Dealing with the Past only from the Point of View of the present Moment!

There are two aspects that from the point of view of the present moment are worth dealing with in regard to the past to wit is forgiveness directed at ourselves and others and wise discernment of destructive elements and attitudes in our past behavior concerning once again ourselves and our fellow human beings whose results partially and temporarily can't be avoided unless experienced, forgiven, accepted, transcended and transformed through wisdom and insight, and the aspect of reckless and thoughtless repetition of past ignorant behavior in the present that we can avoid for the sake of preventing from new bad Karma to arise and in part from older ones to be ripened in the present. Any other approach to the past is mere delusion that is going increase our suffering instead of ending it; it is a delusion that can be summed up as the ignorant attempt to try to make the past better.  

Karma is not Escapism!

The essence of Karma is not a sort of escapism meaning to leave reality behind, but liberation from Karma by living firmly in the present moment of reality; it is not about the unmindful and unaware exclusion of painful and unpleasant experiences from our life through ignorance, but rather the wise and carrying inclusiveness of all sorts of experiences by study within our end goal that is enlightenment. 

Forgiveness is not enough for Spiritual Growth and Redemption (from Suffering)!

Whether we work on interpersonal relationships, negative emotions or our disposition in the world, we must always bear in mind that while forgiveness is a vital and very important factor for our spiritual growth and development, it is not enough to liberate and to redeem ourselves from suffering. Hence, we must understand and discern between wisdom and forgiveness, because being able to finish the unresolved businesses of older times, close all accounts from our past and to clean the table, it is still blind of insight and wisdom to prevent fresh businesses to arise and new accounts to be opened.

In that, by seeing clear the past as well the present, it is always wisdom that can finally liberate us from all bondages – from the past fetters, the present chains and the future handcuffs - while it is forgiveness and letting go that create a proper framework for wisdom to operate within and deepening itself for further development. To sum it up: forgiveness and letting go that are not accompanied by wisdom and insight are naïve and light minded; wisdom and insight that are not accompanied with forgiveness and loving kindness are arrogant and aggressive.

Discenment of Intention and Implementation through Wisdom, Insight and Direct Seeing!

Right and correct discernment between intentions and their wrong implementation in regard to other people through false conditioned concepts, beliefs, views, thoughts and attachments, is possible only with insight, wisdom and through direct seeing; without wisdom and direct seeing, we will simply follow our destructive patterns of blindly habitual conditioned reactions, which in a cyclic way, will lead us time and again to the same place delusion and ignorance, naively believing that happiness and the cessation of suffering can be found somewhere apart from our mind or true some external mediators, may they be from human or whatever other nature that we might ignorantly think of!

Every One is Heir to his Karma - Every One is Respomsible for his Happiness!

Once we can discern with insight intention and their implementation, we can transcend our ignorantly conditioned distracting attitudes and negative emotions and their correlating destructive behavior, while still corresponding and intervening wisely, lovingly and compassionated to the circumstances and various situations in our life on the level of deeds and actions in the context of co-mutual interactions and that for the benefit of ourselves and others. Then no matter what others do, our way to inner happiness will be always pawed with wisdom, love and compassion despite others actions and reactions, while it will be their way in to sorrow pawed with bad deeds and good intentions; in other words, each and every one of us is heir to his Karma and each and every one of us is solely responsible for his liberation, happiness and peace of mind!

Re-energizing and Reversing Emotional Burnout and Mental Exhaution!

Immorality rooted in ignorance and delusion affecting our life's course through reckless conduct and behavior that is heavily influenced and motivated by negative emotions and thus giving rise in the future to bad Karma, is one of the more vital causes that lead at the end to an emotional and mental suffering, often culminating in exhaustion and burnout. While most of the time we ignorantly blame others for our unhappiness and dissatisfaction in life, we then misunderstand and miss the basic truth that happiness is nowhere to be find apart from our own mind. Being unable to see this truth becomes than major reason for the whole mass of suffering that we undergo! Being then deluded too long, fighting ignorantly the truth and chasing hedonistically delusions, we undergo one day, when we have dwelled enough in that dark kind of negativity, an emotional as well as mental burnout. This is what the Buddha described as sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair and distress – all of them forming different types and kinds of Dukka (=suffering). On the contrary, reversing the process leading to exhaustion and burnout, emotionally as well as mentally, it is our own wisdom, constructive, moral and wholesome conduct that leads to happiness and the cessation of suffering. Hence, whether it is suffering or happiness, both of them are mind made and solely the result of our own delusion or wisdom, aversion or love or greed and generosity including their almost un-endless derivatives. Consequently, immorality, ignorance and the lack of mindfulness, meditation and mental purification through study (Bhavana), are the sure way to suffering and recycling in Samsara; on the other hand, morality, wisdom and meditation (Bhavana) is therefore the threefold division of the noble eightfold path taught by the Buddha to liberation and freedom from all suffering.  

Dealing with Fear with Wisdom and Love!

The path of dealing and working with fear is basically about the wisdom of opening our hearts as well as the compassion of understanding and honoring them rather than the delusion of blindly hating or fighting them or on the contrary the ignorance of stupidly believing and acting on them.

The Path of Transforming Fears!

For being able to work and transform our fears we have to cultivate both, wisdom and compassion, to wit is also insight and love. We need wisdom and insight to understand fear's nature and insight to cut through our own veils of attachment and ignorance that underlies it. We then need love and compassion for being able to apply our wisdom for the benefit of ourselves and others. 

The Middle Path To Fearlessness!

Between the two extremes of hating and fighting our fears or on the contrary believing and acting on them, there's a middle path of being open instead of narrow minded, of being carrying instead of numb and rigid and of being wise instead of impulsive, attached and fickle. 

Gratitude Before Letting Go of Fear!

Although fears as an in-built mechanism of our discursive mind failed to provide us with the happiness and security we so seek, we have still to cultivate a sense of gratitude for that kind of mechanism that try to get us safety all along in Samsara, before we can let go of it and walk the path with wisdom, love and compassion, while discerning between the intentions and the wrong implementation. However, when we practice this within our own mind, we also train ourselves to apply this attitude in the external world as well. Hence in reality there are no such borders between the in and the outside. In other words, to be able to apply the same approach with our fellow human beings and even with difficult people in our lives, including our enemies, we practice the scenario first on ourselves within our own mind and "battle field". This is how the spiritual warrior frees itself first internally and then intrinsically also externally.

Ignorance, Negative Emotions, Imorality and Suffering!

Among the various and different causes which give rise to difficult feelings and further to negative emotions, I want to outline here three typical experience that create a huge mass of suffering leading eventually to emotional burnout and mental exhaustion. The first case is the one in which negative emotions as well as destructive mental states are caused among others by our own reckless and immoral behavior in the past arising in the present moment on behalf of the negative Karma that we have created before. The second occasion is that in which negative emotions can be triggered through an external agency, yet it is once again at the first place our own reckless and immoral behavior rooted in delusion and ignorance that causes the problem and giving rise to further negative implications in the future through negative emotions and Karma. The third situation is that in which the cause for negative emotions is to be found and bound to arise through reckless and unmindful treatment of ourselves. This at the end, , through negative implications and results in the past, will create a negative Karma that will ripen in the future and will give rise to a wide array of negative and destructive emotions. In all cases, when we dwell to long in their negativity, we become in the long run emotionally burnt out and mentally exhausted – a state that the Buddha has described as grief, lamentation, despair and distress. However, when on the contrary, we can develop wisdom to admit and to see our past Karma, when we have enough courage, integrity and honesty to admit it, then and only then we begin to work with our present Karma to free ourselves and to attain mental and emotional purification for our well being, freedom and liberation. Hence, immorality, negative emotions, ignorance and suffering are intrinsically interconnected and gluing together our suffering through Karma.  

The Simile of the Snake and the Seven Factors of Enlightenment!

A common metaphor that is used very often to describe the nature of the conditioned existence as being all pervaded by suffering is the simile of the snake. In other words, it doesn't really matter whether you grab the snake from the head or from the tail, in both cases you'll be bitten by it. This simile refers usually to the mutual correlation between suffering and happiness, whereas being temporary and conditions thus subject to cessation and disintegration, that which we call in our relative language happiness is in fact nothing more than another form of suffering.

Yet, very often this simile is not completely clear even to all practitioners, at most because one of the seven factors of enlightenment is rapture or joy. This kind of misconception or misunderstanding, seeing the simile as contradictory to the teachings on the seven factors of enlightenment, arises on behalf of the inability to see and incorporate both of  them into the whole frame of the practice, missing to see both of  them as two of the many building blocks of the puzzle. In fact, that which we label in our relative language as happiness is ultimately nothing more than a temporary cessation of suffering. In can be naturally from various durations and can vary in length from one life cycle or within the same life cycle itself, yet being temporary and impermanent it is ultimately never the complete cessation of suffering and the everlasting bliss we all dream of.

Nevertheless, there is nothing bad in that relative kind of happiness per se, as long we understand its true nature and in fact, when holding and maintain the right view of it, we can use it for our benefit in a similar way that we do this with the Jhanas. So long, there is no attachment, no clinging and full comprehension that it is a temporary and conditioned state of mind we have no full control over it, there's actually no problem. In fact, when those periods become longer and longer, we can use them to practice in a more calm and peaceful atmosphere. In fact, we do this all the time at the physical level and someone who experienced more severe physical pain than just the usual illness is quite familiar with that cycle. The big problem begins usually not at that level, but when our emotional and mental pain grows so strong that we begin to fight against and being attached to. This is the point when the simile of the snake fits perfectly in.   

The Dialectical Phenomenological Nature of Suffering and the Natural Process of Recovering from Samsara!

The process of recovery from illness already involves in it still the pain and suffering of the disease itself unless we have gone through and completed the whole process. Although we gradually gain a growing sense of relief and well being the more we approach the end of the treatment, it is only at the end that we can completely feel free and be well. To help us on the path, we can take this kind of observation of natural phenomena as illness and disease and the process of recovering from them, while using it as a strong and powerful metaphor to understand the nature of Samsaric illness and the process of recovery from it, hence both of them are basically similar in nature.

 In other words, to recover from Samsara we have still to expect and to be ready to welcome a great deal of pain and suffering unless we have gone through and completed the whole spiritual process of recovering from our mental disease and illnesses. It is true for the whole frame of the practice as well as for each particular cornerstone, which builds our suffering. However, there are two main obstacles, one at the beginning and one in the middle, that prevents us from undergoing this process from the start and if so done than from bringing it later to the end. The former obstacle is the inability to see and to admit the illness; the latter one is the fear to confront ourselves with the suffering, expecting it somehow magically to disappear in an instant.

However, to overcome this kind of fear, we have to realize the basic delusion and ignorance, in other words the basic cognitive dissonance and distortion, that underlies it, which others said is the fact that unless we undergo the process of recovery, we are going to suffer anyway time after time and time and again; understanding it we can then see the difference between the two kinds of sufferings. The former is that to which we were exposed before we have begun the process and the latter is that with whom we have to deal, when undergoing the process of recovery. While the former is suffering which leads to more suffering, the latter is suffering that leads to the cessation of suffering.

Thus we can also conclude that not only that the seed of suffering is already included in our suffering, but also that the process of recovering from suffering also includes the suffering itself. However, the difficulty of realizing and putting this insight into the practice is to be found in what can be describes as it's dialectical phenomenological nature, which at first sight seems contradictory, yet in fact is nothing more than the truth of non duality, another aspect of reality that must be initially realized, while overcoming the delusion of duality, and then as aforesaid put into the process of recovery.    

The Search for Truth in External Centers of Power and Hegemony as Basic Ignorance that Fosters Further Delusion!

"Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them" (The Buddha)

If in the past, one of the ways in preserving human enslavement was the prevention of education and literacy as well as fostering human ignorance and delusion in parallel, so in modern society human ignorance and delusion is cherished, maintained and fostered, although in generally it is possible at a large scale for a lot of people at different parts of the world, to acquire basic and even high education, by the cultivation of repression and distraction, which is embodied and incorporated in overloading our lives with un-endless, the so called "important tasks", so that we have no time at all at the end to confront ourselves with the disturbing faces of reality and the pressing issue in this context of our individual and social life. However, the conjunctive glue between these two tactics is the exploitation of work as to divert the human attention from what is really important. Thus, in the old version, work is used as a very violent and aggressive tool of social engineering by the various centers of power and hegemony of the ruling elite, while the modern version uses a more sophisticated and refined method in the context of the application of work as a part of social engineering and as for the benefit of the ruling elites as well as the preservation of ignorance and delusion with the same methods and the same purpose. However, both of these methods, the prevention of education at all or its application as with the purpose of overloading and cramming the lives of the masses with obsessive and compulsive distractions are but two sides of the same coin, they are nothing more but the two sides of the one and the same extremity and intensity, to wit is ignorance and illusion.

Either way, in both cases the result is the same: instead of serving as the basis for a higher spiritual development and in areas that are really important and worth of doing this for us, the application of work is characterized in modern society as a matter of fact by being a tool used by the elite and its centers of hegemony and power to prevent human beings in asking the hard question and to confront themselves with reality and its unpleasant sides and faces in a way that could lead to their liberation and freedom. In the very same way as work itself also education is used to achieve the same goal, hence they are of course very related and go hand in hand together. In other words, also in this area the goal is the preservation of the ruling elite's centers of power, its hegemony and the oppression of men. The meaning of modern education isn't without any shadow of doubt the search for truth, but in the encouragement of hedonism, greed and egoism. In this context, the university study and the academic degree is not used for cultivation wise and caring beings, but merely enabling them to earn a living and making them shallow, shrewd and ruthless. The modern education is not focused on the search for freedom, but on giving us the possibility only to obtain profession - the same profession, which later on will be used to turn us into obsessive and compulsive zombies, to whom repression and distraction is not only a method of decadent escapism and running away from reality, but also as a form of obsessive compulsive laziness.

However, historically science as a corpus of knowledge and its derivative of education was the inevitable result of the change in the hegemony between the ecclesiastical centers of hegemony and power and the newly arising liberal bourgeoisie in Europe, whereas science and education have replaced the older form of knowledge and traditional hierarchy. The same change of hegemony and the centers of power, brought therefore also to the abandoning and the replacement of one form of ignorance (the ecclesiastical) with another one (the liberal), as I have described above.  Science and academics as the representation of education in its modern sense, that is nothing more than her own creation and integral part of the liberal - bourgeoisie, partially and even to a large extent adopted also by its political, ideological and social rivals and opponents, is not used to eliminate ignorance and replace - transform it into wisdom, but as for a measure to monitor and control the masses, as being in practical terms subordinated to acquirement of a profession and finding a job, while at the same time serving also as a distraction in a way that will prevent us from asking the tough questions and confronting us with reality in a way that can endanger the hegemony of the ruling elites and classes. In other words, the centers of power and ruling elites are using education in manipulative ways and manner, while they route them to the path that is useless and meaningless to us. However, contrary to the usual view, whether religious or secular hegemony, power never reveals itself the true designer of wisdom and insight, but it is always the main factor of its corruption and destruction.

Either way, the sole and exclusive search for truth and freedom in external sources, which are naturally and inevitably always linked and subordinated to the centers of power and hegemony of that time, whether they are from religious, secular, political or from any other nature, that are also changing, are always partial, limited, problematic and unreliable, it requires therefore at the beginning first of all the observation, the study and understanding of the inner and true nature of the observer and only then it would be possible to complete the puzzle with the understanding of the visible and apparent to the viewer himself. This problematic, that is the hypocrite attempt to claim the understanding of the external world without having a mere clue about oneself true nature, is one of the basic cognitive distortions of human kind, an illusions that underlies our behavior or as Einstein called it "the optical delusion of consciousness" – an arrogance of human beings claiming to understand the world, before they have understood their own nature. Either way, this combination and in the right order of course, as explained right now, is the right approach to confront, tackle and work correctly for the solution of this problematic. However, mere external knowledge, as reflected in front of our eyes, without penetrating insight into our true nature as the observer of the reality allegedly presenting to our eye, is not nothing more than just elusive memory and it does not represent by no means any kind of wisdom and insight. External Memory without internal wisdom and insight is like an empty bottle - if you do not fill it, it is totally useless.

The Cessation of Idol Worshiping!

Not by head cover or matted hair, neither by lineage nor by birth, not by religious tradition or secular mindset, and neither by prophets nor by any kind of saviors, does one end idol worshipping. But in him – in whom name and form has been eradicated - idol worshiping ceases to exist.

The Dogs in the Cellar, the Hungry Ghosts in the Attic and the Scary Skeletons in the Closet of Shame, Guilt and Blame!

"The trance of shame, guilt and blame is an overwhelming and extremely dark dance of greed and aversion, of self martyrdom and hedonism, all of them rooted in ignorance and delusion"    

At its core the cycle of shame wields on the one side a source of concealments, secrets and taboos, the skeletons in the closet, while on the other hand it constitutes a source of deprivations and deficiencies, the hungry ghosts from the attic – two sources or two parts, which make up the one and the same source in which most of the time the deprivation and the secrets, the taboos and the deficiencies, are one and the same and thus while we try at the same time to get rid of our secrets and taboos (aversion), being busy in parallel to satisfy our deficiencies and deprivations (greed), on the other hand the attempt to feed our deficiencies with our aversive behavior towards the taboos and secrets is doomed to fail, whereas on the other hand it goes naturally quite the same. We try then in the same time to satisfy our deficiencies and deprivations and in parallel to get rid of our secrets and taboos, yet the attempt to conceal our taboos and secrets, which at the core of its very nature requires as preconditions to satisfy the deprivations and deficiencies is also doomed to fail all along. So, when we are caught in the trance of shame, guilt and blame, we're haunted by the skeletons in the closet, the mad dogs from the cellar and the hungry ghosts from the attic; in fact we do not really want to nurture our deficiencies and deprivations, but we adopt the identity and act as a hungry ghost chased by angry dogs and scary skeletons of its own past mistaking the deficiencies and deprivations that are virtual and artificial in its nature with our true Buddha Nature; in fact, we have become the hungry ghost as well the scary skeleton and the mad dog ourselves. Whatever will be offered now it can never and in any circumstances satisfy us! This trance of shame, guilt and blame is an overwhelming and extremely dark dance of greed and aversion, of self martyrdom and hedonism, all of them rooted in ignorance and delusion; now our suffering is intense and ensured.    

In other words, at the very basis of shame as well as the combustion material, which fuels it, stands the delusion of duality and its virtual or artificial derivative of the allegedly battle between good and evil. Hence, in this world of ignorance and delusions and with the help of self denial, hypocrisy and dishonesty reality is bent for the purpose of falsely describing greed as an attempt to satisfy some imaginary and allegedly deficiencies, while labeling this as good. Yet, on the other hand while using tactics of projection as well as running away from responsibility, reality is bent through aversion and its related tactics, so that we can get rid once again of taboos, concealment and secrets, the mind's x-files buried in the deepest cellars of our unconscious, which we tend to define as bad. Thus, on the other more deep and basic dimension, there exists a reciprocal connection, aversion and the attempt to get rid of our taboos and secrets and the greed in combination with the attempt to justify it in reference deprivations and deficiencies as well as the even more deeper and latent connection between greed and aversion, in terms of fueling each other, there  exists in fact a constant deluded war between good and evil and all the links of the conglomerate of shame that blows and rips our psyche and mental well being apart. Hence, this entire struggle is artificial and thus there is anyway no good without evil and no evil without good this conflict can't ever be won and it only fuels more suffering and more evil. However, the solution is to be found in the transcendence of all the delusions including that of duality and the battle between good and evil that is also transcending duality as well. When we have eradicated all of our ignorance, greed and aversion and transcended all delusions, then we will find our peace and wholeness.  

However, the fearful skeletons, the mad dogs and the hungry ghosts are metaphorically aspects of our selves, of our dual and conditioned mind, that is build up clouds alike and consist of our defilements and poisons, of our skeletons, dogs and ghosts, just to hide and to obscure our true nature; yet, Buddhahood and the enlightened essence this is our true nature – the wisdom, compassion and loving awareness itself! The total recognition, the total realization of this truth, the direct seeing that Buddhahood as a part of our Buddha Nature as well as the ghosts, the dogs and skeletons as a part of the dual, conditioned and discursive mind, are all of the aspects of us, not some allegedly and imaginary counter parts or rivals as "God and Satan" standing opposed to each other somewhere in the hell and heaven, but non dually merely two psychological and cognitive forces of ourselves, one to be transformed and transcended (the dual mind with its defilements, poisons and impurities)) and the one our true nature (which is realized through transformation and transcendence), while recognizing that the essential goodness, love, wisdom and compassion is our true nature and everything else are nothing but temporarily and impermanent clouds that obscure and hide it,  this is enlightenment and Buddhahood. When on the other hand, we're still not enlightened, worldlings with mundane consciousness, then we falsely mistake the mind, the dogs, the ghosts and the skeletons, for our true nature and then fanatically cling to this false identity; in this stage, we might not only be haunted by dogs, skeletons and ghosts, but when things got extreme and out of control (which mostly happen to that or the other degree), we then also act like the dogs, the ghosts and the skeletons themselves; our behavior can be then be often "heavenly", but we are also capable in acting like the "inhabitants of hell".

A Culture of Shame that Breeds Obsessive – Compulsive Deficiencies and Imaginary – Virtual Deprivation!

"The culture of shame, guilt and blame is in giving birth to a decadent lifestyle, which is marked by the creation of obsessive – compulsive deficiencies and deprivations, which makes us to belief that there is always something missing, lacking, deficient and insufficient. Yet, what we have to realize is that we don't have to do anything to satisfy deficiencies and deprivation, but to reconnect ourselves to our unconditioned and endless source of love, wisdom, goodness and compassion that is our true nature"

The problem of the western culture of shame, guilt and blame is in giving birth to a decadent lifestyle, which is marked by the creation of obsessive – compulsive deficiencies and deprivations, artificial and virtual in their nature, both in psycho - cognitive as well as physical - material terms, whereas derived from the Christian – Judeo heritage and introduced into the secular – scientific narrative by philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau it stands in contradiction to reality itself as well as our true nature that is our essential goodness, love, wisdom, compassion and abundance – wholeness and that while based on the wrong and false view of our allegedly bad, flawed and evil nature, it makes us to belief that there is always something missing, something lacking, something deficient and insufficient strengthening and escalating furthermore the greed imbedded first hand in the three poisons alongside with ignorance and aversion. Thus shame, guilt and blame rooted in ignorance and delusion, especially the delusion of self - ego in combination with the delusion of deficiencies, scarcity and deprivation, is also a source to a lot of suffering and injustice on the social and material level and not only the suffering on the mental and emotional level, where it is first generated.

So after having been brainwashed to believe in the delusion of our allegedly bad, evil and flawed nature, being a derivative of the unequivocal message of the "original sin" according to the Christian tradition or "the fall" according to the Jewish heritage, it reinforces in us the feelings of emotional deprivations and false virtual sense of scarcity, while time and again it throw us into the senseless rat race of trying to redeem our sinful selves through work and a never-ending quest to show we are worthy to reenter the garden by undergoing and winning the competition of over working, over acquiring, over consuming, over achieving, over committing and through being better than other people, through getting higher status in society and if it necessary to prove so through controlling and exploiting other people as well. In this never ending quest to prove ourselves of being worthy of the delusion, we do not only try to control our mind, body, emotions and surroundings, but we also try to please others, whether those are fellow human beings or allegedly the nonexistent god creator, as well as trying to trying provide an answer for emotional needs through materialistic means and that by its very conditioned, dependent and deluded nature is completely impossible – a failure and a death foretold.

It is failure and a death foretold, because everything we need is already here; it is failure and a death foretold, because we have nothing to the than to accept ourselves, our nature and what we truly are; it is failure and a death foretold, because the deficiencies and the deprivations are also conditioned and although existing are more from artificial or virtual value and nature; it is failure and a death foretold, because through our delusions, greed and hedonism, we're doing nothing more than just adding more fuel to the fire of suffering, delusion and greed. However, we should always remember that even if in the most cases the trigger of shame s to be found outside, the seed of our problem is to be found within. Therefore, what we have to understand and realize is that we don't have to do anything to satisfy the deficiencies and deprivation, but to reconnect ourselves to our unconditioned and endless source of love, wisdom, goodness and compassion that is our true nature. Then and only then, we will be able to transform our delusions of deficiency and deprivation not only on the psycho – cognitive-emotional level, but also on the material physical dimension. It is also the when will be able to stop our suffering by transforming our mind and contribute to the diminishing of suffering and injustices in the world around us.  

A Culture of Guilt, Shame and Blame that Strains Disharmony, Dishonesty and Hypocrisy!

"Living in a culture that strains dishonesty and hypocrisy, we live in the west our first years of life dumping our hearts with guilt, shame and blame; we then spend the next period of life breeding anger, fear and anxieties, ending up turning our hearts into a junkyard stuffed with grudge, alienation, dishonesty and frustration. Having achieved nothing, we sink furthermore into self deception running away from truth and realty into materialistic delusions by overworking, over shopping, over consuming and over committing ourselves in an endless rat race, where no results lead us time and again to the same starting point of feeling ourselves even more inadequate, ashamed, guilty and blameworthy"

As every human being undergoes occasionally some periods of shame, guilt and blame in his life, the whole essence of our false western identity is built and stained by the feelings of guilt, shame and blame. They are no more just unpleasant and temporary feelings for us, but one of the most striking features in our emotional life, which from our early childhood have tainted and poisoned our psyche. Dwelling in that smelly swamp of shame, guilt and blame emanated from the western puritan Judeo-Christian heritage and overwhelming even the secular society and mindset, we've become alienated and separated through hypocrisy and dishonesty not only from our fellow human beings, but even from the very core of ourselves and our true nature. Then, instead of standing firm in what we are and by applying wrong strategies and false coping methods trying to present ourselves and to be someone different from whom we really are, we've ended up dumping our hearts with grudge, fears, anger and anxieties imprisoning our heart behind the bars of separation, alienation, segregation, isolation as well as emotional coldness and distance. 

However, behind all those events, there is a mighty driving force, whose striking point is that of the original "sin" or "fall". This driving force is the story of the Garden of Eden. Its message is unambiguous: we are evil and hopeless by nature, we do not deserve to be loved and to live at ease, we are always guilty and blameworthy, thus we always have to be ashamed; ashamed of (the allegedly) God, ashamed of ourselves, ashamed of our beloved ones, ashamed of our friends and fellow human beings; ashamed of everything and everyone; ashamed in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. This is the basic story that spoils our psyche and poisons our emotions.  However, as standing diametrically opposed to this agonizing message of the west and even if being though and challenging at the beginning, Buddhism opens for us a new horizon. It makes us familiar with our true nature - with our innate wisdom, love, compassion and awareness. It makes us familiar with our Buddha Nature and everyone has Buddha Nature. It is in other words, our essential goodness that is hidden behind veils and curtains of ignorance and delusion as presented by the different traditions of the west, may they be religious or secular as derivative of the specific religious tradition.

Anyway, living in a culture that strains disharmony, dishonesty and hypocrisy, we live here in the west our first years of life dumping our hearts with guilt, shame and blame as well as thoughts of insufficiency and that something is basically flawed and wrong with our nature; we then spend the next period of life breeding anger, fear and anxieties of all form and types, ending up turning our hearts into a junkyard and a garbage pile stuffed with grudge, alienation, dishonesty, hypocrisy, bitterness and frustration. Now, instead of dealing with our pain, grief and suffering, we prefer to withdraw into further suppression, self denial and delusion truly believing to be outlaws. We think that if we want to be back in the garden, we must first redeem our sinful nature and pay the price for the fall. The obvious result is that we want always to please others by controlling our mind, emotions and bodies. We want to control everyone and everything so that we can desperately win the love we so miss. What we really miss is to see that we are trying to get from others what we do not even believe to be able to give ourselves (and thus to others), while the others think the same about us and them self. Having achieved nothing, we sink furthermore into self deception running away from truth and realty into materialistic delusions by overworking, over shopping, over consuming and over committing ourselves in an endless rat race, where no results lead us time and again to the same starting point of feeling ourselves even more inadequate, ashamed, guilty and blameworthy!  

Why Mono and Polytheism are Idol Worshiping and What Makes Buddhism the Only Non Idol Worshiping Path!

"Not by head cover or matted hair, neither by lineage nor by birth, not by religious tradition or secular mindset, and neither by prophets nor by any kind of saviors, does one end idol worshipping. But in him – in whom name and form has been eradicated - idol worshiping ceases to exist"

 

Preface

One of the most famous accusations of monotheism against all the other spiritual paths whether they are polytheistic or non theistic such as the Dharma and Buddhism is that they are idol worshiping in their very nature. However, while this claim is true for the polytheistic paths, it misses two important aspects, which come into play when we discuss this issue in the contexts of Dharma and Monotheism, the one is that this claim does not fit the Dharma and the second that it hides the truth that monotheism itself is nothing more than idol worshiping. Maybe less in scope, intensity and implications than polytheism, but still idol worshiping with all the negative outcome which goes hand in hand from having this nature. In the following short essay, I will elaborate and show the idol worshiping nature of monotheism, while the reason for doing this is that by labeling the Dharma as idol worshiping, monotheistic traditions mange to keep away many potential converts to Buddhism in the West, while manipulatively distorting the true nature of Dharma. In this way, I hope to contribute to the discussion and the ability of many westerners to undertake a choice, which is free of monotheistic distortion and prejudices about the Dharma. I hope also that this essay will only provide those who think seriously about joining Buddhism with the tools to withstand theistic manipulations, but also Buddhists who are targets for such attacks.  

 

Any Belief in God Creator is Idol Worshiping

Anyway, in order to understand why a path, doesn't matter which kind of path, is whether idol worshiping or not, we have first of all to deal and set ourselves with the question and the nature of gods. The reason for this is that whether a spiritual path should be described as idol worshiping or not depends on the nature of that which is worshiped. So, when talking about the phenomena which stands in the middle of the worshiping in all theistic tradition that is god, so the striking features here is that this god must incorporate, embody or seen as a living entity. However, everything that is a living entity, in other words, everything that is alive, undergoes a constant change and transformation. As such, everything that lives is selfless and empty in its very nature and if it lives it must by nature also die. Moreover, we could say that by undergoing such a change and a transformation, such an entity must dies and is being reborn endlessly. Yet, when this is the case and theism believes that god is a kind or a form of a living entity, because it is hard to imagine that it would claim that god is death, theist are actually worshiping as god just a usual living being which they ignorantly perceive as god creator; something which is of course impossible. The only difference between monotheism and poly theism is in the numbers not in the essence. While polytheism includes in the delusion many gods, monotheism has taken all the gods from the polytheistic pantheons and formed them into one god.

In fact, what the monotheistic religions did was to take the various gods found in the specific polytheistic tradition and to incorporate them into the idea of the one god creator. When we would examine such a god creator and link the names given to him in the evolution of each and every religion to the various aspects, characteristics and features, we will find a full match between the name, the characteristic and the specific god as found in the polytheistic pantheon from which it derived. In other words, if there was for example god x in the polytheistic pantheon and he was responsible for doing Y and having, while performing this the characteristic of Z, we will find now all of that, namely the name of the polytheistic god, the deed and the characteristic related to them in the god creator as one feature of him. Simply said, when the monotheistic tradition will describe a certain deed used before to be related to the specific polytheistic god it will describe it in the same correlation as being performed by the god creator, using the name of the previous god, keeping to the same characteristic, but relating them to the creator. So, as said above besides of reducing the amount of gods, essentially there was nothing changed in monotheism and it is still the same idol worshiping!   

On the other hand, when one does not see gods as permanent, as creator of something or as having any relationship to mankind in form judging, punishing controlling their destiny and the like delusions and ignorance, but just as travelers on the path that are impermanent and can be reborn due to Karma in different forms of existence, in other words, as being dealing themselves with suffering and having to achieve their spiritual paths as every other living being, so this is no more idol worshiping, because one does not worshiping anyone. Those beings maybe stronger in some aspects of spiritual life than we are; we may also benefit from their energies and abilities; yet, they can't do more than this for us. It's not much different than the life in our realm itself. Being a physician, a lawyer, a psychologist and the like, one maybe has more abilities and can help a lot of people, yet having more abilities doesn't make those people spiritually better and if we seek an advice from them doesn't make us worshipping them. The same is with what can be describe as gods.

In the Brahmajāla Sutta, where the Buddha explains exactly the delusion behind the idea of the god creator, we can also learn why Buddhism is the only non idol worshiping path and all forms of theism are idol worshiping in the manner described above. Here's the passage from the Dīgha Nikāya No. 1: "Now, there comes a time, monks, when, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long period, this world-system passes away. And when this happens, beings have mostly been reborn in the World of Radiance, and there they dwell made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from themselves, traversing the air, continuing in glory; and thus they remain for a long period of time. Now, there comes a time, monks, when, sooner or later, this world-system begins to re-evolve. When this happens the Palace of Brahmā appears, but it is empty. And some being or other, either because his span of years has passed or his merit is exhausted, falls from the World of Radiance, and comes to life in the Palace of Brahmā. And there also he lives made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from himself, traversing the air, continuing in glory; and thus does he remain for a long, long period of time. Now there arises in him, from his dwelling there so long alone, a dissatisfaction and a longing: ”O! would that other beings might come to join me in this place!”, And, just then, either because their span of years had passed or their merit was exhausted, other beings fall from the World of Radiance, and appear in the Palace of Brahmā as companions to him, and in all respects like him. On this, monks, the one who was first reborn thinks thus to himself: “I am Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be. These other beings are of my creation. And why is that so? A while ago I thought, ’Would that they might come!’ And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings came.” And those beings themselves too think thus: “This must be Brahmā, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be. And we must have been created by him. And why? Because, as we see, it was he who was here first, and we came after that.”

 

The clinging - attaching essence of idol worshiping!

The next aspect that I want to discuss here in this context is a little bit hard to understand so that it requires a much more detailed explanation. So, as next I'm going to give quite a comprehensive explanation about the clinging nature of idol worshiping. Here, we must first of all understand that idol worshipping is in fact a defilement that is rooted in the three poisons, especially delusion and attachment clinging (greed) and unless one has eradicated name and form as well as the fetter of wrong view one has still to deal with the suffering related to idol worshipping which as most common outcome equals to the suffering resulting from destructive emotions. Yet, the eradication of this specific defilement is not a matter of empty slogan; not by head cover or matted hair, neither by lineage nor by birth, not by religious tradition or secular mindset, and neither by prophets nor by any kind of saviors, does one end idol worshipping. But in him – in whom name and form has been eradicated - idol worshiping ceases to exist. Religious affiliation, as some mono theistic religions claim judging other paths to be idol worshiping, does not guarantee the eradication of idol worshipping. As we have seen monotheism himself is idol worshiping only that its cults and rituals are addressing now one god instead of many. Buddhism on the contrary does not claim hypocritically that its adherents are automatically not idol worshippers, by their birth, lineage or religious affiliation, yet it gives its practitioners the tool to stop and eradicate idol worshiping, when they follow the Buddha's path to enlightenment.

However, whether it is an external image or statue or it is the internal image embodied through the hologram-alike nature of our brain and thinking process as well as in the context of form related and expressed through the idea (mental image/hologram) of ego-soul (as derivative of god), in both cases the idol worshiping in its nature is embodied through attachment and clinging to the form and misunderstanding the true and ultimate nature of phenomena being deeply drawn in ignorance and delusion. Thus even secularism and even science itself, when they are derivatives and are emanating from that or the other theistic tradition as well as especially accepting the idea of self or ego that also derive from the god – soul idea and the particular theistic tradition from which they emanated, is in fact a kind of idol worshiping. In that terms being angry is idol worshiping, being fearful is idol worshiping, being jealous and many more are idol worshiping as well. Moreover, we should also always bear in mind that the most basic idea of ego-self-soul, which the Buddha has defined as the root of all evil in the world, is the most basic and deepest element of idol worshiping. However, being the basic element of idol worshiping and a derivative of the wrong and false view of the concept of God-Soul, each kind of belief in God, whether they are many or just one, all of them are idol worshiping and defilements rooted in greed and delusion. In fact, it is only, when undergoing and committing oneself to the practice of Dharma that one can eradicate and purify oneself from the defilement of idol worshiping. To do so one has at least eradicate the fetter of wrong view (of self) and stop the attachment as well as clinging to name and form that one can claim the attainment of the cessation of idol worshiping.   

No Self!

There is no body, but only material – physical processes;
There are no emotions, but only emotional processes;
There are no thoughts, but only a thinking process;
There is no mind, but only psycho-cognitive processes of mental engagement;
There is no compactness of body mind, but only an aggregative and solidifying appearance making process;
There is no "person", but only material-physical and psycho-cognitive mental processes

The Generous Heart is a Selfless Vehicle for Happiness!

To have a generous heart one does not need to be involved, engaged or participate in any kind of affair. Yet, one requires the ability to let go, to detach oneself and to make oneself a selfless vehicle for others happiness. This is the path that leads to true and genuine altruism; it is as well the path that leads to freedom and happiness.

Detachment is Warm and Supportive!

Detachment is basically non involvement, non participation or non engagement. Yet, non involvement, non participation and non engagement do not mean lack of concern or apathy. A true detachment is warm and supportive; it means to be a selfless vehicle for the benefit of oneself and others, letting things to be done without expecting any rewards.

Fear, Truth and the Spiritual Law of Communicating Vessels!

When in a slow process wisdom grows and is stabilized, increases then respectively also the level of confidence and fearlessness within the familiar and the known and with them increases also our ability to deal with deeper levels of truth; however, when we get even more closer and closer to the truth, raises on the other hand the fear of losing the routine, the familiar, the habitual as well as the fear of the unknown, of helplessness and thus the lack of confidence and fear become stronger again and we shy and move away from truth and retract back into ignorance and delusion. The key to solving this false contradiction is to be found in honesty and integrity. Hence, when the practice is based on integrity and honesty, they are the tools by which we solve the two parts of the equation in harmony and bringing in slow and gradual process wisdom to realization and enlightenment in a process that we can define as the spiritual law of communicating vessels.

The Fear of Truth and The Truth of no Central Point of Grasping!

The fear of truth does not refer basically only to the knowledge of the truth itself, even not from its implications, but rather by the nature of truth itself as inherently lacking or having no central point of grasping. In other words, it's not only the world and our life that lack any central point of grasping, but truth itself lacks them. Thus not only the realization of truth means to let go of all the grasping, but also living according to the truth means to live without those reference points of grasping. It means the full opening to the truth of impermanence and the inherent uncertainty in it.

To Gain Everything, We Have First To Lose Everything!

The fear from truth is less the fear of knowing the truth itself, but the fear from a world and life that lacks any central point of grasping, which we falsely and ignorantly perceive as being a requirement for fearlessness and confidence in life. So, it is also essentially the fear of possible future suffering, supposedly caused by the loss of grasping, even though the truth is just the opposite in nature. In other words, it's not the fear of knowledge, but that the cognizance means the lack of grasping points. Differently, this truth can be described in the following way: to gain everything, we have first to lose everything. The fear of loss, whatever it might be, is essentially the most striking feature of fear. It is not necessary always to lose everything in practice, but at least having experienced the loss and undergone the process mentally. The Buddha choose the first option, most of us will probably choose the second one.

The Five Guidelines for Overcoming Fear and Attaining Fearlessness!

Following are some guidelines or attitudes that one should hold, when working with fear. Those guidelines and attitudes should be hold and maintained with whatever practice we work and in fact, because as a part or derivative of motivation they underline all the different kind of practices placing themselves very often in a subtle and latent position which very often stands only in the background of our awareness and makes it hard to recognize for us. Here are the five guidelines:

 

Don't be ambitious!

With being ambitious, it is meant both: not being ambitious in principle, while particularly in the case of fear it is twice as important.  Being ambitious contradicts the SAMSARA and does not stand in accordance with the Dharma. However when we deal particularly with fear, it is so, because ambition has the underlying tendency to get rid of fear. This of course increases both, the underlying latent tendency of aversion as well as the latent tendency of delusion (in reference to both, fear as well as the upside – down nature of SAMSARA itself), which among the seven latent tendencies of mind are the striking features of fear. In other words, the ambitious and competitive mind leads always to fear and suffering; the pleased and cooperative mind in contrast leads always to fearlessness and joy.

 

Don't be competitive!

This means not being competitive as a way of life. This of course is not restricted to only to some aspects, but to life as a whole. So, remember always not to be competitive as an overall guideline. It furthermore and especially means that you should stop compete with your body and mind. Not only that you'll lose anyway in this competition, you will maintain and probably increase your problems, suffering and among them also fear. Since, you have to experience in the course of such behavior loss and disappointment, you will inevitably also end up with experiencing fear, anger and all other derivative of suffering! Competition in that sense is as the same as ambition, it leads to tiredness, tension and contraction and at the end it will inevitably maintain and increase fear. Competition from any kind, whether with oneself or others, will lead sooner or later, to fear, anger, hate and suffering. In reference to the competitive environment, in which most of us live and work for their livelihood (or any other that shows familiarity with its elements), if necessary, one should renounce material aspects of life down to the level of voluntary simplicity avoiding degenerating wealth as well as paralyzing poverty; however, not living in a competitive environment, but such which still shows other characteristics that enhance fear, one should do by the way the same.   

 

Don't be goal oriented!  

Being goal oriented goes of course hand in hand with ambition we've mentioned above. As such, when misunderstood, this combination completely overflows us with fear and suffering through the body mind conditioning. However, ambition leads among others to tiredness (of body and mind) and to bodily contraction, all of them aspects linked, tied and familiar as well as related to fear. Thus when we are ambitious, even the body itself, through body-mind conditioning, will lead to fear. In the bottom line ambition will inevitably at the end lead through tension, contraction and tiredness to bodily and mental uneasiness. It means also that bodily easiness is crucial for achieving fearlessness. From here also follows that there is a requirement to balance everything that we do with relaxation of body and mind in order to attain fearlessness. Thus lack of balance and harmony contributes to fear as well.

 

Don't try to get rid of fear!

Trying to get rid of fear will always enhance as mentioned above the latent tendencies of aversion and delusion, whereas like with ambition it inevitably clashes and contradicts the law of cause and effect. Thus the result will be always a continuity of fear or even it's increasing. In other words, never try to fix or troubleshoot fear; instead, just plant and irrigate the seeds of fearlessness.

Be balanced and in Harmony with Everyone and Everything!

This summarizes in a way all the above approaches. Being balanced and in harmony with everything and everyone takes the edge from everything which might bring fear and anxiety. Moreover, it is doing so because we harmonize our practice with the laws of DHAMMA and its principles. By being one with everything, everyone and the DHAMMA itself fear ceases and fearlessness arises. However, the path is long and it is only when becoming an ARAHANT that fear ceases completely.

Pain or Joy - Love Your Experience Unconditionally!

When life's pain arises, love your experience unconditionally, without forcing yourself on it, letting it stay or go as it wishes without being needy or self pity; when life's Joy arises, appreciate your experience unconditionally, without forcing yourself on it, letting it stay or go as it wishes without being attached and greedy.

Pain and Suffering come to Town!

When pain, suffering and distress come to town, don’t banish and expel them; just soften, accept, open and invite them home!

Limitations and shortcomings are not a Burden!

Limitations and shortcomings become a burden for us only if we see them not as they are and attribute them significance and importance they do not deserve; if we don't take them for what they are not and stop giving them any kind of meaning, they lose their grip on us and become insignificant. If we will not give our limitations and shortcomings any power at all, they will not have any kind of power on their own.

The Arrogance and Delusion of Freewill and the Power of Unlimited Control!

The belief that one has freewill and unlimited power to control our limitations and shortcomings is as arrogant and deluded as the idea that that we have unlimited control over our external conditions and the outer world. In fact, we have very limited control, if any at all, over the external world and conditions, yet we have unlimited access to the unconditioned dimension of the mind, if we have only the motivation to cultivate it.

Your shortcomings and limitations have nothing to do with you!

Your shortcomings and limitations have nothing to do with you; they are merely the inevitable result of the conditioned life and existence; an unavoidable byproduct of conditionality and impermanence. Thus by misunderstanding their true nature, striving to become perfect, we do not only remove ourselves from our target, but we strengthen the underlying tendency of delusion and "conceit I am" by being unable to see and to set the path for becoming untouched and unshaken by our limitations and shortcomings. 

The Teachings of our Limitations and Shortcomings!

Our limitations and shortcomings are not here to embarrass or to torture us. Those limitations and shortcomings are not the result of being flawed, but rather the cause and source of our growth. They are here to give us some strong and powerful teachings so that we can learn and unless we have learned the lesson, we have to repeat the class time and again. However, if we hate or shy away from them, how can we learn the lesson and grow?    

Cutting four carrots with one knife!

Laugh about your limitations and shortcomings with other people and never try to hide them, cause laughing with you, they are no more laughing at you and because by making other people happy, you make yourself happy too. You cut four carrots with one knife.   

Man, Nature and the stream of Life!

 

Man is like the sea and oceans!

His life flows between the turbulences, the streams and storms!

He has to learn to navigate through life's storms and turbulences;

He has to learn to surf the waves as well.

  

Man is like the air and sky above the water!

He flows between the turbulences, the streams and storms!

He has to learn to navigate through life's storms and turbulences;

He has to learn to glide to safety as well.

 

Man is like the earth and mountains!

Like the earth and mountains, he has movements, quakes and storms!

He has to navigate them and learn to roll to safety!

 

Like the ocean, the sea supports you; like the sea you can also get lost there! Like the earth and sky, they can support you; like the earth and sky, it can bring about disaster; like earth and mountains, they can support you; like earth and mountains, they can bring destruction!

Who's Bothering Whom?

Whatever your experience is, remember that it is never the experience that is disturbing you, but it is you who is disturbing experience.   

Life's Pain, Life's Joy - Love and Appreciate The Experience Unconditionally!

When life's pain arises, love your experience unconditionally, without forcing yourself on it, letting it stay or go as it wishes without being needy or self pity; when life's Joy arises, appreciate your experience unconditionally, without forcing yourself on it, letting it stay or go as it wishes without being attached and greedy. 

The Cognitive – Emotional – Behavioral Fusion Of Wisdom And The Emotional – Cognitive – Behavioral Fusion Of Love!

When you cultivate wisdom, don't stop at its implementation at the emotional level. Keep going on and incorporate it in your deeds. That's the cognitive – emotional – behavioral fusion of wisdom; when you cultivate loving kindness, don't stop at its implementation at the level of mind. Keep going on and incorporate it in actions. That's the emotional – cognitive – behavioral fusion of love! 

Watch your view, intention and motivation!

One may want to become wise not for the sake of letting go, love and acceptance, but for the purpose of controlling. That's not wisdom, but smartness rooted in ignorance and wrong intention. One may cultivate love not for the purpose of altruism, but for the sake of being rewarded. That's not love, but attachment and desire rooted in delusion and ignorance. Whether it is wisdom or love, be watchful of your view, intention and motivation. There it is where it starts and there it is where it ends.  

Humility vs. Arrogance!

Not better, not worse, not the same – just different, that's the way of humility. Measuring, judgments, comparing and fault finding, that's pride and arrogance!

The Moments of Birth and Death!

The moment of birth is the moment of life's pain being reborn; the moment of death is the moment of life's pain being ceased!

The Unfolding Death and Life!

Dying and being born a moment by moment time and again, we are dying and being born from one life cycle to the other time and after!

Death and Life!

The moment of death is but a reflection of the entire life cycle left behind; life emerging from death is but a continuation of the moment of death itself. Life unfolding from the moment of death will most-likely depend on the way you have been living.

Death Is Only The Biginning!

Death is only the beginning of a new adventure, in a new destination, and that will be followed by some new ones time and again until we have learned the lesson of loving kindness and compassion and until we have accomplished the school of life to become wise and loving!

The Cycle and The Wise!

The wise abandons the cycle, yet he still resides in the middle of all things; untouched by any of them, he then abides in freedom outside.

The Cycle and The Path to Freedom

The cycle is painful, stressful and brings only distress and despair; to set you on the path to freedom, love the cycle from the distance and abide in the middle.

The Cycle and The Entanglement!

The entanglement in the cycle within the cycle brings nothing more than lamentation, pain, grief and distress; leaving the cycle within the cycle behind to abide outside and beside of the cycle, while residing still within and in the middle of the cycle, means to unravel the cycle and to get on the track to liberation, freedom and happiness!

 

The Cycle of Cognitive Distortion: How and what is Bending Reality in the Course of the Cognitive Process!

"Be mindful of thoughts, because thoughts become words!
Be mindful of words, because words become plans!
Be mindful of plans, because plans will become actions!
Be mindful of actions, because actions will become habits!
Be mindful of habits, because habits will become character!
Be mindful of view, perceptions, thoughts, words, plans, habits and the character, because they shape your Karma!"

Starting the discussion on the topic of the cycle of cognitive distortion, one should begin maybe this essay by pointing out the stepping stones of the cycle that creates the cognitive distortion and bends reality:

1. View: first of all, in the context of view and seen from a Buddhist perspective, we should note of course that right view is the beginning and the end of the path; it simply means to see and understand things as they really are. As such it is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to realize the four noble truths, to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. In a more general way, it can be described in terms of a wrong worldview and as such within the mundane consciousness it is an aspect of the defiled worldly cognitive process. This is the way one looks at the world/life/reality. This should also not be mixed up with perception; it is more a form of understanding as expectation (of the world to be, to act or to function in a certain way). In its generalized and worldly form, it can be described therefore as a set of beliefs lacking any empirical evidence rooted in insight through direct seeing of the world/life/reality. On the other hand, from Buddhist perspective, right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world (worldview) forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.

Furthermore, views about how the world, reality and life should be, lacking any empirical evidence rooted in insight through direct seeing, is therefore nothing more than a type of latent tendency of mind rooted in both previous and (the past events of) current life and embodied as a set of unfounded beliefs that are put together in form of a certain worldview. Each moment of experience is accompanied therefore by almost un-endless types of such views on every possible aspect, while there stepping stones are the three poisons and the five hindrances. From here follows that even before an object/phenomenon was perceived by consciousness, the three poisons arise in an unenlightened worldling already embedded and all together with consciousness, while in fact they precede the link of consciousness; an insight that is also supported by the ABHIDHAMIC analysis of mind. Therefore, even bare perception is not something one can really rely on as a matter of truth, for sure not in a worldling. The inevitable conclusion from here is that the cognitive distortion and the process of bending reality begins and is the result of our wrong views and especially greed and ill will (aversion). Moreover, in most cases and I would even say that always in all cases this type of wrong views are a type of unfounded presumptions.

2. Perception: perception is the second step in the cognitive cycle and is meant here more in the form or in a sense of an outlook (on the world), which take our worldview one step further in the cognitive process. This is the actual way to understand the world. As already said, perceptions are taking our view one step further in the cognitive process than the view, but on the other hand it is still a form of a latent tendency, whereas at the basic level of perception (remember there are different types of perceptions), it still operates at the level of latent tendencies, which means some perceptions as outlook on the world arise before an object is perceived by consciousness and all together with it; a fact that underlines the truth that outlook and perceptions are defiled with the three poisons and the five hindrances arising with them. This deepens and makes the process of bending reality and the cycle of cognitive distortion much more pervasive.
In other words, the worldling with his un-enlightened mind can never really trust his consciousness and the object/phenomenon/occurrence he feels, senses or cognizes. It is so, because in a worldling, when consciousness arises, it has already arisen with the three poisons and the five hindrances thus in an un-enlightened worldling, when consciousness has arisen the process of bending reality and the cycle of cognitive distortion has already taken its course and route. It can be less, it can be more, but for the worldling it is inescapable; the worldling never sees things as they really are. Moreover, the outlook in many ways and I would even say always a kind of superstitions, which arises as an extension, as a derivative and conditioned by the unfounded presumption of the wrong view/worldview.

3. Thinking as cognitive activity of mind
As we have told at the beginning of the discussion here, our views of the world that is our worldview form our thoughts and later our actions, as we will see immediately. Right view yields right thoughts and right actions; wrong views result in wrong thoughts and wrong actions. Furthermore, we can say that right view yielding right thoughts and right actions will result in happiness; wrong views resulting in wrong thoughts and wrong actions will lead to sorrow and suffering. Anyhow, this stage that is conditioned by the previous two ones has different levels and dimensions. On the one hand it operates at the level of latent tendencies; it has among others to do also with the obsessions, addictions and compulsions of mind. On the other hand, it operates at the manifesting level of our apparent thinking process that spans itself on the spectrum of the thought-action-behavioral fusion from thinking further to the links of words-plans-actions-habits-character.

Once this happens the cycle is closed and the process of thoughts-words-plans-actions-habits-character is reinforcing the latent forms of thoughts including the views-presumptions and perceptions-superstitions. The more we repeat the cycle, the more it becomes pervasive. In other words, the more we repeat this cycle, the more the cognitive distortion grows and the more reality is bent. Another important conclusion here is that understanding the process, we can point out the causes and the root of all conflicts, from personal relationships up to international relations among states and countries, and then applying the correct answers to end them. Basically, conflicts and arguments are arising because the un-enlightened worldling are bending reality in the course of cognitive distortion rooted in the three poisons and the five hindrances; in other words, based on their defiled worldview and outlook they see what they want to see, they hear what they want to hear, they feel what they want to feel and so on.
To sum the stepping stones of the cycle of cognitive distortion and the process of bending reality, we can draw the following table:
1. Views (worldview) – latent
2. Perception (outlook) – latent
3. The behavioral-thinking-action fusion (thoughts-words-plans-actions-habits-character)

3.1 Latent Tendency: the mind's obsessions, compulsions and addictions.

3.2 The manifesting level of thinking as cognitive activity of mind
3.2.1 Thoughts
3.2.2 Words
3.2.3 Plans

3.3 The thought action fusion (including the behavioral fusion)
3.3.1 Action
3.3.2 Habits
3.3.3 Character

The Difference between the worldling and the Noble Disciples in terms of the cognitive process
The next question that arises naturally would be: what is the difference between the worldling and the noble ones including the ARAHAT and a Buddha. Here we must state first of all as discussed above that the cognitive process of a worldling is defiled and can never be trusted. It can be less or more as we said, but one can never fully rely on a worldling in terms of the cognitive process; his views are always bent and perverted at that or the other extent or degree. On the other hand, all the noble ones have perfected their right view, which is the beginning (as well as the end of the path). They can see suffering as suffering and happiness as happiness; they can no more believe in a personal self; can't see any happiness more in the conditioned and so on. So, are all the noble ones the same or are there any differences? The answer is that there are different stages of noble ones; that they are indeed not all the same.

Here, we should make a division between the partially enlightened one – the stream enterer, the once returner and the non returner – and the fully enlightened ones that are the ARAHANT and the Buddha. In reference to the partially enlightened ones, so in their case although they have perfected their views, it is still not stable so from time to time they can be overwhelmed or shaken by old habitual thoughts and emotions, so it must be still deepened and especially strengthened up to the point that it becomes stable and continually. The partially enlightened ones have to face a reality, where on the one hand their views are perfected, but on the other hand other aspects of the cognitive cycle are not perfected and purified. Therefore, the partially enlightened one can experience for example still old conditioned habits of thoughts and emotions despite of his perfected view and indeed can be even overwhelmed by them. The famous example for this is that of ANANDA, when heard for the first time that the Buddha is going to die, stepping the aside and breaking in crying. After coming to his senses, he then said that being overwhelmed and reacting as the sentimental and attached being he felt as is the whole DHAMMA has left him!

When talking about ARAHATS and the Buddha's, so they have not only perfected their right view, but accomplished the whole path, which in other word means that they have fully perfected themselves. They are no more overwhelmed by anything; they are completely untouched and unshaken; they have attained NIBANNA. So, if both often have done this, is there any difference between them; something that can distinguish between the ARAHAT and the Buddha. The answer is that in terms of the necessary wisdom needed for enlightenment, its perfection and strengthening, there is no difference, both of them are fully enlightened beings, yet the only difference is in the depth of wisdom. While the ARAHAT has attained only the necessary wisdom for enlightenment or even more, he has not penetrated all what is to penetrate till the end. This full knowledge of everything, the full penetration of all things, the wisdom that goes till the end of all things, is the only feature and characteristic that distinguishes between the Buddha from the ARAHAT.

To sum it up, we can draw the following table:

1. The Worldling: Fully defiled in cognitive as well as in behavioral and emotional terms; one can't whether completely trust or rely on his cognitive process and understanding of reality!

2. The Noble ones

2.1 The Partially Enlightened Ones (the stream enterer, the once returner and the non returner): Cognitively have perfected their views (right view). Yet, it is still not stable. The right view can occasionally be overwhelmed and shaken by old cognitive and emotional habits. Must practice until they have fully deepened and strengthened everything and until they have fully perfected themselves and became ARAHATS.

2.2 The Fully Enlightened Ones: Have perfected and stabilized everything. The only difference is that the Buddha has penetrated with wisdom all things to the end.

Examples
Now, after we have understood how it works in a general way, let's look at two concrete examples. For this purpose, let's take a man who suffers from anxiety. Such a man has of course a certain view of fear and anxiety and it is something one has through conditioning even if not having any problem with fear at all. In other words, we can say that, while all of us are holding a certain unfounded presumption of fear, for the man with the problem of fear and anxiety it becomes even a greater obstacle and problem. Furthermore, if going one step further such a man has also a perception of fear that is in fact a superstition. Anyway, in this man, when facing fear being conditioned in the way described above holding certain views and perceptions on fear that are nothing more than unfounded presumption and superstition, consciousness will perceive fear and anxiety already with all of those presumptions and superstitions accompanied in addition by the three poison.

In other words, when this man experiencing fear and anxiety, then presumptions, superstitions as well as the three poisons especially greed and ill will are already here, thus also suffering arises immediately usually followed by different types of aversion like trying to block it, to suppress it, to fight it to fix it, to destroy it and so on. The next step would be then the behavioral-cognitive-acting fusion including rumination as the habitual process of thinking as cognitive engagement of mind, whereas fear and anxiety are met with latent tendency that is the obsession, compulsions and addictions of mind. This is the stage, when the thinking-emotional-behavioral fusion occurs, which in other words embodies the sequence of thoughts-words-plans-actions-habits-character. By repeating this sequence of the fusion, we are drawn into the vicious cycle of fear and anxiety, whereas our presumptions and superstitions lead us to a constant fight, pushing away and resisting, suppressing fear and so on. This is how the old Karma of the past is countered by unwholesome Karma of the present leading to more unwholesome Karma in the future.

Another example is our relationships, whether they are personal or others. When we hear for example something and cognize it, so at the moment consciousness perceives that which was said, it arises altogether with are views and outlooks that we have defined as unfounded presumptions and superstitions, accompanied also with the three poisons especially greed and aversion. As the next step arise the latent tendencies, the mind's obsessions, compulsions and addictions, whereas it is followed by the behavioral-cognitive-emotional fusion of thoughts-words-plans-habits-character. In this way, not only that we bent reality and create unnecessary quarrels and arguments, we reinforce the sequence of the behavioral-cognitive-emotional fusion, making the cycle of cognitive distortion and the process of bending reality more and more pervasive.