FIRST, TRUTH

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Habits - Kamandi

There is a Poison. 


It steps in the back entrance, when we aren’t looking. It enters in the most minuscule but problematic way. Once in, it festers. It grows in strength and effect, but not all at once. It is good at its job; not too much or too little as to make a scene and draw attention. First, from behind the scenes of our waking eyes and conscious awareness, it gathers its power. From the depths within, this virus in our human software programming begins to take control. It influences our life understanding. This automatically affects our thinking and mental processes. From our thoughts it moves to our speech, and from there to our actions. The web this spider spins becomes vast, very vast. Yet, if we know where to look, we can begin to take control again. 


That Poison is Ignorance. 


This Poison is debilitating, blinding us from seeing Truth. Ignorance begets separation, separation from our original state of Union. Separation breeds other poisons, namely: craving, anger, and delusion. From these three the web grows and spreads. Its influence reaches an encompassing level of effectiveness. Yet all is not lost, there is medicine. 


The medicine is Wisdom. 


Yet, before taking medicine we really would do best to find a good Doctor. One that is masterly in her/his Craft, is willing to help, and knows what particular medicine to prescribe based on the individual condition, needs and stage of affectedness in the patient. We can take medicine ourselves, yes, but the problem there is that we are not Doctors in the beginning, we are patients. Our state of suffering and discomfort, big or small, effects our decision making process. Honestly, we don’t know right away what is the best medicine for us. We may get lucky and stumble upon something good to get us going but it is not the same as having a true and good Doctor there to help us help ourselves. There are varying degrees and strengths of medicine, just as is the case with Wisdom. 


Wisdom is Truth, and the Light to see and know what it is as well as what it is not. 


Wisdom is not effective as a full cure immediately. Just as the Poison entered slowly, so is potency of the cure. Supplementing with wisdom daily, reviewing and reflecting on it, builds up our immune and begins to free us from the bonds and hooks of the Poison. They say a good Doctor knows and treats the root of the problem, not simply the symptoms. To see the roots and its depths, as well as how to properly and fully cure it, takes great skill and proficiency. True medicine here begins with seeing and knowing what is happening inside of us. This first step is to become aware of the problem: what is affecting, even controlling, our thoughts and understanding. Like any muscle, it needs training. And training takes time. The more we use this medicine, consistently, the deeper it sinks in and the stronger its effect. As the true Doctor empowers us with the tools to help us help ourselves, it is our job to do the work of taking the medicine. A Doctor’s motivation and intention therefore is to bring us to a point where eventually we no longer need the Doctor, and in effect become the Doctor ourselves. But before we get ahead of ourselves it is enough to let the situation we discover ourselves to be in, sink in. 


There is a Poison. Treat it. That is the first Noble Truth.