A fool sees not the same tree that a wise sees.

Dr. Frank Crane wrote,
 “Every generation a new crop of fools comes on. They think they can beat the orderly universe. They conceive themselves to be above the eternal laws.
They snatch good from Nature’s store, and run…And one by one they all come back to Nature’s counter, and pay – pay in tears, in agony, in despair; pay as fools before them have paid…
Nature keeps books pitilessly. 
Your credit with her is good, but she collects; there is no land you can flee to and escape her bailiffs…
She never forgets; she sees to it that you pay her every cent you owe, with interest.”

This is a sad, but true commentary on the foolish. 

He has all the same wisdom available to him as other men, but ignores it, choosing instead to go his own misguided way. 
He perceives himself to be different than all of those who went before him, and pays no heed to the wisdom of the elders. 
This man is not capable of learning from the past, but instead only has the capability to learn by making his own mistakes, many of which are permanent.

These men are hotheaded and reckless. 

To teach the fool the martial arts, is to create a dangerous menace to society, as he uses what he knows only for his own personal gain, without regard to anyone else. 
The masters knew this fact and refused to teach martial arts to men of low character, but things are different in today’s society. 

Today, everything appears to revolve around money.

ps/smoh

Do not seek the wholeness of soul; rather seek the soul of wholeness - that's where the good stuff is

I believe in unconditional love, but I don't believe in unconditional relationships. There must always be a condition of kindness and reciprocity of love, loyalty, and RESPECT.

I believe in boundaries for love. 

Who told us to love unconditionally? 

And what does that mean, really? 

To give it all away? 

No, I believe in boundaries. 

They protect real love.

We can unconditionally love everyone but that doesn't buy everyone a free ticket through our boundaries.

There are a number of people I unconditionally love from a very safe distance. Once you open yourself for love you just can't help but love every living being. 

But not all can be allowed to close at any time.

I think a big part of the problem is simply that we forget to love ourselves unconditionally first.

For your information.....I love me, I won't let you show to the world that it is okay to violate me.

From soul to whole...

Think kindness covers it all; unconditional doesn't mean one takes neither the shit treatment nor the sneaky cheater. 

It's just I love you as you are but don't send crap my way.  

That's what I feel.

Kindness is a given for me, I believe in unconditional too, it is our free choice what we wish to be around, of course, always with the ability to move on, accepting others as they wish to be...

I believe that love – feeling and relationships, working partnership are different things and should probably have separate rules. 

Love, because it is a feeling, can be unconditional. Let's say, no matter what our partner does, our feelings toward him/her do not change ha-ha, this is rare. 

Relationships, however, are working partnerships. As such, they require conditions, boundaries, and limits to work smoothly.

The day when we know love and don't need to define it, just let it lives in us....

ps/smoh

There is no feeling like re-connecting with a soul you have known since time immemorial. Not only does it bridge you to one another, but it grounds you in your own karmic legacy.

Many of us are shadow-jumpers. We jump away from life’s difficulties with various techniques: self-distractive behaviours, wishful thinking, feigned positivity, the spiritual bypass. 

With so little evidence that the shadow can be converted into light, we opt to float above our lives. 

And many of us are light-jumpers. 

We jump away from life’s pleasures with various methods: perpetual pessimism, self-sabotage, emotional armour, the materialism bypass. 

With so little evidence that joy can be sustained, we avoid the possibility altogether. I call the healthy in-between that is, the capacity to hold both shadow and light at once. 

Except in truly unbearable situations, we stay with the shadow until it transforms. And we submerge in the light when it beckons, strong enough to endure disappointment, open to the possibility that the light will grow stronger over time. 

Let’s stop substituting avoidance for reality. 

We don’t know how long we have- let’s be here for all of it.

We have many shadows, and layers of shadow. 

Embodiment in the last piece and it is crucial we look those shadows right in the eye and take a look at them. Especially, looking at the dogmatic judgements we have around them. 

Loving who we are fully allows us to love others. It is a rare thing that we meet people who love themselves fully that way. 

Therein lays the genius that is us and tuning into and loving that, embodying that in our human selves integrated with our divinity, is how we rise while remaining firmly grounded in the life we are here to live. 

This includes opening ourselves to others who are not like us and loving them as we wish to be loved, darkness and Light. 

That is the last piece of the Embodiment piece...the opening and embracing of others and the entire world in absolute love. 

Becoming an island, as many now choose, is not growth, but classic avoidance. 

You cannot rise that way. 

This becomes an unhealthy shadow of its own.

ps/smph

There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous being...

There are a lot of people who will talk the talk, but not walk the talk. 
Many people will refer to their honour, but at the same time will lie, cheat and steal if money is involved. 
Sure, they will have their reasons and will justify their actions, but you can’t take “real” honour on and off like your jacket. 
Either you are a man of honour, or you are not a man of honour. You can’t have it both ways.

Don’t be one of those people who talk about honour and character, but in the end really can’t live up to what they profess. 
Living a life of honour is not always an easy path to walk. One of honour put their honour before their comfort or their convenience. 
People who are talkers but not doers, put their comfort and convenience first and squeeze honour in when it is convenient for them to do so.

The true being should be one of honour and virtue. One should walk the walk, and leave the talk to others.

I live to my standards, no matter what the consequences. This should be our attitude toward our code of ethics - uncompromising resolve.

ps/smoh

When the victory is yours, tighten your helmet cords.

We have all seen the movies where the hero has “defeated” the villain at the end of the movie, and just when we think the movie is over, the villain who we thought was defeated, attacks the hero one last time. 

This happens because the hero “thought” the victory was his and that the fight was over. As he lets down his guard and walks away, he finds out the hard way that he has declared victory too soon, and that he had not finished the job.

Don’t quit before the job is finished. 

When you can see that the victory is yours, do not relax until the battle is over – completely. Too many times people have victory in their hands only to let it slip away because they stop a little too soon. 
The fire is not out until the last glowing embers have been completely cooled and buried. The battle is not finished until it is over and the enemy is wholly and entirely defeated.

Declaring victory before the battle is 100% finished is a sign of underestimating your enemy. 

Any time you underestimate your enemy’s ability to hurt you, you are taking a great risk. Never underestimate your enemy – any enemy! 

Make sure the battle is over before you declare victory. Don’t let your victory slip away because of your overconfidence.

ps/smoh

Life...

Available for a limited time only.
Limit one (1) per person.
Subject to change without notice.

You might as well go for it.

Provided "as is" and without any warranties.
Non-transferable and in the sole responsibility of the recipient.
May incur damages arising from use or misuse.

Additional parts sold separately.
Your mileage may vary.
Subject to all applicable fees and taxes.

Terms and conditions apply.
Other restrictions apply.

^__^

For what we hold to be true will determine not only our attitude, but also our openness to the potentials of reality and ways of experiencing it...

We live at a time when all spiritual traditions and contemporary inner work schools are available to the interested seeker. 

Most teachings – maybe all- are available around the globe, largely due to advances in transportation and communication technologies. This presents both a unique opportunity and equally an exponential possibility for confusion. 

When we are new on a path or at the naïve state of a beginner, which can last for decades, we simply follow our path, assuming we have found the right or best teaching. It is usually helpful that we feel or believe we have found the right path, otherwise our motivation for practice can become diminished. 

We may even believe it is the best or most complete one, but in any case we need to assume it is at least a good one.

However, many of us rest in the comfort of believing all spirituality and spiritual teachings lead to the same place and aspire to the same awakening. 

A few decades ago what was referred to as the Perennial Philosophy was in vogue. It is the view that all spiritual teachings are about the same truth and aspire to the same realization. 

They differ in approach or methodology, but ultimately they lead to the same place. This philosophical view has been mostly forgotten, basically discredited due to deeper studies and fuller immersion in the various paths. 

It is clear, within contemporary spiritual discourse and/or for the seasoned practitioner, that each tradition is unique; not only different in its approach and methodology, but holds a different metaphysical view and aspires towards its own perspective of spiritual completion.

Because of the plethora of spiritual teachings nowadays, one of the vexing questions that confronts spiritual practitioners is what the true nature of reality is, what the ultimate or absolute truth is. 

The view of what the ultimate truth of reality is determines not only the territory of the path but also methodology and attitudes. 

So, is there really an ultimate truth to reality? 

And if there is, do all teachings agree on what it is, or at least agree but conceptualize it differently? 

The latter is the view of the perennial philosophy that has been discredited. 

Let’s take a tour around the spiritual universe to find out how much agreement and difference there is between the various spiritual teachings.

Let’s start with the Eastern teachings, for they tend to conceptualize spiritual maturity as the realization of the ultimate truth. Western teachings might conceptualize ultimate truth but they do not necessarily view the spiritual quest as the realization of such ultimate or absolute truth. 

We’ll begin in India, where many of the major ancient traditions originated. Most Indian teachings view reality to have an ultimate or final truth, and its realization is tantamount to enlightenment or final realization. Advaita Vedanta, for instance, thinks of liberation as the realization of pure consciousness. 

Advaita Vedanta has many sub schools. 

Some believe this pure consciousness is Satchitananda, truth/being-consciousness/awareness-bliss/happiness, all facets of the same ultimate ground. 

Some think of it as Brahman, a silent witness beyond the world and uninvolved with it. Most of these schools, such as that of Shankara, view the world as illusion or illusory, and the individual soul as a convenient fiction that the ultimate requires for it to experience enlightenment. 

But some schools of Vedanta, as that of Jnanadeva, think of the world not as an illusion, but as the expression of the love of the absolute. Some of the Vedantic schools view the ultimate as simply the act of perceiving, so it is not as static as Shankara or Atmananda had held. 

But even with the Vedantic schools that believe in pure consciousness or Brahman as the ultimate, there are differences. 

Atmananda believes in pure consciousness that is the nature and ground of all things, a consciousness that never ceases. 

Nisargadatta Maharaj held the absolute as the source of awareness, a truth that does not reflect on itself, and that if it looks at itself it simply ceases being aware. 

Ramana Maharshi called the absolute the Self, as an unchanging peace and stillness. It is true there might be only small differences between these, but it is possible to recognize that they are experientially different, with a different feel, unique attitudes and various degrees of value and development of heart.

When we go to Kashimir Shaivism, the absolute is Shiva, an unchanging static stillness. However, the world manifestation is due to its inseparability from Shakti, his eternal consort that is the dynamic creative dimension that is constantly creating the world. Is Shiva the same as Brahman? 

And are these the same as Satchitananda? 

Some will answer with the affirmative, but we need to study deeply and immerse ourselves in the practices of the respective traditions for us to experience reality and enlightenment as different and unique to each. 

The situation gets even more interesting when we get to the Krishnavites, who believe that Krishna is the ultimate, and even though his light is the ground of the universe – as in Satchitananda- he is ultimately a person, a divine personage whose beauty and radiance eclipses the majesty of Brahman or the glory of Satchitananda.

The situation gets even more interesting when we move to Buddhism, which also originated in India. For Buddhism, the Hindu emphasis on Brahman, Shiva or Satchitananda is delusionary, for they all assume an eternally existing and unchanging substratum. 

For Buddhism, the ultimate truth is Sunyata, the emptiness of inherent existence to anything. So there is no inherently eternally existing substrate, whether it is consciousness or Brahman. 

So the Buddhists will tend to refer to the Hindu conceptions as eternalist, substantialist or essentialist. Many of their masters and philosophers, like the famous Nagarjuna, believed they refuted such metaphysical views, and that emptiness is the only assurance of a final enlightenment. 

However, the Buddhist themselves do not agree on the status of ultimate truth. The Theravada school posits it as anatma, the emptiness of individual self, and Mahayana as Sunyata, the emptiness of all phenomena. But even in Mahayana Buddhism, there is no agreement on what the ultimate or absolute truth is. 

There are basically two trends, with a debate that goes on till the present time, as we see it in the various Tibetan Vajrayana schools. 

There is the Rangtong school that posits emptiness itself as the ultimate, and the Shentong school that posits empty awareness as the ultimate. One might think that since for the Shentong school, as in the case of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, where the ultimate is the expanse of empty awareness, it is pretty close to the Rangtong view of emptiness as the ultimate. 

But in reality, the debate has not settled yet, and the schism in the Tibetan schools has had a rancorous history. 

The fact is that experientially they are different ways of knowing reality. When the ultimate is emptiness we see everything as characterized by the absence of inherent existence; as the absence of being, and everything simply manifests wedded to its emptiness. 

There is no ground besides the insight and perception that nothing exists in the conventional sense. It is an amazing and freeing awakening. 

But when we experience the ultimate as empty awareness, we are aware of an infinite expanse, radiant and transparent. 

Its radiance is the manifestation of all phenomena as the same appearance. So, there is a ground, whether called Dharmakaya or empty awareness. 

When emptiness is the ultimate there is really no ground, there is nothing that is, whether characterized by emptiness or not.

This is one reason that some of the followers of Rangtong Buddhism accuse Dzogchen as not being Buddhist, for it smacks of eternalism, similar to Vedanta. 

In fact, it is similar to some forms of Vedanta, the main distinguishing feature is the emphasis on emptiness, the awareness of which seen as necessary for enlightenment. 

Vedanta does not have this requirement even though some of its schools recognize emptiness as spaciousness; and Vedanta, as in the case of Ramana Maharshi, tends to think of Buddhism as nihilistic.

This is actually not the end of the differences within Buddhism. 

The difference between the Rangtong and Shentong orientation has to do with the view of Buddha nature, whether it is emptiness or empty awareness. 

But when we go to Zen, things start to sound even more different. For example, we have the well-known teaching of Dogen, the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen school, that Buddha nature is no other than impermanence. 

This is a profound difference from both Rangtong and Shentong, for it involves how Buddha nature combines time with timelessness, this way giving a view of time missing in other Buddhist schools.

Taoism also posits an ultimate, even though not as distinct as Buddhism or Vedanta. Tao is referred to as the way, and different schools of Taoism define it somewhat differently, with similarities and differences to Vedanta and Buddhism.

When we come to the West, most of mystical schools posit an ultimate truth. Kabbhala has Ein Sof, Christianity the father or the Trinity, and Sufism Allah or the divine essence. 

They tend to be similar in their metaphysical definition of the ultimate, but the similarity is mostly that it is unknowable and beyond the world of phenomena. 

But there are significant differences as well. For Christian mysticism, to claim being the Father will be considered heresy, and for Kabbhala it is forbidden to even think of knowing Ein Sof, let alone realizing it. However, most of them do not equate spiritual maturity with the realization of such ultimate. 

They are united in viewing the spiritual goal as nearness to the ultimate, or sometimes union with it, that does not claim becoming it as the Eastern teachings tend to do. 

They differ in many ways from each other, each claiming to have the correct view of God or the ultimate.

For Kabbhala, realization is at best some glimpse of or nearness to kether, the first Safira, which is a limited manifestation out of Ein Sof. 

Some claim that the best that can happen is realization of Hochma, the second safira, and that full spiritual maturity and completion can only happen upon the final resurrection at the end of days. 

For Christian mysticism, salvation is union with the father, without that being realization of the father, and sometimes not even knowledge of the father, which is seen as fundamentally unknowable. 

For some, salvation is participation in the body of Christ, which is not the same as the Father or ultimate truth, even though not separate from it.

Sufism is also not a monolithic teaching, for it has many lineages with different metaphysics. Some, like the school of Ibn Arabi, allows for the realization of the Absolute, which is the divine essence. 

Yet, it is seen as mystery, and fundamentally unknowable. It is the source of the divine Being, the latter of which Ibn Arabi equates with Allah. Al -Jili is similar to Ibn Arabi, positing a divine essence, the truth of ahadiya, or unity, that is deeper than wahidiya, or oneness. 

The Sufis differ in their conceptualization of the path, not emphasizing the realization of the ultimate. They think of the path as the traversing of the stations of the path, and some of them view the final station being that of no station, no final abiding. 

Some also go as far as taking the view that there is no end to human completeness, as Nour Al Arabi held in Turkey.

The Sufis also differ in their orientation depending on how close they are to India. The Naqshabandis value the experience of the void, equating it with fana’ or extinction, for they originated in central Asia, near to the center of Buddhism. 

The Sufi lineages in India tend to integrate some Hindu or yogi metaphysics or another, but staying with Allah as the ultimate. So, some have the concept of Samadhi, alien to Western Sufism, as in Morocco or Syria.

The Western view of the spiritual journey brings in the question of whether ultimate realization is always the realization of the ultimate. 

For Eastern teachings, it is, but for most Western teachings it is not. For both Kabbhala and Sufism, the ultimate realization is the complete human being, not the realization of the ultimate, while they differ somewhat on what the ultimate is and what a relation to it can be for the mystic, in order to reach completion. 

So our first question is: what is the completion of the spiritual journey, realizing of the ultimate or human completion, or something altogether different?

This last question takes us to the various shamanistic teachings. Even though most of them focus on physical and spiritual healing and shamanic journeying, many have a spiritual goal, and they have different goals. 

For instance, taking the view of Don Juan, assuming that Castaneda was at least partly describing a real teaching and not only fiction, the aim is to escape extinction into an ultimate or absolute, referred to as the Eagle, and practicing to be able to retain one’s individual being while moving to its side. 

It is moving to the side we all go to after death, but as an integrated individual being and before physical death. 

This is just an example, and there are many others.

The next and most important question is: which ultimate is the true ultimate?

We ask this question because almost all teachings take the view that they have the correct ultimate truth of reality. Each believes they found the right ultimate or absolute truth, and other teachings are either wrong or second best.

One does not, of course, have to take the view of ultimate this way. This view of ultimate truth, which almost all teachings adhere to, is in some sense Aristotelian. 

It is a way of looking at reality to find the irreducible ground, the simplest or most primordial truth, the final cause or the prime mover. 

In other words, if we are totally free and can see and know absolutely freely, what do we see as the final essence or true nature of reality or all experience?

One can look at reality as having other kinds of truth that are more significant for the spiritual journey. That we can find truth that is not simply a matter of reducing experience to the simplest or most basic. It is like the difference between physics and biology.

 The truth of the physicist is the ultimate particle or element that constitutes all others. 

For the biologist, what matters is the organization of the aggregate particulars into a living organism, and then determining what is the most evolved or most advanced. 

Are there spiritualities that look at truth in this manner? 

In other ways?

The discussion I have given about the views and ultimates of the various teachings are my own understanding of them, and I am not claiming these traditions will agree with me. 

But I think I made the point about the different views of what is ultimate or absolute truth. I have known many of these ultimates in my journey of realization, and also views of spirituality and realization that are not about ultimates. 

In my immediate experience, each appeared as real and final, and implying liberation and freedom. I had to solve the situation for myself; not just for my mind but also for my liberation. 

And, also for the teaching I teach, the Diamond Approach. So for me, this contemplation is not an intellectual or even philosophical exercise. 

It goes to the very heart of soteriology, and hence significant for liberation.

I will wait before I say more, for I have already said a lot. I leave it to you to find your answers, and to share what you found. 

Maybe a useful and exciting discussion is to be had here. 

Maybe it is time for the ultimates to meet, not simply clash as they are doing in our global culture, and as they had also vied for first place throughout history. 

Such discussion is useful for the advanced practitioner on any path. But it is also of value for anyone anywhere on the path. 

For what we hold to be true will determine not only our attitude, but also our openness to the potentials of reality and ways of experiencing it. 

Such discussion might shake us to the roots, or might open us up in ways we have not expected or envisioned. 

Or both.

^__^

The question is how to leave the comfort zone... "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." OR ENDS DEPEND HOW YOU SEE ....

Taking the first leap out of your comfort zone is the hardest, though... but once you're out... Everything follows through, and you'll realize that living outside the box becomes your comfort zone.

After you have overcome your fears and emotional hurdles, you catch only in really to breathe and to feel the luck in yourself.

End of comfort zone leads to shift from habit of mediocrity to extraordinary.

The essence for positive change, life is about contentment in whatever you do you have that you have everything

Do not let the fear gets you, let your wings fly away, nobody gets as far as the one that never measures the DISTANCE

WE ALL have a major ROLE to play in the game of LIFE! No contribution or involvement is greater or less, in completing the over-all picture! We just have to take the first step; always believing in ourselves & others; coming together...united as one...to make OUR WORLD...the best it can be!

One will not actually Know or experience anything different, if we don't risk and adventure, explore and learn. 

Try a different way; it might make the whole difference to each of your days, but taking just one more step? 

Face the fear and do it anyway/ you will never know where life takes you?

Now. 

Here. 

Improvise.

Get unsafe. 

Less familiar. 

Uncomfortable. 

Difficult. 

Make waves. 

Define expectations. 

Risk failing. 

Feel vulnerable. 

Be bold and courageous.

If you want to make a change, you have to make a change. You have to make a choice, make a different choice.

Ps/smoh

NB

If you wonder what the stuff on the picture is:

I wanted to illustrate the "three big ones" in Life – Health (Ras & Blueberry), Wealth (Gemstones & Gold) and Relationships (homemade heart). Then there is frOde (Hippo), and I have no Idea how the Swordfish snuck in :o)

Acceptance is the mightiest prayer...

Change happens. It can be resisted but never defeated. Frightened people never realize this. They honestly believe they can prevent change indefinitely. They suffer unnecessarily because resistance IS suffering.

That is the very definition of a conservative. Change is a constant companion, people fail to see it in each and every moment...there can be no movement without change and no life.

Resistance is futile, prepare for assimilation. There can be no change or movement if not for the substrate of silent, still, unchanging sentience.

Suffering is the psychological refusal of pain, a resistance. 

All that is needed is INSIGHT. 

Unless of course you like pain or believe it is beneficial in some way, sometimes these things are dependent on which way an individual is 'wired' or whether 'insight' is possible.

Insight..... Great word but little understanding.

Human pain is not a choice.

Human suffering as I am using the word the psychological refusal of pain is entirely a choice. I can accept a painful situation or resist it mentally. 

The pain IS. 

My refusal or resistance to just being with it is what creates my suffering and is entirely my choice once I realize what I am doing to myself.

ps/smoh

I AM

Imagine a physicist who is doing a scientific experiment, trying to measure some phenomenon using delicate equipment. 
What would happen if that equipment was not calibrated correctly, if it was just a little bit out of balance? 
The readings he or she would get from the experiment would also be off by a corresponding amount. And if the physicist was unaware of this anomaly, the results would appear to be real and true in his or her experience. 
But they would be wrong, a lie. 
The physicist's "view of reality" at that point would be different than if he or she had correctly calibrated the equipment. 
In other words, our view of what is real is only as good as the "equipment" that is used to measure and perceive it. 
Sure, we also have the advantage of consensual reality, the views of other people that are the same as our own and which serve to validate our perspective, such as the commonly held belief and it is only a belief that the sun will rise in the East tomorrow. 

But a whole group of people can just as easily be wrong about reality as one person since they all use the same instruments to experience that reality: the same basic settings on the body's sense perceptions and the same basic patterns of interpretation and integration in the brain. 
People may disagree on propositional truths because these are rarely the result of direct, personal perception such as "God exists" or "God is Love." 
But few people will disagree that the sky appears to be blue, whether or not they understand the theories of light refraction and light waves hitting the retina of the eye or they just like the colour blue. 

So how can we know the truth? 
How can we verify that our perception of reality is the correct perception? 

We already have shown that consensual verification is no help. That is like a team of physicist making the same measurements using the same incorrectly calibrated equipment. 
Change the calibration and a whole new reality appears to spring into being. 

If we could mess with the perceptual aspects of the human senses and the interpretive functions of our brain, we would exist in a wholly different "reality." 

In fact, this is what happens with certain drugs, altered spiritual experiences, certain types of brain pathology, and the more severe mental illnesses. 
People with any of these conditions perceive and therefore inhabit a "different" reality. 
They see things sometimes radically differently than their fellows because their equipment is calibrated in a completely different manner. 

We say they are abnormal or that their temporary state is abnormal, but is it really? 
It may be abnormal, that is out of alignment with the norm, but is it necessarily wrong or deluded? 
Just because their perception of reality doesn't fit the average, consensual reality, does that make it any less accurate or valid? 
How do we know that the guy wigging out on mushrooms or LSD isn't "seeing" a more accurate picture of reality than any of us? 
We don't know. We can't know. And that's the whole point. 

We cannot know what is real in any objective manner. All evidence is suspect because all evidence is presented to us by our senses and interpreted for us by our brains. 
And this equipment is usually calibrated in a certain way, which presents us with a very limited view of what is real, an interpretive view of reality by definition. 

How do I know that when I marvel at the beauty of a sunset, which is really my brain perceiving and interpreting the phenomenon in a certain way, that the sunset wouldn't be even more amazing if I could perceive all the levels of light energy that are present there? 

The bottom line is, I cannot trust my perceptions of the world. Oh, they serve me well enough when I have to get from my home to A, B, or C but I can never have the confidence that the world I'm perceiving represents the truth about the world or the universe or anything else. 
Just because my perceptions and interpretations help me navigate the world and get along with other people most of the time doesn't mean they are reality. 
They are a version of reality at the very most. 
And even that is debatable. 

So where does that leave us? 
Me? 
With the only truth that can be known directly, my own existence. Certainly not my existence as Sayang Manzaini Osman-Hoad since that identity is created and maintained by the same perceptual and brain processes that present the world to my awareness. I know that I exist subjectively, as awareness. 

As that which can observe, regardless of the reliability of the input and of the interpretation of the brain. Beyond all specific content, I AM. 
I exist subjectively as perfect awareness. Without qualities or preferences or judgements. Just pure observation. 

That is the one and only thing that can be known with certainty because it is not dependent on the calibration of the equipment. 
More accurately, it stands outside the information that is perceived and interpreted or is PRIOR TO the perceptual and interpretive processes of the body. 
It simply watches. I watch. I AM. 
Nothing more or less is necessary to understand reality. Nothing more or less is necessary to understand truth. 
Nothing more or less can even be known to exist as anything other than a dream, an illusion created by....
I AM.

ps/smoh
and you are the witness..

The more fantastic and irrational the belief system, the more rigid and energetic its defence, it is not the other who disagrees that is being pushed away but rather your own deep seated doubt.

Hidden within even the most liberal mind is a secret fundamentalist desperate for certainty because NOTHING about life is certain.

Indeed, life is the very antithesis of certainty and this scares the hell out of most of us. Instead of imbuing life with a false structure and stability, some brave souls among us learn to embrace change, embrace flow, and embrace spontaneity and creativity.
This is the path to true peace.

It takes grit to explore the mysteries of life...but some in their minds are ready for constant change but why are they still in a rut?

I think the problem of their state comes from not accepting the rut and just being what it is...we want to be out of the rut, to change...but we can't let go of the rut, so our car continues down this road.

The reason we can't get out of the rut is because we give the rut existence by wanting to get out of it. We can't let go of the rut because we are resisting it. It's like either flowing with the stream of life or swimming against the stream. Life is change that is what it is.

But the rut is what we feel when we resist change like putting our hand in a creek and feeling the flow of water against it.
When I resist my own life, I think that feeling of water against my hand is ME, and I don't want to give ME up...so I continue to resist the stream of my own life. Let go....and the rut disappears.

We are all icebergs showing just out tips. If you want to see the iceberg you have to lower the water, which is a metaphor for consciousness.
Above the water consciousness or light, below the water unconscious or darkness; most of our being is below water.
Spiritual path is discovering how to become more conscious and see our iceberg, which melts when it gets in the light of consciousness.

Strange and wondrous that "nothing is certain" goes from being a fear, to being a mantra, to being "the good news".
I don't remember where I read it, but I read it somewhere along the way and it's a great pointer:

'If you want to find a real treasure, find that which, in your confusion, you've hidden from yourself believing it to be able to swallow you whole. Where would you hide such a thing? Where the last place is you you'd ever think would hold such a great thing.'

So, where is the last place you would think eternity...the interminable weight of nothingness could fit?

Not sure if that would qualify as a "koan" but it doesn't really have any answer that would help anyone unless you answer it for yourself with certainty.

Maybe we don't even have to investigate ...just be willing to listen deeply and silently.

In Zen they say you can't nail a peg into the sky. It seems logical that survival would depend on keeping things the way they are, especially if we like the way things are at the moment.

But the first rule of survival is really counterintuitive:
 "Adapt (change) or die."

The conservative mind has a really hard time with this.

ps/smoh

After A While

After a while you learn 
the subtle difference between 
holding a hand and chaining a soul 
and you learn
that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman,
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn... 

Namaste

I believe nothing, I have faith.

I respect everyone. I respect NO beliefs. They are always several steps removed from direct experience and therefore act as filters and ultimately distortions of Truth.

Respect comes with appreciation of the other. All distortions are pointers towards the some other better than that. Without beliefs there will be no trust towards the other.

Respect must be earned; it is not a gift to be given lightly.

It's like this. You live in the moment. You act in the moment. You evaluate in the moment. You want truth; you apprehend what is directly in front of you in the moment, WITHOUT concepts, WITHOUT naming, WITHOUT ANY PRIOR CONCEPTS.

Belief, a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. Like the practice of silent witnessing awareness.

Respect is a relation or reference to a particular thing or situation, an act of giving particular attention or consideration, a high or special regard. 

Like mindfulness of one’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and relative relationship with the world.

I think beliefs can be temporarily useful and even necessary for beginning the road to awakening, until some actual direct experience is attained belief may be all that one has from which to work. 

One needs to believe in the benefit of Truth, in order to even begin to realize it. Beliefs are just thoughts; they are useful and necessary as pointers towards the Truth. 

Ultimately, thoughts are Truth spontaneously manifesting, either way they appear to be worthy of consideration, until they are transcended and realized as Truth Itself.

Of course, prejudiced, or hostile belief can also be extremely harmful. I think that all beliefs are not equal in regard, or disregard, some lead to freedom from belief.

The stuff of thought, this helped me get over the "thoughts-are-bad" hump, every thought, word, and deed is self-contradictory.

I'm one of the great thinkers; I relish thoughts, receive them like you hear a song, am glued to them, jump up and write them down in a diary for years and have amassed an important book regarding knowledge. Thoughts are tools. Thoughts may be tools, but they also can be prisons.

Thoughts are either or neither neither good nor bad, just inaccurate and incomplete. Trusting thoughts and identifying with them is the source of ignorance. Also the source of suffering. 

Standing back as spacious awareness and watching the thoughts that run wily nilly through the mind is freedom and peace.

I have no idea what I'm talking about. If you're wise, you'll stop listening to me. Oh, and while you're at it, stop listening to your own thoughts. They isn’t all that either.

All thoughts are distortions of reality. Perceptions, if you will. Indirect. Filtered. Programmed. 

Now, having said all that, you can't get through a day without them, of course.

ps/smoh

Never leave that till tomorrow if we can do it today....

Don't wait for people to be friendly. 

Show them how. 

True compassion means to connect with others beyond their story and see no 'others' at all. 

All the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace - arise from beyond the mind.

It's all life, it's all you.....

Now, what do you want to do?

Life has no inherent meaning. It is simply of itself, so. All meaning is a projection of the mind in an attempt to establish control, purpose, direction, and self-justification. Life simply IS. It requires of itself no justification. In this complete absence of meaning lies perfect freedom.


ps/smoh

^__^

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, pain, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. Yeah, that's about the right ratio.

Love is the essence of reality, the energy that inspires creativity, and the source of all change and transformation. We live well only when we love well.

Look for the hidden depths in every person. Connect with their primal innocence and see yourself in the mirror of their heart.

This life, this moment, this place, this love, it is always exactly as it should be and the only way it CAN be. Begin with that and everything falls neatly and completely into place.

Whenever one move from describing to interpreting it is the beginning of Dogma. This life, this moment, this place, this love, this is beyond that seems like interpretation.

Have you ever met someone who was compassionate and understanding, loving and forgiving? 

Were they accepting of your mistakes even as they celebrated your successes? 

Did their very presence bring out the best in you and make you feel protected and cherished? 

Did you feel you could conquer any obstacle and face any fear because of their love and support? 

These are the enlightened ones pointing to the truth within us.

Live fearlessly, love completely, and question boldly. 

Never play it safe when life asks you to take risks. 

Never withhold when love asks you for radical generosity. 

And never capitulate when the mind asks you to accept easy platitudes and positions. 

Even this one.

"I was going to buy you a present but

what's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or

water to the Ocean.

Everything I came up with was like taking spices to

the Orient.

It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you

already have these.

So, I've brought you a mirror.

Look at yourself and remember me."  - RUMI

ps/smoh

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

Sometimes I receive mail and messages from people who admire my lifestyle and way of thinking. This is nice, and if you gain value from my example – wonderful.

However, take notice that though I share beautiful images and wise words, my life is not all that super-duper. I have freedom and can do what I want – sweet, but also worries and dark moment like everyone else. This is the nature of life.

So appreciate qualities in others and seek to develop them in yourself, but realize that there is no 'right' path, there is only your path and your path is unique.

Life is never just black and white is always a multi colour. To see all in the positive way, rainbow colours needs to be learned sometimes.

'Love yourself' seems to be the answer to basically… everything. 

But what is 'to love yourself' anyway? 

For me it is about closing the gap between the state you are in, and your higher potential: the Integrity Gap from Latin integer; whole.

You are divine spirit having a physical experience by your own choosing. Consider it a master class in moving from limitation to freedom, expressing who you really are, finding your authentic core, to the best of your ability.

This is a bumpy and challenging class, and therefore you will sometimes feel a void, a longing somewhere deep down, that something is missing – something does not feel right. This is part of the game design, an inherent grasp for self-worth and purpose.

So we do our best, by trial and error, and along the way we try filling this endless hole with external stuff like food, alcohol, belief systems, entertainment, drugs, sex, work – it's a long list. 

We know it's only a temporary band-aid, not addressing the cause of the problem, but it gives us relief for a second.

When you feel bad, you are not in alignment with your destined path. Your body recognizes the stress, frustration, misdirection, and responds by storing fat. 

Call it a soft wake-up call.

As the path of abundance isn't the path that maximizes velocity. It's the path that minimizes friction.

So quality food and training are important factors for good health, however nothing a release fat from your body and contributes to all wellbeing more efficiently than finding inner alignment and developing your state of being.

You are worthy.

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose” • Yoda

ps/smoh