Birch

Of course this is a difficult topic! I'm of the firm conviction that truth can be spoken shamelessly, even in the face of ridicule - which is often the first line of defense for people who would rather not hear it or that you tell. Of course, I could have left this thread alone - and I'm starting to think it would have been a better idea:-) but I find it hard to sit here reading about yet another very questionable New Age practice and not bring up what I see as being questionable about it. This 'win-lose' idea is an interesting one Xienkula (although I have this hunch it's more about having something you thought helpful questioned and I'm not questioning you). I don't understand much of what you wrote about it above but certainly the 'abuser' 'loses' a 'victim' if the latter refuses to stand for it. Not more than that.

'We' are not one Cat. Certainly the shared 'pristine' consciousness is above such distinctions of 'we' and 'me' and 'you' and 'I', however at the level at which hurt and blame exist, the 'mindset' you are referring to does not - otherwise, and this is a beautiful tautology - there would be no hurt and no blame. I'm afraid I 'ran into your fist' on this one. For 'background' the persons 'responsible' for mistreating me have never made an apology nor asked for my forgiveness. Had they done so I would have gladly given it:-) Rather they have shifted the blame for events onto 'me' and continue to do so. See above pdf on 'victim-blaming' for more on how this happens. The idea you're promoting (you and so many others) sounds lofty, to me it just adds insult to injury. I suppose one thing to be greatful for is that it did happen to me and not someone else. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. And this includes the people who hurt me. Here's some more on this topic: http://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Time-Love-Hate-ebook/dp/B004TMAMK8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1360003081&sr=8-5&keywords=forgiveness+a+time+to+love+and+a+time+to+hate

I have experience with this too. IMO/IME the honesty part (clarity) is very important. If I hate someone and pretend otherwise in a ritual including them because it seems like a nice thing to do, what's the benefit to them? I'd rather work on resolving the hate I feel before taking it into someone else's life and affecting us both.

I wanted to post a video of a stage faith healer.

Ebbing in:-) I'm all happy (still) because of the Blofeld book on Kuan Yin where he describes an insight he had about reality after having seen Kuan Yin present herself successively in all her different forms. His insight was that we should stop imposing what we believe to be true on other people in ways that squelch their experience of reality. In this Hermetics is a way of unsquelching. --opinion etc--

I think the only discredit here goes to several of these so-called innovators. It's like saying we can practice clinical psychotherapy by invoking staged sessions on ourselves.

The story was promoted by Joe Vitale

I've tried versions of this (Metta being one of them) and I actually tried it like the OP suggested. i have this experimental way of doing things, and before I can discuss techniques like this, I want to try them. I had a very emotional and tearful experience with it. Definitely with respect to the blame/responsibility issue where the distinction is very blurry (and to the abuser's advantage) To anyone doing this by themselves, it takes guts. I also want to offer this to the thread http://crcvc.ca/docs/victim_blaming.pdf

Ha, a 'fun' question would be to ask what certain people would do with Jesus or Mohamed (PBUM) if they showed up today?

Dude, had I had the opportunity to move out before I did, I would have.

And in this we agree. It's why I brought up the definitions:-)

I'm not disputing that it's worth giving up a grudge or wishing others well. This has to do with responsibility. What you're saying is the mistreated child is responsible for his being mistreated? I disagree with this entirely. Furthermore, children who are mistreated often look to themselves as the source of blame anyway. The original ceremony (as you can see from the pdf above) was a collective ceremony where the parties exchanged forgiveness. I think that makes a huge difference. What I do agree with you on is that the mistreated person has to deal (see definition of responsibility above) with the consequences. Has to heal themselves and also should be aware of the dangers of 'passing on' the damage. None of those include taking responsibility (see other part of the definition, as 'blame') for having been mistreated.

I don't get how it would be healing for a child to say sorry for hurting the people who mistreated them. I must be misunderstanding this. Edited to add definition of responsibility: 1the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone: women bear children and take responsibility for childcare 2the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something: the group has claimed responsibility for a string of murders [in singular] (responsibility to/towards) a moral obligation to behave correctly towards or in respect of: individuals have a responsibility to control their behaviour 3the opportunity or ability to act independently and take decisions without authorization: we expect individuals to take on more responsibility [count noun] (often responsibilities) a thing which one is required to do as part of a job, role, or legal obligation: he will take over the responsibilities of Overseas Director

http://www.nonkilling.org/pdf/b6.pdf

And what about children who are mis-treated by their parents, are they responsible for that?

"What is, is out there regardless of our awareness or belief..." Interesting, definitely.

林愛偉 that sounds like the Buddha 'teaching' emanations are also 'technically' gods as well. Certainly, for as long as people worship them. I'm confused as I often am because each entry into Buddhism seems to contradict the others. I'm sure I will be chided as a 'dualist'. What does Taoism have to say about the hierarchies of 'emanations' (for want of a better word)?

"It's interesting how what we repress becomes demonic." Or the other way around. Interesting that the fierce dieties in Buddhism don't seem to have the same issues as demons (maybe this is just my idea).

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos107.htm

Stumbled across TTB's after looking for information about weird energy experiences after doing sun salutes and chakra meditations DIY.

Blofeld has an interesting commentary about it in http://www.amazon.com/Bodhisattva-Compassion-Mystical-Tradition-Shambhala/dp/1590307356

"He he, I found it by accident... Anyway, not sharing the way in - you can do it yourself (click around)- because it seems like it is not the intention of the web site owner." That's not very helpful. Anyway I found it by looking at the link syntax.

"kundalini = temporal lobe malfunction" I've been wondering about TLE (temporal lobe epilepsy) as related to kundalini. The thing that clued me in was the olfactory hallucinations. As usual, could be I already have this 'issue' and that meditation only revealed it (that's the standard response:-)). I also wonder if it's (TLE) related to early trauma (I'd fall, literally, into that category with additional aggravating conditions). Edit: add deja vu to the list.

This is where I post a link to a Jim Morrison video?

I've been studying it as part of my personal interests:-) There's lots of stuff online too. The myth of the succubus/incubus also comes from there (but more intense sleep paralysis symptoms).