Existence is an Axiom

Existence is an Axiom

Axiom is a premise of reasoning solidly backed only by itself as sanctioned by experience. It is a self-evident statement; a proposition assumed to be true without the burden of proving it. And at times it is tried to be disproved, the attempt only presupposes its validity.

"I, this whole me, exist" is a classic example of a non-disprovable statement. It relies on the felt experience that it is so. And no other proof is necessary to assert that it is so. The attempt to disprove it, ie. the words "I don't exist", contradicts the very experience or feeling of being existent.

Perhaps existence is the grandest axiom forgotten as such. Everyone have this inherent feeling that he or she exists. This the deeply-rooted but supposed to be the most obvious feeling of presence, of being here, of being alive. But most are consumed in outward things like clothes, foods, friends, status, families, cosmetics, feelings, experiences. and worries that they forgot the very thing that makes everything possible - the fact of being here and now. 

Men have forgotten that their true identity is the wholeness of everything at every moment. The cosmic amnesia has brought all sorts of suffering to humans. They strongly embrace the identity which they call "I" or "me". And with the act of keeping their identities intact comes the suffering brought by the struggle to keep it. And with this, everyday there goes the ego olympics where everyone is trying to outrun everybody else hoping that by doing such would make them fulfilled, loved by everybody, sought by everybody thus making the identity more solid and more self-fulfilling and leaving the fear of being left out at bay. Even worse is when one tries to outrun himself.

Existence is an axiom because it is as it is. The suffering felt can only be brought by the mistaken identity that we are discrete individual apart from everybody else. Apart from people around, apart from trees, from insects and animals, apart from falling leaves, from clouds, from dust and mud, from soil and rocks, from seas and river, from crimes and corruptions, from crooked politicians, from pious fellows, from gurus and students, from concrete blocks, from air, from oxygen and pollution, and literally apart from everything. However, if one comes to realization that everything at this moment is the perfect conspiracy of the wholeness itself, no more there will be a suffering brought by continuous struggle to keep the idea of "myself".

Even the idea that there is a Creator or God or gods that created the universe is no longer relevant if one understands the wholeness of everything. The concept of creator is not important except as a worthwhile alternative for men to keep in their heads while the axiomatic nature of existence is yet to be recognized. Once life is understood, that it is void of beginning and end, the idea about a God that is discretely apart from creation will vanish. What remains is the recognition that life is itself the very God we are trying to seek.

Struggle may bring something until you feel it is already boring struggling.

Life is It is as It is

Life is It is as It is

Joy is...
not when the debate of existence is settled;
not when theories are finally proven;
not when the intellectual opponent is dead or put to shame;
not when the judges awarded the winning prize;
not when the Endgame is finally reached.

Joy is while it is as it is.
That is what I call Life!

~Erro

The Glamour of Death

The Glamour of Death

Death is like the moment before you were born.

Since we are still alive, talking about death always comes from a biased point of view. That's one of the greatest mysteries. We really like talking about things we don't have any experience at all. Like death. We can only make unending one-sided assumptions about it. But since we can agree that death is the ceasing of the moment and never to come back again we can manage to have the joy of discussing it in this term.

"I am afraid to die" is an honest statement; it is as noble as it could be if spoken with utmost reverence to the truth of this ultimate end-game.

Death is humbling. Death is always lurking. It comes always on a single blow and everything disappears. Death comes without convincing. Death arrives in the helpless face of withdrawal. Death takes everyone without warning.

This is the truth: that all that has ever lived has died and all that's living will going to die. Yes, we don't hear a lot of people talking about it like when they do talking about that disgusting neighbor of them. Nor we hear people taking this subject as a worthy pass-time as opposed to lively chat taking place in a night over a flood of wine. Oh, that dress is awesome. The gourmet tastes so good. And during these moments, when mind indulges so much of what it has been desiring for, the moment of ecstatic living runs in the veins like a fire that never runs out of good flame. But soon the flame dies. And when it does, the mind runs to every place and to every corner to look for the burning flame of living again and again all the while refusing to carry all along what lies beneath.

Or maybe, Death is extremely serious stuff you don't talk about in a party. In fact, this is the exact reason why people avoided engaging about it. Or at least subconsciously they do avoid to deal with it. The fact is enormously compelling that death itself is overwhelmingly convincing the mind to reject it outright most of the time.

There is something beyond death (or at least it is imagined to be so). But what's beyond is a complete mystery; a bizarrely unknown realm the mind can't comprehend. And that is why humans are afraid of death. There might be a blood-sucking monster out there. Or a fiery place of unending flesh grilling or a whole new world made-up of oven and toaster.

It happens that society is aimed at cultivating a culture, a mentality, trying to avoid death. Living as long as anyone can is the norm. And the norm is so naturally so for almost everyone that bringing out the topic of death comes like a rain in the Sahara Desert. Vanity, power, money or social status is what occupies human mind most of the time. The cultivation is veered towards keeping and seeking what is taught and thought to be important.

Of course everything comes to end. All end in the box with feet leveled for those who are quite lucky. But understanding that Death is not as horribly murky as it is registered in the mind is a good start. It is the better-half of Living. This is a critical acceptance. Well-being starts here. Can never start anywhere else. The late British Philosopher Allan Watts famously said that death is like a manure. As a manure fertilizes plants, the contemplation on death brings a fruitful  living.

We struggle to keep everything intact. We go out to our daily lives always looking for something to complete our senses. We look for everything except death (naturally it is so). But this is the paradox we refuse to accept. That no matter what, at the end of the day, the most we could end up to is the thing we always run away from. However, either we refuse or not, doesn't really matter. It will not change the end-game.

Oh boy, when the sun set down...a whole new life begins. Death is like the moment before you were born.

What is the Purpose?

What is the Purpose?

So I want a new car? A new pair of shoes? A sophisticated wristwatch? I can get them... I will go get them. All for the purpose of nothing but to make me feel better. I have countless desires. It includes getting my daughter to a high-end school and good and healthy life for my wife. Because not getting what I dream for them will surely cause feelings contrary to that makes me feel better.

In fact everything we do is aimed at making each step closer to being happier, isn't it? If not, then all the things we spend physical and mental effort are for naught. Everything we do is to dissipate or minimize entropy in our body. We try to stay as whole as possible, doing anything we can to ward-off sadness, humiliation, disgust, regrets and any feelings that is not associated with pleasure. We always aim to feel better and better.

Ramana Maharshi - the Sage knows what the Purpose is

There is nothing wrong with that. This just shows that it is our nature to be happy as much time as possible. It is our nature not to be consumed in sadness and to live a life with utter joy and comfort being free of worries, being loved, being noticed, being given importance, being considered, and being respected. We want happiness. Not just a glimpse of it. Not just a taste of it. We want it whole.

But why there are times no matter how we wanted the feeling of happiness to last, there is always a point where everything reckons back against the initial feeling of lightness. We even feel anxious that the current feeling of joy will end soon. Smiles turns to tears. Hope becomes despair. Sweet romance becomes hatred. Pleasure become pain. We never had what we really wanted. We just had a glimpse of it. We just had a taste of it. Never been ours wholly.

If it is true that our nature is happiness, then why can we not find a way to sustain it in a lifetime? What is the reason why majority of us spend majority of the time not feeling the "to feel better" thing? What is wrong with us?

Has anyone found the answer? That is the purpose.

Where Did I Come From?

Where Did I Come From?

 Do I know where or how my dream world in my sleep begin? In the same manner, am I going to find out how this thing called LIFE started?

While immersed in a dream while asleep, no matter how I try, I can't know how did I arrive there. Puff! I am there! Snap of fingers and my consciousness is all into it. All physical senses are in it. I interact within it. Sometimes I feel fear, joy, anger and sexual orgasm. But what was the state prior to being there? What brought me in there?  I found myself in a park. Did I ride or walk?

And in the same sense, will I ever know how this life came about? I eat, exercise, take medicine, talk with people, talk with myself, have sex, cry, laugh, and sleep and to dream while sleeping. I can't even remember the first five years of my life. Who am I or what am I before birth? What does the statement "Be thankful you were brought to life" means? Thankful to what? To whom? For what? Will I ever know it? Why?

I can't really know the very start of it all. A dream? A life? What is the difference? Both worlds require awareness or consciousness  to be felt. Consciousness is the only way I feel this being. Which is the real "real" then? Or are they both dreams? Or are they both real? Or perhaps are they just one? 

The eagerness of humans to decipher the origin of time or the origin of life brought him to complex analysis of the realm perceived. Lots of theories about the quest. But I wonder a lot at this moment.. Since LIFE maybe is also a DREAM, will humans ever get to realize what is constantly sought after? With all the seemingly concrete ideas about this universe...maybe...maybe... the farthest distance human will ever reach, though humans don't recognized as such, is still NOTHING.

The work of the scientists to know the beginning of time is no more than like and can never be greater than or nobler than that of a person consumed in dream sleep whose assumed character is asking "how did I get here?". A scientist and a dreaming person have no distinctions whatsoever. Both of them are dreamers. Like the unique world that happens in a dream sleep, though consciousness is spent while in it, there will be no way to know how everything really started.

Maybe I am just beginning to kick myself off the bed of unconsciousness,"HEY WAKE UP!"