Thursday, March 18, 9971

Distraction

Y’ever notice how sometimes you or someone else can’t sit still or stop talking, or has to have the television on as background noise?

The false self, because it is false, cannot stand on its own, so it needs constant upkeep. It has to be doing/talking/thinking 100% of the time (or until the body/mind is exhausted). As soon as this activity stops, the inactivity is felt as boredom, as though a drug has been taken away. This is because the false self is a mind process, and a process exists only as long as it keeps “processing”, so the cessation of activity is the equivalent of ego death.

The true self is not a process. It is a noun, not a verb. It does not need to “process” in order to be. It simply is, regardless of what it does. It enjoys being. It is a bundle of blissful energy.

The false self needs to experience external things in order to feel good, and indeed, to exist. Its default state is lack and unhappiness, so any form of enjoyment must come from somewhere else. This is why it desperately needs to involve itself with the world: it must accomplish, obtain possessions, and have particular types of experiences.

The true self can choose to involve itself with the world, but it does not need to because it exists without them. It enjoys doing things but does not need to impress anyone, enjoys possessions but feels fine if it does not get them, and enjoys certain experiences but also enjoys just sitting quietly.

This is not to say that living via the false self can never be enjoyable. Distractions can be fun. But underneath there will be a constant state of agitation, of concern that the next distraction won’t be obtained or enjoyed, and if it isn’t, anger or frustration. The true self remains at peace regardless of external situations. 

When we stop selfing, the need for distraction ceases, and we then become aware of the bliss that naturally accompanies being. We do not need to meditate on a mountaintop or give up all our possessions in order to achieve bliss. In fact, bliss cannot be “achieved”, for that would imply that we must do something in order to get it. The way to experience bliss is to not do something, and that something is selfing. When we drop that ignorant and destructive activity, we get out of our own way.