Suffering

Do Something!

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Doing is going on. Spiritual paths usually encourage personal development. That’s doing something to get somewhere. That’s what society understands since every conventional step in a lifestream focuses almost exclusively on a better tomorrow. So what’s wrong with that?

This ‘better-tomorrow’ drive can include the idea that tomorrow is the time to wake up to the boundless energy that’s closer than any thought about it.

It may feel like a disappointment to the ethically conditioned mind that the focus on personal development can keep us identified within the boundaries of time.

The point is that doing happens anyway in all areas of living. Personal development may happen anyway, practising a musical instrument may happen, improving a health condition may happen, financial issues may be tackled etc.

It would be a mistake to think that doing stops. Thinking, doing, expressing, creating, improving, are natural movements in time and will continue to be enjoyed.

The keyword is ‘natural.’ By that, I mean that these doings will happen naturally. Our almost compulsory, mental focus on the belief that something depends on a better tomorrow is the trap.

In reality, everything depends on the timeless energy that is present in every move. If our beliefs focus with priority on ‘moving to a better tomorrow’ then stress will replace naturalness, and with that stress comes the worry about tomorrow. At the same time, worry distracts from the only reliable fulfilment there is, namely the ever-fresh boundless presence of our true nature that is closer than our next thought about it.

Good musicians express that timeless presence, they don’t worry about the next note. Even when practising a scale to improve the skill level, the exercises can be done playfully, without worry about the outcome. The outcome will present itself anyway. In fact, efficiency increases when there is no worry since worry consumes a lot of energy.

On a global scale, suffering is caused by the effects of worry and self-concern.

The last point is that this self-concern will come up again and again as long as there is a disregarding of our true nature, a conceptless presence that can’t be measured, and that is closer… than the next thought about it. 

In response to depressing thoughts

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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.

Guilt

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Guilt is one of the strong tools for the bonded mind to reinforce bondage as guilt appears to be a virtuous feature, and it is often considered a prerequisite for salvation. As Paul says, guilt (self-blame) goes hand in hand with a need for forgiveness. What a relief to see that salvation is the freedom from selfing, that, among other things, thrives on the activities of blaming and forgiving.

Non-Resistance

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Seeing the self-evident presence of Being can occur without looking for it, but for the vast majority of people there has been interest in the subject of awakening and liberation before awakening happens.

In many cases there have been glimpses or phases of awakening, alternating with reappearances of the suffering ego. The best way to handle these phases of ‘ignorance’ is not to resist these. This approach is still associated with a ‘me’ that tries not to resist ‘what happens,’ but this genuine willingness of the imagined me to give way to life’s movements as they present themselves can weaken the tendency to contract in the face of ‘what is happening.’ Even contractions are seen as ‘what is happening,’ and in this way the contractions are not fueled by the resistance towards contractions.

As humans, we are conditioned to look for pleasure and to avoid suffering. Neither of these approaches make us see what is already here. To reject pleasures and to want suffering is a ‘religious’ perversion. It is based on the idea that it is virtuous to suffer. It is totally unnatural.

Non-resistance causes the reappearances of the ‘ego’ to weaken. Non-resistance is happening just by seeing whatever comes up, without diverting from it by imagining a preferred future or by comparing a current sensation with any other (preferred or avoided) sensations that may be stored in the memory bank.