To: K-list
Recieved: 2001/11/07 07:14
Subject: [K-list] the art of being
From: Michael Read
On 2001/11/07 07:14, Michael Read posted thus to the K-list:
Within each of us everything exists. All the evil and all of the good
can be found in every one of us. For most folk the conditioning from
childhood on and our basic instincts are for the good. We are taught and
trained that there are bad things, people, places, food and so on. These
things, we learn, are to be avoided or overcome. Thus, we are not only
born into duality, we are trained for it.
We are also born with another instinct. We naturally feel a movement
towards wholeness. We feel at home on this planet. Even if only deep
down, layered over with a world of concepts, we feel right about being
alive. It seems 'correct' somehow to just be alive.
The so called spiritual seeker is born somewhere between the correctness
of being alive and the fears, horrors and injustices of the world. Folks
who seek are looking for something that will explain, integrate and make
sense of their lives. From this seeking we know that religions and
philosophies have been created as systems to explain it all - or, at
least try to.
Seekers will do almost anything to find whatever it is they seek. They
could be seeking god, understanding, money, or whatever. Seekers will go
all over the world, if they have to, to find the object they want. In
the early stages of seeking the thing sought is often treated as just
another object. The thing that will give the ultimate reward - albeit
riches, sex, fame, personal growth, enlightenment, even god.
When the seeking is turned outward, so many things are found. We find
gurus, practices, religions, [money, fame, sex (sometimes :-)]. These
things seem to satisfy us, at least for a time. The seeking can actually
stop when these things are fulfilled or seem to be fulfilled in our
lives.
If they are not, or we lose our enchantment with them, the seeking
continues. Having explored the 'outer' world we have no place left to
look except the 'inner' world. This is terra incognita - the unknown
land - for most if not all seekers. And it can be a very scary place.
Everything about being human is there inside of us. All the murder,
mayhem, and cruelty as well as all of the compassion, love, and respect.
Sometimes we see the things that we are in a logical and somewhat
detached way. Other times we will experience directly the things we find
inside of us. And, there are times when we experience them in an
imaginative and at times playful way.
What is seeking anyway? If we consider seeking as a natural process, we
could consider it as growth and integration. Or, we could see it as
personal development, the path, exploration and so many other terms.
When the process of seeking turns inward we can find so many things
about ourselves. Some of them are pleasant and some not so pleasant. The
things discovered can rock a person's world off of its oh so comfortable
foundations.
We can and do have visions, samadhis, kundalini, and great highs. This
is due in large part to the phenomena and feelings of openness that
often accompanies seeking. When the fruits of our seeking are sweet we
may feel that we are really making progress.
Seeking also has a dark side to it. Perhaps it is because we had some
real sincerity that we are also shown this dark side. The seeker can
have times when he or she feels so disconnected from god, the truth, and
life itself. Seekers can be thrown into extreme states of fear,
paranoia, depression, anxiety and aloneness. And, it isn't fun anymore.
Why these extremes of pure bliss and screaming fear? The bouncing around
from sweet reason to gibbering insanity has a function. Remember,
seeking (as defined here) is a process of integration. When the seeking
takes one into the extremes sometimes it seems as if seeking just can't
be endured. The joy can be too much as can the fear.
The purpose and the reason the seeker goes through the extremes is so
that he or she can know what it feels like in a direct and experiential
way. At some point the realization comes that you have survived it all -
I hope. You have learned so much but, the question remains - who are
you?
As your friend, my advice is to find out.
loveya - michael
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
DISCLAIMER!
Home | Archive Index | Search the archives | Subscribe
K. List FAQ | Kundalini FAQs | Signs and Symptoms | Awakening Experiences | K. list Polls | Member Essays | Meditations | List Topics | Art Gallery | Cybrary | Sitemap | Email the moderators.
symbol.