There are a number of enlightened folk around these days. Some are more helpful than others.
There are many that say we are all enlightened and there's nothing to be done. At a certain level of awareness this may be true? But is it helpful?
The non dual police will now say, "Helpful to who?" They know there is ultimately no one to help?
However, there are still millions of apparent poor souls out there searching, wanting help. Who will help them?
In this body-mind's search I can only say that of the hundreds of books I've read, and the teachers I've met, some were helpful, some not.
I can hear it again. Helpful to whom? Helpful to this apparent body-mind, this illusion, this seeker, this whatever you want to call it.
Pain can be helpful. Granted. But pain and anguish can also demoralize and destroy, and where pain can be assuaged, or sidestepped, it's a good thing.
Where pain is already established, and can't be ignored, then it's necessary and good to feel it. And it must be felt and experienced down to the core.
I have wailed and cried, and screamed till I was horse. I have felt pain that I did not think I could bare. But this body-mind, this apparent self, this illusion, did benefit.
From intense therapy, and intense feeling of pain, I was able to leave it behind. Suffering to a large degree stopped. Would I like to have avoided it, yes! Could I be who I am if I had not felt it? No. If I had found a way around it, would I have benefited? Who knows?
Real or unreal, illusion or not, I avoid suffering where I can. To those who helped me avoid further suffering, by helping me get in touch with my pain so I could feel it, I am ever grateful.
As much as I like abstract theory, esoteric spirituality, and enlightenment, I also like what works! I'll take what works over non dual theory any day. Call it practical enlightenment if you wish.
Some teachers are helpful and some aren't. A suffering person can be called an illusion, an apparent energy field, whatever. That doesn't lessen the suffering. It doesn't help.
If there is suffering, help is called for. If there is suffering and I can help, I want to help. I could care less whether the suffering person is illusory or not. I could care less if the sufferer is only an illusory energy field.
Duality and non duality are part and parcel of the same oneness. There is no separation. But if separation is felt, and someone is in pain, those that are helpful, seem to me, more in touch with the One Love.
7 comments:
I just wanted to say I think you have a really interesting blog happening here!
Hi Maury, because my conditioning says I'm really really important, I guess your blog today was at least partially directed at me, although "guru" is not an accurate label for my character. Just let me remind you I am very good and leave a comment on each of your new blogs regularly, which gives you something to bounce off of - and it's all great fun!
I happen to agree with what you say today. In the story of my life, I alleviate suffering, or try to; sometimes in small ways, such as helping my children through their trials in life, or bigger ways, when I speak to large rooms of people and tell them about the story of my suffering, how it ended, how redemptive it was to see it all as a gift. They identify, and glean some hope. It was, perhaps paradoxically, helpful to see that no one suffers, suffering happens. But in practice, individuals suffer and the thoughts and feelings that arise for me are those of empathy, and the urge to comfort; the imperative to preserve life in those that wish to end theirs, which usually boils down to saying "hang on, it will pass". I listen, I suggest, I know that I'm just another little spark of life, not endowed with any special wisdom other than that borne in the crucible of my own suffering. What is most helpful is seeing the wonder of each atom, the light that allows it all to be, including the "bad stuff". Seeing how perfect it all is, all the dichotomies and polarities, the ups and downs, the tragedies and bliss. My apparent life is such a joy now, although "awakening" doesn't promise anything beyond clear seeing. In seeing things starkly as they are, in seeing that all is love no matter what its face, it is perhaps easier to be useful in the way you describe. Relieving suffering is nothing to do with awakening or oneness or whatever we're calling it today, but there's surely nothing wrong with helping those who suffer. In fact, it seems much smoother, more efficient, altogether an easier thing to do these days, having somehow been freed from the bondage of self. However, I still have conditioning that says, oh dear, Maury thinks I'm heartless! I must set him straight. So hopefully I have, because it's great fun, your blog and my comments and the energy that ensues. Let's continue by all means.
Amen my oneness brother! I will help too. Let us be there for oneness. Suffering is very much real to the sufferer so who is to say that suffering is an illusion? It was real to 'me' when I was there. :)
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
You are really important!. And yes my blog was somewhat directed at you.
It was also reactionary. I am very sensitive to any spirituality that becomes dogmatic, and it appears to me that even non duality is susceptible. My own dogmatism has probably caused me more pain than anything, so the blog was also directed at me.
You have been the most conscientious reader and commentator on my blog, which is appreciated. And yes, to have an articulate person to bounce off of is a great muse. It is also great fun. This is not an area in which it is easy to find someone who understands, much less even appreciate the field.
Yes. To see it all as a gift can be nothing less than stupendous grace. I cannot say that I am totally there. But even tastes of that gift are glorious.
To see that no one suffers, that suffering just happens, is a tremendous insight. It gives one distance from oneself, and compassion for others without having to get caught up in it.
Yes, it seems that to preserve life is an acknowledgment of truth, the truth that this creation is all from Source.
Whether we know why we or anything else is here, is to a certain extent irrelevant. It is here. It is as it is. It is Devine.
The "bad stuff" is just our interpretation, but that interpretation is what we have to deal with. I deal with it all the time. My judgments, my condemnations. The more I am aware of them, and the more I see that I am condemning myself, the easier it is to let them go.
Seeing the wonder despite appearances is very helpful. Knowing there is perfection and beauty all around, whether I see it or not, is a point of reference worth holding.
"Relieving suffering is nothing to do with awakening or oneness." Here I would disagree. My suffering got in the way of seeing. It got in the way of everything. Granted, it may have forced me to go deep, but it was also a stuckness. I was a broken record, with an intellect stuck in a groove. The relief of suffering fixed the repeating track. Allowed some space for simple Awareness.
You have set me straight. I am responding at length because this is the first time I felt that I see you, not an idea. Source is, but so are we, so are you. Part and parcel, all One.
Thank you!
excellent post!
:) Lenny
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