By definition, is anything you can observe, you? Or is it something you have? Are your body and mind somehow in charge?
Did you see something beautiful today? You only saw yourself. Did you see something ugly? You also only saw yourself, but these are not the true self.
Self is self and all others are also self? Others are mirrors, and the mirror is sacred as you are the mirror, also.
The Buddhists engage in a practice loosely called death meditation. Some say that’s just ugly and morbid, but they do it to fully embrace life, all of life. They witness the vultures consuming the dead in what they call “sky burial”, as much as they contemplate the corpse on the platform. We are a part of that, and anything you judge is only self judgement. For myself, life seems very broad, and in some ways still very perfect as we are, as our paths are. We are exactly what we need to be. Whatever feeling you have about yourself… Well, it can seem like a lot of different emotions, no? How many emotions are there?
Two. Fear and love. I would say there is one, and it’s distortion. But fear is still love. We fear because we love, but we don’t have to fear to love. They say God is love, and as you may have seen on Chinese shrines or in the Egyptian ankh symbol, God is often shown as a mirror. What does love do? Mirrors.
The reason things seem unclear is that we think we are transitory things. We think we have something to prove. That we are not good enough. God is not good enough? Well, let’s say the Divine is not good enough, then what does the question of good matter?
Maybe good is what is. Maybe despite any pain and hardship you have had, your life is good enough right now, and the only thing to do is let yourself be and express itself. Be in the world, but not of it. As they say, there are interesting things to learn when you let yourself be in the world and not of it. The seeming separation actually vanishes. You begin seeing that the world was always welcoming you anyway.
I should identify with the real me = witness? And identify with your real feeling, love. When someone you really love is angry, do you stop loving them? No. What about when they’re sad? No. What about you then? Is it bad to be angry or sad? No. If you identify with love, then you will find there will only be right action, and you will not invalidate anyone, including yourself.
If you get identified with being angry or sad, that is a distortion, but having seen an alternative you can’t unsee it. When you ask “Who is this that’s angry?”, how can the anger be you? If the anger isn’t you, doesn’t that mean you have a choice? If you recall any emotion is love (because ultimately our highest need is peace), then are there even two emotions to choose from? Or maybe just some clarity that you can choose to have? I like clarity myself. Being confused is scary.
There are two forces, one uniting, one separating? There is one force, and then how it’s channelled. It’s really pretty giving. It lets us do whatever we choose. We choose to believe this stuff in our heads is real. This thinking stuff we are taught. Is seeing believing? Thinking is a sense. The brain is a sense organ. It’s proper. It serves a purpose and we do need it, but we have been taught to do something really weird with the brain. We are taught to believe it without checking for agreement. If you hear something, you will naturally look toward the sound, yes? Or at least let your attention go briefly there? This is natural, but if you think something where does the attention go? Back to the experience?
There’s a bumper sticker “Don’t believe everything you think”. That’s a very good bumper sticker, but it needs a balancing statement. Don’t disbelieve everything you think either. They say familiarity breeds contempt. It deadens us to our own awareness. This serves some people in our world. Does it serve us?
Doubt your thoughts? I would say investigate your thoughts. Doubt is a prejudice. Doubt is just another habit and of questionable worth.
It’s often argued we need an identity. I don’t disagree, we certainly do, but we shouldn’t mistake the finger for the moon it’s pointing at. We need this being that we are, and we need to not sabotage it with doubt, or a belief that who we are is insignificant or invalid. If it were, then how in this infinite world did we arise at all? Is the world arbitrary? Fickle? Or are these human judgements?
Taoist speak of the way which is what the Chinese word Tao means. Way, and they don’t say it’s random or in any way out of order. Is it in your view? Your way isn’t out of order either. Your feelings aren’t out of control. There is change, but this is necessary. It’s life. Living things need flow, and maybe that means bleeding sometimes. Who is afraid of bleeding?
Is it like crying happily? Yes, and it’s good. As God said in the great creation, it is good. Be well.
I hope this was a sharing, and thank you, each of you, for your presence. Your thoughts are welcome.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~