Awakening is a concept, an idea, a word. However, if you ask ten different spiritual teachers you will get ten different explanations of what it is.
If I point to an apple and say, “Have a taste of that apple; it’s a delicious variety“ you will have no problem to understand what I say. But if you ask a spiritual teacher about what awakening is you will get confused. Why is it so difficult to understand what he is talking about? What does he mean? How come other teachers have other explanations and give other instructions on how to find it?
There are so many gurus, religious leaders, coaches, therapists and spiritual experts on the market today and they all point in different directions. And they all say: “Don’t look at my finger. Look at what I’m pointing at.”
There are gurus for the rich and gurus for the poor, gurus for the middleclass and gurus for the celebrities, gurus for the smart and gurus for the blockheads…
Everybody can find a Guru. Everybody can get spiritual guidance.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Meditation and the voice in the head
You need at least one person who understands where you are from, how you look at things and what you feel about things. Everybody needs someone to talk to, someone who hear what you are saying.
In a similar way, if you don't listen to your ego, it will get frustrated. If you are very strict with your meditation practice and dismisses your ego completely, saying to yourself: “This is just mental chattering. Let the thoughts come and go like the clouds in the sky”, then the ego will be upset. The ego is right sometimes. If you always reject your ego, keep on mocking it or disparage it, you will create a conflict within yourself.
Therefore, listen to your ego as if you were listening to a child. Sometimes you have to say to a child, “Don’t you see that I’m busy right now.” Sometimes you have to say, “Stop this nagging, for heavens sake. I will not get you a dog.” However, sometimes you have to listen to your child.
In a similar way, if you don't listen to your ego, it will get frustrated. If you are very strict with your meditation practice and dismisses your ego completely, saying to yourself: “This is just mental chattering. Let the thoughts come and go like the clouds in the sky”, then the ego will be upset. The ego is right sometimes. If you always reject your ego, keep on mocking it or disparage it, you will create a conflict within yourself.
Therefore, listen to your ego as if you were listening to a child. Sometimes you have to say to a child, “Don’t you see that I’m busy right now.” Sometimes you have to say, “Stop this nagging, for heavens sake. I will not get you a dog.” However, sometimes you have to listen to your child.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Awakening
After rain comes sunshine. After sunshine comes rain. After a long hard winter comes spring and summer and after months of rain and strong winds comes a wonderful weekend by the lake, then three more weeks of rain and cold winds.
Some people experience years and years of incredible hardships in terrible places. This is how life works. Hardship, misery and pain are a part of most people’s lives. Peace and harmony are usually quite rare experiences. Sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. Sometimes we are stressed out and sometimes we are relaxed.
Spiritual awakening, I believe, is not like moving to a luxury bungalow in Hawaii with pleasant summer nights all year around surrounded by good looking and smiling celebrities, discussing the Dao, walking barefoot and swimming with dolphins. To wake up and to feel good is not the same thing.
Jesus suffered on the cross, Krishnamurti suffered from severe headaches and Osho suffered from asthma.
To wake up, I believe, is to be wherever we are, to feel whatever we feel and think whatever we think, doing what we have to do and being aware of what’s going on in the world.
Spiritual sleep is like living in Beverly Hills, selfish, haughty and drugged, attending charity parties and spiritual workshops or like living in a slum, spending all free time drinking, quarreling, complaining and watching crap on TV.
Some people experience years and years of incredible hardships in terrible places. This is how life works. Hardship, misery and pain are a part of most people’s lives. Peace and harmony are usually quite rare experiences. Sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. Sometimes we are stressed out and sometimes we are relaxed.
Spiritual awakening, I believe, is not like moving to a luxury bungalow in Hawaii with pleasant summer nights all year around surrounded by good looking and smiling celebrities, discussing the Dao, walking barefoot and swimming with dolphins. To wake up and to feel good is not the same thing.
Jesus suffered on the cross, Krishnamurti suffered from severe headaches and Osho suffered from asthma.
To wake up, I believe, is to be wherever we are, to feel whatever we feel and think whatever we think, doing what we have to do and being aware of what’s going on in the world.
Spiritual sleep is like living in Beverly Hills, selfish, haughty and drugged, attending charity parties and spiritual workshops or like living in a slum, spending all free time drinking, quarreling, complaining and watching crap on TV.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Spirituality and materialism
Both spiritual and materialistic ways of looking at life are created in the thinking mind. Advaita-Vedanta, Marxism, Catholicism, Mahayana Buddhism and Empirical Positivism, delusions, explanations, great theories, political opinions, idiotic ideas, clever ideas, silly jokes, they are all creations of the thinking mind.
If the speech center of the brain is damaged by a hemorrhage, you’re no longer able to create explanations, theories and opinions. Hallucinations, dreams, daydreams, reveries and visions emanate from other parts of the brain. Anger and fear are created in the reptilian brain and love is created in the limbic system. So what? Why bother?
Where is the observing self or the sense of I located? It’s apparently not created in the speech center. Someone with a damaged speech center because of a brain hemorrhage will still wake up in the morning and feel that they are. To me it doesn’t matter. To me it’s not even particularly important if my sense of I is located in my brain or somewhere outside my body. I think that there are many much more important issues to be considered, for example: Where did I put my bike key? What shall I cook for supper? Should I drop my resentment towards Ms X though she is still full of shit? How shall I live my life?
If the speech center of the brain is damaged by a hemorrhage, you’re no longer able to create explanations, theories and opinions. Hallucinations, dreams, daydreams, reveries and visions emanate from other parts of the brain. Anger and fear are created in the reptilian brain and love is created in the limbic system. So what? Why bother?
Where is the observing self or the sense of I located? It’s apparently not created in the speech center. Someone with a damaged speech center because of a brain hemorrhage will still wake up in the morning and feel that they are. To me it doesn’t matter. To me it’s not even particularly important if my sense of I is located in my brain or somewhere outside my body. I think that there are many much more important issues to be considered, for example: Where did I put my bike key? What shall I cook for supper? Should I drop my resentment towards Ms X though she is still full of shit? How shall I live my life?
Right now
What you are experiencing as the present now, is actually something that happened a quarter of a second ago. The now has to be processed in the brain before you can experience it. This means that the now, the past and the future are made of the same stuff, neural activity.
If there had been no brain substance in the world there would have been be no present now. There would have been almost nothing at all, just dark, endless empty space, with a few electrons and quarks or strings here and there.
Such discoveries are useless, I think. What difference does it make to you if the world in reality consists of almost nothing? What difference does it make if it takes a quarter of a second to process sensory input or if the processing is instant?
What difference does it make if consciousness is created in the brain or somewhere else?
What difference does it make if the sense of I am is just a hallucination, some kind of weird mirage, or if it‘s the eternal soul?
Why do we fill our heads with so much irrelevant information? We are ruining this planet with our greed for more money. This is a fact. Our fantasies about what will happen to us when we die are of secondary importance. We strain gnats and swallow camels?
If there had been no brain substance in the world there would have been be no present now. There would have been almost nothing at all, just dark, endless empty space, with a few electrons and quarks or strings here and there.
Such discoveries are useless, I think. What difference does it make to you if the world in reality consists of almost nothing? What difference does it make if it takes a quarter of a second to process sensory input or if the processing is instant?
What difference does it make if consciousness is created in the brain or somewhere else?
What difference does it make if the sense of I am is just a hallucination, some kind of weird mirage, or if it‘s the eternal soul?
Why do we fill our heads with so much irrelevant information? We are ruining this planet with our greed for more money. This is a fact. Our fantasies about what will happen to us when we die are of secondary importance. We strain gnats and swallow camels?
What is the ego?
When we use the word ego in modern everyday language, we often mean the greedy, competing and selfish part of our mind. “He’s very egotistical. It’s his ego who controls him. It’s your ego who fabricates those explanations.”
The original Latin meaning of the word ego, however, was I. The word I was originally neutral. There was no valuation in it. “I am hungry. I am at home. I will meet you later.”
Freud used the word ego to denote the conscious executive part of our mind.
“To hell with wife and whining kids. I need to have some fun, not just endless harping and complaining. I shall go to the cabin over the weekend, with Monica. It’ll work out somehow with the money.” This is the ego’s voice.
“No, I’m not going to the cabin with Monica, even though she’s wonderful. I shall not cheat on my wife now when she’s going through all these things. I shall stay at home and play with the kids.” This is also the ego’s voice, as Freud used the word. Ego and selfishness was not the same thing to him.
Some people believe that ego is something bad which we have to get rid of, or that it will fall away, somehow, when we’re waking up. Others believe that a big strong ego is something good and that it’s important to strengthen it. They believe that a competitive ego is good in the struggle for a position in the hierarchy. In our modern societies many people are totally possessed by ego. In the old days, in the agricultural societies kids learned early that they could not have things their way.
Eckhart Tolle defines ego as the mistaken belief of who you are. You are not a miserable looser. You are not supposed to be pushing. These are ideas you have.
So, what is ego? What is it made of? What would happen if the ego disappeared? Which ego? What do you mean with the word ego? Are the ego and the observing self the same thing?
What is a memory? What does a memory consist of? Electric and chemical activities in the synapses? Isn’t it amazing that you remember who you are in the morning when you wake up?
Without an observer there would be no awareness of anything. Without an observing self nothing and nobody would exist. Nobody would be there to be aware of anything. From this point of view is the ego crucial.
Confusion arises when we use the same word in so many different ways.
The original Latin meaning of the word ego, however, was I. The word I was originally neutral. There was no valuation in it. “I am hungry. I am at home. I will meet you later.”
Freud used the word ego to denote the conscious executive part of our mind.
“To hell with wife and whining kids. I need to have some fun, not just endless harping and complaining. I shall go to the cabin over the weekend, with Monica. It’ll work out somehow with the money.” This is the ego’s voice.
“No, I’m not going to the cabin with Monica, even though she’s wonderful. I shall not cheat on my wife now when she’s going through all these things. I shall stay at home and play with the kids.” This is also the ego’s voice, as Freud used the word. Ego and selfishness was not the same thing to him.
Some people believe that ego is something bad which we have to get rid of, or that it will fall away, somehow, when we’re waking up. Others believe that a big strong ego is something good and that it’s important to strengthen it. They believe that a competitive ego is good in the struggle for a position in the hierarchy. In our modern societies many people are totally possessed by ego. In the old days, in the agricultural societies kids learned early that they could not have things their way.
Eckhart Tolle defines ego as the mistaken belief of who you are. You are not a miserable looser. You are not supposed to be pushing. These are ideas you have.
So, what is ego? What is it made of? What would happen if the ego disappeared? Which ego? What do you mean with the word ego? Are the ego and the observing self the same thing?
What is a memory? What does a memory consist of? Electric and chemical activities in the synapses? Isn’t it amazing that you remember who you are in the morning when you wake up?
Without an observer there would be no awareness of anything. Without an observing self nothing and nobody would exist. Nobody would be there to be aware of anything. From this point of view is the ego crucial.
Confusion arises when we use the same word in so many different ways.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Agnosticism
Life is so hard. There is so much suffering and pain here on earth. Is this fact not proof enough that there is no God, or at least not a good God? What kind of God would let small children die from torturous cancer? Is this fact not proof enough that there are no angels or other spiritual beings out there with the power to help us?
Life can’t be a school. Which school would torment their students in this way? Life can’t be a prison. Life is certainly not a party. However, how could the earth’s rocky crust turn into living matter? Isn‘t this strange?
Is it correct to say that the earth is nowadays thinking, dreaming, and wondering? Is it correct to say that the earth has created consciousness, or does this just sound contrived? How do you explain this? Which explanation is the best? What do you think?
Do you believe that God created the plants on the third day and all the animals on the fifth day? Do you believe that extraterrestrial beings came here and sowed life seeds some three billion years ago? Do you believe that cosmic consciousness existed long before the earth was formed and that this cosmic consciousness has somehow created the world? Do you believe that the world is but an illusion, a mirage created in our overheated minds?
Do you believe that life began with a very improbable coincidence? Do you believe that a cell was accidentally formed in the primordial soup, that this happened once, and that this magic has never happened again? Do you believe that all life forms stems from this cell?
Which is the correct explanation? What do you think? Which proof are you able to produce to support your theories? Aren't all explanations unproven theories created in the thinking mind? Aren’t all explanations fantasies or mental speculations? What can we do but inventing explanations to help us through the day?
Isn’t it better to say to a child with terminal cancer: “See you in heaven soon. Have fun with all the angels?” What can we do but create optimistic explanations?
No one would say: “Goodbye my child. We will never meet again. Your life here on earth was nothing but suffering and pain. And soon you’ll be gone forever. Soon they’ll burn you in an incinerator. There are no angels and there is no other side. These are just fantasies. These are just explanations, things we say to make life bearable” No one would say this even if it was true.
However, things change when you are able to understand that you don’t know anything at all about life and death. The world doesn’t work the way you think it works. The truth is that you have absolutely no idea what life is all about. All your explanations are nothing but explanations, words, misunderstandings, misapprehensions or ungrounded theories.
We simply can’t stop speculating. To speculate and come up with explanations is obviously in our nature. This urge to find explanations came when the evolution gave us a language.
It is so liberating to realize that our explanations and speculations have absolutely nothing to do with the true nature of things. Those who claim to know what life is all about are either lying or seriously deceived.
You can’t prove that God exist and you can’t prove that he doesn’t. You don’t know if life is a school or if it is a prison. You don’t know how life begun here on earth and you don’t know what will happen to you when you die.
Life can’t be a school. Which school would torment their students in this way? Life can’t be a prison. Life is certainly not a party. However, how could the earth’s rocky crust turn into living matter? Isn‘t this strange?
Is it correct to say that the earth is nowadays thinking, dreaming, and wondering? Is it correct to say that the earth has created consciousness, or does this just sound contrived? How do you explain this? Which explanation is the best? What do you think?
Do you believe that God created the plants on the third day and all the animals on the fifth day? Do you believe that extraterrestrial beings came here and sowed life seeds some three billion years ago? Do you believe that cosmic consciousness existed long before the earth was formed and that this cosmic consciousness has somehow created the world? Do you believe that the world is but an illusion, a mirage created in our overheated minds?
Do you believe that life began with a very improbable coincidence? Do you believe that a cell was accidentally formed in the primordial soup, that this happened once, and that this magic has never happened again? Do you believe that all life forms stems from this cell?
Which is the correct explanation? What do you think? Which proof are you able to produce to support your theories? Aren't all explanations unproven theories created in the thinking mind? Aren’t all explanations fantasies or mental speculations? What can we do but inventing explanations to help us through the day?
Isn’t it better to say to a child with terminal cancer: “See you in heaven soon. Have fun with all the angels?” What can we do but create optimistic explanations?
No one would say: “Goodbye my child. We will never meet again. Your life here on earth was nothing but suffering and pain. And soon you’ll be gone forever. Soon they’ll burn you in an incinerator. There are no angels and there is no other side. These are just fantasies. These are just explanations, things we say to make life bearable” No one would say this even if it was true.
However, things change when you are able to understand that you don’t know anything at all about life and death. The world doesn’t work the way you think it works. The truth is that you have absolutely no idea what life is all about. All your explanations are nothing but explanations, words, misunderstandings, misapprehensions or ungrounded theories.
We simply can’t stop speculating. To speculate and come up with explanations is obviously in our nature. This urge to find explanations came when the evolution gave us a language.
It is so liberating to realize that our explanations and speculations have absolutely nothing to do with the true nature of things. Those who claim to know what life is all about are either lying or seriously deceived.
You can’t prove that God exist and you can’t prove that he doesn’t. You don’t know if life is a school or if it is a prison. You don’t know how life begun here on earth and you don’t know what will happen to you when you die.
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