Meaning

No Lack

Posted by de

..in response to a comment about J Krishnamurti and Schopenhauer:

Interestingly, the sense of ‘no lack’ does not cause inertia or phlematism. It’s more a truly ‘self’-less situation in which the already present ‘no-lackness’ expresses itself joyfully. Children play in a sand castle without a felt need to entertain any meaning.

JK would agree with St Francis of Assisi who said: “What we are looking for is what is looking.’

We can verify this by sensing that the ‘looking itself’ has no lack. It is the mental identification with a ‘me’ that

1. believes that it causes the seeing (how ridiculous to think this) and

2. interprets/defines/relates to the apparent objects (what is ‘seen’)

Those two mental activities result in a sense of lack and cause the striving toward no lack. Hence the yearning for meaning – in the hope that meaning will fill the sense of lack. It won’t. To realise the ever-fresh, timeless ‘looking’ (fundamental awareness) is what Krishnamurti is pointing to – and many others. Schopenhauer’s interpretations can lure the mind into dwelling on theory. Once done with it, the actual realisation of what JK is pointing to is more rewarding.

In response to depressing thoughts

Posted by de

Dietrich: The question I would ask is: Is the focus on the ‘about’ what is seen or on the seeing itself? The ‘about’ is never going to satisfy. To give ‘meaning’ – good or bad – is just another form of a comment (‘about’). A solution would be to let internal comments fade out by giving them less attention, simply by realising that looking for improved commentaries is not going to satisfy. In realising this, freedom and unconditional love are seen to be your nature. Frustrating self-talk doesn’t come near this. Comments can’t see this. Meaning can’t see this. It’s okay and joyful to see the impotence of meaning.

RESPONSE: the empty nothing doesn’t nourish nor satisfy. I don’t feel any qualities, no freedom nor love.

Dietrich: Thoughts assume an authority that thinks that it has to be served and filled with satisfaction. The issue is not that there is no freedom or love. The issue is that the imagined authority, demanding satisfaction, continues to demand like a 4 year old child (‘me’) that hassles mum (life) for ice cream after ice cream (satisfaction). That activity of demanding is the distraction from the freedom. However, it is not very efficient for the believed-in child to try to slap itself in an attempt to reduce demanding. It is more efficient to see that the mind recreates the demander – (the 4 year old) – from moment to moment. The demander is a believed-in thought product. By seeing this, the demander is seen through, together with the demanding, and what’s left is freedom from this tyranny. This tyranny is a blessing in disguise because the cherishing of such an imagined child is no longer seen to make sense. Once this is seen, eating ice cream will be a much more enjoyable activity as it is not polluted by the activity of demanding.

The ‘Now’ (Presence) and Meaning

Posted by de

‘Now’ cannot have meaning as Now as it is more fundamental than any thought construct. Any meaning is involves thought. However, the Now (Presence) as source of all is able to produce and attach meaning to what it projects as seemingly other than itself. Ultimately, all apparent meaning is dreamt by Now. One could say that from the perspective of the dreamt object there appears to be a meaning in realising this.

Meaning is the same as ‘what matters’.

I like the quote of Jordan Peterson “The world is not made of Matter, the world is made of ‘What-Matters’­. It contains a lot of truth. When strictly nothing matters at all, the worlds cease. Having said this, I see that there is the possibility that ‘what matters’ can have an optional, playful flair. To build a sand castle at the beach – does it matter to the children? It doesn’t matter to the extent where the children get worried about the next big wave. However, they may still give the castle some meaning within the scope of playfulness while it lasts, and they may even enjoy the drama of the wave eventually flattening everything.