Kub933's Journal

Hmm, interesting.

It’s like one remembers only the bit which puts the blame on others, when one could have chosen another profession, or live with less expenses, or move to say, a house boat.

We work harder and longer because we make choices about our expenses and lifestyle.

We don’t see that bit.

I didn’t. Until the current opportunity came along and I essentially have a semi-retired lifestyle.

I don’t earn as much, so I have stopped spending so much.

It was like “oh, I don’t have to work so much?”

It was just a habit. Some of which was I am not attractive without money. I have to get more so I can get a better place to impress women.

Yeah. All of a sudden my choices are someone else’s fault. :rofl: Nice insights.:vulcan_salute:

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Something with regards to the ‘commitment to feeling good each moment again come what may’ is becoming clearer.

It seems lately I am on the precipice of living that commitment. Since the start of applying the method it was somewhat like this :

At first there was the intent to feel happy and harmless however I was completely slanted away from living this goal and completely inclined towards chasing the ‘real world dramas’. So at first it was difficult to consistently feel good because I was only committed to feeling good if A, B and C were met. I was trying to feel good consistently whilst still being fully involved in pursuing the ‘real world dramas’. When I say ‘real world dramas’ I mean all the beliefs, values, fantasies etc that epitomise living in the real world.

And looking back now it makes sense that it would not work, it is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

It is saying that I will continue living the very same values that other miserable and malicious entities are living and YET I will end up somehow being happy and harmless, how!?

So I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, as in I did not want to change myself and yet I expected a different result. I wanted to continue ‘being in the rat race’ whilst not playing by the same rules as other entities are playing!

But of course each time it always circled back to the same realisation (sooner or later) that it was ‘me’ who was the problem and who needed to change.

With each component of those ‘real world dramas’ being investigated and eventually eliminated I then began inclining myself more and more towards enjoyment and appreciation as a MO and away from the ‘real world dramas’.

I can see this commitment dangling in front of me now, it is that shift towards finally and wholeheartedly stepping out of the ‘rat race’. Most of those ‘dramas’ I was involved in, they went round and round until I was basically sick of it all and decided to stop, it’s funny really but this is how they all disappeared, it wasn’t some momentous realisation that would eradicate them in one fell swoop, it was more a process of gathering all of myself to finally admit that going down this path is pointless and sucks :laughing:, very much down to earth.

So there is all these ‘paths’ that I have no interest in travelling down anymore, I simply had enough of them and I have no inclination of going there again.

There is this one path though dangling in front of me that does deliver the goods, the wide and wondrous path! The path of enjoyment and appreciation. It seems at this point there is nothing but walking it fully, although it is like I still have an emotional hangover from those real world dramas, like I am holding back out of fear of ‘something out there’ even though every time I check there is nothing of substance there.

It’s actually kind of funny to observe because those dramas that used to be so very concrete are like bits of rubble now, however ‘I’ will still desperately try to piece the bits of rubble together and go “look there is something you need to worry about here!” :laughing:

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Nice!

Yes, it’s making a huge difference to regard that commitment as ironclad, without considering there is any failure as long as that is continually remembered.

A single stake in the ground, and a tether to it. One can pull oneself back to it when I am searching in the rubble.

It’s working in my everyday thinking. I let myself think whatever I want, but immediately notice when I am wandering off into the same old useless areas. Usually one-sided things about the ex at the moment.

As soon as I do that, just get back to that “stake in the ground” I remember that I have already seen the way to feel good “come what may” regarding that aspect of the situation.

I was thinking just now that in lieu, temporarily, of pure intent (the actual kind, palpable) this is working a treat.

It’s like I just came across Actualism a few days ago, happened to read that single phrase, and went from there.

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Can you give an example of those values where you were trying to have your cake and eat it too?

It seems you’re at a point where you could ‘nip in the bud’ whenever you are re-tempted by those dramas… you’ve been there already and gotten the answers

Yes so for example one of the ones that took forever to get anywhere with was with regards to my coaching martial arts.

How I used to obsess over every class that I taught, thinking over and over whether I was living up to the expectations of each and every student there, whether I was in alignment with the overarching ‘role’ that I must live up to as the ‘sensei’.

Essentially I was saying that I want to feel good as long as I tick all of those (often contradictory) ideals such as :

  • wanting every single student to get exactly what they wish for in the class (impossible as each student might have different wants and desires)
  • appearing that I have an answer to every single question and that my martial arts knowledge is complete and impeccable (this is simply not in alignment with facts)
  • being able to completely dominate each and every student in sparring in order to demonstrate my unwavering power as the ‘sensei’
  • etc

So I wanted to feel good but only under the umbrella of still living up to my ‘role’ as this perfect martial arts master. And of course this always lead to conflict as I can never meet all of those ideas all at once. Trying to do so is exhausting and just not possible, and yet I am driven to continue trying this impossible feat.

There is still some sort of pull towards living the unlivable.

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This makes sense, thanks!

It becomes an increasingly clear choice between one and the other

So writing this something also became clear. The answer seems a lot more cunning than it looks at first.

The reason I want to continue to live the unlivable is because I want to set myself apart as special. After all if I was to ‘give away the recipe’ then how can I have something that no one else has. By manipulating how others see me I am able to be ‘that’, it is like what Richard writes about the ‘mystique’ that the essential ingredient of any mystique is that it forever remains unexplained.

I need to somehow project an image which fools others (and myself) into believing that I am truly ‘that’, which means I must forever twist myself in knots in order to live up to the ideal (I never do though, it is just a question of how well I convince myself and others that I am ‘that’) this essentially requires for me to continue being a fake - hence the anxiety and overthinking.

If I was to be genuine then there is no mystery anymore. Then I can no longer claim that ‘special’ thing.

I have been getting frustrated with this, why am I still playing that game? What I am seeing is that it is not enough for me to be happy and harmless, I need to be ‘good’ because in being ‘good’ ‘I’ am set apart and acknowledged by others as special.

I keep getting these flashes of what life is like before this game. Of simply living my life, of being me, as opposed to living a life of a continual scanning and assessment of how well I am living up to the tenets of society so that I can have my place as someone ‘good’.

The game continues for now…

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I was just re-reading my above post and looking at this whole thing. I am reminded of (I think Geoffrey) writing that beliefs fall away when there is something better available.

I think it is clear that this situation persists because I haven’t found this something better. As it stands I do not have a firm alternative so I am stuck playing the game, I only know to be ‘special’ or to be a ‘no-one’.
Either I win the ‘game’ or I am a looser, the third alternative remains unseen, time to firmly locate it.

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You could reinvent what it means to be a “Sensei”.

Go all Yoda on them.

Hide in plain site like Richard did as an “Artist”. People would excuse his “out there” attitude because that’s what artists are; eccentric.

The best thing I ever learnt from aikido was; don’t get into fights. :sweat_smile:

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I am off to party. Chat later.

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Yeah but this is still playing some sort of a game, still playing to a role, so it will bring up its own set of problems sooner or later.

Only being genuine can guarantee the end to the anxiety, because there is nothing fake that needs to be upheld.

It seems that it needs to become experientially clear that being me is actually better off for all concerned (including myself) than living the role of ‘that’. I do not see this as it stands.

Also this thing is not just evident in the martial arts, it’s there at all times, a persona that has to be sustained.

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So some progress on this front already, what I am seeing today is that to be genuine entails being here. I cannot plan and scheme how I will be genuine in a ‘future scenario’ that is literally 180 degrees opposite of what the word means.

Being genuine is to be current with whatever is happening right now and responding accordingly, it cannot be practiced or planned, it can only be lived.

So it is quite cool really, because I finally get to stop the scheming, but this will only happen when I have complete confidence that being genuine is the best I can be. The goal right now is to confirm this experientially.

The objections that are coming up right at this moment are to do with whether being genuine is suitable in all situations, to give an example I am later on today doing one of my hen party gigs. When I usually arrive I put on a certain ‘mask’ of a ‘professional’ with all that it entails. Now the fear is that if I am to be genuine in such a performance/work scenario, will I act in a way that simply doesn’t align with what my employer/agency/clients want? This seems to be a simple fear that has to be proved to be incorrect by doing so we will see.

I do remember many EE’s and even PCE’s when I was doing these hen party gigs and I was always a delight to be around, I know this cos all the girls kept talking about it after, so clearly it’s not that when I stop playing to a role I swing the other way to being some degenerate.

How crazy is it that simply being me without any veneer to hide behind can be so damn terrifying, reminds me of something Richard wrote that it can seem more raw than taking one’s clothes off in public, although I am kinda doing that already :stuck_out_tongue::laughing:

Also reading this makes me see just what sorta crazy high bar I am setting haha, so I want to go up, get naked and perform in front of a bunch of girls at a hen party without a dime of any sort of pretence to hide behind, let’s go! :smiley:

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If you want to be special, you still can… by becoming free you’re 1 in a billion (and 1 in 10 billion that have ever lived).

I see what you are getting at but I don’t see this for myself as a clean motivation. The reason I say this is because for the persona to be special ‘he’ needs to set himself apart from other entities, his ‘specialness’ is only possible as being special OVER others, this inevitably creates the hierarchical power structure that Richard found in the whole master/disciple situation. Because how can I be truly ‘special’ if someone is equally as ‘special’ as me. This is clearly observable for example in sports or in martial arts, the ultimate dream is to be the GOAT (greatest of all time) because in this way this entity ensures his place as forever set apart from others, a God.

And enlightenment is the ultimate way for the persona to be set apart as ‘special’, it is a self centred pursuit. Me self immolating right now in order to be special (in the way that as an identity I wish to be special) is equally a self centred pursuit. The goal must be to be a fellow human being, how else can I give ‘myself’ up, who would I be doing it for?

If I self immolate that is special in a sense, but I would rather use the word remarkable, because landing on the other side I am a fellow human being only, this flesh and blood body cannot set itself apart from others in that same way that the entity desired (as being more special than ALL the other entities, somewhat towering above them in ‘my’ ‘specialness’) This I remember from PCEs and it is actually a very important feature because it ensures equity and peace.

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I am looking forward to the “becoming actually free whilst being naked at a hens party” report.

There’s a headline for the Google ads in there somewhere too!.

I think there’s an interplay here between wanting to use the most pure motivations possible to go directly to freedom, and using ‘whatever motivations one has already’ to go in ‘the direction of freedom.’

Either are OK depending on where one is at, from my experience the dividing line is if there’s motivation lacking or there’s insincerity or one still feels quite divided, there’s no harm in using the motivations one has to ‘go in the right direction,’ no matter how impure they may appear at first sight. Every ‘impure’ motivation has its ‘pure version.’

For example, if one is very selfish, the pure version of that is the drive for autonomy, freedom, happiness. If one is a pushover in all situations, the pure version of that is wanting peace and harmony with other human beings. It takes some trial and error and experimentation to move toward the more perfect version, and I think it only makes sense to use the motivations one already has.

That said, I have no disagreements about the ultimate lack of specialness; I am simply one living thing on the earth. No one in particular.

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Yeah I was thinking the same when I was driving just now. There’s certain motivations that can work at certain stages. However this current situation seems at root related to this being special business, so it seems the wrong motivation to use an ‘ultimately special’ goal to overcome my hang up around being special. Like feeding fire with gasoline :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

What I see so far is that being a fellow human being actually releases me from this need to be special, I really experience it as a release, no longer needing to be ‘that’, finally able to be me and living in equity and intimacy with others.

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If it works, it works! :slight_smile:

I was writing about a PCE for @claudiu’s Google doc and something became a bit clearer about self immolation. It’s funny because that was also what I saw during that PCE but somehow I forgot. At times thinking about self immolation seems like it would be an impossibility, how could something so far reaching and so powerful simply disappear for good? The energy of the passions seems like a never ending well, how could I ever overcome it?

What I wrote in the PCE description was that from the vantage point of the PCE it is completely clear that ‘I’ actually never existed, and neither does the ‘real world’. In a PCE the illusion that is ‘me’ is temporarily disabled, from there the body is simply aware that none of that stuff ever happened. The reason why it can happen so easily is because ‘I’ am not actual, ‘I’ have no solid ground at all.

And so what I realised today is that the reason self immolation is possible is the same as the above. The reason why it is possible for ‘me’ to disappear for good is because ‘I’ am only an illusion. In a PCE that illusion is temporarily seen through, in actual freedom it is eradicated for good. But either way ‘I’ never existed to begin with.

There is no great force that has to be battled, it is just seen once and for all that ‘I’ never was, and as such there is nothing more to ‘go back to’. The illusionary entity along with its illusionary world are dispelled once and for all.

Everything is somewhat the same and yet something fundamental has changed for good, just as it happens temporarily in a PCE. In the PCE it is quite cool that everything is so ordinary and yet something has shifted thus transforming the world into a magical wonderland.

It reminds me of something @Srinath wrote about a ground/figure reversal, it is so simple in a sense and yet it’s consequences are so far reaching. Because a very damaging illusion has disappeared for good. So I still wake up in the same bed, talk to the same people etc and yet fundamentally something has shifted, sorrow and malice are nowhere to be found, they never actually existed.
Now of course this doesn’t mean that for the entity this isn’t truly the end of everything, ‘I’ still have to be fully on board towards ‘my’ demise. It is just that ‘my’ demise is as fictitious as ‘my’ apparent presence. It has to be quite simple in the end.

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