Patterns. Where does one start? They’re everywhere it seems–these life patterns! Astro Study and Dharma Study are both clear about them. I’ve studied them through the dharma talks given by eastern teachers but noticed them long before any formal studies. And the astrological study, you know planetary movements, has also supported my observations about patterns too–the same planet in the same place as it moves around the zodiac. Luminary Moon hits the same digs every month and the Sun every year and so on; each planet moving at different speeds but as they aspect one another, they tend to produce the same type of event or experience. The Facebook “On This Day” Memories application submits to you a list of all posts you made on that day and includes re-posts from that day in previous years. Patterns are clearly there from my very own posts blatantly screaming back at me, “Notice!”
Patterns! A head cold or medical issue repeating the same time each year, moving during the same month (sometimes to the day) in certain years–it goes on ad nauseum: neighbor issue, financial concern, trips with family, even weather systems which have not to do with my own personality.
What are these anyway? I’ve come to some thoughts to put down for myself and you too if you are still reading this. Karma! But hold on buster–not in the way most people think of the word. It’s only a word that means “action” and is a result of “causes and conditions”, some of which are not personal.
Better not to complicate this bit of writing (which I don’t intend to go on much longer here); therefore, best not to get into an explanation of the non-self. So, just sticking to the causes and conditions bit, accumulated energy will tend to repeat at times when conditions support it to do so.
Why does it repeat? I’m going to narrow it down to the undesirable parts–those parts about the personality that makes me cringe to think about them. Those patterns–that’s where this post is headed. There a good patterns too which we are creating in each and every moment actually, but . . .
Focusing further on the patterns such as anger at certain things or we could use a nicer word: aversions. I don’t want to deal with those anymore but causes and conditions accumulate to store those patterns, those aversions and surprisingly there are times they find their way to the surface from deep down in ground consciousness.
It seems that past conditions have caused me to react with aversion and it has become a habit, a pattern that has been repeated And it’s not been until my later years here (late bloomer), that there’s not even been a conscious connection.
Now I see the pattern or one could say there is now a ‘me’ who is aware of them and with that awareness comes the observer–this creating distance between the aversion and the awareness. Sometimes reactions still happen; yet, with the newly awakened awareness of the pattern which has become gradually more conscious over many years, those reactions are minimal and mostly internally worked out. This decreases any future punch that they may hold.
How to proceed? Its a matter of creating new causes and conditions and not taking the old karma personal. When the aversion arises, one can realize that it comes from prior reactions that have been stored — maybe not even from the current lifetime. Who knows? Anyway, its what this person (personality named Joy) has to deal with, but it isn’t me and isn’t personal and it does not really come from “now”–it arises from past causes and conditions (karma), remember?
What of it? The idea is to begin to create new causes and conditions, stronger than the old perhaps and certainly more imbued with love, joy, compassion, patience and the numerous good qualities and virtues we desire to embrace which increase our happiness and peace. New actions, new karma! And also the goal is to have compassion for the personality self. And by doing this we achieve the desire remain awake for the benefit of all others as well as the self here.
That which recognizes the pattern of aversion or even responds to the aversion has no aversion.
How to remain awake? Here we go! Back on the bandwagon about meditation. And meditation simply means being aware of what is going on inside one’s own head and heart. Not getting carried away by fantasy or letting thoughts drag you all over the darn place!
I do write newsletters frequently that include a lot of information regarding awareness and meditation since it’s a huge part of psychic development.
There. We’re at the end of the post and worked it out for us maybe. Yes? Well, no matter (pun intended)–gave it a whirl and gave the self a talking to at the same time.
Oh, here is a link to all those newsletters that were just mentioned: CLICK HERE to see this list of their links and you can sign up for the newsletters HERE.
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