To know that the world is entirely everything that is experienced is to turn toward our actual living reality. To see that without exception experiences come and go, they are unstable, is to comprehend the nature of reality. When an experience - a physical impression, an emotion, an idea - is grasped, that is where something imaginary is created, and within that imagined realm all sorts of craving and hatred can occur, thus with grasping comes dissatisfaction, and with dissatisfaction further pain ensues. To be free from all that trouble caused by grasping is to see the world for what it is: unstable experiences only imagined to be reliable, true and personal. As it is perfectly clear the moment you look at the ongoing experiences, there is nothing that endures, nothing reliable, consequently no matter what view seems true, it is necessarily construed, and no matter what feels yourself, it is necessarily an unreliable mental image.
Although it may be clear that the whole reality is only unreliable experiences, one can be shocked to inactivity and uncertainty about what to do then, or one can turn that realisation into a concept about the world and then easily forget about it the next moment. Actually, both are products of thoughts, one falling into the extreme of nothingness (not thinking of anything), and the other into the extreme of objectification (thinking of something). But thoughts come and go anyway, just like everything else. They are not the cause of dissatisfaction and suffering. Imagining them to be reliable and personal are the real culprits. But if you try to think of them as unreal, that's fighting against shadows.
Do not expect to get all the answers from words. Not because words are somehow deficient, but because life is too complicated and relying only on teachings is tiresome. Rather just see the nature of reality for yourself and then experiment. Be open and aware to whatever comes and goes. Know that what is imagined exists in a context, everything is always interdependent - i.e. one thought has innumerable thoughts behind it and can generate innumerable other thoughts. The meaning of a single thought depends on the meaning of all the other thoughts. Since no meaning can be found in only a single thought, many meaningless thoughts still make no meaning. Nevertheless, everything looks meaningful. That's the illusion of the imagined world.
So, relax and experiment. Life is just life. You already have many skills and know how to eat and sleep. Beyond that, you fall from one mental complication into another. Just as you don't put your hand in fire, so you should see that different thoughts lead to different experiences. Anyway, this is just one small post, not a treatise on everything. There are all sorts of resources to turn to for more words. Besides that, just see experiences for what they are, that way you stop making a fuss.
Although it may be clear that the whole reality is only unreliable experiences, one can be shocked to inactivity and uncertainty about what to do then, or one can turn that realisation into a concept about the world and then easily forget about it the next moment. Actually, both are products of thoughts, one falling into the extreme of nothingness (not thinking of anything), and the other into the extreme of objectification (thinking of something). But thoughts come and go anyway, just like everything else. They are not the cause of dissatisfaction and suffering. Imagining them to be reliable and personal are the real culprits. But if you try to think of them as unreal, that's fighting against shadows.
Do not expect to get all the answers from words. Not because words are somehow deficient, but because life is too complicated and relying only on teachings is tiresome. Rather just see the nature of reality for yourself and then experiment. Be open and aware to whatever comes and goes. Know that what is imagined exists in a context, everything is always interdependent - i.e. one thought has innumerable thoughts behind it and can generate innumerable other thoughts. The meaning of a single thought depends on the meaning of all the other thoughts. Since no meaning can be found in only a single thought, many meaningless thoughts still make no meaning. Nevertheless, everything looks meaningful. That's the illusion of the imagined world.
So, relax and experiment. Life is just life. You already have many skills and know how to eat and sleep. Beyond that, you fall from one mental complication into another. Just as you don't put your hand in fire, so you should see that different thoughts lead to different experiences. Anyway, this is just one small post, not a treatise on everything. There are all sorts of resources to turn to for more words. Besides that, just see experiences for what they are, that way you stop making a fuss.
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