A Lion's Mind

Should a lion's mind achieve the lucidity ascribed to the ancient masters of Zen

it would still be a lion.

Truth

Truth does not come from without.

All ideas are imaginary.

Meditate.

The obvious will become apparent.

Attitudes, Opinions: Observations

Just as water must be clear and calm if one is to see the gravel of the stream bed, the mind must be clear and calm before one can see one's motives. Attitudes and opinions like turgid water make clarity impossible.

It has been said "There is no in sight: there is only out sight." Our powers of observation are our only source of information, and we intuit such meaning as pattern recognition permits. If our mind is colored and roiled by attitudes and opinions the "out sight" that determines the effectiveness of observation will be correspondingly truncated, and our powers of intuition will labor under half-truths and supposition. Bitter and sweet are properties independent of our opinions.

Meditation clarifies and stills the mind. Even the finest dust of predisposition can be recognized and swept from the doors of perception. Observation is then aware, and intuition achieves clairvoyance.

The waves are the water.

Mindfulness, Zen, and Artifacts of Consciousness

The practice of mindfulness is a spin-off of ancient religious practices that are intended to give one access to the many benefits of a silent mind. The techniques engaged to bring about this silent mind could be considered artifacts of consciousness.

Zen finds its starting point in a silent mind, and its denouement is Enlightenment. Zen also has its requisite artifacts of consciousness.

The terms Emptiness and Suchness are introduced conceptually in order to prepare the unenlightened mind for the view that emerges with the dropping of the veil. In point of fact Emptiness and Suchness are simple observed facts of existence. Since only the enlightened are privy to this category of perception there is great value in forming these perceptions into concepts: artifacts of consciousness. An intellectual familiarity with a place one has never been will be an aid to settling in should one arrive.

The movement toward mindfulness is an encouraging development in contemporary society, and it makes possible the further evolution into the realm of Zen. Enlightenment is the birthright of Life, and the artifacts of consciousness conducive to Enlightenment are there in Zen.

Agressive Ignorance

Most everyone wants the same simple thing: a peaceful decent life for themselves and their loved ones. Societal complexities have repeatedly made this impossible.

Society is a reflection of the human mind. We are aggressive, acquisitive, and we are not very wise. We are clever, yes; but wise? No.

The cloud of fear under which humanity exists is the product of aggressive ignorance. We are aware of much of which we are not conscious. There exists a pre-conscious dissonance which will not permit a spontaneous sense of well-being, and which tangles the opacity of consciousness in a web of unease. This unease may express its self in politics, in religion, and in some variety of cultural rebellion; but its source is the same: awareness has subordinated its self to consciousness and sacrificed its acuity to a kind of clouded narcissism.  We are a creature with a mind just barely emerging from the darkness of animal existence.

But we are very clever.

Meditate.