From a site visitor: I read your postings about Christmas traditions and most of it made sense. I’ve also been going thru your archives and last summer you said the Dark Ages was when ignorant people valued traditions. I agree with your argument that doing things a certain way because they have always been done that way is not smart, but isn’t there some value to observing some traditions?
F.: Persons come to love their traditions because such repetition of the same activities makes them “feel good,” and the reason that they are made to “feel good” is because they are subconsciously receiving a (false) message of continuity, convincing them to believe that
1. “all of these traditional activities that are happening over and over are proof that I am lasting” and that
2. “what is happening again and again, year after year, is proof that we are lasting” and that
3. “the way things were in the past is the way they are in the present and therefore they are reliable indicators of the way that things shall be in the future. We’re one big happy family, and we’ll be that way for eternity.”
Of course, that’s all delusion, but persons thrive on delusion. Delusion is the very food that feeds that body of distorted beliefs and fictional concepts called “the mind.”
"Honoring traditions" further reinforces the false belief that “the way things were and are shall never change, so I will never have to face the fear of change or the fear of the unknown or the fear of ‘loss’.” It also plants the erroneous belief that “my desire that things will never change, that I will never have to face the unknown, and that I will always be spared from any sense of ‘loss’ will be met.” Only when the inevitable change or sense of “loss” finally comes does it also become clear that persons have been set up to suffer tremendous misery. Why? By believing that they are do-ers, and by believing that they are that which is doing all of those “traditional things,” they are reinforcing their false sense of stability and continuity in the present as well as convincing themselves that, in the future after they "die," they will "live" in bliss for eternity.
However, as they play their psychological games and try to attain their desires and avoid their fears, persons suffer the roller-coaster effects of highs and lows, of chaos and emotional intoxication. “The highs” (of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Hunnakah, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Hajj, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Dussehra, Diwali, Ganesh, Chaturthi and all of the other holidays ad infinitum) are always followed by “the lows” as persons return to their routine days that are not as “holy” or as “wonderful.” With far less to do, doingness gives way to occasions of having to face mere beingness, and persons—obsessed with going and doing and zooming—cannot tolerate just being. So the search begins again for the next thing that can generate another emotional high.
The higher that their emotional intoxication takes persons, the greater is their inevitable fall. The greater the delusion, the greater the shock will be to persons when the inevitable happens. The greater the delusion, the far greater the inability of persons to see reality becomes. For those who prefer illusion, the illusions of a "past" and the illusion of traditions will also be preferred, but notice how they contribute to duality. When a few days are considered “better,” that only makes all of the other days seem “worse.” Some desires might be met, but the impact is even greater than usual when others are not met.
All of that instability creates emotional chaos, and emotional chaos can only result in misery. Are you beginning to see the difference in objectively witnessing all that happens rather than thinking you are a do-er and a participant? Traditions are obviously rooted in the past, and the past is an illusion. What “value,” to use your word, could be assigned to any illusion? Do mirages in the desert have some “value”?
More to the point, are you seeing how the “honoring of traditions” gives validity to the false illusion of a “past” wherein those conceptual traditions are rooted? Are you beginning to see the Reality of NOW vs. the illusions of concepts called "our traditions from the past”? WHO wants to focus on “the past,” which is nothing more than an illusion… nothing more than a conglomeration of “memories” which are just false perceptions and distortions rooted in a false “past”? Are you also seeing that those illusions are being brought forward into the present in order to support the false beliefs of "eternal continuity" and of “an eternal future” for a body-mind-personality?
If you were to Realize that NOW is all there is, might you not be able to enjoy the NOW far more by focusing on the present rather than on “traditional acts” which are rooted in “the past”? Are you seeing the self-deception and emotional intoxication involved in “honoring traditions” that are rooted in an illusory “past”? Are you seeing that persons feel driven to repeat those links with their (illusory) “past” in order to convince themselves that continuity is a real possibility (an illusion), in order to convince themselves that they’ll be able to feel “good” in an eternal “future” (another illusion), and in order to convince themselves that their body-mind—personality will exist and will be rewarded eternally (another illusion)? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
F.: Persons come to love their traditions because such repetition of the same activities makes them “feel good,” and the reason that they are made to “feel good” is because they are subconsciously receiving a (false) message of continuity, convincing them to believe that
1. “all of these traditional activities that are happening over and over are proof that I am lasting” and that
2. “what is happening again and again, year after year, is proof that we are lasting” and that
3. “the way things were in the past is the way they are in the present and therefore they are reliable indicators of the way that things shall be in the future. We’re one big happy family, and we’ll be that way for eternity.”
Of course, that’s all delusion, but persons thrive on delusion. Delusion is the very food that feeds that body of distorted beliefs and fictional concepts called “the mind.”
"Honoring traditions" further reinforces the false belief that “the way things were and are shall never change, so I will never have to face the fear of change or the fear of the unknown or the fear of ‘loss’.” It also plants the erroneous belief that “my desire that things will never change, that I will never have to face the unknown, and that I will always be spared from any sense of ‘loss’ will be met.” Only when the inevitable change or sense of “loss” finally comes does it also become clear that persons have been set up to suffer tremendous misery. Why? By believing that they are do-ers, and by believing that they are that which is doing all of those “traditional things,” they are reinforcing their false sense of stability and continuity in the present as well as convincing themselves that, in the future after they "die," they will "live" in bliss for eternity.
However, as they play their psychological games and try to attain their desires and avoid their fears, persons suffer the roller-coaster effects of highs and lows, of chaos and emotional intoxication. “The highs” (of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Hunnakah, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Hajj, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Dussehra, Diwali, Ganesh, Chaturthi and all of the other holidays ad infinitum) are always followed by “the lows” as persons return to their routine days that are not as “holy” or as “wonderful.” With far less to do, doingness gives way to occasions of having to face mere beingness, and persons—obsessed with going and doing and zooming—cannot tolerate just being. So the search begins again for the next thing that can generate another emotional high.
The higher that their emotional intoxication takes persons, the greater is their inevitable fall. The greater the delusion, the greater the shock will be to persons when the inevitable happens. The greater the delusion, the far greater the inability of persons to see reality becomes. For those who prefer illusion, the illusions of a "past" and the illusion of traditions will also be preferred, but notice how they contribute to duality. When a few days are considered “better,” that only makes all of the other days seem “worse.” Some desires might be met, but the impact is even greater than usual when others are not met.
All of that instability creates emotional chaos, and emotional chaos can only result in misery. Are you beginning to see the difference in objectively witnessing all that happens rather than thinking you are a do-er and a participant? Traditions are obviously rooted in the past, and the past is an illusion. What “value,” to use your word, could be assigned to any illusion? Do mirages in the desert have some “value”?
More to the point, are you seeing how the “honoring of traditions” gives validity to the false illusion of a “past” wherein those conceptual traditions are rooted? Are you beginning to see the Reality of NOW vs. the illusions of concepts called "our traditions from the past”? WHO wants to focus on “the past,” which is nothing more than an illusion… nothing more than a conglomeration of “memories” which are just false perceptions and distortions rooted in a false “past”? Are you also seeing that those illusions are being brought forward into the present in order to support the false beliefs of "eternal continuity" and of “an eternal future” for a body-mind-personality?
If you were to Realize that NOW is all there is, might you not be able to enjoy the NOW far more by focusing on the present rather than on “traditional acts” which are rooted in “the past”? Are you seeing the self-deception and emotional intoxication involved in “honoring traditions” that are rooted in an illusory “past”? Are you seeing that persons feel driven to repeat those links with their (illusory) “past” in order to convince themselves that continuity is a real possibility (an illusion), in order to convince themselves that they’ll be able to feel “good” in an eternal “future” (another illusion), and in order to convince themselves that their body-mind—personality will exist and will be rewarded eternally (another illusion)? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
