Avoidance

When you have discussions with people it is interesting how opinions play such a large part in understanding. Of course that understanding is extremely limited. Limitations are largely self imposed. We are bound by the minds perception, which is a product of individual experience and the conclusions we draw from that experience. It is very difficult not to have an opinion or a conclusion because the mind works from a position. It builds and seeks to build on the influences of its beliefs and those persons and ideals we give credibility too. I have mentioned in previous blogs that understanding that is not a result, can only be realized if the mind has freed its self of its conditioning. But in order for this to occur a person must have insight into the very nature of self, so that it is possible to go beyond the limitations of the known or knowledge.

A person can use knowledge to live conceptually and this is what all of us do in order to exist in a world that seems to cultivate hostility. We are always seeking an escape from the unpleasant and undesirable. It is the nature of the species to seek out a form of avoidance. We can be confrontational, physically or psychologically(which is its own type of avoidance) or we can assert some form of religious or political belief which enables us to avoid through doctrine. But all these avoidance's only further alienate one from another. They do not help us to understand the origin of what causes us to create conflict, confusion and violence. Even when we mutually decide that some form of dialogue is necessary, we come to the table armed with our various agendas. We are not really seeking truth that is not a result, we only want to further our own interest. So we may reach some sort of compromise, that does nothing but appease. Appeasement is avoidance. You must come to a fundamental realization, that if you are ever going to live in peace, it must start with the self. The realization that "you" are the origin of all that you are seeking to avoid.

The key is seeing the reality of a self that is embroiled in its own authority and how that the self wants to further its own conceptual illusions at the expense of peace and understanding. Why is it that we insist on "being right"? Human fallibility is a fact of life and no amount of idealization, compromise or indoctrination will change this fact. One should stay with ones fallibility and realize that our fallibility is the essence of what makes us vulnerable and able to love. When we avoid vulnerability we avoid love and understanding.

In each and every encounter, if you are vulnerable, you open yourself up to the possibility of understanding that is without self promotion. True understanding starts with understanding of a self that is seeking to promote and ultimately to receive or acquire. When the activity of seeking some sort of satisfaction or conformity is abated then true understanding of the moment is a possibility.