Here is a story that Jesus told about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus:
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Did you notice any judgments in your mind as you read this story? Do you know what the root cause of those judgments are?
For example, imagine that you judged Jesus for telling a confusing story. Here’s what that root cause inquiry might look like:
Why am I upset? I am upset at Jesus for telling a story that seems to imply there is a heaven and a hell, eternal reward and eternal punishment.
Why does that upset me? Because I don’t believe in heaven and hell.
Why does it bother me that Jesus would tell a story about something I don’t believe in? I want all of Jesus’ teachings to agree with the way I think about truth.
Why? Because I am afraid that if Jesus’ teachings do not agree with what I think, my beliefs about the truth are not true.
So why am I upset? Because I am afraid the truth is not true, and this story triggered that fear.
You see, the way we perceive, all of the judgments we make and each of our upsets are about thoughts in our mind—typically about repressed thoughts in our mind.
Two days ago I recommended an audio in which I taught from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. In that audio, I taught from conversation #9, which is titled “Responses from Memory.” In that conversation, Nisargadatta says:
Something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed, but cannot be perceived. Perception involves memory. … Perception, imagination, expectation, anticipation, illusion—all are based on memory. There are hardly any border lines between them. They just merge into each other. All are responses of memory.
In this quote, Nisargadatta is making a difference between what we sense (see, hear, feel, smell or taste) and perception. In this case, perception is “a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.” Nisargadatta’s quote says the way of perceiving is memory. In other words, we view new circumstances through our prior judgments (memory).
That is what today’s reading teaches too. As the reading says:
All perception is thought within the mind of the thinker. The thought has no meaning of itself, but it is given meaning by the thinker. If the thought seems to have effects, it is the thinker that gives that thought any effects it seems to have.
What do I do if this story triggered my fear that the truth is not true?
Realize that idea is in my mind, and if that idea wasn’t in my mind, the story could not have affected me the way it did. Be grateful this false idea has risen out of the subconscious so that it can be healed, and give willingness for it to be healed. I need to avoid blaming others for my upset. I don’t want to blame Luke (the one who wrote down this story), Biblical translators, the Catholic Church or anyone else. If I try to rationalize my fear away by projecting blame onto someone else, I bypass my opportunity for healing, and the idea goes back into the subconscious, still a part of my psyche.
After doing enough forgiveness work to return to a relative state of peace, it is helpful to practice awareness-watching-awareness (AWA) meditation. In AWA, I have a direct experience of truth without mental interpretation. Following forgiveness work (like rest-accept-trust and journaling) with AWA is very effective, because nothing reminds one of truth like a direct taste of truth itself.
If the mind were healed, how would it see this story?
A healed mind sees this story as meaningless.
In I Am That, Conversation #9, Nisargadatta is talking to a seeker who wants to know what the truth is about the world. Nisargadatta says:
Take it to be a dream and be done with it. … My world is just like yours. I see, I hear, I feel, I think, I speak and act in a world I perceive, just like you. But with you it is all; with me it is almost nothing.
Why don’t we let the experiences of our day come and go as if they were almost nothing? Because of the judgments we believe, hold onto and reapply to new circumstances. In this way, we relive an imaginary past over and over again.
Note: If you did not listen to the I Am That teaching two days ago, but you would like to listen to it, you can listen at this link.
