Tagged: polarity
Enjoyment: The bottom line
All Life experiences will move through a range “full to empty or empty to full” (- It is just a way to describe) which the conditioned mind is not able to grasp. For the conditioned mind, to go from “full to empty,” means to lose, to be worse off, to go down, etc. Likewise when someone is going from “empty to full,” we label that as becoming better, improving, getting to the top, etc.
Notice that our labeling will determine how we feel about our experience.
Although we are the same human beings, we are different. Every human represents a particular point of an experience on the range of experiences.
For instance, a fat man with a high appetite, low sexual libido, a funny personality and a great fear of heights; represents different ranges of different experiences, all in one “package” which we label as “John Doe.” A thin, bulimic woman with a high sexual libido and bipolar personality, represents another range of experiences.
There is nothing to judge or to label but to observe that there will be people in between those ranges of the fat guy and the thin woman. Life will offer us through all living beings different ranges of experiences and possibilities. Those things are never static, change is guarantee.
Humans caged by their mental “static”conditioning, will be in charge of labeling and defining what is “right/wrong, good and bad.”
This creates a “traumatic” experience.
Every experience in Life, is just that… an experience. We may go to sleep and never wake up again. That experience is out of our control.
Choosing one experience in duality, will bring unavoidably the rejected one. So why choose? Why attach our consciousness to an ideal which will bring the opposite?
Notice that because we are alive, then death is a certainty. Notice that because we are young, old age is certain. That is the range of experiences.
We like to compare labels such as “young” is “better than” “old.”
However, it is a polarity of the same type of experience: Aging.
Every single individual has a perception, a way of looking at things based on their conditioning. We like to label that as “true” or “truth,” but it is just a perception.
Many individuals are caught up in finding the “right” experience in Life, the “true” perception of “reality,” and in that search, they are willing to fake it and will pursue what is not for them to experience.
That is how we betray ourselves. If the “majority” sees a blue sky and I don’t; I must believe that the sky is blue to fit in. Peer pressure. Majority rules. The power of the masses.
What is the bottom line?
To enjoy whatever perception we truly experience, for it is only a perception and it is meant to change, to evolve.
What do we do instead?
We want to hold on to a mental ideal of what “should be.” We strive for that.
We hear many times: “Be yourself.”
That is meaningless unless we are willing to de-conditioning by dissolving our beliefs, taboos, hang ups, ideals and values; that is what Spirituality is meant to bring.
Someone may be experiencing a debilitating disease as an experience. What is there to enjoy?
A disease does not come by itself but adds up a circumstance around our lives. There are many other items that come along. For instance, the opportunity to have free time, the opportunity to be in the company of loved ones, the opportunity to enjoy certain items which other “normal” individuals cannot. There are so many other things to enjoy around the circumstance.
What do we do instead?
We curse our lives, our “luck,” the moment we were born, our parents. That focus in one particular aspect of Life which we reject will poison our being.
Because we are so focused on that one thing, we are unable to see the rest, we do not have the capacity to step outside ourselves, out of the pitiful “I” to observe beyond our narrow tunnel of thoughts. Whatever it is, it will change.
Enjoyment is around that “I.” Enjoy that moment! There is nothing that could last forever. That is a great blessing, indeed! 🙂
Consciousness and not “truth.”
Last article had an important information that most likely is not seen in many “spiritual teachings.”
“Before fully accepting the animal side (Tantra) we need to fully reject it.”
For example, there are 2 “spiritual seekers” looking for methods to deal with anger. Both of them have the same guru.
The guru could tell both the same answer: “Anger is Bad. You must control it. God dislikes angry people.”
This consistency of telling the same method for the same issue (anger) apparently is “good.” Most will conclude, the method must be “true.”
A guru with greater depth will not look only at the question, but at the state of consciousness of the seeker.
If the seeker does not know about rejection in his consciousness, he will need that. The answer above (“You must control it”) may help him.
If the seeker had plenty of experience with denial, rejection and repression of “bad traits,” then he may be ready for Tantra.
The guru may say: “Observe it. Become aware of it. Let it go through you.”
The “answer” is according to the state of consciousness of the disciple.
The word that destroys this harmony between state of consciousness and answer, is called “truth.”
When a seeker is looking for conceptual “truth” is not truly looking for inner change.
The truth about Life is a personal journey to be discovered, not researched or accepted as second hand information.
Observe that in “spirituality for the masses,” information is given and that is interpreted by the reader. This information then is “applied” into Life. That is the theory, but it does not work.
Why?
Because inner change does not happen through mental understanding of concepts, but through living experiences in Life… then what we read, we could identify as “true” according to our experiences.
Life experiences have a polarity. Two ends of the same rope. One side of the rope is on the “right” and the other on the “left.” Most spirituality labels one side as “good” and the other as “bad.” This simplistic but unrealistic perspective does not understand that the natural way of things is to move. Life is movement. We will experience the full range of experiences. This is not a matter of just one life time, but many. Continuity is endless.
Carlos is a womanizer. He wanted to settle down when he no longer could keep up with all his lovers, that is the time when trouble was evident for him: Unwanted children, fights, stress, diseases. He realized that he wanted to change his ways. He embraced the religious view that sexuality should be avoided to be “pure.” That made sense to his mind as sexuality brought trouble to him. Thus, he went from one extreme into the other. “Black or white.”
As he did not fully understand his own sexuality and sexual energy, he used his will power to reject sex, to repress it as to agree with his new ideal of “purity.” That is how his journey started moving from the “right” side of the rope, into the “left.” That is the full range of experience.
Obviously, Carlos is not ready for Tantra (full acceptance) yet for he will misinterpret it as “permission” to continue with his lifestyle despite the trouble that he is experiencing. But he is ready for Yoga, that is the use of willpower to change his behavior through rules, do’s and don’ts.
There are many religious views in the world. Many times some ask, who has the truth?
IT DOES NOT MATTER. Let us not get confused with that little word. What matters is that a religion, philosophy or belief could be a vehicle to allow for consciousness to move from one side of the rope into the other. That is all.
That path is there. It only needs to be walked to discover it. 🙂
No-I and Witnessing (Detached observer.)
Caught up in the “reality” of the “I,” there cannot be witnessing until there is “No-I.”
When the “I” becomes “real,” a static entity with a personality who divides the world and himself as 2 different things; then our mind set of individuality arises.
Within that individuality is how our traditions, belief systems and perspective of reality are shaped.
A new consciousness is to be open to experience “no-I” as the other aspect of polarity, which will make our range of perception complete.
This is not just “knowing,” but to experience it, to live it. At that point, the question “who I am” is senseless.
Predestination and Free Will are inventions of the “I.”
Therefore, the question: “Are we predestined or do we have free will?” is completely out of the way, senseless.
Life may be a circular range of opposites but complementary energies (polarity) meant to self sustain itself through the processes of “creation” and “destruction.”
Those processes are experienced as “life stories” by the experiencers, that is how the “I” becomes “real.”
However, those who “experience” are truly part of the story as well.
Until there is “no-I.”
Then, there is witnessing of the story.
There is no one witnessing, but there is only witnessing.
Nothing “personal.”
That is where the “soul” comes into the picture.
It is empty. Void of personality. We are that emptiness.
Who I am?
Emptiness… therefore, everything. Totality. Like an empty glass, a container… like a window space a door space… Not the door or the window itself, but the space, the empty space.
Do I have to make effort to be a “detached observer”?
Isn’t that the “I” making effort? The “I” wanting to become someone? Isn’t that the same “I” wanting paradise for himself?
Be Conscious, aware.
The range of experiences moves spontaneously, for we are not separated from the story, from Life.
Consciousness is that which all living beings have in common. Different type of consciousness, yes; but consciousness nevertheless.
That is why there is no one who can change their own consciousness, as that perception of being an “I” is part of the story, part of Life… it will change by itself as Life is change, and as we live, we change, we evolve, nothing is static, not even that “I”…. But our mind dwells on static, comfortable, secure things…
The mind says that “I” am static, when all there is static about this persona is the name, a label.
The opposites have the same Nature
Our upbringing and moral standards have taught us to choose and prefer one side of duality and to reject the other side. That teaching is far from the experience that Life gives, thus; artificial, unnatural… An illusion.
We have been taught to build a personality based on “choice.” Nevertheless, for an unaware human being there cannot be choice, but simply cause and effect.
If John believes that he has chosen his profession or that he likes vanilla ice cream better than chocolate, he could be happy with those “choices.” Nevertheless, John has never questioned the reason why he likes vanilla more than chocolate, or why he has chosen a particular profession over another. That lack of “depth,” will prompt him to believe that “he is making more choices.”
As we gain further awareness, we could see that through that cause and effect, who we “are” right now is only the product of the past.
Through further “education,” we have been taught that we could change that “reality,” by “making choices.”
“Choose good over bad.” “Choose right over wrong.” “Choose spiritual over material.”
Doesn’t that sound marvelous?
Actually it is completely artificial and unrealistic.
Do we choose “good” by fighting “evil”? Do we choose “good” by rejecting “evil”?
Oh! We choose “good” by not DOING “evil”?
Actually, we DO what we ARE. BEING is the important key element to acknowledge, to observe. Observation is the DOING, for when we are aware… the shift will start.
The duality of “good and evil” share the same nature. Only the degrees will change. A what point heat becomes cold? A what point good becomes evil? Is there a “line” separating that duality?
It is just a subjective matter. Yes, right or wrong is a matter of subjective agreement.
John could be in jail for stealing. If John becomes “Robin Hood,” he could still go to jail, but now that stealing has lesser of an impact, less degrees of it.
Because of the above, God and the Devil share the same exact nature.
Why?
Because they are opposite of each other. Two opposite extremes of the same nature, just like cold and heat.
Am I trying to cause a revolution of ideals and moral standards?
No. I am not trying to “DO” anything. I am just sharing a bit of depth perhaps for some, and stupidity for others.
By all means respect the law, moral standards, the religious dogmas, the beliefs and opinions of others… be mindful that we are living in a society…but deep inside know that there is not an inch of absolute righteousness or absolute truth in all of them. It is a mixture of subjective agreements.
That is why as the “Life walker” becomes more aware, more conscious, he will realize that by observing and following the principles that Nature displays, Life will be more “Natural.”
The Natural laws are there waiting to be recognized and observed.
If you raise yourself, you will fall. Why do you fall?
To learn how to pick yourself up! That is just an answer, but not “the answer.”
If you didn’t have self, you wouldn’t fall… but neither raise up.
Self creates the duality, the choice, and with that… the “black and white” laws.
Who you ARE is what you SEE: “Reality” is your polarity.
If the content of an experience hasn’t been processed in Life, then different experiences will bring similar content, until our own perception of “what is” changes without rejection. Inner alignment occurs when we see what we are.
That “change” it is not a mental game or a well-applied method from some ideology or an ideal. It is simply who we “are” at that time in a natural way.
Richard went to the beach a month after his episode with little fish.
This time he went with a couple of wise friends.
After a nice and meaningful talk, Richard was ready to go for a swim; then in that precise moment a guy on his right, called him by making signals. He was a fisherman! He caught a big fish! 🙂
The fisherman was about 30 meters away from Richard’s spot. Richard ran towards him. The fisherman speaking broken English and with joy said: “Picture, take picture!”
The Fisherman caught a small shark.
Richard took the Fisherman’s smart phone/camera, and participated in the joy of the fisherman.
The Fisherman posed for the camera with his catch and Richard took 2 pictures and gave the camera back. The Fisherman gave his thanks and Richard went back to his friends.
Both friends knew about Richard’s previous episode with fish and how he feels about them.
His more “subtle” friend asked: “What did you feel?”
Richard said: “I felt the joy of the Fisherman. I participated in it.”
“and… what did you feel for the fish?” his friend, asked.
Richard responded: “I felt compassion.”
Richard’s friend said: “Because of that compassion, the fish was thrown into the Ocean again… Look!”
In fact, the small shark wasn’t with the fisherman anymore. Richard later found out from the Fisherman, that it was let go into the Ocean. Apparently, sharks could be out of the water for several minutes.
In that episode Richard discovered the meaning of compassion.
Compassion is not pity but far from it, it is a feeling of acceptance of someone’s destiny in Life. In that acceptance there is no sorrow but a sense of being OK with the process, knowing that it is not the final product, the end… but a degree of experiencing something in Life… the circle of polarity.
Richard did not use his passive ego to reject the situation but considered the joy of the Fisherman. He participated along with the Fisherman’s perspective of Life. In that act, at that moment; the Fisherman was the hunter and the fish, the prey. To acknowledge that duality which makes up “One,” is to be aware of what is.
Richard did not use his mind or thought to weigh the possibilities and “choose” a preference, but he acted as he felt, as he was at that moment, knowing that it wasn’t a religious precept or a teaching that he was following, but acknowledging the capacity to feel for both actors: The hunter and the prey. That was a honest action.
When Richard’s compassion and joy was part of that story of the hunter and the prey, the polarity was changed as a new feeling was added in the story: It was the feeling of joy and compassion of the hunter and the compassion and joy of the prey mingling with the joy and compassion of Richard; after all Richard was part of that scene, not as the hunter or the prey, but as a joyful and compassionate witness and observer.
Relative Polarity in a mental world of absolutes
The truth is not absolute neither relative. Then, what is it?
“Something” neither relative nor absolute…We could call it “nothing.”
In Life we could see that every scene has a polarity.
That polarity is what is known as “good,” “bad,” “right,” “wrong,” “sinful,” “virtuous,” etc.
The majority of people are so caught up with those labels which are so deeply ingrained through “education,” that trauma will be experienced in their lives.
All those apparent “opposites” are complements of each other. All those opposites are there, because the other side exists.
There is no way for fear to exist without the existence of courage. There is no way for love to exist without hate.
What is courage in the “normal” realm of duality? Less fear. There is a degree, a constant movement that we label in different ways. If the scale of experiences is between 1 and 10, Courage is 1; fear is 10. Indifference is 5.
A person experiencing fear is closer to courage for after the number “10” is reached (fear,) then number “1” will come into the experience. That is why, the range of experiences is not truly a straight line with 2 different ends, but those ends connect to each other in continuity. The range of experiences is truly a circle and because there is a continuous movement in that circle, it becomes cyclical movement, just like the 4 seasons, just like day and night, just like low and high tide, just like young and old, left and right, up and down, etc.
If the above is fully understood, then a person experiencing indifference has a long way to go before reaching hate or love.There are many experiences in between. Intensity is in the extremes.
Observe the range of experiences, observe that every individual is in a different stage, a different degree from the extremes. If someone has experienced one extreme, without a doubt; the other extreme will experienced.
A religious person who has experienced one extreme of Life such as an ascetic Life style, will experience immediately after that; the opposite, and from that point, the movement will continue. For the untrained observer, that person is only reaching a “balance” from being “out of balance” but note that it is only the degrees of change of experiences, which are moving, that is “going from 10 to 1” in the cycle.
“Balance” exists at every moment, at every position in the range of experiences and for that, we may need to learn to embrace the opposites, rather than judge them or to prefer one side and to despise the other, for if we are aware that we are one side of the equation, we are also the other side. We are both sides…The light and the shadow.
The fox entered the property of the farmer and ate a chicken.
From a human perspective, the chicken belongs to the farmer. The fox committed a crime. The fox is “bad,” a “criminal,” and the “poor” chicken “good.”
The human perspective is not “reality” but merely a perspective. From the perspective of the fox, the chicken was food. To eat that chicken was “good” for the fox. From the perspective of the chicken, that was a “bad” thing. Do we see the polarity in that scene?
Moralists will engage in labeling one side of the polarity as “good” without realizing that “bad” is needed to be there as well.
That scene of the fox and the chicken is void of human morality. That is the way Nature, Life operates.
In Life it is all one event, the chicken is part of the fox now. Life continues on. A chicken may eat worms. Life continues on.
But a human… a human will kill the wolf just because the fox entered his “private property,” and ate his “possession.” He “bought” the chicken with paper money as if Nature cares about the exchange rate. 🙂
Every experience in Life will bring a polarity to be aware of. If we could for a moment set aside the labels of “good, bad, right, wrong,” etc. from our vocabulary, we could observe a different perspective, a different reality.
We could observe that every truth, every single truth is not an absolute, but a perspective based on a particular state of consciousness.
The above realization could be the beginning for the “Life walker,” the seeker, to abandon the path of denial, repression and judgment, for the one of simple openness to Life. That is the path of integration.
Exploring the Depth of Living 