I was at the park for a morning walk yesterday and overheard a conversation between a child and his grandpa talking about old age. The grandpa ignored his grandchild’s repeated plea of wanting to know what old age is all about, and instead move ahead of him.
Later I shared the scene with my wife and she recalled another story about her little nephew asking his grandma why people need to die and the quick response she gave to her grandchild is that because people grow old. The child pondered for a moment and asked an unexpected question back to her grandma – you are old too, why is it that you are not dead yet? The question may have startled the grandma abit.
Life is full of mysteries and we never get around having those questions answered before death takes us over. Throughout the years I have been observing for quite awhile that people seldom ask questions about death, birth, why we are here, what’s next, etc. People are very much concerned about their physical wellbeing but seldom about their own mind. I knew of a healer friend, whom I would also considered as one of my teacher in this life, pointed out that he prefers working and sharing with his clients about the mind rather than healing them on the physical level of their dis-ease. But somehow from his personal experience he gathered that not many people are interested about healing except a quick fix solution to their problem. That makes a difference between curing and healing. Curing is about settling the manifested syndrome without addressing the deeper causes whereas healing is geared towards a holistic approach, the interconnectedness of mind and body and how they affect each other.
I also met a qigong master last week who lamented that his client tend to give up practicing qigong after having their illness cured and the tendency of the illness recurring is pretty high.
Is there any relationship between illness, death, birth and probably old age, with the mind? Yes, if we were to look at it as a linear process of our lives. But what if I invite you to consider with an open-mind that illness, death, birth and old age are actually mind processes rather than a body process? What would be your response? Consider the question whether the body is in the mind or the mind is in the body?
Can the body exist without the mind? Or it is because of the mind that the body exists? If the latter is true, would you not consider that the body is a subset of the mind rather than the mind is in the body? It is equivalent to saying the son is an offspring of the father rather than the father is a part of the son.
Could all illnesses springs from the mind? Could the entire existence or universe a mind-made thingy? There are no answers to these questions except our own direct experience. This is the greatest mystery where most famous teachers have unraveled in their own lifetime of awakening. Welcome to knowing yourself!
“According to some scientists, our bodies are something like 99.9% space. The actual physical matter that makes up our bodies Is only about 1/10 of 1%.
In fact, according to these estimates, if you took all the physical matter that makes up your body and put it in a pile, it would all fit on the tip of a pin. The rest of you is space.”
– Tom Kenyon, Brain Scientist
Could we ever point a finger on what “mind” is? Is it the brain? the thought?
Statements or sayings like:-
“…we are living in a dream…”
“..these are all illusions.. you think you saw, touched, felt etc.. but they are all illusions…”
“..you create your own stories or dramas..”
“..you are all space, not much of a physical matter..”
Can our brain or mind ponder on the above “sayings” when we have not had any experience of it ? Is this something that can be analyzed, thought of, ponder upon ? When I tried, the brain or the mind (I am lost !) simply could not “register” it.
How do I comprehend the taste of a “nectar” when I have not even sipped a single drop of it?
Even if I do, can I explain to other how a cup of “nectar” tastes like? up to the point the person can really “taste” the nectar that I am explaining? Or will I probably receive a “blank stare” from him when I was explaining?
Again, would the “nectar” tastes exactly the same (identical) to two persons, drinking from the same cup?
I dont know. I begin to feel that silence is the answer to everything. But again the mind/brain retorted, “how could you ever learn anything by not asking anything and not listening to anything….being totally silence?”
I dont know what or which is head or tail anymore..
That’s the paradox of the path – pathless and yet can be pointed out, but the pointing is not the path except to be walked by each. Even that walk is uncertain as each will perceived the teaching according to their level of understanding. The path can be so near and yet so far. But the journey is certain, when one keeps an open and inquiring mind. Let not the answers be acquired but rather unfold naturally. The job of a seeker is to be mindful with full acceptance and keen observation.
I couldn?t understand some parts of this article, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sure sounds interesting!
I would encourage you to read Your Immortal Reality or even Zero Limit. They are books that opens you up to knowing your existence.