This Navajo teaching that we talked about in our last video (click to see) is so fascinating because it’s exploring this idea of temporary joy, temporary confidence, and how these things mess up the human mind.
Why? Why not why not get happiness when you can? Why not get confidence when you can?
It’s because when it’s not real, then it’s fake! It comes and it goes, and when it goes away then you’re left longing for the happiness. It’s like a drug.
People who go to retreats experience this a lot. You go to the retreat. You have this fabulous time, and then you come home and you slip back in to your regular life. You slip back into whatever level of misery it might be. The temporary joy is gone.
Consumerism (which is destroying the planet) is all about temporary joy and temporary satisfaction. It never works. In the end you cannot buy enough things to make you happy. You can’t buy enough things to give you a satisfied life.
So why is this warning about temporary joy given in the Navajo teachings?
Of course I don’t know. I can only speculate, but it seems that it must be because they are a wise and long lasting civilization. In their deep history they discovered what brings on full community joy. They discovered what works for everybody. The only thing that can work is a lasting, abiding, solid being of your authentic self.
Joy that comes and goes creates narcissism, and that’s how you break communities.
We Have Our Own Solutions
Non-duality is about how we discover these temporary things. It means “Not two.” So it’s literally an exercise in discovering what you aren’t. How to find what is not real. Nisargadatta perfected the practice. Find out, first, what you are not and then you can start getting an idea of what you are.
It turns out that you are not anything at all… so it becomes a very very simple practice. “I’m not this. I’m not that. I’m not this. I’m not that.” Until nothing is revealed.