Only the body is in the now

In spacetime, now is time zero, relative to itself. Now is now everywhere at time zero.Any movement, tactile or conceptual, changes the time coordinate, taking the mind away from the body to the past or the future.

Reality is the present moment thus has no time associated with it. Awakening to this reality can only happen at the present moment. Reality can not be at any time other than zero, i. e. It can not be in the past or the future.

Emotions like fear or anger are body's reaction to thoughts, often from the past or about the future. They can not happen at any other time only at time zero or now.

So when mind goes to the future or the past, it brings all of the resulting emotions  to the present. The clear antidote for suffering from such emotions is not to stop thinking, an impossible task, but to bring the mind back to the present exactly where the body is.

Mindfulness meditation or yoga alleviates suffering by bringing the mind back to reality which exists only in the present moment.

By going back and forth from the past to the future you are subjecting the body to unnecessary stresses, highs and lows. This is suffering and cause of most illnesses of the body. 
 

My Buddha Nature

Who am I, what am I are the central queries of most spiritual practice. Instead of answering this question with words which is an impossible task as millions of words have failed over the millenia, the Buddha answered it by becoming it. All we can know is that our Buddha nature is as demonstrated by Gautama of Sakiya village on the foothills of Himalayas.

Following his life and his teachings will give you what need to know your true nature, many have and termed it the Buddha nature. Many claim to know or have experienced the answer to the question who am I and have gone on to teach others as well. But the language still fails us in describing this our reality of being. This should not come as surprise as there are many other things especially our internal feelings and emotions which are impossible to describe precisely. A simple headache or the experience of joy are indescribable. This is our first clue and last observation to stop this impossoble quest.

A Pebble in Stillness

Looking for a gold brick
Under the bed, in the closet
But I know I know for sure
I have no gold anywhere.

I keep looking
For happiness everywhere
Glimpses I get as love
As beauty as serenity.

Just have to look harder
Smarter deeper and wider

Within and without
I know I know its there.

Happy I am when in love
Happy I am in beauty
In kindness and in peace
In deep sleep when I is absent.

Objects come and go
But their subtle sensation
Lingers me happy as me.
I know I know its there.

I confuse what body wants
As my only desire
Not for what it is
A  pebble in stillness.

ChatGPT on EGONORANCE

I asked chatGPT to comment on 

Cause of inflated ego is often ignorance

And she said,

“While it is true that ignorance can sometimes contribute to an inflated ego, it is not accurate to say that it is the sole cause. Inflated ego can stem from a variety of factors, including childhood experiences, cultural and societal influences, and individual personality traits.

That being said, ignorance can certainly contribute to an inflated ego. When we are ignorant about something, we may overestimate our own knowledge or abilities, leading us to become overly confident or arrogant. This can cause us to overlook the perspectives and expertise of others, which can further reinforce our own inflated sense of self.

In addition, ego and ignorance can also feed into each other in a vicious cycle. An inflated ego can prevent us from admitting our own ignorance, leading us to defend our beliefs or opinions even when they are not based on facts or evidence. This, in turn, can reinforce our own ignorance, leading to even more inflated ego.

Overall, while ignorance can contribute to an inflated ego, it is not the sole cause. It is important to recognize that ego and ignorance are separate concepts that can interact in complex ways, and that overcoming them requires self-awareness, humility, and a willingness to learn from others.”

Sounds like a first derivative answer to me.  “…childhood experiences, cultural and societal influences, and individual personality traits” are some of the most powerful originators of ignorance. 

EGONORANCE

Ego is ignorance. 

Last weekend I spent some time at a nearby zen centre, the retreat by the way was incredibly authentic and perhaps transformative for some. One of the things you have to do, like in Karate Kid, is chores. Not hours but just 15 minutes. They were kind to me and assigned me dusting. I don’t remember doing that, never during my bachelor years (neither did any one I know) and after that my wife handled that somehow. I do recall painting the outside windows once. Any way, I digress. 

So I did an okay job but the effect it had on me was unbelievable. I reacted to it emotionally as if I had been insulted. I sat with that feeling during my next sit and quite clearly see that most of my egoic acts have been due to ignorance about the micro or macro of the situation. Either I had read the situation completely wrong at the first or second derivative level. And this was true of the dusting incident here but pretty much everything I could recall. 

I named this EGONORANCE . Now there is an issue here that may throw a monkey bar  and that is whether it is an inflated ego or a deflated ego problem. Normally when we say someone is egoic, it’s implied inflated ego. But the question to which I have no current answer is whether deflated ego like people suffering from depression etc., may also, upon critical contemplation find that much ignorance about true nature of reality was at the base of it.  

Anyway, worth pondering.