oldernow
2024-08-25 23:05:25 UTC
"They Said It Was Simple" - Wei Wu Wei
31. They Said It was Simple
STRANGE TO SAY - and how rare it is! - the term 'phenomena'
implies precisely what etymologically it says. Every
thing, every conceivable thing, that our senses, and
our mind (which interprets what our senses perceive)
cognise, is exactly an 'appearance', i.e., an appearance
in consciousness interpreted as an event extended in space
and in duration and objectified in a world external to that
which cognises it. And simultaneously that which cognises
it assumes that it is the subject of the cognition and,
as such, an entity apart from that which is cognised.
As long as these associated assumptions subsist, the
correlated assumption of 'bondage', and the painful
sensations accompanying that assumption, must necessarily
remain intact.
Therefore release from this assumed 'bondage' can only be
obtained by comprehending the falsity of these assumptions
which are responsible for the presumed bondage, for both
'assumptions' and 'bondage' are apparent only, i.e.,
are purely 'phenomenal'.
'Appearance' is precisely what the word implies, i.e.,
something that 'seems to be', not 'something that is'.
If this is realised - and how obvious it should be, since
the terms themselves say it precisely! - the psychological
elements of a purely psychological bondage are severed,
and only the psychological conditioning occasioned by
that 'bondage' remains, and this, like all conditioning,
will dissolve as a result of a process of de-conditioning
which consists in the establishment of the concept of
'appearance' (phenomenon) in place of the concept of
'reality'.
The dissolution of that which is cognised as 'real' and
'separate', as events extended in space and in time,
necessarily involves the dissolution of the assumed
cognising entity, and both are then seen as phenomena,
or appearance, in consciousness.
When this readjustment is effected both subject and
object no longer exist as such, and no entity remains
which could be conceived as being 'bound'. That is -
bondage is no more.
How very simple indeed it is!
Note: 'Then who am I?' If anyone could tell you that,
what you were told would necessarily be nonsense - for
it would be just another object, as phenomenal as the
rest. Some day you will know automatically what you are -
which is what the Masters meant when they said so often,
'You will know of yourself whether water is tepid or cold'
- or, you will just be that knowledge.
31. They Said It was Simple
STRANGE TO SAY - and how rare it is! - the term 'phenomena'
implies precisely what etymologically it says. Every
thing, every conceivable thing, that our senses, and
our mind (which interprets what our senses perceive)
cognise, is exactly an 'appearance', i.e., an appearance
in consciousness interpreted as an event extended in space
and in duration and objectified in a world external to that
which cognises it. And simultaneously that which cognises
it assumes that it is the subject of the cognition and,
as such, an entity apart from that which is cognised.
As long as these associated assumptions subsist, the
correlated assumption of 'bondage', and the painful
sensations accompanying that assumption, must necessarily
remain intact.
Therefore release from this assumed 'bondage' can only be
obtained by comprehending the falsity of these assumptions
which are responsible for the presumed bondage, for both
'assumptions' and 'bondage' are apparent only, i.e.,
are purely 'phenomenal'.
'Appearance' is precisely what the word implies, i.e.,
something that 'seems to be', not 'something that is'.
If this is realised - and how obvious it should be, since
the terms themselves say it precisely! - the psychological
elements of a purely psychological bondage are severed,
and only the psychological conditioning occasioned by
that 'bondage' remains, and this, like all conditioning,
will dissolve as a result of a process of de-conditioning
which consists in the establishment of the concept of
'appearance' (phenomenon) in place of the concept of
'reality'.
The dissolution of that which is cognised as 'real' and
'separate', as events extended in space and in time,
necessarily involves the dissolution of the assumed
cognising entity, and both are then seen as phenomena,
or appearance, in consciousness.
When this readjustment is effected both subject and
object no longer exist as such, and no entity remains
which could be conceived as being 'bound'. That is -
bondage is no more.
How very simple indeed it is!
Note: 'Then who am I?' If anyone could tell you that,
what you were told would necessarily be nonsense - for
it would be just another object, as phenomenal as the
rest. Some day you will know automatically what you are -
which is what the Masters meant when they said so often,
'You will know of yourself whether water is tepid or cold'
- or, you will just be that knowledge.
--
Oh, for the love of signature silliness....
Oh, for the love of signature silliness....