We already have the good stuff. The inner work is to remove the pollutants

Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash

 

A calm mind is a peaceful mind.

 

This is the state of our mind when we are rid of all the neurosis. The big question is how to rid ourselves of the neurosis. Or to begin with, how to reduce it.

 

One model is to look at a human being as being “normal” when we have a bit of everything. A bit of the positive stuff, a bit of jealousy, a bit of depression, a bit of low self-esteem………….  We also have a bit of the good stuff, a bit of love, a bit of kindness, a bit of generosity……..

 

In other words, modern psychology tells us that we are “normal” when we have a bit of everything. That we are something that is fixed and that all the neuroses are part of us.

 

But the Buddha through his own experience (not through revelation from “on high”), and through his own observation and experience, made a radical and shocking assertion that all the negative stuff are adventitious. That means they are not at the core of our being and that they can all be removed.

 

It’s a bit like someone who has never seen pure water (H2O) does not realise that dirty water is pure water polluted with pollutants. The rubbish is not at the core of the being of the water. And any scientist can tell you that there are tools to remove the dirt and return the water to it’s original state of purity and freshness.

 

If we take this as our working hypothesis. That all our neuroses are not at the core of our being. They are only pollutants which are temporarily mixed up with our pure self, then we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It gives us the hope and positive energy to learn the tools needed to do the inner work to purify and change our minds.

 

I am curious, if we knew that the negative stuff is not at the core of our being, would we not approach every brand new day differently?