|
|
Post by desertrain on May 22, 2010 12:58:23 GMT -5
I believe that for many people, the search is fueled by the feeling that something is missing. I'm certainly one of those people.
Yet it is repeated over and over that you already are what you seek.
Anyway, today I read this quote: "The search automatically brings in the notion that there is something missing." A question then appeared in the mind: What is missing? Immediately after thinking this, I burst out laughing. It went on for some while. For some reason, the notion that there could be something missing seemed incredibly funny. I don't know if it had something to do with the moment itself, because I was relatively content at that time, but somehow the reaction struck me as very strange. Perhaps it was some kind of recognition from a deeper level that nothing indeed could ever be missing. When I look back at how this life has unfolded, there never really has been anything missing, despite any thoughts to the contrary. That is, regarding material circumstances, but how often does one hear on this board and elsewhere that the same goes for the "object" of the search? It's always there, and couldn't possibly be lost. It's just that the mind is always looking for something else than that which is here.
Note: there wasn't any kind of a shift or realization involved in the event: just that strange, spontaneous laughter. The seeking will still probably go on.
|
|
|
|
Post by enigma on May 22, 2010 18:31:48 GMT -5
The question 'What's wrong RIGHT NOW?' can be useful because the problem is in mind's projections about what's happening now. Even if there is pain right now, it's not really a problem until mind projects it into the imaginary future and starts struggling with the idea itself, which results in suffering. So, asking that question can bring the focus to the present where nothing can be found to be wrong.
I guess I would say 'life unfolding' is all about missing stuff, and when I 'look back' I see the movement of stuff missing and something missing stuff looking for something. The experience of separation is all about missing stuff, but that doesn't imply there a problem with stuff being missing. Finding stuff can be lots of fun.
In order for experience to happen, there has to be the appearance of separation. Not necessarily the belief, but the appearance. Separation implies an experiencer and something experienced, and it implies lack and lack implies desire and desire implies movement and movement is experience. We like to turn most of that into a problem so that we can fix it and we won't have anymore problems. There is indeed a lot of humor involved in that but not so much from with the problem solving.
|
|
|
|
Post by desertrain on May 22, 2010 23:42:48 GMT -5
What's wrong with right now is indeed a good question and is even a title of a book by Sailor Bob Adamson. Added in parentheses was 'if you don't think about it', which really is the whole point. Yes, that movement, looking for something, even if it's just going shopping for food seems to be a central element of everyone's story. Beyond basic needs, there can be the looking for a better job, a degree, a relationship, a better looking body, spiritual experiences, whatever. What the mind usually does is to project fulfillment into the attainment of these things, thus creating that gap between what's happening now and the future. There seems to be something missing now, when in reality there isn't, it's just the unfolding of the story. As time has gone by I've become more interested in how the story is unfolding before my eyes moment by moment than in the goals my mind might project into the future. I've also noticed the thing alluded to here and elsewhere, that the movement toward certain goals, be it getting food or studying for an exam to ultimately get a degree, takes place by itself. I just watch it happen. Things only get complicated when the mind gets involved. Just rambling. Anyway, thanks for your input.  |
|
|
|
Post by enigma on May 23, 2010 0:14:01 GMT -5
What's wrong with right now is indeed a good question and is even a title of a book by Sailor Bob Adamson. Added in parentheses was 'if you don't think about it', which really is the whole point. Yes, that movement, looking for something, even if it's just going shopping for food seems to be a central element of everyone's story. Beyond basic needs, there can be the looking for a better job, a degree, a relationship, a better looking body, spiritual experiences, whatever. What the mind usually does is to project fulfillment into the attainment of these things, thus creating that gap between what's happening now and the future. There seems to be something missing now, when in reality there isn't, it's just the unfolding of the story. As time has gone by I've become more interested in how the story is unfolding before my eyes moment by moment than in the goals my mind might project into the future. I've also noticed the thing alluded to here and elsewhere, that the movement toward certain goals, be it getting food or studying for an exam to ultimately get a degree, takes place by itself. I just watch it happen. Things only get complicated when the mind gets involved. Just rambling. Anyway, thanks for your input. Zakly. Another interesting deal is that what brings joy is not the fulfillment of desire but the temporary absence of desire resulting from the fulfillment. |
|
|
|
Post by divinity on May 26, 2010 15:15:22 GMT -5
I think that what might be missing ( with that feeling one gets in the gut when the feeling of something missing happens) is knowledge/faith that there is never anything missing except for ourselves.
How do you feel when not feeling that something is missing? When do you feel that something is missing? Important things to track.
Observing the initial feeling, the thought which preceded it, and watching it fall away can teach us much.
|
|
