Tagged: inside
A nail even though rusty, still a nail
At the elemental level, a person “awakens” to spirituality when he realizes that “he has vices.” Whether that individual joins the AA group or a religion to “fix” that, it will be part of his journey.
At this level of awareness, it could be taught that a person with vices is an “addict” of what the “outside” provides to him. Love, power, self-respect, all of those “virtues” are coming from the “outside” rather than the “inside,” it is said.
Therefore, become “powerful” to avoid that dependency.
The “I” has to become loving. He has to radiate that love and influence the outside with powerful vibrations… That is the goal, the dream.
That level of understanding fully depends on the existence of the “I.”
In another level of awareness, we could observe that there is no difference between the inside and the outside. The Dalai Lama’s outside world of experiences is no different of who he IS “inside.” Similarly is with every one of us.
The outside is not influencing the inside. The outside is the inside. The world is a mirror.
In another level of awareness we could understand that through many experiences, we have accumulated emotional traumas, which have increased the presence of the “I.” The “vices” then, will manifest according to the heaviness of that “I.”
Therefore, in the natural process of living Life; we will accumulate that “rust” (vices) as a nail accumulates rust. We already ARE that perfection that we are looking to become, but that rust which is the byproduct of living Life is surrounding us. Remember, the nail is a nail even when it has rust in it.
Therefore, spirituality is not a matter of “working on a virtue.” It is a matter of taking the rust away.
That dissolution of the “rust” is the dissolution of the “I.” It is not about empowering the “I” so the “I” becomes “powerful.”
It is about dismantling, opening, diminishing the size of the “I.”
That indeed is the ultimate journey of the Life walker, in my experience.
Traumas, hang ups, taboos, beliefs, ideals, emotional dramas; all of that needs to transform. That is the “rust” creating the “I.”
Awareness and observation of who we truly ARE at this time, will allow for Life to dissolve that “rust” by giving us the experiences, tools that we need.
Life is never separated from who we ARE. Awareness is the initiator of change.
When others love us we feel love. That love that we feel is not the “outside” as different from the “inside,” but rather; is the consequence of who we ARE.
When that awareness is lacking, we could say: “ I want more of that love from the outside. It makes me feel nice.” At that point, the “I” will start DOING things to “accomplish that.” That DOING becomes the source of attachment.
That DOING breaks the natural balance of receiving according to what we ARE. The “I” wants to control what he experiences. He wants to control Life… when in reality, we are Life itself.
Life is not about “giving.” Life is not about “receiving.”
Giving and receiving are the same, not different. We are all one.
High tide, low tide. Same type of experience, different polarity.
A rusty nail is still a nail. 🙂
As it is outside, it is inside.
The experiences that Life may bring to us are in correspondence with who we ARE.
Our perception of the world is according to those experiences.
Whatever we perceive from the outside, it is a reflection of the inside. Therefore, outside and inside are equal.
The labels, “outside” and “inside” are formalisms, a way to preserve the duality ingrained in our minds.
Our minds have saved some experiences in a compartment with the label “righteous” in it. That is the model, the ideal to shape up the “reality” of the outside which only mimics the “inside,” that is who we truly ARE.
For instance, there is violence, an unjust perception which needs to be changed “now.” The price of changing something “now,” is violence and further injustice.
The mind could understand that “Life is change.” But the mind cannot understand that there is a process for change in any direction.
The “I” of the mind is unwilling to allow for the process to take effect, since there is an ideal of “righteousness” in the mind to attain, “right now.”
We may have an ideal of a “better world,” but that ideal cannot become a reality for us because we ARE not that.
The “I” who IS not in tune with a “better world” wants change that doesn’t fit who he IS. The “inside” does not match the idealized “outside.”
Thus, “Spiritual talk” about MAKING a “better world,” is just pretty talk, for BEING does not change by DOING. Nevertheless, that talk could be inspirational.
How could there be change of BEING?
It is happening, but the “I” many times does not allow it. Therefore, by respecting the process for any change without that respect is violence. The ideal may be to become a saint “now.” There is a process in between. Respect that.
The process is gained through living Life in AWARENESS. As we notice who we ARE, as we allow ourselves to fully experience that, the seed of change will be planted. Nothing remains the same. Change has the path of polarity within, the trigger to start the trip is our AWARENESS.
Everyone may want to change “right now” into a loving, peaceful, happy being. That does not happen by DOING something. There is a process behind that change, as every individual is in a different stage of development. The process is very important to develop insight, inner knowledge, wisdom. The process is known as Living Life.
That understanding will give us openness, amplitude of vision. We become tolerant not because it is “good,” not because “God wants it,” or the “law,” but because that is who we ARE.
Who we ARE cannot be defined or confined, for there is always change … Can we live with that certainty? 🙂
What are you looking for?
To look outside is a way to look inside… but the thing is neither outside nor inside. There is no-thing.
As many individuals gather to celebrate the “new thought” that we are all One, we could wonder if that “new thought” is not just another fashion, something that will keep us busy into a new direction to follow, to believe and to teach “others.”
Destiny is already made. That is a simple but deep axiom of knowing that we are all ONE.
One in destiny. Sharing the experience of being in relationship in the space of Life.
It is in that game how the perception of individuality arrives: “I want to do this in Life. I want to teach others about love. I want to go to the moon when I grow up.”
Nothing wrong with that.
Because that perception of “I-ness” is all pervasive, we could assume that it is the truth, even though; it is just a perception.
That is how the search for meaning in Life arrives to our minds. That is how the search for something greater than ourselves becomes paranoia, as we seek for protection, comfort and love. Something that could take away our own sense of pettiness when we separate from what it seems to be hostile; the “other,” Life itself.
Fear is born and with that, all imaginable beliefs to “save” us from ourselves.
A seeker is born.
The journey is to go away from us just to come back.
Away from us, there are so many experiences to taste and enjoy.
Religions, Gods, Devils, Angels… all waiting for your unconditional love in exchange of “conditional” love, promises, etc.
The “office world” seeks believers as well. We could get busy in so many political directions, social inequalities and economic laws. Science is a good preacher, when all we know is thought, logic and reason.
Have you tried all of those avenues in your search for meaning?
I have.
Those are part of my experiences to expand my horizons, until there is no other way but to come back…
It is said that peace, happiness, joy and all happy dictionary words are “inside.”
I tell you, there is no “inside” as there is no “outside.”
But… there is an “I” making that division, there is a perception of “inside,” because there is a “Me.”
That “Me” changes, evolves, continues on; but our static minds will not allow for that to happen. It will fight to continue “status quo,” even though destiny has defined change as the way of Life.
Transformation is change, isn’t it?
The idea of “self-transformation” is misleading. Life transforms and so are we. We are One.
Dear seeker, once your journey takes you back into “Me,” then you are a step closer to find out who you may be. Allow for Life to peel the layers off that “Me.” The “I” cannot do that to itself.
What do you find?
Nothing? Eureka! The eye of the hurricane.
What is that made of?
Nothing… and because of that, there is everything.
You found Oneness.
Fulfillment is. 🙂
The outside of the inside
“As it is inside, it is outside.”
We could get lost in that phrase intellectually or just mechanically repeat it without knowing its “real” meaning through observation of the self.
Using the intellectual abilities of the mind, we could infer that there is no difference between the outside and the inside after considering the phrase. It is the same. Thus, the division between “outer” and “inner” is fictitious.
This is the conclusion of a logical, reasonable mind; what is typically called an “intelligent” mind. Nevertheless; the true meaning of the phrase “as it is inside, it is outside,” will not be known. Without experience of this phrase at a level beyond the mind, there will be only information.
The “job” of a spiritual person sooner or later will be to “get out “ of the mind. That is to be free from the mind. Not to think in intellectual terms anymore, in duality. Here is where “not thinking,” can only be understood by those who have experienced being out of the rational mind. For the rest, “not thinking” means blindly following someone.
To “get out of the mind” is not something that happens through force, through will power. It happens through awareness.
Wisdom does not reside in thinking. Knowing is not thinking and this knowing is not related with finding out the square root of 666; but something even greater: To know how to live life without stress, with harmony; in balance. This is the first and ultimate knowledge.
To experience ourselves without the hindrance of the mind is to liberate ourselves of a heavy weight.
That lightness appears only when the thoughts related with our own “movie mind” ceases to play.
The easiest way to experience this state is to become lighter of any unnecessary responsibilities, to be able to enjoy a whole day by yourself without a thing to do. Nothing to do. Nothing to take care of. Can you afford that? 🙂
When there is nothing to think about, a walk in the park is refreshing. Then, we could enjoy the scenery and being part of it. While walking, we could be observing different faces, attitudes and behaviors from people, without taking that in as: “Why that person did not say hello to me?” Why that person did not smile back at me?” The mind is not there to take thoughts into the “me” “center of the universe;” thus the feeling of lightness appears and then that episode of liberation from the internal movie of the mind will be cherished… only if we realize that magical moment of liberation, that is; if we are aware. Awake.
Exploring the Depth of Living 