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The duality of 'doing' and 'happening'

Flickering

Flickering

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Is this illusion the cornerstone of the ego? What happens when you transcend it?

Alan Watts dedicated a great deal of his lectures to this. I believe that understanding what you do and what happens may be one of the most profound things you can possibly realise. The more you reflect on it, the more you realise how what you think of as 'your' actions are really just part of another layer of awareness. But our society has led us to believe in silly, self-defeating ideas like free will, as though we're autonomous, separate agents in a disconnected universe.
 
The metaparadigms that we are inculcated into as children, perpetuated by individuals who were just as thoroughly conditioned themselves.
 
Flickering said:
Is this illusion the cornerstone of the ego? What happens when you transcend it?
Click to expand...

It's the difference between 'this being is being done' vs. 'I am the one doing it'. One is an agentless construction and the other is a statement of personal merit.

There is something happening in the here and now, there's just no 'you' doing it.

What happens when you transcend it? There's nothing being done and no 'you' in control of it.

Whatever's going to happen will happen no matter how much you give yourself credit for it. When it happens the way you wanted and you gave input into it, then you assume that you had some part in making it happen; and when the result is not favorable, you assume you didn't do enough. The reality is that you had nothing to do with any of it. It is bigger than you, and it's what's doing the 'you' that thinks it is the one in charge.

It's kind of like the reflexive mind turning inward and thinking about being still, when stillness is always there. When you realize what that present awareness is, you can stop at any time in you day to day life and ask, "Has present awareness really left me?" The answer is always no. A mind that thinks about being present awareness, is being observed by present awareness.

You are always meditating, from the moment you wake up; all that matters is what the meditation happens to be. For most people, the meditation is "me, my life, my job, my money, me me me..." and then maybe they'll take 10 minutes to meditate from stillness before they go back to their daily meditation of running the hamster wheel. Likewise, when you think you are the one doing something, you're meditating on a momentary construct of credibility, while present awareness watches.

There is no "me" in here. "Me" is there one moment and then gone the next when a new distraction arises, and the discursive mind takes off in another direction. Everything arises from the same sea of present awareness. When you stop, you attend to what has never moved. When you are still, you recognize the silent presence that is always here. When you tell the truth, you recognize that to be yourself. Just stop.
 
From what I understand no one is doing anything and we're damn lucky if we ever really do much of our own volition. Nearly all of our actions are just reactions to impressions and impulses that are not us. Even our body.. do we have it, or does it have us? We're pretty much organic robots and there's various programs running in our minds that determine various things about our lives, but it is possible to interrupt the program and interject new purpose into the machine.. this is the philosophic path.

What we really are is the thing that is watching all this take place. We can't really claim ownership over much, if any, of our actions.
 
Using pre-destination as a way of accepting other people! That's about on line with witchcraft! WE SHALL NOT accept other people who don't do exactly what we expect/know. That's the only mature way of going about it. Or planet will last a long time with this way of thinking. You know. Ignorance is the way!

Seriously though I'm a nice person and understand this and it really does transcend the ego to a point of acceptance and understanding. Of course there are some evils that I don't accept, I like to laugh at my differences with someone rather than criticize. "Oh you're a scorpio, you're such a scorpio", rather than, Oh Us Geminis Dont Blend With You Scorpios. I like astrology a lot though. So that's how I tend to think. PZ. I forget what else I wanted to say.
 
You should give us some Alan Watts quotes. Because honestly from the title to your description I can't really make out your argument? Question? I've watched several hours of lectures of Watts, but in my mind there is no duality of doing and happening. Happening is now, though it just passed, did you spend that "now" wisely? That is to simply ask, "What are you doing?" If you can answer that, does that mean you have Free Will? What does society have to do with this duality? More information is needed.
 
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