Quest for meaning

The narratives below are a demonstration of using romantic abstract language often applied to mundane spiritual concepts, then re-applying that language in a logical manner, as thought provoking paradoxes.

The Spiritual Life

For each one of us there is a quest to find meaning to our lives.   There is a purpose to our existence beyond living, working and dying where there is little time for the joy of living.   Life is a pathless land and following established beliefs only provides us with romantic delusion that brings us no closer to finding this obscure Grail.

Religious teachings often inform us that a spiritual life is obtained by attachment to a set of beliefs associated with an imagined afterlife.   Separating religious language from dogma and belief while retaining its poetic structure and applying it to everyday life enables us to see that a spiritual life is one of compassion that arises when all that we see in others is ourselves.

The spiritual life is also awakening from the darkness of the past, to live every moment afresh with vitality and alertness and dying to every moment that has past and not hanging on to it.   Then in this state of continual rebirth (to incarnate) is the purity and innocence of a spiritual life.

The Past

The quest for meaning is to look beyond what we already know while respecting previous knowledge.   Through ignorance we attach ourselves to that which is already known (the past) in the belief that this provides security.   As every moment in the present is unknown, only by releasing our beliefs and attachments to the past can the process for revealing the meaning of existence unfold.

Myths and Dreams

In western society myths and dreams often appear as contradictions.   The prominent symbol of contradiction is the crucifix, upon which we are nailed and torn apart and the torture of our mind is the crown of thorns.   Unable to come to terms with this, we relegate myths and dreams as being fanciful inventions of child like minds.   To accept myths and dreams as statements of reality that they are, will bring our fixed notions of beliefs into question.   Myths and dreams do not flow from the unconsciousness to tell us what we already know but to show us what we have yet to understand.

We live in a divided consciousness, which is expressed in many ways.   We are consciously aware of what is permissible to freely express with others and that which society disallows.   From this division we become conditioned to limiting our natural expression of ourselves, but to remain within us enforcing the experience of isolation.   Regardless of how this condition occurs, it forms our internal conflict and extends to the divisions we have with each other.   Only when our conditioned consciousness is no longer divided can we be at peace with the world and ourselves.

Meditation

To be still in thought and mind is the practice of meditation that enables us to see through the veil of illusion, which is the content of life, our identity, our beliefs, our attachments, our daily dramas and the language we speak.   Meditate means to measure bringing everything into perspective so as to have harmony and balance.   To allocate meditation to a ritual in time is an escape and not meditation but pre-meditation.   Meditation is an on-going occurrence in the very act of living.

Grief and Suffering

No one goes free of pain.   We believe we learn from pain and yet we would not wish it upon our children.   Violation, Abandonment, Betrayal are three early experiences of our childhood from which sorrow, grief and suffering arise and are re-enacted throughout life.   As we grow older we experience a feeling of further and further isolation with less relatedness and love and the removal of the joy of life.

The greatest fear we will not allow ourselves to experience, is to see who we are through our children's eyes.   And yet, all we have asked of our parents is to allow us to express to them who we are, and how we see them to be.

From this denial there is anger and isolation that cannot be resolved.   Until we are at peace with our parents (dead or alive) we can not be at peace with ourselves.   To be free of grief and suffering is to break a paradox.   Paradox in Greek literally means against opinion.   That is, we are alone - and in this alone-ness we are all-one - and our isolation is illusion.   (All-one and alone  are virtually the same word).

Love and Relationship

Relationship is the most important part of life, which cannot be when we are living in dependence as well as bearing influence over one another.   Our world has taken a path where security is based on the influence (control) we have over each other and not on what we collectively create.   Along this path there can be no true relationship.   We come to terms with this by seeing that nature is indifferent to our existence and that which is not indifferent is other human beings.

For relationship to exist there must be love. Love cannot be stated by what it is, only by what it is not.

• Love is not dependence or security.
• Love is not possession or jealousy.
• Love is not sex or marriage.
• Love is not obedience or compliance.
• Love is not belief or identity.

Love exists when all that which is described as love ceases -

Tradition

Tradition enables us to implement procedures from past experience.   This provides us with belief in security based on expectation.   Technology added to consumerism and commercialism creates a wild card that when coupled to tradition provides fuel for confusion and gives birth to disorder.

Imposing the past upon the present is the hidden agenda of that we are up against.   Looking at what is with freedom from what we have previously known - Beliefs, methods, formulas and philosophies demands the highest intelligence.

Imposing order upon disorder creates further disorder;   whereas understanding disorder dissolves disorder.

Social, political and corporate structures evolved from tribalism and nationalism in competition for the limited resources for physical security.   The evolution of Industrialisation and technology has brought about abundant resources for all to share.   The external battle for physical security has been transferred within us psychologically and becomes expressed through the never-ending conflicts in personal and professional relationships.

Organised religions and popularised spiritual concepts provide us with beliefs and the worshipping of words for illusionary romantic comfort.   From these descriptions, we have created the institutions of authority;   Political, social and economic systems, management practices, marketing and educational institutions including the lineage of family names.

The description has attained to greater importance than the described.

The belief that we can transform ourselves by repeating words, attachment to an image, conformity, status or attaining academic qualifications is an escape into a superficial existence.   The way we live is the result.   The craving for psychological security prevents physical security except in division.

Our hopes desires and ambitions drive our materialistic world.   Emotional energy is directed to self-interest and material gain in the belief that this provides us with security.   The inner anguish externalises itself randomly amongst us in the form of -  violence, suicide, depression, alcoholism and drug addiction.   Pic. Snoopy Underling this is the common ground on which we all stand.

Fear

Fear is devastating, it consumes the content of our consciousness, blinding us to seeing what is and disables us to transcend beyond it.   Is it possible to be free of fear ?   That is the ultimate question.