"What a burden to have a 'purpose'."
"The mind can only speak and bring a doubt when there is a possibility of doubt."
"There
is no cloud inside a cloud, there is no tree inside a tree, there is no
man inside a man. There is only consciousness and the life force
expressing." (Mooji)
Going Beyond the Game ~Mooji
Friday, February 15, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Die Before You Die by Konstantin Eriksen, Writer
"Die Before You Die"
by Konstantin Eriksen, Guest Writer
“Die before you die” is a famous zen saying. It is a strange phrase, it sounds pessimistic. And yet, if you truly try to understand it, you realize its true meaning and its ability to transform your life.
Have
you ever seen somebody transform completely? Perhaps you know somebody who was
not a good person and then, something bad happened to him, and his personality
changed. What happened to his old self? Where is the “person” that he was
before? Is he the same “person” or not?
Are you your thoughts? Are you the concepts you believe about
yourself? Are you your habits? What are you?
Die
before you die is about metaphorically “killing” your past self: The things you
held on to cease to have importance. If you were egoistic, you drop your ego and
become human again. If you were obsessed with money, money loses its value for
you.
In
short, you drop your attachments to your thoughts,
your emotions, your ego, money, people, your ex-husband, beliefs, everything!
You wipe the mirror clean. You are no longer the person you used to be.
This
is what it means to die before you die.
Life
is a process. You are a process. You are not a label, a career, a social status,
a social category or a relationship.
What
the Zen masters and sufi poets were getting at here
is that only by letting go everything that pins you down, of everything that
constrains your lifestyle and thinking and emotions, then and only then can you truly transform yourself and change
your life for the better.
Otherwise,
you become an actor. If you go out and buy a bunch of Zen books and start
thinking “I believe in Zen now,” that’s not it – you’re not getting it. You’re
deceiving yourself. If your dog takes a shit in the house, you clean the shit,
you don’t cover it with a blanket, light incense to fill the room with lovely
smells and forget about it, do you? The shit is still there.
Die
before you die means you have to get rid of the shit in your mind and all the
useless shit in your life. The more you let go, the more free you become. As you
let go of past habits and things you were attached to, you become free to
transform yourself and your life.
Your
past “self” becomes like a reflection in a pond. You remember yourself, but
you’re not that person anymore. Your processes are different.
Die
before you die is practical. Bring yourself into the present. How would you
describe yourself up until now? What label or labels would you glue onto
yourself? Shy? Fat? Not good at ____ ?
Now
wipe the slate clean. Start thinking about the first step you can take to
improve. Each second is a new you. Let go of everything.
Imagine
the possibilities of who you could be if you let go of all the attachments (to
good or bad is always negative) from the past.
Die
before you die is optimistic, because it means that you can transform yourself.
Have a look at the resources on my website.
I’ve
let go of a lot of my former “self.” Perhaps you can do the same.
About the Author
Konstantin Eriksen is
a philosopher and a 32-year-old former stock-trader, long-time natural
health researcher, neigong enthusiast and fledgling internet entrepreneur. In my
spare time, I enjoy hiking, music, mountaineering, meeting interesting women,
studying whatever interests me and Piazzolla. Please visit his excellent
blog, Life-Sucks.
Music video by Black Eyed Peas performing Don't Lie. (C) 2005 A&M Records
Music video by Black Eyed Peas performing Don't Lie. (C) 2005 A&M Records
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