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Knowing the Source is the Source

3/26/2022

"The source of consciousness cannot be an object in consciousness." Nisargadatta

This is not a pun, this is the way. With our minds, we create subject and object. But this mental creation is only that, a creation, not absolute reality. And absolute reality is not an anthropomorphic godhead somewhere far away sitting on a cloud in judgement. Absolute reality is consciousness. If we back up, before our minds create the duality of subject and object, and observe clearly without conceptualizing, we may find that what we call observing is something else altogether. Consciousness cannot observe consciousness objectively. It is that. Now take it back again, and see that 'we' are that. We are consciousness and so is anything we observe, and further, so is the act of observing itself. Consciousness is the observer, the observed, and the observing. So, something appears to be happening, but it's not what we think it is.

I can't go any further with this, so I will leave it by saying that all of it is just the movement of energy, which we, as consciousness, are aware of. The rest is mystery.

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Food for Thought (or a drink maybe)

3/12/2022

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According to recent research, one drink a day is associated with reduced brain size, two or more and the reduction increases sharply. I haven't had a drink in twenty years, so I don't want to go on about this too much, less it sound righteous. That's not my intention for sharing this. But on the other hand, I quit drinking for a reason. I don't think alcohol consumption is beneficial to any degree. I typically keep my thoughts on this to myself. Either way, this seems like a well-grounded study and one worthy of consideration, especially for anyone who has 2+ drinks a day.

A summary: from U-Penn

The study: from Nature

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Currently

3/10/2022

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"I reached Cold Mountain and all cares stopped.
No idle thoughts remained in my head. Nothing to do I write poems on the rocks. And trust the current like an unmoored boat"
Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems.

There is so much here in such a short and concise poem. But that is the way with poetry. Good poetry doesn't inform us as much as it points to something. The rest is up to the reader. Words are sorely imprecise as it is. What we typically consider as informative, is often tainted with intent and loaded with extraneous meaning. Ironically, apparently vague and mysterious poetry is much more direct and informative as long as the reader is willing to do his/her part.

To that end, I'm not going to explicate Han Shan's entry noted above. That would only reveal my interpretation. What fun is that?

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And in The End,...

3/9/2022

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At a certain point, the spiritual search may come to an end (other than dying, of course, at which point it certainly comes to an end). At that point, all the previous activity and focus seems pretty much a waste of time. Things are as they have always been. There is nowhere else to go, and nothing to attain, other than what is already here and that's not attainable because we already have it, have had it, never not had it.

There is as much worth in searching as there is in anything else. One is and should be free to do whatever one pleases, as long as no one else is harmed in the process. But I think for many, what they are searching for is a conceptual pipe dream that is never found. What most people really want is an end to discomfort, for things to make sense, for a sense of purpose. Those are individual issues, although universally recognized. The pipe dream, on the other hand, is composed of lofty, mysterious concepts like Kingdom of Heaven, Enlightenment, Immortality, Transcendence. These are conceptual and not worth their weight in cow dung.

Spiritual organizations and religions work hard for retention by offering something that is appealing and eventually attainable as long as you stay engaged and follow the prescribed path(s). However, if you look around, it seems the only one who has attained anything is the guru in the big chair. Everyone else is till trying--forever.

I recently saw an advertised video wherein a teacher discusses 'coming full circle, the end of searching'. He then offers enrollment for his next satsang/workshop. Seriously?

I have nothing but respect for my teachers and those I have known on the path (any path). Again, that is as worth much as anything else. However, if we really look we find ourselves right where we started, right here. Changing paths or belief systems, falling down the nihilistic hole of Neo-Advaita, or becoming a raging atheist is basically just more of the same with different patterns, different carrots. Perhaps it is better to just be, not in any contrived way attained via secret teachings or blessings, but by stopping everything and just being. This is the way of no way.

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Yes, Rhetoric Matters

3/8/2022

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The following is an article from Discourse Magazine on Why Rhetoric Matters. This is crucial. Granted, I am biased, but I can't for the life of me understand why we are even questioning its relevance.

From the article:
"Rhetoric was a primary subject in formal learning from antiquity to the middle of the 19th century, when it was replaced by the study of literature and absorbed into the kind of English department we all recognize today. Exactly why it fell out of favor is a matter of debate, but now that rhetoric has made an academic comeback in the past 50 years as a distinct discipline, we would do well to know what it is and why it is so important."

“[I]t is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs, but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason.” (Aristotle)

"This is to say that language is inadequate for conveying one’s thoughts and discoveries to others clearly and directly. No two people can understand something exactly the same way. Thus, even if absolute truth exists, human language is inadequate for conveying it precisely. "

The complete article: Why Rhetoric Still Matters

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Knowing the Source is the Source

Food for Thought (or a drink maybe)

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And in The End,...

Yes, Rhetoric Matters

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