Anatman and the Balloon Show Wiener-dog

We have probably all seen at some time or other a balloon entertainer who can twist the air-filled resilient sack into any animal that you can imagine...say, a wiener-dog. It is no different with awareness and self. The dominant imperatives of person-hood are biologically driven and have no selfness that is not hostage to the vagaries of animal existence. Far from being de-humanizing, this truth is the foundation of all that is noble and all that is vile in humanity. At the same time it must be acknowledged that the self as popularly conceived is an illusion.

Awareness has no choice but to fill the space defined by its form; and finding self in form, accrue identity. The central fact of enlightenment is the potential for awareness to awaken existentially and then to pre-empt the biological self as the center of its existence. And far from de-potentizing the limited expressions of being human, the awakened intelligence finds its self in a garden of wondrous potential.

So what happens when the inevitable friction with environment pops the balloon? Certainly not some atmospheric reiteration of the cosmic wiener-dog.

Noticeable Change Seeking Repose

conditioned cycles of behavior

should they evaporate

what would be left of us

we who can only with great effort retain a focus

at odds with the dictates of the unconscious

we whose most cherished thoughts

are but the shadow of our being

in the light of reality

it is notice

that by saturation illuminates our being

notice is precursor to all true freedom

and powers premature of notice

enthrall

enmesh

aggrandize

idea is her novice

and genius is her adept

and though we may juggle well the ideas of others

it is what we have noticed

that is our own

in the swirling billions of galaxies

what takes notice

before this mystery unfold all questions