I love the sweet spot where we find awakening. It can be talked about and studied. It cannot be proven to our satisfaction by others. And we ultimately have to find it for ourselves if we want to check it out and get a taste of it.
And that is, of course, how it is with most things in the world. It’s not unique to awakening.
IT CAN BE TALKED ABOUT AND STUDIED
We can talk about awakening and we can study it through science.
We can talk about our own experiences with it. We can talk about others’ reports on it and their lives. We can philosophize about it. We can talk about fantasies and misconceptions about it.
And we can study it through science. We can examine the reports of individuals. We can examine groups of reports for themes and patterns. We can examine biological correlates to what people report. We can try out methods for awakening and see how apparently effective they are. And so on.
And that’s how it is with most things. We can talk about it and we can do different kinds of research on it.
IT CAN NOT BE PROVEN TO OUR SATISFACTION BY OTHERS
There are many things we assume exist based on second and third-hand reports.
I assume Australia is an actual place even if I haven’t been there. I assume there are bears even if I haven’t encountered any. And so on.
And yet, if we want to be sure we cannot completely rely on the reports from others. We have to check it out for ourselves.
That especially applies to awakening since it’s not something we can take photos of and measure. And it’s not widely accepted in our culture so most people are less likely to accept second- or third-hand accounts.
WE HAVE TO FIND IT FOR OURSELVES
In terms of awakening, we can listen to what people have to say about it. We can pretend it’s true. And that, in itself, is ultimately not very satisfying.
To find satisfaction, we need to use effective pointers and find it for ourselves. That’s the only way for us to know for certain if what people talk about exists or not.
And to find deeper satisfaction, in terms of the transformation that comes with awakening, we need to keep noticing and finding it and make that noticing into a new habit. And to allow the noticing to transform our perception, identity, and live in the world and to keep working on us.
A GOOD MIX
This is a good – or even perfect – mix.
If we couldn’t talk about it at all, it would be difficult to share our experiences, learn from each other, and ignite our interest through the sharing of others.
If we couldn’t study aspects of it through science, it would mean it didn’t really touch the world that can be studied and measured which, in turn, would mean it didn’t touch our lives in this world and a significant part of its relevance would be missing.
If we couldn’t find it for ourselves, it would just remain something distant and irrelevant at – at most – something others talked about.
AWAKENING IS NOT UNIQUE IN THIS WAY
Awakening is not unique in this way. It’s similar to many or most other things.
To be certain, we have to find it for ourselves.
And for something to really do something with us, it has to be a firsthand experience and it requires a wholehearted engagement and willingness to be transformed.
INITIAL OUTLINE
- Awakening in the sweet spot
- The sweet spot between (a) what we can check out for ourselves
- (b) Something that can be partially studied by science, described,
- And (c) cannot be “proven” to those not open to it, ready for it, haven’t found it for themselves
- And would be meaningless anyway since it’s all about our own noticing and experience, not something we hear from others or “believe” in (pretend to take as true when we cannot know since we don’t have personal experience with it)
- …
……
Awakening in the sweet spot of what cannot be proven, what can be studied by science, and what we have to find for ourselves
…..
I love where awakening is in terms of what can be talked about and studied, what cannot be proven to our satisfaction by others, and what we ultimately have to find for ourselves.
…..
I love where awakening is in the sense that it can be talked about and studied, it cannot be proven to our satisfaction by others, and we ultimately have to find it for ourselves if we want to check it out and allow it to transform us.
…..
That especially goes for something as apparently ephemeral and ungraspable as awakening, and even more since it’s not widely accepted in our culture.
….
Again, this is how it is with most things. To be certain, we have to check it out for ourselves. And for something to really transform us, we need to experience it firsthand and allow it to work on us.
….
In addition, to benefit from the transformation of awakening, it’s not enough to take someone’s word for it. We have to find it for ourselves and keep finding it and allow it to transform us.
To find more complete satisfaction, we need to find it for ourselves and see how it is to allow the transformation to work on us.
….
INITIAL DRAFT
I love the sweet spot of awakening. It can be talked about and studied. It cannot be proven to our satisfaction by others. And we ultimately have to find it for ourselves if we want to check it out and get a taste of it.
And that is, of course, how it is with most things in the world. It’s not unique to awakening.
IT CAN BE TALKED ABOUT AND STUDIED
We can talk about awakening and we can study it through science.
We can talk about our own experiences with it. We can talk about others’ reports on it and their lives. We can philosophize about it. We can talk about fantasies and misconceptions about it.
And we can study it through science. We can examine the reports of individuals. We can examine groups of reports for themes and patterns. We can examine biological correlates to what people report. We can try out methods for awakening and see how apparently effective they are. And so on.
And that’s how it is with most things. We can talk about it and we can do different kinds of research on it.
IT CANNOT BE PROVEN TO OUR SATISFACTION BY OTHERS
There are many things we assume is accurate based on second and third-hand reports.
I assume Australia exists even if I haven’t been there. I assume there are bears even if I haven’t encountered any. And so on.
And yet, if we want to be sure we cannot completely rely on the reports from others. We have to check it out for ourselves.
That especially applies to awakening. It’s not something we can take photos of and measure. And it’s not widely accepted in our culture.
And to benefit from the transformation of awakening, it’s not enough to take someone’s word for it. We have to find it for ourselves and keep finding it and allow it to transform us.
To find more complete satisfaction, we need to check it out for ourselves and allow the transformation to work on us.
WE HAVE TO FIND IT FOR OURSELVES
In terms of awakening, we can listen to what people have to say about it. We can pretend it’s true. And that, in itself, is ultimately not very satisfying.
To find satisfaction, we need to use effective pointers and find it for ourselves. We need to keep noticing and finding it and make that into a new habit. And we need to allow the noticing to transform our perception, identity, and live in the world and to keep working on us.
AWAKENING IS NOT UNIQUE IN THIS WAY
Awakening in not unique in this sense. It’s similar to many or most other things.
To be certain, we have to find it for ourselves.
And for the experience to really do something with us, it has to be a firsthand experience.