Isn’t it strange that we’re all always looking for somewhere to go, somewhere we need to be, someone we need to be? We’re always after getting to someplace that we’ve idolized. We want a higher-paying job, a faster car, or a bigger house. We want to be accepted by our friend groups, to fit into the current society. The mind is always occupied in this way, from start to finish. Just watch yourself. We go to work and we work for our managers, or perhaps if you’re a manager you are working for your director, and the directors are working for the board, and the board are working for the shareholders. We’re all conditioned to be motivated by societal status, position, money, and different forms of wealth.

In this way, our mind always seeks a direction. We are afraid deep down, afraid that we won’t have any direction. But what’s really wrong with not pursuing these directions? After all, they are born of the present society, they are merely environmental impressions that we have downloaded. They are not real, they are completely fabricated, completely man-made, and completely illusory. Granted, we pretend they are real and as such they play a massive role in our lives, but there must be a different way of living. It is our present society that has conditioned us to live in this way, constantly seeking something, constantly chasing achievements, and trying to dress up our egos. If we want to create a different world, then this is going to have to be left behind.

We can’t solely go on living this way, pursuing the same directions, the same motivations, that our mind presents us with. Because it is the existing society that has conditioned our mind, and thus actions born of this conditioning will only perpetuate the existing society. So, I suppose my question is, is it possible to live without the directions, the signposts, that the current society has presented us with? Is it possible to not solely hand yourself over to the culture and traditions thrust upon you? Is it possible for you to ditch all beliefs, ideologies, philosophies, and other dogmas? Is it possible to live to create something new, rather than perpetuate the old? Perhaps if you let go of the old mindset you will be free to create something new.

To me, this is the key. Our mind has become the ruler of our being, it always wants to know where it is heading. But living this way it is limited to what it knows. And all that it knows is the content of your memory, the environmental impressions that you have been subjected to. And so, living this way you are limited by your memory. You will remain caught in here like a castle. The society has formed your memory, and it is in here you are caught. You can rebel within the bounds of the memory all you like, but you’ll remain caught in there until you consciously become aware of it and let go.

The mind wants to know, and it fears what it doesn’t know. And living this way we’ve created a world based on the known. We perpetuate dogmas, we externalize our divisive egos, we live through a whole host of manifestations of thought, of beliefs, ideologies, attachments, and remembrances. But what happens if we choose to live through the unknown? If we decide to stop fearing the unknown, and instead live through it? Do you not see! This is where creation takes place! No creation can take place caught within the limited bounds of the memory. Creation is something unlimited, something new, not something that can be housed and locked away. To create you have to be free of fear, for fear is introduced by being attached to the known!

Isn’t that a strange paradox, that we are attached to our memory, which introduces the fear of this attachment breaking, but it is that very attachment that is the cause of fear itself, in whatever form it takes! If you weren’t attached to anything within the memory, with any structure of thought, with all your man-made images and dogmas, what would there be to fear? If you didn’t take yourself seriously, realizing that the image you have made of yourself is just that, nothing more than an image, would you be stressing out, worrying all the time? You’d probably laugh a lot more, particularly at such a realization. You’d probably begin to enjoy your life, to realize it isn’t the challenge you’ve been told it is, that it isn’t an uphill struggle, but rather a stage for you to express and enjoy your loving nature.

Don’t be concerned with the known where you don’t have to. Put it in its correct place. Of course, you have to function in society, you need knowledge and the like to find your way home, drive a car, use tools, and so on. But equally so, and perhaps more importantly, don’t solely live through the known. For we can state with confidence that this only leads to a dull and mediocre life. Our societies value the intellect, and those who pursue the known the most will make it to the top of this society, but inwardly they will be insecure, fearful, and miserable, despite rich external circumstances. The man living through the unknown can have nothing and be as happy as Larry. Just think about it, why do you need anything to be happy?

Only when you’re living through the known, your conditioning, the artificial smoke-screen each of us creates, are there pressures put upon ourselves. But this artificial pressure prevents us from living, from creating. We’re putting weights on our backs and trying to climb an artificial hill in our minds. We’re tying an anchor to ourselves and trying to move. We’re pursuing the known because we’ve grown comfortable living this way. It’s the way we’ve been taught to live by our parents, by our friends, by the society, and everyone around us. But to create a new world it should be obvious we need a drastic change in our actions. We need to become comfortable living through the present moment, unattached to the known.

Not only in life, but in all our actions. If you’re writing a book and solely living through the known, you aren’t going to create anything new. If you can’t escape your own memory, what you write will be limited to its contents. If you’re creating a piece of music, a dance, a picture, the same applies. The key lies in being present, and to be present you can’t be pursuing an outcome, a destination. If all you care about is the end goal, the fruits of said book or song, then you aren’t focused on what you are actually creating. Much in the same way, if all you are focused on day-to-day is what your memory presents you with, the ideals, pleasures, and movements of thought that arise, you are never going to be focused on truly living in the present moment. It seems the current mindset is to disregard the present moment, while what is needed is to live in the present moment.

We’ve been conditioned to fear adventure, to fear not having any direction. But if you’re lost in the jungle, and you choose to build a wooden hut, and never venture out of this hut, you aren’t going to ever explore what else lies in the jungle. If instead you take your machete and begin venturing out, not knowing what lies beyond the shrubbery, and begin cutting away, moving into the unknown you will make many discoveries. It’s like Columbus, or whomever the guy was that went traveling and discovered certain parts of the world. If whoever it was didn’t choose to venture into the unknown, to go off sailing, not knowing what lay ahead, they would have never made such amazing discoveries.

And the same applies to your inner world! If you don’t let go of the known and instead venture into the unknown you will never discover anything new for yourself, you will never have anything unique to express. You will merely be an expression of the society, your life will be akin to a box on the conveyer belt, going through the machine and being churned out. You will moulded into whatever structure the society creates out of you. Refuse to conform to a mold! Be formless, shapeless, like water. As Bruce Lee said, be water, my friend. We’re conditioned to fear living this way, because we’re taught to strive, to pursue, to become, to constantly add to ourselves, to constantly accumulate, whether it be knowledge or wealth. But the truth is, for a truly rich life, and to bring about a loving world rooted in creativity and intelligence, a different way of living is required.

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