Experience and Belief

We tend to think of experience as superior to belief. But there’s a phrase that gives it away – Seeing is Believing.

The mind creates concepts about the world based on what we’re told and our own  experiences. With a few repeats, these are programmed into the habit mind. Future experiences remind us of prior ones, creating associations which are applied to the current situation. We are constantly relating events and self-reinforcing our interpretations of same.

This can work very well for things like ‘tigers are dangerous’ and ‘look before you cross the street’. We would be seriously handicapped if we had to consciously decide every little thing. Should I take a breath now? Time for a heartbeat? Talking, walking, eating, driving – all of it takes habituated behavior.

The problem arises when we save concepts that are wonky, false, or even dangerous. Or associate things that don’t belong together. We all collect some of this. It’s called conditioning. It also determines our world view or our “story” about life. Are strangers safe? Is money evil? Do I have enough? The list goes on and on.

When we look at “experience” a bit more closely, we notice a few things. Experience is only really in the moment, only true in that instant. As soon as it is no longer the moment of the experience, we are now interpreting the experience. We are already in the past a moment after something notable has occurred. We’re interpreting it based on the associations that arise. The strongest prior beliefs.

In other words, what we mean by “experience” is usually just a mixture of a memory of our interpretation of an experience and beliefs. Put yet another way, new beliefs and old beliefs. Most of our life is seen through belief habits.

What happens when the mind is silent? When there is no longer a need to tell a story about everything? We just have an experience and it is what it is. We can respond in the moment, unencumbered by the baggage of our past.

Of course, we all have a history. Memory associations and reactions will still arise. But if we don’t believe the story about them anymore, they will just bring us reminders and waves of feeling. Not a burden of fear. Just a natural response to what is present in the moment. A neutrality that takes the pain out of living and lets what is rise in our awareness. That sweet richness that underlies life.

This can give you an idea how much simpler life becomes when the story winds down. How much closer we can move to just being present, in the moment. We simply settle the mind by moving more deeply into being. Then life falls into the moment, out of the shadow.
Davidya

Out of Bliss

Anandaddhyeva khalwimani bhutani jayante
anandena jatani jivanti
anandam prayanty abhisamwishanti

Out of bliss these beings are born,
In bliss they are sustained,
And to bliss they go and merge again.
– Taittiriya Upanishad 3.6.1

Why don’t we experience this bliss that sustains our life at all times? The key is in the second line – Jiva. The jiva or soul is sustained in/by bliss. We could also say the flow of love, although that’s a deeper perception.

When we live life from a body-mind, we experience life as a body or emotions or mind experiences it. When we live life from the soul, the perspective is quite different. To say the least. (laughs) Just consider how differently we experience the aches of the body and the thoughts of the mind. Or the different between thoughts and emotions. That may offer some insight.
Davidya

Our Gifts come from Our Suffering?

During a meeting with a friend of mine who’s a medium, we had a rather instructive conversation. She said that our pain and lessons bring us what we have to offer. Our gifts to others arise from where we have suffered. We can thus support others through that experience.

This struck me as similar to the idea that you have to suffer to be creative, that art arises from suffering. I think there is something valuable to see here but we can understand life better by framing this a little differently.

Often we can point to an incident in our childhood somewhere in the 7 to 11 year-old range when we were first confronted with a challenge to our sense of things. When we began to become.

For the most part, the reason we suffer is from fighting what is. Resisting what arises in our life and thus building a stash of incomplete feelings and action. When the flow of life moves through us, it runs up against these unresolved barriers. We experience this friction and resistance as discomfort, pain, and suffering. Even illness.

There is an irresistible force that is moving through our lives. The same force that creates and sustains the universe. It is the flow of love. The creative force of God. And we stand there pushing back, turning our lives into a storm. Wondering why it’s not working. That we are not knocked flat is a testament to our power.

That flow through our life that causes our biggest challenges is indeed our gift. It is what life intends for us to give by moving through us. We just have to get out of the way. Then magically, the lesson becomes a flow, the pain becomes love. Instead of suffering, we radiate.

It’s very curious really. It is only our battling with windmills (a la Don Quixote) that creates this sense of difficulty. All we have to do is stop fighting. Then the battle ends, both inside and outside.

But this can take some time. We have not been trusting life for a very long time. Our heart has been closed, our mind shadowed, our senses blinkered. We have been living a dream of separation. Yet we stand in an ocean of love.

It’s who we are. How do we miss it?  That’s why they call it the illusion.
Davidya

Emergence

In a number of posts here, I have spoken of the cycles of growth. Typically I refer to balance, disintegration, growth, integration, and repeat.

In a talk recently, we discussed Teilhard de Chardin’s view of evolution. He spoke of 3 phases:
1 – divergence (diversity)
2 – convergence, consolidation
3 – emergence, a step to a higher level

The first can be seen as the stages of disintegration and growth. The second integration, and the third, the new balance. The ideas are similar, but it offers another perspective. One that encourages the conception of a spiral or rising growth pattern. This does not occur in a circle.

He describes what emerges as increasing levels of complexity that result in consciousness rising. (emergence) From my perspective, I would suggest it’s more that complexity (diversity) can reflect or reveal more of the underlying process. Consciousness does not arise from complexity, rather it drives diversity to reflect itself more fully. This error is a common modern concept, similar to the idea that consciousness arises from the increased complexity of the brain – that it’s a side effect of something physical. This completely misses it’s causative and inherent nature.

He suggested evolution works through stages: geosphere > biosphere > hominization (humans) > planetization > noosphere (collective mind) > Christogenesis (divinity)  > Omega point, the goal.

As he was a Jesuit priest, his works were published posthumously.
Davidya

The Fifth Agreement

In prior posts, I’ve spoken about The Four Agreements, an excellent book by DON Miguel Ruiz. Released in 1997, The Four Agreements taught: to be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best.

In a later post, I outlined the agreements with video clips of the author and his son DON Jose speaking about them. They touch on the principle that leads us straight to the Fifth Agreement, their new book.

“Don’t believe yourself, and don’t believe anyone else.”

More succinctly, the Fifth Agreement is: “Be Skeptical”

They discuss this in an interview.

“That’s what the fifth agreement is — to be skeptical of our own lies and be in truth at all times. Then we can begin to listen with the heart — the heart and common sense. It’s a big opportunity for one to become both his own teacher and his own apprentice.”

“The result of practicing the fifth agreement is the complete acceptance of yourself just the way you are, and the complete acceptance of everybody else just the way they are. The reward is your eternal happiness. The fifth agreement is made with words, of course, but its meaning and intent is beyond the words. The fifth agreement is ultimately about seeing your whole reality with the eyes of truth, without words.”

This was notable.

“Many years ago, I began teaching the more advanced concepts in this book to my apprentices, but I stopped because they didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to teach them. Though I had shared the fifth agreement with my apprentices, I discovered that nobody was ready to learn about the underlying teachings of this agreement. Years later, my son, DON Jose, started to share the same teachings with a group of students, and he succeeded where I had failed.”

This points more to the change in time than DON Miguel’s ability. People are becoming more willing to see the story. And see through it into what is. As he says, the reward is eternal happiness. And a much smoother life.
Davidya

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GoD And DoG

The artist, Wendy Francisco

Not Nada

Recently, in a discussion over on Takuin’s blog, I was reminded of an issue to be alert to on the journey. It is not uncommon to go through a nada phase, a place where much of what we once held true stands empty. Where the world has a sense of nothingness, an apparent illusion arising in the mind.

This can take the form of meaninglessness or the deeper form of no thing – no mind, no self, neti neti. We may be inclined to become reclusive, forgetting what once  brought us meaning.

It’s important to see this as part of a process. While it may certainly be true, it is not THE truth. There are some things with great value that arise much more deeply than illusion. It’s good not to discount everything just because it appears to originate in illusion.

Deeper than the nothingness of mind is the fullness of reality. The deeper origin, beyond illusion. The divinity that infuses everything. What we once reject will soon bring us back into wholeness again. We will again find value in community and discover there is no solo journey. We’re in this together.

The emptiness is found to be a fullness of such astonishing richness that we will be amazed this could possibly hidden, right in front of our nose.

We simply need to step out of the box of small seeing before we can look up.
Davidya

Solid, real Solid

Solid may seem to be an odd word to describe anything “spiritual”. Spirit seems ephemeral, a cloud through which we may sometimes peak. Yet as we deepen into our fundamental reality, we discover some of it’s qualities. Infinite. Always present. Peaceful. Unchanging.

Deeper still, that unchanging quality is seen ever more reliable and present. We come to a place where we find it so permanent and changeless that it surpasses any perception. Much more real than the world.

This may first come when the world is seen as an illusion. What was solid becomes ephemeral, what was ephemeral becomes solid. But later, we find the world is none other than That. Even the ephemeral world is none other than solid. Indeed, it may feel more solid than granite.

The wind on your face, the rush of happiness, the soothing peace. All carry with them a quality of unchanging solidity. While the appearance and sensation may change, they are none other than the changeless. Solid beyond belief. (laughs)
Davidya

The Fear of Awakening

As we approach awakening, we may notice fear there, an apparent fear of awakening. Considering the promise we may have heard of what awaits, this may seem a curious response. But it’s important to recognize it is not awakening we fear. It is loss.

The ego fears its own winding down. Some describe “ego death” or the end of the ego with awakening and that is indeed often the experience. But actually, it’s root (what I call the person) does go on for some time yet. The only real loss is of identification with that. What we once saw ourselves to be, we now see as a companion, a vehicle.

There is also typically a lot of letting go. Of concepts. Of long-held beliefs. Of pain. Of our story about life. Of expectations. Of needs and shoulds. The list goes on and on but comes down to our coping mechanism for the illusion. Lots of things to lose.

But none of these bring us joy. Peace. Or freedom. What we’re really letting go of is our burden. But it is a familiar burden. Thus, we may fear that loss of familiarity. But as we gradually trust the process more and more deeply, the benefits become clear and the letting go comes more easily.

At some point, we simply allow it to be as it is. We surrender. Even just for a moment. And the fear is over. The light begins to shine in earnest. We are coming home.
Davidya

I Am redux

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See also Guardians of Being