Tagged: play
The path is to learn to live with yourself
A seeker is born when he becomes aware of suffering and death.
It is no longer about blaming someone such as the politicians, the enemies, the economy, a person, etc. but to recognize that despite all of those things, suffering is there and death will be waiting at the “end.”
That is when the search for answers starts.
We could think that a philosophy or a belief system has the solution. We may believe that finding God or an angel has the answer, or we may turn into human thought and science to escape from suffering and death.
Those experiences will be just the process towards maturity, the journey of the seeker.
Out of that journey there will be no definite answer, but the experiences lived through those paths sooner or later will lead someone to face himself.
The “answer” is not a bunch of words, but to live the experiences that Life will bring through that seeking. It is that process the one offering “answers.”
The level of consciousness and understanding about Life is different when we are searching outside ourselves.
It is easy to only believe in something that a guru or a God may “tell us.” It is easy to have “experiences” with the world “beyond”… Those things will not change our being, but only will prepare us to face ourselves.
Death and suffering are experiences and as such could be understood, when we experience those things in our process, our own catharsis.
Without death and suffering, there could not be a different human being with a different consciousness.
In the infancy of our seeker consciousness, we learn to repress the idea of death and suffering, but later on; we will learn to embrace them as they are part of living.
When ego dies, that is the only death. What remains is at peace with death, part of death. The process of dying is brought about through suffering. If ego survives there will be fear of death… and to suffer.
You see, ego is unknown to most human beings until they become AWARE of death and suffering as part of the human condition, once they are faced with that, there is change. As long as we try to escape from death and suffering through fancy beliefs, promises and self-deception, our consciousness will be in the infantile stage. Nothing wrong with that. It is just the beginning of “seeking.”
Religions, beliefs and philosophies are merely intellectual explanations unable to touch BEING, but the experience of those will give us invaluable insight.
When we face the “I,” life will bring a secluded environment for us. It could be a hospital bed, an extremist religious belief, some sort of disease, loss of someone or physical/mental handicap.
You will be alone. Secluded from society. If you cannot escape and DO something; You will discover how afraid you were of being by yourself.
Loneliness will set in and through that suffering, aloneness will come out. Because you will be secluded from society, perhaps Nature will be open for you to explore and harmonize with “mother Nature” by discovering “real Life” away from the human narrow minded version. In great part we owe our Ego to the teachings of our society. It is the price to pay when we are looking for certainty and security, comfort and control.
To harmonize with Nature is a breakthrough that will only lead us into the core of that which we call “self.”
Finding that harmony, we will be ready to go back to the human society and discover that it is just a game to play. A role is given to you based on your form. Nothing serious about it. If you are serious, pressured, in a hurry to accomplish objectives… you will not enjoy the “game.”
It is in that relaxed state, how you will be a child again.
Re-learning to play in Life
All wrapped up in beliefs, hang ups, dogmas, moral standards, traditions, emotional traumas and perspectives… the inner child is unable to enjoy Life.
The innocence of the child is replaced by the self-righteousness of the “I,” who is not looking to play, to enjoy, to give himself… but to be “right.”
Without a healthy inner child, there cannot be enjoyment of Life.
Enjoyment is not just pleasure… but pleasure is part of it. Enjoyment is the ability to taste the “now” as it is, to wonder, to smile… and to move on “naturally.”
Enjoyment is not something that could be learned through a method, or some spiritual practice; but it is the outcome of unleashing the inner child from the oppression of the compulsive “adult,” who is only interested in “righteousness” for the sake of looking holy, saintly, moral, conservative, a “good example for others.”
When following by the “dot” a made up moral standard, law or tradition without the ability to move as circumstances dictate… is when the inner child is lost.
Someone who is used to follow a paragraph of law for the sake of being “right,” is compromising his intelligence and his originality just to fit in, to feel accepted.
Without intelligence and originality, we have a society of robots, unable to feel, unable to leave their minds aside, unable to be aware of themselves.
It doesn’t matter what type of “practice” someone in that state may perform, as holy as it could be; that practice is not considering the mental, emotional and physical health of the individual and thus, it will not be effective.
Where do we start?
Obviously, the starting point is to unleash the inner child in the “now,” for without enjoyment of Life, all we will have is the promise of the future; “the future will be better.” That could be the “biggest lie,” a person could rely on. Some like to label that as “hope.” A nice label for uncertainty. An empty promise to exchange the “now.”
The “sin” entails in not living the present for the sake of a “better future.”
Observe a child. As the number of “Do’s and Don’t s” increases; emotional trauma will increase.
As the number of beliefs increases; fear will increase.
As his actions are catalogued as “right or wrong,” judgment will appear in his mind.
Isn’t there anything “right” that our society and “spiritual” community are doing for our upbringing?
Nothing “right” nor “wrong.” It is the awake individual who will have the courage to step out of the cycle, not as a rebellion or as an antagonist step, but as a “natural” step as when we go from kindergarten into first grade.
An awake individual is aware of his own process and that awareness will give him openness to understand anyone else’s.
If that “natural awakening” doesn’t happen, then we have idealists or intellectuals pretending to know the “solution” of the “problem” as if they were trying to escape from quicksand… When in reality they are trapped, deep in it…
Because their consciousness is the same despite their intellectual ability, their talk will not match their walk.
Our emotions: The journey into Oneness
If all the intellectual stuff is meant just to add more questioning into our lives, without a “solution,” then where the “solution” may reside?
Beliefs? Whatever someone believes in may give that person “strength” to deal with many unforeseen experiences in life. Nevertheless, it is all about giving mental power or strength to that “I.”
Let us take a look at this popular quote:
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa.
The above is how many “tough” people look at life. Don’t surrender, keep fighting… you will “win” eventually…
Ananda merely emphasizes that “being tough” in life brings that sour taste of misunderstanding. Life is not different than “you.” If life is going to be about how much hitting someone could take, just imagine… It is that “I” which needs to go away and that obviously will be misunderstood by those without the experience, by those who are used to “fighting with life,” by those who have not started their “seeking” journey.
When Rocky Balboa “toughens up” life; there is an inner child who will take tabs of all those punches. At that point, life becomes that “nasty place.” The inherent natural feeling of living life with joy, will transform itself into a traumatic experience which will be felt by our own body, our own self. That inner kid will look for protection.
Have you seen Rocky praying? There are things which Rocky cannot “do” by just being tough in life. That is how the inner child will look for that protection through different beliefs.
Nevertheless, the emotional trauma is like the scar of a bleeding punch.
That trauma will be there and will open through other life experiences. With so much “hitting” going on, could you imagine someone who is ready to love?
Could you imagine someone who is actually ready to perceive the world under a different consciousness other than “This is good, that is bad. This is right, that is wrong.”
Labeling, judging, rejecting, becomes the repertoire of that inner child who is just looking to protect himself.
An experience in life is just an experience. The story that we believe after that is up to us and our conditioning.
If we rationally understand that death is a natural experience of the physical body, if we know that no one will be here for ever (but yet we will paradoxically) why is there so much crying and unnecessary suffering?
Emotions. The inner kid does not rationalize things and if that little kid is used to getting support and help for his well being from others, then that inner kid will suffer.
If someone decides to get out from the world of the “busy office” and continuous entertainment just to take a look at this inner child to become his own father, that is to become one; then that is a great step to perceive the world under a different consciousness.
The inner kid needs to play, to be joyful in life, the inner father will watch and become amused by seeing that scene.
It is very important to understand these things that are going on inside us. “There” (inside us) lies the solution and all answers.
To look at and understand our emotions is the first step for a different consciousness.
Question: Hi brother, you told many times about duality and non duality and non duality means where there is only one consciousness and that is soul consciousness but in golden age when there will be non duality does that also means that all the souls over there will have the same likes and dislikes and they will have same opinions and that they will have same choices and if so then how can there be number wise souls there then. Thanks
Thank you for your good question!
Dear soul,
This question could be fully answered only in the experience of soul consciousness. Words that you have used such as “likes or dislikes, opinions and choices” are out of that consciousness as we know it now; for our understanding of those words bring ego, which is our current experience.
Therefore, the “reason” why there is so much variety nowadays is because our lives are driven by ego. This, (ego) is the most important single thing to be aware of when studying the self. We need great awareness for that.
In the Golden age, the “status” of the soul is what expresses being “numberwise” and that relates with the capacity of the soul to perform a role. You have the King, Queen, subjects, etc. With ego, we perceive that as “non-democratic state of affairs,” and that is because we do not have consciousness of what a role is and what we truly are (souls.) Over there, the consciousness of being souls exist. In that consciousness there is nothing lacking. Thus, they can go happily on with their roles, just as when in an elementary school there is a play and someone will be the “tree,” another kid will be an “elephant,” and the other kid will be the “prince.” They are aware that it is just a play and they have “fun” in it. 🙂
However, once the consciousness of “I” arrives (middle school) then, there will be fights about who will be the “tree” or the “prince,” because in “our minds,” the role of a prince is more “desirable.” (ego.)
Best wishes!
Exploring the Depth of Living 