Playing With Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

Humor is spontaneous, unexpected, sudden. It has a surprise component.

Edited July 26, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

We don't feel like we can be authentic.

Socially, true authenticity isn't seen as appropriate. Throughout our upbringing, our wildness was tamed by others.

Society is based on not being authentic. Social acceptance and groupthink are integral parts of it. Hence, our individuality has to be and remain captive in the others' eyes, except perhaps in intimate relationships, but even then it is the exception not the rule.

As kids, we learned to play by the rules, pretending, suppressing, and hiding personal aspects in order to be socially validated.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Your perspective influences or determines how you perceive events.

[UnbornTao]

Melancholy and sadness are about the past. What thought is your sadness based on? Find out.

In other words, what is your mind holding reality like? What are you focusing on? Try being absolutely grounded in the present. See if sadness can arise then.

[UnbornTao]

Self is an assumption, a thought, a conceptual construction.

---

Elaboration needed.

This could fill an entire book.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

People seem to judge a communication mostly by how it makes them feel instead of by whether it is factual and true.

Observe when you do this.

You may listen attentively to a manipulation that sounds good and validates your preconceptions whereas you feel bored when listening to a profound and genuine communication.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 26, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Pursue more than enlightenment.

That pursuit can be complemented with cognitive development.

Edited July 26, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 26, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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

Edited July 26, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 27, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 28, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

How real is this work for you?

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited July 28, 2022 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

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.

[UnbornTao]

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.

[UnbornTao]

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.

Edited November 10, 2022 by UnbornTao