She said she was confused about some things in her life. We talked.
Many
people are confused. One indication is the wide abuse of alcohol and
drugs. Why else would the guy stink of alcohol 10 in the morning in the
bus or constantly use numerous kinds of drugs. Every addict is
confused, including cigarette addicts because they live with conflict
and conflict is confusion. Luckily she doesn’t have these problems.
I
am not sure what problem she has but here are some general
remarks about confusion and unhappiness which apply to most humans as
we are very similar in our experience of living. Please keep in mind I
use the term “we” to refer to “many” and not “all” people as there are
also those who are free from one of more of the following. When one is
aware of conditioning one can be free from it as it shows its face and
it can resolve in the light of attention…
Our
education trains us to be problem solvers so we need problems to solve and
when we don’t have problems, we make problems. It’s a wonderful thing to
see how the brain is used to, has the habit of, being in a state of having
problems.
To
have clarity, to think clearly, order is necessary – order in every aspect
of one’s life.
Emptying
is an important action which comes in awareness. With emptying, space and
order come.
Insight
into and understanding of the confusion brings change, naturally.
If
confusion has to do with an incomplete or disorderly past event or
relationship which one can not do anything about, seeing it is the act of
emptying. “Insight is action”.
What
we are, all layers of our consciousness shows itself in daily life and in
sleep – there is no sub-conscious if we are attentive – it’s always
bubbling up if we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings and their
habitual ways.
A
psychologist has to be very clear to help someone but most psychologists are
confused and unhappy themselves and thrive on patient’s confusion. Same
thing with psychiatrists – many want to solve problems that require
insight with drugs instead.
Taking
care of the body is important with proper food (e.g. non-meat, non-drug
(yes sugar and caffeine are both addictive drugs)), exercise (e.g.
walking, yoga), rest, etc. This does not mean one can not be happy if one
drinks coffee or takes added sugar that’s so common in foods, but caffeine
causes stress in most people and if someone is suffering from stress and
confusion, caffeine does not help. Sugar causes all kinds of hormonal and
other problems (see my website‘s nutrition section for more info). Both
these substances contribute to mood-swings. Good moods and bad moods. It
is possible to live without mood swings and have a stable level of energy.
The
brain is physical so its state of being is effected by state of body’s
health. Happiness is related to how the body is treated.
One of
the best ways of emptying the mind is writing – also talking to a good
friend. In the process one gets to see other aspects of the problem and
the problem can fall away, disappear.
As
long as problems are bundled in the mind and not expressed/emptied, it is
one blob, one bundle. When emptied one can see ingredients of what makes
up the problem and seeing the ingredients is important for cleanup.
Very
important to ask in daily life, when one is not feeling ok, “what is wrong
with me?”. Often a little unnoticed thing can bother us but when we ask
the question and understand the cause, it falls away.
The
key to change is seeing what-is.
The
key to insight is seeing. The ability to see and understand requires not
judging what one sees and if one does that, to see the judgment without
trying to change it. Another key point is to not separate what you are
from what you see. The seer is the seen. If one separated the seer from
the seen, in that division there is conflict and loss of energy which is
necessary for understanding and change.
Thinking
is over-emphasized in most cultures and educational systems. We think too
much about things that thought was not meant for and doing so we are bound
to get confused. Thinking, being based on past experience which is always
limited, and being based on physical brain cells which are also limited
because they’re matter, is always limited. Where there’s limitation there
is division because borders by definition divide. Where there’s division,
there is conflict otherwise there would be no need for division. So
thought, when applied inappropriately to psychological matters it was not
meant for addressing, creates division, conflict, and confusion. Therefore
thought needs to find its right place and be quiet about many aspects of
life. Being quiet it can be spontaneous and it can give way to a different
kind of movement which is not of thought and time.
Psychological
time as the limitation of past and its projection into the future is an
illusion. The future is unknown. Change has to happen now otherwise a
person remains what s/he is now.
Aside
from personal confusion that may or may not exist, the brain has a default
habit of falling into sorrow because of general mankind’s sorrow. One can
take sorrow and uproot it in one’s life with the power of attention.
One
may have a history of depression in the family but doctors are quick in
terming it pathological. I’d say it’s more societal, environmental,
cultural. Look at high suicide rate in some rich countries. But
pathological problems do limit some people and there is a right place for
drugs in certain cases. I’ve seen too many cases where doctors rush to
drugs because that’s all they know.
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