Attachment is Suffering

The attachment to something is what causes suffering not the thing itself. If there wasn’t the need to attach, there wouldn’t be suffering because one would be content with life as it is.

Regardless if you come from Park Ave or from park bench it doesn’t mean the suffering of the Conditioned Mind is lessened or greater. It really just means the circumstances of your life are different. Ten years ago, with life exactly the way that I wanted it, I was at an emotional bottom, at the depths of despair. I could have been a millionaire or had no money whatsoever and it wouldn’t have mattered. Society measures success on how much money one has, so the rich should be the happiest people in the world, but as we all know this is not the case. Matter of fact they may be some of the most miserable because what determines our suffering is our attachments. I have the life that I have, but having less would be okay.

Circumstances only matter to a mind that is conditioned. An attachment to being rich is no different than an attachment to being poor. Attachment is attachment, but what is attached to doesn’t cause suffering, the suffering comes from the need to attach itself. Cigarettes don’t cause cancer, “I” smoking them does. Sugar isn’t a problem, “I” consuming it does. You get the point. You can make all the excuses you want, but that’s all they are, excuses to justify what is done.

Social status doesn’t truly separate people into the haves and have nots, the Conditioned Mind does. Life is equal for all regardless of their social status, but because of attachment things are put into categories by the mind. We attach to our causes and create a reason for our existence. It has been my experience that peace only takes into account how still our mind becomes so we can be guided by Universal Love to do whatever it is that’s in front of us. Whatever it is that we attach to will take us away from this peace, and it doesn’t matter whether you come from Park Ave or park bench.

Using the Body

Regardless of what it is if it’s of the mind it creates bondage. The only way this is broken is by using the body as an anchor as the body is simply always in the present moment.

The importance of developing a sitting practice is in how this develops discipline which allows the mind to settle enough so one is in the present more often than not. The breath is used for this because it anchors you in the body which is always in the present. You never take a past or future breath, you can only take a breath in the present, this is why the breath is used. It’s the same reason chants are used, when Om is used, you don’t Om in the past or the future, you Om right now, when this is done it anchors you in the body which is always in the Now. The mind for most is constantly in the past or future, there are times when it’s present, but this is fleeting and mostly occurs because of happenstance. The body is a great anchor to use in a sitting practice because there’s no way it can’t be present. This doesn’t prevent anything from happening, but what it does do is it allows for one’s awareness to be with what’s happening instead of having resisting energy trying to use something to push it away. This resisting energy is at the core of how addictions manifest.

Besides a sitting practice, I often use the tool of simply looking down at my feet and since wherever my feet are there I am, it also anchors me in the present. This is also why one uses a mindfulness practice, such as walking meditation because as you are mindful of each step, you’re anchored in the body which as stated before, is always in the present moment. Life is magical in relation to the things that occur for one’s energy to be transformed to form, but there’s nothing magical in being present for what’s actually happening, as long as one is aware that it’s not happening to you, it’s just what’s happening, you just happen to be present to observe it.

Mind Truth Isn't Truth

What truth is will never be figured out with the mind, but what it isn’t can be examined, so you may never know what truth is, but you will know what it isn’t and when this is known all that’s left is truth.

The mind has no foundation, it is here, there, and everywhere. It’s why people struggle to find truth with the mind, there’s nothing there. It’s like trying to hold onto air. The true foundation of life is the body because the body exist in the only place that is real, the present moment. It’s so difficult to convey truth through the mind, not that I know what it is, but I do know what it isn’t. That’s the difference in me today as opposed to the way I was ten years ago. People try to figure out what truth is through the mind and that’s where the struggle arises from. Truth is impossible to grasp, what truth isn’t is a lot easier to examine.

Yesterday was one of those days, there was a lot of mind push back on my article. What’s funny is all I am is the writer, I don’t provide the content, that arises on its own from stillness. Again most people struggle with truth because they try to figure it out with the mind. You will never know what truth is from the mind, but you can examine what it isn’t and thus the mind will stop trying to figure it out what it is. Regardless of what I write it can only be disagreed with from within yourself. A disagreement with my writings is a mind agitation that comes from within you. There’s nothing to ever truly disagree with unless the Conditioned Mind tells you it wants something to be different; this agitation is what truth isn’t. Understand this and you just may see the truth, but you won’t know what truth is, you will know what it isn’t and when this is known all you will be left with is truth.

Forming Opinions

Form any opinion you’d like, but it will never be a benefit to you. As a matter of fact it will be a created burden that not only blocks you from the love that’s in your heart, but also from the heart of all humanity.

I don’t write to tell anyone how to live their life. How someone chooses to live has nothing to do with me. If what I write resonates with you, so be it, if not move on. What I write is from my experience, as I was opinionated for many many years. Whether it is agreed with is not really a concern of mine. What is seen is what is written and if you don’t see what I see, you won’t understand what I write. There is nothing right or wrong with this, it’s just the way it is.

We are all an extension of Universal Consciousness. There is no difference in the way we exist except to the Conditioned Mind. We are all from the same energy. It’s when we lose our focus of this that we become individuals and form our opinions. Our unity comes from understanding this. When we form our opinions, our ideas, beliefs, and concepts, we form an individuality which causes us to miss the mark (definition of sin) of Universal Love. I often speak of truth and this is the truth that I speak of. It’s not my truth, but the truth of existence; Universal Love. There is no interpretation needed here, love is love. If you wish to form an interpretation or opinion of love that’s up to you, but when the mind settles, Universal Love becomes life’s base and there are no opinions or interpretations needed here. Learn to live life as it is from the base of Universal Love. Form any opinion you’d like, but it will not truly be a benefit to you because most likely it will be self serving in some way. As a matter of fact it will be a created burden that not only blocks you from the love that’s in your heart, but also from the heart of all humanity; just my opinion…

Conditioned Ignorance

The way one acts has to come from somewhere, it doesn’t just randomly happen. Why this isn’t seen by most people is because of all the propaganda that points you to look for your answers out there.

Here is a hypothetical situation, but this occurs a lot and is very real. A child is abused growing up, in this case pick your so called poison, physically, sexually, verbally, or in some other way. I say poison because this is what the abuse does to a mind that begins its existence pure, innocent, and free; the poison is to become conditioned and pass this on to others. This conditioning is not limited to abuse, it takes on many forms; we simply become products of our environments without realizing it. This is not the fault of anyone, but it is a fact; you cannot get oranges from apple seeds. This conditioning is hardly ever questioned if it’s truly beneficial in your life. All of us fall prey to this and most live under the spell of this conditioning for their entire life.

Granted much of this is simply because of ignorance, there are some people who do wake up to this, but most remain in this ignorance. Look at your own behavior, did you ever ask yourself why you behave in the way that you do? This question is hardly asked as most never get to this point. The way one acts has to come from somewhere, it doesn’t just randomly happen. Why this isn’t seen by most people is because of all the propaganda that points to your answers being out there somewhere. So how can one really be held responsible for how they act with this ignorance in place? They can’t, but the ignorance wants to hold everyone responsible even though most including those ignorantly pointing know not what they do…

Perception Isn't Truth

Because everyone has different conditioning, we have the world as it is with just as many versions of truth as there are people, but without quietness none of those versions are true.

Part of the struggle that many have with truth is it’s seen through mind perceptions and since the mind has nothing solid as a base, it makes it different for everyone. But a perception of something doesn’t mean how it is being perceived is truth. What it means to see truth is to experience a quietness that needs no label. Truth doesn’t need to be defined for it to be so, as a matter of fact the more one gets entangled in the words of what truth is, the further away from it they become. This really needs to be investigated if it’s to be seen, but understand it’s not truth that will be seen, it’s the quietness that reveals what truth isn’t that will be seen. Part of what blocks most people from truly understanding life is they’re trying to understand life. I know as much about life today as I did the day I was born, but what I do know is there’s nothing to know that will enhance life one bit because it’s not designed that way. Knowing all about an apple doesn’t make it taste better.

Another book, retreat, meetings, meditation/yoga session, or anything else for that matter won’t reveal truth to you because it’s only in quietness that it’s revealed. This is the main struggle in society today because far too many think their perception is truth. Granted it is their truth, but only as a mind construct. Because everyone has different conditioning, we have the world as it is with just as many versions of truth as there are people, but without quietness none of those versions are true.

Humanly Hooked

The understanding of the flesh won’t stop the world’s hooks from grabbing you, but it just may at times stop you from taking the bait which allows the control of the flesh to dissipate somewhat.

There are many hooks that are based in the flesh and they’re constantly being thrown out to grab you; and they will grab you as long as you are in this human form. How deep one gets hooked depends on their conditioning. Even with knowing what I know about the Conditioned Mind there is still the lure of the flesh that catches me at times. Fortunately the hammer was put away a long time ago that was used to beat myself up over doing something that my own mind told me to do; this is just being written as the awareness aware of awareness. If you think you’re going to get to a state of being where the flesh is totally transcended that’s the wishful thinking of the flesh and it becomes your bondage. If you do get there wherever there is, please share it with me, but I won’t hold my breath.

Human form should be embraced as it is, not as it’s wanted. This is not an excuse to just go around succumbing to selfish energy whenever a desire arises, but to awaken to the awareness that this is even happening is a miracle in itself. It seems sex and food are two things that have deeply engrained conditioning associated with them and it’s why there are so many diets out there and both diets and porn are billion dollar industries. Diets and sex sell because it hits most humans at the flesh level. Food and sex are not to be loathed because few will have the ability not to be controlled by them. To me one can only be aware of the selfish energy associated with these as they are reached for to fulfill some inner lack. This inner lack is the at the core of the flesh and it needs constant fulfillment in some way. The understanding of this won’t stop the hooks as the world is based in the flesh, but at times it may stop you from taking the bait which allows the control of the flesh to dissipate somewhat…Maybe…

Delusional Form Attachment

The addiction in our society is to form. Without being led around by form one can truly be joyous and free, but only if it’s seen that the association and attachment to form is a delusion.

The cause of all suffering is attachment to our human form and how we associate everything that happens with it. It’s not that one needs to transcend this form to be joyous, and free, but there has to be a letting go of how we associate with what occurs in life with our form. This attachment and association to form is at the core of all suffering and the thing about it is it’s a delusion. Investigate all the things that are associated with the human form from the moment you wake up to the time that you go to sleep. Everything that occurs in between is form associated and our thoughts reinforce this attachment and association constantly. Obviously our form does exist, the problem is it doesn’t exist in the way we associate everything to it. One day everyone who is alive today will let go of all their associated attachments with form, the key in living a joyous and free life is to learn to do it now.

Nothing really happens to you and the delusion is you think it does, this doesn’t mean things don’t happen, they just don’t happen to you. All I’m saying is if there’s less association with a form that things happen to, when something does happen there will be less attachment to it, and with less attachment, one experiences a more joyous and free existence. This joy and freedom occurs naturally as form associations and attachments aren’t pulled in. To see this one only needs to be aware of who is doing the pulling and why does it occur. The addiction in our society is to form so without being led around by form associations and attachments, one can truly be joyous and free, but only if it’s seen that the association and attachment to form is a delusion.

Delusional Opinions

The greatest injustice to oneself is holding onto opinions that are taken as truth prior to investigating if they are truly so. It’s written “the truth will set you free” not opinions will set you free.

Here is a dictionary definition of the word opinion: a view or judgment formed about something not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. This really sums up what an opinion is and its true value or lack of it. An opinion really has no value because it isn’t based on anything but a fleeting thought and thoughts don’t have any substance and without substance where would an opinion get its value?

The Conditioned Mind will tell you there is value in opinions, but this is delusional. If it isn’t based on something factual how can it truly have value? When there aren’t facts, there isn’t substance, and without substance, there is nothing true to base an opinion on. This just doesn’t go for opinions, it also includes ideas, ideals, beliefs, and concepts. What are these based on? They are based on the delusion of a Conditioned Mind. Before this is discounted, it should be investigated. If you just want to make up an opinion and it makes you feel better, go with your puppet on a string conditioning, but understand this has nothing to do with truth, it’s all from the Conditioned delusion within; a delusion that’s been in place for a very long time. If a person lives their life based on opinions that’s their choice, just understand the burden of a delusional opinion weighs heavily on you and blocks you from the love that’s in your heart.

Awakened Tools

The Conditioned Mind will always fight the new, the only reason this is done is because something different is being presented and the Conditioned Mind doesn’t like different.

What being awake provides is a set of tools that are different than ones which are used prior to awakening. I can only share what my experience was and prior to the shift that happened to me, the tools that were developed and used were selfish in nature. These tools were strictly in place to provide comfort at all cost; the difference today is the tools in place are different. This doesn’t prevent anything from happening nor does it mean much of anything as far as life goes, but the different set of tools has allowed so much more peace in my life and why this is important is because this is when one can truly be used in a way that’s beneficial to all beings.

Why there has always been so much discord in our world is because the Conditioned Mind loves to remain in the familiar, this is one of its tools. In the time of the Buddha, he was not received with opened arms when he became enlightened; he was presenting something new. Same thing with Jesus, the Old Testament Bible was all there was in his time, there was no New Testament. Jesus taught a new way to live and he was crucified for it. The Conditioned Mind will fight the new, it will mock it, argue with it, ridicule it and on and on without investigation, the only reason this is done is because something different is being presented and the Conditioned Mind doesn’t like different. Like I said, this doesn’t real mean much of anything except to a mind that is locked into using familiar conditioned tools. Change your tools, change your life.

Beyond Duality

Duality causes inner and Universal division as it creates a you, a me, and them. Whenever this is the way life is viewed there will be separation regardless if there’s a higher or lower self.

An awakening to me is a shift from being caught up in an I Self world, to seeing what’s really going on beyond all the distractions of duality. The phrase higher self is often used to explain what being awake is, but attachment to self causes duality anyway its looked at. One must go beyond any thought of self to truly awaken because any thought of self whether higher or lower is a distraction that keeps one locked into the I Self distractions. These two selfs create duality; oneness (no thought of a self) is the only true state of being. I’m old enough to have seen the old cartoons where an angel and devil would pop up on someone’s shoulders when they were about to make a decision, to me regardless of which self won out it was still a decision made by self. A belief of a higher self as opposed to a lower one makes for a nice story, but it just creates more inner division within.

This form that has manifested for humans to experience life only does what it does because of the conditioning in place. If there is less of this conditioning to be fortunate enough to not be controlled by the I Self count your blessings, because most people (form) will die consumed by an I Self. It makes no difference whether it’s labeled higher or lower as self is self and until self is truly let go of, duality and not oneness will be the controlling energy of life. This duality causes inner and Universal division as it creates a you, a me, and them. Whenever this is the way life is viewed there will be separation regardless if there’s a higher or lower self.

Blindfold Beliefs

All blind faith means is that you are living life as if you are blindfolded. If you don’t investigate your beliefs, you will blindly be controlled by them as if you were a puppet on a string.

When something is done that causes harm 99.999% of the time it is done so through ignorance. There aren’t many people who consciously do things that cause harm to themselves or others. I know for me, I did things that caused harm without any knowledge whatsoever that I was doing this. If you asked me what I was doing I would have said, I’m just doing my thing, but the sad truth is to this day I have no idea what my thing was. This is exactly what happens when a person blindly goes through life without investigating if they are getting the maximum benefit out of their actions. For me this was the case for many years. It’s different today because of investigating how I was and what needed to change. It was the conditioning in place that kept me blind to my own conditioning and there wasn’t much of a benefit to this for anyone.

God wasn’t really the topic of yesterday’s article, it more so pointed to the fallacy of a belief prior to investigating if it truly is a benefit. A belief is a story, what title it is given depends on your conditioning. You will follow whatever it is that you have been conditioned to follow. Blind faith is living blindly and as in the song “Amazing Grace” it states “I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see” My writings are pointers for a person to look if what I’m writing about is true, but if you just answer from a belief you’re anchored to, inquiry and investigation won’t be possibly, hence the value of my writings will not be seen. I’m not saying this because I’m a know it all, but I have been through something traumatic that revealed a totally different way to see things. This wasn’t magical, it transpired because of investigating what I read and what I went through and it was through this investigating that the blindfold was removed and I found a truly beneficial way to live that’s based in truth.

The Fallacy of Faith

Life will always be as it is regardless of the created story of faith. Faith is strictly used by the Conditioned Mind to provide the fallacy of comfort, but it’s really not needed if one just lives life as it is.

The lack of being able to live life as it was caused my entire struggle with life. Faith is but a word, there are many interpretations of it, but in truth they are all just a created story. The way I used faith was I thought it meant things should be as I wanted. It’s not a big surprise that this kind of faith caused many problems. I only had faith in the material world and I had to use things in order to feel good, which meant I only had myself to rely on to get what I thought I needed for satisfaction.
At the time this was the conditioning that was in place. Also I firmly held on to a faith of a God that if it didn’t grant me my wishes where was the need for it. If I didn’t get what I desired I didn’t need faith, I could be disappointed without it. This was the conditioning in place so I took care of things myself. I figured I might as well, after all this God story wasn’t doing anything for me; what I really wanted was a magician.

It’s not this way today, but not because there is a belief in something. Today the fallacy of having faith has been exposed and the truth of right now is where my trust lies. This truth doesn’t need a story of faith that everything is as it should be because there’s something in charge, it means it’s as it is and that’s it. There’s no longer the need for a story in my life, because life is lived as it occurs. Through the practice of being with life as it is, there’s a knowing that life will work out simply as it does. To me this is a faith that truly works because it’s used as a means of letting go of “I”. I’ve stopped using faith as the story of believing something is going to take care me. Life is life, it takes care of itself, I’m just a part of it. Whatever happens is life just being life, it needs no story of faith. This is the acceptance of being with the reality of life as it is. I don’t need faith to live life as it is because life will always be as it is regardless of what story or fallacy the Conditioned Mind wants to use to make one think it should be different. For me, life is always as it is right now and to think there’s a need to have faith in something outside myself only changes life as it is to the fallacy of life as it isn’t.

Thought Bondage

When there’s a need to reach for something because the mind becomes agitated, one is in bondage to that thought. Until this is seen, one will remain in bondage to the thought that peace is in the next thing reached for.

You will never find the peace you are seeking as long as you are in bondage to the thought of finding peace. Peace is something that’s already within everyone, but because of the way our Conditioned Mind controls, we get stuck in the thought that peace is something outside of us. Unfortunately this bondage makes the very peace one is seeking impossible to manifest. This bondage is the reason one is constantly reaching for something from the outside and until this is seen, one will remain in bondage to the thought that peace is in the next thing reached for. Reaching for alcohol, gambling, drugs, sex, social status, programs, therapy, self help books and on and on is all the proof needed that one is in bondage. This can’t be stressed enough as this bondage to your thoughts has to be seen if one is to experience true peace in their life.

It’s impossible for the thought of peace to provide peace. What does have to happen if one is to experience peace is there has to be an understanding of why you’re not at peace; that there isn’t peace is only because of one’s inability to just be. When the need to reach for something arises, the bondage to this thought begins. This bondage is a vicious cycle that’s very difficult to break free from. Peace isn’t something attained or achieved so it’s in doing less that peace arises. To many people get lost in the thought of trying to find peace. Since peace is already within you, the thought about finding it needs to be discarded so the bondage of this thought can fall away. This is not easy to see, but it’s why I write. Understand though, I don’t write to help anyone find peace, I write so the bondage to the thought of trying to find peace can be seen for what it is; the cause of why one isn’t at peace.

Tug of War

The tools of pushing or pulling are developed to cope with life, this is why life is seemingly full of problems, but whatever arises doesn’t cause the problems, it’s the pushing or pulling that does.

Nothing needs to be dismissed for one to be free, but freedom cannot be found by pushing away or pulling in what’s occurring. Pushing away or pulling in is linked to thinking we’re getting rid of something, but truly getting rid of something will only happen when it’s dealt with as it it, if it’s not it will never go away. When it’s dealt with it won’t have to be pushed or pulled so it will naturally fall away. This is how one has to approach each moment if freedom is to be had. The way we develop tools to cope with things is why there’s problems, but whatever it is that arises doesn’t truly cause the problem. Granted it may be something that really hurts and has no benefit whatsoever, like the death of a loved one, but if it’s not dealt with in a way that it’s not dismissed or a made up story is attached, the energy of the situation controls your reactions and it will get stored until it’s time to rise up again. This is why the same thoughts are repeated over and over, they have to because of the trace energy in place.

The awareness this is happening can allow you to be with what arises and not want it different. After all the only reason a person pushes or pulls something is because it’s not wanted, this pushing or pulling is the same energy as grasping it’s just being used differently. Pushing or pulling is attachment to either wanting or not wanting and grasping is strictly attachment to wanting, slightly different with a pushing action, but the same attachment. This is very subtle to see and it will only be noticed when one is with the moment as it arises and doesn’t want it to be different. So regardless if it’s labeled good, bad, like, dislike, or whatever, it’s all the same attachment, and the only thing the applied label does is it determines if one reaches for something by pushing it away or pulling it in.