"A mind free of thought, merged within itself, beholds the essence of Tao.
A mind filled with thought, identified with its own perceptions, beholds the mere forms of this world.
Tao and this world seem different but in truth they are one and the same.
The only difference is in what we call them.
How deep and mysterious is this unity.
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth, the hidden within the hidden.
It is the path to all wonder, the gate to the essence of everything."
Lao Tzu
On our Inner Journey we speculate about 'The Mystery' that Lao Tzu speaks of...
What's it all about?
Why am I perceiving life so differently now?
If I'm not who I thought I was, who am I!?
All this is the 'mind-aspect' of spiritual seeking.
And it can go on and on - with the mind coming up with endless ideas, concepts and explanations about it all.
Beliefs arise out of this thinking, and some can be elaborate and fantastical.
But eventually a stark conclusion is reached... I really do not know!
The amazing thing is that until that moment, the mind finds it impossible to accept it does not, and cannot know.
The mind absolutely believes it does know, or will be able to find out...
...and on it goes, insisting that it's beliefs are truth, ever-searching for more information...
And why is this?
Because the sense of 'I Know' is what gives us something to hold on to, ground to stand on.
Only when that ground gives way do we realise we never could have known - because true knowing comes from beyond the mind!
The 'I' cannot know, because the 'I', is in the way of knowing!
What we can know is the experience of the gradual expansion of limited knowing which we start to become aware of after awakening has begun. This is the beginning of the dissolution of false beliefs. It is a seeing beyond the ego-self - beyond the "I" that we call ourselves.
Awakening begins when our consciousness expands into areas previously hidden by the fog of delusional self-belief.
How, why, and when awakening begins - well that's a mystery!
John