We have been working with developing compassion. In a while we will be focusing on emptiness. Following that, we will be discovering how compassion and emptiness are interrelated.
Before we begin our exploration of emptiness, there are two additional Concentric Circles that we will cover; eradicating our perceptual distortions and learning to live effortlessly.
At this point in your development, certain insights may begin to arise:
We have certain irrational, illogical and confused ways of thinking that color and distort the ways in which we view our lives and the world. We are convinced that we are seeing everything unmistakably, but that is not actually the case. What blocks our clear seeing are various perceptual distortions, ways in which our minds misperceive reality.
We will only be reviewing the three main distortions from which all other distortions arise; the belief in permanency, unremitting happiness, and self.
Although in the training we have covered these distortions before, at this stage we can observe the gross as well as the subtle level of each distortion.
Distortion #1 – The Belief in Permanency
We are always seeking stability and a sense of security in our lives. We rely upon our work to provide income, we count on our family for loving support, we count on our bodies to maintain good health and we count on our cognitive process for memory and logic. We unconsciously believe that by not focusing on the dynamically changing nature of life we will simply deal with changes to our circumstances when they occur. The difficulty is that unless we deeply recognize the transitory nature of experience, we are not actually prepared to handle significant and unplanned for changes when they occur.
There are two levels of impermanency with which we need to be aware. The first level contains the gross, but not always so obvious, changes that take place. These include situational changes having to do with our career, our finances, our family, our bodies, and our relationships.
This level also includes the changes to our thoughts and emotions that happen so rapidly that we hardly notice them. It is similar to not seeing the blades of a fan because they are moving so quickly.
The second level is the subtle level of impermanency. Not only does everything have a beginning and an end, but in-between every beginning and end, there is nothing but transition taking place. Everything in our experience is becoming something other than it was just a moment before.
There are no nouns in life – everything is a verb. In the same way that we say that it is raining, we can also say that it is chairing or mountaining. Although we cannot always see the dynamic changes that are taking place with objects at such a subtle level, science has shown us that what appears to be solid is nothing but molecules moving in empty space.
Most profoundly, there is no Russ, Susan or John. There is only Russing, Susaning, and Johning. Every single aspect of our being, every particle of our body, every breath, every sense experience, every thought, and every moment of consciousness is so rapidly and incessantly changing, that nothing endures for even a nanosecond.
Therefore, there is nothing that can be considered as me or mine. Can you really see that and grasp the implications?
Distortion #2 – The belief that we can always be happy.
If everything is profoundly impermanent and constantly changing, how can any conceived of experience, circumstance or person provide us with a lasting sense of happiness? How could it be possible for permanence to come from impermanence?
In fact, without realizing the dynamic nature of change (and flowing along with it), we are unconsciously experiencing an underlying sense of grief that arises from the consistent loss of all that we cling to.
It is possible, however, to consistently experience a deep abiding sense of contentment. Contentment arises from an inner perspective from which we are aware of the dynamic changes in life without clinging or resistance. It is related to mindfulness and it is the experience of true peace of mind.
Distortion #3 – Believing that we have an independent self that is in control of our lives.
This is the most subtle and far-reaching perceptual distortion of them all. We have discussed this in the past and will continue to explore this deeply held delusion in more profound ways as we continue with the training.
Our self is merely a series of mental constructs or Ideas that were formed early in our lives about who we are and what we are capable of achieving. What complicates seeing that the self is no more than an idea is that we are inundated with ideas about self-improvement.
As long as we are living based upon what we believe to be our self, living through our self-definitions, and are being limited by our self-constructed boundaries, we miss the opportunity to discover the freedom that comes from being truly present in our lives.
There is a simple but quite revealing practice that can help us see how self is a mental construct:
Please consider and then record the ways in which you have defined yourself over the years. It is important to record as many as you possibly can. For example, female, parent, short, beautiful, strong, funny, insecure, interesting, loving, intense, spiritual, generous, and so forth. Please actually do this as opposed to thinking about it.
After you write those definitions, please read further.
Now carefully explore those self-definitions. Investigate whether they are absolutes or that they only exist relative to an opposite characteristic (e.g., you are short only in relation to someone being tall, you are strong only in relation to someone being weak, you are a parent only in relation to there being a child, you are a man only in relation to someone being a woman, you are spiritual only in relation to someone being identified with the mundane, etc.) Every time we define ourselves, we are always using relative terms.
And what are the implications that come from that realization?
There is another meditation called Choiceless Awareness. It is very similar to Insight Meditation. Typically, even without specific instructions, our Insight Meditation practice usually morphs into Choiceless Awareness.
See Choiceless Awareness meditation.