<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID\x3d4053797\x26blogName\x3dMystery+of+Existence\x26publishMode\x3dPUBLISH_MODE_BLOGSPOT\x26navbarType\x3dTAN\x26layoutType\x3dCLASSIC\x26searchRoot\x3dhttps://absentofi.blogspot.com/search\x26blogLocale\x3den_US\x26v\x3d2\x26homepageUrl\x3dhttp://absentofi.blogspot.com/\x26vt\x3d-6959398066445382627', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe", messageHandlersFilter: gapi.iframes.CROSS_ORIGIN_IFRAMES_FILTER, messageHandlers: { 'blogger-ping': function() {} } }); } }); </script>

Superior & Inferior

Experiencing ourselves as superior or inferior both comes from exclusive attachment to this small self, and from believing in thoughts.

When we see thoughts as just thoughts - arising within space and awareness as anything else - there is no need to take them very seriously. Just this in itself helps views of superiority and inferiority to drop away.

And even if we are caught up in and believe in thoughts, having a view of inferiority or superiority shows a very limited view.

Everything is Existence manifesting - the same Existence manifesting in this small self as in that small self, in the trees and the galaxies. How can anything be inherently superior or inferior?

Everything in this small self is given - the skills, abilities, experiences, knowledge - it is all given through biology, society, the Earth and the Universe. There is nothing there to take pride in - everything is dependent on the rest of Existence.

And even if we could take pride in something, there is always enough to balance it out. We may recycle, but still drive a car. We may be good at math and kayaking, but lousy in chess. We may be lucky in relationships, but unlucky in health. We may be conscious about ecology, but still function within a society which harms our life-support systems.

In the bigger picture, we are all very similar. And even within our own lives, there is so much to balance it all out.

In the end, it is only Existence manifesting - as this self and as that self, as my experiences and as your experiences, as confusion and as clarity, as Gandhi and as Hitler, as a thought and as a creek, as a city and as a forest, as the stars and as the ocean.

And when we recognize ourselves as the formless unborn - as the spacious awareness empty of characteristics - we can come to that experience. There is a seamless whole of experiencing and experienced, of the absolute and the relative - all expressions and manifestations of a larger Existence.

Even here, there is of course room and necessity for distinctions. I can see that according to this particular measure, that particular behavior seems life-supporting while this behavior does not. According to another measure, that self behaves in a more mature way than this self. And so on. There is room for endless differentiation and discernment, within the seamless and fluid whole. But there is no need to take it very seriously. It has a purpose and a function, but only within the relative world and only temporarily.

When we recognize and rest in the nature of this awareness, we see that the discernment does not reflect upon anything inherent in the relative world. It is all expressions of Existence, and we can differentiate among phenomena while recognizing them as such.

You can leave your response or bookmark this post to del.icio.us by using the links below.
Comment | Bookmark | Go to end