Vmarco

No,...the history I've seen says that Gore, was highly involved with the intelligence to take out Bin Laden in the months before Bush took office. Bush immediately dropped all plans to take down Al-Qaeda for the Spring of 2001,...and from his very first Cabinet meeting (as stated by more than one in that room) made his priority known that he wanted a way to invade Iraq. That in itself is enough to have altered history. However,...three similar quotes, by Bush, Cheney, and Rice, following 9-11, absolutely disturbed me. "Had I known that the enemy was going to use those airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people".-George W Bush Bush, Cheney and Rice all implied that knew there was to be a hijacking, which was allowed to occur to give Bush reason to invade Iraq,....but that they didn't know they were going to use the planes to crash into the WTC or Pentagon. Of course,...in the months following 9-11, no one was allowed to critique anything that the WH did,...if so, their credibility was destroyed,...like Scott Ritter, Valerie Plame, even Bill Maher lost his job for a while. And list of strange things go on and on,...like Condoleezza Rice revealing to MSNBC.com/news that detailed plans for the US retaliation against al-Qaeda reached the White House for Bush's signature on September 9, two days before the attacks. "Even after the final report of Charles Duelfer to Congress saying that Iraq did not have a significant WMD program, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD. Tell a lie long enough!

The Morality of Competition (author unknown) Discussions about competition often take the form of: Is competition good or bad? This is indeed the way the main contemporary researchers deal with the problem. Is competition good? They answer: No. Is it bad? Yes, in every way, bad psychologically, developmentally, physically, socially, educationally, and productively. Competition has some general characteristics. Competition is involved when, whatever else one wants, it is part of one's motivation and satisfaction to equal or surpass others.

IMO the drive of power in inherent to the unfortunate social norm of competition. Competition is not only a distraction to spirituality, but has an inherently hostile, us verses them mentality that is contrary to the true nature of basic human beingness. Competition is about as natural and needed as the Abrahamic religions. Just as there is no such thing as healthy delusion or a healthy religion, there is no healthy competition. Competition does not build character, it reinforces low self-esteem and ugliness in the World. Competition encourages animosity, envy, hostility, hate, war, and illiberalism. The synonyms of competition include contention, rivalry, conflict, strife, struggle and combativeness. For competition, there is only a winner if their is a loser When viewed integrally, competition undermines all healthy human enterprises. Competition reinforces a psychological dependence on external, object-ive activities. In a competitive society only the winner is good enough. Success is seen through defeating others, not cooperation. Harvard Business School professor Dr. Teresa Amabile, author of Creativity in Context and Growing Up Creative, has given much attention to team creativity, organizational innovation, assessing creativity and motivation.. In one experiment she had two groups make artistic collages. One group competed for prizes through a contest, while the other was unaware of any competition. The art was then independently judged by seven professionals. Those competing for prizes were considered much less creative and complex than the non-competitive crafted collages. Social psychologist Alfie Kohn pointed out in his impressive 'No Contest - The Case Against Competition' a multitude of negative effects of competition, many of them subtle. Kohn articulates that competition arises from four myths. First, the “survival of the fittest”, which really manifests a perpetual struggle in society. Second, that competition builds character. Yet it has been shown that only those with low self-esteem require competitive activities. People with high self-esteem has no need to externally prove anything or beat others. Thirdly, that competition is fun. Competition reduces spontaneous play to superiority/humiliation dynamic. Fourthly is the fallacy that competition increases productivity. However, study after study shows that cooperation, not competition, leads to higher levels of achievement. "That most of us consistently fail to consider the alternatives to competition is a testament to the effectiveness of our socialization." Alfie Kohn How could a truly loving parent put their children in competitive surroundings? For me, I never hesitated to play games with my kids. For example, we'd occasionally play the word game known as Scrabble. It wasn't played competitively, but cooperatively. We didn't take part to beat each other, but to continually see how many overall maximum points could be extracted from our play. We would help and encourage each other to find fantastic words. We would use a dictionary to learn new words and their suggested meanings. Competitive contests encourage division, thus reinforcing the illusion of separation. As long as the belief that we are separate is clung to, we keep our sapiential mind obscured, and our thymus glands atrophied. Competition stimulates physical aging. Cooperation on the other hand, not only perpetuates an enhancing of human potential, but promotes a healthy relationship with humanity and our environment. V

http://www.flippingsocial.com/?attachment_id=1930

Pagan = not Christian, Muslim, or Jew. So yes,...Gnostics who were devoted to the Christ Serapis were Pagan. The story of present-day Christianity is part of a larger mythology. The evidence suggests that the actual principle of Christ grew out of Memphite philosophy—literally, the Krst, the anointed ones, like the Risen Horus/Apis. Then in the fifth century BCE, the word Christos, referring to an “awakened one,” crept into Greek subculture, and this word can be found in the works of classical writers, such as Aeschylus and Herodotus, the father of history. What does that have to do with MH17? Everything!

Sorry for going, what could be perceived as, Off Topic. If there was any "gnowledge" influencing Eastern Ukraine, MH17 would not have been shot down,...just as if Al Gore would have waited for the vote count, 9-11 would likely have been just another day.

How can an "I think" come before the I Am?

I would use intuition as being compatible with gnowing. Instinct on the other hand, seems more memory or knowledge based. Using the terms gnowing and knowing, IMO, can be very helpful in self inquiry. What do you gnow, versus what do you know. Gnowledge to me, is synonymous with absolute bodhicitta,...whereas knowledge is in the realm of relative bodhicitta. In both Buddhism and Taoism there are suggestions of the Heart (thymos) being the higher mind, while the Head (psyche) is the lesser mind. To me, it is incredibly shameful how the Judeao-Christian-Muslim culture of the last 1900 years has disgustingly altered the term Gnothi Seauton (Gnow Thyself) to read Know Thyself. If Descartes had realized the difference between gnowledge and knowledge, he would never have suggested the ridiculous phrase "i think, therefore I Am," as if the I Am arises from the i think. To the Greeks, there were two minds,...knowledge arose from the lessor mind, the cerebral mind called psyche,...whereas gnowledge came through the higher mind, or thymos,...the Heart Mind. Gnosticism, the original form of Christianity, arose from a Greco-Egyptian philosophical fusion. Gnosticism was an important part of the neo-Christian construct. Gnosis was not an outgrowth of neo-Christianity, as revisionists suggest. Today’s Christian persuasions are a product of Gnostic Christianity, not the other way around. We could say that Christianity was built on the DNA of Gnosticism. This neo-Christian fabrication from Gnosis and Krst, from gnowledge and the Anointed One, can also be substantiated through the Book of Enoch, from which over a hundred phrases were introduced into the New Testament. Enoch was written before 170 BCE, and several Aramaic copies were purportedly found among the Dead Sea fragments of the Gnostic gospels from Qumran. Neither Paul nor his followers could grasp gnosis, that is, to gnow themselves through the heart of essence. Like many today, frozen in their conceptual experiences, Paul needed a more physical, hope-driven, fear-based path. The ignorant respond to hope and fear. Thus, from the expectations infused through the Pauline church, the concept of a personified Christ grew and entered the groupthink of the anti-Gnostic Paulines and those, like the Roman aristocrats, who wished to exploit it. Today’s scientially minded, a belief based approach to object-ive reality built upon knowledge, may think such a philosophy of Gnowledge as primitive, but keep in mind that the Egyptians for example were quite aware of the brain. Evidence clearly shows that the Egyptians had an intimate knowledge of brain functions, for instance that the left cerebral hemisphere controls the right side of the body. As was the case with the Tantrika and Vajrayana in Asia, and the Maya of Mesoamerica, Egyptians seemed to have been aware that the brain is the vessel for the lowest consciousness, whereas from the heart arose the highest consciousness. Ancient cultures appear to have discarded the brain because they had a higher awareness of self, a non-ego self, that has been quite veiled in the contemporary cultures of the last few millennium. Knowledge proceeds through what Buddha called the five skandhas or Aggregates, which includes sensual perceptions and conditioned experience by way of the psyche or personal consciousness. To know is to comprehend noologically, through intellect-based thought. Gnowledge is to understand through metasensory awareness and unconditioned experience through the thymos or impersonal consciousness. To gnow is to understand by way of gnosis or Right Discernment, the gnowledge that Siddhartha Gautama, the "Sage of the Shakyas," implied when he said, be a Lamp unto Thyself. Gnowledge, Prajna, Bodhi, and Tao are feminine nouns. Wisdom is said to be a feminine (Yin) noun, but the word, as defined, only points to the masculine (Yang),..wisdom literally means knowledge accumulated through philosophic or scientific learning. Knowledge is fully masculine (Yang). Knowledge is of, and fully dedicated to, the skandhas (form, senses, perception, thinking, and the knowledge of that thinking). Thinking is always (irrefutably) in the past.

Gnowing, gnosis, gnomes?

ralis,...long time no see. Ever see the scene where there is a couple, and one seems preoccupied, so the other says something outrageous, while the preoccupied one replies "that's nice," or something to that effect. That's been happening to me lately,...with the "other" being my own Head Mind,..wanting some attention. I've been laughing so hard over it that my face hurts.

As I mentioned....Wisdom literally means knowledge accumulated through philosophic or scientific learning. Knowledge and knowing imply the same thing,...information about illusion as if illusion is real. Neither knowledge or knowing,...whether perceived to be insightful or not, is never present. Thus,...it is good to be aware if you are running a knowledge or knowing program,...for if you are, that is proof you are not in the present. All knowledge and knowing is in the past. Gnowing on the other hand, is fully different. For example,...prajnaparamita cannot be know,...only gnown. Gnowledge comes from Heart Mind, whereas knowledge arises from Head Mind. Know god, no peace; Gnow peace, no god. Those who know, most often do not gnow. Gnothi Seauton does not translate to know thyself, but Gnow Thyself.

Good for you. As the skandhas are Avidya or ignorance, and your "penetration" of that through kundalini experiences (that arise from the skandhas) which give cause to your thinking to believe you know about Dharma wisdom and spirituality is commendable. For me however, any so-called wisdom is surely proof that one has not unweaved the skandhas. Wisdom literally means knowledge accumulated through philosophic or scientific learning. In other words, wisdom points to the highest and most lofty ideas of ego consciousness, whose sole purpose is to sustain itself,...that is to say, the term Dharma Wisdom is an oxymoron,...because Dharma cannot be realized through wisdom,...or kundalini. Please don't get me wrong, as you have done with nearly everything else I mentioned,...kundalini is a pleasant experience,...my first was in the year that Gopi Krishna first published his Evolutionary energy in Man (that is, before you were born). But like meditation,...it will not get you across the threshold to the realization of Dharma,...that is,...seeing things as they are. I would encourage you though, to hang out on the General Forum, where there may be more appreciation of your feats of knowledge. Then,...when you're ready to let go of the idea that merging with phenomena (avidya) is of any help in understanding Dharma,...and, when you are available for some honest discussion,...then by all means come on back.

First, beyond our ignorance, Gore was a leading proponent of the internet superhighway, and has been recognized for his contribution, which, if didn't exist, the internet would have not had the support it needed, and ended up, as Bill Gates wanted, like an Obama Green Energy failure. Gore is an inductee in the Internet Hall of Fame,...for creating the High-Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991 (the Gore Bill), which allocated $600 million for high performance computing and helped create the NREN (National Research and Educational Network),....which also created the National Information Infrastructure (NII) also known as the Information Superhighway. As for paying attention to the "human world." Buddhas said, "A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real."

By ISIS you must mean ISIL. Still don't know why the media uses a term that ISIL doesn't. How do you know the American Executive Branch needs ISIL to topple Assad? War monger Obama already intervened too much,...for example, taking out Kadafi seemed quite stupid, and not much different than Russia's interference in Ukraine. America however, will not elect an excellent President, like Gary Johnson or Jon Huntsman. Personally, I have no idea why the powers that are, create these perpetual conflicts. Of course, if I was a Palestinian, and had my family's land taken by Jews in 1948, and put my family in a refugee camp for the past 66 years,...and I wasn't a spiritually orientated person,...what would I be doing today.

Spirituality,...the in-breath/out-breath of perceived separation,...should be of the greatest importance to a Taoist,...because the Tao cannot be realized without understanding Yang/Yin. As someone said,...gays are born, homophobics made,...thus for the homophobic Putin, the gay issue is an important one, for his self, and the public he media-tes. I need no info on BRIC or the Dollar,...for me it's as irrelevant as your perception of human rights. I'm neither a socialist nor a capitalist,...IMO they are both detrimental to spirituality. Frankly, I'm not ashamed to say I'm aware of spiritual nature, and all it implies. Authentic spirituality can alter all geopolitical manifestations. In 1992, Al Gore said, "the more deeply I search for the roots of our global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for the lack of a better word, spiritual". That is not to get into a debate about Gore,...it is about the quote, that he just happened to pen. The problem on Earth is rooted in beliefs,...especially religious beliefs. Authentic spirituality is void of belief, that is, the unquestioning acceptance of illusions/delusions. The key to spirituality is honesty. Homophobics, Putin, the Maliki regime, Isil, etc.,...are not honest. There are few Countries that have a sizeable spiritual population,...perhaps Bhutan,...but the West will have to evolve another spiritual path, although such will not occur until the obliteration of the Judeao-Christian-Muslim memes,...because conditions cannot enter the Unconditional..

Yes,...agreed. However, what is their interest,...and why? This is a most important question, if the societies of the World will ever evolve in the numbers necessary for spirituality to be viewed as meaningful to the sustainment of the human race. To StillAnswers,...I too am not interested in "the blame game and which country has the most morons." My response came by way of some upset folks who may have thought that this was the General Forum, and accused me of racism,...and that a lack of response would find me expelled from TTB. This is why I do not post on the General Forum,...and would prefer to be in Pit,...although the Moderators have removed access to posting new topics,...rendering it pretty much unusable for any sincere discussion. Sometimes, sincere discussion takes some time to unweave. There is no time to do that on the General Forum where members feelings get hurt before the slightest explanation,...with members screaming to push a Milgram Experiment button to inflict the most pain on the poster. Here's an example: The following was posted on the General Forum. The full thread was subsequently removed to the pit,...along with a barrage of threats from the Moderation. OK,...one must respect the Rules, and be fearful of Moderators, like Christians have fear of their lord,....no problem,...but when something sets off the emotions of someone, that the poster is innocently oblivious too,...then it manifests a groupthink,...like the unswerving hate against Bowe Bergdahl,...a soldier neither charged, tried or convicted of anything. By the way,...it was never articulated why the above thread was removed to the Pit. PJ Merola argued,"The biggest crux to the evolution of humanity is breaking through your own indoctrination. It is very, very difficult to overcome emotional elements that have become so engrained in you, that you have an immediate reaction, an immediate suffering and pain, if something interfers with [your idea of the status quo]. It's a very, very complex problem. We have to learn how to identify and break our own indoctrination if we expect to move forward at all as a civilization"

My broad stroke was that if the thousands of Russians in Pattaya Thailand are anything like those in Russia, that few, if any Russians are spiritual people. I'm much more familiar with America,...and can say that very few American's have any serious interest in spirituality. As Jed McKenna correctly said, "99.9% of the World's so-called wisdom, East and West, for the purposes of awakening, is about as useful as a glass of warm spit with a hair in it." I'm suggesting that percentage may be more in Russia. In regards to (ChiForces comment) Putin getting a Nobel Prize for being a homophobic, arse-kicking, individualist,...I'd say that ChiForce should join Putin's (Ted Cruz like)propaganda team,...one of the maya trustees that herd the monkey's. I'm not intending to slight in any way,...truth suppression is the hottest job on the planet right now. The Right does it,..the Left better well start doing it more,...honesty does not win votes.

As I don't think as a Moderator, I cannot be relevant for Moderators. I would have to agree, that the Russian mafia attached to Pattaya Thailand likely does not mirror Russian society in any way. Most likely, the Russia military are not supporting the Ukraine terrorists, or firing weapons into the sovereign Country of others. Perhaps if I actually went to Russia, I'd see that an individuals human rights are protected and encouraged,...that all LGBT's there live in peace and prosperity. By the way,...I thought the Game of Thrones was simple to figure out within the first few episodes,....John Snow is Daenerys Targaryen's half brother.

Keep in mind,...although Putin does not appear on Forbes Top 50 list,...neither does Thailand’s King Bhumibol, who's easily worth $35 billion. Putin however, could be the richest man in the world. By the way, here's some trivia: Putin's daughter Mariya is married to the Dutchman Jorrit Faassen....they live in Voorschoten, Netherlands. If anyone takes offense at this post, please see #22, that it is not my intent to make any "racist" suggestions about Russian Nationals. However, as a Taoist, let it be known that I am intolerant of all religion and sets of beliefs. Lao Tzu (Hua Hu Ching) said, "to eliminate the vexation of the mind, it doesn't help to do something; this only reinforces the minds mechanics (monkey mind)…. "the ego is a monkey catapulting through the jungle; totally fascinated by the realm of the senses....if anyone threaten it, it actually fears for its life. Let this monkey go. Let the senses go…. Recognize that everything you see and think is a falsehood, an illusion, a veil over the truth." "Do not go about worshipping deities and religious institutions as the source of the subtle truth. To do so is to place intermediaries between yourself and source, and to make yourself a beggar who looks outside for a treasure that is hidden inside his own breast ...the world's religions serve only to strengthen attachments to false concepts such as self and other, life and death, heaven and earth, and so on. Those who become entangled in these false ideas are prevented from perceiving the Integral Oneness." Lao Tzu

Ever see the Bruce Lee film "Circle of Iron,"...poor acting I thought,...but the story was excellent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_Iron

It is said that Vladimir Putin has an estimated net worth of $75 billion. Reporter Andrea Mitchell said he's one of the top 10 wealthiest men in the world. Pretty good for a Civil Servant. I'd say he has a pretty firm control over Russia, and what the people there believe,..."which, if they are anything like the Russians in Pattaya Thailand, are among the least spiritual people in the world." The last statement above, slightly "off-topic" from the title MH17, now in quotations, will be explained for Moderators and ?: My little experience with those of Russian Nationality is limited to Pattaya Thailand, where I have had extensive experience with those of Russian Nationality. In not a single instance out of thousands of examples, have I've come across or heard of even one spiritually minded Russian in Pattaya. In all instances they are there for money, sex, drugs, and propagating crime. My statement above, intended to splurge upon the mentality of Russian Nationalists in an Off-Topic forum, in no way suggests that all Russians have no interest in spirituality. For those familiar with my posts at TTB,...I define spirituality as that which has nothing to do with religion, sets of beliefs, or cerebral mindedness. As I define it, spirituality has nothing to do with money, sex, drugs, or propagating crime. I for one would not say that no Russian National in the world is uninterested in spirituality,...but would make a substantial wager that no Russian National in Pattaya Thailand,...in which there are thousands of expat Russians,...has even the slightest interest in spirituality. If the Moderators or ? hear of a Russian National in Pattaya Thailand that is sincerely interested in spirituality, please let know. Hope that helps with any misunderstanding that my post was "racist" in any way.

I love to see a re-make of Moby Dick based on Jed McKenna's Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment... where McKenna interweaves the inherent spirituality of "Moby-Dick".

Does Enlightenment have a plethora of meanings? 　 At the suggestion of Spotless, been watching a variety of interviews at batgap.com. So far they all have one thing in common,...I find none to be enlightened,...or even truth realized,...although several have unwittingly verbalize truths,...such as, when time and separation are understood, there is a realization of reality as it is. Nothing incorrect about that,...but then puke flows out of their thought-centric mouths, with stuff like, reality as it is, is realized in the now perceived within time through one's sentience. For me, I see enlightenment pretty much as Buddha, Lao Tzu, Tilopa, Avalokitesvara, etc., saw it,....enlightenment is an awareness of the present. There is no present in time, space, energy, separation, thought, or sentience. The whole of the prajnaparamita and mahamudra is about the necessary liberation of sentience to clearly understand the nature of things. If one's awareness is in time,...like those who talk of Thought's perceived now of sentient feelings,...they are no more enlightened than a Muslim on a prayer rug, or a Christian evangelizing,...that is, by the criteria left by Buddha, Lao Tzu, Tilopa, Avalokitesvara, etc. There is no present in time. This fact is unchangeable. Irrefutable. But Thought is tricky. It says nothing is real but the sensual moment,...yet this "now" that Thought is pointing to is in time,...observed through the senses,...and thus is not the Now,...it is merely the perceived now of enlightened ego's. The reality of the way things are, can only be realized through the present. The present to totally inexcessable to the 6 senses. The 6 senses can only observe the qualities within time.

Yes,....the distraction of work to live, or live to work, can certainly slow down any progress towards awakening. Most (ordinary folks) opt for stuff like this: Some philosophies say,...it takes 10,000 lifetimes for an ordinary person to awaken,...it takes 1000 lifetimes for an ascetic,...100 lifetimes for a monk (hermit/mystic), 10 lifetimes for a yogi,...but just a single lifetime for one on the Short Path. http://www.paulbrunton.org/notebooks/23/1 A question could be,...will there be other lifetimes available for awakening? What if this reality ends within this lifetime, or the next,....will there still be an opportunity for everyone to wake up? Talk about speculation. No, not the speculation of will there be many lifetimes left to awaken,...but how many upon hearing this, would decide to wake up in this lifetime.

Sure,...that is a example of a "mystic me story," ...although much too many faith-based conditions to even be close to Heart Mind. First of all, God is a condition, and thus separated from love. Sure, in the late 2nd Century apology 1John it says their God is love. However, when viewing the full length and breadth of the Bible, their Patriarch is clearly a murderous, pro-slavery, vacillant, petty, racist, conditional God. And amazingly, a God who is so insecure, that it demands to be worshiped, obeyed and prayed to. All conditions. How are conditions supposed to enter the Unconditional? God defined (websters unabridged): 1. A being (condition) conceived as the omnipotent (condition), omniscient (condition) originator and ruler (condition) of the universe (condition), the principal object (condition) of faith and worship (conditions) in monotheistic religions (conditions). 2. The force (condition), effect (condition), or a manifestation or aspect (conditions) of this being (condition). 3. A being of supernatural powers (condition) or attributes (conditions), believed in and worshiped (conditions) by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality (conditions). 4. An image of supernatural being; an idol (conditions). 5. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed (condition). A very handsome man (condition). A powerful ruler or despot (conditions). For some contrast: Buddha said, "the Tathagata does not come and go." (Unconditional) Lao Tzu said, "the Tao doesn't come and go." (Unconditional) Julian of Norwich claims to seek truth,...but where is truth in change? We know through all theo-beliefs that God is a changeable God. So what authentic seeker of truth would seek truth through a changing God? Not Buddha or Lao Tzu. "Do not go about worshipping deities and religious institutions as the source of the subtle truth. To do so is to place intermediaries between yourself and source, and to make yourself a beggar who looks outside for a treasure that is hidden inside his own breast ...the world's religions serve only to strengthen attachments to false concepts such as self and other, life and death, heaven and earth, and so on. Those who become entangled in these false ideas are prevented from perceiving the Integral Oneness." Lao Tzu Shakyamuni Buddha may have been the first to define freethought when he said in the Kalama Sutra, “Do not accept anything by mere tradition. . . Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. . . Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your preconceived notions.” Buddha taught irreligion; that is, to not accept "sets of belief." For many, especially those indoctrinated into theo-beliefs,...mysticism is quite attractive,...perhaps even an excellent stepping stone leading to the surrender of all faith-based beliefs. TTB's General Forum is a good place for mystics to discuss mysticism with others of like mind. I prefer the Pit,...but was forced to settle for Off Topic as a forum to discuss truth. “Truth, like light, blinds. Falsity, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object.” Albert Camus