Oh, perhaps it’s simply a coincidence however in the last 24 hours the same phrase (more or less) “you die twice” came to “my” attention but in completely different contexts yet who is it that really “dies” eh ?
For the first it was during a discussion where each of us shared their experience of losing a loved one to dementia inasmuch as, I would say, you grieve at the “loss” of the person as their brain deteriorates over time eh ? Then, inevitably, there is their (second) physical death.
For the second I was reading an article over breakfast wherein it stated “writers die twice. First the talent goes. Then the body does”.
Ah, but who is really dying eh ? If one subscribes to a nihilistic paradigm, I suppose it must seem as if one’s bodily death implies an absolute “end” to what and who one is eh ?
Now, just “for the record” (so to say), such a materialistic “outlook” is certainly not how I view our apparent existence as what you really are, I contend, is not a brain created construct (called the self) eh ? Whatever words I use here are not “it”, but if “you” engage with the process of differentiation, known as “viveka”, what becomes clear is even as the body ages, the knowingness, the cognisant “awareness” (Rigpa) seemingly witnessing all such phases of life is itself, I find, change-less eh ?
Thus, whilst I agree, conventionally speaking, it may seem as if each of us is born, ages, succumbs to sickness and dies, yet as a matter of fact, such are merely, I propose, just like insubstantial “reflections” appearing in a mirror eh ?
#WhoAreYou #Anatta
Oh, now, the following which I am telling “you” (as the reader) is a kind of putting-into-words of what seems to be arising (in the form of thoughts) from contemplating recent texts and passages concerning some kind of explanation as to the distinction between Pure Awareness (that is non-material, non-dependent, uncaused and radiant) over and against what we usually refer to as “mind” eh ?
At its root, I propose, is (for the moment at least lol), an unresolved question, a dilemma, as to why would Rigpa (as the source, the Nature Of Mind), our actual real condition, find itself in the form of a human body eh ? To what end if any ?
As Rigpa (so it is said) remains always unchanging, without intention yet inseparable from the whole universe of phenomena, how is it seemingly localised within human form but especially behind the forehead (our subtle body’s 3rd eye) eh ?
My immediate (and non definitive answer, in other words don’t hold me to it, haha) is because the Human Body (as a vehicle) is apparently a suitable container for such an “adventure” to unfold eh ?
Ah, now, in this moment, are you open-hearted ? Perhaps it is enough simply to have a Good Heart eh ? ❤️
Anam Thubten – No Self No Problem (2009)