Know Problem// No Problem

Know problem

Or

No problem

What is a problem or what is THE problem?

Do problems exist in nature or do we just create problems out of things that we think need to be fixed or right? Of course there are real issues in the world, but why are we so eager to go towards a solution? Trying so hard to find a solution distracts us from the the root of the problem in the first place. What can we even know about a problem that we think has an easy fix or answer? Well the answer might surprise you seeing that there might not be one. At least not one in a nice package or a xl spreadsheet.

There are costs and benefits for every action. This is an interesting thing to observe. It can shift us out of the problem solution paradigm. If we are able to break from the constant need or trying to solve problems then we can see that the answers lie within the thing we construct as the “problem” itself. There will always be consequences to every action. It is not a closed loop, but a process that seemingly can go on forever. Consequences producing actions and actions producing consequences.

Problems require the possibility of an end. The ends are manufactured. This is part of the paradigm.

Solving one problem creates more problems in the future. There is not an end per say. Problems get notched onto a list of things for us to conquer. The critical thinking in solving problems is beneficial, but if we use that energy inefficiently or ineffectively, then what good does it do for expanding our awareness? What good does it do for us as a whole? Does solving problems liberate us from our own foolishness and unconsciousness? In what ways are we challenging the thinking patterns we have fallen victim to from the past? To know a problem, is to know why we are seeing it as a problem in the first place.

How much of solving problems requires the act of domination?

Why are we so eager to act on trying to solve a problem? How was it created? Aha! The source. Finding the source is the key. (But not an answer.) If we see the problem as an imaginary tree then we can attempt to see what is at the roots. The tree would have started as a seed to begin with and would require a cocktail of environmental factors to make it grow. What is the thing that we can see as wrong and what happens when we don’t immediately try to resolve it? It’s hard, at least that is what we think. It’s hard because we have been taught to put things in what we think is order out of chaos. Then we create the potential for more chaos or uncertainties in the future. Well, the uncertainties will always be there, but we can learn to observe from where they are coming from. Uncertainty may beget uncertainty, but certainty does not beget more certainty. If anything it creates more confusion, division and strengthening of the illusory self. This is a part of the Problem Paradigm.

So let us look at our “life” problems. Are they really problems? How much of them are the mind creating things out of thought? How much of it stems from not being present? In what ways are these so called problems contributing to our growth and expansion of consciousness? How much of these so called problems are manifested from us trying to take what is and turning it into what we think should be? Do these problems exist in the realm of what is? The answer is no. Problems rely on a perception. A perception has a filter and a distortion of what actually is.

We create narratives around problems. We bring them into being. We then believe these “stories”. It reduces the world into something we can try to grasp and understand.

Each problem comes with a story where we place ourselves as one of main protagonists. We may employ the help of others, but deep down inside we can feel the duty to solve the problems. Like a detective on a hot case, we take our attention and apply it to what we think needs to get done. We create a journey that teeters around the unknown. This strengthens the goal seeking behavior of the mind. We get the natural high from completing tasks. It engages out internal circuitry like we are on the hunt for food for ourselves and the tribe. (The food and tribe being both metaphorical and literal. )

We are hunters. We came from hunters and gatherers. Tribal units of cooperating individuals. Back then our so called problems were more primitive and focused around the arena of survival. Our eyes evolved more keenly to spot predators and prey. Eyes in the front. Imagine being a hunting person keenly looking for anything that would resemble food whether it be animal, vegetable or fruit. The survival fight or flight drive led us into looking for ways to solve the problem of eating and surviving. Our bodies evolved more efficient to accomplish greater things for us to survive and ultimately stay alive long enough to reproduce. These are all essential stories of our evolution. The stories so far....

So we crafted tools to solve problems more efficiently and effectively. Necessity sure is the mother of invention and the drive to survive has crafted our minds into getting better at surviving.

This is where memory takes place in problem solving. We learn from our mistakes and what we see from the past. We imitate. We follow. Sometimes we make the conscious choice to lead even if we do not know fully what we are doing. This is that classic narrative of the Hero’s journey. The journey from the known to the unknown. That is what problem solving is centered around. Seeing a problem is the first step in attention and awareness and going about solving it requires the self which is the product of the past. Sometimes we act from a more reasonable center and other times we go with that gut instinct. We think we are more rational creatures than we actually are. In reality we rationalize our behaviors after the fact  rather than consciously planning it out beforehand.

We are not rational creatures. We re rationalizing creatures.

What happens when we surrender the need to resolve something? Do we become anxious? What does it feel like? If we take that concept of surrendering and just simply letting go of the need to solve something, where does our attention go? Yes, that’s the word. Does the problem dissolve or magically go away? Do we see what we saw as a problem beforehand as something else? If we stop placing our self within the idea of the problem then we can start to see more clearly. We can put down our hunting centered mind and really just observe what we thought was the problem in the first place. When we let go of the urge to complete something and not give in or resist it, what happens?

We put so much emphasis on focus and “undivided attention” that we tend to look past the fact that both of these things require the division or elimination of something else. The act of focusing requires a sense of will and effort. It requires the ability to not get distracted. It requires one to look and do something within one line of thought. This act ironically can not see something in its totality. It requires a filter and an end. A convenient distraction.

This new sense of seeing does not require an end or a goal. It may see the root cause even more clearly. It may get rid of our conditioning to simply complete something. It’s all about finding out for yourself, but not for your “self”. This is where creativity and awareness arises. You are the searching and the searcher creating a game of resistance. You can abandon methodologies and past ways of doing things to discover a freshness of awareness and action. Doors can open up when you do not have a plan to alleviate a problem. The problem might present itself right before your own eyes without the need for rules or self centered effort. The solution rests in the problem itself.

It’s not about directing thought. It’s about looking at thought. Not thinking about thought.

Questioning a so called problem will allow for the mind to wander with a new sense of aliveness without struggle. Much like mediation, paying attention to what your mind is doing and how it reacts and acts is key in expanding awareness and breaking away from the limits of the self without any willpower or effort. When you do not identify with the thoughts, you can see the inner workings of how the mind works. The thoughts. The spaces between the thoughts. The emergence of creativity and awareness.

The ___________ spaces.               . 

When you stop seeking, you can start to listen and from that listening comes a freshness of understanding without trying to attain a goal, mood or means to an end. Then you will see how these so called problems were created in the first place. They were all tied to the past and the compulsory nature of thought itself.

The problem is the separateness. Or is it? Can it ever be so simple? Ask yourself without looking for an answer. Just listen.

The problems are created in thinking we are separate from them. Once we label something as a problem, the separation is created. The wall is built and we lose in understanding why it is there or manifested in the first place. The problem and problem solver are created and separated thus creating division and conflict. When that happens we get caught up in the limit of thoughts and the past. We move towards the ideal and away from what is. The ideal becomes a distortion.

To illustrate:

The Problem

The Solution

There is a space between these two concepts. Some may call this the process. The journey. The ride. You can call it whatever. That is not the importance. The importance is seeing this space. There is no need to define it. To define is to limit. We can see how this may create more problems. But wait. Does that create more problems? You can see the rabbit hole that this could create.

We must look into the WHY of the situation. Why do we create these problems? How much of it deals with our conditioning? How much of it deals with the self which is product of the past? How much of it is us compensating for some type of void in our lives?  What are we reflecting when we create problems? How much of these created problems rely on our so called insecurities?

So to know a problem is to not try to solve it. The answer or solution appears when we are present and aware of the “Why” in the first place. We have fallen hard for this paradigm in the past and there is something revelatory about seeing why we create problems.

Know problem // No problem.

DG