Busting Out of the Bubble of Delusion (How All the Best Answers Can Pass Us By)

“Deluded by ignorance, man mistakes one thing for another. Lack of discernment will cause a man to think that a snake is a piece of rope. When he grasps it in this belief he runs a great risk. The acceptance of the unreal as real constitutes the state of bondage. Pay heed to this my friend…”

-->

from Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination

            It’s just the nature of the way our minds work that the world as we perceive it seems like a pretty important, pressing, and immediate thing. It’s really the tiny bubble of anxious circumstances that surround us – the bills we have to pay, the kids we have to pick up, the movies we ‘have’ to see, the politics we need to get our panties in a bunch about. In this ‘western’ society we live in, even when we expand our focus beyond that personal immediacy, we tend to look to mainstream media as the window to the rest of world – but in fact that is a tiny bubble of delusion, too. We end up getting our heads [literally] wired into a kind of sphere of presumed realities, when if we simply step back from it all and look at it objectively, we can see most of it isn’t really real at all.

What we all seem to have here is actually a perception problem – or let's call it a limited perception problem.

            There’s a lot of powerful forces that play with us in this way these days, what with all of the devices that we're constantly engaged with – hi-tech pocket belief-inseminators that enclose us in a kind of “protective and secure” bubble of reality, where our fears are managed by our ability to confirm what’s most comfortable to us. They don’t simply connect us to a very particular world, they monitor the complexities of our every reaction, and keep instant tabs on our fears and desires – in order to better form the realities they would have us presume. We walk around, staring at screens, surrounding our heads in a bubble of ideas that support a “safe” and entitled worldview—when just beyond the bubble’s confines, we clearly see that certain very very important things are going terribly wrong, and require some legitimate, immediate and principled attention too.

            Our mainstream media even goes so far as to constantly parrot that those profound values we’ve always taken for granted – values like honesty, sanity, responsibility, civility, and charity – are passé and archaic. We’re continuously told that we live in a “post-truth” world, when the actual truth we all know intuitively is this:  NO, WE DON’T.

We’re told that we have to look at things in one of two, or possibly three ways only, and by that volition we’re given the precious (democratic) gift of “choice,” when, in reality, if we’re only looking at the three choices presented in that one little bubble of delusion, we are actively surrendering a virtual ocean of far superior choices – the truly powerful potential we are actually swimming in all the time. That “acceptance of the unreal as real” is what “constitutes the state of bondage.”

It’s time for us to start paying attention to what we’re paying attention to!

“…illumining with the candle of our ego a bright circle of awareness, we also darken the remainder of the room…The process of making conscious thereby also makes unconscious…the ego concentrates into one pole the divine primordial half-light, thereby also darkening the divine.”

                                    James Hillman, from Senex and Puer

            The destruction of our planet's environmental balance, the willful vivocide of the planet’s biodiversity, the aggressive misappropriation of the Earth’s resources by a fearful minority, the rejection of the very values that keep humanity a going concern, and the suppression of Life’s collective intelligence, reason, and spiritual sanity are the ruinous symptoms of living in that little ego-bubble of delusion – of only casting light on to a tiny bubble of manufactured interests at the expense of keeping our real well-being, and our responsible stewardship of the planet and all the life on it, ignored in a realm of increasing darkness. We’re painting ourselves into a corner and trying to be happy cowering there because we’re essentially being brainwashed to think it’s the “best” choice we have.

Break out of that bubble now!

Turn away from that artificial technological reality, and place your faith in the miraculous underlying spiritual technology that supports and sustains all of being. Fear is what separates us, fear is what divides us – Love is our unifying reality. The presence of Love as a defining inspiration for change and growth is what must free us. The true reality of this amazing life is alive in that surrounding universe of infinite creativity—everything that isn’t within that tiny bubble of fear—the ocean of innovation, interdependence, and the energy of Love alive in all things, and available in absolutely every other direction we have to choose from—where all the spiritual solutions we need plainly are awaiting us.

“As you become more truly alive, you see an infinitude of universes, a beginningless, boundless sea of life, energy, and delight, full of goodness, aware of itself in its absolute ultimate peace and security, freedom and happiness.”

                                    Robert Thurman, Infinite Life

The latest book: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor from Llewellyn Worldwide can be ordered direct on this page or online; and the first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for them it at your local bookstore!

Groundhog Day Over and Over, Until We Get it Right (Redux)

everyday will always be now

In the great Harold Ramis film, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a self-centered, materialistic egomaniac who must relive a single day over and over until he finally learns how to do it right. Unfortunately, that sounds a little too familiar to me. He has to pass through one difficult doorway after another on his path of spiritual evolution, kicking and screaming all the way. Battling with himself. Along the way, he learns some important lessons–the hard way–that we can all stand to learn.

The two biggest challenges he repeatedly meets during his everlasting day consist of knowing when to surrender his will, and learning how to take right actions. The realization of his powerlessness in the face of things he can't control, like a snowstorm (piercing the veil of denial); and then detaching from the demands of sensory gratification–the destruction of his egoic self (his "dark night of the soul"). He must learn to be of service, without expectation for rewards, and realize true humility (absolute acceptance and tolerance). Ultimately, he's rewarded with the recognition of the eternal in everyone and everything (enlightenment); and eventually, after passing through these spiritual stages, he is  able to really know Love.

In the film, our anti-hero Phil, like all of us, is forced to confront the inconvenient truth that the world doesn't revolve solely around him. Becoming aware that I'm personally not all that important or powerful is a tough nut to crack, especially when I matter so very much to myself.  Doesn't that person on the subway know that I'm trying to get somewhere? Why can't that fellow employee see that my plan is superior? And why is it that I don't I get what I logically deserve (when less deserving people do)? Of course I am getting just that, all the time. I am creating my own heavens and hells, everyday. And so, at first, Phil goes about everyday the same way, creating his own hell in a slightly different way.

Again and again, he wakes up and repeats the same aggravating mistakes, failing to recognize the patterns imposed on him by his unconscious self-centeredness. Exercising his rudeness, his arrogance, his impulsiveness, and his entitlement only leads to more and greater suffering. (Unfortunately, that sounds familiar too.)

"The mind deludes him, binding him with the bonds of the body, the sensory self, and the ego. It creates in him the sense of "I" and "mine." It makes him wander endlessly among the fruits of the actions it has caused."

Shankara's Crest Jewel of Discrimination

Phil has to come to terms with the harsh truth that he's subject to the same world that all of us must endure, and hopefully transcend. (Don't they know who I think I am?) The failure to find any relief in sensory gratification, and the shattering of his egoic self-importance finally leads him to despair, helplessness, and a profound depression that results in a spree of suicidal self-destruction. Suicide is the urge to kill the self that causes pain, and so he wakes up to this life again, and again–always failing to kill the proper Phil. The Phil that needs to die.

"The ego's intelligence is only a pale reflection of pure consciousness that robs us of our true nature of joy. By identifying ourselves with our ego, we fall into this world's repetitive struggle of birth, discomfort, and death."

Shankara

Once Phil realizes that the solutions to our problems with the outside world never come from outside, he begins to gain access to his intuitive intelligence. Slowly, he recognizes that the answers must lie within himself, and in his own actions. With his surrender, he realizes that whatever he wants to accomplish, he can accomplish – if he's willing to lead a simply principled life, accept the position of being a humble beginner, to focus, and to simply do his best.  He learns how to play the piano, only for the joy of the effort, the joy of living musically, and the joy it brings to others.

"When you make the two into One, you will be a Son of Man; and when you say: Mountain, move!  It will move."

The Gospel of Thomas, 106

Then, intuitively, instinctively, he begins to help others. Every [eternal] day, the same people will need his help, and from his acceptance of humility comes the willingness to be of service, with no regard for reward. This is the transcendence of human potential – the movement away from self gratification, towards the welfare of others. This is the real impulse for spiritual evolution, for by taking these actions his transformation begins. He comes into alignment with the real nature of consciousness, which is the joy of being. He comes ever closer to everyone's goal – the realization of Love in our lives (as our lives).

"He who gives up action falls. He who gives up only the reward, rises."

Mahatma Gandhi, from Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita

As he loses himself in humility and service, he comes to recognize the eternal nature of his true self, everyone, and everything. He learns to live by the simple principles that always put the wind at our backs on the path to spiritual evolution, namely: Honesty, Humility, Compassion, Selfless Action, Generosity of Spirit, and Patience. Only then does he become truly effective. Only then can he begin to find the freedom to become his authentic self. Finally, when his life is devoted to the welfare of everyone he meets, he finds serenity, family, and Love. He becomes a real human being.

Oh it's funny–it's a very funny movie–but even though the film only lasts a couple hours, we never really know exactly how many days Phil lives over and over. Dozens, hundreds...millions? As is the case with all our fractal futures, we may never know how many times each single human life will have to be lived. How many times we'll have to ride this cycle of creation and destruction, out, and back, on our way to finding our true potential. Like Phil, we can all wake up everyday, trapped in the dark prison of our selves; or, we can wake up and see the light in everyone and everything.    

Everyday when we wake up, we either choose to see our shadow, or we don't.



Read about concepts like these and much more in: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor  from Llewellyn Worldwide available direct on this page, or online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for it at your local bookstore!

Groundhog Day: Doing it Over and Over, Until We Get it Right

In the great Harold Ramis film, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a self-centered, materialistic egomaniac who must relive a single day over and over until he finally learns how to do it right. Sound familiar? He (like all of us) must pass through one difficult doorway after another on our path of spiritual evolution, often kicking and screaming all the way.

The doors he's forced through in the course of his eternal day are generally  forms of surrender and action: realization of powerlessness (the piercing of denial);  the destruction of the egoic self, and detachment from attraction of the sensory self (the "dark night of the soul"); service without expectation for rewards, and the realization of true humility (absolute acceptance and tolerance); then the recognition of the eternal in everyone and everything (enlightenment). After passing through these spiritual stages, he finds Love.

In the film our anti-hero Phil is forced to confront the inconvenient truth that the world doesn't revolve around each of us. Becoming aware that I am personally not all that important or powerful is tough, especially when I matter so very much to myself... Doesn't that person on the subway know that I'm trying to get somewhere? Why can't that fellow employee see that my plan is superior? And just why don't I get what I logically deserve (when less deserving people do)? Of course I am getting just that, all the time.

Each day, Phil repeats the same aggravating mistakes, failing to recognize the patterns imposed on him by his self-centeredness. His rudeness, his arrogance, his impulsiveness, his entitlement. (Unfortunately, that sounds familiar too.)

"The mind deludes him, binding him with the bonds of the body, the sensory self, and the ego. It creates in him the sense of "I" and "mine." It makes him wander endlessly among the fruits of the actions it has caused."

Shankara's Crest Jewel of Discrimination

Phil has to come to terms with the harsh truth that he's subject to the same world that all of us must endure, and hopefully transcend. (Don't they know who I think I am?) The failure to find any relief in sensory gratification, and the shattering of his egoic self-importance finally leads him to despair, helplessness, and a profound depression that results in a spree of suicidal self-destruction...but still he wakes up to this life again.

"The ego's intelligence is only a pale reflection of pure consciousness that robs us of our true nature of joy. By identifying ourselves with our ego, we fall into this world's repetitive struggle of birth, discomfort, and death."

Shankara

Once Phil realizes that there's no escape from the difficulties of this world available from outside of ourselves, he begins to gain access to his intuitive intelligence, recognizing that the answers really lie in his own actions. First, he finds that whatever he wants to accomplish, he can accomplish, if he's willing to lead a simply principled life, accept the position of being a humble beginner, focus, and do his best.  He learns how to play the piano, only for the joy of the effort, the joy of living musically, and the joy it brings to others.

"When you make the two into One, you will be a Son of Man; and when you say: Mountain, move!  It will move."

The Gospel of Thomas, 106

Then, intuitively, instinctively he begins to help others. Every [eternal] day, the same people (everybody) need his help, and from his acceptance of humility comes the willingness to be of service, with no regard for reward. This is the transcendence of human potential. This is the real impulse for spiritual evolution, for by taking these actions, his great transformation begins as he comes into alignment with the real nature of consciousness, which is the joy of being. He comes ever closer to everyone's goal – the realization of Love in our lives (as our lives).

"He who gives up action falls. He who gives up only the reward, rises."

Mahatma Gandhi, from Introduction to The Bhagavad Gita

As he loses himself in humility and service, he comes to recognize the eternal nature of his true self – everyone, and everything. He learns to live by the simple principles that always put the wind at our backs on the path to spiritual evolution, namely: Honesty, Humility, Compassion, Activity, Generosity of Spirit, and Patience. Only then can he become truly effective, he truly contributes, he finds serenity, family, and Love.

It's funny (it's a very funny movie), but even though the film only lasts a couple hours, we never know exactly how many days Phil lives over and over – dozens, hundreds, millions? As is the case with all our fractal futures, we may never know how many times this single organism we call humanity has lived, and will live this cycle of creation and destruction out on our way to finding our true potential; but like Phil, we all can "make the road home, be home."     

Everyday when we wake up, we either see our shadow, or we don't.