Friday, June 12, 2009

Some people wake up and realize that they have been fooling themselves. “Everything is wonderful, really. I'm healthy, I have a wonderful family, a wonderful home and a big bank account, why have I been so miserable? What tremendous power there is in self-deceptions.”

Other people wake up and realize that they have been mean and selfish for decades. Maybe drugs and alcohol have possessed them, maybe the idea of making a career or status-striving. Some of those people might say to themselves, “Oh my God. I completely forgot about my children. How can I make up for all this?”

Some people wake up from political delusions. Ingmar Bergman, for example, sympathized with the Nazis in Germany for many years as a young man.

Another kind of awakening is the small awakening that happens when we wake up from a daydream, when the attention shifts away from the thoughts for a moment.

When Eckhart Tolle talks about awakening, he is talking about enlightenment, a huge awakening, a sudden, radical shift in ones perception of the world, a complete loss of ego, an end to all interpretations. I have not experienced this kind of awakening. I don't really understand what he is talking about. I still have an ego after years and years of meditation practice and philosophical studies. However, "my" ego has lost much of its power. When it is going on an on about something and wants to direct my actions I simply tell him to stop all that stupid nonsense. It actually works, sometimes.

To me it doesn’t really matter if the world is 15 billion years old or if it is 150 billions years old, if it has always been there or if there are many more worlds out there. Matter consists of empty space to more than 99,99%, empty space between the electrons and the nucleus of the atom. So what? To me it doesn't really matter if I will reincarnate or if I will end up in heaven or hell when I die. All such thoughts are, as I see it, nothing but speculations. I live here in this world, in this time period, in this world of form, in this moment. This matters to me. In a few minutes I'll have to rush to catch my train to get to work in time. In the great scheme of things, human beings are as insignificant as ants. So what? To us it matters if we will be wiped out in a nuclear war or if we are ruining our planet because of insatiable greed, carelessness and stupidity. This carelessness and greed is not due to cosmic perfection. It is carelessness and greed, which is similar to alcoholism.

5 comments:

:Doreen said...

In all True Awakening(s), in all 3 examples that you mention, the Truth of the experience is that one does not experience remorse or regret. Because one knows that all the things one experienced "in the past" were not wasted, lost, wrong, or unnecessary. What you describe in these examples is not the Truth of what really "happens".

I have never heard of someone who has a big bank account waking up, period. (maybe when they lose all their money) Or in the second example, the "realization", "I completely forgot about my children. How can I make up for all this?", is still ego based and would not be a question for the one who has dropped their ego. For that one, there is no regret, there is only gratitude. One (then) Lives Life with children in a "perfect" way in which no one is condemned or judged for the thoughts they have that are just thoughts. Actions arise out of this state and one experiences True Love for the first time. It comes toward You simultaneously as It goes out from You. There is absolutely no thought or judgment regarding the actions of others, one knows that "they know not what they do" "until" the ego gets burned up in this Vessel of Love that You Are.

With this, too, an ant loses its "insignificant" status.

I know most people do not equate "carelessness and greed" with alcoholism. It is a disease. But then, one can say that carlessness and greed is a disease and that is "accurate".

:Doreen said...

also, Eckhart Tolle is not talking about a "huge awakening" or the "final liberation". ET says: "Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you. It is not dependent on some other body, some external form."

© Marite Art 2013 said...

It might be a matter of changing the "point" of view, of removing heavy, inborn veils.
Taking down the opact, "Northren Logic Field".

We, ourselves, are usually the biggest obstacle to our Self.

Namaste,
Marite

:Doreen said...

I had the thought today that if the planet blew up who would have time to care? How could we prevent something that we would have no indication was "going" to happen? That is why when we talk about the future, that is complete speculation. Every thought about the future is just speculation. How often do the speculations turn out to be accurate? And is there, ever, enough time to change course once the event occurs?

:Doreen said...

Actually, the more correct thought I had about the world blowing up was this: I thought how "I would not care" really.. I, actually, had the thought: Maybe it would be cool or fun to see what happens? In just that moment! I did not have a sense of loss, fear, dread, etc.