Tagged: limits
The limits of adaptation in Life
All diseases are psychosomatic. Observe that there is no separation between the body/mind/soul. It is a continuous of interlaced “things.”
Your stomach hurts? That stomach is related with other bodily parts as well as with emotions/sensations. To try to separate this “reality” of oneness is to create a problem for adaptation.
When there is lack of adaptation, there is a disease.
That is why, when we say: “I am a soul/spirit and not a body,” that innocent phrase creates rejection of the body by placing it below other things deemed to be “good,” “holy,” etc.
That rejection creates an aversion to the pleasurable sensations that the body could bring for the sake of being “spiritual.”
If we label “spirituality” as the absence of consciousness of a body, we are negating the reality of the wholeness of the experience of Life.
Therefore, the question “Who am I?” is a limit for adaptation.
As we define “who I am?” that which we think we “are not” becomes the “thing” to reject, negate, forget, and even pretend that it is not there.
A definition narrows down the extension of our “knowing,” what is meant to be without borders.
When something does not have artificially created borders, it is open for further exploration, it is open for newness.
Is the “virtue” of goodness something that you value in someone?
When that goodness is limited by our beliefs and philosophies; that goodness is no longer goodness but just a “picture” instead of the “real” thing.
Paradoxically, our concepts, our “knowledge” become a limitation to adapt to the changes in Life.
As Life changes, some would like to remain static in time:
Decaying rather than evolving; while believing in the virtue of being true to a static belief.
The old paradigm of dual moral teachings based on the acceptance of what is considered to be “good” over that which is considered to be “bad,” is no longer what is required for our consciousness to expand.
Why?
Because that paradigm brings guilt and fear, which in turn will not allow us to adapt to Life’s changes.
It is not that guilt and fear are “bad,” but they have timing. Those emotions could be a protection for sometime, to avoid acting in a certain way; but as Life changes and our consciousness do not, that guilt and fear become the ingredients for our own auto destruction.
As our consciousness grows, a different perception will arrive. It is called integration.
Some people like to call integration as “There is nothing bad.”
That definition becomes the door for misunderstanding.
Let me rephrase it: “There is nothing bad, because there is nothing good.” Everything is and by being what it is, there are only consequences, which will change according to time.
There is nothing static in Life, but our concepts, ideals, standards and the way our minds understand the world.
In that dissonance, it is difficult to flow with Life when all we are looking for is for Life to adapt to our needs and wants.
In a sentence, it is the drop of water wanting to control the Ocean.
Isn’t that ironic? If not plain stupid?
Love: The Totality version
“love is a deeper season
than reason;
my sweet one”
Edward E. Cummings
Many things that we label under the word “love.”
A poet may find that this “thing” which we call love is beyond reason, beyond thought.
It is the “I” confronted with a greater power than reason. Nevertheless, even in the face of this “proof,” we still rely on reason to run our lives. It is through experiencing that love and the way that it manifests, how we could find that “I” hidden underneath.
It is that “I” who feels elated when his love is retributed and the same “I” who feels in despair when it is not. It is the same “I” who will take things for granted when the love “wears off,” and the same “I” who will feel sorrow when that love goes away.
Without a doubt to learn about that type of love, is to learn about the “I.”
That “I” is always seeking for something. Love becomes that thing which is completely out of the “I” control and that becomes a powerful attraction for that “I.”
At the end, the story will be about adding other elements to that “love” such as forgiveness, guilt, remorse, passion, hate, confrontation, etc. All sorts of emotions, which appear due to a belief… and that belief will bring other emotions.
That my friends, is the love of the “I.”
A master once said: “ Life gives you 50% of the whole for you to become complete. The other 50% percent will be provided by life to complement the complete 50%. There is coffee and there is milk coming together to make something greater than themselves. Love does not need a receiver.”
When there is love without that “I,” then the giver is also the receiver. The giver is the receiver in the Totality of it.
At that point, love becomes that attitude of freedom to give without a specific receiver. When we understand that connection with the whole, love is that intention without expectations.
Our intentions, our feelings, our actions whatever we “think” we do onto “others,” we do it to ourselves.
That is to understand that “we” are that Totality.
Human affection could be expressed in different ways. There is no limit…but the limit becomes our own beliefs. As we label every relationship, we also determine that relationship.
“But she is the only one… I have not felt so intense in my life with another person.”
To discover our own intensity is great, but it is not reduced to a particular person. I could feel very intensely with one person, but that does not mean that it cannot happen again with someone else. Every relationship offers something to know about ourselves, the “I.”
As many of us do not spend the time or resources to become complete with the 50% that life has given us to play with, rather than finding a complement with others to make that tasty “milk and coffee,” we look for another person to complete ourselves.
That is the issue. We want for someone else to do the job that we couldn’t finish.
To “merge in love” is not just a pretty word. It is to empty yourself to be one with that Totality, for in that oneness there is completeness. Then life, may show us the other 50% to complement that completeness.. to make something greater than the “self.”
Love then is the universal path to self discovery and its own reward.
Discovering our limits
The path of the “middle way” is not a path. It is self-discovery. It is “our” path but not a path.
Followers are not required. If we follow someone else’s path, we are following our understanding, our interpretation of that based on our own unique experiences in life.
There is no interpretation when we pay attention to our own feelings and awareness, as long as those are not framed into a belief system, which only gives greater weight to the “I.”
To discover our limits by going from one extreme into the other, is the basics of knowing about “us.” It is in that discovery when we may find out that our limit is not someone else’s.
Later on, we may become aware that a “limit now may not be tomorrow.”
Then we could assure someone that “we went over our limit. We conquered our limitations.”
I assure you, that it is someone else and not that known “you” who found a limit, who actually did not find a limit.
Confused? 🙂
That is a feature of words and language.
Mark is a decent competitive runner. His personal record for the 5 K is 15 minutes and 30 seconds.
That is his limit.
After a couple of years of training, Mark “improved” his time. Now he can run a 5 K under 15 minutes.
We believe that it is the same Mark “improving himself.”
I assure you that this is not the case.
Our awareness is static. Fixed in a label. The label in this case is “Mark.”
Through language we could make a story always referring back to that label: “Mark.”
Mark is this. Mark is that. Mark is a good runner. Mark is a bad runner. Mark is a decent runner (compared to “me.”)
Do we see how our perception is always static?
Do we realize that Mark’s body, mind and consciousness are always changing, evolving?
Therefore, how can I say that it is the same person?
That is the starting point to become aware of that which we call the “I.”
That “I” becomes the greatest limit there is, for if that “I” did not exist, where is the limit?
If that “I” did not exist, why do we need to find our limits through the “middle path”?
It would be completely unnecessary.
Because there is an “I” there are limits.
To find our limits is to find the extent of that “I.”
When someone says: “I don’t exist.”
Do we label that person as crazy?
Or perhaps, there is some intelligence in that perspective.
Therefore, Who is the “I” that will go to heaven?
Who is the “I” that will die?
Who is the “I” that separates?
When the above is no longer intellectual understanding, then we could perceive the Totality and in that realm, there are no beliefs.
The “I” becomes everything because it is no longer limited by itself.
The big questions in life
In the mental world, a question and answer debate is expected. Politicians do it and it is amusing for the general public. Professors and intellectuals do it, to show off how much information they have acquired.
Religious people such as theologians do it and come up with fantastic answers, which the general public may accept as the “truth.”
Ask me anything you want. I have an answer for you. Whether you believe me or not, it will not make a difference to you. No difference.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
What is the purpose of life?
🙂 I can tell you anything. If you believe me, that belief will be another mental information to recite back to someone to convince or even to convince yourself, but that intellectual answer has made no difference whatsoever in you. No difference.
Who am I? I am a soul. I am a body. I am an alien… I am…a lawyer…
Where do I come from? From Mars, from Heaven, from God…
What is the purpose of life? To die, to become a wealthy congressman, to breathe, to be seated next to God…
Pretty words, ugly words… No difference. 🙂
Every answer only defines yourself as something. When a person is defined then there is a limit already in our minds as to what we are supposed to be or to do. That limit is detrimental in our inner discovery for whatever we discover out of our own experience will need to fit our mental beliefs to consider that experience “good,” “right.”
Ladies and gentlemen, to ask those questions are just an intellectual game. Today you may be convinced of an answer, tomorrow you may disagree. Do you know why?
Because you are never the same! 🙂
That is why I agree with the great philosopher, spiritual guru and distinguished intellectual, Mr. Pharrell Williams, when he sings: “Clap along if you feel that happiness is the truth.”
Believe what you believe…
No difference in the inner wall.
Feel happy now, that is all! 🙂
Nevertheless, some believe that you must be the same. Some believe that you must have the same ideology, the same beliefs, the same thoughts. Do you know why?
Because it is easy for them to put you into a convenient “box,” a label. “She is a Hare Krishna devotee. He is a Russian.” Those are limits imposed into a person.
In a different consciousness, you are open to discover your own potential. You do not place mental limits in you.. You discover without labels, that is you are out of the mental cage of beliefs.
You can believe anything you want about anyone. Even if you meet that person, you will never get to know the person. Do you know why? 🙂
Because if that person is alive, that person is changing all the time, unless you want for that person to fit into your mental world of labeling.
To appreciate yourself and others as a mystery, as something to be continually discovered without putting limits to yourself or to others, is truly a work of art.
In this consciousness, life is a mystery to be uncovered as we live life; thus our lives are never the same, there is always novelty because there is no limitations as to who we can be.
Two small kids were skating in the ice. One of them made a jump in the air and the ice collapsed. This kid was trapped in the ice and he couldn’t come out. The water was very cold. The kid was going to drown without help. His friend immediately used one of his skates to hit the hard ice around, to make room to pull the kid out. He was successful!!
Later on, when “help” arrived, one of the paramedics said: “How were you able to break the ice… you are only a small kid? That is impossible!”
The answer to this question is simple:
No one told the kid that he couldn’t do it. He had no limits yet.
Exploring the Depth of Living 