The Flip !

[PureExp]

When you start progressing on the path of knowledge, you will notice a strange pattern - your old beliefs will be most of the time an exact opposite of new knowledge. This is quite amusing and enlightening. Everything you "knew" gets reversed gradually. I call this - the flip ! As you progress, your views go on flipping and soon the entire picture changes, the foreground becomes the background, and the background jumps forward. This is the figure-ground reversal that you will notice. We will take up some examples to demonstrate this. What's the point? Well, besides fun, it can be a good indicator of your progress. More things you flipped, more you have progressed. What's your score?

 

Belief: There are many things, and I am one of them, separate and independent of things.

Fact: There is oneness. There is no separation at all. Its an illusion created by the mind.

 

B: Matter is most real, next is mind, and consciousness is well... some nebulous thing that cannot be seen or proven.

F: Consciousness is most real, next is mind, and matter is flimsy illusion, its also mind.

 

B: Matter is particles, arranged in an empty thing called space, and it changes with a thing called time.

F: There are no particles. Space and time are illusions created in mind to make sense of sensory data. A kind of "data visualization".

 

B: Reality is purely material. And there are things like energy, forces and fields.

F: Reality is just information. There are only relations.

 

B: Brain generates mental stuff and also consciousness.

F: Brain is a structure in mind, perceived via senses. Consciousness is the ground of everything including world, body, brain and mind.

 

B: All there is, is this physical universe, which can see experienced via senses and instruments.

F: Physical universe, this one, is a tiny part of universal Mind. Areas of universal Mind can be accessed directly.

 

B: Consciousness "resides" in a body.

F: Body is an object, a content in consciousness.

 

B: Mind is located in brain, and consciousness too.

F: Brain is located in mind, which assigns it a location in space. Mind is non-local. Consciousness is not local, not non-local and is just a witness of all local and non-local phenomena.

 

B: Books, mass media and people are reliable sources for all knowledge. I trust it when majority of them agree on something.

F: My own experience is my surest source of knowledge. I believe no one blindly. I do take pointers from wise and try to experience what they teach.

 

B: I'm ignorant, don't know anything. I must get more and more knowledge.

F: I'm omniscient, I already know everything that can be known. Knowledge is covered up by layers upon layers of ignorance.

 

B: I'm not free. I need to get liberated asap.

F: I'm already free. All I need to do is get rid of that belief.

 

B: I was born, and I will surely die.

F: I am eternal, timeless and changeless.

 

B: Others are independent entities, they have their own consciousness separate from my own.

F: Consciousness (Self) is only one. Others are just structures in consciousness, same as I'm. We are all one at the deepest level, separations are illusory.

 

B: My path is a series of gains. I get more and more as I progress.

F: My path is a subtractive process. I lose more and more.

 

B: I'm not happy. Suffering comes naturally. I need to do efforts to keep myself happy.

F: Happiness is my real nature. Suffering comes out of ignorance, and it takes effort to hold on to the burden of ignorance.

 

B: Happiness comes from external stuff like food, mates, shiny stones/metals, money, power and social status.

F: Happiness comes from within. When above needs are no more present. Only minimum is needed to support a healthy body and an healthy Ego.

 

B: I need more and more relations and friends. Need and dependency on each other is love, we need support and approval of others.

F: I need exactly 0 people. Freedom from dependency and letting go is love. Love is about giving, not taking. We need to support, not ask for support. We don't need anyone's approval, I am me and you are you.

 

B: Everything is a mess. Nothing is as it should be.

F: Everything is perfect !

 

B: I need to run around like crazy until all my desires are fulfilled.

F: I need to do bare minimum to survive and have a cozy life. Desires are unlimited, its madness to try to fulfill all of them.

 

B: I must do what others tell me to do. Politicians and leaders dictate what's right and wrong.

F: I can use my brain ! I know what's right and wrong.

 

B: The whole point of life is - to hoard as much money as I can, to get a partner, reproduce, go on vacations, consume as much as I can, get shiny stuff, show them how great I am, save for old age and die in a hospital screaming and kicking.

F: The point of life is to live. Walk on the path of my own heart. That's all.

 

I'm sure there are more flips. A seeker is a person who knows this art of intentionally flipping things around. Here is a longer list of Flips !

Edited March 22, 2017 by PureExp

[Bodhi123]

@PureExp My overall "score" is pretty good but I'm still working on this one:

56 minutes ago, PureExp said:

The point of life is to live. Walk on the path of my own heart. That's all.

 

[PureExp]

@Bodhi123 Yes, flip is only a start, it happens quickly and then the real work starts, which is to implement the new into life. I'm also in that process.