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Above so Below Foot aches from too much typing Below so Above...

Aha! The psychology of enlightenment! For 4,275 US dollars one can enroll in Chopra's SynchoDestiny Empowerment Workshop and learn how to unlock one's unconscious! There are alternatives, of course... monetarily, from little to practically no cost, depending on one's sincere aspirations.

A warm Welcome, Pu-erh! Except for tea, there are plenty else available here for your delight! Enjoy!!

Precisely! If there is such a thing as an ultimately graspable mind therein lies permanence!

Actually not... when i am not here, i do not even bother about whats gross and whats subtle. Just indulge when its time to do so, like now, that's all. If i let you into my mind, you would have nothing to hold on to, and simply free-fall.

green thumb? not like this! this is never what it seems! Nectarines ripen...

This is good... It is said at the subtlest level its about recognizing mind essence, then training the mind to rest in the recognition. When mind is at perfect stillness, actions are performed spontaneously - there is a 'doer' but the thought 'I am doing' no longer takes up a cause - even so, effects are experienced, but again, since 'I am doing' is already dropped, it cannot follow that there is an 'I' to carry these effects as seeds for the next set of causes. Dropping the 'I', only mind essence as awareness remain - when only awareness remain, then existence completes itself. Full circle... returns to seeing mountains as mountains, yet seer and seen both illuminates the seeing of the mountain, in the seeing itself. Same principle applies to all other actions - taster and taste becomes illuminated in the tasting, hearer and heard becomes illuminated in the hearing, etc. This is the basis of the stabilizing of non-thought giving rise to non-action, yet nothing is left un-illuminated. If one were to think that there is nothing to do, no need for practice, then nothing can be realized. Without realization, where is the hope of illumination? Without illumination, what is the difference between a zombie and a human being? Of course practice is very important... to think otherwise is self-deception and folly. Practice, no practitioner. Only this. Why? Because if the doer is not dropped, there will come a point of supreme realization so refined, so direct, so sublime, so narrow that our gross sense of self will never be able to go through. One has to drop everything on arriving at the gateless gate. Even though its the widest gate, no person can pass... think about it.

Pity is a sort of helpless association with another's plight. What arises from this could be dejection, aversion, anger and as you mentioned, fear. All powerful but nonetheless negative emotions. Compassion in my view is love in action, or selfless response to the plight of others. Associated emotions would be the opposite to those stated above. If pity, or personal gain enters the equation, this will, in due time, dilute the essence of one's compassionate motives. It may not be immediately apparent, but somewhere down the road, if compassionate deeds are done with some sort of expected return, then these actions will bear the respective fruits - this is especially true for those who cultivate any sort of spiritual path - doing so amplifies all of one's actions. This is how i see it.

Yes. Well put, Thuscomeone. Thank you!

Ah! But peacocks show off without a sense of being conscious that they are showing off... that's what make them 'more taoist' than some human entertainers who show off for the sake of misplaced pride and needy dispositions. Not saying its wrong to be showing off, but depending on one's level of sanity and maturity, it could mean a difference between getting lost in life's drama or remaining non-attached in one's role. I have a few friends who are entertainers - Some are able to leave their work at the workplace, while others cant seem to. I see some fear in their being, as if they are afraid their identity will be diminished somehow should they remove their cloaks, or they may have lost the capacity to separate what is true and what is simply an act. In my work as a chef i do a bit of entertaining too... customers like a bit of a show, a kind of flamboyance to go with their dining experience, which seem to work, cos they become regulars and repeat business is the bees knees! I cant imagine having to put up a similar display once the chef's jacket comes off. Different motivating factors at play.

It'd be a lot easier if you had included the practice method for effortlessly reaching effortless acceptance?

But you are here now (fortunately, as human birth is most precious)... how would you advice yourself to abandon suffering and what is the best way forward to attain a non-dual state?

:lol:

Blue skin and dreadlocks Lizard tails and St. John's Wort Oh no! A pimple

Does this mean you hang around escalators a lot?

Hearts, beating as one blind to unified vision fighting for each crumb...

Once bitten, cat eyes Penetrate the dark with light these fireflies fly...

Understanding the death process (from the Vajrayana perspective) as a means to gain conceptual insight into Death Meditation - - http://www.buddhanet.net/deathtib.htm

_/\_ Rusted hinges squeak Hakuin's chain needs some oilin' Liposuction sucks!

Where to go from here? the comfort of something worn an old letter-box... (hey thanks, H.E.! )

edited

You bet! Will we also get tubs of HaagenDazs to wash it all down, ok?? hehehe... Although i must say that the ones i make do not look half as sinful! They're nonetheless gratifyingly delicious... i was told.

Hey, watta bout mine??? :lol:

Maybe they never heard of banoffee pies? Works for me whenever i get down in the dumps. Works for my neighbor too, as long as i am the one buying the ice-cream to go with it.

The humanistic part perhaps? Quirky and ambitious as we are, it appears that at this point in time, more and more people are being sensitized and attuned to expressing life beyond the material realm. The outer comforts having been desired and gotten, have now left a sort of indelible blandness of taste and dissatisfaction in the soul. In the process of becoming numb to being overloaded by external stimulus, an internal window have somehow opened in conjunct - people have now had glimpses to sense that there are deeper, more holistic layers to survival where further explorations of a philosophical, spiritual and artistic kind can happen. Its my feeling that Taoism and some other Eastern traditions have gained quite a foothold in this regard, as paths which offer more attractive albeit radical alternatives. Gradually, this vista to the inner world is being widened, and the new paradigm may present many with answers they are seeking, while for some others, unfortunately, it becomes just another substitute distraction based on conceit and selfish gains. And so the wheel turns. Personally, i am looking forward to the day when i can start enjoying doing nothing except lying on the rug all day, playing with lint balls. Talk about ambition...