A Little More on the Foreground and Back Ground of Life

The absence of suffering is happiness, just as the absence of darkness is light.
-Thich Nhat Hanh (peace is every breath, page 97)

I have been thinking a little more on making the distinction between the foreground and back ground of our lives.  We make this distinction only so we learn...eventually there will be no need to separate anything.

This is what I came up with.  I hope it helps.

Foreground of Life

Background of Life

·     Secondary  dimension, horizontal dimension , doing dimension where  Ego dominates: ·         See Self as Our personalities; Our bodies; Our minds: ·         Dream State ·         All that is visible ·         Shallow and superficial ·         Dense, consisting of form ·         Lower consciousness ·         Dependent on the five sense for determination of what is real ·         limited ·         noisy and chaotic ·         temporary and constantly changing ·         can be reduced to and described with mental concepts and words ·         Fear rules here ·         Dangerous and unsafe ·         Dependent on concepts like past and future ·         at the mercy of circumstance ·         a sense of separation with borders and body lines ·         “I”…”me” “my” and “mine” ·         Reactions occur from this place ·         Promotes Contraction and retraction ·         Illusion can be found here ·         Birth and Death can be found here ·         Suffering or dukkha ·         Darkness

·       Primary  dimension ('e'),  vertical dimension, being dimension where Spirit, soul, Purusa, Buddha-Nature ( call it what you wil) dominates ·         See Self as so much more ·         Awakened state ·         All that cannot be seen…Invisible ·         Of great infinite depth ·         Empty, formless, spacious ·         Higher consciousness ·         Sees reality beyond the five senses ·           ·         Limitless ·         Quiet and still ·         Eternal and changeless ·         Nameless and beyond understanding with thought ·         Love rules here ·         Peaceful and calm ·         Dependent on the present moment, the only place it can exist…timeless ·         Beyond circumstance ·         No borders, no body lines…just One Union one whole ·         “All” ·         Response occurs from this place ·         Promotes Expansion ·         Truth can be found here ·         Life can be found here ·         Beyond suffering or dukkha ·         Light

 

Hmm! Which column would you rather be spending most of your time in? Something to think about maybe?

All is well.