F.: Above the main entrance to the original Globe Theatre in London was a sign in Latin that read: “Totus mundus agit historiem,” variously interpreted as “The whole world plays the actor” or “The whole world is a play” or “The whole world is a playhouse.” The Realized poet Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Relatedly, the Eastern term “lila” refers to the concept that this “world” is a cosmic puppet theater, literally meaning “play” or “a game being played spontaneously.” The playwright’s quote continued, “They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” That’s really all that is happening: the consciousness manifests (it has its entrance); typically, the consciousness is bastardized and each person plays many parts or roles and takes those phony roles very seriously; and then the consciousness has its exit (that is, it unmanifests). The way that cycle is perceived by persons, though, is as “birth” of a body, a “life” of personality and accumulation, and then “death” (with the hope for eternal reward and everlasting continuity of the body-mind-personality). How could the vast majority of persons on the earth not be miserable…playing their phony roles, being driven to accumulate, trapped in their warped personalities, fooling themselves and others, and believing all along that their acts are real?
Therein lies another irony: because of the faulty programming that generates foolishness and delusion, the players take the play to be real. They play their roles for so long that they actually believe that they are their roles. And the longer that persons play the roles, and the more they take those roles to define who they are, the farther removed they are from awareness of the Real Self; then, they become more and more phony...more and more lost in their role-playing. And in the process of being less and less genuine—less and less in touch with the reality of Who/What They Truly Are—the more miserable they become in that state of incongruity (acting like something they are not). Those with any remaining degree of awareness will become so miserable that they will make comments such as, “I don’t even know who I am” or “I’ve lost myself in all of this” or “I can’t live with myself anymore.” Do you hear the duality in those comments…the self vs. The Self?
Another irony is that, as soon as a role (an ego-state) is taken to be a real identity, the ego which supports the role-playing elevates the role player to “super” status; thus, when one adopts the identity of a religious person, one is immediately elevated in his or her “mind” to a “Super Religious Person.” One is not a teacher but immediately becomes—in his or her “mind”—“Super Teacher.” One is not just spiritual but becomes a “Spiritual Giant” in her or his "mind." And in those roles, they use their “holy” books and share their “holy” messages and really believe that they are having a positive impact on the world as they try to tell others how to live and what the truth is. The beauty of the Advaita Teachings that are rooted in the Original Understanding is that the Realized will never claim that any book is holy and will never claim that they can state the truth. The truth can be known by the Realized, but it cannot be stated. Yet few will ever find that truth and most will play their body roles or mind roles or religious and spiritual roles and believe that they are “better” as a result. They will actually take their false images to be real as they fool themselves (and fool those about them who are unaware and are sleepwalking through the relative existence).
Once heavily invested in their roles, the use of ego-defense mechanisms are triggered and then used by persons to try to maintain their false images. Anything which suggests that a role is phony or not real is met with a tremendous defense and then a counter-attack by persons since attacks on the validity of personas are taken by persons to be personal attacks. Though no real attack was initiated by the one pointing out that a lie is a lie and that a role is nothing more than a role, the role-player takes that pointer as a personal attack…the reason being that a persona is been revealed as nothing more than the mask that it is.
Therein lies another irony: because of the faulty programming that generates foolishness and delusion, the players take the play to be real. They play their roles for so long that they actually believe that they are their roles. And the longer that persons play the roles, and the more they take those roles to define who they are, the farther removed they are from awareness of the Real Self; then, they become more and more phony...more and more lost in their role-playing. And in the process of being less and less genuine—less and less in touch with the reality of Who/What They Truly Are—the more miserable they become in that state of incongruity (acting like something they are not). Those with any remaining degree of awareness will become so miserable that they will make comments such as, “I don’t even know who I am” or “I’ve lost myself in all of this” or “I can’t live with myself anymore.” Do you hear the duality in those comments…the self vs. The Self?
Another irony is that, as soon as a role (an ego-state) is taken to be a real identity, the ego which supports the role-playing elevates the role player to “super” status; thus, when one adopts the identity of a religious person, one is immediately elevated in his or her “mind” to a “Super Religious Person.” One is not a teacher but immediately becomes—in his or her “mind”—“Super Teacher.” One is not just spiritual but becomes a “Spiritual Giant” in her or his "mind." And in those roles, they use their “holy” books and share their “holy” messages and really believe that they are having a positive impact on the world as they try to tell others how to live and what the truth is. The beauty of the Advaita Teachings that are rooted in the Original Understanding is that the Realized will never claim that any book is holy and will never claim that they can state the truth. The truth can be known by the Realized, but it cannot be stated. Yet few will ever find that truth and most will play their body roles or mind roles or religious and spiritual roles and believe that they are “better” as a result. They will actually take their false images to be real as they fool themselves (and fool those about them who are unaware and are sleepwalking through the relative existence).
Once heavily invested in their roles, the use of ego-defense mechanisms are triggered and then used by persons to try to maintain their false images. Anything which suggests that a role is phony or not real is met with a tremendous defense and then a counter-attack by persons since attacks on the validity of personas are taken by persons to be personal attacks. Though no real attack was initiated by the one pointing out that a lie is a lie and that a role is nothing more than a role, the role-player takes that pointer as a personal attack…the reason being that a persona is been revealed as nothing more than the mask that it is.
Are you attached to your roles, to your body, to your “mind” and to its concepts? Are you seeking approval and esteem by publicly displaying how pious and faithful you are? Are you attached to your religious or spiritual role-playing and game-playing? Then the remainder of the “path” to Full Realization for you is blocked. You have not reached a halfway point but believe that you have arrived. You have left Delhi and reached Lucknow but believe that you are in Kolkata. You have left L.A. and are in Kansas City but believe that you have already arrived in New York. You have seen the dawn but have mistaken it for the noon. The arrogance of ego-states and the distortion of the “mind” will convince you that you have found the truth, and such self-deceit will end all opportunity to continue the "journey" and to Realize the truth.
On the other hand, have you discarded all of the labels and assumed roles and false identities that your culture has used to define who you are? Are you sick of the phony roles being played and ready to get Real? Then the “path” lies open before you, and if you only travel it far enough to find all the lies without ever being able to articulate “the truth,” the remainder of your relative existence can still unfold in a spontaneous and natural AS IF fashion. That is enough. [You may see the 18 December 2005 post for more on AS IF living.] Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
On the other hand, have you discarded all of the labels and assumed roles and false identities that your culture has used to define who you are? Are you sick of the phony roles being played and ready to get Real? Then the “path” lies open before you, and if you only travel it far enough to find all the lies without ever being able to articulate “the truth,” the remainder of your relative existence can still unfold in a spontaneous and natural AS IF fashion. That is enough. [You may see the 18 December 2005 post for more on AS IF living.] Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
