TheSongsofDistantEarth

I like that.

Castaneda was a trickster, and pulled off his scam. That some of it may have been fake...does it matter? The teachings stand on their own.

lol?

Everseeking, I hear you. I cannot believe how much I once cared about football or any sport, years and years ago, and as I began to 'drop out' into spiritual life, I too saw that it was a way of the great masses being distracted by irrelevant spectacle. There was once a time that I would be depressed for several days after 'my team' lost. I cannot believe that I once cared about that shit so much. I began feeling alienated from our culture about the same age as you are now. Living in this alienated state is a real challenge. And yes, moving to a place with more conscious people can help somewhat, even a lot. You are likely to find like-minded people who are creating meaning. Places with more liberal politics generally and/or creative people can help you reconnect to others through meditation groups, nature-loving outdoor people, internal MA classes, etc. Places like the Bay Area, Austin, Madison WI, Ashville, NC, and many more can provide some of that. But alienation from popular culture is part of spiritual life, I think. The trick is to find things you love and care about and open your heart center and carry on. I always find that when I get overloaded with modern life, a 5-7 day trip to beautiful, isolated wilderness through backpacking or river rafting clears the insanity out of my system and reboots the sanity. It sounds like you may not have chosen your true mate in your wife. Having kids when you have this much uncertainty is probably a very bad idea, and if you can find a good therapist to help you find your way, it would probably help you get a lot clearer. I'm glad you at least have this forum to find fellow 'Taoistic Travellers'. Hang in there, my friend.

I remember the day my mom died and I went to eat in a restaurant and had the that feeling so acutely, and so strongly, that I was the only one AWAKE in that whole place. Even watching others in the act of eating, I had this feeling of incredulity at their waking slumber. I'm sure I was in an altered state that made this feeling so powerful and acute, I have had degrees of it since like many of us here, but nothing as strong as this one was. I like to watch people going about their business in public, and can 'see' the wheels of thought turning in their heads very often. Of course, many times I am the same way if something or someone is playing on my mind, I too get lost in thought. That's the beauty of mindfulness. Becoming present to the moment also makes you aware of the sleep of others.

PJS? What's that?

Every once in awhile, in the course of a day, you come across someone, maybe a clerk giving you your change at a store, and there is that wordless exchange of recognition, the eyes talk to each other, the words feel like this: 'hey, I see you in there' 'far out, I see you in there, too' 'yeah, isn't it something? we're both alive in this craziness' And with a half smile, you both turn and go on in your lives...

Temporary blindness? Go get yourself checked for MS.

+1

I can't remember where I read it, but each decade's generation is supposed to have characteristics that a particular to it's place in the century. So the microcosm repeats itself in the macrocosm. The current generation is akin to the generation of the 1910's, followed by the 'Roaring 20's ', etc. They made a case for the war generation of the 40's apparently reflecting the same energy that the 1840's did. It was convincing when I read it. Perhaps then, the current generation's superficiality isn't wholly their fault, but is reflected in something deeper, kinda like how astrological signs determine one's fate.

Let us know if you can find that title, I would be interested. Of course, it may come to you after you take your nap this afternoon. BTW, in this thread, there is no off topic...feel free to post about anything, any observation or thought about modern life.

It is all good. I got a good mental movie from that one, rene.

Or was it a HUGE, THROBBING, ROCK-HARD AND LONG LASTING ERECTION? Causing children, dogs and old ladies to run screaming and scampering from your presence? That kind of erection?

Or was it a HUGE, THROBBING, ROCK-HARD AND LONG LASTING ERECTION? Causing children, dogs and old ladies to run screaming and scampering from your presence? That kind of erection?

Well, it is interesting that neuroscientistists believe that the brains of the technology-native young people actually develop differently than previous generations. There is a well-known phenomenon known as 'pruning', in which some of the quadrillions of neurons present at in childhood are lost when neural pathways are not used, while the pathways that are used are reinforced. Thus leading to kids who can text with their eyes closed and multi-task better than you and I ever will, but may lack the capacity for social interaction or sustained focus later in life.

Great program, thanks for bringing it back to our attention. I admire Bill Moyers very much.

I was talking with a friend who is about 7 years older than I am, and we talked about "Be Here Now". Back then, there weren't the hundreds of thousands of spiritual books around like today. 'Be Here Now' was released in a relative vacuum, there had never been anything else like it, and consciousness was expanding with the early LSD use and talk of Love and Unity. It was pretty much the only spiritual manual out there for the Generation, and it had an enormous impact. Many, many early psychedelic explorers 'got the message and hung up the phone' as Alan Watts used to say and embarked into yoga, service Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism and all manner of Spiritual expression that continues today. Seems hard to think that there wasn't always a crowded field of teachers, books, authors, gurus, etc.

My meaning fits along these lines. I also like the concept of Day and Night, Sun and Moon and how they shade into each other, just as maximum Yang is present, minimum Yin begins to come forth as Yang then recedes.

Use the PM function instead of "jacking the thread".

How about a little old time religion to feed your heart? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCFgDvG1ODk&feature=related

I could probably do a spontaneous impression of him and pull the same things he's saying out of my head. Sincere? Maybe. Deluded? Probably. The fact that he's a stoner brings him down quite a few notches. Seems like a wanna be yogi. Not impressed. Not impressed at all. P.S., I'm not sucked in by the slavic accent, either. If he talked like an Californian, he wouldn't have any followers. GIH, I'm surprised you like him. P.S., Youngsters, listen to some Ram Dass to hear real wisdom rather than ramblings.

Obviously, as a community, we have a need to hash things out like this. We seem to have a need for drama here from time to time. It's healthy. As the saying goes, "It is what it is".

Hey! You heard rex! No more "quippy one-liners"! Cut it out and get serious here! This is a serious place, dammit!

Just because a member took offense at an innocuous remark is no reason to ban someone, Mal. It means there are no objective standards by which you are moderating. And how ironic that the "Cat is a cheerleader" meme has been repeated over and over in discussion, when the thing to do would have been to calm her down and let the comment pass.