Suffering in Egypt

In Egypt this last few days, there has been a great deal of turmoil, and it has been discussed at great length in the media and on the Internet. However, most of what has been discussed isn't what is really going on there. Most of what has been discussed has been ideas mistaken for things.

I discuss this concept of ideas mistaken for things throughout my book, but especially in chapters 1 and 3. Injustice, for example, is an idea, not an actual thing. This week in Egypt, the reality that we use this idea to try and understand, is much simpler: it is anger, fear, and pain. The idea of injustice creates a context in which we can judge these emotional and physical experiences. It also creates a context in which one can find the justification to create more suffering.

So it is especially important, at times like this, that we strive to see the difference between ideas and things. Because the foundational reality of all human interaction is that we are all one. Each person involved is just a different experience being perceived by one consciousness; the same consciousness that is reading these words right now. Whether it is the hated despot or the grieving widow or the frightened young soldier, the truth is, they are all you, and those identities are just different ideas you are using to make sense out of the different experiences.

So, regardless of your passion for the ideas in play, such as democracy, justice, freedom, or peace, do not let your emotions distract you from what is really happening: that there is growing suffering, and that it is You, the single awareness of the entire Universe, that feels it. If we all remember that, then what use might we put our ideas toward then?

Jim

How to Think

In Chapter 5, one of the practices I describe for enlarging awareness is the practice of questioning everything. This could also be called the practice of thinking, as thinking is a skill that can be summed up in the action of "asking yourself questions".

When we think, this is what we do. We ask, for a simple example, "What do I want for dinner?" and the mind returns an answer, "Pizza." Or we ask something more complicated, such as, "Should I marry this person?" Which not only returns an answer or answers, but very likely many other questions we must subsequently ask ourselves if we hope to answer the initial question.

The more you ask yourself questions, the more you are thinking. And the more you are thinking, the more you are growing aware. You see, there's more to it than just asking yourself a question; you must also LISTEN for the answer. This practice of listening, or focusing attention, is just as powerful in the process of thinking as it is in meditation or any other awareness-increasing exercise.

Our thoughts, however, are also directed by Karma, as we discuss in Chapter 1. Some questions are asked out of habit, and answers returned in the same manner. So much so that the asking and listening dynamic is replaced by simple reaction. A good example is the person who tells you a fact you know to be blatantly wrong, and when you correct him, he just goes on believing it to be true. To ask himself "Could I be wrong, and this person be right?" is so difficult, that the reaction of shutting out unwanted facts takes over. No one does denial by conscious choice.

So, it's important to question as much as you can, especially ideas that you don't examine too closely. Of course, I wouldn't tell you what to think (despite the title of this entry), you must find your own answers to truly understand the nature of your own experience. However, I will admonish you to ask the best questions you can. Because the more you do, the more you will discover, and the richer you life will be for it.

Jim

A few ideas about Good and Evil

There are those who say you cannot have Good without Evil, just as you cannot have day without night. I think this idea is wrong, and here's why:

Good is essentially our creative power. Whether the good we're talking about is bringing a new life into the world, completing an important goal, accomplishing something to improve our lives, or simply building trust in our relationships, they all involve creating something that was not there before. Evil, on the other hand, is more focused on the destructive side of things. Whether it's blowing up a building in an act of terror, lying to someone to take advantage of them, or taking a life, all acts of evil require a willful intent to destroy the good things that others have created.

And therein lies my point. Evil is dependent on Good. You cannot blow up the World Trade Center without first building it. You cannot kill a person without that person's life first being brought into the world, and you cannot lie without trust being built there first. However, there is no mandate whatsoever that good things, once created, must be destroyed.

Why is evil so tempting, then, if it is at such a disadvantage? Because it's easier than good. It takes far more effort to build a house than burn it down, or to build a life than to take it away, or to steal a fortune than to earn one. So, for those who desire the easy way, acts of destruction (or threats of same in order to coerce someone's actions) prove quite effective.

So, it is unlikely that evil people, be they terrorists, dictators, or tax collectors, are likely to disappear anytime soon. The good news is, it's only because there is so much good in the world for them to use against their fellow man. Evil may be easier, but it still isn't winning.

Jim

Thinking about Compassion

It's pretty easy to have compassion for victims, and for the helpless, and for those who have fallen on hard times. But what about those who victimize others? Or what about those who have only themselves to blame for their predicament? These people don't generally get as much sympathy as the good or the innocent who have been blindsided by fate, and oftentimes, they are actually the recipients of disdain and condemnation.

But then we remember that those people are just experiences of the same single consciousness than any of us are. So, what do we do about compassion for the drug addict, the child molester, or the most horrible of human beings, the politician?

This is a strategy that I recommend: Instead of looking for some reason to have empathy or sympathy for such people, which would be almost impossible in some cases (the smug, unrepentant rapist, for example), try asking yourself, "What would have to happen, in my past, in my life today, and in my own mind, to make ME like that person?" This is a pretty creative exercise in self-discovery, because you're going to have to consider many questions and circumstances that maybe you've never thought about before. "What kind of damage would I have to receive to ever consider killing another person?"

What this line of thought does is allow you think of the "bad person" as a person, because you think of yourself as a person. It allows the mind to move past the idea mistaken for a thing, the label you place on the person (jerk, Nazi, low life, murderer, etc.) and see them as you see yourself. Now, you might have to put together a HUGE laundry list of awful circumstances to get yourself into that person's shoes, but in doing so, it becomes easier to see that there must be more to that person than his/her actions at the moment, or even over the course of a lifetime. It also ensures that you see that they must be suffering in many ways, to have come to such a place in their lives where horrible actions are what they feel they must commit to deal with their circumstances.

Jim

Understanding vs. Acceptance

In Chapter 4, I lay down the arguments proving that you are God.  However, it's one thing to read these arguments and understand them, and something else entirely to really accept the truth of it.  It's much like facing the inevitability of dying.  We all know our time is limited, but it's still a terrifying thing to really try and take in the fact that our last day WILL be upon us, just as today is.

Fortunately, accepting that you are God is a bit less terrifying than staring into the abyss.  And it is something that really needs to be taken to heart if it is your intention to go about your day and your life in a more enlightened way.  Every day, for example, we face innumerable small trials that have a totally different significance if we look at them from a perspective of "I am God" rather than "I am my self."  The petty gestures, the boredom, the "one more thing to go wrong", that the day can hurl at us mean something entirely different when you see yourself as a part of everything, and everything as a part of you.

Take a look at yourself in the mirror.  There you see the face with which you identify.  It could be another face tomorrow, and you would still be you, so you know it is a part of your self, and not truly you.  However, it IS you who is looking into the mirror.  Take a moment to reflect on the fact that the consciousness beholding your face is the only consciousness in the entire universe.  At this moment, you are experiencing what it means to be in God's sight.  'I', the one consciousness, the entire Universe itself, is looking at your face.

Try to remember how this feels when you are with others, or going about the business of your day, or eating a meal.  There is no experience that is not divine, and this is so because YOU are experiencing it.

Jim

Eavesdropping on Your Mind

The purpose of meditation is, of course, to enhance awareness of things as they are.  It helps us to experience thought as thinking, and sensory experiences as real.  However, one of the biggest problems you're going to have when attempting to maintain this state of awareness in meditation is the tendency to get caught up in your thoughts.  Soon, they go from something you're observing to something you're "living in", and that realness of them can be extremely compelling, especially when you're trying to develop a mental discipline.

Well, one trick I have come up with is "eavesdropping".  In traditional eavesdropping, you can imagine a child with his ear to a door, struggling to hear what his parents are discussing in private.  Well, when using an eavesdropping technique in meditation, you're basically doing just that.  You are there, listening to what your mind, and the environment are "saying" in a detached manner.  For example, when thoughts enter your mind as you meditate, imagine that they are like voices in the next room, and listen to them as such.  When you eavesdrop, you do not try to control what is being said, you just passively take what comes.  You certainly don't involve yourself in the conversation, you just collect information.  You can do the same with sounds in the room, allowing them to enter your awareness without trying to involve yourself with them (like trying not to hear them, for example).

In chapter 5, I talk about meditation as a natural extension of listening, which is the most fundamental spiritual practice.  Eavesdropping, while not especially respectful of privacy, is a perfect expression of listening, with intention, to whatever is there to be heard.  There's no attempt at control, nor is there the urge to participate.  You just let whatever is there be, making no effort but to listen, so that you may be more aware of its presence.

Jim

Hurt People Hurt People

I heard this in a movie I saw recently: "Greenberg" starring Ben Stiller.  It's a very succinct way of describing personal Karma (Ch. 1 and Ch. 3), and putting hurtfulness into a perspective where compassion comes a little more naturally for the one who does the hurting.  Of course, it's easy to have compassion for the victim, but often we overlook the reality that the perpetrator is often a victim as well.  For example, it is well known that parents who abuse their children were themselves abused, and that ending that cycle of violence is not as simple as giving into one's wish to "be different than my parents were".

There is an element of karma, of powerfully motivating emotions that we do not choose to feel, and would gladly evict from our minds if we could, that drive acts of cruelty.  Whether it is the alcoholic harming himself, in reaction to his addiction, or a bully tormenting smaller children in reaction to his own sense of helplessness at the hands of an abusive parent or sibling, there is always more to the perpetration of harm than the perpetrator in question being "an asshole".  Harming others is invariably part of a cascading chain of karma, each new creation of suffering being inspired by one that came before it.

To end those evolving chains, it is essential to look beyond your anger at those who hurt others, and try to see the pain that drives them.  There may not be much there to indicate what that pain is, but you must try.  After all, we are all one.  And any pain inflicted, when all is said and done, is just pain that 'I' feel, with that 'I' being the same one that says, "'I' am reading this right now."  Any compassion is no more than a reaction to not wanting to suffer.  Remember who that other person really is, and why he causes you or someone else to suffer, and you will replace a seed of pain with a seed of an entirely more benevolent kind.

Jim