What Have We Lost?

[Guest guest]

Thank you for these truths Daniel. As you say, once we become our

spirit and recognize that is who we are, our lower self vanishes.

 

Thank you Daniel,

 

Chuck

 

, daniel

<kriptodanny> wrote:

>

> What Have We Lost?

> by Bob Fergeson

>

> http://kriptodanny.blogspot.com/2005/10/what-have-we-lost.html

> " When Freud coined the phrase that the ego was 'the true seat

> of anxiety,' he was giving voice to a very true and profound

intuition. "

> ~ C.G. Jung, Psychological Commentary, Tibetan Book of the Dead

>

> We come into this life complete unto Ourselves. Helpless in body

and mind, and a bit forgetful perhaps, but still possessing faith in

our Self-sufficiency. As we begin to look around us at the

fascinating play of form and feeling, we slowly begin to lose our

innocent Self-absorption and begin to be seduced into the present

dimension. We can't help it, being terribly naive and still somewhat

innocent (though carrying an unconscious package deep inside, the

basis for our arrival here in the bardo of life). This regretfully

changes, as we are soon permeated with an unseen fog-like state of

mind we inherit from our newly chosen home environment. Constantly

battered by moods and emotions we do not understand and cannot

question, we find ourselves facing a daily onslaught of conflict and

stress, followed by relief and pleasure, all designed to hook our

attention in the outer world. The unconscious tendencies we have

waiting patiently inside soon enough find their counterparts in the

> willing environment. Our mind is eventually set in concrete by the

pattern of action-reaction with the world as we have encountered it,

leaving little freedom of movement. We become hopelessly outer-

oriented. With every passing year, the pattern becomes more fixed,

and we ourselves become more convinced that the solution lies in more

of the same. More control, more action-reaction, more identification,

until we finally conquer and become master of the very environment

that made us, or so we think. As someone once pointed out, this a

good working definition of insanity. But here we are.

>

> We have become hypnotized by the world. Our mind, and the minds of

those who taught us from birth, have convinced us that we are an

individual, a separate " thing " in a world of separated things. This

sooner or later creates the unquestioned, complete identification

with this illusory " thing, " this knot between the sentient Self and

the world. This knot is called ego, nebulous at best, though it calls

itself " I. " Because we have transferred our very sense of being into

something unreal, which must be continually created and enforced, we

feel an underlying anxiety, a longing for something, something stable

and inherently self-sufficient. We, as ego, mistakenly transform this

anxiety into a hope and belief in fear and desire, and we turn again

and again to the world for the solution to our own mind-made problem.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead gives us a hint at how serious this

transference of meaning from the real to the unreal can be. Death of

the body may not break the spell. Even in

> our dreams and fantasies, we are continually wandering, looking

for safety and fulfillment in ego-building and unquestioned belief in

our desires and fears. We have lost our Selves, and can only react to

the creations of our own now desperate minds.

>

> As we continue through life, becoming more and more engrossed, our

thoughts and actions reinforce themselves and the driving forces

behind them, leaving less and less chance for any meaningful change.

Just as in the world of the after-death Bardos, where at every step

of the way the mind becomes more and more sensually oriented, more

and more emotionally strident and confused, where in desperation, the

wanderer eventually returns to life and the world of bodies and

things in order to manifest its unconscious fears and desires, so is

it also in this life. We wander from one game of desire to another,

encouraged by success and pleasure, and driven by fear and our

growing anxiety: the carrot and the stick that deny us any rest. We

become obsessed with our health and possessions, and when faced with

death, will do anything for even one more week of existence. We

continue to turn towards life, bodies, and emotional highs and lows,

making the same mistakes over and over, never guessing

> that the solution lies within, not in the manic, repetitious

attempt to control the outer environment.

>

> The world is change. Any hiding place or fortification we crawl

into, or pleasure palace we build, will fail us, someday. All form is

subject to this never-ceasing change. Only in the Formless can we

find the road Home. This wandering from bardo to bardo, dream to

dream, gives no peace or true understanding. The true cure for our

anxiety and longing is the death of the ego, not the body. We have

lost our connection to our Inner Self, not some thing, or some needed

control over things. Instead, with non-attachment and great

attention, look at the world, at the little life you think you love

and hate so much, and at your anxious fear of it, at your coming

death. Question everything, especially your self. Then, hopefully

this dream of existence will be seen for what it is: a never-ending

play of form upon emotion, a wandering through desire and fear that

never ceases. Turn your attention back to your Source, to the Love

within, and find peace for the wanderer, the lost traveler in the

> endless bardos of life, death, and dreams ...

> .............

> daniel

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