silent thunder

He drinks a vodka drink... He drinks a fizzy drink...

How I miss you @deci belle

Aside from opinions, popular or not, about The Beatle's abilities as musicians... their impact as artists seems rather unparalleled when looking back on the scope of their influence. Here we are still talkin' about em. Their process, chemistry and approach to their craft and how they shared their stories through song and film indelibly imprinted Western culture, musicians and film makers still honor at the altar of their muse. I wonder if it was their openness and naivete that drew people in the way it did. I didn't care for them until my 30's, then rediscovered them with a new ear and have come to deeply appreciate them. It doesn't take complex chord progressions to connect. And they sure connected with folks. Still do. I regularly hear my son (17) humming George's tunes in particular, when in the shower. Something about sharing an aspect of one's self that's authentic seems to cut through and connect with others. I used to knock them for their overly simplistic music. Pink Floyd too. 'Friggin bean bag music' I used to call it. Now, I marvel at the same. Simplicity, the longer I manage to remain in this life, reveals itself as the height of sophistication. Though I suspect simplicity has always been, if not unpopular, then usually beneath notice.

I studied to become more peaceful. Hoping never to need to use it. To learn to dance beneficially with my violent impulses, to discipline those instincts to stem their tidal flow. I was quite rageful as a young man. Instinctively felt it was necessary to learn how to subdue folks properly and efficiently, so that I'd have the presence of awareness to prevent myself from going too far and killing someone without intending to if an altercation ever arose.

I perused a bit of news this morning. It's been a minute. One thing seems pretty consistent, presenting opinion as fact is still going strong. I realized quickly I should have followed Paul's advice...

I've not encountered Rovelli. I'll check him out. thanks for sharing.

Both of these men have elicited my deep respect over time with their insights and sharings. To hear them speak together and explore the commonalities inherent in their remarkably different approaches to exploring the nature of reality and human consciousness is a delight to me. One of my earliest exposures to the incredible crossover of quantum theory in western physics and the long established lineages of eastern esoteric knowledge came via the sharings of Fritjoff Capra's amazing book and his insights revealed in The Tao of Physics, in which he revealed the potent similarities of insight that western quantum theory was arriving at (much to the credit of the likes of Niels Bohr and David Bohm) and how western physics had come to mirror on nigh on every level, deep insights known in the east in vedanta, taoist and buddhist circles for many centuries. Bernardo Kastrup, who's background is hard physics, has evolved into one of the leading proponents of philosophical Idealism which aligns with what my experience of reality has been from early childhood. To see the similarities reflected in modern physics and idealism philosophical theory to ancient established lineages is a comfort and wonder of sorts. Swami Sarvapriyananda will likely be very familiar to most here. What delights me most of all is perhaps the reinforcement of the notion that source is one and we all are extensions of it, and so, when sincerely approached, any avenue of study can eventually lead to similarities of realization and insight reflected in how the human perceptual apparatus engages with and interprets the signals inherent in the field of energy we all stem from and occupy. Thought some others might appreciate it as well, so here's the conversation.

Yup, that's me a few years ago and the beard is considerably longer these days. Haven't trimmed it since before the pandemic started.

Bit of a non cat related side road you guys have reminded me of... I'm reminded again of the storyteller who seemingly abides along side my every observation. The storyteller who at a moment's glance of an interaction between perfect strangers in a grocery store, or traffic incident, will bring into full bloom an elaborate setting and background for a random event. This storyteller has revealed as an endlessly complicated process for me as this storyteller seems at times indistinguishable and intimately linked with genuine intuititve insight. At times bringing invaluable and seemingly accurate actionable information while at others being little more than elaborate, biased, projective fantasy. There are countless stories I still vividly recall of moments of intuitive insight that arose in awareness unbidden, which turned out to be keenly accurate subtle perceivings of what was occuring about me. Myriad others though, reveal as little more than biased assumption and projection based on the conditioning of my previous experience and concretized belief structures. While there are clear moments of insight and fantasy that lie beyond doubting, mostly I observe that I've danced along an ephemeral line of rejection and immersion through the medium of doubt in my relating to this storyteller process. Doubting has become a constant and welcome companion in recent years. It can be as fascinating and engaging as unsettling. An endless dance of observing the storyteller and what are nigh on always, unsought tales and the potential of their relevance, or not, in my awareness. edit to add: and while not wild... here's a little cat sharing, that's a favorite of mine.

I got into my truck the other morning after intense rains and marked the layer of thick dust completely occluding my ability to see through the windshield in the bright sunlit morning. While wiping the glass clear, it occured to me how like this occluded window, is my own conditioned sense of self as it filters what is into what it experiences of that.

And potatoes are murder for blood sugar so that one is marginal at best as well. Don't know much about breadfruit's impact, but it's decidedly intriguing to me how Life seemingly has its own downfall built into the very fabric of its process... Life/Death Growth/Decay no longer seem seperate processes but two aspects of one flowing process.

I've only ever encountered snippets of Casta from other's sharings like yours. I expect I'll be heading to a second hand book store for Eagles Gift soon. Really potent.

I'm really drawn by the phrasing here and the presentation of skimmings. Also the seer and describing the preconscious field as the universe of Eagle's emanations. Particularly appreciate the use of the word emanations and the sense of commands or urgings so foundational they usually lie beneath notice. The sense of urging or comanding also potently resonates with my sense of the conditioning that underlies our sense of personality and seemingly determines behavior outside the realm of local, conscious 'choice'. It ties in intently with my repeated experience (often with considerable discomfort) the seeming illusory nature of my experience of making choices as a sepeate self within a context of a field of reality from which "i", am distinct. Similar stirrings for me to what Wittgenstein aludes to when he states, "The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something because it is always before one’s eyes.) The real foundations of his enquiry do not strike a man at all” This oscillation of seer through skimmings as it relates to Eagle's emanations. It's piquing for me deeply familiar and resonant insights gleaned via explorations in Druidism, Sufism, Idealism, Vedanta and Chen in a fresh way. Something in the wording here is illuminating, or pinging an aspect of awareness not usually stirred and I'm deeply grateful for the timing of this sharing. It's bringing to focus what is revealing as perhaps the central and most abiding aspect of my path of cultivation regardless of lineage or school, which continually pulses around the experience of the process by which my sense of a seperate self arises from that which underlies it. And almost universally for me, this repeatedly arises within the medium of the experience of making a choice. That 'moment by moment' persistent experience of an abiding self which endures as some sort of distinct object within a wider contextual world of other seperate distinct objects (skimming) which lends to the false sense of seperation of identity from true nature (Eagle's emanation). It also potently highlights for me all those moments of realization when local awareness returns to a sense of self from 'the void' after a period of awareness completely devoid of identity. Something that I first became aware of after some time of engaging in formal cultivation, but has since revealed to be a daily repeating process that has occured beneath my threshhold of awareness my entire life. I often use the term Raw Beingness to represent that void experience of no self and what seems here to be presented as Eagle's emanations. It's effectively highlighting the process of enagaging with the oscillation between sense of self and raw beingness. Raw beingness which is clearly aware but in which there is no sense of individuality, no rising or falling away, no personality, emotion, distinction, or objects but which is always underlying any individual sense of awareness. I also appreciate the description of the seer as representing local awareness capable of engaging or recognizing the ephemeral threshhold or oscillation between the foundational field (universe of Eagle's emanations) and the skimming (perception) that is interpreted as reality. What humans normally refer to as the experience of a self 'making a choice', for me is the central pivot about which my practical daily cultivation always inevitably gravitates. All techniques eventually distill into the exploration of this transitional boundary that seemingly abides between my experience of self and reality distinct from it, my notion of identity as silent thunder and the abiding raw beingness that underlies all potential experience in form or local mind. This has stirred something deep that's been lurking for a long while. Not sure if the rambling has meaning for others, but I can tell based on past similar stirrings, this will continue to reverberate in my field for some time to great impact. Deep appreciation Apech and manitou!

Welcome to the Bums Thousand_Clouds. Appreciate the name! I definitely resonate with your experience of being often among folks who do not share an interest in exploring or discussing esoteric concepts. While for me, it's perhaps my most consistent passion from earliest childhood. I've come to soften my in person approach in time and let folks off the hook when I see their eyes glaze over... thankfully this place is an oasis of explorers of awareness with a potent mix of experiences and insights into the incredibly subtle aspects of the nature of reality. Enjoy your time here.

Welcome daokedao.

Appreciate the share. I've not encountered or pursued much of these teachings, though when encountered, they stir resonance within awareness.

Mantak's got a bit of a thorny reputation here. I read his material in my early exploration years and found some useful info there. But then, I've had the great benefit to have encountered experienced teachers with whom I could bounce said info of and gain the benefit of their knowledge of me and such concept's context in my own life and current conditions. Over the years, there have been a plethora of folks arriving here, experiencing deep suffering seeking help to correct imbalances in their system they encountered after reading his material and applying what was offered to themselves without an experienced teacher in the mix. These are incredibly deep and complex subtle structures and some of his info regards tactics that have intense impact. Consider this, the book has no inkling of where you are personally or what your conditioning has been, and so some of what is offered while it may be real within the context of some schools, is not necessarily helpful at all stages of practice, nor to all people at their stage, nor compatible with other practices you may be engaged in. There are practices I engage in now, in middle age, that would have been downright dangerous in my 20's (or have unwanted impacts on others in the same house). I always freely explore info, but when deciding to incorporate any of it in practical application. Bounce it off my in person teacher. When in doubt, I maintain the turtle approach. This is a marathon, not a sprint. (especially if you have a million 20th's to work with ) In the absence of a teacher, I hold with foundational practices I've already been exposed to and let them ripen and deepen... and deepen they do. And this has served me well for in the long run, it's been a welcome surprise that some of the first things I was ever taught which at the time seemed to me so 'mundane' and pedantic, and I intently wished to be 'passed them' for the 'real stuff'... over time evolved with me and revealed to be among the most powerful, transformative and highest of practices reaping all the benefits I was seeking in my early endeavors. When in doubt and of late, I tend toward sitting in a simple acknowledging silence and abide as I am, where I am. Few things have been more transformative to my local awareness than simple raw beingness.

Good for you mate! May you embody your highest potential. I find I've become entirely comfortable with the notion of my inevitable relinquishing of this current edition of local awareness. Though I'm not seeking it out, when it arises again, I'll embrace it.

I echo Trunk's sentiment here. I've never heard of a succesful treatment for it, but then, it's not something I've explored. There are some incredibly gifted healers out there, so perhaps you encounter one and could share the tale later on. I wish you the best. My only encounter with this condition is via a friend who shared the following with me. My buddy had met a gal and as things were progressing in their relationship, she alerted him to her status. When he consulted a physician regarding it to see the viability of a possible relationship, the physician's advice to him was this, (paraphrasing) "The presence of this condition is so prevalent in our culture as to be nigh on unavoidable for most. The fact that this person expressed the care to make you aware of it before you engaged in a physical relationship is a remarkable reflection of their character and integrity. To me, finding a person like that in our culture is so rare it would outweigh the risk, particularly as this is a very manageable condition." He went on to explain possible methods he could engage with her and not become infected himself given certain precautions and behaviors. I'm sorry to hear you encountered the opposite type of person, though my friend's Dr also stated in their meeting that one of the reasons for the prolific spread of this is that many who carry it are asymptomatic, or so unnoticably symptomatic as to be unaware of their own status and so spread it unwittingly. It does seem with current methods, it's very manageable. Again, I wish you the best.

Non interference in natural processes... to determine wu wei (action without forcing) in the context of what is natural one should consider what they consider a natural process and how they then define 'interference' in that process. Do we consider any action we take as a human to be a natural expression of the human position within the environment as an organism that comprises that environment? Then any action we take is a part of the natural process and is not interference. It cannot be otherwise. If humans however are not a natural part of the environment as an organism within that system, then any action we take will be interference. I used to consider cities and humans unnatural within the context of earth and I still do. More recently however, I consider human nature out of balance but not unnatural to itself. Humans and their behavior everywhere congregate and populate and eventually organize into cities, so cities seem a natural process for humans. This seemingly being out of balance with the rest of earth however. So it may be a natural process for humans to behave as we do, but within the context of earth and the rest of its organisms, it seems out of balance or a form of interference. Are humans as they live a natural process? Depends on one's perspective. Another way to frame this question is what is the distinction between the environment and organisms? Environments are the organisms of which they are comprised. The organisms are the environment and the environment is entirely comprised of the organisms that inhabit it. This is natural. Even lack of balance seems a natural expression. Trees grow until they become imbalanced and then they breach and fall and return to the soil. So aspects of imbalance seem quite natural. My relationship to this type of judgement is unfolding and evolving as my local awareness continues to manifest and explore here. It's a deep rabbit hole to explore, the concept of what is natural and what comprises interference and what is balanced. In one context any action may be seen as interfering in what is unfolding, unless one takes into context the very presence of one's organism/object within an environment to be a natural presence and thus a natural part of whatever unfolds within the system whether acting or not. Natural does not have to be balanced according to my projections of this human awareness. Then again, my human projection is what arises within the context of this environment, so... On a more concrete level perhaps this example may serve. The other day a sparrow flew into our home and settled on one of the blades of our ceiling fan. We welcomed her, then opened all the doors wide and watched. She didn't leave. Occasionally she'd fly about the living room and dining area/kitchen, settling on the curtain rod etc. She ended up spending the night. The next morning, I arose early and opened all the doors and took screens out of the windows to give her more options for leaving. When the sparrow unexplectedly flew down and landed on the carpet in the middle of the living room floor, our maine coon pounced on her without hesitation. Natural. And I moved over without hesitation and scruffed him and pulled him away. Being unblooded, he had not used claws and so the sparrow, unharmed flew up and perched again on the blade of the ceiling fan. Natural. A few hours later, she flew out the kitchen window and returned to her home in the bushes outside that window. All of it arose without overthinking. Each thought and action arose unbidden 'of itself' and seemed entirely natural. It was natural for my cat to pounce. It was equally natural for me to 'interfere' in this instance. I did not ponder or critique or deliberate. The action arose tzujan, of itself. So to me, this comprises a context of natural expression and not interference. The sparrow however, may have seen my action as a welcome interference in her predicament. Who can know? However, in a similar vein but different context, when I've encountered predators finishing off their prey outside my home, I had no instinct to interfere in this process, for even though I may have some empathy for the dying prey, I realize that for the fox and its successful hunt means breakfast for a litter of kits back in the den. I still find human behavior to be unnatural to a degree within the context of the organism of the earth and the overall environment, but as human behavior is so maddenlingly consistent within its intrinsically unbalanced expressions I have come to consider that this unbalanced behavior is natural to us and simply implies our inevitable breach and return to the soil in the long context of life on this planet. Now, whether humans arose here 'naturally' or were 'interfered' with, is another rabbit hole of its own. And to briefly address the notion of 'balance' as it seems inseperable to my mind with this conversation of what is natural and what is interference. I'm increasingly coming to an awareness of the sentiment that there is no such thing as balance anywhere in the manifest universe (aside from our own projections of personal definitions of such). For a state of balance (at least within any manifest system as I have encountered it) would imply stasis and no where among the manifest are we ever stagnant, unmoving or still. Reality is movement. Movement is inertial and seemingly tends always towards balance, yet balance is never fully realized, for that would be static and nothing among the manifest is ever static. Even in the seeming stillness of deep meditation, our body is a flurry of motion, hormone production, blood, digestion etc and eventually even the relative stillness of mind results in a return to thinking. Combine that with the fact that our planet spins at 1,000 mph, revolves about the sun at roughly 65,000 mph and our solar system revolves about the galactic center at some half a million miles per hour we are never experiencing objective balance or stillness so all notions and conversations of balance (for me) require an acknowledgement that any notion of balance is one that is relative and subjective to the confines of how it is addressed in mind and is dependent on the current definitions one uses for the symbols (words) utilized. Perhaps the overall motion of the universe with all it's evolving conditions on some grand scale is balanced... this could be possible. The Hermetic principle that all seeming contradictions or paradoxes of one level of mind are reconciled at another perhaps less myopic level seems potentially relevant. *shrug* I'm going for a walk. It seems natural.

Welcome Jade02/MrCorinthian. I'm 20 for the 34th time. Hope you enjoy your return here.

And to my storyteller, it's the yin void invitation to sink deep and dissolve gently...

Whoa! I'd like to catch that image at sunset when it's not all washed out. Stunning!