Where do we start? – Part 1
One common theme which seems to run through all practices of “the inner life” is the triple thread clarifying “The Ground of Being”, and the struggle to clarify it for oneself and for other practitioners.
There are at least, the same number of names and metaphors for the Ground of Being as there are practitioners of “The Way”. Necessarily, the path of the Ground of Being is the most DIY (Do it yourself) project there is. Each person looks at the circumstances of their life in this DNA world from their unique place in space and time.
The Triple Thread is:
- How to sense the Ground of Being (the sighting of the ox)
- How to follow the path towards the Ground of Being (the chasing of the ox)
- How to “work towards it” and “visualize” it while not bastardizing the Ground of Being”. (taming the ox)
1.) How to sense it – (Hint: it is not outside)
All humans seem to have a built in GPS system regarding the Ground of Being. It would only make sense, as we in fact are “built out of the Ground of Being” material. The Ground of Being is “like” the story of the mud which man was made from. We hunger for something which can never be satisfied (it seems). Some hunger and decide to do something to fix the issue, and others suppress the hunger, or try to satisfy the “craving” with other things. (Lost sheep, Oxherding Photo 1)
2.) How to follow the path towards it – (Hint: there is no inside/outside)
Once a person has their GPS locate or “sight” The Ground of Being, they will find that they want a “method” to “grab it” or “apprehend it”. And they quickly find out that it is not of the realm of “things i can grab”, and it seems very evasive …. they have glimpsed it, and want to keep it in their “ongoing, living experience”, but it keeps evading them… (even though it gave a glimpse of itself very freely)
For those who are persistent, they will sort through methods until they find one, or a group of practices that work for them. But many fall by the wayside, waylaid by golden apples, and sirens singing beautiful treacherous songs…. (starts to sound like “Pilgrims Progress”, or Jesus parable of the sower and the seeds)
3.) How to “work towards it” and “visualize” it without bastardizing it” – (Hint: how do you work towards something that you already are?)
Because the “Ground of Being” does not operate by the rules we are aware of (i.e.) Newtonian Physics, most folks struggle with finding an effective practice. They push at it, they pull on it, they try to pray to it, they try to coax it, they struggle with it, they try to buy it, they pretend it is working….. None of these methods work, because they are using Newtonian rules to resolve a Quantum Physics problem.
In finding that ones method is not working, any giving in, to a pretense that the square peg is fitting in the round hole, is pure falsehood. Church is full of folks who pretend that they are happy, when in fact, they are as unsatisfied with their life as the rest of us poor souls ……. And religious leaders use this to make their followers “need” their services on a weekly basis …. they will say that their followers are not “self-sufficient” because they lack something, or because the teacher has been chosen by some deity to be their guide or savior.
There are many groups who offer the solutions to these questions, and as i continue, i hope to look at their various methods, and which methods seem to be effective, and which methods seem to suit what type of person.
Reality is Dharma 