2018.05.22 - Day 69

It's not so much the methods I have trouble with. It's more about the underlying idea that we have to practice to get somewhere, to attain something. That we need to keep searching and searching for something that we have already. I think we prefer the search to facing a reality that leaves us too open and vulnerable. We enjoy the search, and prefer our comfortable cloak of illusions and fantasies.

‘…in each moment, things are just as they are, and so there is nothing to seek or to attain… “There’s no sense in riding a donkey searching for a donkey.” You don’t have to do anything. Just remain open to situations, thoughts, and emotions, meeting each fresh moment without reservations. In that simplicity is the end of seeking.’

Saltzman, Robert. The Ten Thousand Things (p. 78). Kindle Edition.

Aha! Understood now, Zen, and I completely agree with you. :) And also that we’ll eagerly accept other people’s illusions and fantasies, or go for the ‘fun of the chase’ rather than the steady relationship.

The continued search for the donkey, when we’re already sitting on one, seems like an example of elusion that Camus talks about and advises against. Probably why I tend more to an atheistic Taoism nowadays, which I find makes for a peaceful existence, being with what is.

On the other hand, I guess the striving is inbuilt into the human psyche, and must provide us - or have provided us - with an evolutionary advantage at one time. Just that it can be misplaced now.

Not so much said in the session this morning, but stuck rethinking.
How all these lives are Role Playing.

Am dreaming of being awake playing a role.

Attached:

"While Listening to Harari"

- blueberry geode, photo taken while prepping for the week's smoothies. Kale not quite so photogenic.

- watercolor dreams, feeding the muse. edited 00:00, 23 May 2018