> Summary of the chapter on self-deception:
>
> Spiritual realization/insight is not something to get, to
> obtain, to acquire, to attain to.  It's not something external that we
> ingest or that gets otherwise internalized, and it's not something
> alien to us that is implanted, added or imparted to us by someone
> else.  We acknowledge what we are, instead of dreaming up a perfect
> ideal we wish we were.
>
> With this in mind, how do we deal with a sudden flash of
> realization/insight?  Once we view the experience as something
> valuable, we fear losing it (it's valuable, after all).  Since we fear
> losing (the memory of) it, we try to re-live it in order to remember
> it.  We hope for association with some dreamed-up perfection, and fear
> separation from it.
>
> The opposite of self-deception is facing life as it is.
>
> (There is a section of questions and answers at the end, which I'll
> skip here)
>
> My thoughts:
>
> So how does one "face life as it really is"?  In Buddhism, there is
> the teaching of the four frames of reference (four foundations of
> mindfulness): focusing on the body, feelings, mind, and mental
> qualities "in and of themselves, putting aside greed and distress with
> reference to the world" - finding out what it's like to sit here right
> now, bodily. Can I be aware of both my feet at the same time? How does
> that feel? And so on.
>
> There are many techniques. Again, it's not a matter of performing the
> technique to create something I don't yet have, or to get better at
> something, or believing anything about it: but acknowledging, knowing
> what is.
>
> Some questions for discussion:
>
> Have you had moments of sudden insight?  Then what happened?  Is
> Trungpa's description of the process of splitting off the experience
> and trying to revisit it in the past (at the expense of the present)
> appropriate?  Why or why not?
>
> Fantasizing about some ideal is clearly self-deception, but ideals
> have their uses: for motivation/inspiration, as a goal to give
> direction to one's efforts.  How do you view this ... duality?
>
> I outlined one Buddhist insight technique above.  How do you "deal
> with life as it really is"?
>
> What can you do to verify that you are not just deceiving youself
> about "facing life as it really is"?
>
> Cheers,
> Florian
>
> --
> Every man passes out of life as if he had just been born.
>                                            -- Epicurus (Vatican Sayings 60)