What’s called bliss and what’s called ordinary mind are equal. One is not a higher state than the other.
– Byron Katie
Can I find this in my own experience?
AS WHAT I AM, IT’S EQUAL
When I look, I find I am capacity for all of it
I am capacity for all of it. And it’s all happening within and as what I am.
In that sense, bliss and ordinary mind are equal. To what I am, any state and experience are equal.
AS WHO I AM, I HAVE PREFERENCES
And to who I am, to this personality, they are not necessarily equal. Here, there are preferences.
As my human self lives and operates within a more conscious noticing of my nature, these preferences are held more lightly.
THE WHOLENESS OF WHAT AND WHO I AM
How does this look in daily life?
I notice that any state and experience happens within and as what I am. That my nature is capacity for all of it. And that they are equal in that sense. There is “one taste”.
If I want to clarify this, or explore it in a more structured way, I can use Headless experiments, the Big Mind process, Living Inquiries, or other forms of inquiries aimed at helping us notice our nature here and now. (More accurately, aimed at inviting our nature to notice itself – as capacity for all experiences and what all experiences happen within and as.)
At the same time, my personality and human self have preferences, and it’s important to take these into consideration. Sometimes, these preferences come from some kindness and wisdom, and I chose to follow them. Other times, I may notice or suspect they come from reactivity, and then I instead chose to explore them and see what’s more true for me.
It’s an ongoing process and exploration, and it’s often a bit messier than this. And that’s part of the process too.
DRAFT
I am capacity for all of it. And it’s all happening within and as what I am.
In that sense, bliss and ordinary mind are equal. To what I am, any state and experience are equal.
And to who I am, to this personality, they are not necessarily equal. Here, there are preferences.
As who I am lives and operates within a more conscious noticing of my nature, these preferences are held more lightly.
How does this look in daily life?
I notice that any state and experience happens within and as what I am. That my nature is capacity for all of it. And that they are equal in that sense. There is “one taste”.
At the same time, my personality and human self have preferences, and it’s important to take these into consideration. Sometimes, these preferences come from some kindness and wisdom, and I chose to follow them. Other times, I may notice or suspect they come from reactivity, and then I instead chose to explore them and see what’s more true for me.
It’s an ongoing process and exploration, and it’s often a bit messier than this. And that’s part of the process.