by Robert Wilkinson
Astrology teaches that everything is determined by "free will" except for two things: 1) To be born where you were, when you were, into a certain family, and 2) The timing on when certain choices will be offered. Everything else seems to be dependent on someone’s "free will," whether ours, our parents, our bosses, and so forth. Still, astrology does not tell us how we will choose, or in any way negate our responsibility to act as best we are able, Mercury retrograde notwithstanding. That being the case, let's examine some of our mental hardwiring to get a sense of what tools we’re working with, or not.
Astrology teaches that everything is determined by "free will" except for two things: 1) To be born where you were, when you were, into a certain family, and 2) The timing on when certain choices will be offered. Everything else seems to be dependent on someone’s "free will," whether ours, our parents, our bosses, and so forth. Still, astrology does not tell us how we will choose, or in any way negate our responsibility to act as best we are able, Mercury retrograde notwithstanding. That being the case, let's examine some of our mental hardwiring to get a sense of what tools we’re working with, or not.
According to HH Dalai Lama and other venerable Buddhist teachers I’ve read or sat with, our mind has four fundamental afflictions that are the source of all human suffering, our own as well as others. Though they have been expressed in many ways according to local tradition, I will describe them as 1) Attachment, 2) Aversion, 3) Delusion arising from misunderstanding of the cause-and-effect process, a.k.a. karma, and 4) The mind suffering over its own suffering.
You can easily see that these are somewhat interrelated, common to us all, and the source of many problems, individual and social. These seem to be the sources of individual and international misunderstandings, crime, hurtful behaviors, and every other kind of human mischief that can be imagined. Mixed with the four fundamental emotions of fear, vanity, desire, and attachment to sensation, we humans have a great big problem that won’t go away. Until we’re ready to face it, deal with it, and persevere in taking a higher road regardless of the ignorance, violence, willful egotism, and avarice that pervades our planet, we’re just rearranging the deck chairs as the boat sinks.
The good news is that there are antidotes to these afflictions that are hardwired into the human existence. Buddhism – a philosophy, not a religion - a way of life, not a belief system - states that we can transcend our attachments, aversions, delusions born of misunderstandings, and our suffering over our own suffering. The difficult news is that we must find a consistent way to practice the antidotes, or suffer from a lack of focus. Remember – either you’re driving your boat, someone else is driving your boat, or no one is driving the boat except the current and the wind. And yes, it is useful to remember that we live in a hyper-distractible reality and most of what our world and local belief systems try to sell us is a lot of bloviated opinion based in vain imaginings. I'll post the antidotes to human suffering tomorrow.
Until then, take a deep breath, and remember that since all of this is impermanent, you can't take any of it too seriously or too personally. Even when we suffer, it's impermanent, and in remembering that, we identify with the timeless aspect of ourselves, that aspect of pure consciousness which is beyond suffering. We have a body, we have feelings, we have a mind, but we ARE Spirit, Eternals dipping into various aspects of "reality" to remember that we are not the 5 senses and the mind, but Timeless Beings that live, learn, and are forever free to explore the nature of light, life, and love. And that's a very good thing.
You can easily see that these are somewhat interrelated, common to us all, and the source of many problems, individual and social. These seem to be the sources of individual and international misunderstandings, crime, hurtful behaviors, and every other kind of human mischief that can be imagined. Mixed with the four fundamental emotions of fear, vanity, desire, and attachment to sensation, we humans have a great big problem that won’t go away. Until we’re ready to face it, deal with it, and persevere in taking a higher road regardless of the ignorance, violence, willful egotism, and avarice that pervades our planet, we’re just rearranging the deck chairs as the boat sinks.
The good news is that there are antidotes to these afflictions that are hardwired into the human existence. Buddhism – a philosophy, not a religion - a way of life, not a belief system - states that we can transcend our attachments, aversions, delusions born of misunderstandings, and our suffering over our own suffering. The difficult news is that we must find a consistent way to practice the antidotes, or suffer from a lack of focus. Remember – either you’re driving your boat, someone else is driving your boat, or no one is driving the boat except the current and the wind. And yes, it is useful to remember that we live in a hyper-distractible reality and most of what our world and local belief systems try to sell us is a lot of bloviated opinion based in vain imaginings. I'll post the antidotes to human suffering tomorrow.
Until then, take a deep breath, and remember that since all of this is impermanent, you can't take any of it too seriously or too personally. Even when we suffer, it's impermanent, and in remembering that, we identify with the timeless aspect of ourselves, that aspect of pure consciousness which is beyond suffering. We have a body, we have feelings, we have a mind, but we ARE Spirit, Eternals dipping into various aspects of "reality" to remember that we are not the 5 senses and the mind, but Timeless Beings that live, learn, and are forever free to explore the nature of light, life, and love. And that's a very good thing.
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