New Moon Teaching One
The world and its things are impermanent by nature. To see beyond the things of the world is to understand the illusions created by impermanence. Everything that is born must die; everything in this life is on loan. There is nothing you can take with you when you leave this world except for what is inside you.
The things of the world are, in a sense, artificial. The things of the world are artificial because they are temporary manifestations that do not endure. The more we become attached to these things, the greater the distraction from discovering our true nature.
To believe things are permanent is the oldest trap known to man. This illusion tricks you into believing in the five passions of the mind: anger; agitation; worry; sadness and fear. If you buy into anyone of these passions, you fall deeper into the trap of holding onto what you believe is yours.
We can easily tend towards believing that suffering can be eliminated by ‘fixing’ the mind. In terms of Eastern philosophy, over-emphasis of the mind is a form of disease, because the mind forever operates in the realm of duality – ‘”I like it. I don’t like it. That is good. That’s bad.” Its nature is to always create polarity, thereby continually moving between opposites and extremes. Thus, the mind can never understand the nature of the whole and we must be cautious of how much it influences our life.
Spirit, unlike the mind, is beyond the forces of polarity. The mind is capable only of fixation and obsession. Spirit is aloof and detached, yet loving, compassionate, benevolent, just and wise. This is why the mind is subject to various kinds of corruption. It gets fixed on one point at a time and separates, and divides. Being fixed, separate and divided, mind cannot understand the spiritual nature of life. Life flows from this to that, in a contextual, relational and curvaceous way.
To see beyond the things of the world is to be aware of the nature of our mind. We know that its nature is to separate and isolate. We become aware that emphasising mind only serves to whip up more storms from the five passions. Not seeing beyond the things of the world invites this attachment. The mind, like a magnet to the material world, clings to things and things cling to it.
Attachment is the source of misery and sorrow. If this does not ring true for you, do not force it. Rather, watch it. Contemplate. Be aware of yourself as you take a look at things of the world. Sorrow is inevitable because attachment produces the urge to cling. Attachment and clinging are motivated by our need for security. However, we live in an impermanent world. We can only fear losing what we have become attached to.