Image by Peter H Tama66
Following on from blog number 34 where I finished by saying that we would be doing a deep dive into questioning the fantasy of the Dude. So, here goes.
The Spanish Inquisition, Dude.
The Spanish Inquisition was a brutal time between the Catholics and Jews of fifteenth-century Spain. Known for torturing the accused and using unfair methods and judgment to get to the truth as they saw it.
We can use a less brutal, yet no less thorough, technique to question our own truth.
Hey, man. Just having a beer here.
So, while this method could seem quite undude, it will help to point to the hidden Dude within.
It has its roots in nonduality and is one way to awaken from the fantasy of the individual, personal self.
If you haven't read any of my previous blog posts, or heard their podcasts then this is one way of seeing through the lie of what we usually believe is our self. A self that needs to feel reinforced. A self that must be heard. A self that has an identity.
And that identity could be as a dude.
But it is not the Dude who is without identity, and as a consequence, is far less troubled by the world than us regular folks.
And this particular method involves an inquiry into the self.
And you cannot simply inquire... "Hey man, where are you dude?" and get an answer "I'm here man, inside, and I'm waiting for a beer." Then think, sure that was easy, and then ask the barkeeper for some of their finest ale.
Because that's not the answer. And when you receive such an answer, as you will, it will be a lie. Not a conscious lie. But one that is born out of confusion. And it is the confusion of humanity that leads to much tension, square-head mentality, and tight-ass opinions.
It's Down There Somewhere, Let Me Take Another Look.
Where's the money Lebowski? Where is the self Lebowski? Let me take another look in the piss pot of my mind and see if it's there.
Yes, so you might even know that there is "no self". I know there's no me. I've asked the questions... but I'm stuck. Or this may all be a new dive into the matrix for you.
Back to the Inquisition...
Your self. You've tied it to the chair and got the thumb screws out. Each question is a turn of that screw. It needs to go a little like this...
Where's my self?
Answer, "I'm inside."
Yes, but where exactly?
"In the head."
Show me where in the head.
"In the centre of my brain."
Where exactly in the centre of my brain?"
"That old bit. You know? The old animal part."
And now you begin to tighten the thumbscrews...
So, you are saying that the rest of the brain isn't the self? So what is it? Who is it?
"Yes, like, it's all of the brain but just that the er centre is controlling everything."
Right, so the centre is controlling everything else. Then where does the "me" begin, and where does it end? Is the "me" that which controls, or that which is controlled?
So, you get the idea and like a good torturer, you will increase the squeeze to apply more pressure. And why? Because when you start to ask the more difficult questions you will begin to see how the mind answers in more creative and imaginative ways that don't make sense.
Because the part of you that is answering doesn't know itself. It cannot find itself. And it will begin to justify this inability to get true answers by making up shit. And it's super-easy to believe that crap. So, whichever answer it gives you, is a wrong answer. And you need to see that as a lie. And you need to apply the squeeze because your idea of a self, the thing that you think is answering, will begin to wriggle and squirm the closer it gets to being seen through for what it is.
The closer it comes to facing its own death, the end of its identity, the more it will fight to stay alive. And any uncomfortable shit that comes your way should be seen as signposts directing you down the way to add more pressure onto this self.
And you need to look to the direct experience of what is happening right now. And this might be very different than what you think is happening right now.
What's controlling the levers? And what are the levers? What's controlling your life? How can you show the mind this realisation? And if you are waiting for yourself to get it right, to work it out, this is not possible. We cannot think ourselves into this or all the greatest, most intellectual thinkers of the world would find enlightenment easy.
I'm Not Handling the Money, Driving the Car, Talking on the Phone All By My... Shut the Fuck Up!
True answers are silent.
When we force the mind to search for its sense of self when we squeeze it to look into the dark, and we make it question its understanding, it will come to a point where there are no answers. It will come to a point where it stops. And where that happens, is the Dude.
Shut the fuck up!
So, we've looked at the Dude, we've focused on the present moment, we've dropped ideas and looked at our immediate experience for answers. We've questioned the self until we cannot find it. And we might still be stuck, however, we've arrived at a point, we at least know there is something else.
When you are not thinking, what is present? When your head is not full of the future, full of the past, or full of mindfulness, what remains? What is there before the thought arrives, and what is present once it has gone? Which is the real you, the thought or that which became aware of the thought?
In the next blog, I'm going to ask are you a functioning dude? Are you a dude and most others are undude? Are you a separate Dudeist individual believing in your own separation? Do you believe in your own connection? Let's cut through the bullshit.
Until then.
I'll have a bottle of Flag Porter and a cheese and onion cob.
Rev. Thomo
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