old3bob

On a side note ,The historic Buddha was not a Buddhist before he founded Buddhism...

this is one of my favorite spots but its a long ways away... one can go 200+ miles to get into the more scenic areas, (like the Tetons and Yellowstone. (long drives are very common) Picture is about a 1400' drop.

new code for thunder boxes: must have a methane detector, a no smoking sign and a fire extinguisher.

I thought it was a box of chocolates....

...and what is the local beer brand?

Random Buddhist on the web: "Nibanna is bliss, but not bliss with the senses, not even the bliss from the jhana. It is the other kind of bliss and you can't know it before being enlightened."

" "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it"

A joy beyond sorrow is not in or of a mind identity, it is in and of Spirit, Spirit that was, is, and always will be FREE, thus when limited identity is put away....

yep, and putting it mildly...

my personal experience was verified by the power of Grace by Grace...everything else is preparation for the "beyond" which is important, and granted all sorts of higher realms can be attained with hard work,/good karma/merit/etc.. but those exist in some form of time and space and thus are ultimately limited, as depicted in the Tibetan Wheel of Life or in other depictions or pointers as being god realms.

The Self (by Grace) chooses the Self, for not even intelligence or hard effort (which are preparations) has the power of that choice.

Well if the Great Tao can evolve then it can also devolve...that idea is of simple logic imo and also along the lines of if the Great Tao is born then it could also die, but according to the T.C.C. it is The One, The Two, The Three and so on to the Ten Thousand that are born in a way, and which will also return ("after going far") while their Source (The Great Tao) always remains or IS, thus is not bound to those laws even though it gives all form birth. btw I'd say the return is not an annihilation per se but the meaning of true immortality in my understanding, namely a return to that which is beyond our particular identities with their particular designs in time and space along with related lives and deaths taking place in countless forms. (for instance the Ten Thousand) Further, and to me this is profoundly pointed to in a line from Chapter 43 of The T.T.C. per, "only Nothing can enter no space", thus not a particular being, or seed, or karma, or form can enter and still remain as a particular this or that! To get into some possible correlations the term "creation" has various meanings which I think should be agreed upon when that word comes up. For instance in the dualism that many religions espouse it normally means a God separate from his or her creation of things and beings; while in some schools of Hinduism it may mean God is also the creation, yet still non-dualistic and non-separate, thus always simultaneously transcendent to any dualistic binder, and in that case the term emanation would be a more descriptive pointer than the term creation as it is normally meant. Btw, Advaita Vedanta recognizes a non-dualistic Transcendent Self but posits a divorce of God as not being immanent in "creation", with creation being relegated to just being illusion. Anyway there are many cycles within cycles wherein I'd partly agree with what it sounds like you are saying but I'm not seeing that as applicable to the total cosmic cycles that all other cycles fall under...

we often hear the term immortality, but what does it really mean? Taoism goes into definitions of different types of immortals...which vary a lot. And I hear many people sounding like they look to being an immortal as some particular identity of themselves... Anyway there is a catch that we don't often hear of for even the most advanced of "immortals", which is the length of a cosmic cycle after which it is said by some that all return to Tao before the start of the next cosmic cycle. So with such a return can individual and unique souls really remain immortal if that is the term being applied to them? I don't know what the different schools of Taoism say about this but I do know what some of the different schools of Hinduism say and they are definitely not in agreement with one another. Your take?

native cultures throughout the world and across ages of time knew of the Law, yet those cultures were also human and had human problems, as in tribe against tribe, region against region, thus were also evolving and or devolving back and forth... as handed down and recounted in their histories. For example the ancient Hawaiian island peoples lived in a bountiful paradise yet were often in very bloody and destructive wars with one another! (before European outsiders arrived)

I'd say The Great (un-nameable) Tao needs no seeds to carry (It) over after one cosmic cycle ends and another begins, being that it is the source of seeds and cycles, (and the One, The Two, The Three, etc.) and with no-thing never being lost, (as the Tao goes far and returns as I believe is pointed to in Chap.14 of the T.T.C.)

my sentence could be changed to, it takes a will to surrender its will or its own designs.

if a particular soul is involved and volunteering then no, but if only basic elements are involved and directed then yes. for it takes a will to surrender a will...

forgive for butting in, but I'd say that is possible in willing to be a conduit of zero or near zero resistance for a greater will

partly agreed, yet even a great oak tree also returns to The Great (and formless) Tao, would you say yes or no per most Taoist schools that you may know of?

I don't see any way to reconcile all of the stated contradictions (given by their prophets or founders) among or within the Abrahamic religions; which also extends to whatever degree (?) even in their esoteric versions... granted there is some important and related common ground but that can only reach so far imo. Good luck

A return to Formless (chap 14 of the T.T.C.) would not retain any form...is the way I read it but I'm not representing or quoting a particular School of Taoism, are you?

nature does not play favorites or unfavorites with anyone...to be or come under the laws of nature if you mean "the law of the jungle" can be tough, yet we also know nature as mother to all beings on earth. The ocean is a very powerful force in its different states but much of mankind still has a special feeling or love for it.

well I'd say by various degrees that various "introverts" by general definition (thus not your friend who I was not specifically pointing at) tend to have more of an inner private (as you say) which they don't share at any time with anyone...but if someone knocks kindly on the bricks so to speak then there may be easier or greater communication.

Where, behind a brick wall? Nah, just kindly remove a few bricks...