Falling for Maya, and Life in the Teaching Machine

by Gene Poole

Fanaticism, and its root idealism, cause more harm than any of the issues which are contested, and in the bargain, essentially 'castrate' each person who is infected with the assumption that 'life is made better by taking control of externals'.

Personally, I have seen and experienced various 'End O' the World' scenarios. The planet has suffered various 'horrible' fates, from being hurled from orbit (to freeze in the void of interstellar space), the ravages of an unforeseen 'RNA-phage' which effectively eliminated first consciousness and then all life, to the brutal pounding of nuclear MAD (Mutally Assured Destruction), to name only a few such ghastly ends of 'everything held dear including those who hold it'.

The point of sharing the above, is to illustrate that at least on person who now lives (that being me), has seen that (apparently unbeknownst to most)
'reality' is displayed differently to each and every person. Group efforts, as seen from here, are usually doomed to a very particular brand of failure. And the flavor of that particular brand of failure, eventually (however long it takes for the taste to build to recognizable levels) results in 'spitting out of idealism'.

Idealism, friends, is not a good thing, it is poison. It is so easy to be fooled by the outer face of idealism. Falling for idealism occurs early in life, and is the root of fanaticism and destructive authoritarianism.

The real joke, which I hope to point out here, is that the particulars of any "cause" do not matter in the least, simply (!!!) because the 'pro' and 'anti' forces of any 'issue of social concern' are guilty of misusing their own personal resources, of not only pissing away their own personal power, but also of stupidly perpetuating the behaviour of fanaticism as 'remedy'. Fanaticism, and its root idealism, cause more harm than any of the issues which are contested, and in the bargain, essentially 'castrate' each person who is infected with the assumption that 'life is made better by taking control of externals'. This chronic problem illustrates the most profoundly stupid way ever, to 'fall for Maya'.

So here I sit, knowing something, which is that we have to tackle the perceived problems at the deepest root level, which happens to be within each person, and this can only be done by each person 'to and for themselves'.

At the deepest root level, perceived problems stem from 'Samskara', the very essence of attachment.

Reality is subtle, it has many faces, the question to ask is this; "Am I defined by what I perceive?"

If the answer is yes, then by all means, proceed toward your worthy goal, waving flags of ethical vegetarianism, Ahimsa, justice, etc. etc. Proceed as 'doer', and please, do get all worked up over your virtuous ways and means to your defined virtuous 'ends'.

The truth is, that one who has (to use an ancient phrase) 'seen beyond', holds the Administrative Key to reality itself. Such a one, is able to simply
step between worlds, from one to the other and so on, and eventually the point of the whole setup can be seen and understood; It can be stated to be 'a teaching machine'.

LIFE IN THE TEACHING MACHINE: An Analogical Story

Lesson One: You are living in a Teaching Machine.

_1 The Teaching Machine can take any form; it is actually 'immaterial', but can mimic or represent any form, and any event. It is fantastically responsive to each persons needs. In fact, it serves ALL the needs of every person, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

_2 Each person is responsible for remembering that what is seen and experienced during immersion in the Teaching Machine, is custom-designed for each individual person, and to beware the assumption
that ANY properties of experience are actually 'held in common' between individuals.

_3 'Group' experiences are among the most profoundly indicative of deep and pervasive blindness to the nature of reality. 'Mob' experiences are diagnostic of 'fatal blindness', and the termination of those involved ('violence') indicates that those students have been 'sent back' (flunked) to a lower grade level in the Teaching Machine.

_4 Living in, with, and AS paradox: The Teaching Machine uses a deliberately generated 'illusion of multiplicity' to reveal the nonexistence of 'individuality', by contrasting projected facets of 'self' (others) as the environment in which experience is had. Only when a person has the maturity to withstand the shock of actual awareness, will awareness be experienced. All experience is designed to cultivate this level of maturity. Awareness grants the ability to perceive the nature of reality.

_5 Compassion VS rejection: All facets of self, projected or not, are indeed self; compassion allows wholeness of self, a necessary prerequisite
to maturity. Awareness is granted to those who have surrendered to compassion. Love of self, VS self-rejection, can enable the strength and durability needed to withstand the shock of awareness.

_6 The 'graduate' of the Teaching Machine remains 'in the machine', and serves as an aware reflector for students. Administrative privileges are granted, but are revokable; above all else, the graduate knows... 'there is no attainment'... and that the workload increases in proportion to competency gained.

_7 Admin Area (Administrative access only).

I hope I am making this clear. I figure that as long as I am talking about it I might as well make the effort to make it understandable. This certainly has been said before, in various ways, but please, give it some thought.

Resources: (These links should be 'clickable'. You may need to hold down a modifier key as you click on a link. Mac users should [command-click] links found in email.)

http://www.heartlandsangha.org/feeling.html
http://www.heartlandsangha.org/quote.html
http://www.nalandabodhi.org/mindfulnessofphenomena.html
http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/faculty/ckaczor/strange.htm

"You ask, 'how to make a better world'; there is no better world, This is a better world".

Gene Poole is moderator of Nonduality Salon email list and a frequent contributor. Click here for his home page.