Daily Quote, Thursday September 24, 2009.

Good morning on what looks like rain on the way today!

Here is today's quote:

Exposing the contents of the unconscious.

Why do we give such deep significance and meaning to the unconscious?—for after all, it is as trivial as the conscious. If the conscious mind is extraordinarily active, watching, listening, seeing, then the conscious mind becomes far more important than the unconscious; in that state all the contents of the unconscious are exposed; the division between the various layers comes to an end.

Watching your reactions when you sit in a bus, when you are talking to your wife, your husband, when in your office, writing, being alone—if you are ever alone—then this whole process of observation, this act of seeing (in which there is no division as the observer and the observed) ends the contradiction.

The Flight of the Eagle, p 28.

Here is my reflection.

This seems to clarify an important point about self-awareness. It is the conscious mind that becomes incredibly alert, alert enough to observe the unconscious. Is this because the conscious mind has relatively little conditioning in comparison to the unconscious? The contradiction taht ends is that between the different parts of ourselves, just as understanding is an act of wholeness which ends fragmentation. The understanding itself being and carrying its own action.

How do you keep the conscious mind active in the way that K is suggesting? He would look at education I think and to perserve a quality of searching but without a goal or any conclusion or desire about the object of the search. It is to keep asking questions, questions about what this is, not how do we get better: like what is life, rather than how can I be happier, why am I miserable. An active mind is always stepping back to ask the bigger, more fundamental, question; grasping the bigger picture, the first question. This is understanding, not knowing; this is the 'what is it' question, not the 'how do I make it better' question. If we can see this, not as an idea but in our own lives, then suffering and frustration will end. Are you frustrated in your life because you are trying to find happiness? To see this in yourself is itself to receive the benediction of love.

Best wishes

Robert