Absolute vs Absolutism

so I wanted to speak about what is the absolute versus absolutism so when we awaken to the miraculous nature of enlightened awareness our perception of reality changes in a very particular kind of way we we awaken to and become aware of what they refer to in Mayana Buddhism as a as the two truth Doctrine and the two truths Doctrine tells us that there is that the sum totality of reality that all of reality is made up of two levels of two distinct levels and two Dimensions distinct dimensions of reality one is reality and the other is absolute is relative reality and absolute reality and they're definitely not the same so it's only when we actually had the experience of Awakening to non-relative or absolute reality do we begin to perceive and recognize the significance of the distinction between absolute reality and relative reality there are two different dimensions of what is that are vastly different and almost completely unrelated even though of course they are related because all is water minus all but what happens is what happens when we become aware of these two dimensions of reality is we begin to see almost all of our experience of relative reality as part of a paradox with absolute reality we see everything as a dance between the relative dimensions of reality and the absolute dimensions of reality we see we see both simultaneously and each reflects upon the other and very unique and interesting ways it's a very particular kind of Consciousness capacity for Consciousness and capacity for cognition knowing and understanding that is very particular so I wanted to speak a little bit about the I mean I'd speak I'd speak about these stations all the time but so I wanted to continue to speak about these distinctions uh for this talk and particularly I wanted to make a distinction between the recognition experience Consciousness and cognition of that which is absolute and the dangers of what's called absolutism and we know that human beings are very susceptible to absolutism and absolutism is always a bad idea and it's very uh we weak-minded human being those of us who are weak-minded are easily tempted to attempted by the Allure of absolutism and absolutism basically means that you the way you see reality the way you perceive through reality the way you think about reality is is absolutely is absolutely right and absolutely true and Flawless and perfect and we know that uh eastern and western Western religions have been and continue to be plagued by absolutism that have been throughout history and continue to continue to be playing today for absoluteism as we also get played by absolutely absolutism in politics so absoluteism means my way of thinking my way of knowing my way of understanding my way of interpreting reality is absolutely the truth and anything other than my way of seeing my way or our way of understanding and seeing reality is less than the absolute truth is wrong compared to my way of singing and our way of saying so absolutism is very tempting because if you feel that your way of seeing is the absolute right way and you're seeing things absolutely clearly as they truly are no one else's or the others your group is and the other group is not makes you feel very powerful and very special and very important so so in our capacity for Consciousness and cognition begins to develop and deepen and evolve and complexify we begin to understand that in terms of the relative reality relative Consciousness and relative cognition Everything's Relative nothing we can't see anything a relative perspective as it truly is from the perspective of Multiplicity we can't see anything as a truly as well all we have is relative perspectives we can maybe gain many relative relative perspectives on one issue or one object but there's no such thing as an absolutely perfect perception of any relative object now the difference between relative and absolute in this context means that in terms of absolute versus relative the perception of the absolute the Consciousness and the cognition of the absolute is the Consciousness and cognition of non-duality or of a singularity of a Oneness so in the in the consciousness of cognition of that which is absolute there's only one and not two there's no this and that there's no different Vantage points and the absolute there's only one and when we see only one that's all we see and the absolute in terms of any way we Define it as a singularity and that which is absolute there's no Duality there's not two or three or four or five and ten or a hundred thousand or a million is only one however we Define it is only one and not two and we'll speak more about this but that which is absolute is a singularity always high and only in a singularity that which is absolute if there is an absolute which is which is a metaphysical definition of a god principle who and what God is then that absolute principle is a singularity is this is just singular always singular and only one it's never it's never seen in in light of any any other object or any other truth or any other dimension to reality it's simply itself in its totality and it's overwhelming totality and completeness so that which is absolute is always a singularity whereas relative reality is always a Multiplicity what's the difference between the one and the many so in the mailiness we see all the many different objects thoughts feelings and progressions objects that make up the universe we sell we see we see the multitude of things that make up the evolving universe that we're all that we're all find ourselves in the midst of and um in terms of this multiplicity or relative reality everything is relative there's nothing there's nothing that is absolute in terms of relative reality nothing is absolutely true now things that in terms of relative reality relative contributions relative cognition nothing is absolutely true all truths in terms of relative reality are partial and this is a very deep profound recognition and we begin to see them in the nature of relative reality is maniness and partialness there's no such thing as any absolute truth in relative reality Everything is Everything is part of a process that's in progress everything's changing all the time relationships are changing and shifting every and it's multiplicity in this infinite World of Multiplicity there's a relative reality everything that exists is affecting everything else that exists in multiple levels most of which can't even be seen so it's like living in a a complex ocean of Shifting Sands and shifting relationships that's constant and Unbroken was so what seemed to be relatively true one moment has changed in the next moment and shifted so there's nothing that there's nothing that's absolutely true and the complexity of relative reality everything is relatively true something can be more relatively true and less relatively true but nothing's absolutely true so so what happens when we wake into enlightened awareness which is the Consciousness and the cognition of the presence of this mysterious inconceivable undefinable singularity is that in the in the conscious recognition of this absolute Singularity we suddenly recognized the relative nature of relative reality in a whole new way because of all we're conscious of the relative world of relative reality we can't see how relative it truly is as we can when we wake into that the absolute dimension of reality and in light of this awaken to this absolute dimension of reality which is in this unimaginable Singularity said we certainly see relative reality you know all its relative nature the way we can't we can't possibly see the relative nature of relative reality from from within the Matrix of relativity it's only when we transcend The Matrix relatively altogether which is which is the vantage point of absolute reality that we can begin to see how relative relative reality is forgive me for repeating myself so many times but I don't know how else to speak about this delicate topic so so if we're interested in in the freedom of Enlightenment in the undeniable unimaginable glorious liberation of absolute reality which is what the Buddha was pointing to we become very interested in in having the direct experience of this mysterious Singularity that sets us free and it releases us from the bondage of relativity and it's very just various ways we can approach this kind of experience but that's so that's that's the way home or the way to awaken into the consciousness of Nirvana is by seeking to seeking to awaken this Transcendent by seeking to awaken to this transcendental singularity so we can have our our mind and our blasted wide open in such a way that I'll never return to the way things were before so so that which is absolute the singularity this is what's important about it what's important to understand is this absolute Singularity when we awaken to it when you become conscious of it it can be utterly overwhelming in its vastness and Limitless nature is everything that we can see taste touch smell see understand relative reality has a beginning and an ending relative reality is made up of countless billions of beginnings and endings in absolute reality there's no beginning and there's no ending there's no beginnings and there's no endings and so if our if we're used to living in a small South ego-centered personal context of consciousness and self where everything is relative and everything is beginnings and endings and we begin to awaken to the singularity which is now beginnings and there's no endings we awaken to an eternal in Eternal presence of some mystery that is not relative but it is that that's absolute it changes everything and it can be utterly terrifying enthralling intriguing amazing mesmerizing but very intimidating because the Eternal nature of the absolute is unqualifiable and cannot be cannot in any way conform to our lest and fully liberated Minds needs about the nature of reality when we awaken to this absolute principle which is no beginning and no ending the only the only plausible way to respond is to submit because there's nothing else to do in light of the enormity of the Eternal nature of the absolute all we can do is submit because the difference between relative reality and absolute reality is relative to reality is relatively real it's real but it's only relatively real whereas absolute reality is real but it's but it's absolutely real so there's a difference between that which is relatively real and that was absolutely real because that which is relatively real is not as real is that which is absolutely real and I know it might sound like a small distinction but it's not a small distinction it's forgiving for saying so but it's an absolute depiction so that which is relatively real and suddenly suddenly recognized to be merely relatively real in light of the discovery of that which is absolutely real which is recognized to be absolutely real so when you awaken to that which is absolutely real you know in a similar way to it in a similar way to what I've been describing you suddenly see oh I see that relatively reality is only relative but absolute reality is absolute so it has more substance it's more real it's more has more truth more substance yeah it's more it's more real so which world are you living in which world are we living in which world do we want to live in or whatever we are living where we're in touch with that which is absolutely real but we are we merely swimming around in a sea of relative truths and relative reality that which is really relatively real that's not something worth thinking about so without the Consciousness and the cognition and the recognition and the experiential discovery of that which is absolutely real there's no enlightenment Enlightenment is always only about that the The Awakening and the experiential recognition of that which is absolutely real but we have to remember that and yes so therefore the presence the presence of this absolute Dimension are the Scott principle changes everything forever and it's the source of Liberation and emancipation but we have to remember and this and this kind of experience can be very inconceivably empowering in terms of giving us a sense of confidence what I call spiritual self-confidence it could be overwhelming the sense of power and Clarity and certitude that is going to stop upon us it's amazing but um we have to be careful we have to be careful about about not about never allowing ourselves to believe that anything that is merely only relative is absolute because we need we need this absolute Dimension to stay in its own context in its own world okay we we to repeat what I'm saying we have to remember that uh that which is Mir that which is relative is me is always only merely relative and the only thing that's absolute is the absolute Excel not anything anything that can be distinguished separate from it so the the absolute is indeed absolute and we have to allow it to be in its own category which is ungraspable and ultimately ultimately undefinable by the relative mind so we have to we have to let the absolute abide in its own context and leave it alone allow it to inform and illuminate our mind and our Consciousness in our souls while another refusing to draw any conclusions about relative reality in relationship to it so we have to be aware of absolutism which to repeat what I was saying earlier means I'm right I'm absolutely right and you're absolutely wrong because in relative reality this just never is never the case as I was as I'm just repeating what I said before the relative reality everything is relative and partial just because just because everything is relative and partial doesn't mean it's not important are there not different kinds of distinctions that we can make in terms of significance in terms of what's what's what's more relatively true or less relatively true that which is more relatively true has greater significance than that Which is less relatively true but still that which is more relatively true still only relatively true not absolutely true so we have to be very careful in our experience of Consciousness and cognition and perception and distinction making and position taking you have to be very very careful because we don't want to make God make so many mistakes and realizes an inspired religious people have made throughout the ages and can continue to make today that which is merely relative is always only that there's always only that which is merely relative and to repeat what I just said is for clarity some some relative truths of Greater truth and other relative truths but there's still been the context of relative to the relative truths is still only relative not absolute so the absolute is a different context it's it's its own context of reality it can't really be compared to anything else because it exists in a different dimension the transcends and includes everything that everything else that we can imagine or we can experience or we can even begin to describe but in relatively in what I'm calling relative reality there's no such thing as absolute truth so we have to be very careful that we make sure that as long as we're dealing in relative reality there's no such thing as absolute truth while recognizing there is such a thing as absolute truth or the absolute which exists and always in its own context the absolute truth exists always in its own context but that context needs to be left alone and we never want to make them terrible and most dangerous mistake of confusing not confusing relative reality and relative truth with absolute reality and absolute truth so we can fall in love with the absolute and if we're lucky enough to awaken to the absence that we can we have the courage we can bear witness and Proclaim it the absolute truth and absolute truth and absolute Dimension to reality exists and it's experienceable and what's great we can Proclaim it to what the greatest to realize is our history declared was that was absolutely real it actually exists and they were right and they were very honest and they were truthful they were calling all of us to the same realization we can do that and we can do so with confidence and conviction and passion but to to continue to make the fundamental point on trying to make reasons never can we was never confused the fact that absolute reality is realizable and attainable with the relative nature of relative reality we never want to confuse these two and we want to be very careful about calling anything absolute except the absolute itself and this is the this is the big challenge for us there are many very intelligent sophisticated philosophically minded people who have spiritual interest but are very suspicious about anything anything absolute including the absolute itself uh and I feel bad for them because they don't know that the absolute or they have not yet had the kind of experience which would convince them that the absolute exists unconditionally and absolutely on its own terms when we realize that for ourselves it sets us free but we want to be responsible if we if we if we're lucky enough to have this kind of realization and we've become stabilized in this kind of realization we want to be careful I realize I'm repeating myself over and over again but I don't know how else to make this an important point so please bear with me that we can't confuse this non-relative absolute context or conscious experience and any other nature of reality relative reality we don't want to confuse these two contexts you want to leave them in their own in their own context and not confuse them so we want to resist the temptation to see anything in that's merely relatively real as being anything other than relatively real so absolutism is very is very it's a very dangerous road to walk down and it leads to violence and to Madness into wrong choices that lead to enormous suffering and delusion so we have to be aware of absolutism and many people who are aware of the dangers of absolutism unfortunately feel wary not only of absolutism but of the of the absolute itself this is part of the problem because many people have many smart intelligent people are very afraid of absolutism understandably and reasonably and rationally there is an unnecessary skepticism and fear about it about the absolute itself we mustn't confuse those two either the absolute exists but just because the absolute exists and because we have had the Good Fortune to experience it and to know it and to experience Liberation as a result we still have to really resist the temptation the an exuberance that can be so compelling by becoming an absolutist and because in relative reality everything is partial and relative absolutism doesn't make any sense it's only relative reality and therefore to repeat what I was saying before in relative reality there's relative truth and some relative truths are more true than others so some relative truths have greater truth than other relative truths but that doesn't mean that doesn't leave any room for absolute truth I hope I'm being clear I don't know if I am I'm trying my best this is delicate stuff in in post-modernism very very sophisticated post-modern thinkers fine any notion of anything absolute is being inherently terrifying because they're because they because I'm again I'm repeating what I'm saying a few minutes ago but um they feel that that any mention of that which is absolute is yet another form of absolutism which is apparently dangerous and I'm and I and I I don't believe that I don't believe that's true at all we can have an intimate knowledge experience and understanding of the nature of that which is absolute without succumbing to absolutism declaring that the absolute exists and is the deepest dimension of reality which is called non-duality doesn't inherently in any way imply that we're absolutists so this is It's a delicate balance that we have to learn learn how to to practice and to engage with because absolutism can sneak into a sense of intelligent person's mind and cognitive process without them even knowing it this is why for example most Enlightenment teachers and also philosophers will always caution us about being too sure of anything and about the need to always always be more interested in what we don't already know that when we do already know to be to leave always to always leave enormous room inside ourselves for what we don't because what we don't know and for what's not obvious to us so as a way to protect ourselves from absolutism this is something as many of you know I repeat very very often we need to leave enormous room inside our consciousness and experience of cognition need to leave and always leave enormous room inside ourselves for what we don't already already know it's always leaving an enormous room inside ourselves for what we do not already know and this can help to protect us from even suddenly becoming an absolutist without even being aware of it another attempt at The Temptations of absolutism are are many and it's obvious because if you absolutism as a metaphysician in relationship to Concepts ideas beliefs and true Thriller imagined relieves us of insecurity if you if you feel you know something that's absolutely true if you feel you're absolutely right it frees you from the insecurity of not being sure and it takes a very spiritually it takes a very spiritually mature strong adult to be able to resist the temptation to be asked to see to see themselves as being absolutely right to believing in their own certainty with a little bit too much certainty so how can we happen to the question here would be how can we how can we how can we develop spiritual self-confidence without the dangerous certainty of absolutism polluting our Consciousness and our cognition and that's not an easy thing to do especially if we have powerful spiritual experiences they can easily make us drunk on our uncertainty this can pump up the EGO and she must make us feel very make us feel very powerful and sure of ourselves too powerful and too sure of ourselves and then we can begin to make all kinds of mistakes and the way we are interpreting our own reality interpreting our own experience because in terms of relative reality which let's be let's be perfectly honest is the world that most of us live in 99 of the time in terms of our relationship to relative reality it's very difficult to be absolutely sure of anything isn't it true in relative reality which is the world that most of us live in 99 of the time if we're brutally honest and if we're smart sensitive and perceptively smart and perceptible Minds we're actually really paying attention to the nature of reality as it involves in this really relative context we can see that it's very difficult to be sure to be absolutely sure of anything we can be relatively sure of all kinds of things but we can't be absolutely sure of anything and if we know we can't be absolutely sure of anything except that the absolute exists there will be will be in much better shape we'll be we'll be spiritually and ethically and philosophically in a much more trustworthy place so in a sense what we would in terms of everything I'm saying here what we would aspire to is um is an absolute confidence that the absolute exists because we have experienced it or are experiencing it however you want to put it so we want to cultivate this absolute spiritual self-confidence in the nature of the absolute from our own experience while being absolutely unsure about everything else [Laughter] we can be we can be relatively sure of all kinds of things but absolutely sure of absolutely nothing except that we're going to die one day but besides that we want to leave the door wide open we don't really know we could be right we could be wrong we could be on the right track and we could be misguided but of course all of us who if we have integrity if we have moral and philosophical and spiritual Integrity we want to do everything we can to make against to try and ensure that we're on the right track going in the right direction for the right reasons but there's no way to be absolutely sure is there and we want to have the we want to have enough spiritual self-confidence to be able to endure that kind of absolute insecurity while not falling apart most of us are very crude minded in this in the sense that we can't bear too much insecurity with others without falling apart and losing our way so do we have do we have the do we have enough spiritual self-confidence and enough self-confidence period to be able to embrace the radical nature of insecurity that's necessary in order not to get lost in absolutism but at the same time having deep confidence in the nature of the absolute itself and that's the hard work to be done that's I think with a lot of spiritual practice would want us all to be aspiring to and what we want us all to put into practice and so there's a beautiful Paradox here if a homer making sense to all of you'll help them be too difficult to follow but okay I hope you can appreciate this it's a beautiful Paradox that I'm trying to share which is the which is the outrageous audacious Paradox between absolute spiritual conviction and the nature of God to please crude language God exists unequivocally and absolutely doubtlessly and we know that she is more real than anything else ever could be always and forever we don't doubt that we're absolutely sure of it and everything else except her reality her truth that reality that truth is to be viewed with suspicion and skepticism always no matter what is what I'm experiencing is what I'm feeling is what I'm thinking are the conclusions that I'm drawing true are they as true as I they seem to be or am I deluding myself are there are there gross and subtle distortions that I am that are interfering with my ability to proceed to see clearly that I'm not aware of or am I so awake that I'm able to pretty clearly see them and conclude them in my experience and perception we don't know there's no way any one of us can be sure that we're seeing anything clearly anyway there's no way we can be absolutely sure we can think we are we can believe that we are we can hope that we are and I would I would encourage us to hope that we are we all want to help we're seeing things clearly God help us out we hope we want to see things but there's no way to be absolutely sure so if we know if we know there's no way to be absolutely sure if you know without any doubt that there's no way to be absolutely sure it can give you the inspiration to make that extra effort to check up on yourself and to look again at your own conclusions to looking again at your own strong feelings strong beliefs strong ideas you might be you might be right you might be very accurate right on the ball but you might not we we might not and this is always true it's always the case remember in relative reality everything's changing all the time nothing is static like the Buddha said everything's changing so in relative reality everything that exists is affecting everything else that exists and relative reality everything is changing shifting changing shifting changing shifting and moving so what seemed to be true one moment is not true in the next and then the next and then the next moment it's not the same it's not as it was before so in relative reality everything's always changing moving and shifting and we can't have to be sure that we're seeing everything absolutely clear anything absolutely clearly but do we have in our experience in Consciousness and cognition are we simply lost in a sea of Relativity which would be my understanding what's so similar to what it's what it is to be lost in some sorrow and lost in ignorance lost at sea hopelessly lost at sea with only our mind to guide us God forbid what a terrible thought or are we do are we do we see the sea of Multiplicity and relativity in the context of a background and absolute confidence in an absolute principle that never changes and it is always Eternal and indestructible so the awakened to aligned awareness would afford US that second choice and now we we're bearing witness to the Sea of Relativity where everything's changing all the time we can't be sure of everything and but there's a background and then this background is is a singularity and it's absolutely solid until the indestructible and ungraspable and unknowable by the mind and incorruptible and that in the end is where our spiritual self-confidence comes from there's knowing that seeing that feeling that every day so just to finish and to repeat what I've said on many times already we want to be aware of the dangers and The Temptations of absolutism in any shape or any form that it takes about yourself about another person but your group but another group a better way of thinking uninterpreted Frameworks be aware of absolutism and to repeat what I've already said absolutely makes us feel powerful makes us feel strong or stronger it makes us feel like we're right and when we feel like we're right we feel Superior and that is very tempting for the ego let me tell you so we want to be more interested in seeing things as clearly as we can we want to become more interested in clear perception than we are in being right good luck if we are if we if we are weak-minded and we're very very uh we easily succumb to the whims of our ego we're going to always be more interested in being right and we aren't seeing the truth and to repeat what I was saying a few minutes ago if we wanted if we want to have a closer closer access to truth in any form it requires us to embrace more and more insecurity which means we can't which means experiencing the insecurity of not being sure I think I'm seeing clearly but I don't really know I think I'm thinking but I'm not sure can you bear it can we bear the insecurity of not being sure not losing our confidence and you can see why we need a lot of spiritual practice and we need a lot of spiritual experience and a lot of higher development to get to that point where we can straddle both of those blocks at the same time without slipping and falling and drowning it's so easy to get this wrong difficult to get it right and it's it's impossible to get it perfectly right but what I hope you all will appreciate is the paradox which is the nature of the challenge here for all of us so in the teaching of evolutionary Enlightenment I have been advocating for many years then in relationship to everything I've been speaking about tonight about absolute absolute versus absolutism in my teaching I have been advocating that this is the safest meta position for all of us to take in relationship to the totality of the experience of human consciousness and cognition is in a position would be one of not I I don't I don't know we want we want to take the inner in a position of the meta position being I don't know in relationship to anything I don't know but I want to know if we can hold that Dynamic tension between not knowing and wanting to know it can help us to not make two not make as many mistakes as we might otherwise make about being too sure of anything I don't know but I want to know so in the not knowing sets is free from fixed positions 99 Cents the street from our fixed positions related to history or to ignorance or to anything else not knowing sets is free again and again and again and again and again now knowing sets is free over and over again and wanting to know is a place of awaken innocence and inspired interest in what's true but it should be a fresh freshly awakened innocent inspired interests and what's true uncorrupted by knowing better or by past experiences so I don't know but I want to know will keep us in good good shape philosophically and spiritually if we can put it into practice authentically but it's a delicate business because the ego the small self and Enlightenment circles what the people call the false self the small self the frontal self he's very invested in the way that it sees reality so the position of not knowing but wanting to know because it's very difficult for the ego to to pull up it was the Eagles terrified of being wrong and what's worse for the ego is not being wrong but being seen by others is being wrong or boy so it's better to be seen as being right from the Eagles positions better the ego prefer to be seen as being Riot even if even if you're not secretly that you're wrong so not knowing I not knowing wanting to now put this in a very spiritually positive spiritually helpful position in relationship to all of our experience we have the metal to pull it off this will keep us young spiritually Young and keep us connected to our own Souls uncorrupted innocence and will keep us connected to our capacity for growth continued growth and development even as we age and get more mature we can still be young spiritually vibrant maybe maybe much more than younger people who are can be very absolutist and overconfident in their opinions and beliefs so I've noticed it's amazing how sure of ourselves we can be when we have very little experience how much can anybody know by the time they get to be 25 not that much we haven't had enough life experience to be too sure of anything so I don't I don't know but I want to know is the meta position that we want to learn to cultivate and put into practice so we can we you don't need any help to do that you just need to you can do it on your own I don't already know but I want to know and you see even if you say to yourself I don't already know it opens up it opens up all possibilities in one second I don't already know to be in relationship to yourself in relation to others relationship to ideas to things that have happened in reality things that we've thought about in the future I don't know what I wanted to know it opens everything up and All Things become possible in a context it's very positive and helpful and in light of everything that I've been sharing with you in this teaching it's very much in alignment with something I've been repeating almost every time I've been teaching or as of late which is that we can along similar lines we can experience Perfection but we can never be perfection which is the same same thought we can experience Perfection and the experience of perfection away consists of capacity for Spiritual self-confidence that can be indestructible profound and powerful and liberating but we can never be that perfection you can experience that Perfection we can experience Perfection we'll never be able to be it which is kind of an unbearable truth because the experience of perfection is the experience of that which is absolute but in terms of being human body mind soul and personality it's all in relative context and and the body mind soul and personality can never be but it can never be perfect too bad too bad I'm sorry to disappoint anybody that crack you see in the mirror really is too bad but that's a to me the Paradox and the the tension between between me and being able to experience Perfection which is the promise of liberation and he and then the impossibility of being perfection which is the reality of this relative absolute distinction I find that Paradox endlessly compelling fascinating and interesting and challenging it's really the challenge of being human challenging being an awakened human being an enlightened human being is dealing with that Paradox and that unbridgeable lead between relative and absolute and just to finish to repeat what I said earlier once you have once you've awakened to an absolute reality and awakens in the mind of Enlightenment or enlightened awareness as I said at the beginning of the talk we can't stop talking about it we can't stop thinking about it we can't stop speaking about it because we've been bitten by the absolute and she has infected our soul so we can't escape from her and we all and therefore we always we always already know that she's more real than anything else could ever appear to be and if that's the case we can't help but bear witness to her presence here in this world me and she wants us to Bear witness because from her point of view there's so many Souls that have not realized who she is or that she's always here so if that's something we have realized and awakened to ourselves something we have to learn we have to be willing to Bear witness to in in the face of a disbelieving world and the disbelieving world these days it's made up some very smart people so this Paradox that I've been speaking about is the whole enchilada when you wake up and then I'm going to finish which otherwise I just keep babbling about this stuff but um if you look at it for the dangers of the dangers rely on either side of the either side of the equation there are some people who awaken to enlightened awareness to the absolute and then from that point of view they they deny that relative reality exists at all and they're wrong from my point of view because it's relative reality even though it's only relatively real it definitely exists and if it definitely exists then we have to do business with it we have to engage with it not pretend it doesn't exist I'm not trying to not ignore it because you can't ignore something that's real even if it's only relatively real so some people who are intensely awake to the absolute are in denial of relative reality and relative reality can't be avoided or denied since since it really does exist and on the other side of the equation we have relativists Everything's Relative and there's nothing absolute and they're equally wrong and equally deluded and equally misguided from my point of view so we wanted we want to hold these two in Balance we want to embrace the Paradox with as much Elegance sophistication and intelligence and sensitivity as possible not an easy thing to do not an easy thing to do but that's the task at hand and the goal to be accomplished and achieved every day by all of us who are sincere about all this because it's very delicate what could be more delicate than a paradox like this I can't think of anything