dropped out

Why have I dropped out of society and employment? There are two main possibilities:

I am powering towards enlightenment through creating a simple life. Activities are strategically limited to (a) reading and writing about the dharma, (b) meditating, and (c) making ideas available to the world via the internet

… OR …

I am a burned-out case running back to my home base with my tail between my legs[i]. Activities are minimal as there is no energy or appetite for transforming education systems; not even for transforming individual schools. (My main paid employment was as an education advisor.)

The existential purpose-in-life issue is raised. To what extent am I more than a neurotic nihilist living in an existential vacuum? What does it mean to exist and what is the purpose in life? We could draw an academic concept-map to chart the recognised options but I presently have no appetite for it. There may, however, be an appetite for writing about it subjectively.

existence

My present viewpoint is that there is no reason to exist. There is no grand designer with a master plan. We are not ascending arrows in the biological synthesis. We are the vital churn of stardust whose beginnings and endings are unknown and perhaps ultimately unknowable. We can, however, be conscious of our consciousness but that won’t save us when the sun goes out.

As individuals we are social animals that can think and speak according to the patterns of our culture. But this tends to create parochialism and xenophobia. It involves mainly blind acceptance of our culture’s values and world view. This is intellectual laziness and an existential cop out.

Marks and Spencer's Supermarket

Given the potential of the human brain, cultural compliance constitutes (a) a lazy turning away from reality and (b) the ab-use of your brain and mind. In most cases the human brain is like a sports car that is never shifted out of first gear.

We use language to reify commodities. We succumb to hierarchy and become hooked on status symbols. Different sub cultures have their preferred supermarkets and, within a given supermarket chain, there are value brand (aka cheap) versions of products in eye-catching colours. Well-to-do shoppers would rather die than have value items in their trolleys.

And so it is for cars and clothes; houses and gardens; jewellery and cell phones; newspapers and TV programmes etc – capitalist consumerism.

What will people think? 

Who cares and why? 

Turn your mind around – be still and know that self is an illusion – rise above culture 

[i] I have developed Parkinson’s Disease which is a contributing factor

unconscious musings

These days I spend a lot of time writing. I begin with a blank page and after some time it is filled with words. Most of the ideas come from the unconscious and I am often interested in the causes and conditions for the stories that emerge. The source is presumably a mix of nature (genes), nurture (learning) and serendipity (chance).  Present inputs from the sense organs are blended with memories of thoughts and feelings from the past, and these generate guidelines for future actions.

Musings

the inspirational muse

I sometimes wonder who or what is in charge of the writing process. There is the impression that ‘I’ am not involved. There is no conscious appreciation of a plan or blueprint. Writing is produced so there is presumably a writer but there is no obvious cognitive agent. If I ‘just sit’ then words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs appear.

Mental formations arrive during formal sessions of mindful breathing. In those cases the task is to let them pass. If they are not given attention they soon disappear. However, when writing, the mental formations are most welcome. The task is to record them before they slip away. 

So where do they come from? In ancient times the ‘author’ was thought to be a muse or demon or perhaps even God or the devil herself. The image was of a humanoid agent or controller following a good or evil agenda. These days the image is of a network of mainly unconscious brain modules continuously churning. The network’s task is to monitor the external environment so as to ensure safety and avoid dangers.

My present life is very safe and there are few unavoidable dangers. I am something of a recluse and there are not many external stimuli calling for attention. But the network keeps churning and creating thoughts and feelings with roots in my nature and nurture, and with serendipitous add ons.

Official writing

African Classrooms

My early work experience involved academic writing and the production of lesson plans and teaching notes. The more recent writing has involved editing development policy and plans with associated monitoring and evaluation. I have made extensive use of one-pagers and many of these have been published on the internet.

Several years ago I completed distance learning courses in journalism and in creative writing (fiction).  It became clear that I did not have what it takes to flourish in those areas. My interests and writings have instead followed a natural sequence leading from curriculum development through social development and on to personal development. Those who would sort out other people had best sort themselves out first!

I was involved with curriculum development in the Sudan, Belize and Lesotho. Multistakeholder groups tried to figure what the children should learn in school. I prepared many discussion papers and conference reports especially in Belize which was rethinking the curricula at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels.

I wrote about social development while involved with (a) local community action groups mediated through Portsoy and District Ltd and the Banffshire Partnership Ltd and (b) the Caledonia Centrefor Social Development that is based in Inverness but which has national and international outreach.

The official writings dealing with curriculum and social development were not spontaneous rants. Hard facts were gathered and sorted so as to generate an agreed framework that held things together. The contents were objective, rational, and evidence based. The goal was to eliminate emotional obfuscations and thus to be clear, reasonable and accountable.

turning the mind around

Writing for personal development is not the same as the official writings. Concern is not with the details of thoughts and feelings but rather with the process of generating them. Not so much what you think as how you think. Notice what is being noticed and think about what is being thought.

There is the idea of ‘turning the mind around’. Rather than focusing on the outside world by attending to sensory inputs, attention is focused on the inner happenings. There is the idea of the witness. An unattached part of ‘you’ watches the attention centre – what enters, how strong is it, how long does it last, how does it leave. (Note: there is often a gap between the end of one thought train and the beginning of another. Where are ‘you’ then? Where is the witness? Mind the gap.)

‘I’ have not been much involved in preparing this present article. The first half was written yesterday and the second half was written before and after a visit to the Doctor this morning (there are short term memory problems). 

‘I’ felt the urge to engage the writing process but there was no gathering and sorting of facts. ‘I’ sat at the keyboard and ideas appeared. Usually a paragraph at a time. Once the sense of what was being said was appreciated there was some objective editing of words, phrases and sentences. Once it was deemed acceptable the gap opened up and the next paragraph appeared.

If the gap showed no sign of closing there were re-reads of what had gone before. The re-reads were for generalized subjective ambiance rather than logical structure. The unconscious was being serenaded and it’s inter-modular churn generated this thought train rather than that one.

endings

To be objective and rational there could be a reading of the whole article such that (a) it can be given a title and (b) a closing paragraph can be prepared to mirror what was said at the beginning. An easy option is to repeat the first couple of sentences and link to the title.

“These days I spend a lot of time writing. I begin with a blank page and after some time it is filled with words. Most of the ideas come from the unconscious which is a never ending source of musings.”

conscious stardust

"If you are like most people, you will locate your conscious mind roughly behind your eyes, as if there were a little person sitting there, steering the much larger automaton that is your body. You know there isn't really a tiny figure in there, pulling the levers, but your consciousness seems to have an independent existence, telling the rest of your body what to do.

In reality, much of the control comes from your unconscious. Some tasks become automatic with practice, so that we no longer need to think about the basic actions. When this happens the process is handled by one of the most primitive parts of the brain, close to the brain stem. However even a clearly conscious action such as picking up an object seems to have some unconscious precursors, with the brain firing up before you make the decision to act.

There is considerable argument over when the conscious mind plays its part, but there is no doubt that we owe a lot more to our unconscious than we often allow."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jan/27/20-human-body-facts-science

muse or unconsciousness

Two quotes caught my attention this morning; one from Thich Nhat Hahn and a Vietnamese tradition and one from Chögyam Trungpa and a Tibetan tradition. The following table contains the quotes and the key phrases that caught my attention.

“Insight can’t be found in sutras, commentaries, verbal expression, or —isms. Liberation and awakened understanding can’t be found by devoting ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures. This is like trying to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning to the present moment, using our clear mind which exists right here and now, we can be in touch with liberation and enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and the patriarchs as living realities right in this moment. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

"Underlying intelligence is always there. As long as we relate with our underlying primordial intelligence and as long as we push ourselves a little, by jumping into the middle of situations, then intelligence arises automatically. When you’re in the middle of a situation, you automatically pick up on what is needed. It’s not a question of how to do it — you just do it. And you find yourself doing it perfectly, even surprising yourself." ~ Chögyam Trungpa

using our clear mind … we can be in touch with liberation and enlightenment

our underlying primordial intelligence … arises automatically

John Calvin

Having been encultured as a Scottish Presbyterian I am burdened with the concept of ‘no pain, no gain.’  No existential freebies! Plod on.

Having trained as a biology teacher I am programmed to espouse the notion that ‘nothing comes from nothing’. Effects have causes – there is no magic, no tooth fairy and no Santa Clause

Those two ideas can generate the thought that ‘enlightenment/ liberation/ release results from applying great effort in transforming our basic nature’. And note that in my natal culture basic nature rests in original sin - so it is going to be an uphill struggle! In essence, I am a miserable Presbyterian with a bleak outlook on matters spiritual.

This perhaps explains my scepticism about the magical aspects of Buddhism. The quotes above recognise ‘our clear mind’ and ‘our underlying primordial intelligence’. These presumably refer to unconscious functions of the mind and its brain. But nothing comes from nothing. Both the unconscious and the conscious aspects of the mind are shaped by nature (genes), nurture (culture) and serendipity (chance ). People hold differing views about the nature and relative strengths of these forces and the extent to which they can be reshaped[1]. On a good day I feel that nature and nurture can both be forces for the good and that they complement each other and are changeable. It would be hard to be a teacher if I felt otherwise!

But I have experience of apparently getting something for nothing. This short note is an example. The ‘muse’ spoke. Or was it the unconscious?

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[1] For a matrix of options see http://www.scribd.com/doc/55629318/Nature-Nurture-Options

vegetarian mystics speak

We modern humans speak our world and the words entrap us. But there is no need to fret. Mystics immerse themselves in the innate state of wordlessness and show us how to be free. Vegetarianism seems to be part of the answer.

Language has limitations. It creates sentences that link subject, verb and object. Speakers are therefore forced to oversimplify when verbalising about the vast numbers of causes and conditions that exist and about the many resulting effects. This is InterBeing.

Language evolved 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. It improved communication amongst groups of hunters and gatherers who were busy with nutrition and reproduction. Language is not ‘perfect’ but it is ‘good enough’ to have enabled humanity to flourish at an unprecedented rate.

Language never stands still. It adapts to changing cultural realities by creating figures of speech that highlight new linguistic territories – nature red in tooth and claw - my love is like a red red rose – an indivisible atom is like a billiard ball – subatomic particles are like planets in the solar system.

But there is a downside. Most people learn only one language and they are thus imprisoned by its culturally conditioned limits and boundaries. How many colours in the rainbow? How many constellations in the night sky? … But … ‘liberation’ is possible.

THE LABOUR OF MYSTICS

mystic

Division of labour evolved as we moved from hunting and gathering into settled agriculture and eventually to the computer age. One of the divisions was for creative types. Their key role was to be different and innovative in a wide range of fields.

One of these fields was philosophy. This was linked to religion and thus to politics and to foundational value systems. These value systems were the basis of morality and ethics and drew ultimately on spiritual and mystical insights. ‘Liberation’ is a possibility.

William James wrote about the ‘varieties of religious experience’; Aldous Huxley wrote about the ‘Perennial Philosophy’; and Joseph Campbell wrote about the ‘Monomyth’. The idea is that in all places at all times there are a few ‘creatives’ who seek liberation from parochial and xenophobic worldviews. They do it both for themselves and for those with ears to hear.  They claim that liberation and enlightenment are possible in this lifetime.

The mystics transform themselves by using thoughts and feelings in a special way. They become still and quiet both physically and psychologically. This ensures distance from the existentially poisonous chatter of the busy, ‘civilised’ mind.

Free from the noise of sensory input the deep mind of the spiritual mystic awakens to its hard wired nature which predates humanity by a long way. There is reunion with the Oneness that is beyond verbalisation. The subjective experience is mainly of selfless peace and compassion. Words cannot do it justice but bliss and happiness are linked to it.

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

And yet - there is the ferocious beauty of the top predators. Nature red in tooth and claw. A Cheetah is conscious but not perhaps conscious of its consciousness. Existentially it is a killer. It evolved that way and is not yet extinct. It is a survivor. No angst. What would it feel like to be a cheetah?

Cheetahs are meat eaters (carnivores) and their teeth are designed for cutting. Cows are plant eaters (herbivores) and their teeth are designed for crushing and grinding. Humans eat meat and plants (omnivores) and our teeth are designed for both cutting and crushing. Dentition is destiny. There are three types of feeders and three types of teeth. There are also three types of guts. And presumably there are three types of brains and minds.

It is in our human nature (genes) to be omnivores but most mystics favour a plain vegetarian diet. This is presumably because hot spices and animal flesh agitate the body and mind. They will therefore work against the quest for stillness and quiet and thus for liberation.

Some key thinkers feel that nature-lovers and techno geeks should expand their boundaries of self. They should work towards more inclusive belonging. Here are three venerable verbalizations.

“A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.”
― Leo Tolstoy

“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
― Albert Einstein

“By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

The Grand Illusion of Self: You're Not The Person You Think You Are

The Grand Illusion of Self: You're Not The Person You Think You Are

demasking the contexts

Springwater Center: Meditation at Springwater Center

Toni Packer

Springwater Center: Meditation at Springwater Center

"Awareness cannot be taught, and when it is present it has no context. All contexts are created by thought and are therefore corruptible by thought. Awareness simply throws light on what is, without any separation whatsoever."

Unmasking the Self

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, not knowing what is next and not concerned with what was or what may be next, a new mind is operating that is not connected with the conditioned past and yet perceives and understands the whole mechanism of conditioning.

It is the unmasking of the self that is nothing but masks—images, memories of past experiences, fears, hopes, and the ceaseless demand to be something or become somebody.
   

- Toni Packer, "Unmasking the Self"

http://www.tricycle.com/brief-teachings/unmasking-self

Is that spiritual?

Some people are more spiritual than others. By making a spiritual journey an individual or group can readjust the personal and group balance. Different human types (eg introvert/ extrovert etc) may be more or less inclined to spirituality and they may have preferred ways of developing and maintaining it. It is an altered state of consciousness[1] although not perhaps very clear cut.

How does the spiritual state relate to the mystical one? Some time ago I gathered a few ideas about stages on the mystical path[2]. The idea is to encourage cognitive dissonance[3] such that ‘things’ are no longer as they seem. By taking thought, the illusory nature of ‘I’ becomes apparent and this leads to dropping personal viewpoints and worldviews. The non-dual Oneness is unspeakable. But, fortunately, it can be experienced. 

A dark night of the soul

Note that the cognitive dissonance can be tough. It is rarely plain sailing. It can trigger a dark night of the soul. 

Paul Simon had some ideas about it:

“And so you see I’ve come to doubt

All that I once held as true

I stand alone without beliefs

The only truth I know is you.”

But who is the you? Woody Guthrie had some ideas about it:

“You gotta walk that lonesome valley

You gotta walk it by yourself

Nobody here can walk it for you

You gotta walk it by yourself”

But these days I appreciate the company of like minded souls. Were it not for the radicals of Findhorn I might well have given up the quest and dropped back to the default of a parochial and xenophobic country bumpkin. Or perhaps not. I  have read many spiritually inspiring books and magazines; and these days there are audio and video programmes, social networks and email.

I  have contributed to the spiritual reading material in cyberspace. In chronological order:

• The Essence of Faiths - whispers from everywhere
  http://www.toonloon.bizland.com/whispers/ 
• Let it begin with me - a rough guide to mind training and meditation
  http://www.srds.co.uk/begin
• Existential Soft Rock - mental re-construction through just sitting - be still and know
  http://dodclark.blogspot.com
•  http://www.facebook.com/dodclark
•  https://twitter.com/dodclark
•  http://www.scribd.com/george_clark_25/  Some of my essays and booklets for free download
• Changing minds - thinking and feeling, and the dis-ease that comes from thinking outside the box - http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/

In promoting spirituality the eastern religions have developed a deep rooted and time tested psychology of perception. Physical quiet and stillness lead to psychological quiet and stillness. The mud of busy-ness settles and clarity and insight improve. The seeker is encouraged to remain awake and to be aware of what enters and leaves the attention centre. Notice what is being noticed and remain aloof. Learn to mindfully and gently respond rather than to mindlessly and vigorously react.

BUT - it is rarely plain sailing:

“In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.” ~ Dante Alighieri

a spiritual journey

The spiritual journey is often portrayed as magical, mystical and Hollywood heroic. Joseph Campbell the historian of myth recognised the multicultural Monomyth[4] where "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

I feel uneasy with such stories. The hero has power - and power corrupts. In the Tao teh Ching it is reckoned that, “of the best leaders, when they are gone, the people all say, “We did it ourselves”.”

There is an issue about engaged spirituality and the bestowing of boons. Is an elitist vanguard inevitable? How might we get round the problem that “the reality that can be described is not the real reality” and that “those who speak do not know?”

We can fall back on the psychology of perception. We are what and how we think and feel. By taking thought we can alter what and how we think and feel. It is now well established that we ‘see’ with our brains rather than with our eyes. Immediate sensory inputs take part in vital churns with memories of facts and feelings. Thus we adapt to our world and act so as to meet our various actual and idiosyncratic needs in real time.

By their words and deeds shall you know them.

By being awake, aware and mindful you will be a compassionate and cool dude. That is how you are hard wired – at least for most dealings with your limited number of hunting and gathering ancestors. Cultural evolution (nurture) has put enormous strains on our neurological evolution (nature). But there is plenty plasticity. 

By taking mindful thought we can sort things out. 

That is spiritual.

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[1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Altered-States-Consciousness-Tart-Charles/dp/0062508571/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361735350&sr=1-5

[2] http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/mystical.htm

[3] http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/stephens/cdback.html 

[4] http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/monomyth.htm