Undeniable truth.

[Tony]

Undeniable truth.

Part One.

You Know.
Everyone has this quality of knowing, of being aware.

This is not the Knowing of 'something', or being Aware of some 'thing'.
It is just Awareness, just Knowing. It's a sense of Knowing - or Awareness of being.
We all get a sense of this from time to time. It is beyond animal instinct of survival.

This mere Knowing, without a thing to be known, is one side of our being.
The other side is Purity.
Purity can be translated as Clarity or Lucidity. It is sometimes translated as Emptiness, 'being' empty of any fabrication, modification or production.

Together this Knowing and Emptiness is Pure Perception. That is the nature of our Being.

That is as simple as it gets.



Part Two.

Being a seeker of undeniable truth, we need a few tools.

Well, one would need certain qualities: being human is one. Then we have to find something of value to help us understand. Someone who wishes to understand has to 'stand under' some sort of method that is valued, and some sort of language to describe it. Of course, we could say being human was enough... but many on this planet are only here to serve themselves, and their animal instincts!

Finding out what being spiritual is, is knowing that we 'are' spiritual in 'being'. We are beyond our usual ideas of this body and this mindset. In investigating undeniable truth, we begin to realise that all sentient beings are of spirit....even animals!
However, the human body is most conducive to realising our true nature, as we have the potential of inner awareness.

So, what tools are available that everyone might agree on?
Well, we would have to be Generous, in knowing that all others were 'not' just their body or 'set-minds'.
We would have to have Patience with ourselves and others, to create a kind space - in order to be.
We would have to be disciplined in not reacting out of habits.
We should be able to Persevere in our efforts (good company helps with this).
And we need to be able to Concentrate..

Above all, we would need Self Knowledge - a knowing beyond this body and mindset.
Self knowledge is knowing the true essence of our being...pure emptiness.
Self knowing is a knowing that naturally arises by itself.

Many of us on forums talk at cross (very cross!) purposes, because we have different mind sets. We get cross because we think that others should think the same way as us, but this is not possible - although we may fall into types...some say 84,000 types! (this is because of the dividing and sub-dividing of negative emotions.)

The tools of Generosity, Patience, Discipline, Perseverance, Concentration and Self Knowledge are the very same qualities as we would expect from a teacher...and they are all inside each of us all the time...funny that!

We go through levels of understanding - it's not just one class - so some will know more or less than others. It's not a competition, as we are where we are...and we can help one another!
Really, we can help one another...a simple question can trigger something mighty, from this Knowing!

Now the problem of the negative emotions arise, such as pride. That's why we need to remind ourselves of ... Generosity, Patience, Discipline, Perseverance and Concentration in order to to remember what and where 'we' are!

We are open intelligent knowing space.
These tools help us maintain this space, this Clarity!

We all learn and teach, learn and teach...it's quite natural. In doing so, we recognise something we know, but did not recognise that we knew it until that very moment!

The question is: what is constantly getting in the way this Pure Knowing?


It's me!









(part three to follow!)

[Tony]

The funny thing is...we 'are' know it alls, which is limitless.

But in wanting to know 'something' we limit this knowing.

The conspiracy is.... We do not know!




Yours having a bit of a zen day,
Tony

[GarethBKK]

The question is: what is constantly getting in the way this Pure Knowing?


It's me!

I knew that! Tony is in the way of my Pure Knowing. ;-) Only kidding Mate. I love your posts and hope a book is forthcoming.

[spiritguide]

When one thinks me instead of us! One can not be a true part of the whole without knowing the whole. As a construct every cell of the human body gives itself entirely to the end to the whole for without the whole the individaul cell has no grand meaning. IMHO

[Tony]

When one thinks me instead of us! One can not be a true part of the whole without knowing the whole. As a construct every cell of the human body gives itself entirely to the end to the whole for without the whole the individaul cell has no grand meaning. IMHO


Hello Spirit Guide,

If everyone were enlightened... ?....? hmm...well, we'd either sit around laughing at everything or we'd drive one another mad with all those zen type sayings!
Anyone about to say something, would get a holy look from the others implying, "We've heard it before!" and then start laughing!

This could make someone want to talk dirty just for the change ....... then everyone would be at it, and we'd all be back to where we are now...confused, because we'd forgotten what we were laughing at in the first place.

Still it's worth a try.

[Dorjezigzag]

Some things though are.......

More than words to make it real

32XOkSNoXdE

[Tony]

Part three.

Before we can move onto what is the cause that obscures our true 'being' (and therefore causes our suffering and what to do about it), we must look at the third element of our 'being'.

Once we realise that our Essence is primordial purity which is absolute truth, and that our Nature is knowing which is relative truth, a confidence arises that there is no more than this. This is as fine as it gets.

(note) These two truths are at a very subtle level, by virtue of one the other is revealed. This is why the absolute truth and relative truth must be seen as a unity.

When true confidence arises, so does joy ...there is no more, that's it! This joy, this realising the unity of the two truths, brings about the feeling of contentment, love ….happiness and joy for no reason! It is an expression of 'being'- unconditional happiness. A happiness that does not rely on a condition to make it happy.

However when 'being' looks outwards, a sadness arises. It sees that all sentient beings have these very same elements...but do not realise it. We have a two edged sword – joy and sadness.
What arises is unconditional love and unlimited compassion.
So our 'being' has three elements : Emptiness, Knowing and Compassion.

Compassion is Knowing Emptiness!

[Tony]

Some things though are.......

More than words to make it real

32XOkSNoXdE





Dear Dorjezigzag,

You are right. Sometime people need a little logical explanation to cut through fuzziness in the mind...I know I do!

There are other ways, it all depends on what suits the individual'
In fact they all work very well together, but we may have a natural leaning towards one.

Logical analysis to realisation of emptiness through conceptual intelligence.
Compassion through practice – melts the ego.
Devotion works the same way.
Direct introduction to the nature of mind (the old realised ones).

Logic is fun.
Compassion is challenging.
Devotion is inspiring.
Direct is clarity.

Logic is like being a spiritual engineer.
Compassion is exchanging self for other.
Devotion is calling on a power stronger than one's own...at this moment.
Direct is clear knowing - lucid.



All the best,
Tony

[Tony]

Part four.

So now we come to what is obscuring the clear view.

The problem.
The problem is a projected 'me', This makes two, the clear view and the projection. That is the duality! Once we convince ourselves that our projected ideas about ourselves are real, we maintain them, defend them and constantly polished them. We make an imaginary projected prison around ourselves...with a huge enhancement from the commercial secret corporations.

From 'being' zero, pure open compassionate intelligent space, we are now a multiplicity of emotions.

Every moment because we ignore our very simple true essence, we uphold this mistaken picture with likes and dislikes. These are the three main poison that hold this prison together: Desire, Aversion and Ignorance. From these three, all the other emotions are created...Fear, Pride, Envy...and many others. The secret corporations know this.

Our divided selves creates division with others. Every time we meet others there is a mini battle going on, even when we agree. As long as there is a 'me' there is 'other'!

Non duality is merely resting in Essence. When expressing Essence, that is love. It does not make us all One, but just a meeting of essences, and then we move on. The secret corporations want everyone to be the same...we are not!

Our problem is clinging, holding onto, grasping, fixating on ideas and feelings about ourselves. Our consciousness draw things to it like a huge magnet...and will not let go! This creates our suffering.


Dear Reader,
So you can see the problem is our own ego-clinging, which creates our emotions, which creates our suffering, which stops us knowing our true, pure compassionate nature. But we also have another outside problem...secret corporations!

They are secret because they are not known to the general public. There are organisations behind the organisations. They know all about human frailty- ego selfishness!

These organisations work within a pyramid structure, so the lower ranks do not know what is truly going on above them. All the corporations are linked – they orchestrate!

You must by now be looking at the world and thinking, “This doesn't sound right!” The problem is, that your ego is constantly being fed by them to keep you busy, exhausted and in their debt!

The problem is, they divide your attention.



But it is not at all bad news. The Ego and the Corporations have missed something – The simple solution! It is so simple it goes unnoticed...every moment.





All the very best to us,
Tony

[Tony]

From Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism.
Chogyam Trungpa.


It is important to see that the main point or any spiritual
practice is to step out of the bureaucracy of ego. This means
stepping out of ego's constant desire for a higher, more
spiritual, more transcendental version of knowledge, religion,
virtue, judgement, comfort or whatever it is that the particular
ego is seeking.

One must step out of spiritual materialism. If we in fact practice it,
then we may eventually find ourselves possessed of a huge
collection of spiritual paths.

We may feel these spiritual collections to be very precious.
We have studied so much.We may have studied Western philosophy
and Oriental philosophy, practiced yoga or perhaps studied
under dozens of great masters.

We believe that we have accumulated a hoard of knowledge.
And yet, having gone through all this, there is still something
to give up. It is extremely mysterious! But unfortunately it
is so. Our vast collection of knowledge and experience are
just part of ego's display, part of the grandiose quality of ego.

We display them to the world and, in doing so, reassure ourselves
that we exist, safe and secure, as spiritual people...
...instead of a beautiful antiques we created a junk shop!

[Tony]

Part Five.

So, what is this very simple solution?

A. Understand part one!

What selfish-ego and selfish-secret-corporations just cannot understand is Empathy.
They know about Knowing (they may even be super aware) but know nothing of Pure Empty Essence,
so they cannot unite the two truths. Therefore Compassion can never arise!

Ego and Corporation 'get' somethings out of Knowing, they gain weaponry to use against others.
However they get nothing out of Emptiness. They just cannot understand it...how sad!

Ego and Corporations cannot know love, only gain. They Ignore this very simple point,
and it goes unnoticed all the time...how sad!



Tony

[Tony]

Part Six.

So what do we get out of this clarity, in everyday life?

Well, for one thing you will recognise that you are naturally happy, confident and sympathetic to others. We will no longer react out of habit, though this doesn't mean we don't notice what is going on.

Clarity attracts clarity.

This clarity does not mean one will know everything, but one will know the nature of every-thing. Every-thing having no true reality as things are of a temporary nature.

Clarity means anything that comes into Essence space which is not of benefit or seems like trivia is immediately dropped. This means that the mind is not cluttered by unnecessary information of UFOs, jump rooms, Galactic beings, buildings on the moon etc. There are lots of things going on in the universe that we do not know about, and it does not effect our life one iota. There could be my look alike on a planet one million light years away....so what! We can only deal with here and now. The point is, not cluttering up the mind, leaves room for intelligence to work clearly.

Anything external (which has no true existence) is only seen and translated in the mind into thoughts, which also have no true existence. These are all temporary illusory arisings in the mind.
That simplifies everything, doesn't it?

Back to clarity attracting clarity.
I have no doubt that there are enlightened beings sending blessings to all of us, all the time, saying “Wake up, wake up time to be …!”
I would, wouldn't you?
All they need is our door open (heart and mind) to let them in!
That is just a matter of having an open mind...clarity!

If we knew this we would have a deep appreciation for these blessings and be even more inspired, this is called Devotion. There is also a deep appreciation for those who have explained these teachings to us. Here we are talking about the law of attraction.

If we can attract clarity blessings, we can also attract the opposite 'dark blessings' If there is the law of attraction, then there is the law of repulsion. This drives the whole universe!

The title of this thread is Undeniable Truth. This next section will be a little testing, as it will call on your ability to infer, logic and to look at experience.

If we are not clear in the mind about our true nature, emotions arise...selfish emotions. These emotions lie in ambush, activated by our programming of likes and dislikes - attraction and repulsion! When these selfish emotions are activated, this attracts very selfish entities in the universe. This will be difficult to understand, and will need some explaining.

It's to do with the idea of fallen angels, or fallen practitioners. This is how it was explained to me.

As one proceeds along the path to enlightenment, through developing purity one gains powers, or abilities...a sense of clarity! This becomes very attractive. One is not at the end of one's journey, but one can play with these powers, which can be misused. So a practitioner stops practising!

These half practitioners think of themselves as gods, but know they are not, because they have stopped refining. In knowing this they are not happy and are stuck in this state. In fact they now hate happiness and compassion...and those that practice this!

They are attracted to selfish emotions of others, they feed on it. Incidentally we all do this when we gossip about another! You can now see how it is coming closer to home!

We all have a choice to be open or closed.

A spiritual practitioner knows these dark angels and their nature, and that by resting in clear light, they cannot be affected by these entities. But they do include them in their prayer, they make little offerings.

Every time we are negative in anyway, this negativity is compounded. We can all fall prey to thinking we are special.

But negativity is not all bad news, as we shall see!




Tony

[Tony]

If the mind has clarity,
if Essence is clarity,
if this is Clear View,
if this is Clear seeing.

What is Clairvoyance?

[nomadguy]

I like to think of it this way,
Clairvoyance is communication coming from yourself in a different place of time...?

[Tony]

Part Eight.

Emotions.

Because we identify so strongly with our 'self' image, this distortion of our being creates fixations, and emotions arise to justify this “I”. So it is that in ordinary, daily life the emotions control us; they take us over. The main emotions are Desire, Fear, Pride, Envy and Anger: these are created because of our mistaken view of ourselves - we have to defend 'ourselves'.
This is due to Ignorance - forgetfulness of our true nature!

Corporations and governments get us to identify with our emotions, in order to divide us in our communities, and thereby control us.

There are, of course, 'good' emotions, but they can be tricky, as identifying with a good emotion can create a negative emotion. We'll talk more on that.

There are many ways or methods to deal with emotions, so they do not control us.
We can pretend that they do not exist and cover them up.
We can use an antidote (exchange anger for compassion).
Or we can 'see' that they do not exist and are in fact wisdoms! This is something we are not normally told about.

The problem with the approach of covering up and also applying antidotes is that the emotions are not ended: they are subdued temporarily, but they come back again. So we are kept in a loop - “Repent your sins!!”
“But...but... the 'sin' keeps coming back!”
Now there's a nice bit of control by some organisation or other!

Emotions come up because of a self-cherishing I - a reified (made solid) I, a social I...because we have to maintain an image, don't we?! Do we? ! So you can see the maintenance of all this is quite exhausting!

The arising of an emotion actually brightens up the mind suddenly. Catching that fleeting first moment is not easy: it takes practice. It also takes practice NOT to go along with the emotion and act or react it out, and therefore reek havoc...again! At that moment, we have a choice of whether to look inwards (thus reminding us of our true nature), or go outwards (justifying the emotion, and blaming others).

Going inwards is refreshing the connection with Essence – that creates space so that one doesn't just react. Because of that space, we can then respond as necessary. But in this scenario, we are not reacting from a negative emotion.

Seeing the Emotions and Essence in this way is the unity of the two truths - The Relative Truth and the Absolute Truth.

When we understand this principle, depending on the situation, we would use one of the enlightened activities (even though we aren't enlightened!) of pacifying, magnetising, enriching and destroying ego's games.

First, we must have an inkling of our true being, which is naturally Pure, Knowing and Compassionate. These are the three natural qualities of our being, when resting in Emptiness, Cognisance and Love. So now we know what we looking for!

But, of course, we have an opposite side - not-pure, not-knowing and not-compassionate, because of this “I” fixation! These three create the three main emotions of Desire, Aversion and Ignorance. Ordinary confused humans are governed by “I like”... “I do not like”... and “I do not care”.

(There must be a connection here with the laws of this universe: Attraction, Repulsion and Inertia. Maybe, our ignorance, desire and aversion created the laws of this universe, that keeps us in this vicious cycle of existence...?!)

So we are talking about two truths, Absolute (ultimate) truth and Relative (conventional) truth.
One is constant, and the other is changeable.
But these two truths have to be seen as a unity: they work together, and in fact they cannot be separated! But we must first see them separately in order to identify them, and then see how one is there by virtue of the other, and so they are a unity!

It's ironic that the experience is so simple, but explaining takes many words!

A quick example of how emotions come about.
While at peace, one sees a wonky, crooked picture on a wall. Pure perception just sees it, and our knowing quality also knows that this wonky picture has no permanent existence....and one remains at peace.
Then an idea comes in, because “I” has just come onto the scene... “It shouldn't be like that! I don't like it!” And so we get angry, and we react, looking for someone to blame for leaving it wonky. All we had to do was straighten it - bring it back to balance - but our habitual behavioural patterning took over, and we over reacted.

This is easier to see in ourselves when we meet a wonky person rather than a wonky picture!

The trick is to note the arising of an emotion, and not react - just note. A gap is then created...space!
The emotion has in fact brightened up the mind.
If one has already recognised one's true nature, the energy from the emotion together with the space created from this recognition, takes one back to inner peace.

There is a wisdom to correlate with every emotion wisdom, as in the above example where anger correlates to mirror-like wisdom. It is 'being' merely reflecting.

There is much more to this as we shall see, as demons lie in ambush to twist wisdom into emotions...!

Tony

[Tony]

Part Nine.

Our essence has three qualities:
Empty, Knowing and Compassionate.

This essence has five other qualities:
Mirror-like wisdom................ = it is clear reflection.
Discriminating wisdom.......... = it is discerning.
Wisdom of Equality................ = it is generous.
All Accomplishing wisdom..... = it appreciates.
All Encompassing wisdom..... = it is spaciousness.

This is actually more complex than I have presented it here, but basically, we fall into one of these wisdom categories.
They are called the five Enlightened families, but of course they have a neurotic side!

These five wisdoms are the bases for the emotions!

Wisdom: Mirror-like
Quality of the wisdom: Clear reflection
Emotion arising because of the presence of an “I”: Anger
Manifestation of the emotion: I don't like

Wisdom: Discriminating
Quality of the wisdom: Discerning
Emotion arising because of the presence of an "I": Desire
Manifestation of the emotion: I want

Wisdom: Equality
Quality of the wisdom: Generosity
Emotion arising because of the presence of an "I": Pride
Manifestation of the emotion: I am better

Wisdom: Accomplishing
Quality of the wisdom: Appreciation
Emotion arising because of the presence of an "I": Jealousy
Manifestation of the emotion: I am worse

Wisdom: Encompassing
Quality of the wisdom: Spaciousness
Emotion arising because of the presence of an "I": Ignorance
Manifestation of the emotion: I don't care

As you can see, our usual situation is to identify with the emotion: this drives or controls us. But if we have the ability to note that first instance of the emotion is only the radiance of wisdom. So the emotions are a useful tool. They can either put the selfish “I” in the picture, or dissolve the “I”.

When a big juicy negative emotions arises, this is nothing other than wisdom.
That is how the two truths works as a unity.

Unless, "I" gets in the picture...

[Tony]

Part ten.

Emptiness.

I thought it may be a good time, as we are talking about absolute reality, to look at what empty essence is. There isn't much that can be spoken about emptiness as it is experience. It is natural and the simplest of experience. Talking about it, does not need to confuse the mind, if our attempt is to clarify.

Emptiness is just a word to describe our essential nature, or essence. It is our pure perception. Different translators use different words for Emptiness. It's untainted, not a product of something, limitless, open, pure, clear light ....it is just there...isness!

I like the word or purity, but then that has to be qualified as being crystal clarity...not acting holy!
If you can think of a better word so be it!

This essence is natural and is reality, it is just there, is never born and cannot die. Realising this essence can be done through years of insight training, deduction, or having essence pointed out.
It can also be realised through devotion or, and compassion. It is self-less-ness. The “I” identification is removed, to be pure. Though to work in the world we need a mere “I”!

For the 'pointing out instruction' one needs a qualified authentic teacher. Not me! But we can go some of the way – we can get a flavour of it. An intellectual understanding is of benefit, so when one does see 'it' it is recognised.

I've had the pointing out instruction many times, so I have a taste. The word I would use to describe it is...ordinary! But that has a special meaning for me, you may have or need whistles and bells!
We are not all the same.

When emptiness is first seen, one realises that it was there all the time...your guardian angel was you! This first seeing is only a baby emptiness, it needs practice to sustain it, as we keep falling back into conceptual existence.

Empty pure perception is our natural being. It is there all the time. but goes unnoticed because it is so simple and ordinary. Extra-ordinary! We don't notice it because the mind/consciousness, is kept busy.

I write because we can have the wool pulled over our eyes about this subject, unintensionally of course. This is because a full explanation is not given...or known.

Essence is your natural being, you will see it how 'you' see it, unmodified! This is where we need precise instruction, because of a mistake in seeing clear consciousness as essence.

This gets a little subtle so will need an explanation. There is a difference between consciousness and essence – consciousness is still conceptual. There is consciousness clarity and essence clarity.
They are very close, and knowing the difference can help see clearly where one is.

Consciousness clarity is a very high state, but it is a stepping stone. When someone says, “I know myself!” that is a duality, that is consciousness clarity...still conceptual, there is still a sense of time. If it's a little annoying to hear this...it's only ego sticking it's nose in!

This is where we have to be kind to ourselves. All clear consciousness has to do is look in on itself, to realise empty essence. But these are just words, you need the experience.

The pointing out instruction, may be given in words, or gesture. One of my teachers was handed a cup of tea, and his teacher said, “That's it!” One sits there with no thoughts in the mind. At that moment one doesn't alter anything, create or modify...just let it be. It may be essence clarity or consciousness clarity, it does not matter...just let be.

With practice one will see the difference. Some get this, some do not. There are other ways.

This is a brief explanation. On a retreat this can take a week to explain...as we need to warm up to it!

Remember working in the world we need a mere”I” to be able to allow expression to take place.

This is but half the story. The next stage is mingling this with daily conventional reality life, this is to do with exhausting karma...not reacting out of habit, letting be!

As one proceeds everything becomes our teacher, as knowing the nature of everything as having no true existence, only a temporary form. One also realises that one's thought are also of a temporary nature. But, the moment these appearances arise, their absolute nature is seen..emptiness!

There are many levels of this:
Like a knot in a snake untying itself.
Like drawing on water.
Like a thief entering an empty house...there is nothing to take and nothing to defend. At this stage one wears emptiness as an adornment it is constant, and is called complete emptiness - Dharmakaya.






Tony

[Tony]

Part eleven.


You Know.


What you are, is pure knowing! Without 'knowing' you would not be aware, so, you just know naturally. This knowing is pure, uncontaminated, empty of any thing, in sanskrit it is called Shunyata. This may be translated as Emptiness or Voidness or Space. Never born and never dies.

Your being is Pure and Knowing, and naturally thought-free. This pure seeing - this clarity - is sometimes called 'The View'. This is the experience of meditation. In fact meditation is just the continuity of 'the view', and that can be mingled with daily life. We conduct ourselves, by merely resting in the 'view'.

Because it is thought free, there is space. In this space, anything is allowed to arise. Some traditions call it, the Void of all potential. Resting in Emptiness, one does not react. There is merely noting, or reflecting like a mirror.

This experience is a little dry, so we have to find the juice, and of course that is love...un-conditional love. How does this happen? It happens automatically, if the knowing is pure.

When pure knowing is realised, a confidence arises together with a sense of relief, that there is nothing more.
That in turn allows joy to arise: that joy is self arising.
Self realisation is a realisation that naturally self-arises: it is not a realisation of the existence of a separate self.

So we have three qualities: pure, knowing and compassion. The word 'compassion' is used here as it a natural quality one feels for oneself and all beings, but it is not love yet. Love is an action. When this pure knowing compassionate energy looks out, and sees sentient beings who too have these very same three qualities...but do not recognise it, love arises, genuine love. In that love, one only works for the benefit of others (it's important not to mistake love for sentimentality).

Because one is totally satisfied with one's understanding of pure knowing and compassionate energy, one feels one needs...nothing! There is nothing to prove or achieve, and nothing that one wants.

Of course this is at an absolute level. We are not quite there yet, due to a few obstructions in the way of the 'view'. The obstructions are created in the mind, where thoughts and emotions occur. We are the pure compassionate knowing void, the potential for anything to arise. This may be expressed in love or selfishness. Selfishness is the obscuration in the mind. That pattern of behaviour or attitude creates our karma (karma is just the concepts we hang onto and leave a filter in the mind).

All we have to do is know this, note this, and clean the mirror.

Meditation, it's nice to know.

[Tony]

Know thyself.

In your mind, jump from a high cliff top, onto very razor sharp rocks, that tear your body to pieces.....bits splattered ever everywhere yuk!.
What a mess! Because of all this mess and jumble all your thoughts scatter like marbles....everything totally gone...lost...gone... gone!

Nothing left? Well, what this? You are still here?! What is left is pure knowing, a pure awareness that is just here, all the time, with or without marbles.
When pure awareness is recognised, knowing thyself is recognised.


Now get up and do something useful, like remembering who you are!



All the best,
Tony