"There is no necessary relationship between the way you feel, the way
you think, the way you are, the way you figured it out, and the way it
really is."
Prior to the onset of transformation in our lives (or maybe I should
say prior to the onset of
the miracle
of transformation in our lives), the way we would have begun an inquiry
into the areas of our lives that weren't working, would have been to
ask "Why ...?" questions. We are that "Why ...?" questions
(ie looking for
reasons
why our lives are the way they are) will somehow bring back our power
to have them work in the areas where they aren't working now.
There are two parts to any "Why ...?" question: 1) the inquiry
"Why ...?", and 2) the answer "Because ...". We are that every
"Why ...?" inquiry goeswith (as
Alan Watts
may have said) a "Because ..." answer. And we are that when we figure
out what the "Because ..." answer is, we'll regain the power to have
our lives work again in areas where they aren't working, or in areas
which once worked and are now no longer working (and of course, every
"Why ...?" question may have more than one answer ie may
have more than one "Because ..." - but that's a subject for another
conversation on another occasion).
Q) "Why am I not
happy?":
A) "Because I don't have what I want.". Q) "Why do I
have negative thoughts?": A) "Because I'm a sinner ie a bad
person.". Q) "Why am I so shy?": A) "Because I was once
hurt by that little red-haired girl I loved.". Q) "Why doesn't
life give me nice things (and it should) because I'm such a good
guy?":
A) "I don't know why ... but if I keep asking, I'll
eventually find out why, and then I'll be
happy.
When I know why, I'll be
happy.".
Now look: all these inquiries / examples assume there's a necessary or
causal relationship between the way we feel, the way we think, the way
we are, the way we figured it out, and the way it really is. We assume
that what we'll get from "Why ...?" questions, is an
understanding of the relationship between them. In other
words, we are that there's a necessary or causal relationship between
the way we feel, the way we think, the way we are, the way we figured
it out, and the way it really is, and if we could only understand that
relationship, we'd regain the power to have our lives work again (it's
a subtext).
But there isn't. There's no necessary relationship between them.
Really there isn't. I want you to get that. There just isn't. Or at
least I want you to try on it's just possible that there isn't. "Say
whut?! There isn't?". No, there isn't. None whatsoever.
You just made up that there is. Then you forgot you made up that there
is, and you started running your life as if there is.
Things haven't worked ever since / that's when things stopped working.
There's no "Why ...?".
Now there's
a trap
to all of this,
a trap
that comes in various forms: "So then what's the point?", "So is
this all there is?", "There must be something more!". But there
is none, and yes, and no there isn't.
The trouble
with it is twofold: 1) it's that these answers
don't fit into our structures
ie they don't fit into our categories,
and 2) isn't it that our instinctive response to finding
ourselves in
a trap
is to try to figure out "Why ...?" ie to revert to looking
for the "Because ...", to try to get an understanding as
if that will make a difference ... which only tightens the
jaws of
the trap
tighter? (that's another subtext right there).
Untangling yourself from
the trap
starts with
observingthe trapas if it were real. See if you can bracket off the
headlong rush for answers, to understand.
