I completely understand.....what Plato was trying to get people to see with his allegory of the cave

I have felt so frustrated today. This evening Deep Connection held it's second evening on mindfulness and once again I was reminded of the old saying about giving people fish and teaching them to fish. Yes, by being mindful and aware of all of our thoughts, feelings and actions you do enter the here and now and do touch life deeply, but there is a long way to go to get to that point. Last night I listened to people speaking about how they have anger, judgements and opinions and I can't understand why people would prefer to put up with them rather than to understand how they came about and disappear them. This would then free up the energy that is blocked by keeping all these aspects of their identity in existence. This was the frustration that was with me for almost five hours last night.

Not to sound arrogant but I think I understand how the prisioner who escaped from Plato's allegorical cave must have felt. The story of the cave is that there are a group of prisioners tied together, sitting on the ground facing a wall. Behind the prisoners is a fire and the shadows of people passing by the fire makes shadows on the wall which the prisoners take to be real. One prisoner escapes and then realises that the shadows are illusory and sees the brilliance of the daylight. Excited he runs back to his fellow prisoners to tell them......and they kill him.

Mindfulness like meditation has been around and practiced for many years. Has it made any difference to the amount of love, peace and compassion in the world? No, in fact it could be argued that the world has got worse. Why is this? I assert it is because the ego/identity has been left to develop and deepen in human being without being confronted. There was nothing in last night that was confronting to the ego identity of everyone that was there and this was my frustration. I said a couple of things about becoming aware of what is it that causes meditation to be so difficult, to sit for an hour in meditation as opposed to sit for three hours watching TV. Unless the ego/identity with its various components is directly challenged and given up spiritual awakening and achievement of the holy grail of enlightenement is going to remain a concept not attainable in this lifetime.

What is also ironic for me is that there is a lot of talk of global warming and doing more to save our planet. People are so caught up in the suffering caused simply by being human and by refusing to look at how human being is made up there is no more energy available to do what is going to be necessary to save our planet. The ego/identity is operating strongly and unfettered and cares about nothing else only its own survival. I don't know what is going to shift that if people don't take it on for themselves.

And what I say and write about can be verified by everyone from their own experience. Everyone is aware of that inner voice that is always commenting on what someone else is saying 'I agree with that, not with that, I like that, that's not right'. When I mention this to people there is a wry smile of recognition so what I am saying is not unfamiliar. People are just asleep. They are unaware that it is this part of themselves that is in control and is responsible for the suffering in life. It is the creator of what the Buddhists call maya or delusion and ignorance.

Ironically I have found that the worst offenders in terms of going into the mud of how we got put together as human beings are those who are on a declared spiritual path. From my experience the ego/identity becomes alive and active far earlier in these people than those who declare no interest in their spiritual development. The spiritual ego is more clever and devious than the normal ego. Although there is only the one ego/identity it is chameleon like doing whatever it has to to survive. Sitting for two hours in mindfulness contemplating the here and now is completely pointless while the ego/identity is operating unfettered and unexamined. Sitting in meditation or being in mindfulness without knowing the underlying machinery of the identity is like the ego/identity deciding to turn itself into a detective to catch a thief which is itself the thief. You can just imagine how effective that is going to be.

I remember once being on a meditation retreat in Devon and sitting in one of the large chairs in the library when I was suddenly gripped by such a powerful anger that I wanted to pick up one of the plants that was there and throw it out of the window. I didn't of course but I wasn't just satisfied to see that there was that anger there I wanted to find out what was it's source so that I could have equanimity. I accepted that it was there because acceptance is the first step to transforming anything. But after acceptance I thwn went into a rigorous enquiry as to what purpose my ego/identity was using the anger for. I assert that without this rigorous enquiry into that part of us which is not us, we will never experience what we really are.

Without the mud the Lotus flower does not bloom. It is the same for human being. The tragedy and my frustration is that so many people don't know that the mud of human being exists never mind to transform it. The ego/identity keeps the consciousness away from this enquiry by having it be resigned and cynical.....that this is just the way that I am and that life is and it's as good as it gets. Me and this blog says......NO...it is so, not as good as it gets.....but to be free takes being willing to have the consciousness go into the mud....

I also heard yesterday that Wayne Dyer who ranks among the best in terms of motivational and inspirational speaker has Leukaemia. This has just added to my frustration that the ego/identity is now operating like Frankensteins's monster. It was created for one purpose but has now grown to dominate in a way which was not its design.......