God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another.
– Hamlet 3.1, Shakespeare
This is an example of how great koans can be found in non-traditional sources.
And more importantly, it is a reminder of how any statement is a question and a pointer for inquiry.
When do I make myself another face?
I find I make myself another face whenever I try to live up to an image. I try to appear moderately smart. Likable. Generous. Reflected.
And when do I try to live up to an image? Whenever I take a story as true. Whenever I take stories about others, myself, and the world as true. I need others to like me. I need to be accepted. I need to be loved. I need connection. I need to survive.
What are my underlying beliefs for each of these? Why do I need people to like me? Why do I need to be loved? Why do I need to survive?
What do I find when I look at each of those underlying beliefs? I can ask myself: Is it true? What happens when I take it as true? Who would I be without it? What is the truth in each of its turnarounds? How would it be to live from the most juicy of those turnarounds?
What do I take myself to be? A center. A doer. An observer. Located in a particular place in space? An object? The seer of this object and anything else. How do each of these show up in the sense fields? How do each show up in sensations? How do each show up in the mental field, as images? What happens when there is identification with each of these images? What is whatever happens in each sense field made up of? Is it solid? Substantial? Insubstantial? Ephemeral? Space itself? Awake?
These questions helps me explore how I make myself another face as a human in the world, and how I do the same when there is identification with the image of “I” as a doer or observer, and when there is identification with stories and viewpoints in general. I become more familiar with the mechanisms and processes, and learn to recognize it as it happens in daily life.
I can also directly notice the no-face that allows all faces through the headless experiments. And find the Original Face through the Big Mind process.
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- human life
- when try to live up to an image of myself, perhaps to find acceptance
- and then notice, i do that whenever i take a story as true
- what i am
- …
And when do I try to live up to an image? Whenever I take a story as true.
And what is the core story I take as true? That I am a doer, an observer, an object in the world, an “I”.
………
For instance, what is the most simple and essential I take myself to be? A center? Something located in a particular place in space? A doer? Content of experience? The observer of this? The seeing itself? An image of an observer or seer? Is this image content of experience as well?
What is here if I am not these images? Awakeness? No-thing appearing as something? Inherently free of any center? Not located in any particular place?
………..
draft….
God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another.
– Shakespeare in Hamlet
This is an example of how great koans can be found in non-traditional sources.
And more importantly, it is a reminder of how any statement is a question and a pointer for inquiry.
It is an invitation for us to explore on our own and find what is honest for ourselves.
When I take this quote as a pointer for inquiry, I find first how it points to my life as a human being in the world.
When do I make myself another face? Whenever I try to live up to an image.
And when do I try to live up to an image? Whenever I take a story as true.
Exploring this for a while, I may ask myself what my most basic beliefs are.
What are my most basic beliefs about the world? What do I think others expect of me?
What are my most basic beliefs about who I am? Who do I take myself to be? I may find that I take myself to be a center, a doer, an observer, located in a particular place in space, an object, the seeing of this object and anything else. What happens when I take myself to be each of these? Can I know it is true that I am these? What is the truth in the reversals? How do each show up in the sense fields? What is the felt-sense aspect? What is the image part? Are they all images? All content of experience?
I can also ask questions to get a richer sense of what is going on.
For instance, I make myself another face when I try to live up to an image of myself. What are some of these images? I try to appear smart. Likable. Generous. Balanced views. Reflected. Why do I try to live up to these images? To be liked. Accepted. Loved. Why do I want to be accepted? So people will treat me well. Help me when I need help. So I will feel connected. Loved. Why do I need people to treat me well? So I won’t get hurt. So I will survive? Why do I need to survive? Because I…. Hm. I don’t know. The truth is, I don’t know.