Why the photo of the bindi in the previous post?

It is a reminder of transcendent truths, of that which is free from and holds all conventional truths.

Of Existence inherently free from, beyond, and including all polarities of existence and nonexistence, spirit and matter, emptiness and form, living and inanimate, life and death, mind and body, nature and culture, a forest and a city, Jesus and Hitler, you and I, clarity and confusion, awakening and delusion, sense of I and realized selflessness.

It is the eye that beholds and intimately embraces the pair of conventional eyes, of polarity.

Labels: relative and absolute, truth

In others and myself, I see that beliefs sometimes seem too true to inquire into. They are obviously true, so what's the point?

Still, if we follow the general guideline of following the stress, we are lead to inquire into even those beliefs, no matter how pointless it may seem at first.

Appear true

Of course the belief seem true, and of course it may seem pointless to inquire into it.

We believe in the thought, and - as Byron Katie says - it is the job of our mind to make it appear true. Everything becomes a proof, including the reactions of our body and emotions. The whole universe seems to support the belief, because everything is taken as a proof. That is one way the brilliance of our mind functions. Taking an illusion and making it appear real to us.

And it is all completely innocent. There is a belief in a thought, and everything becomes filtered to make it appear true. That is all.

Choosing peace over being right

When it gets stressful enough, and we have the tool of inquiry, we'll inquire into even (apparently) obviously true beliefs just in the hope of finding some relief.

We are willing to choose peace over being right. We are willing to sincerely explore and find what is true for is in our immediate experience, rather than staying with our familiar surface beliefs.

We are willing to align ourselves with what is already more true for us - and find peace in that.

Follow the stress

The process is simple. Find a stressful situation. Notice the thought (or set of thoughts) that goes along with the situation. And inquire into these thoughts, one at a time - independent of how true or not they may appear at first.

Stress if our guide. And as we become more familiar with this process, stress becomes a friend - our most intimate advisor. Stress becomes the gateway to insight, peace and liberation. It is revealed as its own medicine.

Stress becomes what we are looking forward to, because it shows us where we are still stuck - where we still attach to a belief and are out of alignment with what is.

Labels: inquiry, the work, truth

When there is an identification with any segment of what is, there is the appearance of I and Other and the whole dynamic which emerges from that. And this dynamic includes, quite naturally, a certain lack of trust.

I am an object in a world of innumerable unpredictable objects, so I cannot fully trust the world.

Selflessness and trust

The only way to uncover a deep and unconditional trust is through tasting and ultimately realize selflessness, and deepen into that realization.

As Byron Katie - and mystics from any tradition - say, God is All and God is good. When there is no I there is no Other, and there is nothing to not trust.

Seeing the truth about beliefs

To realize this, we need to see through the belief in the idea of I. This core belief which creates the I-Other appearance. We actually need to see through any and all beliefs. We need to see what is really true for us - in our own immediate experience - about the beliefs.

We can come to see thought and abstraction as what they are - innocent questions about the world. Not accurate or true representations.

As BK says, we come to see - gradually, one inquiry at a time - that reality is always kinder than our stories about it.

Trusting truth

A part of this process is to trust truth. Not any abstract and absolute truth, not any permanent truth, not any truth handed over from someone else, not any truth discovered in the future.

Simply what is true for me - first person singular - in the present.

As long as I am identified with any segment of what is, I won't completely trust my own truth. That too becomes an Other, and something to be suspicious of. And this seems to be even more the case in our western culture, inherently suspicious of nature and the universe.

This is one of the beautiful aspects of Byron Katie's inquiry process. I gradually, slowly, learn to trust my own truth - what is true for me in my immediate experience.

I see - over and over and in smaller and larger ways - that the truth does indeed set me free. It is the only thing that does. I come to want and seek my truth, because I know the liberation inherent in it. I find courage in the form of a desire for truth and liberation.

Truth vs. shoulds

I also see more clearly the relationship between truth and shoulds.

The various spiritual traditions are full of "shoulds" in the form of ethical guidelines and so on, and these can be very useful. They help us live with less conflict, and also help align us with a future realization of selflessness (they - at their best - reflect how we naturally tend to live when selflessness is realized).

At the same time, when I look into what is true for me in the present, I see that I don't need any abstract guidelines. The same is found in my own already existing truth, when I only look. So instead of a should, imposed from the outside, it becomes a want emerging from myself.

Labels: realized selflessness, truth