own walking path. As you place one foot in front of another in your Life journey, you will recognize the teaching that Life offers, only because you already know it. Concepts can be taught, not Living Life.
To teach “spirituality” is deceitful. We can only share our experiences as a friend shares with another.
When that one is ready, your words can only inspire, allow for a different perspective, but words are not meant to teach in the realm of Life.
Life is the teacher, without being appointed for that.
Thus, we can only teach when we are ONE with Life…. and at that moment, there may be nothing to teach. 🙂
Life calls Death. Both use the same phone number.
She looked at me with a hopeful look in her eyes. She asked me: “Are you sure that we are eternal?”
What for some is certainty, for others is a belief.
Every individual’s Life has a unique process.
The fruit in the tree has a process to mature. A Lifetime. The fruit has no objective by becoming ripe.
For the fruit, it is merely a stage in its Life process.
Whether the fruit in the tree becomes rotten or eaten by an animal or a human, the end product is the same: to recycle itself back into the Totality.
We are One. We cannot be separated from that oneness. Consciousness binds our forms together into that Oneness.
To deeply go into this observation means to understand the process of being and non-being; what for most could be called Life and Death.
As in any duality, humans have separated 2 processes, which truly are the continuation of each other. Different form perhaps, but nonetheless; One.
Life and Death are just like Day and Night.
Afraid of Death, we choose to cling to Life…. For dear Life. We count on miracles. We pray for our wishes to become true. We call the Gods and the Devils to help us dissipate our despair, even though eventually; Death will be there.
It is just a matter of time.
That time, is what we call Life.
Death is brought by Life itself.
The insanity, is to live a Life with fear of Death. That means not to live Life, but to be already death, even though breathing.
What is the preparation for death and dying?
To live fully, totally. To embrace ‘what is.’
The meaning of “fully and totally,” will be different for every individual according to their particular processes, their particular awareness.
Nevertheless, it could be simplified as the duality of “Going away from the self” just to come back to it. That may be known as the “journey.”
The waters of the Ocean of Life are moving “you” from left to right. What do “you” do?
We’ve been taught to “fight” until we die, to support “I-ness,” to get our way no matter what, by separating from the Ocean of Life.
When we understand the currents of Life, to relax so we could float is the obvious path… to allow for the currents to take “you” from left to right while enjoying the experience. If “you” are going right… “you” must go left at one point. It is a matter of time.
To learn to relax is the task to “do” for the one who is conscious of the “I.” We call that to feel “peace,” and to “get” that “objective,” we may have been advised that we need to “do” some “meditation,” to follow some “stress –free” life style, etc. Lots of “doing.”
However, there is no “doing” needed there, for relaxation starts in the mind.
How do we “make” the mind peaceful? 🙂
By BEING peaceful. There is nothing to do. Not a thing.
BEING peaceful is a Life process, assimilation of experiences coming into fruition. There is no “method.” It has to happen naturally to be true. It cannot be manipulated by an “I” desiring to “be peaceful” because that “I” has that goal in mind.
Being non-peaceful, calls for peacefulness, sooner or later.
Become aware of that lack of peace. Trying to fix that “problem” will only increase our rejection to what we are in a point in time.
Life will change into Death all by itself. “Your” help is not required. 🙂
Can Death change into Life?
Just as night changes into day and day into night. Just as the current of the Ocean will go from left to right or right to left…
Then, what is the human problem, the human dilemma?
To be afraid of change, of course.
To be afraid of Life and Death, for both of them are change. The “I” does not realize to be change itself and not something static.
The “Me” coming back alive is the dream of the “I.”
Some call that reincarnation. That is their belief.
Who reincarnates?
They call that a soul, the spirit… that is their belief.
“I am soul.”
However, there is no “I am” for an eternal “being” in continuous change. Nothing could be static for something meant to change.
We are the Totality, One. Different forms but bound by consciousness. We go away as a drop of the Ocean to experience individuality but go back into the Ocean, just to leave again. It is the eternal dance of going away just to come back. Day changing into Night, going left just to go right…
The experience of BEING a drop does not take away the fact, of BEING the Ocean itself. The drop will disappear, but the Ocean cannot. The drop is in the Ocean.
“You” are but “you” are not.
When “you” are not, there is only everything, Oneness, Totality.
It is just a matter of awareness not of logic or reason. A diferent Consciousness cannot be faked, it cannot be “achieved,” it is not a goal… It happens when the “I” allows it.
The “God has said it” law
When we awaken into the consciousness of oneness, we could understand how the “I” came into being. Then, we can understand how important it becomes to observe emotions which arise as “creations” of the “I.”
Shall we say that the “I” is an illusion?
Let us not be “black or white.” The “I” is a “reality” for many. It is paradoxical.
The “I” exists but it doesn’t. It all depends on the location of our consciousness, which is not dependent on the “I” to change, but it will change by itself, for it is change itself.
However, it is in this consciousness of being an “I,” how the search for safety and comfort appear.
The world and Nature seem like a hostile place for the “I” to exist. The “I” has to fight, conquer, show, teach, and convince… obviously, many things to “do.”
Nevertheless, the law of the “stronger” appears. It is an “I” against another “I.”
Wouldn’t it be nice to be “right”? Wouldn’t it be nice to feel that there is a higher entity which supports our wishes, laws and moral standards?
That is how God appeared. We created him. God is a consequence of the search for survival of the “I.”
Yes, I know… You had “experiences” with angels, divine beings, etc.
Weren’t those “God”?
Yes and No. 🙂
When something out of the ordinary appears in front of us, we call it “divine” or “diabolic.”
That is the issue. Labeling defines. It is merely unique.
If we need to identify that which was unique in our experience, we will label that according to what we know, to what we have been taught.
“God” is a nice label. If many have similar experiences, then that “ holy club” becomes unique and therefore, the “I” will ascend to a very special level.
Do we realize that the “I” is growing its size, due to that “experience”?
Probably not.
Let me go into the “spiritual experience.”
As mentioned before, those experiences are meant to begin a “new” path, to begin a new consciousness. Those experiences are “tools,” for change.
Nevertheless, most will react in the following way:
“I am especial. A chosen one. God has contacted me. Since he came through this religion, idea, philosophy; then that must be the “truth.”
Do we see the flaw in our “logic”?
It is called assumption.
From that point on, it will be about worshiping, believing in things, finding emotional comfort and self-righteousness.
All of the above strengthens the consciousness of the “I.”
If we are able to observe such a diversity of consciousness, ways of living and viewpoints in Life; how is it that we could believe that there is only “one” way if all of the different flavors in Life are showing us the oneness of all?
Every “difference” is part of that Oneness. Every variety of consciousness is part of it.
“But… there must be only one righteous way, the Godly way according to his words…”
If your consciousness is still there, you will not be able to understand what Ananda is conveying. Yes… you are intelligent, prepared, educated. You just have different life experiences than Ananda.
Just allow your consciousness to change when it is the time.
“NO! I cannot let the devil take me away from God!”
Great! Stick with it.
Life will change. “You” will not.
You will change… but “You” will not.
Your stubbornness may take you to heaven in the future, but before that; it may take you into repression and rejection of Life “now.” Way to go! (To heaven..)
There is a religious idea sold out to us. It is called “Martyrdom.”
“Christ died in the cross to save us.” The fact is, he died in the cross because he got in trouble with society at that time. They were not ready to understand him, to go over their beliefs and then 2000 years later, we continue, “repenting from that sin” which none of us here today committed.
That idea of “martyrdom” will make us believe that our suffering is an example for others. It is just another source of admiration, of ego-boost.
The robe of “God” could be wore by anyone fit to it, just like there are many who could fit into the Santa Claus outfit.
Yes… He is still Santa… but No! He isn’t. It all depends in your belief.
We could be children of God, but before that… we are Life itself. “Being” Life.
Harmonious balance
A traffic law is based on a “black or white” view of the world. It is a simplistic view of the importance of “actions.”
Do not turn left. Do not park. Yield. Stop.
Life does not work that way. Can we observe that? Life is not “Black or white.” Life has no moral standards built in it, unless we purposely label something as “holy, pure.” When we do that, we have automatically labeled the other things as “impure.”
That is how we create Duality.
The “law” has a connotation of righteousness, morality, good, etc. Nevertheless, the law is simply, the way our society has agreed upon to “act.”
An agreement is not the “holy grail” of morality.
It is very important to perceive the above, in order to understand what will be shared below.
The typical consciousness of our society supports the simple understanding of “black or white” statements. Most organized religions are shaped in that way as well.
For example; if we perceive sex to be a problem, then the easiest way to “eradicate” that “problem” will be by denying sex to all. (Black or White means No sex= good OR Sex = bad.)
Since this is not feasible, then the next step is to regulate it. “Thou shall not commit adultery.”
At this point, is when definitions and concepts come into existence.
For example, let us define adultery.
Adultery will be defined according to some ideal, belief or reason, however; let us observe that “morality” of that definition is just an agreed upon convention.
Do we see that?
What about if there is a “smarty pants” among us and discovers the above?
Well, in that case the “ultimate” support weapon will be unleashed…
What is that?
“God has said it.” End of report.
When the “holy” circles are sure that this is so, then anyone who thinks otherwise automatically becomes a heathen, infidel, pagan, etc. (Black or White = pure /impure)
Nevertheless, when we observe Life, Nature, we discover that everything works in harmonious balance without having “do nots” around.
Wouldn’t be a total contradiction for God to say “do not” when “his creation” does not operate in that way?
Ahhh! Observation… How many crimes have been committed for lack of using thy name!
So, you “believe” that God did not create Life, Nature but still you believe that He is saying, “Do not” to many things that otherwise you would do?
If God did not create Life or Nature, then…. what kind of “God” is that? 🙂
Perhaps someone else’s “definition.”
We have been conditioned to conform to one side of duality and to believe that Life is nothing but our established rules and regulations. Our minds are full of those beliefs, which even contradict our own feelings.
There is no need to react “against” that, just to observe for when we observe we are not part of it, even though we live in it. Isn’t that paradoxical? Want to “act,” to do something about it for “others”?
Yes? Then your opposition will be your position. That means rejection, contempt for a part of Life itself.
There is nothing harmonious about rejection.
To learn to perceive balance and harmony is beyond the understanding of rules, regulations, commandments and such. It is not a “black or white” scenario. It is not a simple following of a holy paragraph, law or code.
We belong to Life itself and when we observe that, we will be able to move according to the circumstance and the current time.
A good idea today, will be a “bad” idea tomorrow. Timing.
Laughing in a particular setting may not be proper. Circumstance.
Observe that “do not’s” are not needed or required. Life is not a traffic law school.
Be in tune with Life. Appreciate it. Belong to it. Be “It.”
To learn to observe from different perspectives may be a gift, but more than that it is simple awareness.
We have been living for the longest time secluded in a box of beliefs, when in fact; those are thinner than the air that we breathe in everyday.
Wake up. 🙂
Exploring the Depth of Living 