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Sacred

We are accustomed to view certain things and circumstances as sacred and holy. This has an effect on us. We become reverent, respectful, and imagine something sublime, something that is removed from the normal sphere.

However, this is precisely what can make the distinction between “sacred” and “profane” misleading and become a barrier.

A discarded plastic plate is just as sacred as a golden chalice, or any underground car park as sacred as a Cathedral.

When I call something sacred, I find myself in the world of duality, of differentiation and evaluation. The world of differentiation is the world of me and you, the world of past, present, and future, of joy and pain, of dirt on the street and unfriendly neighbors. I see certain circumstances, people, or living beings as more positive, desirable, and valuable than others.

Is a human being worth more than a mosquito?

To be sacred means to be special. Openness, vastness, light, eternity, and silence are not “sacred” or “holy.” They are not special in themselves. Reality is ordinary. In fact, everything is just as it is. Something happens. That’s all.
It is an idea in my mind that something is more sacred than something else. “Sacred” is a concept. In reality, there is no difference between sacred and non-sacred.

If these distinctions do not exist, then it is irrelevant whether I consider something sacred or profane. Just as I could say “nothing is sacred,” I could also say “everything is sacred.”

To say that something is not sacred does not mean that it is meaningless or irrelevant.

It is important to find a balance between knowing how precious something is and at the same time not mixing it with something that has nothing to do with it.

It is about confronting reality itself, finding out how it really and ultimately is, completely naked and direct.

Meditation is meditation

Meditation is not an event overloaded with meaning. Meditation is meditation – and nothing else. It is simply a technique, a tool to achieve something – like a hammer – no matter how good, valuable, important, or meritorious that path and that goal may be. It is a means to achieve a certain state of mind and to gain insights.

I practice letting go of patterns and concepts that I use to construct my self and the world. It’s about facing who and what I really am, right now, and gaining insights into the true nature of reality, completely directly and unfiltered.

The technique of meditation and the experiences and insights it enables are an incredible gift. Meditating, praying, reciting religious texts, performing rituals and religious services – everything that belongs to a spiritual context can be beneficial, meaningful and valuable.

However, it is not valuable in itself, but only because it helps us to achieve a higher spiritual goal.

Meditation is not a religion. To practice meditation, you don’t have to believe in anything. No one has a copyright on meditation. Meditation is entirely worldly, concrete, and also something I can feel physically and with my senses.

A quote

Emperor Wu of Liang asked: “What is the highest meaning of the sacred truth?”

Bodhidharma replied: “Vast emptiness — nothing holy.”