“True wisdom is always preceded by great suffering…” -
Buddha
In Ancient Aramaic there is no word for “Wrong.” There is only “Right” and “Not Right.” In my office I usually explain this with a
business card. I have seen Dr. Michael Ryce
use a Quarter. Anything that has two
sides will work…since it requires that two people sit on opposite sides of this
object and “see” what it is they are SURE they see. Of course the person on the other
side…witnessing the same object sees a different side of the same object, story
or event.
Of course they are BOTH right…and it actuality they are both
not right.
“The ego is only consistent in its inconsistency.” (ACIM)
Recently I have read about these AGE
toxins in high heated cooked foods. They
are responsible for the deterioration and aging process within all of us. Their
full name is Advanced Glycation Endproducts and they are nasty things.
I have read about Sugar, and how it is one molecular
structure away from Heroine. It must be
bad for you.
I have seen how protein is good and carbs are bad and the
opposite of that. I have seen many
holistic doctors knock the medical doctors and say that Cholesterol is a hoax
and of course the MD’s fight back with their “evidence” and are sure that holistic
doctors are “quacks.” There are diets of
all sorts…they even blame it on this overall thing called stress. If I find something that says cashews are
“good” for you, a report comes out that says they are “bad” for you.
Of course they are all right. They are also not right.
“Everything in moderation, that’s the key.” ~ Salvatore
Victor Sudano
My Father said that line many times to me many moons
ago. When I think of it now and how
powerfully he said it over and over. I
know that this man had many a Buddha moment.
This of course sounds like Buddha’s “Middle Way.”
Let’s say I came to you and showed you a huge bolt I held in
my hand that came from a bridge and said, “Look, I have a bridge!” Am I right?
If someone else came with a cable from the bridge and said
“Look I have a bridge!” Is he right?
And someone else with a truss from the bridge? Are they right?
They are all right…and yet…they are not right as well. But they are also not wrong either.
This is what I believe is happening with the world. I honor it because people are challenging and
striving. BUT, when they claim, “I have
THE answer” they are only seeing a “piece” of this puzzle. A part of the whole. Remember that line above from the ACIM: if there is inconsistency it is of the
ego. THAT means if it is not ALWAYS like
that it is not real or correct. Anyone
who has ever dieted can attest to the fact that doing different diets produce
the results of losing weight. But they
are temporary since they miss the whole.
They miss the head space of WHY this person thinks weight is important,
of why this person is holding on to this being their direction and their
way. It is like hiring the Police chief
to find the murderer when HE is in fact…the murderer.
So instead of working from the top down, we are all dealing
with the bottom up and somewhere in the middle.
Not that that is a bad thing, indeed we must start with where we
are. BUT to say “I have found the
solution” and you point at something external or some external world teaching
is the folly. THESE world teachings are
only partials…they miss the bridge, they miss the whole.
So why do we do this?
Why do all of us try and find the answer and THEN attach to it like
this? Because we are wired by the
creator to seek and to FIND. The ego on
the other hand is taking that “seek” part and shifting the second part to NOT
FIND. After some time of seeking we
become disillusioned since we have been seeking for the very thing that will
never work. We are terrified to be led astray. But we keep on trying, idolizing anything and
everything along the way. We defend our
new idols as if we are defending our very lives…because indeed we BELIEVE these
idols equate to our very lives. We identify with them, make them the same as
US. “If I am not right about this
belief, I am diminished…I am less than…”
So what is the solution?
It is to challenge. NOT to get
the “form” of it right…but to CHALLENGE in ALL of its aspects.
Go out and see the bolt in the bridge, call it THE bridge,
claim it as your new identity, worship it, defend it. Then it ultimately fails you.
Go out and see the cable in the bridge, call it THE bridge,
claim it as your new identity, worship it, defend it. Then it ultimately fails you.
Go out and see the Truss in the bridge, call it THE bridge, claim
it as your new identity, worship it, defend it.
Then it ultimately fails you.
Now you
become disillusioned. You begin to move away from
worshipping THINGS, you become cynical and begin to worship ANTI-THINGS.
Go out and see
the politics (etc..). Denounce it & call it THE problem, claim it as your
new identity, worship it, defend it.
Then it ultimately fails you.
Go out and see Religion. Call yourself an Atheist. Denounce
religion & call it THE problem, claim this position as your new identity,
worship it, defend it. Then it
ultimately fails you.
Go out and see the Atheists. Call
yourself a person of God. Denounce them & call them THE problem, claim that
as your new identity, worship it, defend it. Then it ultimately fails you.
Go out and see the people. Denounce them & call it THEM
problem, claim this belief as your new identity, worship it, defend it. Then it ultimately fails you.
Go out and see the world. Call yourself a reasonable person
or a realist. Denounce it & call the world THE problem, claim it as your
new identity, worship it, defend it.
Then it ultimately fails you.
Now comes pain, disillusionment times a thousand. Whether you are FOR something or AGAINST it it is all the same. You are let down by RELYING (read: idolizing) on it. You give up…and then:
The peace which passeth all understanding. Somewhere you get a huge truth. You realize all your little beliefs and idols
are not true (the perceptions and parts are not the bridge). The parting of the egoic clouds has begun.
Now your teaching can begin.
So you set out on a journey to realize THE Bridge, The WHOLE Bridge, The WHOLE story, The WHOLE truth.
One must begin by challenging everything one can in the
world. To attach to beliefs is not a bad
thing in the overall process even though ultimately it is not correct. It is necessary to get to a point of
realizing idolizing is a failure, a huge bomb.
Taking positions and beliefs is necessary to this world so we ultimately
become sick and tired of it failing us.
Think of how many different beliefs you do than you did when you were a
kid, 10 years ago, 5 years ago…last year even.
You will have different beliefs tomorrow than you do today. So why fight for them?
To learn that no idol will ever serve you and make you
happy. You have tried to make an idol make you happy.
The key to this is knowing THAT is what you are doing. So can you name some persons, places, things,
events, beliefs, histories that you are currently idolizing?
