Flikr
Is
there such a label or a real lasting thing as an identity? A doctor, a dustman, a bus driver, a king or
any other denomination or nomenclature?
These descriptions define the status of the person
or thing one is describing, however if it were a baby without a defining
description one might say a boy, girl, boy fat thin and so on. With those above
it describes what they do and their work and place in society. A pensioner, a retired person, a senior
citizen, a tramp, a drug addict and so on all descriptions of their status in
society BUT not their essence, it is a worldly identity, a brief sojourn in a
human flesh body which will die and be no more (OK if one wants to be pedantic
one could preserve the body, freeze it and yet the animating, motivating life
force is absent).
It then could be assumed that many want permanence
immortal life in this flesh embodiment, this fragile cocoon and so must
preserve the identity which is encapsulated in the name and label, even one who
is senile has this wish to live on somewhere within the psyche, and many who
wish to die cannot by law and so commit suicide or if their wish is fulfilled
by law euthanasia.
In some philosophies it is taken that life is
transient and impermanent, and that the label defining them is merely a concept
for work and political ideology, ethos and to keep one under surveillance and
in obedience.
Then some may feel fearful of losing this
temporary passport to this fleshly life and have so become identified with the
transient shadow of their label which they take as the ultimate reality until
something happens to shake this belief such as retirement, loss of job, life
threatening situations or disease and maybe through ruminating and
contemplating life and its uncertainty and sometimes seeming madness of war,
poverty, austerity and cruel behaviour that the world of the known the label,
the tag, the insurance policy of protection that the name, label, the badge,
the uniform, religion, way of life, loss of loved ones, home demolished by war,
floods, mortgage and so on this can suddenly produces a challenge. Where is certainty, immortality, safety for
ever, who am I, why am I here, why was I born only to suffer or if fortunate an
easy ride only to have all this taken away in death and furthermore a painful
suffering death or a pleasant passing?
These crises may never confront one and one can
glide merrily along and life is a roller coaster. For those who face these seeming dilemmas it
can cause great stress and consternation. Some do the Ostrich thing and hide
away in a corner of life, some take to distractions which can be addictive and
some see this as a challenge to search and go on a quest.
The shock may come to some that their there is no
permanent identity and they may seek to define one of their own and say my
identity is the identity of no identity however it is an identity in their
minds and is still ‘a place, an area, an imagined or created by the imagination
and felt and stored and that one thinks it is immortal and free of identity’ it
is a very subtle ego strategy that imitates and in a away mocks the truth of
what is to be without identity.
The mind is tricky, real mind is not. Real mind is awareness without content, a
mind with beliefs no matter how empty it feels and beguiling the ego graphics and slide show
appears is still in the realm of the subtle and shadow mind identity.
This is the most crucial stage in one’s search and
quest and it is often maddening and one can literally become so stressed and
obsessed that mental illness can ensue. This is when the mind has detected all
of the computations and desperations, reconfigurations, interrelationships,
juxtaposed, conjugated and shuffled the pack and no lasting solution is found
or satisfaction in this mayhem of trying to establish an identity, I know who I
am and will last forever, only to be assailed by a nagging doubt of ‘oh
really’. So the dog chases its tail and
when it rests and gives up there is a temporary cessation which it takes for
peace until the itch of uncertainty starts the chase again.
So madness, anger, frustration and a huge ‘head
pressure’ ensues and one maybe fortunate to ‘explode’ have a Cosmic Orgasm or
get lost in endless mind stuff as madness and craziness, a mind alcoholic
addicted to the thrill of the quest and then just giving up exhausted, stressed
out, lifeless and beaten.
Endless Guru’s, internet claims of inner peace,
workshops, mantras, yantras, visualisations, books, videos, retreats, yes they
can all help in the quest, many claiming the Amazon Shamans can do it, Indian
Ashrams with a Guru can do it, Zen Masters, retreats and off grid stuff, many
have done the trip, got the T shirt, got the autograph, seen the video, done
the webinar and all the time looking for an identity which does not exist and give
one security.
Watch the mind always wanting to know the answer
to be sure, find the cure, find refuge and when one retires from life work and
hands in the uniform, the badge and no longer can have that assurity of that
former identity there is a sense of loss.
Examine that loss, dive into the hole vacated by the former identity
you. Can one live without it? That does no longer have to be identified by
anything. Then society feels uncomfortable, you cannot be defined, it rocks the
stability of the known, the law cannot put one into a box, one becomes a wild
card, not able to be understood, a non conformist, although not violent or a
rebel, one becomes unpredictable, can it be trusted.
On death if one is conscious of it the passing is
easy, there is no identity to cling too or give up, one has a mind that is free
and if found before death the free mind it just an awareness without attachment
a witness that does not cling to the experiences of life in a flesh body and in
a way is already dead. This death is the
non attachment to identities with form such as money, label, and position in
society and actually enjoys the moments as interludes until this life ends.
SHACK
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