s1va

If you calm down and pay attention, you will notice I offered my insight to the OP and he thanked me. Also who I help and how I make comments is my business.

For someone not interested in internet or forums, you sure have a lot to say and go to great lengths to defend your positions. I was not coming at you. Just some observations. Have a nice day!

I agree with you that the 'prey' view does not necessarily have to do with fear. I am all for being aware and agree it is good. But I think you did not just stop with 'prey'. If I remember right you went on to say it is not good to be prey or something like that.... That is your perception my friend. If you look at my first post, I said, 'what happened just happened'. None of us were there, any interpretation or description of what happened is perspective including prey, predator, etc. Anyway, I am okay with your views also

I can't speak for a lion. That is why it is stated as lion's perspective. I can certainly speak from lion's perspective. The 'prey' statement and the fear you were projecting earlier was your perspective. I am fine with that also.

If I am a lion, I would have said in my perspective, wouldn't I?

So, you think this is not interacting! Engaging in a dialogue with someone in a forum. That is interesting. You accuse someone else of making a point and dragging the conversation. What is the above, my friend? You say you are in the middle of something with significant and other and don't have much time. Yet, you go on to explain about your pet who is elderly, dying, given only a week to live, you are trying to make the best of it, etc! When you explain details this way, whether you are expecting sympathy or not, some are going to feel empathic and respond accordingly. Can't fault others later for expressing sympathy or good wishes! Ok. We get it. You are dedicated to your 'real' life and respond here only when you get moments away from that. Let's be watchful and not get carried away too much in any of the stories the mind makes, be it in real life or in the forums. I am not going to end this with best wishes since I know you have expressed dislike about that part

In whose perspective on the scene I described? From the lion's perspective it's food, it is survival, it is all good.

Perhaps start with the most recent one you watched.

Have you ever watched the Discovery or the Animal channel, when they show a lion or a tiger in the wild, pouncing on a beautiful and unsuspecting deer? The deer that was having fun just few minutes back is dead now, brutally attacked and getting eaten now. What to make of this? One person watches this on the TV, and is thrilled. He yells at his friend, "Did you see how that lion pounced on the deer in a fraction of a second? that was so cool and exciting and watch. That deer stood no chance!". His friend doesn't share the same opinion though. His reaction, "Are you serious? What did that poor deer do to deserve such a fate. How can you enjoy watching something so cruel?". This friend becomes sad perhaps for days. He fumes stating this is unfair. He concludes further there is no God. Why does that deer has to go through such suffering? How can a loving God make anyone go through this. Why do two people watching that same scene feel so different? Is one right and the other wrong? What happened really was simple. The lion was hungry, it needed some food to survive. The deer was unlucky, it did go through some terrible pain and die. However everyone dies someday. This is how nature works. Perhaps the first person identified himself with the lion and therefore he felt the thrill of the chase or the hunt. The second guy with the deer and therefore he feels the perceived cruelty and pain. What happened simply just happened. It is valuable to understand everyone is just like us, looking for happiness but many times ending up with just pleasures and pain. Understanding this may enable us to help others. But we need to be careful not to project ourselves into some situation and read more than what the situation really is, or jump to wrong conclusions. Assuming those people in the slums suffer, it may help to ask yourself the question, why does the suffering of those millions in slums especially bother me? Good luck in finding answers!

Yes, I don't see the need to take up your challenge. You are welcome to call it whatever you like

Yes, In my opinion this is not simply an intellectual puzzle. One can't simply think or reason their way out of this. Understanding is important, but it is only one aspect. There are several other aspects that come together in solving the puzzle. But when we trivialize the problem totally as a mind problem that can be solved by intellectual analysis such as the one that denies or tries to get rid of the identity. Instead of helping make progress, this can possibly just magnify some of the other issues, and raise further complications. Such efforts lead to an unhealthy state of detachment, because any knowledge gained is not yet supported by the other areas or aspects of us growing proportionately.

That first line is so important that I think it should be printed in large bold font as a disclaimer that all spiritual seekers should be made to read and acknowledge. The self-inquiry or the questioning methods have this inherent trap which does seem to magnify or increase the suffering as you stated.

The reason that you are looking for can be found in small things. Let's say someone tripped and was about to fall down. You just happened to be there and not with intention or conscious effort to help, but instinctively your hand just went to steady the person from falling and injuring themselves. This is reason enough for living. You don't necessarily have to have helped the person from great impending danger or help someone falling every single day. I am sure you helped someone somewhere like that. The point is, truly no purpose is needed to justify our existence. If we were to look for such purpose, ask yourself the question, put in a scenario like that, would you help the person that is falling? If the answer is 'yes', know and be happy that there is purpose to your existence. The purpose is the compassion you possess to help.

I will check that out.

This is what I feel right now. Our most obvious state is bliss, that stays in the midst of everything. I am not talking about Samadhi states where conciousness is lost in some type of ecstatic state temporarily. If most obvious is bliss, then why is everyone not seeing/feeling it all the time? It's because we have forgotten and got caught up with the worldly things, due to maya, and this strange obscuring power. When whatever is obscuring clears, the bliss shines again. The typical example given is a good one, the clouds obscuring the sun. The sun (or bliss) is obviously there, we know it even when we can't see it. But we just are not conciously aware of the fact.

There are some members from Australia here in the forums. Good luck in finding the type of school you are looking for. Welcome to TDB!

Look forward to seeing you in discussions. Welcome to TDB!

Welcome to TDB!

Welcome to the TDB. Look forward to hearing from you.

Agreed. It's kind of horrible and very good at the same time. It is not one of my favorite movies. But I love the way some sequences are shot in the movie. The flow is brilliant.

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When you post a movie name (favorite or the ones that didn't tire you after watching few times), if you can find a YouTube trailer or a poster image, please share that here with your post.

Yes, I feel the same. Also, by knowing what others find fascinating and why, sometimes I see that same movie or book in a different light.

Sure, I guess that's one way to look at it.

I thanked for those words. I feel it is important to respect other people's beliefs and opinions and let them be, without compelling them to agree, or buy into our views. Acceptance is the key. I may never agree with your views, that is a possibility you have to come to terms with and just accept. You can keep insisting they are the same views and there are no arguments, all the while engaging in arguments. This is nothing new and goes back centuries or even thousands of years. There are Advaitins who thought Ramanuja, Madhva and even Abhinavagupta and schools of Shaivism were unreasonable and wrong. They wanted to convince these others into seeing that Advaita is the only all encompassing philosophy. Despite the relentless effort by Advaitins, as far as I know, none of these other masters ever changed their mind -- not even one iota. On the contrary, some who tried to convince them, changed their views and bought into the differentiation concept. You can't tell any of these masters they are not qualified to compare with Advaita and criticize the views as they see fit in public arenas. You can enforce such rules in the places you govern or control, such as within an Advaita school where you teach, or a website run by your faith. Similarly, public forums in internet are common area and not controlled by one school of thought to enforce rules as they see fit.