One of my favorite teachers used to say, “It’s not a choice if you can’t say no.” And, of course, there was the 1980s drug interdiction mantra, “Just say no!” That didn’t work out as well as it maybe could have.
What about biased choices? Might the kind of preconceived thinking that are characteristic of bias taint the outcome? And thereby nullify any benefit I might realize from the option? In this case, would there even be an alternative? Maybe my mistake is in believing I am actually making a choice.
When choosing IS the experience.
Consider how my choice mechanism works within the First-Second Degree of Illumination bubble:
- I feel bad.
- So, I identify a lack or problem…
- That makes me look for a solution.
- I accept a solution that satisfies my bias…
- Then defend that biased solution as the solution.
- This results in regret, and search for a scapegoat…
- I feel bad.
If I’m not choosing, what am I doing, then?
Looking at the cyclical nature of my selection mechanism, I’d have to admit that I’m mostly about defending my biases and preconceived notions as truths.
Moving Beyond Choosing
Perhaps it’s time to move beyond this kind of non-choosing defensiveness that in the end simply validates my rightness. Maybe it’s time to investigate another option – one I’ve encountered in the Aha Zone.
The option I refer to is that of Third Degree of Illumination awareness. This level of understanding is perhaps best described as a flash of inspiration – in which, I am faced with a choice between two options that quickly dissolve into no options. One of the two options is that of awakening into acceptance of my accountability for my life – Fourth Degree of Illumination awareness. The other option is to accept the default back to bubble awareness and confirmation that I am right and suffering is real. Back to my choice mechanism that’s worked so well in the past!
What if choosing Fourth Degree of Illumination is not what I think it is, safely inside my defensive bubble of dim awareness. I know what choosing looks like inside my bubble. Perhaps that is why I don’t recognize Third Degree of Illumination choosing when it flashes itself like an explosion into my consciousness.
Within my bubble awareness, I look for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. What if living is not a problem looking for a solution – rather, an expression of consciousness? No choice to make. And so I propose:
Choose to just say no to choice!
