Are You Sure?

     "Real faith means holding ourselves open to the unconditional mystery which we encounter in every sphere of our life and which cannot be comprised in any formula. Real faith means the ability to endure life in the face of this mystery.” Martin Buber 


When You Are Old
W.B. Yeats

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, 
And nodding by the fire, take down this book, 
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look 
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace, 
And loved your beauty with love false or true, 
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, 
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars, 
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled 
And paced upon the mountains overhead 
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.



     “If you want a barometer for progress in practice, look at how skillful you are at holding ‘not sure’. It’s very different from what most spiritual disciplines teach. Exercise the skill of being mindfully ‘not sure’, apply it and try it out. Remember this is not just another technique or position we grasp in our search for security. Really try it out in your formal practice and in daily life. Start to experiment with the result of restraining the mind’s tendency to grasp at wanting to be sure.” Ajahn Munindo 


     "Certainty": http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/03/certainty.html

          "In the Forest" watercolour on rice paper by Krista Hasson   http://fogforestgallery.ca

Not Knowing

What am I seeing?

What am I feeling?

As I hold you close

As we hold not knowing

Lovers Embrace by Alice Mason   https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/AliceMasonArtist?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Don't Know Mind, Have No Opinions, See Things as They Are

     “Thinking we know costs us all we don’t know – which is nearly everything. Knowing is a veneer our minds create and lay over the landscape like a painter’s drop cloth set upon a forest floor. Its uniformity protects us from the pine needles and beetles, but it also obscures them, as well as the soft moss, fragrant soil, and teeming complexity of nature’s bed. Our knowing is nearly always tinged by the filter of our conditioned outlook, and what we see as ‘true’ is determined by our expectations, preconceptions, hopes, and fears. In short, the things that define the self stand between our awareness and our environment as such. In moments, however, we catch glints and feel the breezes of something more direct, something outside that self system. It may just be a clearer view of a mountain range … or it may be something with a strong impact on our lives.
     We can meet this world immediately, but … we sacrifice security.”

        Kramer G. “Insight dialogue. The interpersonal path to freedom.” Shambhala, Boston, 2007.

     Our sense of "being certain": http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/03/crisis-of-faith-limits-of-intellect.html

Tim A2   www.dpreview.com

 

Crisis of Faith, Limits of Intellect, Magical Thinking, Ego, Processing Obstacles, Meditation

      “… most of us have agonized over that sickening ‘crisis of faith’ when firmly held personal beliefs are suddenly stripped of a visceral sense of correctness, rightness, or meaning.”

       Burton RA. “On being certain. Believing you are right even when you’re not.” St. Martin’s Griffin, NY, 2008.

     Burton's book takes one as far as the intellect can go. But the intellect hits a glass ceiling, arresting at a relatively early stage in the normal psychosocial development trajectory. Sadly, many scientifically-educated people (religiously) believe that science / cognition is the source of all reliable information, and that Freud's "ordinary unhappiness" is "as good as it gets."

     If we seek the truth, and can handle it, we explore what is true with all our senses (mind-heart) open - with an "I don't know mind." This involves letting go of all ego-maintaining dualistic magical thinking. Many spiritual seekers hit and arrest at an emotional glass ceiling - unwilling to let go of comforting dogmas which they've outgrown.

     Sitting meditation, particularly over years of serious continuous practice and meditation retreats, gradually helps "process" obstacles to experiencing reality. This is mind-body work that each individual needs to do for herself to experience - even the Buddha didn't offer short-cuts.

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/03/304-positive-psychology-cynicism.html
     and: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/04/dont-know-mind-have-no-opinions-see.html

Suffering - Avoidance; Freedom - Curious

     "The whole of the ancient, master teachings on suffering come down to this: Suffering is the notion 'This isn't it,' and its variants, such as 'I can't bear this, it shouldn't be happening,' and 'I have to know how this will turn out,' and 'What if it gets worse?' When we want something to be over, we lose compassion for ourselves, now.

     Freedom, or waking up, and fearlessness come down to the simplicity of 'Wait a minute, what if this is it?' and its variants ... 'I don't know.'"     John Tarrant Roshi  Shambhala Sun, March 2013

Photo: Ekaterina Negoda   www.dpreview.com