Sunday, June 04, 2006
The Illusion of Separateness:
The Illusion of Separateness:
Phillip T. Alden
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Those of you who read my blog know that my main soapbox is compassion and my main complaint is its absence in our society at large.
Today I was at a church service as part of my work with my ASO, (AIDS Service Organization.) We are trying to build community by being active in other groups and organizations and today it was the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) here in San Mateo County. MCC is known as the “gay church” and they have denominations all over the world. This one is a year old, trying to start a group that does not rely on going to the City (SF) for fellowship. I used to be a member for the short time I lived in Austin, TX and they are a nice bunch of people.
So I was sitting there, thinking about spiritual matters. If asked I would state my affiliation as Taoist but I feel comfortable in their environment. I have studied a few different spiritual texts and I find most of them have their roots in Lao Tzu. Though some would be loathe to admit it most religions are historically based in Taoism. Even Christ talked about being influenced by Lao Tzu though that part of his teachings are suppressed by modern Christian sects.
Eastern thought talks about the illusion of separateness, that we are always connected, and that much of the world’s pain is caused by the illusion of separateness.
I believe this.
Then there is expectation. The ancient school of thought is that pain is also caused by expectation, the two run parallel. “To live in expectation is to live in hell.”
But much of the expectation is caused by the illusion. If there were universal acknowledgment of our connectedness there would be little need for expectation because we would all be doing what we are supposed to be doing. No person would feel alone because no person would be alone. Feeling and paying heed to the connection, there would be little call for expectation.
Our pain and anger is caused by fear, and the fear is caused by the illusion, which in turn gives rise to expectation. It’s not hard to understand but it is hard to accept. We’ve created millions of groups for a sense of belonging when we need look no farther than the person closest to where we are standing.
The reason why this answer is so hard to accept is because it makes us responsible, more responsible than we have ever been. If we destroy the illusion we open the floodgates of compassion. Once the illusion is destroyed there is no going back and that scares the shit out of us. We are afraid to become the masters of our own destiny, the architects of our salvation rather than our destruction.
Once the illusion is gone we can no longer point to another human being and say they are less than or greater than us. We can no longer divide into groups and stake out territory. We all become responsible for each other and our planet.
But I believe the illusion is killing us. So does Lao Tzu, the Buddha and Christ. Our fear makes us more and more desperate to maintain the illusion. The thing is we can dispel the illusion with little effort on a personal level, and when we do we discover how comfortable and natural it is to live free of the illusion and its attendant fear.
In America we have to return to the illusion again and replace the barriers to function, and we find we hate it. We know the feeling those great men were talking about and the illusion and the fear become the abomination. The absence of compassion becomes the abomination. Hate, Selfishness and Greed become the abomination.
And there are many of us who have put aside the illusion or were never taught it in the first place. We know the answer and we know that some are not ready to hear it. We could preach until we are blue in the face to no avail. We find other people like us so we can live free of the illusion for short periods of time. If we’re really lucky we find a partner who knows what we do. Our circle widens until there are a few dozen people close to us who have cast away the illusion.
And it hurts like hell we cannot break the illusion for others. Like the Dali Lama we can only lead by example and that is very, very hard. Sometimes we want to put on the illusion like a suit of clothes but it never brings us satisfaction. We have to content ourselves with the company of others. It’s called enlightenment but we are afraid to think of ourselves as enlightened until we realize there are stages of enlightenment and we are at a primary stage. We fear our enlightenment will seem like ego, though it only appears so to those still stuck in the illusion. They fear what we are so they deride our words and actions, assign labels that make them more comfortable. But they never really become comfortable.
Even though leading by example feels like settling, and that it’s very hard, it is the only thing we can do. Meditation, ritual and discipline are tools to help us stay focused. When things are dark, as they are now, we fear the illusion will destroy all of us. It’s not death that causes the fear, it’s all those people shedding their current life without breaking the illusion. We are afraid for them, not for ourselves. Sometimes that is a hard truth to remember and keep in mind.
The illusion distracts us, frustrates us, worries us. We no longer hate other people, we hate the illusion that keeps them prisoner. We hate to see all the unnecessary pain. But all we can do is hang on day after day and do our small part to chip away at the illusion. Our mere presence does that and we have to remember that. Just being here is doing something about the one large problem we all face. It’s hard.
If you don’t believe this I urge you to read the sacred texts for yourself, especially Lao Tzu. Those who cannot see the truth are firmly caught in the illusion. We know how to look past the window-dressing people put up to use the illusion for their selfish advantage. Those people are about control over those who suffer under the illusion. If you do not live in the illusion I have only one thing left to say –
Hang in there. We have a lot of work to do.
The Illusion of Separateness:
Phillip T. Alden
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Those of you who read my blog know that my main soapbox is compassion and my main complaint is its absence in our society at large.
Today I was at a church service as part of my work with my ASO, (AIDS Service Organization.) We are trying to build community by being active in other groups and organizations and today it was the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) here in San Mateo County. MCC is known as the “gay church” and they have denominations all over the world. This one is a year old, trying to start a group that does not rely on going to the City (SF) for fellowship. I used to be a member for the short time I lived in Austin, TX and they are a nice bunch of people.
So I was sitting there, thinking about spiritual matters. If asked I would state my affiliation as Taoist but I feel comfortable in their environment. I have studied a few different spiritual texts and I find most of them have their roots in Lao Tzu. Though some would be loathe to admit it most religions are historically based in Taoism. Even Christ talked about being influenced by Lao Tzu though that part of his teachings are suppressed by modern Christian sects.
Eastern thought talks about the illusion of separateness, that we are always connected, and that much of the world’s pain is caused by the illusion of separateness.
I believe this.
Then there is expectation. The ancient school of thought is that pain is also caused by expectation, the two run parallel. “To live in expectation is to live in hell.”
But much of the expectation is caused by the illusion. If there were universal acknowledgment of our connectedness there would be little need for expectation because we would all be doing what we are supposed to be doing. No person would feel alone because no person would be alone. Feeling and paying heed to the connection, there would be little call for expectation.
Our pain and anger is caused by fear, and the fear is caused by the illusion, which in turn gives rise to expectation. It’s not hard to understand but it is hard to accept. We’ve created millions of groups for a sense of belonging when we need look no farther than the person closest to where we are standing.
The reason why this answer is so hard to accept is because it makes us responsible, more responsible than we have ever been. If we destroy the illusion we open the floodgates of compassion. Once the illusion is destroyed there is no going back and that scares the shit out of us. We are afraid to become the masters of our own destiny, the architects of our salvation rather than our destruction.
Once the illusion is gone we can no longer point to another human being and say they are less than or greater than us. We can no longer divide into groups and stake out territory. We all become responsible for each other and our planet.
But I believe the illusion is killing us. So does Lao Tzu, the Buddha and Christ. Our fear makes us more and more desperate to maintain the illusion. The thing is we can dispel the illusion with little effort on a personal level, and when we do we discover how comfortable and natural it is to live free of the illusion and its attendant fear.
In America we have to return to the illusion again and replace the barriers to function, and we find we hate it. We know the feeling those great men were talking about and the illusion and the fear become the abomination. The absence of compassion becomes the abomination. Hate, Selfishness and Greed become the abomination.
And there are many of us who have put aside the illusion or were never taught it in the first place. We know the answer and we know that some are not ready to hear it. We could preach until we are blue in the face to no avail. We find other people like us so we can live free of the illusion for short periods of time. If we’re really lucky we find a partner who knows what we do. Our circle widens until there are a few dozen people close to us who have cast away the illusion.
And it hurts like hell we cannot break the illusion for others. Like the Dali Lama we can only lead by example and that is very, very hard. Sometimes we want to put on the illusion like a suit of clothes but it never brings us satisfaction. We have to content ourselves with the company of others. It’s called enlightenment but we are afraid to think of ourselves as enlightened until we realize there are stages of enlightenment and we are at a primary stage. We fear our enlightenment will seem like ego, though it only appears so to those still stuck in the illusion. They fear what we are so they deride our words and actions, assign labels that make them more comfortable. But they never really become comfortable.
Even though leading by example feels like settling, and that it’s very hard, it is the only thing we can do. Meditation, ritual and discipline are tools to help us stay focused. When things are dark, as they are now, we fear the illusion will destroy all of us. It’s not death that causes the fear, it’s all those people shedding their current life without breaking the illusion. We are afraid for them, not for ourselves. Sometimes that is a hard truth to remember and keep in mind.
The illusion distracts us, frustrates us, worries us. We no longer hate other people, we hate the illusion that keeps them prisoner. We hate to see all the unnecessary pain. But all we can do is hang on day after day and do our small part to chip away at the illusion. Our mere presence does that and we have to remember that. Just being here is doing something about the one large problem we all face. It’s hard.
If you don’t believe this I urge you to read the sacred texts for yourself, especially Lao Tzu. Those who cannot see the truth are firmly caught in the illusion. We know how to look past the window-dressing people put up to use the illusion for their selfish advantage. Those people are about control over those who suffer under the illusion. If you do not live in the illusion I have only one thing left to say –
Hang in there. We have a lot of work to do.
# posted by Phillip T. Alden @ 9:03 PM 
