On Jul 15, 2:01 am, Publius
nospam.comcast.net> wrote:>> Words always fail, but to me it can be understood by contrasting with
>> religion. A "religious" person says this book is the law, here is the
>> process I must follow to be a "good" person, and if I don't do these
>> things, then bad things will happen.
>
>> A "spiritual" person, on the other hand, does not follow some
>> authority or subscribe to a belief system. Rather, their actions
>> spring naturally from a state of understanding, wisdom, and non-ego.
>
>> Religion is ego-based -- I feel that I'm not good the way that I am,
>> so I must listen to this outside authority who will teach me how to
>> follow a template for being good and in return I will get some reward
>> (heaven, egoic satisfication, status, a feeling of moral superiority,
>> 72 dark-eyed virgins and flowing halls of gold etc.).
>
>> Spirituality is the transcendence of ego -- there are no rewards or
>> motives, and actions flow freely not from a position of wanting, but
>> from a position of what Krishnamurti calls "choiceless awareness".
>
>> But ultimately, these words are just shorthand, which are always left
>> up for misinterpretation -- the word is not the thing . . . which is
>> why we can discover "what is" by experiencing what "is not".
>
> Please give an example of an action which is not motivated by a desire to
> attain some result.
So you're asking me to prove a mental state? The only way to prove it
is experientially.
Can you prove that your wife loves you? How do you know?
> Are you simply speaking of reflexive actions here,
> e.g., knee-jerks?
No -- that is reaction to physical stimulus.
> When I finish typing the words in this sentence I will be aware of the
> words and not making any choices (that I'm aware of). Is that an example of
> "choiceless awareness"?
Not a bad example. In that case, you are simply aware of "what
is" (the words on the page) without judgment, reaction, or analysis.
You are simply aware.
On the other hand, if you read some words on a page -- let's say the
words are "You're a jackass" -- and then your mind begins to churn,
and thoughts begin to generate, and you begin to react, and you lash
out at the person.
Then you are not just being aware of words on a page -- you are in a
state of reaction, and your reaction is based on your prejudices,
opinions, experiences, insecurities (i.e., your ego).
Choiceless awareness is the state of mind that results from the
absence of mental chattering -- a state of clarity in which the noise
subsides so that what remains is "what is".
For example, when you your radio station is fuzzy, you have to tune it
so that the background noise is not interfering with the real content.
You will never be able to hear the message as long as the static keeps
distorting the message.
Similarly, unless the mind is quieted of all the mental chatter
--
beliefs, prejudices, "education" etc. -- you can never hear the
message, and so your actions can never be appropriate.
"Choiceless awareness" naturally unfolds when ego is absent.
