BIO

Belief Individual Opposition

The Cause of Suffering

Belief – Reality doesn’t need belief - belief isn't real - belief is surrogate for truth – belief is learned – belief says "this is good this is bad" (truth says "is") – multiple conflicting beliefs = why different cultures believe what they believe (truth is one) – conditioned view – should and shouldn’t – based on conceptual teaching and meaning assumed as interpreting reality – is there a true belief? Belief is not truth yet we act and live as if it is – belief is a very powerful force that leads to humanity insanity – greed, hatred, delusion – war

Individual Identity - In divide dual - Identity = the assumed beliefs about self. Good bad smart dumb ugly pretty liked disliked slow fast lucky victim – the role we play and believe we are. Primary Identity is of a separate small vulnerable self in massive world/universe that must pretend its way into okayness. There are culturally appropriate Identities (many different roles) that we deeply see/know we are not yet try to pretend we are. Really the problem is that this Identity is not real, it’s just a bundle of spinning beliefs. We confine ourselves to this Individual Identity. You exist whether you believe you do or not - you do not vanish without a story of yourself - but what are you actually? What are you really? Can you find you? Who, what, where, when, why are you?

Opposition – pulls both ways (if I want sun, I don't want clouds) – usually experienced as wanting/seeking/clinging and resisting/opposing/avoiding – all appearance of specific form depends on a degree of resistance or else there would be no apparent distinction - but this resistance is the same as support - it is the ground of love/compassion. Opposition is the thought-emotion resistance to what is. Without opposition there cannot be a problem and cannot be suffering. Opposition to reality = suffer. Reality = freedom.