Aphorisms on Human Nature

Aphorisms on Human Nature

(according to Ageless Wisdom)

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ULTIMATE REALITY

1

The phenomenal Universe is the appearance in Consciousness
of a timeless dynamic Process
which is the manifest creative functioning
of "Ultimate Reality"

2

Each individual body / mind
is a point of activity within the universal Process
and each individual consciousness
is a point of awareness within the universal Mind

3

The essence of "Ultimate Reality" is unknown
and indeed unknowable
therefore it may as well be called the "X"

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"SELF" AND "OTHER"

4

Human beings are distinguished from all other beings
by the power of conceptual thought
which is the source of all human achievement
but especially by the concept of "self"
which is the source of all human problems

5

With the emergence of self-consciousness
there inevitably arises the primary dualism
of "self" versus "non-self" or "other"

6

The "other" is projected as object
and the "self" is presupposed as subject

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THE EGO-PROCESS

7

By identifying itself with the body / mind
the subject extends itself in "space"
thereby establishing itself as a separate
objective "entity"

8

Through its powers of memory and anticipation
the subject extends itself in "time"
thereby establishing itself as an
abiding "entity"

9

The process of identification
of the presupposed subject with the body / mind
projected as object in space and time
is the pseudo-self or "ego"

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ATTACHMENT AND AVERSION

10

There is a deep-seated intuition
that the essential Reality is prior
to the psycho-physical entity
but the ego does not trust the intuition
and therefore does all it can to sustain itself

11

The ego clings to any phenomenon
(object, event, person, feeling or concept)
that it perceives as supportive
protective or pleasurable
and labels it "good"

12

The ego rejects any phenomenon
(object, event, person, feeling or concept)
that it perceives as non-supportive
threatening or painful
and labels it "bad"

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THE NATURE OF SUFFERING

13

All human suffering is essentially psychological
stemming from the ego's fundamental fear
of what it perceives as "other"

14

Practical hardships, difficulties and challenges
become problems
only when there is emotional involvement

15

Emotional demands take the form of either
attachment to what has been labeled "good"
or conversely
aversion toward what has been labeled "bad"

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THE BASIC ATTACHMENTS

16

Attachment to physical or emotional security
is fear, worry and anxiety
for there is no abiding security in phenomena

17

Attachment to pleasurable sensations
is disappointment, frustration and boredom
for there is no abiding pleasure in phenomena

18

Attachment to power or status
is anger, hate and jealousy
for abiding Power resides only in the "X"

19

Attachment to beliefs and opinions
is conflict, violence and war
for abiding Truth resides only in the "X"

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THE NATURE OF SOCIETY

20

Human society is characterized by separation and violence
more than by integration and peace
for it is little more than the sum
of the interactions of self-images
whose responses are largely
self-assertive or self-defensive

21

Each self-assertive or self-defensive response
further conditions the ego to its manifold
attachments and aversions

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SELF-KNOWLEDGE

22

To eliminate psychological suffering
one must first know one's "self"

23

To know one's self one must
without evaluation or judgment
be profoundly but effortlessly aware
of one's sensations, feelings, thoughts and actions

24

To know one's self one must
without evaluation or judgment
observe the onset of emotional reactions
and identify the attachment or aversion
which inevitably underlies
each emotional demand

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THE WITNESS-CONSCIOUSNESS

25

When the conditioning of the ego is fully exposed
emotional demands are transmuted into preferences
and when preferences fully replace demands
psychological suffering is minimized

26

When the illusory nature of the ego is fully exposed
even preferences give way to an unconditioned Equanimity
in which Consciousness abides
as the impersonal Witness of the total Manifestation
which it apperceives as but a movement within Itself

27

Even consciously playing the role of the unjudging Observer
can effect a spontaneous awakening of the Witness-Consciousness

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THE AWAKENING

28

The Witness-Consciousness transcends the fundamental fear
through the apperception that there is no "other"
and there are no "others"
thus eliminating psychological suffering
and engendering infinite Love and Compassion
toward those "others" who remain in bondage
to the illusion of separation

29

Even the Witness-Consciousness is transcended
in the ultimate Awakening
in which all dualisms dissolve into the "X"
from Which all phenomena seem to emerge
but only as which they truly have their being

30

Non-objective Awareness may be called the absolute Self
the impersonal Witness may be called the relative Self
the personal ego may be called the pseudo-self
but in Reality there is no Self
and there are no selves
for there is only the "X"

31

Although the "X" cannot be known
as the object of awareness, perception or cognition
it can be Realized
as changeless Being-without-attributes
infinite Consciousness-without-an-object
and the absolute, unmanifest Source of All

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