Assumptions - Worse Than Blindness

We all carry in our heads assumptions about how things are, how the world works etc. The assumptions we have does have its uses... we live with more certainty and conviction with them than we would live without them. 

It takes courage to put your assumptions to the test because that would mean questioning the foundations of certainty that you rely so heavily on. 

But don't mistake interpreting the courage I've written here with some kind of heroic quality that you need to possess or you need to build up in order to move to the next step and see the truth. 

Rather the courage I'm talking about here is more like giving yourself a break from thinking/feeling in the same way and trying to approach things with a blank slate. 

You're not to discard your previous assumptions and adopt new ones... that's not what it's about. 

You're to just stop being dependent on assumptions. No more living off of assumptions, but only on what's real.

Be willing to see the world with fresh eyes.. even if for a moment. 

That's what every man of wisdom has been trying to say since time immemorial... that although your knowledge is all well and good and helps you to carry on with your life, unless you become like children again... someone who's not prejudiced, someone who's willing to see things with a clean slate, you'll not be able to find the truth and the true joy in life.

It requires that you be willing to give up your cherished beliefs to come to the truth.... 

Now I'm not saying that you need to go through certain action steps or you need to live life a certain way before you're ELIGIBLE to see the truth. 

That's bullshit. 

You're ELIGIBLE to see the truth right now... all you need to remember is, that it's not a fight for which belief/assumption wins... you just need to see things as if you're seeing them for the first time without having any idea about what it is, how it is and how it should be... that's it. 

It takes courage to test the assumption of having a self and seeing if it's real or not. 

It takes courage to step off your routine path for a second.

Remember, you can always go back and take up your cherished beliefs, they're not going anywhere... but don't be so stubborn that you're not willing to take a peek into something just because you're not allowed to carry everything you own (your assumptions) with yourself.


One of the quotes that I really found interesting was by L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, now although I've not heard many positive things about Scientology, the following quote does convey something meaningful regardless of its source.

"There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn't there."

- L Ron Hubbard

Not seeing something isn't the worse condition, but seeing something never existed, is.

This is how the assumption of a 'self' comes across.... it's an assumption of the existence of something that never existed.... it can be a little bit confusing, but once you see the truth of it, you'll see how simple it is. 

Hope this helped a bit.... if you've any queries and would like my help for anything please don't hesitate to put on a comment below or reach me via twitter at twitter.com/RTMaverick.  

Until next time, 

Mav

The Two Aspects Of Freedom!

Hey guys!... it's been a long time since I've been active around the blog and stuff and I do apologize for not being very available in the recent past.

I guess there were two reasons for it... one being that I'm super swamped by work and all sorts of things that need my attention because I think if you want things to be sustainable in the long run for yourself then you need to take care of your shit first. Even though I love what we do here, I for sure think that a person will most definitely run out of fuel to help people and do awesome things if he/she doesn't handle the important stuff in his life - health, career/education/money, family/friends/relationships etc. 

The second reason was that I hadn't put much thought into this work that we've been doing here. I did came up with a few very interesting stuff but I guess one's "great theory" doesn't mean shit if it isn't 100% accurate for everyone. Sharing an idea and then getting it tested is super important ofcourse, however I don't feel that it's a good use of everyone's time to get any random idea tested by people only to find out that it's only fluff and there really is nothing behind it - unless you yourself feel that the idea is very concrete in itself and deserving of other people's attention.... which is why I didn't post many of my stuff which if taken from an analytical and philosophical standpoint might definitely prove to be very interesting and intricate... but ofcourse in the end it's all useless so what's the point. 

Anyway moving forward. 

Now.. all this time we've all been talking about freedom and liberation etc but still there's only one aspect of it that we've touched upon and that is the negative side of freedom - freedom from negative emotions, thoughts etc... and I guess Ciaran did post something related to the two sides of freedom - (PS. I haven't been made aware and don't really know what has happened to the whole RT movement and where things stand exactly but I'm posting this out for anyone who might read this and find something of value in it) - which was pretty cool - and so I wanted to delve a little bit more into it today because I don't think the concept of the two sides of freedom got the attention that it needs. 

And because I personally think it's a very important concept for anyone wanting to improve their life and improve their understanding of how things really work... and especially in this whole 'spiritual/philosophical' sphere you see so many people who're stuck in intellectual paradoxes that they just have everything else in their lives slip away and they can't manage (or even care) to succeed in any area at all.... not in the spiritual/philosophical side of things or any other stuff that matters. 

One thing that needs to get cleared up is that seeing the truth of 'no self'/'no you' etc.... it doesn't mean that you will have your life turned around. It doesn't mean that you'll be free from negative thought patterns and instantly shift into a Buddha of some sort who is free from all negativity in the world - HELL FUCKING NO.

SEEING 'NO SELF' DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING. 

That's the sad part. 

BUT. 

IT DEFINITELY CAN OPEN UP THE POSSIBILITY TO CHANGE.

Now that's something much more powerful and true than a 'one step get enlightened and happy forever' type of deal... which kinda does reek of the 'one click make money fast and easy' schemes. 

Both of these 'one step' things are just magic pills and they don't work as well as they claim to.

They do work a tiny-tinsy bit but that's just about it. And because you got something working for some time, you think there must be more to it than there really is... kinda like squashing out a small orange - there's only so much juice you can get from it and it will dry up pretty quickly. 

So how exactly can the insight/recognition of 'no you' help you in the first place?

By showing you that thoughts are just thoughts, emotions are just emotions and that there really is no entity that is hardwired to think and feel a certain way. There is no entity... and because there is no entity, the thoughts and emotions are just autopilot habitual things that are determining your actions and responses.. and because you're in the thick of it, you're not able to get a larger perspective of things.   

So what 'no you' can help you to do is create SPACE around your thoughts and emotions... give you some kind of distance between them which then allows you to pause and reflect upon the choices that you've in front of you... in other words, it can help bring you to a place of more awareness where your robotic habitual thoughts and emotions aren't the ones that are in charge and you get to see where will each thought/emotion take you.... you get to insert (if you choose to) a small pause and a reset before you actually jump to a decision. 

That's super important and the first aspect of freedom or the negative aspect of freedom if you want to call it. 

Now, the second or the positive aspect of freedom would largely concern itself with you implementing will power... will power to choose to move in a positive direction. 

Killing the negative doesn't mean life for the positive.

You can't expect the good and the beautiful to shine forth once you've destroyed the bad and the ugly... by destroying the bad and not developing good, you're only going to get things that are neutral and mundane... 

So here is when you need to apply your inherent will power to make decisions. By being aware of your choice of actions (having negative freedom) is what makes you 'wake up from the dream'.... and then using your willpower in a positive direction (having positive freedom) is what will make things beautiful once you're awake.  

Again, the goal is not to destroy thoughts/emotions.... the goal is to create space around your thoughts/emotions so that you can then choose to go forward or change these thoughts and emotions if they're not going to help you live a better life in the long run. 

I know it might sound simplistic and I might expand on it later if I think I can add anything else... but that's really just about it. 

PRESENCE/SPACE (getting distance from your thoughts/emotions = negative freedom) + WILL POWER (moving towards positive in thoughts/emotions = positive freedom) 

Now.. when I say positive thoughts/emotions I don't mean be happy when someone slaps you... what I mean is that you choose WISELY what will be the best action to take in the moment that will help you in the long run. If you keep smiling when someone's trying to push you around - then you're really not getting the message I'm trying to convey here and you're caught up in the 'too spiritual/too holy' mentality where you're not in touch with reality itself... 

An appropriate response would definitely be defining your personal boundaries and telling people to back off or whatever.... think long term happiness guys.... and think things through. 

But ofcourse don't over complicate things too much. Trust in yourself that things will take care of itself if you keep on learning and if you keep on moving forward..... 

Okay enough from me now. Hope you're all doing well.  

Please do post some comments :)
See ya soon.