What divides you from so-called “others”? Is it what society has poured into you (when you were very young)? Is that division (i.e., that separation) what they implanted within (and “as”) you? Could it be that when you look with separation and fragmentation, you are separation and fragmentation?
Thought/thinking usually depends upon division. It is fragmentation. It is one symbol after another. Holistic perception exists beyond these fragmentary divisions/separations. It is, therefore, not merely of limitation, confinement, and solid boundaries. It transcends beyond illusory barriers and close-minded conceptions. Friction is separation, conflict, and division. Harmony is of holistic oneness and caring intelligence.
To live in the present, in the “here and now,” is often still in vogue these days. To actually “live in the present” may involve much more than most people realize. Many may think that they “live in the present” but they may not. It is extremely easy to deceive oneself. If within, constant “thinking” is going on, then one (surely) does not live in the present. Thoughts are symbols from (and “as”) old, stored memories that unfold from the past. So, if one is constantly thinking about things, one is living in the past. This includes pondering about the future. When we worry about the future, we are using thoughts of the past to project what the future might be (i.e., what the future might consist of).
Additionally, if we go through our day while just habitually recognizing everything with distinct borders, distinct names, distinct attributes, and characteristics, then we are looking primarily with what we were taught… which really isn’t looking at all. Even then we are relying on the past; even then we are existing in (and “as”) the past.
Many say, “Be in the here and now.” What is that “here”? Is it a lot of recognition from (and “as”) what was poured into us in the past? That recognition is the past; its “here” is what old, stored, dusty memory is. Is the “here” some stored images about what is assumed to be centrally located? And, what is “now”? Is it some isolated time interval (of one’s own) that one clings to? It may be that most of us never really wake up. It may be that T.S. Eliot was right when he wrote, “Love is most nearly itself when here and now cease to matter.”
The mind may be a prisoner of its own delusions and misconceptions. To extricate the mind from the quagmire (that it is likely in) may require much more than mere reactions. Mere reactions are likely just extensions of the confusion, disorder, uncertainty, and disarray that the mind is (in). In other words, if the mind is disorderly, who is going to make it orderly?… Will it be another part of that same mind assuming to have (or be) authority or order?
Though we all have to react… merely reacting may not be a profound solution regarding fundamentally existing beyond the disorder. If we perceive our reactions without judgment, ideologies, beliefs, and images of what others have taught… that very perceiving may be beyond the realm of mere reacting. If the mind ceases to depend on standard and ordinary reactions, perhaps it may undergo a transformation wherein few reactions continue to contribute to the misconceptions and delusions that it existed as (in the past). Looking without merely having obtrusions of thought occur as reactions, however, may be easier said than done. The very way we observe things is often heavily tarnished with reactions that we are — for the most part — unaware of. A mind of pristine, untainted “observing,” however, goes beyond being merely rather mechanical and robotic. Such a mind is where true joy and true living exist. Rather crass, robotic minds — though they may say otherwise — are divorced from deep joy and insight. Deep joy and insight are not mere projections (as reactions) from a heavily conditioned mind. Deep joy and true wisdom aren’t part of what must depend; they are spontaneous and not fabricated.
It may very well be that the best joy, the best insights, and the best perceptions… are not merely what are sought (through and “as” reaction). Often, at the precise moment that one seeks to be joyous, joy is not. Most of us have relied, as we were taught, on time to become joyful and wise. However, the most profound joy and the deepest wisdom may not involve a factor that takes, requires, or involves time. Deep joy and deep wisdom are timeless and are not of the realm of mere acquisition (with and by) delayed reactions (about patterns) in time. However, in “time” the wisdom of compassion intelligently acts to help others.
[Note: The front leg has a tannish, round area under the knee… that is its hearing mechanism. Since it has one on the left and right legs, it can hear in stereo.]
Resting on the Balcony … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
A run-of-the-mill consciousness that has accepted everything society has poured into it inevitably perceives with (and “as”) confined limitation. It sees what it was taught to see; it thinks (for the most part) what it was taught to think. Ironically, such minds think that they are free.
A limited consciousness will have perceptions and mental reactions defined by limited borders. It may feel free, but such freedom is like the freedom of a dog tethered by a chain; it can go where it wants but where it goes is essentially nowhere.
Orderly, intelligent awareness breaks through this whole circus in (and “as”) a mindful, spiritual revolution. Such a consciousness is not just a product of society. Lemmings are very good at imitating others and at falling into an abyss. Please be different!
Ready for Another Meal … Photo by Thomas Peace c.2024
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