Here's Looking at you

Inherited Dysfunction  

I just picked up Eckhart Tolle's book " A New Earth" at the library. I love it. I haven't finished reading it nor have I got to the middle of the book nor near the end..just on page 28 but I know I liked it already. He is very very very knowledgable and wise. He can take complexity and explain it with simplicity to encourage understanding. He talks about our inherited dysfunction of man and the universal truth that is presented in different teachings. In Buddhism, it is called dukkha, a word meaning "sufferings, unsatisfactoriness". In Hinduism, it is called Maya. This reminds me of the animation I watched about the Buddha's life..during the event when the Buddha was under the Bodhi tree before his enlightenment, he had to face Maya to move forward. Maya formed into beautiful girls to tempt him but he transformed them into falling flowers. That is where Maya came from! In Christianity, it is the original sin. Sin came from Greek meaning to miss the mark as "an archer misses the target" or missing the point of why we are here. It is neat to see the connections!  

Man's Madness  

He went on talking about the destruction of this inherited dysfunction and how it connects to the violence, warfare, and destructive abilities of man and how technology and science magnified the destructive impact of that dysfunction of the "human mind" on the planet, life - species and man himself. Alan Watts also talked about this with his "push of a button", how science and technology have growth to such a capacity that with one push, half or the whole planet can be destroyed in an instant. As I read each sentences, my thinking mind agrees. He talks about "collective manifestations" of that dyfunction is presented by our consciousness. I recall reading the same thing in a Buddhist book by Master Chin Kung as he said that the enivironment reflects our state of mind. Is it the fear and desire of man? How can we dissolve this? Be a good person? But we can not really try to be good, it's just too fake and really does not work. We end up being frustrated and unsatisfied because we can not live up to our image of "good" and eventually pick up habits of self loathe. What then? Eckhart Tolle says, there needs to be shift in consciousness in order for success to take place. "You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge." In Buddhism, the Buddha called this "Buddha nature, inner wisdom, Bodhi, basic goodness..etc". The transformation is called "Enlightenment" or "the ending of sufferings" in Buddhism, it is called "Salvation" in Christianity and liberation or awakening.   

Flowering of consciousness  

The inherited dysfunction arises from the "I" of self..an illusion of the self. One wants more this and that, power and land...rich and popularity. There is friction/tension against each other, my is better..my belief, my way of life is right while yours is wrong. It is the same with religion. Eckhart Tolle says we mistaken thoughts for truth. "They equate truth with thought (their mind), they claim to be in sole possession of the truth in an unconscious attempt to protect their identity".  At this rate of inherited dysfunction, the self-destructive button is a very close call. Our species are going into exinction, our climate in chaos with weird weathers, our forests in patches, our food full of chemicals..etc. It is now the time to face our choices for change- there is a need for conscious thought, speech, and actions. "What world do I want to create? If the structures of the human mind remains unchanged, we will always end up re -creating fundamentally the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction."  

Glimpse of our Beauty inside  

Wonder why nature is so peaceful? Why people go camping, go hiking in the woods/mountains? Why outside is so refreshing? The cool breeze, the refreshing rain, the warm sun, the beautiful sky, the beautiful patterns of nature, the snow, the lakes, the trees, the plants, the flowers, the grasses, the organic and inorganic shapes, the lines, the textures, the colours, the scent. It is on page 26 that I find out why I can be at one with nature...why I love to look at fishes swimming in the water for hours and hours or watching my cat eat, sleep or play or why I used to collect rocks in the rain. They are the "Source of life out of which it came!" They are the ones that show you the way back to "God, the souce, to yourself," your inner Buddha. It is so exciting to connect the dots and be refresh again by new discoveries!