Birch

She already is But, if you want to make her immortal in worldly terms then you have tell everyone about her in ways that ensure they will always remember her, and their children will remember her and their chidren's children will remember her. It's no easy task! Is your dog archetypal in any way? I remember my cat as a sort of a Faulkner character. He stuck by me over many years whereas others came and went and he was entirely self-centered in this respect. Very doggish. A huge narcissist. I fed him too much kibble - out of convenience - which I suspect caused his death. Cats are not supposed to eat that stuff.

"Buyer Beware" So true yet, how can I put it. "Distasteful"? As usual I agree that teachers' time should be properly recompensed. However, I'm struggling with all kinds of stuff related to this. Ya Mu, I know this question comes up periodically, but what's your take on remuneration?

Hehehehe. I was wondering when someone was going to post IYG on this thread. Yoga classes aren't necessarily "spiritual" and when I get "looks" in one I just assume that the guy is probably interested in how far I can get my legs over my head I also note that when I say "I do yoga" the "how far I wonder she can put her legs over her head" expression comes over some men Get to know people, people.

I will post my most recent "understanding" which is just how I've come to figure this stuff. Take this explanation as you wish and please also put holes in it as you wish. The human "condition" lends itself very well to "modifications". Furthermore, once modifications are made, a person will defend such "as self" (despite the actual harm to the person incurred) due to the discomfort one feels with dissonance, paradox, uncertainty etc...Worse, one won't (necessarily) realise what one is doing to oneself. When discomfort (or injury) is felt, awareness withdraws from the "place" where the "origin" of the discomfort was first felt. This place of withdrawal of awareness becomes a "rock" (or a "block" like we like to say on TTB) around which our self flows. The potential for massive restriction in perception, thought and resulting behavior arrives via this process.

Get used to a certain amount of weirdness I was riding in a cab yesterday and a song was on the radio. I thought it was funny because I remembered a bridge on the route that has the first words of the song's chorus written on it. We passed under that bridge at exactly the same time as the first words of the chorus in the song played. Remember that I was in a cab. Not my choice of music and not me driving. I interpreted this to mean I was flowing with Tao that morning. But really I don't know.

"Women, who are considered to be already castrated, do not identify with the father, and therefore form a weak super-ego, leaving them susceptible to immorality and sexual identity complications." Thank god for that! Means there's less BS to get rid of in practice I hold the belief that all this is stuff that Freud made up based on his own personal story, assumptions, erotic leanings, a few "case studies" he himself interpreted through his own lens. Anyone read Reich? Excellent post Apech

Is this with or without spaces?

Where's Apech's "consciousness vs awareness" distinction? I dunno, I reckon the "consciousness" part is the conceptualizing part and the "awareness" part sort of gets looped into "consciousness" somehow? I was considering this today, which parts are outside and inside, which parts are subject and object and well, I concluded that none of them are. But at the same time they are: subject and object. I see no issue so far in holding such a view (apart that it's a mindf*ck, lots of things are). But it seems similar to the way someone else could come to consider light having properties of two distinct states. Much as a child might spend its first years discovering its existence.

Hi Kate, Interesting yet complicated post. - Oh, i thought I was being simple. Thanks! Yes, all the above as well. The ego of these people has control of the people instead of the individual having control of their ego. Ego = "I am". But what we are and what we are to become is always dictated by the ego unless we have proper control of it. - Control? What control and who's exerting the control? This includes the very passive person as well as the egomaniac. I do agree that our ego (self-identy) is dynamic and subject to change at any time and I do agree that we 'just are' once we attain that understanding of ourself so that we can live our life naturally. However, there are many who never attain this understanding out themselves and therefore their ego is asserted in some manner. Well, it helps to be able to tell the difference when it is and when it isn't doing that stuff. I reckon it actually physically "squeezes me" when it does this. Or it "holds" - there's a resistance there and when it's there, I know it ain't natural. I do, however, suggest that we do need protect ourself. There are many people out there who will lead us astray in a heartbeat. And many of those folks do it just because they can. It is a game for them. They will make a person into something they really are not. Like parents for example Nah, I'm half kidding. i think the heart protects a person. As does self awareness, oh and I'll throw in with some critical thinking. (Why are you telling me all this ?) And there are those who will use us until we are all used up. Our entire life is consumed by the 'other' and we never had the opportunity to live it ourself. I know. But we so often go there willingly. And I agree the the world, the entire universe is constantly changing. But if we do not have a self identity we will find it impossible to make the changes necessary in order to keep up with the world - we will be left in the dust - no place to go and nothing to do. I dunno, I speculate that the natural self changes with the world, the only "changes" to make are the ones to ensure you live healthy, happy and can do something for others (maybe?) Oh, sure, this is just fine for someone like myself. But for a younger person this would likely be the worst condition to be in. No present and no future. But Mr MH, what about "The Power of Now" ? You've got entire generations reading that stuff. And don't get me started on "The Secret" Yeah, that concept of 'original self' is a tricky one because it will be different for each individual. It is my opinion that when we find our 'original self' we will be at peace with our Self and others, and we will be contented with our condition in life. So ego is playing even here in that we are defining "I" with other elements of life. It's Kipling's crab who plays with the sea! Being "content" does not involve settling for below par conditions. Peace & Love! Yey!

Good document. Thank you Mark! Gotta love those anthropological "interpretations" Still, there's a lot of good stuff in the pdf. Including "reptilian" references (what if they're not "reptilians" at all, but "fetuses" (if I had the right latin spelling I would use it, "fetae"?? Anyone?)And what if they are in fact reptilians??? So the divinely-ordained/consacrated chief wears pictures of his own reproductive capacity on his loincloth and the bones of his rivals' reproductive capacity around his neck? I haven't finished reading the article yet, I got halfway, there's a lot of stuff to dig around in!

I dunno that I see pain as "progress". It's like throwing up if you eat something that disagrees with your belly. You just do it because it needs to be done/gets done. Of course there are nice things in the process. Well, we call them "nice" As I said to another TTB the other day, I spent half a day blissed out of my skull due to a heart opening, but it's not practical Note to self: reminder to get blissed out only when it's a practical thing to be doing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin

"I was just curious on what some of our more experienced members felt about the quote, "Those who know do not speak, Those who speak do not know" Thanks a bunch!"

"This is what our ego protects, our individuality." Um... Even that individuality that ensures we chase after every opportunity to affirm itself? (This message of course is nooooo illustration of that ) Even that individuality that ensures that one's life may be perpetually restricted to "below average conditions"? Even that indivduality that has one searching all over for a god or our next boyfriend or girlfriend to bring us happiness? Even that indivduality that will cause self and others bodily harm in an attempt to validate itself? Ok, you get my drift The whole person doesn't need to protect any identity because they just ARE. Ego IMO (and small experience) allows for the sharing of "truths" but it's a convention and not something set in stone. We keep forgetting. Because the world moves fast/always changing. I don't believe I can rely on an "identity" that was fashioned in very different circumstances. So there's still the question of "original self" left. And I still don't know the answer to that question, assuming there IS one underneath the fluff.

"nothing to get too excited about.." Funny huh? As soon as we get what we want it becomes nothing special. Onwards and upwards to the next "nothing special" until there's "nothing special" left

Healthy mind/body. Skillful action. Integrity. Work out what I am here to do really. I can't work that last part out yet. You know, aside from eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing, sexing, walking around, breathing

Why not get a friend (or a new friend ) who speaks French to read it to you? When I asked my first acupuncturist how I could go about learning acupuncture he said "First, you have to learn Chinese. Then you have to do medical studies in Chinese..." I figured I was looking at 10 years hard graft, just to learn basic Chinese And don't get me started on I-ching or Feng Shui or medical qi-gong. Are people equally "masters" of each of these areas or do they specialize?

When someone is in pain, it's my own pain I feel. I was saying this to a couple of TTB the other day. My "empathy" levels seem like they have dropped a lot. However, at the same time I feel stronger. So I feel I can help someone out/comfort them better than I could before. Not avoid people who are going though tough times. I guess I feel whatever is the "thing" from the other person but it doesn't hurt as much as it used to. There's also (for me) a fine line between being available to help and support people if they need it and doing it to feel/seem like a "good person". I've certainly been guilty of the latter. Probably still some of that left

"Just depends if you can bear to have it fall out, witness it, feel the pain, and then discover the next layer underneath. Ouchy!" Which is why spend all that time learning "techniques" so that when it does come up, you understand what's going on and you can navigate yourself through it.

"Its the way in which the marketing distorts the teachings." Agree. "You're right that only a few people are interested. But if I were to want to make money I would have to say "better luck, better sex, better life, better health" and all with not too much work and suffering. Just to boost sales. All of which is possible except my experience is that long periods of hard work and some pain and suffering are involved." True, again. So perhaps we need to find ways that reduce the "hard work" and pain and suffering much better? Getting an understanding of what is clearly required in practice and articulating it so it seems less jargon-oriented is a good goal IMO. I liked that Shinzen Young page on it. But he's still using his own jargon and selling seminar time... Thinking again. I don't know that the pain can actually be reduced. Teaching people how to approach pain, yes. Teaching them ways to slow down or speed up the process, yes. But maybe it wouldn't sound as neat as "better XYZ"? Although that will still be a byproduct?

"everyone I know has quite a fraught relationship with their mother (particularly women ... its a love/hate thing)" Um, it was actually just a "hate" thing for me, but we prefer the convention of "love/hate" IMO and small experience. I'm not allowed to admit that in polite society. So I'll admit it here. Why is so much of practice about the expression of "love" in all it's forms if we didn't start off somewhat handicapped in this capacity in some way? These days I have her down as an accepted (if difficult) part of my life. I don't let her run me but I don't go out of my way to be a bitch to her either. She will still try to jump all over my boundaries. She has no idea who I am and I'm not going to bring her up to speed to justify myself (when "myself" is such a tenuous thing ) We're on a "need to know" basis

Wow! Excellent. Please do go on. So if I've understood something, the two is actually where things start getting counted? Because know they can see each other.

Ah, and here I was happy in the void. Gah. What do you mean non-abstract numbers? The irony is not lost on this westerner...

Oh hey Mal! Do you mean: - "New York City appartment-space porn", or - "Spare-time-porn", or - "Unbelievable-friendship-porn", or - "Somewhat-aspirational-yet-not, career-porn" As exemplified by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKXInbR9giM

"I took the event as a sign to stop and slow down." Sounds like a good call to me