Dharma Blog

… a ‘WebLog’ for opening the Dharma      [“Dharma” is a very ancient word often translated as truth, teaching, path, way, law.]  If you’ve thoughtfully read the post on the Home page (“We Live In Conversations”) and are curious about the implications, please read on…

Recognizing the Conversation

What is this ‘Conversation’?  Where did it come from?  How did I get it?  When did it start?  Why do I have it?  How can I fix it?

…normal questions to ask, but not the most important and powerful question.  The typical questions we go to are the questions the Conversation itself has trained us to ask, implying that if we can just figure it out, we can somehow undo what it has done to us.  But here’s the rub:

The mind we use to try to figure out how to deal with this Conversation has been trained by that Conversation to avoid the very thing which could alter the Conversation.

Feel free to re-read that as many times as needed; the mind does some tricky and complex things, and that statement unmasks the complexity of it.  Fortunately, liberation from this dilemma is not so convoluted.

Another way of saying this:  Our minds not only do things which cause us suffering (our inherited conversations), they also react in ways which compound our suffering.  The Conversations we live in are self-perpetuating, and further reinforced by the culture we live in.  As long as we continue living within this Conversation, the forecast will be bleak at worst, and unsatisfactory at best.  But good news, the Conversation can be changed.

After those first few paragraphs, here’s the first step:  Notice how your mind is responding right now.  It could be any number of ways, for example:  That’s too deep for me.  I’m no psychologist…  Or, I am a psychologist and this doesn’t sound familiar.  Bor-ing.  Facebook is more interesting.  Hmmm, I wonder if this gets any clearer.  I’m not so dissatisfied with my life–but I can come back here if I ever want to.  Doesn’t sound like what I believe in.  If I could learn this, I might finally be someone who matters.  Where does this notion come from, anyway?  … and variations on these themes.

If you’re wondering what all this is leading up to, wondering if I’m trying to convince you of some new beliefs to believe in, or a new philosophy of life, or sell you on joining a church (synagogue, temple, ashram, mosque, support group, commune, etc.), your wondering would certainly be natural, since that’s how we’ve been conditioned to think.  Clearly, different beliefs or doctrines haven’t worked for most of us, because we’re still looking for an effective way to be happier, without sacrificing our inner sense of what’s real or of who we are.

What I’m inviting you to do is not even original with me.  It actually comes from a wise man who lived about 2600 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama.  He said, ‘Don’t believe in anything because many do, or because it is written in religious books, or it is proclaimed by teachers and elders, or because it has a sacred tradition.  Believe it if, only after careful observation and analysis, you find it to be reasonable and to produce good results for all, then accept it and live up to to.’

I’m inviting you simply to look and see the results you’re getting from the Conversation you’ve been living inside of.  If you’re satisfied with how daily life goes for you, this new, inquiring Conversation may not be for you.  This new Conversation is only for those whose dissatisfaction with aspects of life is no longer acceptable.  If you want to participate, simply keep reading the blogs, thoughtfully and honestly.  You get to decide what’s true for you, and what you want to do with what you see.  A good place to start would be:

Simply wonder about your experience of life; to what degree is it acceptable to you?  Where does it not feel so good?