Bernard Wisser: I guess if things and events are illusions and nothing happens by choices, even if knowing and awareness are always present, then no one can be held responsible for anything.
Not knowing, confusion, and uncertainty are part and parcel of being human. Nothing else doubts, only us. We doubt for an obvious reason; we want to know. We are not satisfied with ignorance, it simply does not suit the mind because the mind is a knowing machine. Even it's not knowing, confusion, and uncertainty are themselves known.
That said, "be a light unto yourself" is not a statement meant for rare geniuses, it is meant for everyone. It is a recognition of that knowing capacity and its need to understand, no matter its capacity. No matter what the capacity of your own mind seems to be, according to you or according to someone else, be a light unto yourself.
We hear so-called experts say things like "everything is an illusion," or "there's no one here," or insinuate that we should not say "inner/outer" because there can be no objective verification for that, and other such things; and we take them to heart because we are genuinely trying to understand. We want to know, yet we doubt our own capacity to one degree or another, so we do the next best thing and accept things we hear because they are stated with confidence and/or seem to have a ring of truth to them.
Well there's nothing wrong with that at all, if it's satisfies, but maybe someone just needs to tell us yet again to be a light unto ourselves for us to gain the confidence not to settle for any so-called truth until it makes complete sense to us. We will get some conclusions wrong even then, and inadvertently settle for partial truths, but if we are open and interested that will be revealed in due time.
"Everything is an illusion?" "There is no one here?" Really? Yes there are grains or even beaches worth of profound truths in those statements, but all I need to do is take the implications to their logical conclusion to see that even these "truths" can be profoundly misunderstood and misappropriated.
After all, every minute of our lived experience almost completely contradicts both of these statements, at least halfway. I do care, very much in fact, about what happens to me, and to who and what I care about. The pertinent question is what that actually is. What am I exactly? I play a role here based on my circumstances and the totality of my conscious and unconscious beliefs about the answer to that question; only I know if I'm satisfied with my performance, and how well I know the essence of my character.
Nothing is a farce! A farce is not a farce when I am charged with suffering it. Find out what really matters and don't be satisfied unless you are sure of your findings, no matter what anyone says.
What can any of us do but share our experience which changes from moment to moment?
All language is cultural indoctrination. I may know the difference between a timid person and a shy person but to a Spanish speaker they are the same.
I can never truly know another’s experience.
If I have shelter, food and someone to love I am pretty much winning the game....for the moment.
Physical pain sucks.
Psychological pain is easier to bear when I just let the tape loop play yama yama (yet again) when I plant the vegetables, walk the dog or look at the screen.
I used to keep a small table with photos of loved ones who had died. In the last few years I haven’t got a large enough table to do that.
Lately I've been viewing my life/experience as just a series of instructions that I then attempt to follow. Why? Because I want to experience peace and enjoyment as much as possible and this seems to be working the best for now, which is much much better than how I used to live by trying to impose my will and ambition on my world/reality. It's like surfing perhaps(I like the surfing analogies). The events and world happening around me are the wave, but(and perhaps more importantly) my mind is also the wave. The surfer can't dictate the shape or power of the wave... all the surfer can do is surf it.
I hope that someday they do have therapies that are not so much based on talk. I suffered with a panic disorder for years and talking about it seemed to me to make it worse. It wasn’t until I found someone who did Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and had me dispute my thoughts that I started to experience some relief.
Not knowing, confusion, and uncertainty are part and parcel of being human. Nothing else doubts, only us. We doubt for an obvious reason; we want to know. We are not satisfied with ignorance, it simply does not suit the mind because the mind is a knowing machine. Even it's not knowing, confusion, and uncertainty are themselves known.
That said, "be a light unto yourself" is not a statement meant for rare geniuses, it is meant for everyone. It is a recognition of that knowing capacity and its need to understand, no matter its capacity. No matter what the capacity of your own mind seems to be, according to you or according to someone else, be a light unto yourself.
We hear so-called experts say things like "everything is an illusion," or "there's no one here," or insinuate that we should not say "inner/outer" because there can be no objective verification for that, and other such things; and we take them to heart because we are genuinely trying to understand. We want to know, yet we doubt our own capacity to one degree or another, so we do the next best thing and accept things we hear because they are stated with confidence and/or seem to have a ring of truth to them.
Well there's nothing wrong with that at all, if it's satisfies, but maybe someone just needs to tell us yet again to be a light unto ourselves for us to gain the confidence not to settle for any so-called truth until it makes complete sense to us. We will get some conclusions wrong even then, and inadvertently settle for partial truths, but if we are open and interested that will be revealed in due time.
"Everything is an illusion?" "There is no one here?" Really? Yes there are grains or even beaches worth of profound truths in those statements, but all I need to do is take the implications to their logical conclusion to see that even these "truths" can be profoundly misunderstood and misappropriated.
After all, every minute of our lived experience almost completely contradicts both of these statements, at least halfway. I do care, very much in fact, about what happens to me, and to who and what I care about. The pertinent question is what that actually is. What am I exactly? I play a role here based on my circumstances and the totality of my conscious and unconscious beliefs about the answer to that question; only I know if I'm satisfied with my performance, and how well I know the essence of my character.
Nothing is a farce! A farce is not a farce when I am charged with suffering it. Find out what really matters and don't be satisfied unless you are sure of your findings, no matter what anyone says.
What can any of us do but share our experience which changes from moment to moment?
All language is cultural indoctrination. I may know the difference between a timid person and a shy person but to a Spanish speaker they are the same.
I can never truly know another’s experience.
If I have shelter, food and someone to love I am pretty much winning the game....for the moment.
Physical pain sucks.
Psychological pain is easier to bear when I just let the tape loop play yama yama (yet again) when I plant the vegetables, walk the dog or look at the screen.
I used to keep a small table with photos of loved ones who had died. In the last few years I haven’t got a large enough table to do that.
Great photo, by the way. 🙏
Love this, Robert!
Thank you.
Holy 👁️👁️…
They say when the student is ready the teacher shall appear.
Robert Saltzmans WORDS ROSE ABOVE ANYTHING that’s come before it…
The awakening I’ve had… he EXPLAINS IT!
YOU can’t teach it as he said… but I’m there.
I feel another AWAKENING coming.
My reality is being confirmed in a way I wasn’t aware was possible.
Lately I've been viewing my life/experience as just a series of instructions that I then attempt to follow. Why? Because I want to experience peace and enjoyment as much as possible and this seems to be working the best for now, which is much much better than how I used to live by trying to impose my will and ambition on my world/reality. It's like surfing perhaps(I like the surfing analogies). The events and world happening around me are the wave, but(and perhaps more importantly) my mind is also the wave. The surfer can't dictate the shape or power of the wave... all the surfer can do is surf it.
I hope that someday they do have therapies that are not so much based on talk. I suffered with a panic disorder for years and talking about it seemed to me to make it worse. It wasn’t until I found someone who did Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and had me dispute my thoughts that I started to experience some relief.
Listening to Jumpin' Jack Flash now! 🥰🤘