Monthly Archives: April 2010

It is X Only Because it is Not X

Language, Nature of Reality, Zen

X is a name. It can be a name of a person or thing or event or process. We all use names to identify things and people. But in the process we forget that they are simply names, not the things themselves.

There are different shades of identification. Some identification is stronger than others. One’s own name is the strongest identification. My name is Y but I start believing that I AM Y. Similarly I believe that my friend is A, my wife is B and my dog is D.

Other strong identification is with time. We actually believe that today is 9th of AUgust 2015, Sunday. The fact is that a date is only a convenient means to have order in our activities and planning.

The fact is that the name is not the person or the name is not the thing. We might say Hurricane Katrina, but that is just a name. The hurricane did not have a name. It was nameless all the time. Therefore, the truth is that it was not Hurricane Katrina. In other words, it was Hurricane Katrina only because it was NOT Hurricane Katrina.

This statement must be understood carefully. X is X only because it is NOT X. A name can be given to something which is nameless. If it already had a name, why give it one?

The Hurricane does not say that its name is Katrina. Similarly the dog does not say that its name is D. In the same spirit, even if I say that I am Y, you should not believe me because I am fundamentally nameless. So are you. That is why your name is P or S or K.

So look around you. In actual fact, nothing has a name. Everything is nameless from the beginning – all the chairs, tables, walls, people, are chairs, tables, walls and people only because they are NOT chairs, tables, walls, and people.

It is more true to say that it is not a chair than it is to say that it is a chair. Both statements are true but one is really true and the other is only conventionally true.

So if you can look at things and people as nameless which is not recognizing anything by its name – whether it is a tree, a bird, a flower, the sun and so on, you will attain the original mind, untainted and pure. After all, isn’t this what you want?

Does it Matter?

There are two outlooks that one can get attached to. One outlook says “It matters” & the other says “It does not matter”. But let’s look more closely.

When “it does not matter”… the ‘it’ can stand for “It matters”
Therefore, “It matters” does not matter.
Similarly, “It does not matter” matters.

Rephrasing the same
It does not matter even if it matters & it matters even if it does not matter.

So does it matter?

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Movies

Director – Alejandro Jodorowsky

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This is an allegorical film which depicts the process of spiritual search. It is based on Rene Daumal’s unfinished book ‘Mount Analogue’ and St. John of the Cross’s ‘The Ascent of Mt. Carmel’. The Holy Mountain is a difficult film since it is full of Christian symbolism which makes it incomprehensible in one viewing. Moreover, the film is not meant for sensitive eyes since it depicts male and female nudity, graphic scenes of animal slaughter and crude violence.

The spiritual path has always eluded description by either words or images. Therefore, symbols have been used by teachers or guides to direct the seeker on the right path. For instance Alchemy – the process of converting base metals to gold stands for the possibility of the transformation of man. The search for the ultimate is likened to a climb to the summit of a mountain overcoming various inner obstacles.

​The film uses these metaphors throughout. In brief, the storyline is of a thief who meets an Alchemist who along with seven other characters go in search of the masters residing on the holy mountain.