Chocolatey Goodness

People have many erroneous notions of who and/or what they are. Discovering our true nature is a mater of peeling away the layers of illusion and delusion to find the very essence of being. Getting to the creamy center – or is it chewy hazelnut, maybe something fruity … ahh, perhaps it's amaretto infused chocolate. That one sounds the best to me; ergo, that must be what's there. Notions of just what the center is, are some of the most insidious obstructions to our honest acceptance of who or what we are.

I often tell my students that the most important thing that they can do is nothing. But that's really not quite sufficient, for the average seeker. It's pretty much impossible to do nothing, long and completely enough, for all of the false ideas to evaporate on their own. The mountain of suppositions and beliefs that we tote around needs to be systematically deconstructed. And this is only possible for someone who has an earnest desire to know the truth, regardless of the consequences.

Unfortunately, most would rather be reassured that their beliefs are accurate. They think they just need one final bit of knowledge to pull it all together. Or they feel that, if they could just get anointed by someone divine enough, their faith would solidify to the point that the heavens would open up and glory would rain down, washing them wholly (or would that be, holy) pure. Perceiving themselves as being on a path toward _____, is enough to make them feel spiritually adequate. Where as, the truth can only be found, here and now.

People are so accustomed to being something and feeling such and so and to aspiring toward whatever, that, to give that up, seems like it would be the end of it all - the final curtain. And, in a sense, I suppose it is. But it's only the last hoorah for a conglomeration of ideas. The ground isn't pulled from under foot, the body doesn't disintegrate, the mind isn't left a lifeless vacuum - life goes on. It's just seen through different eyes, digested in a different manner and acted upon with a different attitude.

So then, “what's at the core?” the mind will query. I could say nothing or emptiness. I could say contentment or understanding. But anything I'd say would just get tossed onto the pile of flotsam and jetsam that needs to be shoveled away in order to uncover the answer.

The easier question to grapple with; in fact, the one that needs to be answered - time and again - is, “what isn't there”. And I'm sorry to have to report, as painful as it may be to hear, that it isn't amaretto infused chocolate.