Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Chip's "Subtract it All"

Chip wrote this sometime ago about some 6 months ago or so and it was awe inspiring:

"Subtract it all until there is nothing left to subtract, subtract your mother, you were never born, subtract your children, they were never born nor were you ever a father or mother, subtract your role as child, subtract your role as parent, subtract your beliefs, subtract your concepts, subtract your personality. Subtract everything you hold dear, everything you love, including yourself as illusion. There is no self, there is only and only, that which we call Brahman , and not what we think Brahman is."

Chip's cut to some of the deep roots of unravelling of all beliefs, all views, all conceptions of what reality is.

Buddhism might call it Right View. 'An absence of View'. An absence of holding to a view-point or any belief that is founded on the misconception of a separate "me" here who is 'this'/not that with this view/against that view and 'that' which is not me out there with space in between experienced then, now and later. Have found there are generally four main mis-perceptions, mis-beliefs or mis-views at play;

1. Anything that appears; something, someone or inner experiences of thoughts and feelings actually exists.
2. Anything that appears: something, someone or inner experiences of thoughts and feelings actually are actually non-existent. (Opposite to 1)
3. A combo job. This or that is existent/real whilst this or that are non-existent/not real. (Combo of 1 and 2)
4. Anything that appears is neither of the above but is something else.

Sometimes it seems amazing at how real that experience of 'me' with these 'thoughts' and 'beliefs' and 'this' or 'that' out there seems. Experiences seem so very real. Objects seem existent. People do. My son' body does, too. The 'heartburn' of last night did too. And yet what does that mean, after all? 'Real' and 'not real', 'existence' and 'non-existence'? What the devil is at play here in this conceptual merrygoround.

As someone once said, 'real' and 'not real' only matter to 'someone.' And if there a 'someone' there a 'something' else distinct from 'me'. A conception. A perspective. Something not subtracted. Something clung to. Not right View.

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