Is there anything that is not a story?
So far, our minds do not seem to know of such a possibility.
When does the story end?
It ends when we develop the habit of looking inward, at the ‘from’ of our experience, and seeing mind’s mechanism at work.
It ends when we realize that it really is just a story.
Revelations of Mind
Everyone now plays the game the same way, and each of us reflects it to others.
Within this framework, we endure a subtle, yet pervasive kind of bondage, lured by promises of pleasure and hopes of success, and driven from behind by doubts, worries, dissatisfaction, fear, and the overpowering need to fit in.
Revelations of Mind
It seems to be that most of the time we go through our lives in a kind of routine way, not paying all that much attention.
For instance, when we are walking down the street, we don’t notice very clearly what’s going around us.
If we were less distracted as we engage in mental activity, could we develop more clarity about how our mind operates?
Aren’t these questions more for philosophers than for the rest of us? We may not be able to justify our choices in any rigorous way, but we can still choose what we want to do. We may be wrong sometimes, but usually things turn out all right.
I don’t think you can make that assumption.
In the first place, do things really turn out “all right” most of the time?
Are we being honest about how much suffering goes on in your own life, or in the lives of other people you know?
Beyond that, it doesn’t seem smart to settle for things being mostly “all right”.
Dimensions of Mind
Allowing more room for appreciation in our lives we can see situations not so much as problems to be acted upon, but as opportunities for inquiry and learning.
This attitude gives us space to observe the scope of our situation more clearly and to discover more effective ways of responding.
When we begin to free ourselves from the need to react, even emergency situations can stimulate a new clarity and depth of vision that invite new insights and creative actions.
Knowledge of Freedom
The transience of the things you most cherish can inspire you to search for something that cannot be taken from you.
Hidden Mind of Freedom
Everyone knows that words have powerful effects on the mind.
But the words we use daily are not words that fully connect with our experience, and the meanings they carry are meanings that have been taught to us by others.
What does it signify, when our living experience can only find expressions in words that are borrowed from others?
Who originally determined these words?
And who decided what words have what meaning?
We may be able to track a word back to its linguistic source in a distant past, but can we determine what knowledge or what intelligence gave it shape and form?
Joy of Being
The best way to be of service is simply to focus on our work.
If your work brings joy and satisfaction; if you work for higher goals; if you act out of inspiration, dedication, and love, you can be confident that something good will come of what you are doing.
Encourage yourself at whatever level you can, and the positive energy you manifest will spread out into the world.
TNMC Annals
When you get more familiar with the internal qualities of your experience, your initial reactions to what is happening begin to change.
Eventually even challenging sensations can be encompassed by curious, sensitive , open awareness.
Awareness that simultaneously takes good care of you and keeps you safe and free from fear.
Without fear, without craving, sensitivity grows finer and awareness expands.
Kum Nye Dancing
Opening the world of thought does not depend on systems or psychologies but on direct experience.
If we can communicate with our own mind, we can open thoughts through thoughts; we can interpret without an interpreter.
The starting point is to see that we are not free that we are trapped in the field of emotions and thoughts.
The more deeply we understand this, the more easily we can cut through the bonds that restrict us.
The easier this cutting through becomes, the deeper our understanding grows.
Eventually, we can directly touch the meaning of knowledge, finding the source of vitality and abundance and with it, true meaning and value.
This discovery is like coming home.
Gesar Vol X .# 2
Suppose you say,
“I don’t want to rely on interpretation and concepts, I’m tired of an intellectual approach. It hasn’t got me anywhere. I feel unhappy and incomplete. I want to be more alive.”
This is good, because it means you understand something about the limits on our standard ways of knowing.
But look at what’s going on.
You have adopted a new position; you tried your old approach and you are looking for something different.
What are you looking for? You don’t know.
So you’re in the realm of speculation.
Speculation has its place, but if you try to build on it, you’re very close to delusion.
Dimensions of Mind