The first thing in any consideration of people concerning the vision-with-delusion is that so many people don’t question it, and they do their best to survive within it. Taking solace in what materialist advantages they have, many people as parents hope that their children can accept this way of materialism and seek ways of improving their materialist advantage. Without questioning whether this system-for-the-rich is the best way to live, most people just try to survive and develop within the confines of this system. Many people are aware of their conforming to this system-for-the-rich, and the more strident in this awareness attempt to become beneficiaries of this system by becoming one of the rich themselves. Whilst this rarely happens as the rich have developed a level of exclusivity, such ambitions are encouraged thus incorporating such strident minds within the conditioning confines; these ambitions usually become satiated with further materialism.
Conditioning develops conformity
It is important not to be critical of people who are satisified with this delusion; they are meant to be this way. What creates people satisfied with the delusion is a combination of nature, agreement and/or conditioning.
Let's start with nature. It is natural for people to live together in harmony so it is equally natural for nature to help our children grow into this harmony. But in this aspect nature is not discerning, for this purpose it does not value one particular society over another - nature simply wants our young to grow up harmoniously in society. To this end nature gives us instincts so that through these instincts we grow up to live in harmony - to develop and survive in society. Such a typical instinct is that of loving parents and seeking parental love. In our upbringing, especially the early years, our parents are significant in our development - as nature intended.
As part of this loving process children make agreements with parents and then with society, and through these agreements they conform to what is required of them. Again this agreement process need not have any negative connotations in upbringing. In most situations it would be reasonable to conform to what parents would want, especially if parents want the best for their children. But this conformity is affected by societal conditioning and more significantly the Sacred Wound. The Sacred Wound is not concerned with conformity and will be discussed later.
Societal conditioning is the aspect of our upbringing that conforms us to the vision-with-delusion of system-for-the-rich. What society wants is for us to fit into system-for-the-rich by educating us to become wage-slaves. At the same time given all the possible defilements children can fall prone to, most parents try to conform children to this system-for-the-rich as being the best way to survive. Parents have also been subject to this societal conditioning. They have conformed to the materialism, and somehow consider it is best for their children - best way for children to survive is accept the materialist system-for-the-rich. They encourage education - often with heavy discipline so that with appropriate qualifications their children as adults can gain from the materialist system.
So when you put these 3 conditionings together - by instinct, by agreement and societal - it is not unusual for people to grow up satisfied with the delusion.
Delusion and self-esteem
In order to survive and be successful in society, upbringing aims to build self-esteem in our children. Children who have built up this confidence often end up successful materially and in terms of the delusion that is considered success. Few parents would be criticised if a young man grows up to be a successful business man in a “good home” with a wife and children. Few would question whether such a man who is likely to have self-esteem is successful. For the more compassionate parents their children might grow up to be doctors or teachers caring for others, but does that compassionate caring question the system and the way it causes so much harm?
Self-esteem that is not questioning is part of the delusion. And in many ways a person with self-esteem will find awareness and awakening more difficult because of the success that derives from their strengthened selves. They are the people who have been conditioned to conform with the greatest systemic success, and are therefore more likely to want to maintain the delusion.
Conditioning builds selves building self-esteem.
Conditioning builds selves building self-esteem through attachments. Basically a young person is successful at something - maybe a school subject. So parents and teachers give loving approval so that the child wants to continue to be successful, and this reinforcement builds attachment or identification - I identify with being good at maths, I attach to my success at maths as being important. These attachments and identifications build up selves, and if there is sufficient of them there is self-esteem.
What is wrong with this? A child grows up, is successful, has a good job, she builds a home with her husband and kids, and repeats the process with her own kids. There is nothing wrong with this conditioning process if society is good, but based on the vision-with-delusion this is not good because there is no end to the harm present in the system.
What is lacking in this process is morality. This process of conditioning continues irrespective of whether the system-for-the-rich is moral. And clearly if there are endless wars it lacks a moral basis. Given there is some moral input from parents, schools and religion it would be more accurate to say that the upbringing lacks sufficient individual moral adherence. Some would argue that morality and the system-for-the-rich are miles apart, given such a distance do we educate our children with morality - thus possibly limtiing possible success within the system-for-the-rich? Compassionate parents whose children become carers or teachers would argue for their moral imperative yet systemically these people are underpaid and have limited impact on society.
And for the rich in this system where is the morality in the greed that builds up bank accounts? What are the caring consequences of their accumulation? Is this accumulation therefore moral?
Awareness sneaks through delusion
Out of this conditioning can come a reaction to the society as vision-with-delusion that can be awareness and the beginning of awakening. With an initial awareness might come a feeling that there is more to life than this materialism, there is dissatisfaction that what's it all for is increased wealth within the materialist system-for-the-rich. Whilst awareness is individually different and each journey is unique there is a commonality in some experiences. One such commonality is a feeling that materialism is not enough - not fulfilling.
Where does this feeling take us? That is what is so important - where it takes us. And sadly because such experiences are not common-place in the mainstream we do not embrace this so-important feeling. And such awareness can get lost in the busy-ness of life. Whilst writing has always helped zandtao explore his inner life it has also had a purpose of describing experience - zynopsis
. If your own experience is similar please attempt to make contact with a Culture of Awakening - a term used to describe people looking towards awakening out of materialist conditioning and conformity.
Sadly such feelings of awareness might not be enough. Feeling such an awareness would emerge within an ethos where it would be countered by upbringing, family and friends around all of whom predominantly accept materialist conformity; within such isolation the strength of the feeling might get lost. It is likely that such feelings will repeat themselves at different times in life but they might not be sufficiently strong to impact how you live your life given all conditioning factors around you. That would indeed be sad as you would miss out.
Where do these awareness feelings come from?
zandtao associates these feelings with 4 key areas - creativity, compassion, nature and possibly romantic love. For the creative such awareness feelings are completely natural - arise from creativity. For the creative, simply being creative brings with it an understanding that there is more than just materialism - the creativity that is beyond materialism. It is for each creative person to answer why their own creativity leads to or does not lead to awakening. Perhaps some might focus on the commercial value of their creativity? For genuine creatives there comes a feeling of arts-for-arts sake, and that is a path that is not materialsism.
As in the case of the creative the compassionate experience feelings that do not fit in with materialism. Their compassion might take people to a position of anger against a system-for-the-rich when it sees how people are suffering because of the system. These compassion feelings might recognise that the materialist system creates harm but it does not have the deep conviction of path-awakening. There are many good people who spend their lives living through compassion without seeing a path. For such people the joy they get from compassionate work - helping others - is enough. Such compassionate people are closer to the path, often reject the vision-with-delusion but can compromise with the system as it enables their compassion; compromise does not help with awareness and awakening. Carers and teachers often live their lives sufficiently with the awareness feelings and joy that arises from their compassion without ever recognising path. This is sad because path-awareness and path-activism would bring more joy, certainty and strength when life is difficult.
Nature often brings with it a sense that there is more than materialism. For people who spend time alone in nature - away from human development, there can come a feeling of belonging that is different. There is nature that is beyond materialism. Try walking alone along paths that few walk. See a tree a short distance from the path. Go sit under that tree and look away from the path - away from human development. Just be in nature and then ask - is materialism enough?
Romantic love can bring with it human happiness and passion but there are so many conflicting factors involved in romantic love. Lovers can say that love is more than materialism but marriage associated with love is appropriated by the system as a means of conformity; family and home can be used as a means of conforming. But such love might bring awareness beyind materialist conformity.
Romantic walks in nature can often bring awareness of nature and oneness with nature but are these associated with romantic love or nature? Is it then awareness?
For some, romantic love opens up awareness of spiritual love - as part of the soul's journey to spiritual Unity. But the awareness and awakening associated with spiritual love might be confused if experienced in romantic love.
But remember, awareness is not enough.
Awakening as embodiment of awareness>
Awareness is not enough. Awareness and awakening could correlate to the theory and practice of the path. Ideas come and go - as do thoughts. Feelings of awareness or thoughts associated with feelings of awareness can equally come and go. There is a need for embodiment of these feelings of awareness.
How can we develop this embodiment of awakening?
Joining the Culture of Awakening
By joining a Culture of Awakening.
Maybe you have been fortunate. With the arising of these feelings of awareness there might well be sufficient people and reinforcement around that these feelings start to become some kind of awakening on the path. It is zandtao’s view that once you become even partially awakened it never leaves you - that embodiment never leaves you; it was just over 30 years between the time that zandtao became partially awakened and the time that he took early retirement to begin working on his practice.
Culture of Awakening (CoA)is a rather grand term for the collection of individuals who accept awakening; you cannot find CoA in a database, on facebook or other social media. You cannot take a bus to CoA, or fly a plane to a CoA destination or camp. But it exists as a sub-strata of personally-powerful people for whom the word path opens a door to much understanding. Connections to CoA happen through fortunate connections, happenstance meetings, amazing coincidences, and as such CoA is part of the awareness of consciousness. You might find a book or clip that elicits tremendous joy - perhaps even bliss, experiences that confirm for you there is more to life than any shallow merriment gained in materialist indulgence. Value the CoA and people you meet within it.
But joining a collection of people who follow particular approaches of awareness is still not enough - that is not embodiment, that is following. Awakening as embodiment of these feelings of awareness comes as a recognition of the path inside. What we awaken to us is a path inside us that we are born with. The initial feelings of awareness that there is something other than materialist conformity are feelings of awareness of this path becoming conscious - sneaking through the delusion. Being aware there is this path and awakening however partially is not the same. Somehow the individual has to experience the path to some extent - embody the path, not to simply be aware of a vague feeling of path, a vague feeling this materialism is not the way. There is a make-or-break interim of substantiation (however long) between awareness and awakening. During this interim there are minor skirmishes between conditioning, upbringing, family and friends and this innate path inside you. Because of the lack of a Culture of Awakening the odds are stacked against you, however many people do awaken to the path - far less than those who have starting awareness sadly.
For those who accept the delusion yet have some awareness, they have a lack of conviction concerning path. The vague feelings of more-than-materialist awareness remain just that - a vagueness, whilst life continues within materialist conformity. One could consider these vague feelings as a lack of embodiment. For such people satisfaction with conformity might have been better than the spiritual doubt sneaking through the delusion, because that doubt would bring minor discomfort. This awareness without awakening is incomplete advice from dukkha-consciousness (a characteristic freedom zandtao will talk of later), incomplete because the individual chooses to cling to materialist conditioning.
Partial awakening is not all roses
For some people these awarenesses, usually combined with some form of contact with the CoA - in zandtao's case some amazing people from an Arts Centre, lead to a conviction there is path - some level of embodiment of the path. What is path at this stage might well be vague but the embodied conviction is not. At this point individuals have become seekers for whom at a core-base to their lives is a conviction that there is path. Having a conviction there is path does not mean these seekers know what their path is - nor do they know what to do to follow this path. What they have is conviction that there is something other than materialist conformity.
And here is where it is not all roses because whilst they have a conviction, the conditioning around them mocks the spiritual path. Whilst that spiritual path is limited -limited embodiment - only conviction, a seeker does not necessarily know what to do to deflect the mockery - not all roses. But to gain that conviction the seeker will have had experiences that reinforced the path and their conviction, in these early stages of awakening the seeker needs to hold and value these experiences - maintain their conviction. They need to hold to how they embodied their awareness - if they know what that is.
Enquiry erodes conditioning
When we erode the conditioning we expose the path to the vulnerability of the light of day, if at the same time we can go through a process of embodiment then we essentially are following our paths in daily life. A visualisation of who we are could be that we are born as this path but that the path has become increasingly hidden by the conditioning that is built up and surrounds it during upbringing. As we erode that conditioning the path starts to shine through. At the point of conviction sufficent of the path's light has shone through, that no amount of conditioning can submerge again.
The process that erodes conditioning is that of deep and genuine enquiry - a real desire to understand - ultimately to understand the vision of what it's all for. If we can abide on our paths then we will know what it's all for. But awareness is far from this abidance. And we begin eroding conditioning by asking. We have to question what it's all for - one question at a time - and become determined to find deep and meaningful answers.
Enquiry can take many forms that can be delusional, to find deep and meaningful answers is not delusional. Up until the questioning on path there has been little genuine enquiry in our upbringings. We can watch interviews to see all kinds of questions being asked, none of which are intended to find answers. How do we know that our enquiry is producing deep and meaningful answers? We will know when the path is convinced. Through enquiry our awareness becomes internalised through embodiment leading to path conviction at whatever level. We deeply know the answer is correct - try to feel that deep knowing.
How far does this enquiry go? One purpose of this enquiry is to end delusion yet sadly some level of delusion is always with us. Do we need to be in a state of permanent enquiry? What can you rely on in terms of conditioning? When it is a system-for-the-rich, then as poorer people the system will not benefit us - unless benefitting the rich also benefits us. Logically the system is not intended for us so why should we trust our conditioning. Do we eschew everything we have learned? In some ways we must but if we do that we have to establish a new core way of living, and that can be difficult.
If you accept the described
vision-with-delusion, then there is a great deal of need for enquiry. For most people they choose the easy way of accepting the system without seeing the delusions, but in accepting the system there is so much more they also have to accept. For those people who move towards and then awaken on the path, they cannot live with such delusory acceptance. This path that includes permanent enquiry gets easier with time as conditioning recedes with that time. As the path illumines the depth of conditioning, the seeker starts to rely on themselves detached from conditioning, observing that conditioning with enquiry, and choosing how to live for themselves. For the conditioned this state of permanent enquiry sounds so difficult but once the seeker learns to trust the path, life becomes so much easier - and better. It does however become hard to understand how so many people accept this level of delusion.
It is somewhat amusing that in the West the system-for-the-rich has decided now to expose government as corrupt - especially as those governments have always been corrupt and are satrapies with the rich being puppet-masters. Usually the system-for-the-rich has created both sides of the two-tier political divide with delusions on both sides, so currently political rhetoric is concerned with one side deriding the delusions of the other side. Meanwhile the richer get richer in their system, and the wars continue.
Let's be very clear about what happens when we question everything, it leaves us in a difficult position in terms of getting money. However the path does provide, it is necessary to trust the path in this way. Initially when the veil is removed and we see the delusions for what they are, it becomes hard to see a way forward. Depending on the speed of awakening, a seeker will have had the core basis of their upbringing removed yet they still need money to survive from the system. For the seeker however less money is needed as their enquiry has led them away from the greed of the system-for-the-rich, the seeker is not atrracted by materialism.
There is a difficult transition to make, the transition from relying on the system of their upbringing and relying on the path - which although being substantive does not initially appear so - especially if you listen to the derision of the system and its conditioning. The more the seeker becomes convinced of the path the easier life becomes, and that conviction comes from developing a practice that includes enquiry.
Practice enables path and joy in life
Chapter 2 is about how zandtao learnt to dedicate his life to his practice, it is therefore predominantly concerned with his practice. But his practice is not the only way, each seeker must find their own practice and dedicate their lives to that practice. That is the way we learn to survive and enjoy life in the system-for-the-rich.
Let's be clear, practice helps us follow our paths and clear away the delusions of conditioning. We have discussed an important aspect of practice - enquiry, but enquiry tends to be concerned with awareness and wisdom - knowing the system-for-the-rich for what it is. But practice is far more than this knowing.
After writing the
intro-vision, .zandtao rested and got interrupted by daily life. Sitting down again, “Not One Way” arrived in his consciousness. Is following the path one way? Or is it just what all ways are? Does it say anything other than it is all ways?
To be honest zandtao’s khandhas (see
Ch2 Being Dedicated to Practice
) find it hard to say that the practice can be other than meditation but recently his meditation of the 3 freedoms is so different to his earlier days. What matters not the form of the practice but its components:-
These 8 core components grew out of the z-quest on
Secular Path? -
. They were developed throughout that book but particularly in Ch11 when considering
Culture of Awakening in zandtao's path. Whilst the development of these components started in zandtao's Buddhist practice, as components they don't require any Buddhist beliefs or Buddhist understanding. As will become clear in Ch2 the conviction of the path only develops with a good practice, but hopefully seekers will see that Buddhism is not a requirement. Practice enables the path, turning conviction into path and turning awareness to awakening and embodiment.
When a seeker begins their practice it would be worth asking if the 8 components are part of that practice.
Path of nature has morality
So far we have examined path as developing in an individual. In upbringing a child develops self-esteem through a process of conditioning, and becomes part of the materialist society - they are conditioned to work within the system-for-the-rich. For some conditioned people the delusion falls away, they become aware and can start to awaken to the path if they develop embodiment and follow a practice. None of this really talks about what the path is - so far it has only been mentioned that we are born with the path and that during upbringing it becomes surrounded by conditioning that hopefully an individual can break through.
From this point we are going to develop an understanding of how the path arises and that will give some indication of what it's all for. Put simplistically:- we are born to follow our paths. If we accept existence of path then there is purpose only if the origins of path give purpose.
Path comes from nature - Gaia-nature. To understand path and the rest of this chapter it is best to consider Gaia as a single lifeform. Gaia lives to develop and as part of that development lifeforms on Gaia follow paths that come from Gaia-nature. If all beings on Gaia follow their paths then life on Gaia is optimal. Sadly humanity rarely follows their paths but instead live in a system-for-the-rich that is destroying Gaia. For those who accept this there is concern for humanity, Gaia will not allow herself to be destroyed so if humanity contiunes in its destructive ways then Gaia will find a way to control humanity.
Intrinsic to this path there are a number of factors that lead to living in harmony. First and perhaps foremost the path has a code of morality that enables people to live together in harmonious society, this code is not part of the system-for-the-rich. We have already discussed instincts that sadly are misdirected by conditioning but following the path brings with it so many qualities - truth, honour, compassion, harmony etc. - as part of a good practice these qualities are intentionally developed. If paths with these qualites were followed, system-for-the-rich and vision-with-delusion would be very different - there would be a compassionate world where people lived in harmony - no wars, and Gaia would not be on a road towards destruction.
Path as Sacred Wound
Before we are born there is a path that comes from Gaia. There is more understanding to come if we go further into considering path origin. Within our natural paths there is a component of development - Gaia's development. It is the intention of path to evolve Gaia's consciousness, that essentially is our purpose. This intention goes further in that as part of Gaia's purpose each individual seeker has a path of individual development.
From birth there is a plan. We choose our parents to help us learn so that through development in our lives we can evolve consciousness. This conscious evolution often arises through an upbringing that causes some level of suffering that we can learn from - this suffering is also known as a Sacred Wound (zandtao also calls this the holy khandha - discussed in
Ch 2).
This is a strange understanding but conflicts in upbringing are intentional, and if we choose to learn from those conflicts that continue throughout our lives as a Sacred Wound then Gaia fulfils its plan of consciously-evolving-consciousness. How much does this change the way we see our parents? We choose them, not that they force life onto us - their choice is instinct to have children. It is a choice to grow up in repressed comformity, and then as an adult grow out of it and see that the system-for-the-rich is a delusion and that there is so much more to life. zandtao chose his father for this, and his path would have been so different without him. His father is a significant part of zandtao's Sacred Wound.
And the purpose in zandtao's life is for him to consciously-evolve-consciousness as a result of his life's experience. Gaia-consciousness chose a plan for zandtao that led to a level of evolving-consciousness that can be seen through his
website.
Path as Fractal
Here is a fractal. With your cursor draw on the image a small rectangle - as small as you can, and it expands the detail of that small rectangle. Repeat the process, the detail is expanded and you can again go in getting infinite detail. There is infinite detail within infinite detail, and there are infinite small rectangles that can be drawn. When we look at fractals we can see immensity in small spaces. Or check this guy’s collections of fractals - similar process.
.gabiK’s use of fractal as part of Unity-consciousness first introduced zandtao to considering the path as fractal. As an infinitesimal part of consciousness zandtao’s path can open up to Unity-consciousness, path as fractal can be infinite and yet at the same time infinitesimal - Unity-consciousness. In the next chapter, where we discuss aligning mind-consciousness to Unity-consciousness, path as fractal can be this infinitesimal mind-consciousness and yet be aligned with the infinite vastness of Unity-consciousness. Hence zandtao likes using fractal for path; gabiK uses fractal throughout her science of soul youtube discussion - discussed by zandtao here.
Our conditioning and resulting attachments restrict our functioning consciousness but that is our choice. As we follow our paths choices open out into a great Unity-consciousness increasingly as we remove restrictions. Do fractals ever stop?
And all of this is meant to happen. We choose our parents, our Sacred Wounds, our paths. We can get truly effusive about the opportunities open to us. When we talk of bliss, does fractal begin to express the infinite blissful experience? And yet at the same time on the path these experiences are normal but not permanent. We earn them through development.
And we are intended to do this because the path has a consciousness purpose. Zandtao first heard this from Eckhart discussing the mystery of consciousness - zandtaomed advice here. The purpose of path comes from nature, comes from consciousness. We are part of that consciousness and we evolve that consciousness. Through gabiK’s science of soul and the unleashing of love with Nicola Amadora and Teal Swan, zandtao learned that we love that consciousness. So for zandtao now that path means a fractal of consciousness and is consciously-loving-and-evolving-consciousness.
What zandtao knows has arisen from his experience and development. Fractal of consciousness is an imaginative description of path, it is an image that has the depth and wonder that path is. But it is not a defintion, only a description. .zandtao cannot know from the perspective of consciousness, the best he can know is what he can undertsand in mind-consciousness. When he first studied Eckhart's clips on consciousness he did not know all that Eckhart said. There were 2 awakenings and he accepted the first - the mystery of consciousness; at the time he had not experienced that his path was to evolve consciousness. Let alone had he come to feel that he was loving consciousness. But since writing that advice Xmas 2020 his learning has taken him further, and not only does he know, feel andsee that his path is evolving consciousness, he also knows, feels and sees that his path is loving consciousness. But this knowing, feeling and seeing occurs within his mind-consciousness, he cannot experience Unity-consciousness. It is important to understand and face the natural boundaries and limitations of who and what you are.
This brings out two consequences. The first is for seekers reading this. There is no value in believing what zandtao says, as a belief it is clinging. Use what zandtao says as a possible direction for your study and practice but it is only understanding hen you experience it yourself - when you know,feel and see for yourself.
There is a second consequence in zandtao's limitation, where does he go next? Here is a video from Teal Swan that looks into purpose. For zandtao Teal Swan is a person to be believed but even with Teal he does not believe in the sense of knowing, feeling and seeing; what she says has not become part of his experience. But what she says is a good point to start investigating as he trusts her!!!
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Satisfied with Delusion
