When Awakening Meets the World
Cuando el Despertar Se Encuentra con el Mundo
A reflection on how the recognition of ultimate truth relates to the suffering visible in the world, and why genuine awakening must express itself as a more free and loving life.
When Awakening Meets the World
A reflection on how the recognition of ultimate truth relates to the suffering visible in the world, and why genuine awakening must express itself as a more free and loving life.
Ignorance, and terms like it, could be interpreted as negative. To not know one's true nature is ignorance, and we are speaking of it here as something we want to avoid. So you can naturally interpret that as having a negative connotation.
Now, you will remember that I am the first to say: it is up to you to choose differently. I don't have a judgment toward that. I do know it causes suffering, but it is not my suffering. And I do know that suffering is also illusory.
Suffering is real and illusory at once
Ultimately there is no suffering. This is simply so true for me that nobody could speak me out of it. It would just be an interesting conversation. My reality is my reality.
Now, to speak of the world: I speak of the world in many ways. When we are actually talking about what, to me, matters in the world, speaking of the relative, I can talk about all of that being illusion. But I have also said, and you have probably heard me say, that ultimately all that matters is life and how we live. All of this awakening, all of this spiritual work, is so that we live more freely and lovingly and create the most beautiful experience for everybody around us. If we awaken and create misery around us, that is not awakening. Not in my terms.
Not looking away from the world
To me, to not speak of the world as insane is a denial and an avoidance. Obviously I am generalizing, but the question being raised was about obvious things: the sheer amount of chaos and war that is happening in the world.