UnbornTao

The search for truth and the search for comfort aren't compatible. It is inappropriate to base your search for truth on the search for comfort and pleasure.

The Trap of Pretending Say you learn a new model on human growth, and you take it up as an operative conceptual framework. You adopt the model superficially, as a system of belief. Said model stipulates that being non-judgmental is a highly evolved characteristic. What happens in your experience? You may suppress certain emotions such as anger, adopt particular roles that fit your self-image, etc. By pretending to be X, you believe you've somehow made progress and changed in a significant way. I disagree. Consider the Buddha: he didn't repress his impulses. We can imagine that how he behaved wasn't enforced as a discipline but rather arose naturally out of profound understanding and awakenings. Yet, we try to manufacture growth by faking traits that don't arise authentically in us as a result of personal understanding. Remember that pretension is antithetical to this work, and it doesn't help. Watch out for this dynamic. We can fool ourselves in similar ways. Ask yourself: Does this behavior arise naturally for me, or am I manipulating myself? To summarize, be increasingly authentic and continuously move towards that direction.

What is vitality? Yesterday morning I woke up unusually early. Walking with the dog, there was an experience/emergence of joy, presence, vulnerability, deep happiness. Out of that, I wondered: What is aliveness? What occurs in your experience so that you feel alive, as opposed to struggling to survive? Vitality seems to involve your whole presence, openness, and vulnerability to the point where it might become deeply unsettling and uncomfortable when around others. You've got to allow yourself to be completely in the moment, without pretension or acting. Being vulnerable exhibits courage and is required in order to be present. It also seems to cause or involve the principle of self-expansion.

Communicating demands accurate language and expression. Listening demands presence, and the intent to grasp another's experience as it is, that is, without any distortion on your part.

Always assume you're fooling yourself. Ask: How am I deceiving myself? It can be subtle and gross. The key is to become aware of how your mind easily fools you. This will help you mature.

It's a film guys. Don't fantasize about watching TV increasing your consciousness.

I’d appreciate book recommendations on the following principles: authenticity integrity responsibility courage unconditional happiness openness

Have you got any experience with Vipassana? What resources have you found most helpful in your journey? I'm currently reading a straightforward, grounded and inspiring book called The Art of Living. Loving it.

Secure. Got a bit surprised by that.

"Among the great things which are to be found among us, the Being of Nothingness is the greatest." -- Leonardo Da Vinci.

No matter how hard you try to fool yourself, you still don't know who you are. Make your knowledge mountain bigger. When it comes to enlightenment, that's irrelevant and even becomes an obstacle. In your experience, no matter how much you think you know, are you conscious of your nature? Be honest.

How real is this work for you?

A communication that comes from experience uses simple language. It is present, straightforward, vivid and vulnerable. And over all, honest. Real understanding comes from this practice. That's real communication -- handing over to another your experience as it is so that he can grasp it. But if it comes from intellect, it's mostly beliefs and opinions, and uses abstract, vague and complex language. It isn't real communication, but manipulation, an attempt to create an effect on another. In the context of practice, the latter is inappropriate. It may at times be useful, but it is hardly needed. When you have a genuine insight, it's more like "Eureka!" or laughing, not a model or faith-based system. You describe it as it is instead of trying to convince others about your opinions and beliefs.

What about a koan? Mu! There you go.

The person and the teacher are different. Make that distinction. If you hold teachers as an ideal, you overlook they're just humans. When the love guru gets angry, etc., that event clashes with your preconceptions. Buddha shat and begged, Jesus had an anger problem, your favorite guru does normal things, etc. They can also fuck up and do stupid things.

Those books are precisely his verbal teachings. The person and the teacher are different. You might be idealizing the teacher role. They are persons too. They can still do stupid things even though that image may interfere with your ideal of what teachers should be and behave like. Their actions don't detract them from knowing what they are.

That is not what I'm saying. You're confusing the person with his communications, which may have merit regardless. Read the books and ignore the author. I didn't even know his personal details, nor do I really care.

Most people readily opine on everything while knowing very little about any particular subject matter.

A presence so intense and brutal, I'm surprised as to how ruthless and loving it is. Been experiencing that lately. Ruthless as in brutal, effective, raw -- you're wholly there, focused, centered, calm. Loving as in including everything, awareness being wide open.

Your mind resists the work. It wants it to remain abstract, where it is safe. Experience, on the other hand, isn't necessarily safe. Practice keeps you grounded and real. Analogously, being hungry and thinking that a concept of a sandwich will satisfy you. That thought gets superimposed on your condition. You then might think yourself smart while ignoring the actual condition -- you don't know (you're still hungry). How sophisticated, nuanced, and complex the sandwich image is doesn't make a difference in your condition. You think that's intelligent but it is lying.

Fasting + running. Wild combination. I went walking with my dog and we ran a bit out in the sun, not very wise since it was 30°C or so. At least I should have brought water.

Holy shit this work is practical. Consider meditation: it kicks ass when it comes to being present. Being present increases clarity and effectiveness. Thinking about the work vs experiencing the work.

Pursue more than enlightenment. That pursuit can be complemented with cognitive development.

Some spiritual teachers come across as narcissistic. Except when that's actually the case, this is a misunderstanding stemming from the social domain. It isn't seen appropriate for an individual to be actually authentic, not a pose that's good for marketing. Enlightenment is never insanity.