Trouble/suffering arises when I believe the “I” contains a solidity/permanence that it doesn’t actually possess. New MJ Awakening Blog June 1, 2019

CAN THE “I” ACTUALLY BE FOUND?

“When the I gets to the level of being a trouble-maker, we find that we are conceiving a self-instituting I that is an exaggeration beyond what actually exists.

The conflict between the way I appears as if it were very concrete and the fact that, when analyzed, it cannot be found indicates that there is a discrepancy between its appearance and how it actually exists.”

-The Dalai Lama

MICHAEL: Therefore in the Middle Way the “I” is said to exist, yet not exist. Like a ghost or apparition, it appears to be there, but when looked for can never actually be found.

Thus, its solidity or realness was only ever an illusion. And yet, it functions perfectly in language, i.e., “I am hungry.” There’s no problem with this. The trouble/suffering arises when I believe the “I” contains a solidity/permanence that it doesn’t actually possess.

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The Middle Way… New MJ Awakening Blog May 22, 2019

THE MIDDLE WAY

Tonight at the West LA Satsang, I talked about how everything both exists and doesn’t exist. Is real, yet not real. Is there, yet not there.

What do I mean? I mean, for example, that this computer I am writing on is impermanent. It will not last forever. So, you can’t say it’s real in an absolute sense. And yet, you can’t say that the computer doesn’t exist at all since here I am using it to write these words!

Thus, the middle way. As the old zen story goes, the zen master said to his student, “Does the table exist? If you tell me yes, I will hit you 20 times with this stick. But if you tell me no, I will hit you 20 times with this stick. What is your answer!!?”

In a flash the student understood and remained silent.

Michael Jeffreys