Tuesday, November 1, 2011

If an orphaned tiger cub...

If an orphaned tiger cub only days old is put with a new litter of dog pups to be raised by mother dog, will it think it is a dog or a tiger?
The picture shows 3 cubs but in our story let's assume 1 cub. (That way it never sees another tiger.)
Does it think it looks like Mum (the dog)?
It knows nothing different. Even though it is 5 or 6 times larger when fully grown than mum, it will still have a relationship of child to parent. Obviously natural instincts will define certain behaviour while other behaviour will be taught by it's dog mother.
As it can't see itself, it may even believe it looks like a dog.
We (people) are the tiger raised by the dog (our culture)
We have certain instincts that we ignore or suppress because Mum (culture) doesn't tolerate them.
Just as we don't hear our own snoring, the conditioned brain filters out anything that doesn't accord with our view or who or what we are.
It is so convinced that it 'know', that it is prepared to go to war to retain/protect the status quo.
Encouraged by political parties, religion, clubs etc to regard anybody that doesn't agree as an enemy.
It even goes to war with itself when a truth about a person is not in line with how it thinks it should be, or if it thinks that it would be too painful to confront an unacceptable situation. This then results in illness as the cost of repression.
How then do we go about changing this ?
What would we change to ?

a summary

The blog has been a journal that is an expression of significant milestones on my trip seeking Enlightenment.
i may have arrived but don't see any clear signposts telling me so. 
Here is the current situation as i see it.
The I that I call Me doesn't exist. It is a mental construct only. The result of brain conditioned by culture.
I am obviously not my body as attested by the fact that I am no less Me if every non vital part of my body is removed.
I am not my mind as it frequently changes without changing me. Even to claim my thoughts as mine is a fallacy.
Observation will reveal that I don't originate a thought. I can't even control what my next thought will be. 
I (ego) claims them after they have occurred. It is necessary to continue the illusion of the ego claiming to be me.
Thoughts just arise. Talking, walking, seeing etc just happens. (more on this later)
I look and look and I can find no Me anywhere, but who or what is looking?
Whatever it is, I am that ! (some call it soul or consciousness or awareness)
Whatever it is doesn't matter for practical purposes. 
For practical purposes, what does matter is to see what actually is.
That is, to see the difference between what my mind says is the situation and what actually it is.
It's the egos' job to assume reality (which actually isn't reality) so that mundane tasks are achieved without requiring full attention.
But the moment emotion becomes involved the ego needs to be sidelined and pure awareness, or clear seeing is the appropriate state to be in.
For this to happen we need to be familiar with what clear seeing is.
One of the things that obscures clear seeing is the unconscious mind reacting to historical pain. Pain that was not resolved at the time and was buried by impatient parents inability to transcend their frustration.
In developing clear seeing, this buried emotion will come to the surface and if accepted without judgement, will dissipate. There is no need to hunt it down.
To try and eradicate our past traumas is to try and improve a non-existant I. 
It only serves to strengthen an egos' delusion that it is Me. 
The 'out of control' tiger of an ego will become a purring pussycat of an ego when it stops being fed inappropriate growth hormones. 
When I no longer identify with my looks or my car, or my success, (I becomes i) then clear sight starts.
There is no need to DO anything.
Understanding and willingness to be open, earnestness, is all that is required.
We are mainly allowing habit to die.
Intention is the motive force.

Something has happened.
Ego is starting to purr.
Does that mean something?