So how DO you know?

In my last post, I talked about being too sure of oneself. The idea that we knowwhat we are doing, when in fact, we really don't.

So, as the title asks, just how do we know? Well, simply put, we "know" when we are enlightened. That is what enlightenment means. Of course, that does not say much.

When one is enlightened, one is fully awake and aware. Knowing in that state is not an intellectual act, but a physical one. We do not have to think about it, we just know. It is like asking what is 2+2? Most adults don't have to reason with that question, they know the answer. There is no doubt. there is certainty.

People who are not enlightened tend to think of themselves as "knowing". I know, I was like that too. Yet, deep down, I knew it was not true. I has too many unanswered questions. I was not sure. I asked "is this really it?" "Is there any thing more?" The answer would come back inevitably "no, I am not sure". ANd the path continued.

Once you become enlightened, however, ll doubt is gone. You understand. No, you don't "know everything". You just know the important thing-the reality of the universe.

Now, there are people who today move through life with no doubts whatsoever-at least that is what they say. Once again, Sarah Palin is a prime example (only because she is in the news). She says often she holds true to her beliefs, she does not doubt them. However, her beliefs belie her true knowledge.

People who believe in the literal meaning of the bible are not enlightened-they are ignorant. That does not make them bad people. They simply lack the awareness to know better. They are in that particular level of awareness.

So, beware overconfidence. Being enlightened has nothing to do with adherence to religion-any of them. They are lower level tools helpful in gaining understanding but are not the truth.

They are also dangerous traps. Being enamored with a religion, mysticism, eastern philosophy, the Bible, the Koran or any worldly texts, can be dangerous. It can lead one into a stare of stasis. Where the fun of belief takes over and the desire to know gets overshadowed.

As I said in my last post, meditation, for the all the good it does, is not awareness-no matter how good it feels or how much you may enjoy it.

Next time I will continue with this theme-it will discuss what is the purpose of knowing.

The trap of being sure of oneself

Sarah Palin is a shining example of what happens to us when we become too sure of ourselves and are not aware beings. Aware beings are never too sure of themselves because they are aware.

Palin, like many others makes decisions based on a number of things that affect her. She sees herself as a victim of the media, yet she revels in the media attention. She sees herself as a fighter, yet can't wait to get out of her job. She sees herself as family oriented but uses her family for her own personal gain.

Palin is a very public example, but countless others – mired in obscurity –follow the same pattern. They live their lives in a tempest bouncing from one problem to another, seeking attention and then complaining because it is not what they were really looking for.

The problem is that they are too sure of themselves, which leads to making major mistakes, which causes them to condemn all around them without realizing that they are the cause of their difficulties in the first place.

Lao tzu says this about that– from verse 9:

9. The Danger of Overweening Success
Stretch (a bow) to the very full,
And you will wish you had stopped in time.
Temper a (sword-edge) to its very sharpest,
And the edge will not last long.
When gold and jade fill your hall,
You will not be able to keep them safe.
To be proud with wealth and honor
Is to sow seeds of one's own downfall.
Retire when your work is done,
Such is Heaven's way.

Overdoing anything can only cause problems– but note that he is talking about overdoing things that ordinarily are not mistakes. Tempering a knife edge is important–but overdoing it leads to problems. You get the idea.

Many people following a path to enlightenment fall into the same trap. Take meditation. Now, meditation is a very useful tool. zIt can be used to remove blocks, to get centered, to silence the voices of ego that too often push us into going too far. However, meditation is not being in the world. It is a way f escaping from the world. As such, it limits our ability to be aware beings. Believe it or not.

Being aware means being aware of everything around you at all times. This is not easy until one wakes up. No matter how heard one tries, one cannot "wake up" in meditation. They can only wake up when the complete meditation.

The next time you are in deep meditation have your guide tell you that when you wake up you will be fully awake and aware of the world around you.

Have him or her tell you to be aware of the expression on your face. Waking up that way may pull you into a state of enlightenment.

And that is the goal.

Mr. T

On Sarah Palin quitting her job.

Most aware people know by now that the Governor of Alaska has quit her job.

How does quitting a job fit into an enlightened life? Some may say that you should follow your bliss and leave jobs, relationships, etc in order to find what truly makes you happy. The problem with that kind of thinking is that it presupposes you know what it is that truly makes you happy AND that what makes you happy is truly harmonious with the universe. Now, Sarah Palin is not an enlightened being. She is an ambitious being. She is not happy doing what she is doing, she is only happy in doing something else. She also enjoys Being in the spotlight. Neither of these traits is a mark of enlightenment.

Now, how does this fit into an enlightened life? For starters one who is enlightened tends to migrate to what is joyful. This does not mean that one is always joyous or that one does not get exasperated at times. Enlightened beings do get exasperated. But, they are always aware of their feelings and surrounding and can react to the situation from an aware position instead of a subconscious automatic response. Remember enlightened beings are still human and their emotions do not disappear when one becomes enlightened.

Most enlightened people are not centered on other people or being in the spotlight. hey usually seek peaceful places and are completely comfortable with solitude.

If you are in a situation where emotions control and you are driven by external forces and desires such as "to be appreciated" or to be "in the spotlight" you are trapped in a worldly existence. The best way out is to pull back and shift your focus away from being driven by the outside forces and by learning to find harmony and joy in whatever you do.

Finally, you would well to remember that, as Wayne Dyer says "you cannot control your reputation". What others think of you is out of your hands. What you do control is your character. If you live your life honorably and in harmony with things, that will come through and when bad things are said about you, people will recognize that those things are false.

That is the best way to remain peaceful and harmonious as you move through life.

Mr.T

The "reality" of "illusion"

The question for today is this: Is the path to enlightenment irrational?

People who are following a path tend to run into resistance from others who view these paths as "out there" or not real or irrational beliefs that are simply not true.

So, do you have to be crazy to be on the path of enlightenment? The answer is NO.

Irrationality implies that what you are doing is not logical. It is not something that can be proven scientifically. Some might call it superstition. Even we call it "mysticism" some times.

However, it is anything but mystic. Of course, such exotic sounding words come in handy when trying to sell a program to beginners who are seeking an adventure. Not many people would be "new agers" if it was packaged as boring simple reality.

Yet, that is exactly what enlightenment is. Boring simple reality. Only one is completely aware of it as such.

A familiar Zen saying: "Before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water; after enlightenment, chopping wood carrying water."

As I said, enlightenment is being completely aware of reality with no illusions.

A lot of the gurus use that word-illusions all the time. They say we must strip away our illusions-whatever that means.

Some people think the world around us is all "illusion" nothing is real-we create everything in our own minds.

But in fact, what "illusions" are is really our perceptions of the world. From the moment we are born, we begin to form perceptions of the world. We adopt habits based on where we live, what we do, who we live with, what we eat, etc.etc.

Over time, many of these perceptions become fixed. We begin to see the world as we expect it to be-not as it really is.

So, in essence, the purpose of the path is to strip away these illusions. As many know, this is not a simple task.

It takes time and real effort to release the pin that fixes us in the world, but that is what we must do.

Think about it. All of the paths from zen to meditation are designed to put us into situations outside of our envelope. In such situations, our normal perceptions are "out of focus". That forces us to see the situation differently.

Little by little our fixed perception is degraded until all that is left is reality. When that happens, you are enlightened!

And, might I add, completely rational

More later