What is reality? What is normal behaviour? What is correct and what is wrong? Ask in Israel what is reality to a Muslim and Jewish person, or ask why in some places in the world people eat insects.. everyone has his own truth because is what he has learned so far.
We born, and we learn (o better say “we intoxicate”) with knowledge. I do not thing that all knowledge is bad but at leat the 90% may be. This knowledge acts a filter and we no longer see the things as they are, only we see the things based in our values and prejudice “learned”. Will we be the same person right know if we had born in another side of the world? Maybe yes, or maybe no, depending how many “knowledge” we learned so far in THIS life.
Furthermore, we born with something called “natural instincts”. So initially we are not all identical, because we born with a pre-filter which make us behave in a special way. In other words, we are also “intoxicated” when we just were born. As some examples: women have similar patterns different than men, we all know eat and cry without learning and twins have initial different behaviours.
Scientist can say that it is due to our survival program which have been improved along the millions of years, defined with a genetic lottery. Buddhist can say that the behaviour that we have when we were born comes from our past lives. In any case, I think that the following equation is true:
- Actual behaviour = (1) things learned since we born + (2) natual instincs (or things that we carry from other lives)
Many natural instincts help us to survive, but… are they correct or useful? Rather I think that 90% of them not… as the jealousy, anger, planning the future or simple scratchy sensations (which maybe our mind is still thinking that it is due to an insect from the Neanderthal age). These natural instincs do not help us to see the reality as it is and only makes us suffer.
Therefore we should to remove EACH patter behaviour learned (in this or other lives) in order to see reality as it is: it is being empty and full of love. This is the most difficult task that you will undertake in your life because it is remove your natural instincts (or at least, see them only as a witness) which have been in your body for millions of years. It is do not react to your physical and mental pain. And it is what the meditation teaches.
