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    Thread: Blue Star's Reflections on Life

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      Default Blue Star's Reflections on Life

      Thought I'd create a thread for my existential essays; although I've been putting them as blogs, they're not really blogs as such. Hope you enjoy, comments are certainly welcome if you have anything to say or add.

      CONTROL

      I’ve been using the Sedona Method technique of emotional releasing for a while now and I’ve found it immensely helpful. It’s the simplest, easiest way I’ve yet come across for releasing negative emotions. What’s especially interesting is that whenever you feel bad, you are urged to trace the emotion back to one of four underlying WANTS: wanting control, wanting approval, wanting security or wanting to be separate.

      I’ve found it amazing that just about every negative emotion can be traced to a basic sense of wanting control. It seems to me that at a core, fundamental level, human beings (or more specifically, human egos) are control-freaks. However subtly or overtly this manifests itself, we’re in the business of wanting control just about everything, just about all the time.

      I suppose from the moment we’re born we learn that to get our needs met we have to try to control our environment and those around us. When we’re hungry or uncomfortable or have a poopy nappy, we don’t hesitate to make our discomfort known - and the louder the better. This in itself is a basic means of control, because we quickly learn that crying gets us what we need. The art of control is thus learned at a very young age and as we grow up, it continues to develop in an infinite number of ways. Life, and other people, are seen as things that we have to control in order to get our needs met and in order to be happy.

      It’s not until we stop and think about it that we realise the countless ways in which we try to control our environment, our lives and other people. Sometimes the ways in which we desire to control things are quite obvious, whereas other times they are so subtle as to be imperceptible. But, make no mistake, it’s going on all the time!

      From the moment we wake up in the morning (which is normally controlled with the aid of our alarm clock), we enter each situation in our daily lives with an agenda. We want to do and achieve certain things and we want situations, meetings and transactions to go a certain way, so we invest a great deal of effort to ensure that’s what happens. We want people to treat us a certain way, so we spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to control them and influence how they respond to us.

      If we look closely enough, we can see how we try to control virtually aspect of our lives: from our bodies, health, appearance, diet and sleep patterns to our activities, jobs and careers and our relationships, social standing and the opinions of other people. What is the average human life, if not an exercise in extreme control-freakery?

      Now I suppose you could argue that it’s necessary to try to control such things, otherwise our lives would spiral out of control and implode in a catastrophe of chaos and disorder. That’s the way the ego sees it and that’s how it justifies its pathological need to try and micro-manage the universe.

      But I’ve come to see that control is ultimately an illusion.

      It’s a fiction the mind gets hooked into, a mode of functioning that underlies every nuance of its operating software. It fails to see that its perpetual attempts to control are akin to a hamster running in a wheel. No matter how much energy and effort it invests in trying to control every aspect of life, it’s not going to get you that far.

      Because just how much can we actually control in life? Honestly?

      I’d argue that ultimately there’s very little we really have control over. As valiantly as we might try, we can’t control other people - at least not completely, and not all the time. Aside from ensuring we give it the proper fuel, rest and exercise it needs, we don’t control our bodies; our bodies do what they do and they’re inevitably going to get grow old and die. We don’t have much, if any, control over our environment and culture, or the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

      And here’s the thing: the more we try to control anything, the more we suffer.

      We suffer when we don’t get what we want. And we often suffer just as much when we do get what we want. Perhaps this is because we’ve created so much tension and resistance in ourselves that we’re unable to relax enough to enjoy the fruits of our labours. In any case, the mind is rarely satisfied with what it’s got and is immediately ready to fixate on its next object of conquest. It’s a vicious cycle. The more we control, the more we’re dissatisfied and the more we suffer.

      Yet letting go of control is a truly heinous notion to most people. The thought of being out of control is unthinkable and is tantamount to a kind of death (and it is a kind of death in a way; death of the ego!). Yet if we take an honest look at the ways in which we try to control life, the ultimate futility of our efforts, and the way it causes us pain, we might find the courage to adopt a totally radical and quite revolutionary approach: letting go of our control over life.

      What I’ve discovered is that the moment I let go of wanting to control anything, I feel free and at peace. I believe letting go of the need to control is one of the greatest keys to freedom and peace of mind. Paradoxically, when I know that I’m not in control of life, I feel at one with life and things just seem to flow; no stress, no worry, no resistance!

      Whenever I feel bad, or whenever things have become sticky and messy, it’s usually attributable to trying to impose control on things. This has happened with my physical health. The more I’ve tried to improve my health, the more determined I’ve been to get better and the more regimented I’ve been with my diet, supplements, and so forth, the worse I’ve actually become. I can only assume it’s because the more we struggle with things, the more tension and resistance we create within us. This tends to close us down, cutting us off from the innate flow of life, whereas when we relinquish the need to control, it releases tension and promotes lightness, ease and flow.

      I invite everyone to experiment with letting go of their need to control life. If something’s been causing you pain or suffering, it’s a sure sign that instead of trying to exert more control over the situation, you need to do the opposite and practise letting go. It’s so simple yet miraculous in the way it shifts our energy and reconnects us with our innate sense of wellbeing and flow. At the very least, whether the situation changes or not, you’ll experience a deep sense of relief, release and inner peace. But don’t take my word for it - try it for yourself!

      When we let go of our attempts to control life, life takes over: and life can do things infinitely better than our precious little egos ever could. It’s as though a deeper intelligence springs into action and gets things back into balance again. When we’re no longer creating obstructions (and our obstructions almost always originate in the mind), things naturally settle themselves and come into harmony. This can be seen in nature. As long as there are no obstructions, a lake remains placid and still, for that is its nature. Our attempts to control creates waves in the water, shattering the calm and stirring up all kinds of muck and debris. Pretty soon the water is choppy and muddy, as a result of our desperation to impose our will. Just letting go is enough to allow the water to naturally balance and settle itself. There’s nothing we need to do. Why not let go of control as much as you possibly can and allow life to flow? You might be amazed at the results.

      “Let go of your hold on life and allow life to simply flow around and through you.” John C Parkin

      Ahhhhhh. The sense of relief is amazing!
      Last edited by BlueStar; August 5th, 2011 at 07:34 PM.

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      WORDS



      Earlier I mused that for some people words can be more hindrance than help. The mind was developed as a survival tool, enabling us to function in the world and we can see this rudimentary intelligence in animals. Somewhere along the line we humans developed language. We stepped from a non-verbal world into a verbal world. This had the great advantage of enabling us to communicate with each other; our wants, needs, desires, affections, dreams and hopes. It was necessary in enabling us to begin to create nation states and achieve the level of cultural and technological sophistication we now possess.

      However, here’s something to consider: how much have we lost by entering this verbal world; a world in which everything becomes an abstract concept in the mind. We no longer relate to life, to things or people or nature directly anymore - we relate to them through the concepts we have of them in our heads, concepts rooted in language and the symbols we call 'words'. We slap labels on things and then think we ‘know’ those things. We call a tree a ‘tree’ and whenever we see a tree, we only tend to see the label we have of it (“oh that’s a pine tree”). We never really LOOK anymore, we never take things in or appreciate them for what they are. All we tend to see is a world of abstract concepts and labels. As a result we’re stuck in our heads. Eckhart Tolle sums up the human race in three simple words: “LOST IN THOUGHT”.

      Now I’m not saying that thinking or language is BAD. I wouldn’t be here writing this without it and you wouldn’t be reading it. But, the essence of spiritual awakening is actually learning to stop identifying with your mind and its concepts and to come into awareness of LIFE around you and within you. To really SEE things, to FEEL and TOUCH and TASTE and to be aware of the spark of life which animates all, beneath and below the surface. Getting stuck in the mind, forever trapped in a world of abstract concepts and ruminations, relating to others and life only on a superficial mind-level is a dreadful affliction and one that surely strips life of all joy, aliveness and wonder.

      Try living in a non-verbal world, at least for five minutes today.

      Forget your name and whatever stuff is sailing through the sky of mind (if you ever stop to observe your thoughts, and I do recommend that you do, you’ll notice that they drift across your mind like clouds in the sky: some fast and filled with bluster, others lighter and more transient. But you come to realise that you are not your thoughts. How could you be if you are able to watch them? You are not the clouds, but are the sky in which they form. But don’t take my word for that, or anything else that I write - try it for yourself!).

      Walk about your house or garden and be aware of every perception, every sight, sound and texture and don’t label anything. Don’t impose words or names or judgements of anything. Just witness, being open and alive and fresh with wonder. Instead of seeing trees and clouds and sky; just observe shapes, colours, textures and don’t name any of it. This is a wonderful practise. But again, don’t take my word for it...try it! You might just recapture some of the freshness, openness, joy and innocence that we all possessed as children...before we were taught to compartmentalise and cut up the world into chunks, using WORDS. Just because you know the word for something does not mean you KNOW that thing. Quite the opposite. I’m coming to see more and more that words actually come between us and a direct experience of life, as it is. Just be alive, be open to sights and sounds - and even people! - without having to plaster and strangle them with words. Words have their place...but when you are only living in a reality of words and abstractions, then I suggest that you are actually out of touch with the true essence of life, which is beyond words, beyond mental conceptions - and ultimately beyond form itself!

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      Your Reflections are making me Reflect. Thank you!
      In Loving Memory.
      Lion Spirit Walker / September 17, 1963 - Dec 30, 2014.
      ... All with Purpose ...

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      You're welcome! Reflecting is good. I'm always reflecting!

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      This is very good to see. Thank you very much for sharing in this way.


      Growth Through Adversity

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      THE FUTURE

      “I used to think about the future and then it became the present, so I thought about it quite often then and then it was in the past, so I didn’t think about it that much.”
      Father Ted

      One of the things that has frequently tripped me up over the years is the notion of future. It’s easy to get lost in it and for concerns and insecurities about the future to overwhelm us, causing untold stress and turmoil. In fact, when it comes to mindstuff, the ‘future’ can be like a gaping black hole, ravenous, all-consuming and virtually impossible to escape.

      The ego loves its security and in a world where security is ultimately an illusion (after all, anything at any moment could compromise your sense of security), that can be something of a problem. The future is the great unknown and that is something that utterly terrifies the ego!

      To minimise this sense of unease we adopt all kinds of strategies for trying to control circumstances and outcomes as much as possible. Again, going back to what I wrote previously about control, that can only work to a limited extent. We can pursue the things that we think will bring us fortune and security and we may even succeed; but even when we do, it’s rarely enough to dispel our fears and insecurity. This is because our insecurity is a structural component of the ego.

      In a sense, our insecurity over the future is a legitimate concern, because we really don’t know what the future holds. Bad things can and frequently do happen. I think it’s likely our fear of the future/unknown is a survival mechanism that’s developed to protect us from potential harm by always keeping us on our toes. Yet in our modern world, where our immediate physical survival isn’t usually an issue, this survival mechanism has become a stress mechanism.

      In this media-dominated information age, it’s virtually impossible to escape the news and the news is rarely good. We don’t just leave it at that though. We take what’s happening and project it into an imagined future, playing out all kinds of horrific scenarios in our minds. Sometimes it’s necessary to project ahead in this way as it allows us to make prudent choices that avert unnecessary catastrophe. If I’m walking along a train track and a train appears in the distance, it’s prudent that I project into the future and realise that if I don’t step aside, I’ll get squished.

      There are times when this is a useful practise and times when it becomes highly dysfunctional. For we tend to get lost in our imaginings, creating entire alternate realities in our minds. We forget that it’s just fantasy and actually believe that what we’re imagining is real. I believe it’s this tendency that creates much of our anxiety and fear over the future.

      Two things have helped me to deal with this. The first is the recognition that the future is actually an illusion of the mind; and so, for that matter, is the past. The only thing that actually exists is the present moment and that present moment NEVER ENDS. In spite of this concept we have of past, present and future, there’s never an instance where the present becomes the past, or becomes the future. It’s a continuing, unbroken, unfragmented whole.

      The present moment just IS -- and it always will be. Of course the CONTENT of the present moment is always changing and it is from this that we’ve derived the notions of ‘past’ and ‘future’. But past and future don’t actually exist. However hard you were to look, you could never actually find them because the only place they exist is in the mind; the past as memories and the future as imagination, expectation or anticipation.

      What a terrible mess we get ourselves in over something that exists nowhere other than our own minds! However long we wait, the future will never arrive. All we have is this moment, this timeless, eternal moment, the form of which is continuously shifting and changing.

      The second thing that’s helped me deal with this structural insecurity is the recognition that I’m not what I think I am. Along with the concept of time, another core human assumption is that we are our bodies. I’m not going to go too deeply into this for now and I’ll assume that if you’re reading this you’ve already got some sense that what you are is something more than just a bag of bones, tissues and liquids.

      But even when, on a conceptual level, we know that we are something deeper than the surface-level appearance, it takes a while for us to fully embody and integrate that realisation. In other words, we usually still act and react as though we are just our bodies. And because we know that ultimately our body is going to die, we have a fundamental insecurity that underlies every second of our existence, whether we’re aware of it or not. I’d even go so far as to say that the root of our fear of the future is fear of the termination of the body.

      But when the realisation that we are something far transcendent of form takes root not just in our head, but in our heart and our gut, this underlying existential insecurity begins to loosen its grip. When we truly know with the entirety of our being that we are eternal and deathless, then we cease to fear the inevitable dissolution of our form. Our bodies change throughout the course of our lives and the content of our minds and psyche changes from moment to moment. But this timeless awareness that we are remains unchanged.

      If you’ve ever explored and moved into this primal awareness, you’ll notice that it at its core is a deep and expansive acceptance. It doesn’t hold life to ransom and it doesn’t have demands or like and dislikes or even goals and directives. It just allows life to be as it is. It remains open, untouched and untouchable.

      Knowing what we are and questioning the content of our minds lead us to a deeper and infinitely more secure state of being. Life still happens around us and at times it’s distressing and grim, but when we’ve removed some of our investment of ‘selfhood’ from what is ultimately transient and insubstantial, we experience far greater freedom than ever before.

      The need to desperately control the future lessens. We come to see the primary importance of living well in the present moment. We can surrender to a greater intelligence, of which we are an inextricable part, and allow that intelligence to guide us rather than our fears and doubts.

      When we surrender to the flow of life, we come to see that that no matter what the ‘future’ (or, rather, the forthcoming configuration of the eternal present) holds, we will be fine. That which we are is ultimately untouchable. Whether our future contains fortune or misfortune, we will be fine. We will always be fine.

      When we’ve let go of our insecurities, our attachments and our desperate need to control life, we’ve let go of the very obstructions that make life difficult in the first place. And when we do encounter life’s inevitable challenges, we deal with them with greater ease and grace, always returning to our innate sense of balance and wellbeing.

      I believe that when we’re in this Tao-centred state of being, connected with the flow of life and the truth of what we are, then life is often kinder and gentler. Moreover, our state of being has a positive effect on those around us and the world at large.

      So why worry about the future when we can instead move our attention inward and allow life to guide us? We can flow gently and smoothly with the current of life and be led exactly where we need to be.

      Maybe life really CAN be that simple? Even if I’m wrong, what a way to live!

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      I can truly appreciate this way of being. If not for this 'way', I would find it difficult to imagine myself still being here in this human 'shell'.
      We leave 'foot prints' behind us, and we will create more along our endless journey. And yet, where we are now is where we have always been and where we shall always be.
      Thank you for sharing these expressions of truth my wise friend.


      Growth Through Adversity

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      Quote Originally Posted by Lion Spirit Walker View Post
      I can truly appreciate this way of being. If not for this 'way', I would find it difficult to imagine myself still being here in this human 'shell'.
      We leave 'foot prints' behind us, and we will create more along our endless journey. And yet, where we are now is where we have always been and where we shall always be.
      Thank you for sharing these expressions of truth my wise friend.
      Thanks for your comments amigo. I'm totally with you Shifting into this deeper awareness is the true alchemy of life; turning our suffering into radiant awareness, our pain into presence. It's as though we're like a match. Our physical substance is the wood and the chemical at the top is our consciousness. The sparks of life, the friction, pain and suffering ignite the match...and it can either fizzle out quickly as it does with some people, or it can shine brightly, as the flame grows brighter and bigger. You my friend are someone who shines really brightly indeed, a true light in this often darkened world

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      (Wrote this a few weeks ago but never got around to posting it for some reason. But here goes )

      INTEGRITY

      What does integrity mean to you?

      I get the impression that people generally take it to mean being true to their word and treating other people well. But I think there's a lot more to it than that. When looking up the word in my handy little dictionary app, it comes up with three meanings.

      in*teg*ri*ty
      - noun
      1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
      2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
      3. a sound, unimpaired or perfect condition.

      The first definition doesn't appeal to me that much. Moral and ethical principles are mind-generated and are therefore coloured and distorted by the mind's inherent limitations. I agree with Lao-tzu that the highest virtue comes not from following mind-made morals and ideals (which are usually just conditioned into us by the culture we live in), but from being rooted in our own sense of BEING.

      When we're aligned with Self, we spontaneously act from 'rightness' because we're in alignment with the innate flow and perfection of Life expressing through us.

      The one word that does jump out at me from that first definition is 'honesty'. I believe the essence of integrity is being honest to who and what we truly are. This is something so few of us actually do, because again we're indoctrinated by a culture that demands we do the exact opposite, wanting us to follow its ideals and nothing more. The only problem is, it's impossible to be true to anyone or anything other than our Self. For truth isn't out there and it never was. "To thine own Self be true" -- great words by the Bard, and perhaps the best definition of integrity there is.

      I love the other two definitions of integrity because they perfectly point to this Self-honesty I'm talking about. When we know what are, when we've really delved deeply beneath the surface and journeyed through all the layers of mental sediment, conditioning and ego-identification, we come to that place of expansive emptiness/fullness within us at the core of our being, the very ground of our awareness. You've either experienced this or you haven't, which will make all the difference between understanding what I'm trying to point to and thinking I'm just talking utter gibberish. By virtue of the fact you're reading this at all, I'm going to assume that you've had at least some taste of the deeper Reality of Being.

      When we've experienced some degree of Self-knowledge, when we've seen through the screen of our minds, egos and conditioning to the deeper Reality beneath, then part of us is never the same again. Sure, it's extremely difficult to hold onto and sustain this realisation. It's one thing having transcendent spiritual realisations in meditation and quite another thing maintaining them in our daily lives. Our minds and egos have very deep grooves and exert a tremendous gravity that keeps the old structures firmly in place (and let's face it, everything in the world around us is also designed to keep the ego in the drivers seat).

      But when you've seen the TRUTH, even just a little glimmer of it, you can never go back to the way you were before, at least not entirely and not forever. A little sliver of sunlight has got through a crack in the brick wall of your mind/psyche/ego (a hefty construction if ever there was!), and it wants to shine again. It'll take any little gap it can get and surely, in time, as the bricks start to erode and dissolve (as they inevitably will, whether by grace, by pain or by death) the light will get its chance to shine through, ever stronger and brighter, dispelling the darkness of ignorance and illusion and allowing the truth of life to be seen, experienced and realised.

      Perhaps you can now see why I was so tickled by the dictionary definition of integrity as being "the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished" and "a sound, unimpaired or perfect condition." Isn't that a pretty much perfect description of enlightenment? Is it possible that integrity is in fact synonymous with enlightenment? I'm beginning to think so.

      My feeling is that enlightenment is the seeing through of what is false and the realisation of what is true. First comes the recognition of truth and then the integration of that into the entirety of our being. For enlightenment to be true, it has to penetrate every aspect of our being and lives. It's no use having a strictly mental and/or conceptual understanding of reality -- lots of people have that and they're about as enlightened as plant pots.

      Some people might understand what I'm talking about, and they might even have experienced it, and yet still don't truly GET it on the level of their heart and gut. They might know that they're the formless, transcendent Reality and yet in their daily lives still behave like the most monstrously insane egos out there.

      This is why I think integrity is such an important thing to reflect upon, particularly for ‘spiritual people’. Integrity isn't as big an issue for people that are completely under the spell of their minds and egos, because they’re too deeply immersed in a world of dreams and illusions and have no conception of what they truly are. True Self-integrity is impossible when you don’t even know your Self!

      But those that have had some degree of awakening, yet are still operating almost exclusively from the level of ego, then I think lack of integrity is a big issue. As I said, it takes a certain amount of time and effort to break free of the gravity of the old mind structures, but it's something that ultimately has to be done. Because until we do, there's a deep divide at the core of our beings; a gulf between who we truly are and who we're choosing to be in our daily lives. Whether we're aware of it or not, this inner conflict causes enormous pain and is most likely reflected by all kinds of difficulties and problems in our outer lives. It's impossible to be at peace and to flow with life as long as we have this fundamental lack of integrity eating away at us from the inside out.

      The ego can deceive us in a million different ways. That's not to make the ego into an enemy, or even something tangible and real, because it's not; it's really just a detour from truth and can be overcome each and every time we move back to that truth. Whenever we catch ourselves suffering, even if it’s just a bad mood, it's likely a sign that we're out of integrity, that we're lost in our thoughts, concepts and egos again. When that happens we’re probably trying to hold life to ransom, as we so often do when we're relating to life from that level. Above all, it's a sign that although we know the truth, we aren't in that moment LIVING it.

      I hope I've managed to convey why I feel integrity is so vitally important, especially for those of us in the process of awakening. Perhaps enlightenment (the recognition of truth) is just the first step, while integrity (the embodiment of that truth) is the crucial second step. Enlightenment is actually pretty easy because comes more or less of its own accord, whereas integrity requires a massive amount of vigilance, honesty and persistent effort on our part...

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      It is truly wonderful to see you sharing YOUR thoughts honey.....I love it for your wisdom is very special and never forget that.

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      Thanks Lorri! (And so great to see you posting here again!! ) I know what you're saying although the funny thing is I really don't feel like they are 'my' thoughts or 'my' wisdom. I just go into a space and try to feel out what's true and share that. It feels greatly impersonal, so I hesitate in claiming personal authorship! The same with my writing and art, I don't feel it's really 'me', just what wants to be expressed. I hope that makes some sense without sounding pretentious or nutty haha.

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      Quote Originally Posted by BlueStar View Post
      Thanks Lorri! (And so great to see you posting here again!! ) I know what you're saying although the funny thing is I really don't feel like they are 'my' thoughts or 'my' wisdom. I just go into a space and try to feel out what's true and share that. It feels greatly impersonal, so I hesitate in claiming personal authorship! The same with my writing and art, I don't feel it's really 'me', just what wants to be expressed. I hope that makes some sense without sounding pretentious or nutty haha.
      But it IS you...aspects of you honey....and so it is unique in that it is your perspective and thoughts and I love the feel that comes from your words and art. Love you so very much

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      Thanks sweetie. Yup, it all depends on how we look at it. The flame is the same but each match in the box has its own uniqueness, maybe that creates a slightly unique fire in each. I appreciate your kindness and support - and I love having you back here Much Love

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      You always have my support sweetheart and I love you speaking your truth my darling Rory. Thank you for your kindness honey and much love to you too

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      “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
      - Ralph Waldo Emerson


      I love that quote. It turns consistency on its head. Most of us think of consistency as something very positive and important, and certainly there are instances where it’s necessary to maintain a consistent attitude. But here’s where the contrarian in me slips out. Rather than becoming more and more consistent as I progress through life, I’m instead starting to celebrate and encourage my own inconsistency.

      To maintain a “foolish consistency” is to rigidly stick to your beliefs, ideas and opinions without ever questioning them and without venturing out of your little mental cul de sac, which may be comfortable, but is nevertheless a prison. Too often consciousness gets trapped in crystallised mental formations: rigid, dogmatic beliefs, inflexible opinions, erroneous viewpoints and countless unconscious habits and patterns.

      To live like this is to not live at all. We just sleep-walk our way through life, habitually, unconsciously and automatically reacting to life and other people. The masquerade of our “social self” is something contrary to what might be called our “essential self”, which is what we really are: unconditioned awareness, free-flowing consciousness.

      I’m wary of beliefs. I know it’s almost impossible to exist in this world without forming myriad beliefs about this, that and the next thing.

      But beliefs are constraining and, loathe though we may be to admit it, are largely erroneous. We tend to mistake our belief about a thing as being the thing itself. We also have a tendency to worship our own beliefs and belief systems, as they form the basis of our “self-identity”. People are literally prepared to kill and be killed for their beliefs, simply because a threat to their belief system is a perceived threat to the essence of their identity (a totally fabricated, mind-created identity at that, but that’s the topic of another discussion).

      Furthermore, to quote Robert Anton Wilson (I’m an all-round quoting monkey, I know):

      “Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.”

      Perhaps now it’s easier to see what Emerson was getting at. Stubbornly clinging to our beliefs and viewpoints and thus upholding a “foolish consistency” reduces us to nothing more than walking sets of conditioned behaviour and belief systems.

      We close ourselves off to life, content to remain in a cosy yet blinded little mental bubble. It’s a sorry way for consciousness to exist, for it’s trapped and limited when it yearns to be free and to flow like water. Rather than existing in a state of vast expansiveness like the ocean — a true reflection of our essential nature — we become nothing more than little isolated rock pools filled with stagnant water.

      That’s why I now actually see inconsistency as a positive thing (although, like anything in life, moderation is the key). Why be consistent in my opinions, viewpoints, tastes, likes and dislikes? I no longer take my opinions quite as seriously as I used to. I still have them, and I express them when I feel the wish, but I no longer see them as absolutely important or everlasting. Some of my beliefs and viewpoints are very static, such as those relating to topics such as human and animal rights. Others are changing all the time, week by week. Music and food I like this month, I might be less keen on the following month. Artists I always loved might begin to hold less appeal, and those I was never into might suddenly ‘click’. Embracing this ‘internal inconsistency’ rather than trying to uphold rigidly consistent viewpoints makes life much more more fun and interesting.

      If you’re really honest with yourself, I’m sure you can see how your opinions, viewpoints and beliefs are changing all the time. They’re not generally as static and set in stone as you might like to believe. The opinions and beliefs you now hold are no doubt different in subtle or major ways to those you held when you were a child, or those you’ll hold as an elderly person. In fact, they might even be different to those you’ll hold next week or next month.

      Observing the natural inconsistency of our mental content frees us from overly identifying with it. It’s still there, but we can take it less seriously and perhaps be a little more open-minded, freer in our opinions and find it easier to consider alternative viewpoints.
      And also, here’s a very important point — the less meaning we invest in our thoughts, beliefs and opinions, the less we identify with them and invest our sense of ‘self’ in them…the less we suffer!

      Life becomes a little easier, more peaceful and it flows just a bit more. Consciousness is freed from its prison and that’s one of the greatest steps to finding inner peace and joy. Consciousness just wants to flow freely and be unobstructed and unconstrained. If we allow it to flow, and follow it wherever it wants to go, then we can be amazed at the sheer feeling of liberation and exhilaration we experience.

      So, my invitation is to stop being “foolishly consistent”. Allow yourself to be inconsistent whenever you damn well feel like it. We may tend to be “creatures of habit”, but there’s no fun in that and it kind of deadens us to life. Instead be open, aware and see every moment as new and fresh. Allow yourself to relate to life in different ways. Always be prepared to re-evaluate your opinions, beliefs, ideas and even your tastes and preferences. Celebrate inconsistency! Have fun.
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      Living Without Rules, Part 1:
      Are we innately good or bad?


      It's generally accepted that society and human beings must function via a framework of rules, regulations, laws and imperatives.

      This is based on the implicit assumption that human nature is essential bad, and that without rules to guide us, we'd all be thieving, murderous monsters. We're led to believe that we need rules to restrain our dark base impulses, or else society will spiral out of control and we'd basically annihilate ourselves. (It must be noted at this point, that even with our framework of rules we're already doing a pretty good job of doing that).

      I believe the assumption that human nature is essentially bad stems from religious doctrines such as the Christian notion of "original sin". This is at the cornerstone of Christian doctrine and is the foundational tool in manipulating its adherents into compliance. Think about it, if they taught us we are all essentially good then we'd all be happy and we'd have no reason to adhere to the rigorous demands the church tries to impose on us. I perhaps shouldn't place the entire burden of blame on Christianity, because there's certainly enough to go around the other Abrahamic religions, but Christianity is the one I'm most familiar with, which is why I'm primarily focussing on that.

      I have a problem with any doctrine that tells us we're innately bad, that we're somehow rotten at our core. It's basically a lie and one that's been used for millennia to manipulate and coerce the masses. It's the most heinous lie in the whole of human history and it's responsible for untold suffering.
      Now, it's hard to deny that humanity as a whole is exceptionally messed up, and that's to put it politely. You only need to watch five minutes of the news to see how deeply dysfunctional, corrupt, disturbed and insane individuals, organisations, governments and nations can be, and what an unspeakable mess we've made on planet earth.

      Does this mean we're intrinsically bad?

      I contend that this would be a lazy and short-sighted conclusion to make.

      If you disagree with me, go spend some time with babies and very young children. Whether you're a 'kiddie person' or not, I challenge you to look me in the eye and tell me that we don't come into this world in a state of sheer perfection. Very young children are in a state of total oneness with life -- they're open, inquisitive, non-judgemental and everything is fresh to them. They're the epitome of LIFE.

      Certainly, they can be cranky, loudly (!) expressive and they have a tendency to poop themselves, but in that state prior to the formation of ego and the framework of psyche, they're totally at one with themselves, in much the same way as animals are. They're authentic, totally in the moment and totally free of the mind-driven bull**** adults get mired in. Most people are never more authentically themselves, never more in touch with life and never more 'perfect', than when they're young infants.

      If we were inherently imperfect as religions claim, then as young children we'd be entities of evil; murderous, psychotic and dangerous, until the moment we learn to understand, adopt and be 'saved by' society's rules. Instead, I contend, it's actually the reverse. As babies and young children we're in touch with our essential nature and our innate goodness, wonder, curiosity and joy. (There might be one or two rare exceptions, but these are largely due to breakdowns in proper nurturing, when the child's needs have not been adequately met).

      The moment we begin to master language and develop an ego and mind-based identity (basing our notion of 'self' on the name we're given and identifying with the limitations of our physical form and the content of our consciousness), that's when the problems begin. We learn to compartmentalise our experience of life into chunks, into 'good' and 'bad', 'me', 'mine', and 'others'.

      When the ego develops, children go from a state of wonder and openness, to wanting to protect and reinforce the newly-formed sense of ego. It goes from being about simply "toys", to "MY toys, not YOUR toys!" This is a normal part of human development, and I'm not saying it's bad, it's just the way it is at our current level of psychological evolution and development as a species.

      Now, virtually everyone will be forevermore mired in this sense of ego. Driven by a never-ending succession of desire and fear, they'll be motivated by the need to protect their 'identity' and sense of 'me-ness' above all else. A few very rare individuals may eventually transcend the ego framework and rediscover the original state of wholeness experienced prior to the appearance of this psychological scaffolding and mis-identification with form. This is essentially what 'enlightenment' is and it's uncommon. The best most people can hope for is reaching a state of inner balance and not completely allowing the conceptual framework to imprison consciousness and drive every action and reaction.

      The mind-driven sense of identity that naturally arises in children and co-opts consciousness is a given. As I said, it's not wrong and it's not bad, it just is. However, it is the source of pretty much all our suffering. Virtually all our behaviour and motivation is driven by the fundamental need to maintain the conceptual sense of self; the image we hold in our minds of who we think we are.

      Any threat to this mental self is seen as a threat to our very existence because we mistakenly assume it's the totality of what we are. That's why people are willing to fight and die for their beliefs. This ego/pseudo-self is like a magnet, drawing various content to itself, gradually building it up until it becomes bigger and more seemingly substantial. Layers and layers build up around it; layers composed of thoughts and beliefs, conditioning, habits, opinions, likes and dislikes, desires and fears.

      It becomes this gargantuan entity that we think of as 'us'. It completely dominates our lives, although most people are quite unconscious of all this -- they just assume they are what they think they are, and that what they think, they are! It's the 'person' we think we are; the totality of 'me'.
      The funny thing is, it's not real.

      It's a kind of 'ghost in the machine'. It -- this entity we think of as 'us' -- has no inherent, independent existence of its own.

      Think of consciousness -- the original unconditioned consciousness we had as babies and pre-ego children -- as being like a rope. Doesn't matter where this rope came from, or where it begins or ends, for that's another discussion entirely. What happens when the ego develops is a knot forms in the rope. This knot becomes the entity we think of as 'ourself'. The knot is somehow magnetised and begins drawing all sorts of mental substrate toward and onto itself, forming the all-consuming, all-dominating sense of 'me'.

      But a knot has no independent existence of its own. It has an apparent existence. It seems to be something separate from the rest of the rope, but it isn't, it's just the rope folded in on itself, creating the appearance of something separate. Eventually, at the end of our lives, the rope is untied and all the mental substrate that was magnetised to it falls away. We're back to what we were: pure unconditioned consciousness, although this time it slips back into unmanifested potentiality where it rests, until the next movement of consciousness occurs.

      This is a lot to grasp for many people. It completely overturns everything we've probably always assumed to be true about ourselves and the very nature of our identity and existence. But I think it is, nevertheless logical and it can be verified by a degree of self-investigation.

      Consider this. People's entire sense of identity and the content of ego (the stuff magnetised to the knot in the rope) is entirely dependent on memory. If I could press a button and completely erase your memory, your entire conceptual identity would instantaneously cease. Yet you'd still be alive and aware. You'd be back to that open, undefined, expansive state we all knew as infants, when we were most in line with our essential nature prior to the influence of conditioning and conceptualisation.

      Of course, a new identity would soon begin to coalesce, but the fact this 'identity' (and all the content of ego and mind) is entirely interchangable, means that logically it cannot be YOU. It's all just objects in consciousness; phenomena. You are the consciousness; you are the noumenon beyond the phenomena. It's worth reflecting on this with an open mind.

      So what happens when we wake up from this fabricated sense of self, from the knot in consciousness that we erroneously took to be ourselves? The answer us liberation from suffering caused when other people, the world and life appear to oppose, threaten or damage one's fabricated sense of identity. This is basically the essence of the Buddha's teaching 2,500 years ago. He called it 'the end of suffering'. It's also the freedom to be, do and become whatever we want, whatever we feel drawn to do, because we've transcended previous limitations and definitions we've placed on ourselves.

      It's also the only means of reaching a true and lasting inner peace in life. The world is as the world is, and other people are as they are, but we stop resisting it. Instead we accept and work with, and around it. Life flows more smoothly when we stop creating our own obstructions in the flow. We no longer see ourselves as separate from life; I mean, how could we be? There's no 'us' and 'life'. We are life. It's one totality.

      Let's go back to the original question of whether or not we're intrinsically bad. How can we possibly be? It seems to me that it's actually quite the contrary, that we're intrinsically perfect. We come into this world perfect and, as we develop -- as our ego is formed and conditioning moulds our psyche -- we accumulate layer upon layer of muck, creating distortions in the way consciousness is expressed through us. These distortions are not 'us' and they're not in any way a reflection of our true nature.

      We're like candles in a glass jar. Consciousness is the light, and the jar represents our mind and psyche. If the jar is covered in dirt, then the light struggles to shine through. If the jar is clear and undistorted, the candle shines brightly through the glass. The same is true for us. Don't mistake a dirty jar as being evidence that there's no light within, or that the dirt on the jar is the totality in essence.

      It's this misperception that's at the root of so many religions and philosophies. It reflects an inadequate understanding of the nature of reality, consciousness and self. It's a delusion that's caused and continues to cause untold misery and it's time it was challenged. The way we're living as a species is no longer tenable. It's based on misunderstanding and misperception and it's time it was changed.

      This might be challenging stuff many people, but I believe questioning the nature of one's assumed identity is really the only way to move beyond the great miasma of human suffering. Knowledge is power and Self-Knowledge is ultimate power; the power to transcend suffering. Are you brave enough to be part of the vanguard?

      Next up, I want to explore why living without rules might actually be the only way to save the species. And I'm all for saving species, whether it's whales, pandas or human beings. The latter are proving quite a challenge, but I have some ideas. Watch this space...
      Check out ELADRIA ~ an epic, highly acclaimed fantasy/sci-fi/metaphysical novel!
      "The meaning of human existence is explored in this beautiful, richly and intensely woven tale. The author takes us on the journey of a lifetime.”
      "The most beautiful and thought-provoking book I have ever read."

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