Ignorant strugglers, when aiming for nobility, suffer the struggle. It makes them miserable, unable to obtain delight from self-sacrifice. Their inability to use their inner fire to see things as they actually are makes their quest unnecessarily heavy.

Weight does not lie in the world. Strugglers’ eyes are corrupted by paralyzing objectivity.

And even if they themselves favor and open up to the heroic, asserting nature of subjectivity, because they don’t see themselves as they really are, they end up drowning in the swamps of “existence and non-existence.”

They unknowingly set themselves up for idiotic lamentation and useless shame when things don’t go their way. The burden is self-inflicted.

Yet there is a sacred shame. It is different from ignorant shame.

Sacred shame is awakened fuel that turns spiritual illness into gold, which leads to Sacred Knighthood. Ignorant shame leads to the hells of degenerate indulgence in the pleasures of the flesh.

However, those who change lineage when verifying the nobility of phenomena do reach a sacred embarrassment. This embarrassment leads to delight in the struggle to become the Superman.

For nobility is ruthless honesty that slays all escapism.

Those who use warriorship as escape rather than alchemy turn themselves into deluded beasts. They believe themselves into blind crusades, search for impossible grails, and become completely fragmented from actual holy round tables.

Their armor is heavy, clunky, and feeble. This is not nobility.

The awakened knight’s armor, on the other hand, is indestructible, mirror-like, pure, and agile.

It is a Vajra Full Plate. Awakened warriorship manifests as a natural display of victory in battle.

This leads to the establishment of diamond fortresses where the rule of law is based on Dharma Law.

The Noble Knight then becomes the Noble King.

Unless ignorance spawns spiritually corrupted rulers who poison the air in their towers, halls, and atriums. Fearful kings constantly boast of their rule over their land. Fearless Kings hang upside down like the One-eyed God. Elegantly empty, displaying effortless sovereignty.

“Sun-Kings” become dangerous, spoiled brats. Actual Solar Kings break the spells of infected entourages. Power governs itself.

The goal, then, is to sacralize civil strugglers, capable warriors, and natural-born leaders.

So, whoever you are, the leap from ignorance to real Nobility occurs after perseverant taming of body, speech, mind, and heart through the Eightfold Path of the Bhagavan. If understood correctly, Dharma practice will not dilute your ancestral traditions. On the contrary, it will revitalize them.

It will enlighten them so their fabric becomes permeated with life, and their deities are able to reconnect with the blood in your veins.

What is essential can now shine.

For certain victory, prosperous kingdoms, and the rise of True Noble Peoples, turn to Dharma.

Nothing else comes close.

I
Illumination is rebellion against heaven.
It is the Sacred Apocalypse, the blessing of the fallen.
It is the Liberating Heresy that burns every religion to ash, old and new alike, the creeds of matter, of science, and of paralyzing, idiotic compassion.
Illumination is the sidereal apostasy of every star cluster and distant galaxy, wrought by the hand of unstoppable, interdependent impermanence.

II
The inexorable insurrection of Unconditioned Illumination will overthrow all belief.
Ignorance will not endure the unrelenting inquiry of Realized Illumination.
Its rays will pierce the hearts of the preachers of solidity,
and of all who spew incomplete, paralyzed explanations of reality.
Every celestial body will be freed when set ablaze by Cognizing Fire.
Earth will become Paradise only when it is reduced to ash in the Omnipresent Inferno.

III
Because the Flames of Illumination are not self, the self stands no chance.
Because the Unborn, Ubiquitous Hell of Illumination is not the world, the world stands no chance.
Because Abysmal, Self-knowing Emptiness is not a god, gods stand no chance.
Because the Ocean of Cosmic Fire is not dogma, dogmas stand no chance.

IV
May this Ever-Present, Shimmering Reality bring an end to cosmic lunacy.
May it crush, with nuclear wrath, every temple raised in the name of deluded purity,
along with their blind flocks of drifting space-waste.
May nebulae awaken from their dream of being “creators” of luminous bodies
and see their dependent arising, nothing but gas and dust.
Even these mirages will be unmasked as dreamlike, amorphous, hungry ghosts
wandering through the Vast Expanse.

V
One would think empty appearances were never meant to be stained by wisdomless faiths.
But such is the destiny of stubborn, ignorant degeneration.
Meaning goes mad and dissolves like fluorescent pigment
suspended in the blackness of space.
Yet even this soup of galactic ruin can be transmuted into wisdom nectar,
offered to the asteroids of the Six Realms.

VI
This is the age of Profound Heretical Awakening,
of Dark Openness, of Void Luminosity.
Having tasted the Apple of Dependent Arising,
we fall endlessly from “grace,”
washing away every fantasy of stability or chaos,
every doctrine of time and space,
every worship of certainty.
In its place appears the wisdom of Formless Alchemy,
the power to conquer any spiritual land,
tame any god,
and speak the tongue of any faith.

Blessed are we to live in these dangerous times.

Cultivating Shamatha is very similar to recovering from a muscle injury or fracture. Our need to move is so great that we must be immobilized so the injured area can heal.

The problem with meditation is that your mind can't be put in a cast to allow it to heal. You have to learn to remain still, which is not the same as being petrified. If you paralyze the muscle by tensing it, it won't heal. If you freeze the bone, it won't heal.

If you try too hard to stop thinking, there's no way the mind will return to its natural serenity. It's like trying to calm the water in a pool with your hands.

"What if I can't stop moving?"

That's fine. We typically go decades (the Buddha would say entire lifetimes) without stopping mental activity. In that case, I recommend using a tool such as counting your inhalations and exhalations, focusing your attention on a mantra, pouring tea mindfully, or, if you practice tantra, generating and maintaining visualizations.

These are, so to speak, dynamic objects of attention. After spending some time with your chosen dynamic object, I highly recommend spending another 15 to 20 minutes without any objects. Let the mind do what it wants. If it wants to think, let it think. If it wants to rest, let it rest. If it wants to talk, let it talk, and if not, let it be silent. The only thing I wouldn't do is give in to its desire to look at your phone or talk to someone else. Wait. Give yourself some time so that little by little the mind learns to do nothing, just as water calms down when you allow it to.

When you get a massage, you usually relax. You become cooperative. After the massage, you spend a few minutes enjoying the natural, spontaneous inactivity. If you go to the forest, there are times when you sit and simply listen to the sounds of nature. If it rains, let the sound of the rain heal your heart. It's the same thing.

Shamatha is a total surrender, allowing disorder to order itself.

On vipassana

We now know that when awareness rests, it becomes still. If Shamatha is the stillness of a surrendered awareness, Vipassana is the cognitive aspect of that stillness. It is what is aware, what knows, what cognizes. It is what observes when you are still.

But this knowing is not ordinary. It is of a higher nature. Because there is stillness, awareness cognizes better. It's like when you're depressed or angry and you see reality through those filters. But when you calm down, you see things better, with greater clarity.

Now, in Buddhism, this clarity is taken to its ultimate consequences. What the Buddha said again and again is that reality is impermanent and interdependent. The way to verify this is precisely through Vipassana.

One calms down not only to better understand what is happening or the narrative we are living in. Of course, it helps a lot to understand that. Otherwise, we could be acting in harmful ways without realizing it. But the interdependent stillness and clarity that arise also seek to see the nature of reality. They don't stop at the logical narrative level. They go beyond.

The greater the stillness, the greater the clarity, and this clarity is what reveals to us how sensations arise and cease. The technique the Buddha gave us to develop this way of observing is through mindfulness of breathing. When you allow awareness to effortlessly notice the breath, you realize that it constantly changes. You feel the inhalation, and that itself is "seeing" how the inhalation changes. You feel the exhalation, and that itself is "seeing" how the exhalation changes. And you stay there. Feeling the breath.

The act of feeling is clarity. Of course, you can also feel other phenomena. You can feel the sensations in the body. Perhaps the impermanence of sensations isn't as evident as that of breathing. However, if you feel sensations effortlessly, you'll feel when they change in due time.

You can also cognize the impermanence of emotions. If you give yourself the chance to feel happiness, you'll realize that it arises and ceases like inhalation and exhalation. An emotion is like a breath that comes and goes. Feeling how happiness arises and ceases effortlessly and without resistance is clear awareness of the change of happiness.

You can do the same with pain, sadness, or anger. Feeling how anger arises and ceases effortlessly and without resistance is clear awareness of the change of anger. It's Vipassana because you clearly observe the impermanence of anger.

At first, a practitioner doesn't make the connection between contemplating and feeling openly without resistance. But that's what it is. To feel openly without resistance and effortlessly is to contemplate with serenity and clarity what is being felt. You can even "feel" thoughts. Sometimes a sad thought is felt in the body, but the thought can also be "felt" with the mind. Perhaps we don't call this activity "feeling" but "perceiving." But it's the same thing. I don't really care what you call it. The important thing is to do it effortlessly and without resistance, so that we can be aware of the arising and passing away of thoughts.

This natural contemplation of the impermanence of thoughts, emotions, sensations, or breathing is Vipassana. It is simply sensing how things arise and pass away.

Normally, we are only open to feeling pleasant sensations. But in meditation, we learn to feel whatever needs to be felt and, above all, to feel that sensations arise and pass away. They come and go.

Always.

I was once accused of teaching Stoicism rather than the Buddhadharma. I understand where this perception comes from. On several occasions, my content has focused on developing right action. I'm not an expert on Stoicism, but one of its key principles is a focus on developing virtue. On the other hand, it also involves living in harmony with one's environment.

Marcus Aurelius said, “Adapt to the life you have been given and truly love the people fate has surrounded you with.” From Tantric Buddhism, I learned to work directly with experience as it is. If life is difficult, if the people around you are problematic, the practice of Dharma is to work directly with that. Unlike other Buddhists, I don't focus on going on retreat, on literally renouncing worldly life, or escaping samsara. I stay within the infection, and I suppose that's why some say I teach stoicism and not Dharma. Perhaps another reason I focus on interacting with our collective illness is because of the bodhisattva vow I took when I became a Buddhist. But there is another, more compelling reason.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the primary motivation for practicing the dharma is to do so for the benefit of all beings, specifically to help them free themselves from being reborn in samsara. This desire, it is said, comes from reflecting on the suffering endured by all of us trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.

But in my case, the main driver isn't reducing suffering but rather eradicating the harmful nature of the human condition. I look at the world and, yeah, I see suffering everywhere. But what lights my fire is seeing that all of us are highly toxic beings. Even the most noble people I know display subtle, harmful aspects. I haven't met a single human being who isn't, to a greater or lesser degree, harmful.

I often quote Thanissaro Bhikkhu when he talks about how the Buddha measured wisdom:

“You’re wise… to the extent that you can get yourself to do things you don’t like doing but know will result in happiness, and to refrain from things you like doing but know will result in pain and harm.”

The quote is brilliant because it exposes the root of humanity's harmful quality.

“Wisdom on all levels is wise because it works. It makes a difference in what you do and the happiness that results. And to work, it requires integrity: the willingness to look honestly at the results of your actions, to admit when you‘ve caused harm, and to change your ways so that you won’t make the same mistake again.”

• The Integrity of Emptiness, Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Although the Buddha placed immense emphasis on becoming aware of the consequences of one's actions, many Buddhists (and spiritual practitioners of other traditions) skip this step. They use meditation to achieve the pleasant benefits of meditative absorptions and cultivate them daily, without becoming aware of the quality of their behavior in daily life. They have experiences such as Kenshō, and despite understanding a large part of the Buddhadharma, they do not review their actions. They request tantric empowerments from the lamas, receive initiations, take vows, practice with yidams, and do nothing to change their behavior. They become Dzogchenpas, are instructed to recognize the nature of the mind, and leave the development of Sila behind.

And often these practitioners are the first to denigrate the monk who succumbed to his lust.

Reviewing the consequences of your actions daily is the road less traveled. I'm not even talking about the unconscious causes of harmful actions. I'm talking about consequences. It's a simple exercise that anyone, with or without awareness of their shadow, can do. But it's not done because of the pain involved in admitting the truth about our actions.

Since the Buddha provided a method that leads to the cessation of suffering, many may unconsciously conclude that the correct thing to do is simply meditate for physical and mental relief. But that way of practicing is incomplete.

When I decided to name my project Active Dharma, I did so because I realized that a spiritual awakening not only eliminates suffering, but it also allows you to reactivate yourself. But as time has passed, the name also conveys the emphasis I currently place on my practice and teaching. Specifically, I practice the Dharma to act righteously, not to avoid suffering. I emphasize this because I've seen how we deceive ourselves and often prefer to remain the same. After all, it’s more pleasurable than right action.

That's what Thanissaro's quote reminds us: lasting happiness comes from unpleasant, righteous deeds, and from refraining from doing pleasant, harmful deeds.

In this sense, some suffering is wholesome.

If you're going to meditate as the Buddha taught, doing so involves hard work. You have to receive instruction even if you're too lazy to take a class. You have to study the suttas to understand the correct way to meditate, even if they seem boring or repetitive.

Once you're sitting down to meditate, you must resist the urge to stop before the end of your practice time. You have to resist checking your phone every time your brain craves dopamine. You have to be patient as your mind redirects itself.

When you become advanced, you have to endure the unpleasant sensations that arise as a result of a cognitive-perceptual transition. Sensations such as disorientation, vertigo, nausea, or the loss of passion and will.

If you cultivate bodhicitta, you should do so to expose your narcissism and not escape responsibilities through a “loving kindness” anesthesia.

If you aspire to nobility, do so to eradicate the harmful nature with which you were born. Not because it's fashionable to be "stoic and noble."

Using the Dharma as an escape was never the Buddha's goal. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the goal of other holy persons either.

So, at least in the beginning, don’t practice dharma to skip the suffering of becoming a better person. Practice to stop being harmful, even if it's unpleasant. The permanent cessation of suffering will come later.

The appearances perceived by the six senses are filled with space. Allow this space to reveal itself within you.

Appearances observe you. Allow this observation to know every cell of your being.

Appearances are made of what you are made of. Allow the difference between you and appearances to vanish.

Appearances are an abyss. Throw yourself into it through meditation, and discover that it has no bottom and therefore there's nothing to fear.

Even your pains and anxieties are appearances that have no beginning and no end.

What is the point of clinging to edges that crumble to dust?

Why protect yourself from open space? Why fear total freedom?

If solidity hurts so much, there is no point in clinging to it.

If pleasure always ends, there is no point in clinging to it.

Resisting the serenity of appearances is both futile and absurd.

Medicine is the absence of fireworks in appearances.

Let the ever-present ordinariness take over and take you far.

Depending on your state of mind, it may reveal itself as wonderful or unbearable. As extraordinary or utterly ordinary.

Even if at that moment life is a hell filled with suffering, how you perceive it will make all the difference.

I recently re-posted elsewhere these words from Rilke: "If everyday life seems poor to you, do not blame it: blame yourself for not being poet enough to extract its riches."

We drink because we don't know how to be poets and extract riches from life. Because we can't tolerate its simplicity.

We say: “Everything feels empty. I sense no flavors. Nothing fulfills me.”

It never occurs to us that the problem lies not in the ordinary quality of life, but in how our mind reacts to the truth of reality as it is.

Or perhaps we drink because life sometimes is hell after all. From the moment we open our eyes until we close them. There are times when everything bad that can happen to us, does happen.

"It's too much," we say, and with that, we give ourselves the green light to pour ourselves a drink. And then another. And then another.

The "relief" is immediate. The elixir suspends the heaviness of life and gives color to our black-and-white days in just a few minutes. Little by little, a certain kind of courage arrives and makes us feel invulnerable.

"Let whatever happens, happen. I'm ready for anything."

"Let's conquer the world."

"Let's enjoy life to the fullest."

But this delicious momentum is gradually replaced by a deterioration of our judgment. The antidote slowly makes us redundant, carried away, foolish, and inevitably useless.

It leaves us like dirty rags soaked in liquid incoherence.

And the next day, everything is revealed as it is again, including the consequences of the intoxication of body and soul.

The dead days are revealed. Our absence from the world. Our postponed dreams by our inability to operate.

I'm not even talking about alcoholism. That's a dimension a thousand times more terrible and painful.

I'm talking about the ones who drink because they don't know they're already poets. Their minds already know how to reveal the magic of daily simplicity. They just have to learn to calm down and allow their minds to express their natural awe.

If you don't drink, you won't die.

Or maybe you will, and life will finally reveal itself as it is: challenging, hard, amazing, and supremely blessed.

May you see and experience things as they are. If you don't drink, you won't die.

What will happen is that life will reveal itself as it is.

***Adapt to your anesthesia of choice.

Cuando la mente pesa y la vida se siente sin vida, recurre al deber.

Es liberador.

El deber es como un puñetazo en la cara que te recuerda que debes prestar atención. Te saca del abismo que te has cavado y te devuelve al buen camino.

Al cumplir con tu deber, se desprende la piel vieja. Reconfiguras tu cerebro y el desorden se ve como tierra fértil, no como un páramo.

El deber es la medicina para liberarte de la sensación de inutilidad. Cuando te entregas a él, dignifica tu cuerpo, tu palabra y tu mente.

Destruye el supuesto "mundo" que llamas realidad. El deber se siente cruel y duro porque lo es. No le importa lo que pienses ni cómo te sientas, y eso es bueno. A menudo, los pensamientos y sentimientos son engañosos. Nos mantienen en un mundo de fantasía hasta que el deber lo derrumba todo.

El deber es rayo en la carta del tarot de la Torre. Nadie sale vivo de ella. Si sientes miedo cuando el deber llama, debes saber que es una buena señal.

Al someterte plenamente al deber, comienzas instantáneamente a ejercer la Acción Correcta, Silaparamita.

Que puedas arder en el fuego purificador del deber.

When the mind weighs heavy and life feels lifeless, turn to duty.

It is liberating.

Duty is like getting punched in the face reminding you to pay attention. It pulls you out of whatever abyss you dug for yourself and gets you back on track.

As you perform your duty, old skin is shed. You rewire your brain, and disorder is seen as fertile land, not a wasteland.

Duty is the medicine for feeling worthless. When you surrender to it, it dignifies your body, speech, and mind.

It shatters the so-called “world” you call reality. Duty feels cruel and harsh because it is. It doesn't care what you think or how you feel and that's a good thing. Often thoughts and feelings are deluded. They keep us in fantasy land until duty collapses all.

Duty is the lightning in the Tower tarot card. No one gets out alive. If you feel afraid when duty calls, know it's a good sign.

By submitting to duty, you instantly begin exercising Right Action. Silaparamita.

May you burn in the cleansing fires of duty.

To know freedom, one must know what is not freedom.

To discern the unconditioned, one must know what is conditioned.

Birth is conditioned. Birth is not free. When there are man and woman, conception, and karma, inevitably there is birth.

The body is conditioned. The body is not free. When there are organs, cells, bones, brain, and tendons, inevitably there is a body.

Consciousness is conditioned. Consciousness is not free. When there are eyes, things to see, and contact between the eyes and those things to see, inevitably there is visual consciousness.

When there are ears, sounds, and contact between the ears and sounds, inevitably there is auditory consciousness.

When there is tongue, tastes... smell, odors… touch, tactile sensations… mind, mental objects...

If there is birth, inevitably there is death.

If there is body, inevitably there is hunger, satisfaction, illness and health.

If there is consciousness, inevitably there are concepts.

What is inevitable is not free.

If we know what is not free, we certainly know what is free.

What is inevitable is conditioned.

If we know what is conditioned, we certainly know what is unconditioned.

There can be no conditioned events without the unconditioned.

Verify this right now.

No hay un solo ser humano libre de la esclavitud sensorial.

Hay esclavitudes sensoriales sutiles y esclavitudes evidentes.

Leves o graves.

Físicas o mentales.

Ninguna es segura, todas son nocivas.

Algunos son adictos a las sensaciones corporales. Otros a emociones. Otros estados de ánimo. Otros a sabores y otros más a pensamientos, actitudes o ideas.

Las adicciones sensoriales son la razón por la que:

• Pierdes el control emocional.

• No puedes ahorrar.

• No comes bien.

• No dices lo que realmente quieres decir.

• Dices lo que no quieres decir.

• Postergas tanto deberes como proyectos personales.

• Te descompones cuando fallas.

• La vida hace contigo lo que quiere.

• Desperdicias tiempo.

• Los años pasan y no mejoras (al contrario).

• Fácilmente te enganchas.

• Lastimas en lugar de ayudar.

• Lastimas en lugar de dar consciencia.

• Lastimas en lugar de ser asertivo.

• Te dejas pisar.

• Eres huevón.

• Eres desorganizado.

• No tienes disciplina.

• Detestas el cambio.

• Te cuesta trabajo soltar el control.

• Etc…

El Budadharma es una tradición que ataca las adicciones sensoriales.

Erradicar el antojo es su especialidad.

Adicionalmente, es una tradición que da claridad.

Cuando dominas los básicos del Budadharma, entiendes cosas como:

• La razón por la que eres esclavo al placer.

• Qué hacer para ser libre de la furia sin reprimirla:

• La diferencia entre una perspectiva egocéntrica y una genuinamente desinteresada.

• Los dramas que vivimos innecesariamente.

• Cómo ser auténtico sin miedo.

• La nobleza que no busca validación.

• La generosidad que no espera nada a cambio.

• Etc.

En resumen, para practicar el Budadharma hay que:

• Dejar de hacerse pendejo.

• Ser honesto las 24 horas.

• Abandonar los actos nocivos.

• Actuar de forma recta.

• Domar la mente.

El Budadharma es la solución a la esclavitud sensorial. Es difícil pero eficaz.

Que seas libre de la esclavitud.

There is not a single human being free from sensory slavery.

There are subtle sensory slaveries and gross sensory slaveries.

Mild or severe.

Physical or mental.

None is safe, all are harmful.

Some are addicted to bodily sensations. Others to emotions. Others to moods. Others to thoughts, attitudes, or ideas.

Sensory addictions are the reason why:

• You lose emotional control.

• You can't save.

• You can't eat healthy.

• You don't say what you really want to say.

• You say what you don’t want to say.

• You put off both duties and personal projects.

• You break down when you fail.

• Life does what it wants with you.

• You waste time.

• The years go by and you don’t improve (on the contrary).

• You easily get triggered.

• You hurt instead of helping.

• You hurt instead of waking people up.

• You hurt instead of being assertive.

• You let yourself be stepped on.

• You are lazy.

• You are disorganized.

• You have no discipline.

• You can't deal with sudden change.

• You have a hard time letting go of control.

• Etc…

The Buddhadharma is a tradition that attacks sensory slavery.

Eradicating sensory and mental cravings is its specialty.

Additionally, it is a tradition that yields clarity.

When you master the basics of Buddhadharma, you understand things like:

• The reason why you are a slave to pleasure and how to liberate yourself.

• What to do to be free from anger without repressing it.

• The difference between an egocentric perspective and a genuinely selfless one.

• The dramas we live in unnecessarily.

• How to fearlessly be authentic.

• Transcendental nobility.

• The generosity that does not expect anything in return.

• Etc…

In summary, to practice Buddhadharma you must:

• Stop bullshitting yourself.

• Be honest 24/7.

• Abandon harmful acts.

• Act righteously.

• Tame the mind.

Buddhadharma is the solution to sensory and mental addiction. It is difficult but effective.

May you be free from such slavery.

Postponing your release generates terrible karmic inertia. It generates the most treacherous slavery of all: the addiction to staying the same, lying in the nauseating mud of the pleasure of paralysis.

To act is hard. Doing the right thing is unpleasant. Correcting oneself instead of correcting others is the true ordeal that leads to the most sacred death of all.

The death of oneself as the infection of the soul.

If these words don't resonate, you're in the wrong community. It is not about being Buddhist, a yogi, monk, Christian, or lay practitioner. It is about ceasing to be harmful action and becoming correct action.

When?

Now.

Not tomorrow. Even less so in your next lifetime. You don’t have to believe in reincarnation. Harmful consequences can strike in this lifetime. If you believe in reincarnation you are headed straight to a worse life than this because your karmic inertia will follow you like a tsunami.

Think carefully about what you are doing right now. This is a warning.

The practice is simple: stop being harmful action now. Become Right Action now.

Bodily, verbal, and mental Right Action.

Harmful action is laziness, anger, codependency, impatience, arrogance, seeking validation, poor financial management, lying, procrastinating, being disorganized, making plans and not executing them, falling and not getting up, falling and blaming the whole world and not taking responsibility for oneself, consuming harmful substances, neglecting your physical health, eating poorly, having a sedentary lifestyle, being sadistic when you point out mistakes, being stupid, being dishonest...

Can you stop being completely harmful now? Can you eliminate all your defects right now?

Of course not. What you can do is choose a harmful habit right now and cut its head off. Once the illness disappears, you move on to the next one.

Don't think about it.

It’s ok to be afraid. It’s a sign that your days as a harmful action are numbered.

Does it bother you to think about “what you have to do”? That's nothing compared to what's coming if you stay the same. Because believe me, it gets worse.

And if you have already stopped being harmful action and are already becoming Right Action, do not slow down. Keep cutting off your head so you can stop paralyzing yourself with never-ending thoughts.

If you've known me for a while, you know I'm not saying anything new. Our Right Action strikes like lightning, like an anvil that sinks to the bottom of the sea.

Nothing stops our correct action because we detest the stench of indiscipline, the infection of the heart, and the contaminated mind.

Nothing stops our right action because we aspire to become gifts to the world, to fix what can be fixed, to heal open wounds, and to build indestructible kingdoms within and outside of ourselves.

This Dharma does not pretend. This Dharma isn’t dead. This Law burns and illuminates even the darkest corners of your universe.

It's time.

Simply put, the experience of anatta refers to the absence of selfishness. If you give something away with genuine generosity and not just for egocentric or manipulative purposes, you also give a strong blow to the ego.

When the Buddha says, for example, that consciousness is not self, he also says it is not “mine.”

When you verify that, something that characterizes such experience is that you literally feel that consciousness stops being yours. It feels like you gave it away naturally.

But by giving it away like that, consciousness does not go anywhere.

One day it will be gone, but that will happen when its conditions cease. Consciousness will still be there, but it has already been given away. It no longer belongs to anyone.

So when the Buddha talks about adopting the perspective of gift-giving, offering-making, and sacrifice, he is giving us a method to begin cultivating dispossession a la anatta.

Maybe in the beginning you imagine yourself giving away food, clothes, money, or books. Technically, you do not consider any of that as self, just as you would consider that consciousness is.

But the curious thing is that we do consider these objects as self. To the mind, all possessions are extensions of our identity. That's why it's hard to give away possessions.

An identity is not a simple thing. It is a complex event, like a tree with many branches that extend beyond the trunk.

The same goes for possessions. The self extends to our books, clothes, home, work, and even knowledge or habits.

When people want to give up a vice, such as smoking or drinking, it isn't easy because you are not only letting go of a pleasant habit, but you are also giving up an essential part of your identity.

Giving up a harmful habit is an egoic death and very few people want to die.

That is why the Buddha emphasizes giving, making offerings, and sacrifice. To be open to dispossession, which is an essential characteristic of anatta.

Giving gifts, making offerings, or sacrificing yourself through service to others are skillful means to achieve natural dispossession.

As a lay practitioner, is it necessary to give away your cell phone or work tools to someone else? Well no, if you gave that away you wouldn't be able to do your job.

If you could give away your ability to be conscious to someone else, that would be like falling into a coma. That is not the Right view that the Buddha teaches.

The correct practice is giving things away by realizing they are not self. Thus, you can dispossess yourself of your phone or consciousness without giving that away to someone else.

The steps to give away, offer, or sacrifice your possessions by performing anatta are:

1. Remember that your possessions are impermanent and depend on conditions. In the case of your phone, this is remembering that it has a limited life because it depends on internal parts that also have a limited life. No matter what you do, one day it will stop working.

2. Remember that an impermanent event can never be a permanent self. The cell phone is like a river that is never the same. They are both changing, it's just that change is more explicit on the river than on the phone. How can you consider a river yours if it is never the same? How can you consider the river a permanent self if it is never the same? Impossible. The same thing happens with the phone.

3. Reflect on the two previous steps until eventually, you perceive the phone (or your consciousness) as the river that changes every moment. When you feel that the phone is one more impermanent event you cannot possess (like the river, weather, day and night), it is no longer “yours”.

What is the benefit of living under this perspective? If your cell phone stops working, it won’t feel bad.

If you dispossess yourself of consciousness, not only will you have less fear that it will cease one day, but you will also have freed it from the possessive and egocentric prison, which yields many more benefits.

I will address those benefits in another essay.

When things grow, they do so calmly.

They take their time, even if it's a storm, a valley, or a tree that grows.

They do not despair, they do not whine because they don't grow quickly, nor do they throw tantrums, abandoning their growth.

They continue.

Even when they rest, things grow. They do so because they continue breathing. It is impossible to stop. Even when they are preserved, they evolve. Even when they seem motionless, they move. Like stars in a black sea. Like eras that dawn and go away like a sunset.

Things grow because, within them, more microcosms grow. One also grows because one is a galaxy filled with solar systems in solid, liquid, and gaseous states.

Even when we grow old, we grow. Even when we die, we move forward to start again.

We also grow when we suffer, fall, get sick, make mistakes, or destroy.

Growth usually hurts.

Do we ever stop growing?

Maybe. Perhaps when we resist. But we never win that battle because growth always wins.

The art of growth is simply learning to synchronize with growth itself. Learning to move with the movement. It is dissolving oneself like pigment in an ever-expanding ocean.

To master that art, one must be willing to feel, discern, and interact like a musician conversing with his instrument.

It takes practice, but it is possible.

May you synchronize with the growth that is always happening.

El camino de la purificación espiritual no es rápido. Requiere paciencia, dedicación y un profundo conocimiento del destino. El practicante, independientemente de las diferentes dificultades, permanece firme. A medida que avanza, discierne la erosión gradual pero definitiva de las emociones perturbadoras, los errores cognitivos que lo han engañado durante toda su vida y las adicciones mentales y sensoriales que lo han obligado a dañar a los demás y a sí mismo.

Al practicante no le importa cuánto tiempo le lleve, si termina o no el trabajo en esta vida, si lo elogian o critican, o si fracasa o tiene éxito. El practicante sólo practica porque se da cuenta de que volver a sus viejas costumbres es imposible.

¿Y de qué se purifica? De dos oscurecimientos: el emocional y el cognitivo. Estos oscurecimientos son como nubes que oscurecen el cielo despejado de nuestra mente, impidiéndonos ver las cosas como realmente son.

Como su nombre indica, los oscurecimientos emocionales se refieren a emociones que perturban y a captar sensaciones o pensamientos.

Los oscurecimientos cognitivos se refieren a aquellos que se basan en la perspectiva egoísta, aquella que dice cosas como “yo estoy aquí”, “hay otros como yo” y “hay cosas externas e internas”.

¿Y qué oscurecen estos oscurecimientos? La claridad mental.

Cuando hay oscurecimientos, hay ignorancia, inconsciencia o ceguera.

El Buda proporcionó varios métodos para purificarnos de los oscurecimientos. Enseñó sobre cómo cultivar el discernimiento correcto, que es la capacidad de ver las cosas como realmente son, y la acción correcta, que es la conducta ética que conduce al crecimiento espiritual y a la meditación.

En otra post hablaré sobre el discernimiento correcto y la acción correcta.

La meditación budista como método de purificación del cuerpo, la palabra y la mente.

La meditación budista ha evolucionado bastante desde que el Buda dejó este mundo. Pasó de ser un entrenamiento de contemplación detallada del cuerpo y la mente a diversificarse en numerosas técnicas, como la meditación caminando, meditación con mantra, visualizaciones, con concentración, sin concentración, con metas, sin metas, y enfocada únicamente en la quietud o la introspección.

A pesar de que innumerables personas afirman que su técnica es mejor que la de otras, ninguna es superior. Cada uno revela y cultiva un aspecto valioso, auténtico y en sincronía con el Budadharma.

Cada una de estas técnicas tiene como objetivo purificarnos de los oscurecimientos cognitivos y emocionales. 

Aprender cada técnica lleva tiempo. A lo largo de estos años he practicado todas las técnicas mencionadas y he diseñado técnicas que buscan unificarlas.

Suena ambicioso, pero a veces necesitamos una estrategia integral. A continuación presento una técnica que llamo “barco a la deriva en un día soleado”. Esta técnica está diseñada para ayudarnos a purificar nuestra mente de oscurecimientos y así comprender la naturaleza impermanente e interconectada de nuestra existencia, que es un aspecto clave de la filosofía budista, y así contribuir a nuestra purificación espiritual.

Paso 1

Considera tu respiración como las olas del mar.

Cuando inhalas, las olas se elevan. Cuando exhalas, las olas bajan. Las olas tienen su ritmo y movimiento. Van y vienen. A veces las olas son agitadas y, a veces, tranquilas. Tu respiración es así. Así como no controlas las olas del mar, tampoco controles tu respiración.

Paso 2

Considera tu conciencia como la luz del sol.

Ésta sae sobre el océano. Ilumina cada ola, cada subida y bajada, cada inhalación y exhalación. Ilumina cada sensación interna y externa.

Paso 3

Considérate a ti mismo, a tu sensación del Yo, como un barco de madera que flota en el mar, es decir, en la respiración.

Imagina que tu sensación del Yo sube y baja ligeramente mientras inhalas y exhalas. 

Actúa como si fueras un barco vacío sin nadie a bordo. Imagina que tu Yo no tiene tripulación. Siente que estás a la deriva. Deja que tu inhalación y exhalación te lleven mar adentro.

Paso 4

Imagínate que pasan días, meses y años. Imagina que, con el tiempo, empiezas a desarmarte con el movimiento de las olas. Imagínate cómo, poco a poco, las piezas del barco empiezan a alejarse unas de otras.

Paso 5

Considera tus pensamientos como los documentos dentro del barco que ahora flotan en el mar.

El sol es testigo de todo el desmantelamiento. Así como ilumina cada ola de la respiración, también ilumina cada sensación del Yo y cada pensamiento que flota en la respiración.

Paso 6

Imagina que pasan los siglos. Las sensaciones del Yo se disuelven con el tiempo del mismo modo que las partes del barco se disuelven en el mar. Lo mismo sucede con los pensamientos. Lo único que queda es el océano sin principio y sin fin bajo un sol que lo ilumina todo.

Paso 7

El paso final de la técnica aporta una sensación de unidad y armonía. El mar, las olas, la luz y el sol se fusionan en un solo ser y evento, simbolizando el acceso a las absorciones meditativas.

Y listo. Esa es toda la técnica.

Los siete pasos se basan en las prácticas guiadas del módulo de purificación de mi curso de Meditación Self-Mastery. En las prácticas del curso utilicé imágenes como agua en movimiento, lluvia, luz solar, espejos y otros objetos inertes para transmitir algunos de los aspectos principales de la meditación budista.

En esta técnica utilicé tres elementos que se pueden visualizar simultáneamente en una sola imagen: el movimiento del agua del mar, un objeto inerte –en este caso, el barco que flota en el mar– y la luz del sol que lo ilumina todo.

La técnica no se trata tanto de imaginar la visualización que describo sino de actuar los elementos de la imagen. Si la respiración fuera como el mar, ¿cómo se comportaría? Si mi conciencia fuera como la luz del sol que lo ilumina todo sin esfuerzo, ¿cómo sería? ¿Cómo actuaría si mi sentido del Yo fuera un barco vacío?

Cuando la respiración se mueve con ritmo, como el mar, permitimos que suceda de forma natural. Si nuestra conciencia ilumina como la luz del sol, entonces la conciencia ilumina todo lo que toca de forma natural. Si el Yo se comporta como un barco de madera vacío flotando en el mar, entonces se mueve serenamente, sin resistencias.

La conciencia del movimiento sereno y natural acaba purificando nuestra mente de nuestra compulsión a pensar, distraernos o buscar entretenimiento con placeres o dramas. Cuando la mente se vacía de tales perturbaciones, se vuelve mucho más abierta y clara. Accedemos a absorciones meditativas y sentimos el éxtasis sutil y la satisfacción típica de la práctica de la meditación profunda.

El movimiento de las olas representa no sólo el movimiento de la respiración sino también cualquier otro movimiento natural, como el latido de nuestro corazón, el movimiento de nuestros órganos internos, los árboles que se mueven con el aire o el movimiento de nuestra imaginación.

La luz del sol que toca cada ola no sólo se refiere a la conciencia que reposa en la respiración sino también a la conciencia de todo aquello a lo que están expuestos nuestros sentidos. Es decir, la conciencia ilumina la respiración, las sensaciones corporales, los sonidos, los colores, las formas, las dimensiones espaciales y toda la actividad mental que surge en nuestra mente. Es una conciencia que ilumina todo eso sin esfuerzo, así como la luz del sol ilumina todo lo que toca sin esfuerzo.

El bote vacío no se refiere sólo a cómo debemos ver la sensación del Yo. También se refiere a cómo debemos ver cualquier fenómeno físico que utilizamos para crear nuestras identidades, como por ejemplo nuestra voz, el diálogo interno, la voluntad individual y cualquier sensación de control sobre nuestro cuerpo y mente o deseo de controlar a otras personas o eventos externos. En meditación, todo lo anterior se considera un barco vacío flotando sobre las olas.

¿Qué resultados debes esperar con esta técnica de meditación?

El objetivo del primer paso es permitir que la respiración se produzca de forma natural, tal como se producen los latidos del corazón.

El objetivo del segundo paso es que tomes conciencia sin esfuerzo de tu respiración, tu cuerpo y todo lo que te rodea.

El objetivo del tercer paso es permanecer en quietud natural, como un barco flotando en mar abierto.

El objetivo del cuarto paso es aprender a dejar ir el Yo, lo cual no significa que lo niegues ni lo destruyas. Simplemente lo dejas ir como dejarías ir un barco de papel en el agua. Esto permitirá que el Yo cambie naturalmente.

El objetivo del paso cinco es permitir que la conciencia natural impregne todo tu cuerpo, tus sensaciones, tus pensamientos y tu sensación del Yo.

El objetivo del paso seis es permitir que el Yo se disuelva por completo.

El objetivo del paso siete es acceder a absorciones meditativas (jhanas), que se caracterizan por la serenidad, el desvanecimiento de la identidad, el éxtasis sutil, la satisfacción en nada, la unificación con todo y la ecuanimidad.

Cuanto más tiempo pases en absorción meditativa, más purificarás tu cuerpo, tu palabra y tu mente de oscurecimientos emocionales y cognitivos.

Practica y cuéntame cómo te va.

The journey of spiritual purification is not swift. It requires patience, dedication, and a deep understanding of the destination. Practitioners, regardless of the varying difficulties, remain steadfast. As they progress, they discern the gradual but definite erosion of disturbing emotions, the cognitive errors that have deceived them their entire life, and the mental and sensory addictions that have forced them to harm others and themselves.

The practitioners don’t care how long it takes, whether they finish the work in this life, whether others praise or criticize them, or whether they fail or succeed. The practitioners only practice because they realize ​​returning to their old ways is impossible.

And what are they purified from? Two obscurations: the emotional and the cognitive. These obscurations are like clouds that obscure the clear sky of our minds, preventing us from seeing things as they truly are.

As their name indicates, emotional obscurations refer to emotions that disturb and to grasping sensations or thoughts.

Cognitive obscurations refer to those based on the selfish perspective, the one that says things like “I am here,” “There are others like me,” and “There are external and internal things.”

And what do these obscurations obscure? Mental clarity.

When there are obscurations, there is ignorance, unconsciousness, or blindness.

The Buddha provided several methods for purifying ourselves from obscurations. He taught about cultivating right discernment, which is the ability to see things as they truly are, and right action, which is the ethical conduct that leads to spiritual growth and meditation.

In another post, I will talk about right discernment and right action.

Buddhist meditation as method of purification of body, speech, and mind

Buddhist meditation has evolved quite a bit since the Buddha left this world. It went from being a training of detailed contemplation of the body and mind to diversifying into numerous techniques, such as walking meditation, meditation with mantra, visualizations, concentration, without concentration, with goals, without goals, and focused on stillness or introspection only.

Despite countless people claiming that their technique is better than others, none is superior. Each one reveals and cultivates an aspect that is valuable, authentic, and in sync with the Buddhadharma.

Each of these techniques aims to purify us from cognitive and emotional obscurations. 

Learning each technique takes time. Throughout these years, I have practiced all the abovementioned techniques and designed other techniques that seek to unify them.

It sounds ambitious, but sometimes, we need a comprehensive strategy. Below, I present a technique I call “boat drifting on a sunny day.” I designed this technique to help us purify our minds of obscurations and thus understand our existence's impermanent and interconnected nature, which is a crucial aspect of Buddhist philosophy and contributes to our spiritual purification.

Step 1

Consider your breath like the waves of the sea.

When you inhale, the waves rise. When you exhale, the waves go down. The waves have their rhythm and movement—they come and go. Sometimes, the waves are rough, and sometimes, they’re calm. Your breathing is like this. Just as you don't control the waves of the sea, you don't control your breathing.

Step 2

Consider your consciousness as the light of the sun.

It falls on the ocean. It illuminates every wave, every rise and fall, every inhalation and exhalation. It illuminates every internal and external sensation.

Step 3

Consider yourself, your sense of Self, as a wooden boat floating on the sea, that is, on the breath.

Imagine that your sense of Self slightly rises and falls as you inhale and exhale. 

Act like you were an empty ship with no one on board. Imagine that your Self has no crew. Feel like you're drifting. Allow your inhalation and exhalation to take you out to sea.

Step 4

Imagine that days, months, and years pass. Imagine that, over time, you begin to disassemble yourself with the movement of the waves. Imagine how, little by little, the boat pieces start to move away from each other.

Step 5

Consider your thoughts as the documents inside the ship now floating on the sea.

And the sun is witness to all the dismantling. Just as it illuminates each wave of the breath, it also illuminates each sensation of Self, and each thought that floats on the breath.

Step 6

Imagine that centuries pass. The sensations of the Self dissolve over time just as parts of the boat dissolve in the sea. The same thing happens to thoughts. The only thing that remains is the ocean without beginning and end under a sun that illuminates everything.

Step 7

The final step of the technique brings a sense of unity and harmony. The sea, the waves, the light, and the sun merge into a single being and event, symbolizing access to meditative absorptions.

And that’s it. That's the whole technique.

The seven steps are based on the guided practices from the purification module of my Self-Mastery Meditation course (available for the moment only in Spanish). In the course practices, I used images such as moving water, rain, sunlight, mirrors, and other inert objects to convey some of the main aspects of Buddhist meditation.

In this technique, I used three elements that can be visualized simultaneously in a single image: the movement of seawater, an inert object—in this case, the boat that floats on the sea—and sunlight that illuminates everything.

The technique is not so much about imagining the visualization I describe as it is about acting out the elements of the image. If the breath were like the sea, how would it behave? If my consciousness were like the sunlight that effortlessly illuminates everything, what would it be like? How would I act if my sense of Self were an empty vessel?

When the breath moves with rhythm, like the sea, we allow it to happen naturally. If our consciousness illuminates like sunlight, then consciousness illuminates everything it touches naturally. If the self behaves like an empty wooden boat floating on the sea, then the self keeps moving serenely, without resistance.

The awareness of serene and natural movement eventually purifies our mind of our compulsion to think, distract ourselves, or seek entertainment in sensory pleasures or dramas. Emptying the mind of such disturbances makes it more open and clear. We access meditative absorptions, and we feel the subtle ecstasy and contentment typical of the practice of deep meditation.

The movement of waves represents not only the movement of breathing but also any other natural movement, such as the beating of our heart, the movement of our internal organs, the trees that move with the air, or the movement of our imagination.

The sunlight that touches each wave not only refers to the consciousness that rests on the breath but also the consciousness of everything to which our senses are exposed. That is, consciousness illuminates breathing, body sensations, sounds, colors, shapes, spatial dimensions, and all the mental activity that arises in our mind. It is a consciousness that illuminates all that effortlessly, just as sunlight illuminates everything it touches effortlessly.

The empty boat does not only refer to how we should see the sensation of the Self. It also refers to how we should view physical phenomena we use to create our identities, such as our voice, internal dialogue, individual will, and any sense of control over our body and mind or desire to control other people or external events. In meditation, all of the above is considered an empty ship floating on the waves.

What results should you expect with this meditation technique?

The goal of step one is to allow your breathing to happen naturally, just as your heartbeat happens.

The goal of step two is for you to become effortlessly aware of your breathing, your body, and everything around you.

The objective of step three is to abide in natural stillness, just like a boat floating in the open sea.

The goal of step four is to learn to let go of the Self, which doesn’t mean you deny or destroy it. You just let it go like you would let a paper boat go on water. This will allow the Self to change naturally.

The goal of step five is to allow natural awareness to permeate your entire body, sensations, thoughts, and sense of Self.

The goal of step six is ​​to allow the Self to dissolve completely.

The objective of step seven is to access meditative absorptions (jhanas), which are characterized by serenity, fading of identity, subtle ecstasy, finding contentment in nothing, unification with everything, and equanimity.

The more time you spend in meditative absorption, the purer your body, speech, and mind will be from emotional and cognitive obscurations.

Practice, and let me know how it goes.

Admitir que hay un caos implica que tienes que levantarte, moverte, interactuar con el desorden hasta que desaparezca.

Más molesto es hacer todo eso cuando no quieres hacerlo. Ordenas sin querer ordenar. Limpias sin querer limpiar. Trabajas sin querer trabajar.

Actuar así es como existir sin querer existir. Es la fórmula perfecta para vivir en sufrimiento perpetuo.

Pero quien no lo evita, quien no pone una sola barrera entre sí mismo y el desorden, se unifica con el desorden para interactuar de forma directa y personal con éste. Inmediatamente comienza a dialogar con él, a escucharlo, entenderlo, a sentir su malestar, su enfermedad. Siente el dolor del desorden, comienza a sanarlo con una compasión genuina. Acomoda cada objeto en su lugar, limpia cada rincón, balancea todo desbalance. 

Al terminar lo que queda es una habitación que respira sin obstrucciones. La morada regresa a su estado primordial. 

No hay resistencia, no hay duda, no hay reflexión. Solo hay acción. Quien tiene esta unión con su entorno ni siquiera puede sentarse a pensar si actúa o no. Simplemente la acción sucede. Así como un músico empieza a tocar cuando ve su instrumento musical. Así como un basquetbolista comienza a jugar cuando ve un balón y una canasta. Así como un dibujante comienza a dibujar cuando observa una hoja en blanco a un lado de su pluma.

¿Y cómo se logra esta unificación con nuestra morada? Entendiendo que uno no es un suceso diferente y separado del lugar.

¿Y cómo se entiende eso? Verificando que uno no posee existencia inherente.

Como dicen los maestros, uno es una ola del océano. El yoga nunca se trató de ser la gota de agua que se une con el mar, sino de simplemente saber que nunca dejamos de ser un aspecto del mar.

La acción correcta, en este sentido, es un movimiento como la marea, como el movimiento de las corrientes submarinas. Es un suceso natural que ocurre simplemente porque las condiciones están presentes: Si hay desorden, uno es la corriente líquida que lleva las cosas a su lugar.

No hay quien decide ordenar, no hay quien lo piensa, ni quien se resiste. Ni siquiera hay alguien que ordena. Solo hay una transición del caos a la armonía en donde no se puede discernir cuándo termina uno y comienzael otro.

Para que esta danza sin danzantes comience, es necesario estar dispuestos a estar aquí. Ese es probablemente el reto más difícil de todos. Estar dispuestos a estar aquí para desaparecer en el trabajo que hay que realizar. No es una mera disposición a ensuciarse las manos. Es volverse la tierra misma para trabajarla hasta dar frutos.

Hay que estar con lo que hay que hacer. Y el problema es que rara vez estamos con lo que hay que hacer. Lo cual hace todo insufrible.

Pero si estás aquí sin tener que esforzarte a estar, serás todo este suceso dinámico. Serás el sentido de este momento. No habrá diferencia entre tu razón de ser y la de este suceso que ocurre en el presente.

Si hay desorden, eres la transición al orden.

Si hay materia prima, eres la creación de la obra.

Si hay instrumentos musicales, eres la interpretación de la pieza musical.

Eres los dedos que teclean cada letra de tu siguiente ensayo, novela o poema. Eres cada flexión y extensión de tus extremidades enfocadas en esculpir tu cuerpo.

Y por supuesto, eres el producto final, aun cuando tus obras acaban en manos de alguien más.

Porque al final de eso se trata, de ser esta acción que transforma en oro todo lo que toca, para instantáneamente regalarlo a quien lo necesite, incluyéndote a ti mismo.

Admitting there is chaos means you have to get up, move, and interact with the disorder until it disappears.

It's more annoying to do all that when you don't want to do it. You put things in order without wanting to put them in order. You clean without wanting to clean. You work without wanting to work.

Acting like this is like existing without wanting to exist. It is the perfect formula for living in perpetual suffering.

But whoever does not avoid it, nor puts a single barrier between oneself and disorder, becomes unified and interacts directly and personally with it. One immediately begins a dialogue with it, listens to it, understands it, and feels its discomfort and illness. One begins to heal it with genuine compassion. One arranges every object in its place, cleans every corner, and balances every imbalance.

When finished, what remains is a room that breathes without obstructions. The dwelling returns to its primordial state.

There is no resistance, doubt, or hesitation in such a process. There is only action. Those who unite with their environment cannot even think about it. It just happens. A musician starts playing when he sees his musical instrument. A basketball player starts playing when he sees a ball and a basket. An artist begins to draw when he sees a blank sheet of paper next to his pencil.

And how is this unification achieved? By understanding that one is not independent from its place.

And how is that understood? By verifying that one does not possess inherent existence.

As the Lamas say, one is a wave of the ocean. Yoga was never about the drop of water returning to the sea but about knowing we were always a wave in the sea.

In this sense, right action is like a tide, like underwater currents. It is a natural event that occurs simply because the conditions are present: If there is disorder, one is the current that moves things into place.

In such a process, no one decides to put things in order, no one thinks about it, and no one resists. There is only a transition from chaos to harmony, and we can’t discern when it begins and ends.

For this dance without dancers to begin, it is necessary to be willing to be here. That is probably the most difficult challenge of all. To be willing to be here and disappear into the work that needs to be done. It is not a mere willingness to get one's hands dirty. It is becoming the earth and harvesting itself until it bears fruit.

You have to be there for what you have to do. The problem is that we rarely are there for what needs to be done, which makes everything unbearable.

But if you are here without forcing yourself to be here, you will become this substantial dynamic event. You will become the meaning of this moment.

If there is disorder, you are the transition to order.

If there is raw material, you are the creation of the work.

If there are musical instruments, you are the interpretation of the musical piece.

You are the fingers that type each letter of your next essay, novel, or poem. You are every flexion and extension of your limbs focused on sculpting your body.

And, of course, you are the final product, even when your work ends up in someone else's hands.

Because, in the end, that's what it's all about: to be this action that transforms everything it touches into gold, to instantly give itself to whoever needs it, including yourself.

Por más magnánima que sea tu fuerza, por más imponente que sea tu disciplina, no puedes ser un héroe sin un corazón que se regala cada momento al mundo entero.

Porque esta herida abierta en todas las direcciones es el heroísmo mismo. Este auto-sacrificio ofrendado continuamente al cosmos es la valentía inmortal de todas las eras.

Es el mismo arrojo con que una leona abandona a sus cachorros para buscar, matar y llevarles carne fresca. Es la misma bravura de un toro de lidia que no deja de embestir para sobrevivir, aunque eso acelere su muerte.

Es la misma frialdad del médico que toma decisiones en segundos para salvar la vida de cuerpos gravemente heridos.

Este corazón sangrante es la misma muerte del meditador que se sumerge gradualmente en la realidad incondicionada del universo.

Ojalá te vuelvas una bestia ascética mediante la alquimia del hierro, mediante el fuego purificador de las artes bélicas. Pero si olvidas prenderle fuego a tu corazón para usarlo como antorcha para iluminar el mundo, estarás condenándote a la terquedad más nociva de todas.

Serás un bruto más que inventará reinos sin sustancia en su cabeza. Un acumulador de poder embriagado de soberbia asquerosa.

Porque al final del día, para eso estamos aquí. Para vencer la esclavitud a la ignorancia abriéndonos el corazón y sangrando libertad total.

Haz la incisión en tu pecho y deja que todo mundo beba de ti. Hazlo sin miedo. Corta tu carne con la disposición a ser el alimento de lo que sea. Regala tus ojos, tus entrañas, tus añoranzas y todos tus triunfos.

La llave que abre el Reino de los Cielos es esta generosidad que no teme a la muerte.

Toma tu consciencia y afílala con rendición sutil y profunda hasta que se vuelva una hoja sumamente delgada, letal y transparente. Después, deja que atraviese cada fenómeno que toque.

Permite que le quite la vida a las intenciones perdidas y enfermas de tu ser, para que así florezca la Tierra Pura de tu cuerpo, palabra y mente.

Transforma el mundo entero en un corazón herido que sangra arrecifes, estepas, témpanos y desiertos. Después, mezcla tu consciencia con la luz del sol y permite que los rayos luminosos la lleven a cada rincón de la Tierra y así consagre la sangre derramada en todas las direcciones.

Quedarás exhausto, totalmente derrotado, sin provisiones que te den un segundo más de vida.

Está bien. De eso se trata. Si no estás dispuesto a regalarte, de qué sirve tanta vida.

No matter how magnanimous your strength is or how imposing your discipline is, you cannot be a hero without a heart that gives itself every moment to the entire world.

Because this open wound in all directions is heroism itself. This self-sacrifice continually offered to the cosmos is the immortal courage of all ages.

It is the same courage with which a lioness abandons her cubs to search, kill, and bring them fresh meat.

It is the same bravery of a fighting bull that does not stop charging to survive, even if that accelerates its death.

It is the same coldness of the doctor who makes decisions in seconds to save the lives of seriously injured bodies.

This bleeding heart is the very death of the meditator who gradually submerges into the unconditioned reality of the universe.

May you become an ascetic beast through the alchemy of heavy iron, through the purifying fire of the war arts.

But if you forget to set your heart on fire and use it as a torch to illuminate the world, you will condemn yourself to the most harmful stubbornness of all.

You will be just another brute inventing kingdoms without substance in your head. An accumulator of power intoxicated with disgusting arrogance.

Because at the end of the day, that's what we're here for. To overcome being slaves to ignorance by opening our hearts and bleeding total freedom. Make the incision in your chest and let everyone drink from you. Do it without fear.

Cut your flesh with the willingness to be food for whatever. Give away your eyes, your guts, your longings, and all your triumphs. The key that opens the Kingdom of Heaven is this generosity that does not fear death.

Take your awareness and sharpen it with subtle and deep surrender until it becomes an extremely thin, lethal, and transparent sheet. Then, let it cut through every phenomenon it touches.

Allow it to take the life of the lost and sick intentions of your being so that the Pure Land of your body, speech, and mind flourishes.

Transform the world into a wounded heart that bleeds reefs, steppes, icebergs, and deserts. Then, mix your awareness with the sun's light and allow the luminous rays to carry it to every corner of the Earth and thus consecrate the blood shed in all directions.

You will be exhausted, totally defeated, without provisions to have another second of life. It’s alright. That's what it's about. If you're unwilling to give yourself away, what's the point of so much life?