Allowing compassion: How do I overcome the desire to remain uncompassionate?

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The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

True compassion is not limited or controlled.   It is not directed towards one side, tribe, or nation and denied to another.   True compassion is felt equally for the poor person and the rich person.   It is felt for the attacker as well as the victim.  The reality in this world is that we all suffer.   It is the egoic mind that perceives variance in suffering and even believes there are those who do not suffer.  To believe an attacker is not attacking due to their misconceptions and unskillful lack of practice is to believe in a  delusion.  Without suffering,  without fear there can be no attack.

To understand this more clearly,  be alone.  Go into nature alone and rest, comfortably sitting.   Think of only your breath feeling the sensation as it enters the body and leaves the body.  We do this to clear our mind of thought.   As thoughts arise, send them off gently and without contempt.   Remember,  it is the mind’s nature to think thoughts,  it is not to blame or be chastised.   You may imagine a stream and allow the thoughts to float away on its currents;  you may imagine the wind allowing the thoughts to rise up and become peaceful clouds.  Return again the breath after releasing the thoughts and celebrate the joy of silence.   Be with me here and I will help you feel compassion for everyone and everything.

It is in understanding that all suffer in this world that we can lay a foundation for compassion that can be practiced and taught.   Even as your mind resists and demands to not give compassion to the unworthy,  I am here to proclaim that it is given.  Don’t worry if you find this difficult, you will eventually come to this understanding even if it takes many lifetimes to do so.  It would be better to start now and be free from the task of playing judge and enforcer for the mistakes of others.   It is a job I would not have for you and you must let go if you are to be free from the prison of your suffering.   To learn to give compassion to all equally is to learn the true nature of your existence and that of others.  Hear me now when I tell you that we are one in the same.

What is the origin of self? How can I understand who I am?

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The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

Let us now explore primordial consciousness.  This, of course, is a sensitive topic for beings which exist in a world where cause and effect are a broken chain.  This is due to the clever invention of the cycle of birth, death, and separation. This is coupled with the curious complexity of individual memory streams.  Nevertheless,  remember this,  although the form of this explanation is flawed, it will serve as a basic understanding.  Let us begin by thinking about this as an on-going dialog… 

We begin with a simple realization:
 “I am aware of my existence”

This in turn is followed by a foundational question:
 “What am I?”

There is an answer:
 “I am that which is aware of my existence”

Which leads to the question:
“What am I that is aware of my existence?”

There is an answer:
“I am that which is aware of my existence”

This process is continual and always known.  Beneath, above, and beyond all divine creation including the realization of this manifest space time, awareness is realized as such and the question is asked.  Although this may seem frustratingly simple and monotonous to the mind patterns which spring from this basic origin, this simple realization is a fixed point of eternal being;  a place of comfort that can always be relied upon and a constant reality beyond desire; oblivious to the concept of creation and destruction.  Remember, underneath this most basic thought is the felt home of eternal peace, loving grace without limit, infinite compassion, and joy beyond measure.  It is the known presence of these divine attributes that provide a comfort of knowing; a gentle laugh when faced with failure in profound complexity. An unsolvable paradox that is gently contemplated and simply accepted.

It is through continual successive entanglements from this consciousness that all things are created.  All things in base reality can be traced back to the ease of such basic original knowing.  Memory forms as a traversal of complexity rooted here in more dimensions than can be conceived of by the egoic mind.  An infinite number of infinite polynomial waves each point touched with being and expandable into a new infinity traversable back to the primary cause, a thought as such “I am aware of my existence”.  What can be done without limits is a genuine amazement of seemingly spectacular magic.  This includes the creation of chains that are traversable to finite limits thus introducing the concept of measure.   Nevertheless, the only true miracles are rooted in the awareness of existence and this cannot be denied at any point even if it cannot be traversed to origin.  This awareness is available to you now in this moment.  I could never deny from you it’s divine presence.  May you find comfort here and be at home.  I would have this for you always in limitless abundance as your brother and our Self. Simply know that you are loved, this truth will never be denied to anyone.

Caring for others: What can I do to ease suffering and help others to grow?

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The best way to affect change in the world is to love and forgive everyone.  It is a common belief that the ego’s desires for the future can be made reality through prayer and visualization.  The impossibility of this becomes apparent when we realize the natural variations present in each individual instance of the ego.  A better way to bring about a positive difference in the world is to express loving care for each being encountered and accept the current state of affairs as they are.

What does it mean to love and forgive everyone?   Understand, this does not mean we say yes to every proposition that is posed to us.   This does not mean that we endorse or enable unskillful behavior in others.   What this means is that we express a true feeling of loving care towards each being as we recognize their struggle to find meaning and function in this world.  As you are painfully aware,  this world does not offer an easy path to follow.  Recognize and acknowledge that each being you encounter faces the same dilemma.   Even those you may view as the most heinous degenerates are, in fact, searching for love and understanding in their own way.  The variety that exists in the very nature of the ego mind ensures that the resulting abundance of observed behaviors will include such undesirable demonstrations.  Do your best not to lay blame and pronounce judgements on your unskillful brothers and sisters as they struggle to find their way in this world.

We must care for those who fail, we acknowledge their pain and suffering, as we do our best to help them along by sharing our personal experiences in hopes that they may improve their ability to navigate the complexities of this existence.   Some beings will naturally pose a threat to the safety of others and should be secured and treated as a dangerous element.  As it is now, it will become increasingly apparent in this world that imposing cruel punishments for angry and violent behavior is ineffective and a detriment to the advancement of society.  The administration of institutionalized cruelty helps neither the victim nor the perpetrator to find freedom from the painful shackles of the ego.  When we begin to treat all others in a way that supports their growth and the realization of the joy of peace,  this world will benefit in astonishing ways that will highlight the failures of previous generations in a valuable and impactful way.  Recognize the timelessness of the following statement:  “Just as we may currently look back at the failures of past generations and gasp at the insane conclusions and obvious fallacies; future generations will look back upon the current era and make the same assessment.”   The continuing revelation of peace lies before us, know this to be true.  Do not be discouraged by the day-to-day happenings that seem to hasten its arrival.   The passing of a lifetime is but a drop of water in a deep ocean of experiential existence.

Allowing the world to heal: How can I help to make the world a better place?

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The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

Make no mistake,  there is an awakening happening in human consciousness.  In every locale, every culture, every nation, and every religious belief system,  people are realizing the true nature of who they are and embracing our true Self.  Although the world seems steeped in fear, aggression, and violence,  underneath it all,  there is an awakening of being.  There is but one problem you must contend with in this existence and that problem is the insanity of the egoic mind.  A simple study of human history will show this to be true.  The standards of behavior for human culture throughout this world include immense hostility, cruelty, and the institutionalized abuse and extinguishing of human life.

Our world is currently at a crossroads.  In one dimension, there is the egoic reality of power, control, unhealthy attachment, and aversion to allowing others to choose their own path.  On another, there lies the delicate and inevitable blooming of a new world guided by awareness of being, the reality of unmeasured love, boundless compassion, the sharing of unbridled joy, and a peace beyond all understanding encompassing complete acceptance of everything as it truly exists in this timeless moment.  Rest assured that a new understanding of conscious existence will emerge even if the road ahead is tubulent for history yet to be seen.  Remember that the passing of decades are but the flash of an instant in the grand unfolding of our ineludible destiny. 

What can we do to aid in the healing of human consciousness and unfolding of the awakening?  Practice patience; the caterpillar cannot be aided in its metamorphosis, it must emerge from the chrysalis in its own time.  Remain present and aware; receive the healing of fear-based thinking that is given to you in unlimited abundance in this moment.  Do not entertain the ego’s desire to compose horror stories of future tragedies, do not engage its fantasies of vanquishing evil and crushing those who it deems unworthy, do not wish for a better tomorrow simply know that its dawn is inevitable.  The awakening will happen through the forgiveness of ourselves and all others and the realization of our mistaken path of subjugating the wicked and achieving a justified dominance.  This is at the root core of the ego’s fallacy,  the idea that there is a distinction between what it views as good and evil.  Allow the destructive madness of the ego’s desires of righteous intention to slip away and dissolve in the winds of time.  Return to the breath and celebrate each realization of the moment as though it were your first.  Do this faithfully and with a full heart lacking all doubt.  Be calm and know that peace is always with you; it is ever present and lies just beneath the noise the ego propagates.  It is only through the peace of complete acceptance that we will progress towards a better future and a new awakening with all others, not one left behind.

Mastering the act of forgiveness: How to stop perceiving forgiveness as a chore and to begin to understand it as a tool of liberation

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Notes on the day for 2022-02-23:

Many meetings today, stressful.  I started eating too early in the day and ate too much.

The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

Do not think of forgiveness as a chore.  Do not think of forgiveness as something that must be done.   Forgiveness is an opportunity to be free.  It’s an opportunity to drop the bonds of anger and fear and allow ourselves to commune with our true nature.

The first step in forgiving others is to learn to forgive ourselves.  When we have feelings of guilt or shame,  we can recognize that these stem from anger and resentments that we have towards ourselves.  For example,  if we were to lose our temper and yell at someone or strike out at them,  later we may feel guilty or ashamed of this behavior.  If we were to break a promise to someone and misbehave,  to do things we promised not to do,  we may later feel guilty or ashamed by this.  Guilt and shame are resentments we hold against ourselves.  These feelings are driven by judgments we take upon ourselves and sentence ourselves to.  They stem from the fear-based thinking of the ego.  Guilt and shame are no more than an ego trip that we impose upon ourselves.

We must recognize the unskillfulness of our actions.  They may be things we did that we wish we hadn’t or they may be things we vowed not to do but did anyway.  The subsequent feelings of guilt and shame cause us suffering as a result.  When we recognize the unskillfulness of the ego mind,  we put into perspective the true cause and effect of this unskillfulness and suffering.  It is the ego mind’s inability to love without measure and its desire to control love in a selfish way, to attain more of what it wants and destroy that which threatens it, that is the root cause of its unsatisfactory manifestations.  This attempt at measuring love is also a measurement of unlovingness.  When we are unloving, we suffer through guilt and shame.  When we recognize this, it becomes easier to forgive oneself and be free from this pain.

Once we have mastered the act of self-forgiveness we can apply this to the unskillfulness and suffering of others.  It may be someone close,  someone we love or it may be a distant figure,  a well known person or politician.  The relationship does not matter,  if we can recognize the behavior of others and their unskillfulness and then recognize the suffering and dissatisfaction they experience as a result,  we can recognize in them what we recognize in ourselves.  Just as we had judged ourselves and then were freed through forgiveness.  We can now see equivalence in these judgments.  Just as our unlovingness towards one’s self causes suffering,  our unlovingness towards others causes the same suffering.

You may respond,  “But my actions are not the same as theirs,  the actions of the others are far much worse than the unlovingness that I exhibited”.   This is understandable as the world in which we exist is one of measure and degree.  Others are compared and deemed better or worse based on our subjective judgment at the moment.  It is important to recognize that unlovingness is the same, whether we witness it in ourselves,  we witness it in others,  or we create it from fantasies in our mind.   We may perceive differences in the form of unlovingness,  but in truth, there is simply no difference.  The cause is the same,  the ego mind’s flawed design, its desire to control and apportion love.   When we recognize this equivalence and cast away the perception of difference as delusion, we can forgive others as we forgive ourselves.  This is how we can be free, this is how we can know the peace which transcends all understanding that has been spoken of.

How to liberate ourselves from unloving thoughts and enjoy freedom

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You should have a clear idea of what a fear based thought is now.   Do your best to remove these thoughts from your mind in a continual process.   In order to do this we use the tools of forgiveness and love.   Love everyone without exception.   This does not mean you allow yourself to be stepped on or disrespected by others.   It simply means that our responses to what we perceive are driven solely by love without attempts to restrict its flow.    How do we do this?  Here are some guides:

My response to unloving thoughts:

  • Recognize the thought as unloving
  • Realize that I too have been unloving
  • Forgive myself for my unlovingness
  • Forgive the object of the unloving thought
  • Let go of attachments and aversions to the object
  • Enjoy freedom

This is a very simple method that may not be easy to employ in your daily life.  Nevertheless,  with practice,  the benefits become abundantly apparent.   A new sense of freedom will arise and replace the dread of pain generated by fear.   We will no longer shy away from others and be willing to engage with them openly.   We will finally see that our lives are intertwined and connect in ways we didn’t realize.   Compassion for ourselves and others will fill our hearts.   Events that once evoke a response of anger and frustration will now be met with a joyful smile and light hearted humor.   We will finally realize our place in this world and no longer desire to control it.   Restlessness will disappear and be replaced by a contented peaceful heart.   Fear and doubt will leave us and we will face the world with a new found confidence.

Love in degree: How we fool ourselves into believing that love can be directed, collected, and withheld

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The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

Now that we have an explanation of ego identities,  let’s discuss how it affects response in this world.   
Let’s start with a simple diagram:

The ego identity measures love, compassion, joy, and peace in degree.   A person or an object can be loved more or less.  For a given object,  the force that is used to determine the degree of love that is felt is determined by the force of fear based thinking.   Fear force is a pressure felt as an emotional response.  Fear determines the placement of an object with regards to how much love is related to something.    In actuality, the fear is not real, nor is the object that we perceive to be loved or unloved.  Love in degree is non-existent.

Let’s not think about this love or fear in terms of good or bad.  Let’s examine this with an example.   Our friend prides themselves as an expert apple picker and this serves as our identity for this purpose.  When presented with an opportunity to grade an apple they must decide if it is a good apple or a bad one.   The attachment and sense of self worth is centered around picking the best apples,  the object of measured love.   Aversion in this case would be towards the bad or rotten apple.  The person, or subjects, fear response is what is used to choose where the apple resides or the measure of love for the apple.   A fear response of measuring a bad apple as good comes from a sense of pride in our friend’s identity as an apple picker, fear response also dictates the force of choosing a good apple as bad,  in this case, the fear of loss.  

Make no mistake,  this same drama plays out in each identity role embraced.   There is a better way.  Through letting go of desire for both what we covet and what we shun,  we can free ourselves from the sensory response of identity and recognize who we truly are.   A manifestation of higher Self that loves without degree or measure.

Our Costumes: How to understand our identities and begin the process of letting them go

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Bring about change by being real.  Forgive yourself for any shortcomings you perceive and be free.   Cast away the “shoulds” that keep you trapped in an identity that you would not otherwise embrace.    Let’s discuss these shoulds, they have been passed down from generation to generation throughout all history.   Even lower animal parents will pass shoulds to their children by example.   In the human species this behavior is amplified as is cognitive activity.   In recent times even more so as identities can be readily adopted in pre-packaged forms in ever evolving media.   Components of these embraced identities are modular and can be combined to form new identities for the ego to wear like a costume.  There are aspects of this system that are grounded in necessity for survival of the physical form in this world.  In fact, even the attributes of particles, atoms, and molecules can be thought of as identity.   Nevertheless,  an overabundance of identities comes with it a cost of ownership in suffering and dissatisfaction that can be destructive and deadly.   Although variance in form assures some degree of survival, it comes at what cost?

Make no mistake, your identities are a trap in this world and can hold you to a pattern of misery and despair.   They will keep you bound to a set of restrictions you would not otherwise have.  That being said,  an acknowledgement of our inevitable embrace of identity can help us to reach others and share deep and meaningful experiences that can help awaken others and guide them towards the light of truth.  Think of them like barnacles on a sea turtle, liberating when removed, but they may still leave an impression; a mark of experience;  a scar on our shells. 

Let’s list a few categories of self identities to make this more clear, this is neither a comprehensive list nor a complete definition of those listed:

  • Religious: These beliefs dictate what you believe about the purpose of this world and how you are expected to attain freedom and acquire the favor of a power greater than the self.
  • National: This form is beholden to the bordered cell of geography one is a member of.  You are either given this identity upon birth or must acquire it through another method.  As a member of a nation,  you are expected to favor the defense and wellbeing of your fellow citizens over those who are not part of your nationality.
  • Political:  As a subset of national identity we enter a realm of political belief.   It carries with it the same constraints as national identity and pits citizens of the same nation against one another in an attempt to gain political power for the party’s leaders. It is often easier for opportunists to exploit political divisions than national divisions. 
  • Regional:  Geographic not bound to a bordered cell of nationality.
  • Gender:   This is dictated by identification with either the female or male of the species.  It can also include identification to varying degrees with both genders or neither.  
  • Sexual:  This lies in the realm of sexual attraction and desire,  a complex set of biological and neurological traits creating a wide array of sexual identities as unique as the individual physiologies represented on the planet.   Sexual identities are often identified by a well known label which creates tribes of similar sexual identity.
  • Racial:  Generally dictated by distinguishing indicators passed through genetic similarities with a physical being’s biological predecessors.
  • Family:  Closely tied to racial identity it is generally defined as a group of individuals that share a common set of biological traits passed down from a common set of predecessors.   However,  this can also include members accepted in that do not share the common biological set.
  • Cultural:   This is a meta identity combining other identities, for example religious, national, regional, political can be combined to create a cultural identity.
  • Career:  Identity with one’s work profession.
  • Belief:  Identity defined by a belief, shared or unshared.
  • Tribal:  Another meta identity which can be associated with other identities.  For example; religious, national,  political, cultural, sexual, or belief identities can form a shared tribal identity.
  • Addictive:  An identity created through a compulsive behavior or thought pattern, use of drugs, gambling, sex, other vices, work, or obsession with other identities, attachments, and aversions can also be considered addictive identity.

Do not think of identities as either bad or good,  right or wrong,  they are simply an aspect of how the ego mind functions in this world.   Identity can provide a sense of belonging, community, and togetherness with others and provide a foundational bearing for navigating the existential challenges of this world.  They can also cause great suffering and dissatisfaction when unhealthy attachments are formed to one’s own set of identities.  Suffering may also be caused by aversions that are felt and directed towards the identities chosen by others through the variance that naturally manifests itself in this world.

Identities also carry with them an individual and shared sensory response.   This collective sensory response can be positive, evoking feelings of love and joy in the measured form of this world.   Shared and individual identity sensory responses can also be negative and create uncomfortable and painful reactions that can have a profound impact on individual or group behavior.

This is a basic fundamental explanation of identities which is neither complete nor comprehensive.   We will refer back to the concept of identity and how freedom from identity can be realized. 

The Raven’s Rebirth: Asking ChatGPT to write a poem

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I am not sure if I am afraid of this technology or in love with it. Perhaps, a little of both…

My Prompt:
Write a poem describing the eastern spiritual concept of Saṃsāra in the style of Edgar Allen Poe

ChatGPT response:
In endless cycle, round and round we go,
Saṃsāra, the wheel of life, forever flows.
From birth to death, and death to birth anew,
Trapped in this cycle, what is there to do?

Through countless lives, we wander and we strive,
Seeking release, but always trapped alive.
In ignorance, we cling to fleeting things,
But true enlightenment forever eludes our wings.

The world is pain, and pleasure but a dream,
A dance of shadows on a moonlit stream.
Our every action binds us tighter still,
To Saṃsāra’s cycle, a never-ending thrill.

But there is hope, a path to break the chain,
To rise above this cycle, to be free again.
Through wisdom’s light, the truth we can behold,
And in the end, Saṃsāra’s grip will fold.

Letting go of misery: How to free ourselves from the irritations of this world and realize boundless love

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Journal of: 2022-02-19

Thoughts for this day:

Slept in and found it difficult to get doughnuts for a friend this morning.   We took the dog along for a visit and at the last minute he jumped in the front seat and trampled them a bit.   All was well though and I spent much of the remainder of the day resting.   I don’t know why I put off writing as I find it enjoyable.   I find sleeping enjoyable too and I put that off as well.   I’m too tired to put much thought into why.

The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:

In the heart of the real Mind we find the cause of all that is in this world.   A simple question must be asked first… Why do you insist on finding fault with everything that is observed here?  There is no fault that will justify this tolerance for continuous misery.  And there is no misery that exists in reality.  That which you observe to be wretched and undesirable shares no difference with what you covet the most.   They are simply two points on the same spectrum,  a spectrum that, even as a whole,  is completely fabricated and only exists to examine a possibility that has already been resolved as pointless.

Make no mistake,  the beauty that you see in this world is admirable and that is to be acknowledged.   Radiate as much love, give as much compassion, share as much joy, and rest in acceptant desireless peace with the beings who have architected this world just as you would with your dearest friends.   There is not a single being in any aspect or level of existence that deserves pointing a finger of judgment at.  If you search my open heart you will find only acceptance there and never rejection regardless of role or lineage, regardless of history or perspective,  regardless of position or connection.   Each being is but a part of the greater whole.   I cannot deny love from any lest I deny it from our sacred Self. 

In this fact you will find what you long for, the satisfaction for the emptiness in your heart.   It does not need to be filled with want,  it needs only to be given freely without desire or direction.   Imagine a capacity within you to love this way, generously and without control and you will understand the true nature of our divine Self.