Daily Quote, Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Good morning everyone,

I' hoping the sun does its break-through thing again today!

Here is today's quote:

No desire to be or not to be.

Self-knowledge...is not a process to be read about or speculated upon: it must be discovered by each one from moment to moment, so that the mind becomes extraordinarily alert. In that alertness there is a certain quiescence, a passive awareness in which there is no desire to be or not to be, and in which there is an astonishing sense of freedom. It may be only for a minute, for a second - that is enough.

That freedom is not of memory; it is a living thing, but the mind, having tasted it, reduces it to a memory and then wants more of it. To be aware of this total process is possible only through self-knowledge, and self-knowledge comes into being from moment to moment as we watch our speech, our gestures, the way we talk, and the hidden motives that are suddenly revealed. Then only is it possible to be free from fear. As long as there is fear, there is no love. Fear darkens our being and that fear cannot be washed away by any prayer, by any ideal or activity.

The cause of fear is the 'me', the 'me' which is so complex in its desires, wants, pursuits. The mind has to understand that whole process, and the understanding of it comes only when there is watchfulness without choice.

The Collected Works, Vol. VII - 327

Here are my reflections.

I don't have much to add to this, but it is interesting to consider that we have to watch for clues in our speech and behaviour, and decypher the clues about our motives. This is the inquiry into the unconscious. These are our hidden motives; the mind does to be extraordinarily alert for this.

I have been looking at my introversion a lot lately and have seen more and more clues to this in my thoughts, speech, and actions. Paying deep attention, I start to see connections that were not visible before. I started by inquiring into my resistance to certain things and why that might be there. The idea is not to become more extravert, as if being introvert is a problem; but to find a place of authenticity where there is complete effortless in being and no struggle. No desire to be or not to be.

Have you spent much time to looking at your resistance to certain things and have you become aware of connections between them?

The same inquiry could go the other way. Have you noticed yourself very drawn to certain things?

Best wishes

Robert