Part of what makes our process so fulfilling is that it hasn't been forced upon us by anyone. We have been systematically and relentlessly ferreting out our process for years. Beginning before we even had a clue what it is we were doing here.
We truly were blessed with this curious mind and our life has given us ample evidence that one answer is useless because it never fits all questions. That is the basis for focus upon the process, the lack of one size fits all.
Others simply do not have the confidence in that process that we have developed and continue to develop daily. How could anyone have confidence in it, as our own confidence ebbs and flows worse than the tide?
What we have is not substantial or stand alone. It's a process that is completely dependent on our mind, no one else's. If we're attempting to tell a person something they do not know, we can never expect or anticipate what will, if anything, come of it.
We have a belief that we can figure this out, right here and right now. No reading or writing is ever necessary to gain understanding as all we ever experience goes through within. The key is to keep at it, keep questioning the reasons for the results coming from our actions and our intentions. If we keep attempting understanding, there's at least hope we may get the job done someday.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Gaining Confidence in the Process
We've been mistaken our entire lives, even to this very moment. There is no castigating ourselves over the truth in that statement, and we do believe it to be the absolute truth. To us, it lays out the amazing landscape in which to explore, examine and analyze. We will figure out where our attachment and expectation still prop up and tear down the people in our life and our community.
We have been, after all, living in this similar way for the majority of our lives, so we must have amazing patience for ourselves. Aspiring to do likewise for others can be a very difficult enterprise, but to take the aspiration of having patience for others and transform it into the reality of our day is a worthy goal.
Looking at the community as a whole, we can see ample evidence that people are not listening to others or even hearing themselves. Human society has gotten out of the understanding business. One side denigrates the other side, calling them stupid and wrong, yet if the other side were to change their opinion or stance on an issue, they would label them as both weak and still stupid.
Take the news media. Two cable networks on the fringes, telling their audience the other side's view is frivolous and worthless. People listening to only what they already believe, instead of attempting some understanding for the opposing view. We're intensifying, solidifying our own points-of-view and sacrificing understanding and compassion in order to do it.
Take the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. Both sides so adamant to be seen as strong, confident and right. Both sides with long track records of violence, oppression and destruction. Neither side wanting to give any ground, because the previous time or the time before that when they gave away ground the problem became more pronounced and more dangerous.
Have you ever stated you wouldn't do something upsetting to someone, but later on (even minutes later) actually did it anyway? Which is the mistaken view here? The intention to not do something and later on doing it, or the act of saying anything absolute or anything at all?
When we make bold statements like this, we should tread very carefully. After a declaration, however, if we find that to be a mistaken view or that we encountered a situation that exposes our ignorance, we must make a correction now and go against our own word despite the personal consequences and animosity doing so could create.
What we're talking about here are the important things in life. We should always act, speak and think with good intentions. Sometimes, our intentions don't look like the results we had hoped would be the outcome. The space between intentions and outcomes is our ignorance. It's important to be confident, but confident in our process of ridding ignorance, not that we know something others do not.
We have been, after all, living in this similar way for the majority of our lives, so we must have amazing patience for ourselves. Aspiring to do likewise for others can be a very difficult enterprise, but to take the aspiration of having patience for others and transform it into the reality of our day is a worthy goal.
Looking at the community as a whole, we can see ample evidence that people are not listening to others or even hearing themselves. Human society has gotten out of the understanding business. One side denigrates the other side, calling them stupid and wrong, yet if the other side were to change their opinion or stance on an issue, they would label them as both weak and still stupid.
Take the news media. Two cable networks on the fringes, telling their audience the other side's view is frivolous and worthless. People listening to only what they already believe, instead of attempting some understanding for the opposing view. We're intensifying, solidifying our own points-of-view and sacrificing understanding and compassion in order to do it.
Take the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. Both sides so adamant to be seen as strong, confident and right. Both sides with long track records of violence, oppression and destruction. Neither side wanting to give any ground, because the previous time or the time before that when they gave away ground the problem became more pronounced and more dangerous.
Have you ever stated you wouldn't do something upsetting to someone, but later on (even minutes later) actually did it anyway? Which is the mistaken view here? The intention to not do something and later on doing it, or the act of saying anything absolute or anything at all?
When we make bold statements like this, we should tread very carefully. After a declaration, however, if we find that to be a mistaken view or that we encountered a situation that exposes our ignorance, we must make a correction now and go against our own word despite the personal consequences and animosity doing so could create.
What we're talking about here are the important things in life. We should always act, speak and think with good intentions. Sometimes, our intentions don't look like the results we had hoped would be the outcome. The space between intentions and outcomes is our ignorance. It's important to be confident, but confident in our process of ridding ignorance, not that we know something others do not.
Interacting with the Good and the Potentially Dangerous
People that we have ever deemed to be potentially dangerous, and deemed so with applied patience, understanding and compassion, create a complicated human landscape for us. What to do with this subset of people has always been fraught with frustration and mistep. It is through our misteps as a baby that give us the potential to walk as a child. We're learning how to navigate a rich, fertile and dangerous environment. This is much more than walking we're after.
Believing again in someone isn't an accurate portrayal of our intention, as our belief in others is quite firm. Being an active participant in unearthing their basic goodness is quite another. Instead of actively engaging the person, observation and considerate interaction seem warranted and accurate. Everyone does learn differently and at their own rate of adaptation.
The pitfall here is in not being open to the truth of change. We need to be open to allowing others to improve, descend or to make no effort whatsoever. What is the alternative?
We see a see-saw here. We want to get off of the see-saw and throw away the pivot point. That pivot point is us grouping people in for and against, worthy and unworthy, good and bad.
When we take a fresh examination with this realization coupled with our history with people, we see our role in what's happening for these people. No wonder they're so dazed and so confused. How can someone go from us seeing them as basically good to only dangerous with good intentions?
What a harsh reality for someone to experience, especially if they're caught up in that pivot point. No wonder people keep walking back and forth on the see-saw trying to find a happy balancing space and finding none. No wonder we suffer as a result. When they realize they're on a sinking ship, they just keep walking back and forth hurriedly, making the whole see-saw system increasingly dangerous.
All of this life is dangerous. It is OUR decisions that bring about our own dangerous repercussions. These people are no less or more dangerous than before or ever again. The repercussions are a product of our life decisions and our intention. It's our karma.
This crew of people are perfect vessels to give away our merit, our lack of ignorance, and to ferret out of us our remaining ignorance. Lack of ignorance isn't a thing at all; we're giving away nothing.
How is there merit in being on a ship and stopping that ship from sinking? We got on that ship by our own decision. That was our call. There is no merit at all in stopping it from sinking. The merit is not getting on that sinking ship of ignorance ever again.
The emblazoned sun, shining it's rays on everything. That is real merit. We should bestow upon all we encounter all the patience we can muster, all the understanding we can develop and all the compassion their suffering requires. We should shine in all directions, not in just one or a few. We're engaged in removing our pivot point in our human interaction so we can do just that, radiate our basic goodness in all that we do and everyone that we meet.
Believing again in someone isn't an accurate portrayal of our intention, as our belief in others is quite firm. Being an active participant in unearthing their basic goodness is quite another. Instead of actively engaging the person, observation and considerate interaction seem warranted and accurate. Everyone does learn differently and at their own rate of adaptation.
The pitfall here is in not being open to the truth of change. We need to be open to allowing others to improve, descend or to make no effort whatsoever. What is the alternative?
We see a see-saw here. We want to get off of the see-saw and throw away the pivot point. That pivot point is us grouping people in for and against, worthy and unworthy, good and bad.
When we take a fresh examination with this realization coupled with our history with people, we see our role in what's happening for these people. No wonder they're so dazed and so confused. How can someone go from us seeing them as basically good to only dangerous with good intentions?
What a harsh reality for someone to experience, especially if they're caught up in that pivot point. No wonder people keep walking back and forth on the see-saw trying to find a happy balancing space and finding none. No wonder we suffer as a result. When they realize they're on a sinking ship, they just keep walking back and forth hurriedly, making the whole see-saw system increasingly dangerous.
All of this life is dangerous. It is OUR decisions that bring about our own dangerous repercussions. These people are no less or more dangerous than before or ever again. The repercussions are a product of our life decisions and our intention. It's our karma.
This crew of people are perfect vessels to give away our merit, our lack of ignorance, and to ferret out of us our remaining ignorance. Lack of ignorance isn't a thing at all; we're giving away nothing.
How is there merit in being on a ship and stopping that ship from sinking? We got on that ship by our own decision. That was our call. There is no merit at all in stopping it from sinking. The merit is not getting on that sinking ship of ignorance ever again.
The emblazoned sun, shining it's rays on everything. That is real merit. We should bestow upon all we encounter all the patience we can muster, all the understanding we can develop and all the compassion their suffering requires. We should shine in all directions, not in just one or a few. We're engaged in removing our pivot point in our human interaction so we can do just that, radiate our basic goodness in all that we do and everyone that we meet.
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