Tagged: interdependence
My next goal: “I” want to go to Heaven…
From the last article on Oneness, we can really see interdependence, that everything relies on everything else to co-exist. This is the higher consciousness needed to realize that “we are not alone.” It is the “You” and “Me” deal that separates.
Granted; when Joe Average keeps telling Joanne about all his great accomplishments in life so she feels proud of him; in that consciousness there is a need to understand their language of separation which brings “having” and “possessing” one another as the “normal” thing to do.
We need to understand that we may need to “speak” the language of separation with them; but keeping a state of consciousness far beyond that moment. If Joe Average felt oneness with Joanne, he wouldn’t need to try to impress her. Who is he trying to impress whom?
“Me” wants to impress “You.”
Is there anything wrong with seeing things in the separation of “you” and “me”?
No. It is just a state of consciousness.
It is in that state of consciousness of separation where most religious beliefs have been created.
There is “heaven” which is the ultimate prize. The “six figure job” in the afterlife. 🙂
Of course, “I” want to go there. That becomes my new “motivation in life.”
What are the requisites? That is the “job qualifications.”
You have to be “good.” You have to follow the commandments. You have to love God. If you don’t follow the above, then you will not get there. You will fail. You will not get the job…
You will miss heaven for eternity… 😦 and that is a long time… 🙂
Then, going to heaven becomes an exclusivity for not everyone could make it; it becomes another competition, which truly reflects the ways of our society.
Just another reinforcement for an ego driven personality. Not everyone can go there. But “I” have to go. “I” have to “make effort” to go there.
As we can see, in the above belief there is that reinforcement of “I” as something completely individual and separated from everything else.
Why do you want to “be good” and “do good”? Please ask this seemingly naïve question to yourself.
Because… “I” want to go to heaven. Because “I” want to be an angel. Because “I” don’t want God to punish me. Because “I” don’t want to burn in hell for ever…
What a bunch of ego builder answers!
When we truly see interdependence, that “I” am everything; then “I” cannot go to heaven unless everyone else does, that is when heaven is important for the sake of the world. That is beyond the “I” want, “I” need game.
Humanity is greater than my “petty” self and all its fears.
That is how, heaven is no longer another belief after “I” die.
“Would you like to liberate yourself from the lower realms of life? Would you like to save the world from the degradation and destruction it seems destined for? Then step away from shallow mass movements and quietly go to work on your own self-awareness. If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself…”
Hua Hu Ching Ch 75
If “I” do good. I am not good. I just “look” good.
If I am “good” then thanks to “me” there is someone who is “bad.”
It is when “I” go beyond that duality, beyond good and evil, when “I” die alive “now,” then everything can exist without separation. A different “reality.” Awareness. Consciousness.
“To the ordinary person, the body of humanity seems vast. In truth, it is neither bigger nor smaller than anything else. To the ordinary person, there are others whose awareness needs raising. In truth, there is no self, and no other. To the ordinary person, the temple is sacred and the field is not. This, too, is a dualism which runs counter to the truth. Those who are highly evolved maintain an undiscriminating perception. Seeing everything, labeling nothing, they maintain their awareness of the Great Oneness. Thus they are supported by it.”
Hua Hu Ching Ch 19.
If you change, the world changes
Have you heard those words before?
How is it possible?
Please ask the above question to whoever says those words… you will be surprised at their answer.
“When you change, the world changes,” sounds whimsical, a nice thing to say in religious gatherings to look “good” and to talk the “talk,” nevertheless, in the understanding of those words lies the perception of a greater “reality,” greater understanding which if truly understood, could change our own life.
Would you like an explanation? 🙂
Here it goes. In a basic understanding of the “law of karma,” (action) we can understand that if “I” do something, there will be a repercussion which will be experienced by “me.” That is why in this basic understanding all we care about is… about “me.”
If I do this, will I get any bad karma back? If I open karmic accounts now, would that be bad for “me”? Would “I” go to heaven if my actions are “good”? 🙂
The above only strengthens the personality of “I” which is separated from everything else.
No?
Do you ever feel alone?
Yes? Then, see that separation.
If we observe carefully (as explained in many writings before,) we are interdependent of one another.
How is that?
You exist because your parents existed. You exist because there is oxygen, water, sunshine, food, everything else which in our individualistic mind we see as “separate.” Even though there is a fact of interdependence, our consciousness only perceives separation.
That is why basic understanding of the law of karma only strengthens the “i-ness” and “my-ness” ideas. When that concept of separation is gone, there is oneness. No duality of “you” and “me,” but oneness in that interdependence. “You” exist because “I” exist.
Therefore, there is no “other.” What “I” do, is done to myself.
If we take the reality of interdependence into the law of karma; what “I” do is done to everything else, for “I” am one with everything, as a fact, not as a nice phrase to repeat. “I” am interdependent with everything else. We are oneness.
That is how the world changes when “I” change, for “I” is truly the world. As a matter of fact, once that “I” is over, then there is only the world, without further labeling to separate things.
Let us say that Peter throws garbage in the river. Peter forgot to dispose of the garbage and he thought that by getting rid of it, “now,” his house will smell alright and he could be alright as well. Peter didn’t want to bother his neighbor by dumping his trash into their waste basket. Peter was afraid of being caught or to ask… but the river was nearby. Peter planned to dump his garbage when there was no one around. The river cannot hit back nor lawsuit him for dumping trash. “Nothing to fear,” Peter thought.
That river was a source of sustenance for many species. Fish, plants, even people who used that river in different ways.
That garbage became food for many species in a very unnatural way, bringing disease to some of them which in turn were nourishment for bigger fish. A fisherman caught several fish to be sold in the nearby market. Peter bought a couple of those fish. 🙂
Peter ate his own garbage but at the same time, others ate it. That has additional repercussions. Other species were influenced by Peter’s actions and there were consequences which Peter was completely unaware of.
If Peter changes his consciousness, that change will have some effect in Peter’s environment and closer individuals around him. Peter is not changing “others” but Peter is merely changing his own “self-extension,” that is, those who are part of his life.
That is how we can see that a truly spiritual individual cannot live in isolation. Whatever he does, he says, he thinks… all of that affects everything else, which will be experienced by everyone else… the world.
Then, we can see that any religious separation or any sort of “man made” boundaries such as casts, ethnic origin, gender, language, creed, beliefs, traditions, all of that only strengthen the sense of “I” belonging to a group which is only a part of the whole thing.
A sinner exists because “I” exist. It is “I” the one who labels, the one who judges, the one who separates. If “I” wasn’t there; then a “sinner” wouldn’t exist.
We could put this in another way: A saint exists only because a sinner exists.
The world exists only because “I” exist.
What the world does is because “I” do.
Forgiveness
There is forgiveness of others and there is forgiveness of the self.
Basic “moral” teachings will speak about “forgiving thy neighbor” for the wrong doings that this person may have performed onto us.
Note that there is the separation between “I” and “you.” Notice that this type of forgiveness may be also an opportunity to develop “ego,” as being magnanimous, being “good,” and is a great chance to communicate to the world “how forgiving” we can be… 🙂
When there is a higher understanding of forgiveness, we realize that this “wrong” done to us is a consequence of our own activities in the past. This is known as the “law of karma.” Therefore, when we forgive another; we are basically “settling” that karmic account. Thus, forgiving “others” is thought about bringing a “good karmic account” back to us.
When there is an even higher understanding, we can see that the “other” is basically another manifestation of myself. Thus, by forgiving; I am just forgiving myself. In this vision there is no “duality” but the vision of oneness and interdependence.
When there is even a higher understanding, there is nothing to forgive inasmuch, as outside activities are not affecting “me.”
This can only be accomplished, when there is no “me.” Without “me” there is no need to forgive.
Those are examples of different types of Spiritual understandings.
The above could be understood intellectually by many; but that is not true understanding.
We need to feel this, play the game of life; become like a window which could reflect what is in the outside as well as the inside, which allows light to pass through it, so others can see… what they are ready to see…and understand 🙂
Exploring the Depth of Living 