Substitution

One has attitudes and moods that are the result of the pressures of day to day living. One has debts to pay and the added burden of expectations of ones employment and from friends and relatives. At times one seems surrounded and overwhelmed by the demands of life. One may want to escape from this perceived turmoil, to find some way of coping. So one may employee any number of escape methods. Relief may be in the form of drugs or alcohol. It may be found in religious pursuits or in a psychological relationship of some kind. Any activity that involves motivations of self interest only strengthens that which one is trying to escape from. One is always looking to benefit the self or to in some way justify ones actions and ones mental state.

One is engaged in the activity of substitution. One tries to find answers in the opposite of that which one perceives as wrong behavior or attitude. One was approached by a person who had said that she had a new found attitude about paying her bills. She related that she thought of all the people that she was benefiting by paying her bills, the jobs and security that were provided by the payment...how that it benefited and helped people directly and indirectly. She was really quite serious about this new found attitude and thought that all should see and understand as she does. She was substituting a negative attitude with a perceived positive attitude.

Would it not be more beneficial to find out why one was initially disturbed by this negative attitude and if its opposite is the actual elimination of the former. If one can understand the source then there is no need to seek its opposite. To seek its opposite means that one is still in opposition. One is still disturbed by the burden of paying ones bills. Its just that one has substituted its opposite in order to escape the truth of what is. In the understanding of what is there no good or bad no right or wrong. There is only what is and staying with what is the beginning of understanding oneself. Then paying ones bills is not an issue, one just does what one can. There is no attachment to an attitude of resentment or justification through its opposite. One is completely free of any psychological attachment that creates an identity of either negative or positive. One understands completely the origin and projection of self through the relationship of the known.

Ones mind is very subtle in its conclusions about the relationships of various life experiences. One tends to rationalize ones attitudes and opinions. This activity of rationalization is the result of substitution. One is continually substituting what one perceives as wrong attitude or behavior with its opposite, without understanding the truth of what is. One escapes the moment by creating its opposite as future behavioral attitude. But one is still caught in the origin of ones initial attitude which is the projection of self. Understanding that is not a projection of the accumulated self is the dissipation of all position and opposition. When one is experiencing the dissipation of the self as the center of conflict, then one may have a profound realization. The realization that ones attitudes and opinions are the self created conflict of all humanity. That one is the whole of existence, and that which is within is the projection and creation of that which is the world. Then one may see that the the violence in the world is ones responsibility. When one changes, is transformed, then the world is transformed.

Realizing the True Self

What is named or defined is never the reality of what is. It is the conceptual approximation of an agreed upon reference. One reads books and listens to the learned, those who claim to have wisdom and method. But in the end one is still the same, one has gone no further in realizing and understanding the true self. One spends ones time dealing with surface issues, one never gets to the origin of self. The accumulated and conceptual self is the beginning of all conflict and misery. Carried to the extreme it is the justified violence of that which seeks the security of the known.

One cannot realize the true self because one is continually seeking to escape the moment. Psychologically one wants to move away from the reality of what one actually is. One is seeking to become the ideal. It is the projection of future time, the movement of self as time/space. Truth is found through the negation of that which is observed by an unconditioned consciousness as false. That which is false is the creation of the self absorbed. The unconditioned is the outcome of awareness and realization of that which is the conditioned mind in the absolute moment. One observes through that which is absent the movement of self as time. One has the realization that the observer is the observed. They are one in the same and their duality is the result of minds projection of the self, that which is the knower and the known simultaneously.

The illusion of the separated is the barrier to understanding and realizing the true self. One cannot have understanding in what is written. One must free oneself from the known and from that which is creator of the known. First and foremost is freedom. The dissipation of the accumulated and the one who accumulates. Realization is in the absolute moment, in the timeless awareness of what is. The relationship of the absolute moment mirrors the true self, which is not a part of knowing or the known.

Is There a "Future Moment"?

When one chooses a course of action one commits to a plan. That plan becomes the projected image of the ideal. But ones life never fits into a plan of action, because the unknown is the unknown. Because ones life is caught in time one tries to create time as the future. The result is the conflict of the fear of not becoming and not achieving. One seldom stops to look at what is, because one is obsessed with the "next" moment. Peace is only in the moment not in the results of an accomplishment. One is on a journey but one never arrives. The journey is the illusion of that which projects.

One becomes attached to choices that seem to create a future of satisfied accomplishment. One is looking for the perfect spiritual experience or the acquisition of material comforts. One is controlled by the desire for future success in what ever field. Because one is caught in what should be, one misses the beauty of what is. One misses the reality of the moment because one is escaping into the projected image of self creation. So one is caught in the conflict of the separated of that which is the beginning of all violence. It is a life lived in darkness, in the despair of the "ups and downs" of seeking ones projected ideal. One cannot enjoy the beauty of the moment because one is concerned and worried about the next moment.

One lives in the psychosis of a future reality that never materializes. One settles for what is by creating a new what should be. One escapes this moment by projecting a new future moment. It is the illusion of self, of that which is seeking to find permanency through attachment to the ideal. To live totally in the moment one must realize the true self, otherwise the moment is just another future ideal. One continues to escape the moment by seeking the moment.

If one lives fully in the moment then there is no need to be concerned with the future. The future is the outcome of the moment. Each moment is "the moment". One must stay with the reality of what is, then one may be able to live a life that is without the angst of becoming. It is the freedom of what is, the peace and love of the absolute moment. When one has totally realized the moment as the only reality, then it is possible for one to come upon that which is not of time.

Selfless Vulnerability

What does it mean to be vulnerable? To understand the truth of the moment one must be free of the idealism of the self which is seeking its own continuity. That continuity is the manifestation of that which exploits through attachment and identification. One seeks power and influence by acquiring. The acquisition of the material, intellectual, and the spiritual gives one a sense of accomplishment. One becomes identified with that which is acquired and accumulated. The result of this accumulation is the isolation of that which separates. One becomes insulated by ones possessions both the material and the psychological. One has a measure of invincibility that is to be protected and worshiped. Can one realize that it is the mind of one who lives totally in the illusion of self. Everything begins and ends with the ideal self. It is the conceptual shadow of a mind that is caught in the movement of time/space. One cannot awaken to the truth of what is unless one can observe the movement of self through that which is without time. That which ceases the activity of referencing the known, that which is absent the accumulated self.

Vulnerability is the flowering of that which understands the conditioned consciousness. One who is vulnerable is without the fear of being and becoming. One sees into the reality of thought which seeks to project the ideal into future time. Fear is escape from the ending of self. To be without fear is not to be confused with the opposite of fear, which is the bravado of the self. The opposite of fear is still fear, they are one in the same. With the understanding of self one is experiencing the moment, which is vulnerable to the truth of what is. One surrenders the self to the truth of the moment. Time ceases to exist and one is touched by a clarity that cannot be defined or described. It is the selfless vulnerability of consciousness that is unconditioned.

One that is vulnerable is without attachment. When one is without attachment one has the ability to see into the deepest layers of self and experience understanding that is not of time. That which is vulnerable has no agenda, therefore one is free to realize the unfolding truth of that which mirrors the self. One has realization of consciousness that is unconditioned. That which is unconditioned cannot be touched by thoughts projected fears. There is no name or identified entity as the separate self. One ceases the activity of defining, of naming the moment. As such one is totally in the moment and accepts what is as the realization of the true self.

Total vulnerability is total acceptance of what is, one is not escaping out of the fear of the illusion of self. One lives in the unknown, that which is without definition. It is the illumination of the nameless and formless. The peace and love of the absolute moment.

What is Truth?

Can one define truth? Does truth exist as opposition to that which is false? When one is in the absolute moment there is no movement of self. The conditioned consciousness is inactive. This inactivity is the outcome of ones awareness of thoughts movement as the separated self. One is in a meditative state that is a stillness of mind that has not sought the ideal of stillness. It is the natural outcome of awareness that is timeless. One may seek truth in systems of belief or in the teachings of another, but that which seeks only finds the projection of self. The ego/self can only define that which is perceived and from that definition formulate a concept. The conceptual is the activity of memory, the cataloguing of experience as what was. Thought attempts to understand the moment by referencing the past, ones catalogue of experience. So one looks at the present moment through the definition of the past. The past provides an escape from the actual truth of the moment. It allows thought to define truth, which means that what was truth has now been subjected to the discriminatory conclusions of the self. Truth becomes an interpretation based ones individual proclivities. One subjects the truth to ones religious political, and cultural bias. One may have the realization that truth cannot be known, it cannot become a part of the conceptual self. Truth is realized indirectly through the negation of the false.

Truth only exist in the absolute moment. So one cannot write the truth down for another to read and understand. One cannot speak the truth, because the moment one speaks, word follows which is definition. Definition is the conceptual, it is the projection of self. One can only realize truth for oneself. That realization is in the moment, when one has negated the illusion of self. When "all" else is not, truth is. It is the negation of all duality, of all opposition. It is the absence of any frame of reference that may imply definition.

If one is at all serious about understanding the true self, and ridding oneself of all conflict and violence then one must undergo a radical transformation. One must face the reality of what one actually is in this very moment. One must timelessly (without self) observe the movement of the accumulated image of self. To see that the self is conflict and violence. It is the position and opposition of the separated of that which is the beginning and the end of life's misery. Can one look beyond ones own prejudiced mind and stay with the truth of the moment. If one can do this for even a few moments each day then one will start to realize ones own truth. One will begin to understand the futility and superficiality of ones present existence. When one looks at another and listens to what they say one will be able to see oneself in each encounter. The relationship of life will mirror the truth and one will find peace in the truth of what is.

Does One Believe or "Understand"?

One has said that belief is an extension of desire. Desire seeks the affirmation of the projected image of self. As one accumulates experience that experience is utilized to formulate the self, the psychological individuality. The formulated self is looking to sustain an image, a presence that is more or less a continuation of the memory of the past. The continuity of self is so ingrained in the human psyche that it is very difficult to realize the true reality of self that is not a projection of thought. Thought seeks belief through the self. Thought wants to believe in something that can become an attachment and therefore give identity and continuity to the self. This is why it is difficult to have understanding that is not a projection of self. Even the most enlightened find it necessary to be totally aware of the movement of self from moment to moment in order to displace belief with understanding.

Timeless awareness does not conquer and relieve one of the angst of self, it only creates a capacity in which one may understand the process. The self goes on as it always has, the self seeks its own expansion as it accumulates. Through awareness that is without the movement of self one understands and sees into the very nature of this process. Understanding is not a process its self, it is observing without the observer. It is the cessation of the one who creates choice. When there is self there is duality. Duality is belief and awareness is understanding. In understanding there is not the other as opposition to the identity of self. When the movement of self has been understood as that which opposes, then one may truly understand the nature of thought as the conflict of the separated. If one is in the moment then one may realize illumination into the source of all conflict. One may realize that it is possible to end all conflict through the understanding of what is. When one is not escaping into belief or any other projection of a mind that is seeking, then it is possible to realize the truth of the moment. One may discover peace in the simplicity of the moment.

Mind seeks the repetition of what was as the continuing validation of a belief. That validation is the psychological support mechanism for maintaining the illusion of a separated self. One recreates the illusion of belief by aligning it with conflict and creating the duality of that which is sought (ones beliefs) through its opposite, conflict. One must have the profound realization that conflict contains the seed of its opposite, that which one believes in. They are one in the same, belief is conflict.

How does one realize an existence that is free of conflict? One must unravel all the psychological attachments that one has accumulated. One must be aware in the moment of the movement of thought. One must see into the nature of the formulation of conclusion that is based on the projected illusion of self. Because one is caught in time as the movement of a separated entity, one cannot realize the illusion of one's self created conflict. This realization is beyond deductive or inductive reasoning. When one references through the activity of thought, one creates a conceptual ideal. One escapes the reality of the moment for the ideal of what should be. Timeless awareness is "seeing" into this movement. It is the negation of the conceptual and of the illusion of self.

Understanding is in the moment and without the projected self as conflict and belief. One cannot be experiencing true understanding unless one has realized freedom. One must throw off all attachments to the accumulated past. The mind is a maze of complex ideological images, that frequently oppose one another. Ones attachment to these images is the source of all conflict. One cannot experience true understanding until one has observed, without judgement or conclusion, the activity of opposition that is in the moment. One is aware of the movement of images of conflict whereas one sees into the true nature of the self. The outcome of this awareness is freedom that is absent the image of the projected self.

Understanding that is Without Conclusion

What does it mean to understand? Is there understanding that is not a part of ones accumulated experience? Thought creates the conceptual, the ideal from the memory of experience. That experience is never a complete understanding of reality, because it is censored by the self which is seeking permanency through the duality of opposition. The self seeks permanency through the accumulation of experience which becomes the image of self. One views and experiences reality through the image of self which is based on the ideological concept of the separated that which is a disconnected entity. The process of thought is division. Thought creates the "I", that which divides the me from the not me. All thought is through the image of self, that which discriminates. Thought is seeking permanency through the self. It is the outcome of the desire to be attached to that which contributes to identity, to the formulation of individuality. With individuality comes that which is associated with a position. For every position there is
opposition. That is why one judges and concludes. One reacts from a position which requires conformity as confirmation of the image of self. However life does not conform to the image of self, so there is conflict which is the indirect result of conclusion.

Understanding that is the result of comparison is formulated through the referencing activity of ones conditioned consciousness, that which is concluding. True understanding is totally in the moment. To be in the moment is to cease all referencing. It is the dissipation of the self, of that which references. Understanding that is without conclusion means that there is no retention as memory. Memory retains understanding as concept and is only understood as it relates to the image of self. Understanding that is not a conclusion has relevancy only in the moment. This understanding is complete within its self and is without the projection of that which is the substance of all conclusion. The self is mired in the conflict of opposition, because opposition is that which recreates the illusion of self as the continuity of what was. The illusion of self displaces the truth of the moment. It is the opposition of separation of division. The outcome of the duality of opposition is conclusion.

When one is experiencing understanding that is in the moment, one may grasp the importance of realizing the true self. Seeing that is not attached to an image, that is not the continuation of the conflict and violence of the accumulated self. When there is no conflict there is no conclusion. One is not comparing what was with what is, which is the discrimination of that which is in the conflict of opposition. When one is totally aware of the moment one can observe the movement of the observer, how one creates a disturbance within and without by judging and concluding. With the cessation of the movement of the observer in time/space, there is only the timeless. It is the flower of understanding that transcends the known.

Conclusion is the projection of identification and attachment to belief. Belief is a form of desire of seeking that which gratifies. Conclusion as gratification negates true understanding. True understanding is absent belief. Belief which is the manifestation of conclusion. It is the acceptance of what is through the negation of self, of that which believes. Understanding that is the truth of the moment is without conclusion and that which concludes.

The Recognition of Dreams

When one has dreams what is occurring within the subconscious mind? What is the true significance of dreams? Is there reality in a dream state? When one is sleeping ones mind continues to be active. When one is awake ones thoughts are grounded in the individuality of the self. They emanate from the accumulated experience of ones defined image. One draws judgements and conclusions from ones surface consciousness. The surface consciousness contains bits and pieces of experience that thought organizes to define the moment. The defined moment is thoughts interpretation through the projected image of self. It is conceptual reality.


In dreams the projected self is at rest. It is in a state of suspension. But random thought continues to be a movement that is without the conceptual reality of time/space. The subconscious mind may surface in random images that are related to ones past experience, but may seem unorganized and without clear reference to that which is the motivational activity of self. The random apparitions of the dream state is the outcome of the surfacing of the content of the subconscious mind. Without the self who censors arising subconscious thought, ones subconscious operates outside the field of inductive and deductive reasoning. Dreams are associated with experiences that are buried deep within the subconscious mind and are the recurring memory of events that are related to ones conscious experiences. Though dreams seem to have no relationship to reality, they are the result of ones escape from the conflict of daily living.

As awareness of the moment replaces the conflict of the accumulated self, ones mind is increasingly in a peaceful state of consciousness that is unconditioned. One ceases the activity of accumulation as the expansion of self. One experiences the moment in a completed state of total understanding. As such there is no retention as the manifestation of conflict. There is no permanent imprint on the mind. There is neither resolution nor rejection. As the conflict of consciousness that is conditioned is understood it dissipates from memory and the subconscious mind experiences a release from long suppressed related conflicts. The outcome is the lessening of activity of the subconscious mind during sleep.

If one has the ability to recognize dreams as a manifestation of conflict, then one may have insight into the nature and origin of that conflict. If one is experiencing a realization that is in the moment, then one may free oneself from the origin of a particular conflict. If one is unable to realize the origin of a dream conflict then that conflict will remain a part of the subconscious mind. Origin is the result of the separated of that which concludes and catalogues.

One can have understanding of ones own dreams which are a manifestation of conflicted memory. One cannot interpret the dreams of others. Whatever interpretation is offered is only the projection of the mind of the one who interprets. Whatever is known is the projection of the knower, that which exist within the illusion of self.

In dreams the conflict of the subconscious mind comes to the surface. Understanding, insight, and dissipation of conflict takes place in the consciousness of the unconditioned. When one is in the moment and there is silence of the accumulated self, there is realization of the truth. There is total acceptance of what is and within that acceptance is understanding that is not a movement of that which concludes.