Lucky7Strikes

I think there is a misunderstanding here. It seems this has been an issue with several people, and there's a tendency here where a conceived notion, from very very personal experience, has led to generalizations...and assumptions, hence clouded evaluations and/or well...for example, fiveelementtao seems to...and is blowing it completely out of proportion. Blasto was probably right. My own posts were barf quality... . @Paul Walter, I have absolutely no worries for my own resolve. I do not mind guilt or non-guilt, or need or non-need. Drain my energy... It also had nothing to do with the need for friends... Why the hell are all these irrelevant issues being brought up? Save myself? Huh? I see no good outcome from the materialistic and even nihilistic view of life some around me are imprisoned in. And drugs and alcohol carry them on. I see that and see myself, and I know that I am happier, that my life's become easier. Now, do I sit next to them and go: hey maybe you should get professional help? HAHAHA why? don't we live for the pleasures? Piles of rolling dirt! Or do I tell them about all the depenedent origination! GO READ THE BUDDHA? Go do some qigong! Or should I just sit there and listen to them go on and on about their misery half drunk out of their minds. Yes, maybe I should just stop seeing them. I don't know. This threads is turning out very weird. I get a hunch that there's a history of bad memories with orthodox religious fanaticism in many people. Maybe this has an effect, why is this coming up in my mind? Just an hunch...but then again, I am probably over generalizing myself.

It's because I respect your opinions. I'll carefully consider what you wrote. BARFED. Nah, I'm just a drama queen. . But thanks. I'm not sure what exactly the 'ego' is. I don't weep privately, but as deeper my practice goes, emotions do tend to get much stronger yet they affect me less. It's kind of hard to explain. You cry but aren't really sad, you laugh but aren't really happy. There is just crying and sadness... . I do not believe that helping others is impossible or guiding them for that matter. It's just an issue of finding right means for individual basis. Perhaps some need to been simply shown example, and others you need to take hold of, shake to pieces, and scream in their ears. And yes, maybe all this shit is pure arrogance, but so what?

You need options, realistic option, for to have choices. It has nothing to do with victim mentality, but has everything to do with how one decides to perceive the meaning and purpose of life. Most people live for pleasures, or for goals which they have never truly considered, and day to day momentary escapes carry them through whether you are a junkie or a household mother. And some do not know a way out of it, they believe in being a carbon life form....a pile of rolling dirt born to survive. How do I tell this materialistic person: oh, yes, the Infinite power of the Universe will lift you up! Ask! Do you see the dilemma here? No one listens to such "crap." Personal growth...no, I think the pain is in being left in abject darkness...And to go day after day imprisoned by the illusions of emotions and past memories. Dragging on and on.... Yes, maybe I just am addicted to feeling falsely compassionate and wanting to share even a bit of what I have. But, is it? Is it really beyond my power? . I don't know. Perhaps it's just better to shut up and be a friend. .

But when the person is self-destructive under the idea that he/she has no choice, so many burdens...and there's no one around to lift him/her up... I don't know. .

Yes, I think this abides for those who you spend a lot of time with. And for those I rarely bring up spiritual issues directly. But it really isn't like that for some people I am close to. Due to work and school, it's difficult to meet up with hometown friends except holidays and vacation, and every time I see them, it is rather like this: .

Thank you Hagar. Yes, it probably is.

AH HA! I HAVE WEPT, I HAVE WEPT! In realizing, in realizing.... I CAN I CAN!!! the bliss, the bliss, the bliss, the bliss... . ... T.T Man, I miss Vaj. Well sort of.

Please read my post again, preferably in context. I tried to be as concise as best as I could. I understand if you are busy, you do not have time to write lengthy explanations. But then, it is also not an opportunity for sarcastic and condescending humor. I don't see discussions as sparring, they are discussions to deepen insight and question personal beliefs, and know why someone other has a different view or have come to the conclusions they have arrived at. I have gained much from discussions on this forum, which many simply dismiss as mere "word play" or "not practice" or ego sparring and do not actually work through the content. It is a dismissive attitude, just plain laziness, or worst of all, contentment. Your views are valuable. Why not assert them, when they are challenged for the benefit of the rest of us who might agree and/or disagree? I picked up on your post, because I have noticed that your posts are often disguised under the cloud of respect and "acceptance" which are good traits but at times hindrances nonetheless. If you are going to engage, please engage fully. _/\_.

aiiii.... http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/picard-facepalm.jpg Hahahahaha, the irony! . And I thought I was on the pedestal!

Perhaps you still believe that Jesus is your personal savior. You made some very stupid and thoughtless remarks, so I replied in the same manner. Using words like "human nature," "acceptance," "desire," "the nature of the mind," "wu wei" without much inquiry into them, deserves a good slap to the face. I was hoping you'd reply back in a thoughtful manner on some of the questions I have raised, but instead you replied in a pretentious and condescending manner. Do not confuse silence with wisdom, or stillness with peace (whatever that means). Linguistic jargon is a necessary field that needs to be investigated into, for words and thoughts are closely intertwined and they have forever conditioned us so.

What is human? Are you human? What makes the human form? What will you be when this "humanness" ends? No. Desiring is not the root of suffering. Desiring is good, it;s the content that matters. I can desire for the happiness of mankind and arouse compassion. That is good. I can desire to become a BUddha, and that too is good. Practice does yield enlightenment, and practice is itself enlightenment. Are you the "I"? Acceptance is NOT liberation. In fact, there is no such thing as acceptance, acceptance itself is a struggle against what is. Acceptance creates violence and suffering. Action is continuous, and intent is necessary. Why question, why refine, when you can just..."accept?" . Wu Wei is not acceptance. It is acting according to the right means when there is no longer any dualities or contradictions latent within, so that you can act completely as yourself with a unified intent without any fear whatsoever.

The enlightenment of one in the mountains helps the whole of humanity. Or something like that. I think the Maharshi said something in that manner. But, I think a Buddhist will say: Creating unconditioned compassion is the way to go! .

There is no such thing as "human nature." The suffering towards enlightenment is not suffering, but practice. Practice is not/should not be suffering. You ARE inadequate. DO NOT accept what you are. Question your values. .

I agree with Blasto here. Escapism is a tricky word and concept. The Buddha was probably "escaping" from the "reality" of life and death. To not escape is also a tricky concept, as sometimes the macho attitude of "I will take this head on!" is not the wisest thing to do. It all depends on the conditions and intent. Anyways, I like escaping, actually all this "spiritual" things I do is partly to escape, so I can come back and destroy...er...the cage. .

I hope those trinkets in your pocket due matter. How could it not, in moments of despair, hopelessness, happiness, boredome, etc. etc. etc.? The teachers I have met, and have read about, all have returned to the simplicities of life. They chop wood, carry water, and wander. The thoughts, feelings, and the 'self' are all necessary elements of human existence. They are essential for us to communicate with other living beings. In reference to the quote above, which I highly due respect nonetheless, there is no need to live that spring, or not live that spring. You can go in and out of both states, and neither is more truer or false, better or worse. The greater Self is not different from the smaller self. It is just a progression. People who make the disparity, I think, have a false idea that the concept of "self" is destroyed. The "I" cannot kill the "I."

I think we've discussed that quote extensively in previous threads on Buddhism. The quote does not point to an inherent soul, an eternal identity of sorts. It speaks of the characteristic of the eternal, such as seeing, looking, suffering, etc., the action and not the doer or the agent of action: there is the Path, but no one travels it! .

The Bodhisattva helps no one. There is helping, but no one is saved, and no one does the saving. No one is taught. There is the endless intent of compassion, the endless flow, to break the boundaries by letting go, and at times, force. And when that compassion is pure and perfected with the wisdom to see all the potential lines one can draw on empty space, the flowers in the sky, I think that is enlightenment. . HAHA, I love to pretend! .

My 2 cents, Destroying the ego likely means realizing that there is no real "ego" in the first place. "I" actively destroying another "I" is...well..that creates a cyclical transition of ego. And, You need it, or rather, it's useful to have it in your vocabulary. Like the word "of," it's an important tool for formulating coherent sentences, but is without much meaning to itself. Like a filer, but a needed one.

Anyone seriously experiment with polyphasic sleep? Everyman cycle, or the infamous Uberman cycle? Just an offshoot of the insomnia thread.

I don't think that will be a problem. . The major problem would be fitting the nap time into the day time schedule without exception.

http://gizmodo.com/5422792/this-is-how-the...spiral-happened

I think, only partially. But, I think KAP's great. Santi's great. Yes, you should pay him. Money is a form of giving, and I think one needs to invest in the teacher, whether it is money, effort, loyalty, or whatever. Anyways, he gives great discounts to returning students. KAP is not just about awakening Kundalini. It's like the "greatest hits" collection from various internal practices without much of the other garbage.

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