Thursday 24 June 2010

All Corners Else o' the Earth Let Liberty Make Use Of; Space Enough Have I in Such a Prison.

Some say it's fear that keeps the ego from seeing its own illusory nature. So much effort expended; so much passion felt; so much suffering endured...could it be that the drama of life has been all for nothing, just a mistaken belief onto which profound meaning and absolute significance has been gambled? It's dismaying, at the least, to find that everything once held sacred and all the reasons and motivations for life have been based on an erroneous assumption. Could it be, after all, that this energy of life is simply existence unto itself, for itself and by itself, borne of nothingness, and our identities are no more real than the mirage in the desert...the mirage that beckons, the mirage that promises sustenance, the mirage that fades upon close examination?

It's possible that fear isn't the only spontaneous reaction to the revelation of the unsubstantiality of the ego. All things, all energies, all responses are possible. The ego, relieved of its burden of mistaken identity, might feel joy upon letting go of itself, if that is, indeed, the mechanism of awakening. Relief is possible. Complete surrender is possible. Expansion into All is possible, the movement from a small thing to an unlimited one.

But know, fully, that whatever stories the mind weaves to make sense of boundless existence are just that - stories, fascinating tales full of comfortable hooks for the ego. Stories of subtle levels of enlightenment: just a guru, or a full satguru; simply self-realised, or fully liberated; awakened, or integrated; look them up, and find that many hierarchies of enlightenment have been catalogued, sorted, prioritised and conveniently arranged in order, from "a small glimpse of eternity" to "full liberation, without desire". "What enlightenment is like" can be, it seems, succinctly described, and this is the ideal, more or less: a perfect state of pure existence; no ideas, no thoughts, no desires, no needs, no changes, no doubts, no imagination; just being. No humanity. No passion. No desire to participate in the drama, although the drama is participated in, by no one, not by an ego, not by a mind, not by a persona or identity. This is the top level. This is the ultimate. This is what the ego can aspire to, if it will only give itself up. It starts with a revelation and ends, through an apparent slow process in time, with the death of the ego, still in the body, a stateless state, reached on a pathless path, the best of the best.

Question it; question it all; if there be mind, this is what mind excels at. And live it; live it all; the doubts, the passions, the lack of desire, the intimate, all-consuming longing, the pain of suffering and resistance. This is what is happening already. This is what is, whether there is mind and thought and concept or not. Whatever conclusions are arrived at (or dismissed), it is a movable feast. What is certain is that whatever is experienced, it is experienced just as it must be, for it is.


This clip, from Bullets Over Broadway, is a masterclass of the pull of the drama (or melodrama!) of the ego and its interactions with the world. And what a fine study of an ego...Dianne Wiest won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress) for her interpretation of an aging grand dame of the theatre. Note how her immovable stance on the role in question does an about-face, seamlessly, when confronted with a few lines of well-constructed flattery...and the sweetly vulnerable revelation, right at the end. Egos are a lot of fun.

19 comments:

piers said...

Another great post Suzanne. Beautifully put.

No One In Particular said...

Thanks so much Piers.

Brenda said...

Nothing like a little flattery to make the ego preen.

Anonymous said...

"This is what is, whether there is mind and thought and concept or not."

That's all that needs be said, isn't it?

Great post, Suzanne.

Leslie said...

"Space Enough Have I in Such a Prison'...'Why am I nervous?!?!'
Another post from the wonderful mind-let-infinitely-loose. Thank you Suzanne.
XOXO
-Leslie

No One In Particular said...

Hey Brenda...lookin' good!

No One In Particular said...

Hey Leslie, thanks a bunch.

biba said...

LOVE your blog! but how "to live" the fear and pain of suffering, resistance and apparent "life threatening" illness when realization is not perceived (or whatever the is word for what cannot be experssed in words) yet?...

No One In Particular said...

Hey Biba, it doesn't matter...it is done, you're doing it, no matter what you think about it. Realisation...lack of realisation...it's all the same thing. It's either oneness, or it isn't, and it is. And it's not going to get any "one-er" while you hang around, trying to figure it all out!

Anonymous said...

"It's possible that fear isn't the only spontaneous reaction to the revelation of the unsubstantiality of the ego. All things, all energies, all responses are possible."

and how was it for "you"? and has it changed since happening?

No One In Particular said...

Hey Anonymous, astonishment. And it's still astonishment.

biba said...

The thing is... despite the fact that I'm doing it, no matter what I think about it - which I "know" it's true - once one is still identified with the body, appearances can be really very frightening, sometimes - and it's hard NOT to desire beeing in a nicer dream.

No One In Particular said...

Hey Biba, what you are is limitless. How "nicer" is defined is limited.

biba said...

THANKS for the reminder! (grateful smile)

Leslie said...

These titles are kind of like the appearances. I really have to loosen the mind…almost let it blob out…kind of like the clocks in Dali’s ‘Persistence of Time’… just let the mind droop over and then the meaning kind of seeps in. Loosening up like you have to when looking at one of those stereograms.
XOXO

biba said...

XOXOback, Leslie!

Colleen Loehr said...

While reading this post the wattage of present moment awareness increased like a dimmer switch being turned up, especially with the last line:

"What is certain is that whatever is experienced, it is experienced just as it must be, for it is."

Also loved the video clip and artwork, thanks Suzanne.

No One In Particular said...

You're welcome Colleen, and thanks also for the kind commentary on the Youtube videos.

Anonymous said...

Dianne Weist is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, and really really good too.