What if life was meaningless…

What is the meaning of life? What if there was no meaning? If there was no meaning hearing this at first may sound depressing but like everything else in life it’s how we interpret it.

If nothing we have, are or will do matters then what’s the point of doing anything you may ask….Well we can look at it another way too, if nothing matters then why sit around doing nothing? Why not get out there and just enjoy what life has to offer?

What’s the meaning of a bird, a tree, water, the sun etc? What’s the meaning of anything? What you will come to realise is none of these have a meaning, they like everything in life just are. A tree just is, a bird just is, they have no meaning yet they are. We can’t explain why everything is because life was always here prior to the language that describes it, language is just sounds, we are trying to use sounds to explain something prior to sound..

We must also remember that everything in life arises in pairs, in opposites, we can only know good if we know bad, we can only know darkness if we know light, we can only know self if we know other etc. if we never asked the question ” what’s the meaning of life?” The answer wouldn’t need to be searched for. All answers and questions arise together as well, no answer is needed when no question is asked.

So if there is no purpose or meaning to all of this should we stop trying to stop or prevent the worlds problems? Should we stop caring about our friends and family, should we all just kill our selves? No we shouldn’t. What we should realise is that life is what we make it, we should do what we are drawn to do without overthinking too much.

If we have the urge to raise a family we should, if we have the urge to live a simple life or a rich life we should, if we have the urge to become famous or become a monk we should. We must realise that there is no wrong of right way to do life, even if we pursue a life deemed to be ” bad” we must do so with the understanding that we won’t be punished for our sins but by our sins, if we go around doing bad deeds it’s bound to come back to us due to the fact that people we hurt usually seek revenge.

Life is an absolute mystery, we can’t explain why everything is, it just is. Even when we feel we are doing life wrong we must realise we can never do life wrong as what we are is the essence of life itself. We weren’t born into this world we were born out of it, our bodies are ” walking earth” we all have fears, doubts, success and failure, it’s part of being human, at the end of the day life only has the meaning we give it, so get out there and enjoy it to the fullest!

Thanks for reading, liking and subscribing guys, have a nice day.

Simon Coleman.

If we are all one….

” We are all one!” It’s a common phrase in spirituality but if we are all one, if everything is coming from the one source, why then does it not appear that way?

When I first ventured down the spiritual path I was fascinated about the idea of ” enlightenment” I viewed it as the point where my sense of self would disappear and I would feel one with all things, in a sense not knowing where I ended and the rest of the world began… it may sound crazy but I truly felt that’s what it must be all about…

Over time I started to realise that it can’t possibly mean that, if we didn’t know where we began or ended how could we experience anything? When we fall into deep sleep we are in a sense ” one with all our experience” in deep sleep there is no self, no world, no other, there is no reference point where we can say ” I’m here and everything else is there”

In deep sleep we experience nothing yet we still exist, deep sleep is the most peaceful state as nothing is happening, no time, space, self or world. We can say in a sense that it is the enlightened state. When we enter the dream state or the waking state though a sense of self located at a single point is experienced that we call ” I” this self has defined boundaries, we need those boundaries to experience everything we are apparently not.

The movie screen when no movie is playing is just a blank screen, no movie is playing yet the screen exists, when a movie starts playing on the screen the blank, undivided screen starts to appear to split up into countless changing scenery, people and things, it appears like a world of separation but the reality is the screen is never divided.

Now back to our experience , if deep sleep is the ” movie screen” of our life and when the waking state or dream state emerges we start to experience a body, a world, time and space, self and other etc then we must come to realise that all this separation is just an illusion.

The movie screen can exist without the movie , but the movie can’t exist without the screen.

Our true self, pure consciousness, can exist without the the world but the world can’t exist without us.

We don’t appear within the world, the world appears within us, and by us I mean all reality is coming from the one source and you are that reality, the self we mistake ourself to be can be likened to a character in a movie. When we realise what we truly are the world still looks exactly the same, it appears separate the only difference is we stop believing it’s separate, lucid dreaming, the experience of realising you are dreaming while dreaming would be a close example.

” Enlightenment” once this is realised, doesn’t become something that we try to obtain or transform into, it becomes the process of seeing through the stories and illusions we and others tell us. How the world appears never changes we just stop believing in appearances.

The way we perceive this world is ultimately inverted, we experience time because we are timeless, we experience space because we are dimensionless, we experience separation because we are one, life is the ultimate paradox and our ego minds can’t comprehend a paradox, it can only understand opposites yet opposites are always one.

You are much greater than you think, all that’s required to realise it.

Thanks for reading,

Simon Coleman.

Appreciating “ Now”

No matter what situation we find ourselves in life we always have a tendency to want it to be better. If we are flat broke, struggling to make ends meet and not knowing where our next meal is coming from then we would be craving drastic changes, in that situation money would bring us more happiness, but once the necessities are taken care of, happiness doesn’t increase with the rate of money we accumulate.

Even people that can get the best in life or have a stress free life still will want something better for themselves in regards to their relationship, physical appearance, monetary status etc. So if after we are secure in the basics ( a roof over our head and consistent food and water) why then can we still feel unhappy no matter how successful we become?

We get good at what we practice. If we practice using this moment as a constant stepping stone towards something better in the future that never comes, we get good at living in our minds, we get good at telling ourselves ” I’ll be happy when this or that happens” on the flip side, if we practice using this moment as a chance to stop and appreciate what we already have, to realise how far we have already come, to realise what a miracle it is even to know we are alive, then we get good at living and appreciating the present moment which is the only moment we ever have.

Learning to live simply, learning to live in appreciation is so important. If we can master the art of being happy with what we have and appreciating what we have, in time it becomes a habit. ” If everyone was just sitting around being happy with what they have how would the world progress forward?” You might ask.

Striving for a better life, striving for greatness isn’t in conflict with appreciating what we already have, in fact plans are best suited for those that live in the moment not live in their heads. Any goal we set out to achieve, the goal itself happens pretty fast, you get the million dollars you wanted, the university degree, the dream partner, the perfect body etc the act of receiving or obtaining the goal is over in an instant. What isn’t instant though is the daily grind over many years to achieve that successful moment in time, to achieve anything really means a lot of repetition, failures and boredom.

Anyone who has achieved anything will tell you enjoying the journey as much as the destination is so important, we need to do it because we love the process, if we don’t love the process we will eventually give up on the goal. So how do we learn to love the process? Loving the process comes from loving and appreciating the moment. Like I said earlier if we can master the art of being happy with simplicity and make that our foundation, we then will have a solid base from which to build and strive for a better future. If we are constantly miserable or unappreciative of what we have we tend to become impulsive, short sighted and make wrong decisions which ironically tends to make our lives worse not better.

99% of our lives is mundane and uneventful, the big events spike our happiness for a short time but we always return back to our baseline general feeling pretty quickly. Mastering the art of appreciating the uneventful, repetitive and boring means mastering the art of living, life isn’t a Facebook or Instagram profile. Striving for success and self improvement isn’t a bad thing, in fact it’s a good thing, to be human is to strive towards a goal, but to achieve the goal successfully means we must always appreciate and fall in love with the the process, with the moment, it’s the only way to live a balanced, happy, peaceful life.

My thoughts anyway,

Thanks for reading, liking and subscribing guys, I really appreciate expressing my thoughts on this blog and that their are people that enjoy reading it, until next time take care.

Simon Coleman.

Don’t play the victim.

It’s so easy to blame others for problems in our life. ” if only they did this or didn’t do that things would be different, my life would’ve been better…” In some situations this can be true, but many times what could have been is not always what would have been.

I was fortunate enough long ago to realise that when we start taking responsibility in our life we don’t feel like a victim, we feel empowered. Taking responsibility for our lives doesn’t mean trying to control things out of our control it means really making an effort to control the things we can control.

I’m never upset or regret external factors that enter my life, what I do regret and get upset about though is not living up to my core beliefs and values, I get upset when I go against what I believe in at which point I vow to improve next time.

An example of this is being too nice or people pleasing. I’ve found over the years that I’m quick to help others even when I feel it’s wrong. Often, helping them only fixes the short term problem but never solves their long term pattern of making wrong choices.

People get good at what they practice good or bad, if people get used to being helped out constantly they get good at being helped. People that help constantly also get good at helping.

The problem in this example isn’t with helping the problem is if it’s constant we aren’t letting the person learn for themselves. I’ve found in my life that constantly helping others even when I feel it’s not right is selfish on my part. By helping it makes me feel better in the moment but I’m stopping them from learning a lesson so they can change and grow. Also helping too much can cause resentment if you aren’t strong enough at times to say no and do it anyway.

Anyway, back to the topic. Playing a victim in life is not only unproductive but lazy as well. We can blame others for taking advantage of us or we can realise we need to say no at times. We can blame toxic people in our lives or we can choose to cut them out. We can blame Men being all about looks or Women being all about money or we can try everyday to be the best version of ourselves, mentally, spiritually, physically and financially.

Shit happens, that’s life, but every situation that goes wrong in our life, when we aren’t stuck in victim mode is a chance to learn a valuable lesson. Everything that goes wrong in my life for instance I like to reflect back and think what I could’ve said or done to change the situation.

Growth requires stress. If we want a nice looking, strong body we must expose it to physical stress, if we want a strong mind, better friendships or relationships or if we want a better financial situation we must step into and get comfortable with being uncomfortable, we must do the things we don’t want to do to get the things we want.

When we play the victim and blame others constantly, yes it’s comfortable which is why it’s bad. Everyday we must learn from our mistakes and we must instead of moving away from uncomfortable feelings and situations, be brave enough to walk into them. If we push ourselves in some way everyday either physically, mentally, socially etc, slowly, slowly we can look back and see ourselves growing in a positive way over the years, we will realise that problems in life aren’t there because life or God hates us they are there to develop wisdom and strength inside of us on various levels.

Playing the victim causes us to die in so many ways, taking responsibility as much as possible in our lives causes us to grow, plus it makes healthy and positive people want to be around us. People can sympathise with our problems but at the end of the day everyone has their own problems to deal with and no one likes to constantly hear sob stories especially about things that can’t be changed.

My thoughts anyway,

Thanks again for reading, liking and subscribing everyone, have a great day.

Simon Coleman.

Living in the present moment.

“Living in the present moment” is a phrase that all of us will encounter eventually when venturing down the spiritual path but what does the phrase actually mean? Many people mistakingly take it to mean living like there is no tomorrow, just enjoying yourself now and not planning for the future, this idea couldn’t be further from the truth.

Living in the present moment simply means to just be here and now with whatever we are doing. Happiness and peace are states of mind, a wandering mind is what causes unhappiness, a mind focused on what’s happening here and now is the most happiest.

Ever notice when we are with someone we like or doing something we really enjoy that time seems to pass extremely quickly? It does so because time is just a thought construct, the past and future are just thoughts happening ” now”. Our minds naturally focus on the present moment, focus on reality when we are doing enjoyable things.

What happens when we are doing something or hanging around people we don’t like? The opposite happens, our minds leave the present moment and drift off into thought stories about how we don’t like this or that, how annoying this person or situation is, how we could be somewhere else right now etc.

Living in the present is the key to long term happiness. Bad times and tough times happen to all of us but if we are to be honest with ourselves we will realise it’s not the bad events that makes us unhappy it’s the stories in our heads about the bad things happening or the stories of regret after they have already happened. The longer we are trapped in our minds especially with negative stories the worse we feel.

Making plans fo the future is ironically for people that live in the present, how so? We get good at what we practice, if we practice always thinking about achieving our next goal, always thinking of the future without enjoying the present moment we are gonna live our entire lives in our heads from cradle to grave.

When our mind is in seeking mode it’s never gonna be happy with what it has, it’s always going to be focused on the next achievement. To live in the present is not to not make plans or not have goals but to learn to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. If we must lose a lot of weight for instance, of course we are going to be excited how we will look when we achieve our goal but we must understand that success comes from repetition, to fall in love with the process of getting up every day, even when we don’t want to and just getting what we need to achieve our goals done.

Success is a habit, a repetitive habit, when we don’t or can’t live in the present and enjoy the process and the ” boring” parts of life our minds can and do easily get distracted and we end up not achieving our goals. In Buddhism the say to develop the gaze of a lion not a dog, a dog and a lion will focus their gaze on you if you stand in front of them, but throw a stick out to a dog and its gaze gets distracted and chases the stick, throw a stick out to a lion and the lion chases you, what they are trying to say is to develop a non distracted mind, the gaze of the lion, focused on the main goal, it’s the key to happiness and success.

In a world full of distraction, like everything else in life, going against the crowd has value, the majority are distracted with no purpose, so we must be not distracted with purpose. To develop this habit practices like mindfulness and meditation really helps. So to sum up, to live in the present is to live in reality and as far as making plans for the future go, we will only achieve our long term goals if we live in the present, we must love the process of achievement not just the achievement itself because 99.9% of achieving something is the process, and it’s going to be boring, repetitive hard work leading up to the goal so we better learn to love it.

Thanks again guys for reading, liking, and subscribing, I really enjoy expressing myself on this blog and am happy that people enjoy reading it.

Have a good day,

Simon Coleman.

The meaning of life.

At one point or another in our lives everyone, at least once will question the meaning of their life or life in general. Life and reality are a total mystery, whether you venture down the spiritual path or scientific path they both have explanations and theories how and why things are how they are.

As humans we feel we are seeing life and reality how it is but we overlook or don’t even realise the fact that only humans experience a human reality. As humans we have 5 senses, and the ability to think. Our five senses take in information and our thinking mind constructs a story about what’s happening.

A dog though experiences a dog reality, an ant experiences an ant reality, a tree experiences a tree reality etc, each life form has different senses and ways of interpreting reality so why do we think we have the ultimate view? When we question the meaning of life we are assuming first of all that we have the correct view and second of all we are assuming there is a meaning to it all.

What’s the meaning of life? That’s like asking what is the meaning of a bird or the meaning of a tree, or the meaning of the taste of coffee, all these things have no meaning and require no meaning, everything just is.

Whatever we have done, are doing and will do is the meaning of life, the meaning of life is to live, the essence of you and all things is life. The essence of a movie is the screen it plays on, take away the screen and the movie can’t play. The essence of all life is God/ the Universe/ Brahman whatever name you prefer.

There are no nouns or objects in life only verbs, only actions, everything is a process, everything is in constant flow and change but there is no controller, life is just happening. Our minds search for a meaning not because there is a meaning but because that’s just how the human mind works. Animals and plants, the stars and planets all continue to function without thinking or searching for a meaning.

Our bodies still circulate blood, grow hair and nails, heals itself when injured, our hearts and other organs still function without thinking, life is just happening, life is running itself, we don’t need to search for meaning in life, all we need to do is appreciate that it’s happening and that it’s such a miracle and mystery that it is happening.

” Man suffers because he takes to be serious what the gods made for fun”

– Allan Watts

The meaning of life is to live, we should strive for greatness and success if it’s in our hearts, we should be happy with a simple life if it’s in our hearts, whatever is giving us a reason to get up in the morning and make it through the day we should pursue but at the same time realise it only has the meaning we give it. The meaning of all our lives is just this, just this moment.

Thanks for reading, liking and subscribing guys, have a good day.

Simon Coleman.