Vmarco

Who is OP? What was funny? What patterns are you talking about? What is repeating itself in everything? Were you responding to the right thread?

Meditation may best be explained by way of non-meditation,...the neti-neti approach. Non-meditation is a topic that will surely upset millions who have vested meaning, money, and measure, sitting on a cushion. Millions believe that meditation is the path to happiness, compassion, god realization, and enlightenment. Surely, meditation has provided solace to many, but solace is a temporary thing. Lao Tzu purportedly said, "Do you think you can clear your mind by sitting constantly in silent meditation? This makes your mind narrow, not clear." Who is honestly aware of anyone realizing happiness, compassion or enlightenment through meditation? (see the disscusion "Compassion?"). Before anyone gets too upset, the topic here is "Awareness of Non-meditation," that is, to simply be aware that meditation may merely be a stepping stone, not the goal. Hui Neng reportedly scolded his monks for spending too much time sitting in meditation....He said that meditation is unnecessary, and warned that such practice can easily become a narcotic. Many Western meditators are so intoxicated by their practice that they see themselves as superior to those who don't formally meditate, like drug addicts see themselves as better than non-users. Few people seem to realize that Buddha did not uncover enlightenment through meditation,...he realized enlightenment when he ceased meditating. Meditation nearly killed him. Historically, Sakyamuni was near dead from meditation, more bone than skin, when a young girl named Sujata (likely a dakini) offered him some food (perhaps rice cooked in milk). Some say an appreciation filled him from this meal, and as he recovered his physical strength, through the state of appreciation, he realized the Dependent Origination from which suffering arises. The American Esther Hicks said, "We teach meditation, or quieting the mind, because it is really easier to teach you to have no thoughts, than to teach you to have pure, positive thought. We would rather you be in a state of appreciation, than in a state of meditation, because in appreciation you are a vibrational match to your [Higher Self]." The State of Appreciation; that is threshold to enlightenment, not meditation. Wei Wu Wei said, "The practice of meditation is represented by the three monkeys, who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so as to avoid the phenomenal world. The practice of non-meditation is ceasing to be the see-er, hearer or speaker while eyes, ears and mouths are fulfilling their function in daily life." Meditation is in the head. Jigme Lingpa said, "The state of non-meditation is born in the heart...." Those familiar with the Short Path of Dzogchen have likely heard of non-meditation,... resting in the evenness of being, that is beyond hope and fear. Meditation belongs to of the world of hope and fear. Is there a more dishonest, perniciousness word than hope? hope n. from ME. hopa, an expectation. 1. expectation of something desired; anticipation of some future event. 2. a guess or belief. 3. that which gives hope; a substance or object hoped for; an expected payoff. No matter what level we wish to view it from, hope is false. Hope is an anticipation of the future; thus it must arise from a predisposition, a belief, and attachment to the past. Hope implies lack,...how else could we possibly define it? Hope is for something we think we don't possess. How could hope ever be expressed through an Open-Mind or Open-Heart ? The belief of hope is a barrier that obscures the present. In all samadhis (or states within the 6 consciousness' that preceed enlightenment) except sahaja, the practioner or yogi continues to go and come. Lao Tzu said, "the Tao doesn't come and go." Buddha said, "the Tathagata does not come and go." Refuge in sahaja (or Short Path), which is not preoccuppied with meditation or yoga techniques, is a permanent and effortless state of realization. Kagyu, the fourth stream of mastery, says, "In a state of non-meditation, you attain [the vividness beyond concept, imagination, and projection]. As Beate Stolte said, "to place yourself in unfabricated present awareness." Of course it is difficult for someone blissed out on opium Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!.. "To go, to come, beyond going and coming, into complete going and coming, where enlightenment is welcomed" "...no belief is true; gurus, meditation, and spiritual teachings are all gentle deceptions meant to soothe the inner coward, not forge the inner hero." Jed McKenna In other words,..as Jed McKenna correctly said, "99.9% of the World's so-called wisdom, East and West (including meditation), for the purposes of awakening, is about as useful as a glass of warm spit with a hair in it."

Close,...but still BS. Let's break it down. Religion is a set of beliefs,...that is the definition of the term religion. All beliefs are false. No belief is true. If a belief were true, it would not be a belief. Spirit(uality) is the in-breath/out-breath of duality,...it is the proof that all beliefs are false. No theist or atheist is spiritual,...theism and atheism are belief systems. Beliefs deny, disempower, disconnect, etc,...all beLIEfs are lies. Doesn't matter if belief may be based on a truth,...as Jed McKenna said, "One millionth of 1% false is completely false" Not only is there no truth outside the self you think you are,...there is no truth inside the you that you think you are. In both Buddhism and Taoism, one seeks to uncover prajna. Prajna implies to see things as they are,...prajnaparamita is the Perfection of Prajna,...that is to say, the highest level of prajna when all wisdom is transcended. Wisdom is not Prajna. Prajna is as a Consciousness beyond the Five Aggregates,...whereas wisdom is what the Five Aggregates feel is best about themselves. Wisdom is accumulated by ego. It 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. Wisdom is to make the best use of knowledge,...yet to realize enlightenment (to realize the Tao) means to let go of all knowledge. Knowledge is acquired through thinking, that is the Head-mind,...whereas truth arises from gnowledge, or the Heart-Mind. Lao-zu said, "To attain pure Tao you must understand and integrate within yourself the three main energies of the universe: The first is the earth energy. Centered in the belly, it expresses itself as sexuality. Those who cultivate and master the physical energy attain partial purity (all phenomena is sexual,...the yin/yang nature of duality); Second is the heaven energy. Centered in the mind, it expresses itself as knowledge and wisdom. Those whose minds merge with the Universal Mind also attain partial purity. Third is the harmonized energy. Centered in the heart, it expresses itself as spiritual insight. Those who develop spiritual insight also attain partial purity. Only when you attain you achieve all three - mastery of physical energy, universal mindedness, and spiritual insight - and express them in a virturous integral life, can you attain pure Tao." Hua Hu Ching, sixty-two Look again,...where did Lao-zu say Spiritual Insight arises from? The Heart. All belief, all religion, all faith, all hope,...comes from the Head.

Every Tea Bagger I've run across projects a prideful reactionary persona that they have it all figured out,...they're neo-neo-socio-cons extraordinaire. They fully believe that they are America's great last hope to return to the Founding Principles of the Country. If that was actually true, I'd be a Tea Partier. Let's look at what the Founders Principles were: "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded upon the Christian religion". drafted in 1796 by George Washington, then unanimously ratified by the US Senate and sign into law on June 10, 1797 by President John Adams "It has often been said that anything may be proved from the Bible; but before anything can be admitted as proved by the Bible, the Bible itself must be proved to be true; for if the Bible be not true, or the truth of it be doubtful, it ceases to have authority, and cannot be admitted as proof of anything." Thomas Paine "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin John Adams (Deist) "As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?" "In no instance have ... the churches been guardians of the liberties of people." James Madison (Deist) Ethan Allen (Deist) stopped his own wedding until the presiding judge affirmed that "God" referred to the God of Nature and not to the God of the Bible. Thomas Jefferson (Deist) "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." The US Mottto "E Pluribus Unum" coined by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, was illegally Christianized to "In God We Trust," in 1956,...and in October 2011, a Tea Party led Congress, during a time of grave economic instability, spent a month of the Tax Payers time to pass a non-binding resolution reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto. Forget about the over 40,000 new, socially intrusive laws passed by Tea Party legislatures in 2012,...Oct 2011 proves the lie of the Tea Party. "Mr. Lincoln was not a Christian." Mary Todd Lincoln "I have seldom met an intelligent person whose views were not narrowed and distorted by religion." James Buchanan "You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." Anne Lamott V

Excellent viewpoints Ralis. Well Joe,...if the Tea Party could refrain from initiation so many intrusive new laws against women, LGBT's, Freethinkers, minorities, etc,...like the over 40,000 new laws in 2012,...perhaps we could spend less. If Tea Party congress people would spend less time the Tea Party's intrusive social agendas, and obstructing progress, perhaps we would be spending more wisely. The Gettysburg address contains 256 words, while the Government regulation on the consistency of ketchup is said to be more than 70,000 words. At least sometimes, great things may be said in few words. By the way, "Mr Lincoln was not a Christian" Mary Todd Lincoln. Anyway, the Tea Party, over the last two years, have clearly shown their Christocratic fascist reactionary roots. I agree with Ralis,...less government means more Vulture Capitalism,...which will, I assure you, lead to Civil striff on an unfathomable scale. There is nothing real about money,...LOL,...you mention it as Christians talk about god. Money is an invention. http://hermetic.com/bey/millennium/religion.html Throw your money away thelerner,...like these people @ 2:33:00 If you want a free, prosperous World that respects the Tao, end the Abrahamic religions. V

Do you mean how Tea Party fanatics, who propagandize Less Government, initiated the bulk of the over 40,000 new intrusion laws enacted in 2012? Or how the Tea Party Congress people spent more than 30 days in Congress, in Sept/Oct 2011, during a fragil economic time, to push through a law restating that America trusts in the Judeo-Christian god delusion? If one openly and honestly reduces the actions of the Tea Party, the only conclusion is that this groupthink is the most diabolically threat to humanity that ever existed. I'd doubt Lao Tzu would take a ride a ride into the mountains and bury his head. Lao Tzu said, "Who can enjoy enlightenment and remain indifferent to suffering in the world? This is not keeping with the Way?" Nothing,...not the followers Hitler, Theodosius, Justinian, Tomas de Torquemada, or Herod combined, poses a greater threat to humanity than the groupthink of the American Tea Party.

Beyond Belief Such complete unity of separation enfolded within a simple belief A dissymphonic continuum whose reflection of preference serially esculate unremitting anguish Belief obscures reality entwines lifes learned patterns a stupefying absurdity manufactured from artificiality exploitively seeking diversions. Yet in a moment of unfeigned surrender between com-pression and ex-pression a reciprocal tremendum resplendently springs its metanoia dissolving repeated cycles of confusion. Metmorphesized winged inner sense true Compassion arising in the tranquility as flowinging fractal waves delight the blissful birthing of Beingness in softly ecstatic nourishing Life. VMarco 1999

The inevitability of death is a lie,...thus it would better to work on your fear of truth. Even if you do not uncover Truth Realization, such would be helpful in understanding the Clear Light experienced shortly after death. Naropa said, "By learning to recognize the transcendent Light during his lifetime, an adept may return to it without difficulty when the shock of death threatens to disorient him."

I disagree. MrBlast has clearly shown what a Taoist or Buddhist is not. His dishonesty is so deeply engrained, perhaps others will recognize what the Tao is not. To understand what is true, one must be able to recognize what is false. MrBlast shows the contrast between false and honest. V

For those who mistakenly view this thread as political, it is not. It is about honesty and dishonesty. Only the honest,...those who can recognize the false as the false,...who understand that peeing in the Atlantic, or who alter the subject because the truth disturbs them,...like someome responding to the EARNED Entitlements of military retirees as "the social "security" lie", are asleep to the point that any awakening in this lifetime is void. Awakening only arises through being true. An ability to see the false as the false. Of course everyone is entitled to their views,...but some views are so far from fundamental Taoist or Buddhist understanding, like those of Tea Party Conservatives, whose hateful, Christocratic agenda are largely responsible for many of the over 40,000 intrusive laws enacted in 2012. Many may claim some connection with Taoism or Buddhism,...but until honesty is embraced, they haven't taken the first step towards understanding Taoism or Buddhism. All Tea Party Conservatives are dishonest by the very nature that they support the lies, fascist views, reactionary advocacy of the Tea Party agenda. All lies can be reduced to truth,...Tea Party Conservatives don't want to know the truth. They do not like having their Fox media-ted version of reality challenged. For them, that reality, those lies, takes precedence over the honesty needed to integrate Taoism and Buddhism,...like the politicians they vote for, who put their faith-based agendas before their Oath to the Constitution. No one can awaken without honesty. V

You Tea Party folks are beyond ever having a clue. Like to see ya take away the EARNED Entitlements of our mostly armed military retirees. The 2011 total US social welfare budget was 12%, all which gets immediately fed back into the economy. Without social welfare, which includes unemployment insurance, the US would have collapsed 3 years ago. Ending the Free-Ride by Religious Organizations would reduce the Budget an estimated 28%,...add to that the over $125 billion every year in corporate welfare, and America's Budget drops to over 30%. Add a Reduced Defense spending to 2004 levels, and the Budget drops to 43%. Add a reduction of the over $320 billion annual salaries of 810,000 active physicians in the United States by 20% (less than half the concessions by the auto workers), and the Budget, through Health Care, drops to 45% of current levels. A further 5% of Health Care costs can be had from more efficient health care services, administrative improvements, improved management of chronic diseases, and reductions in malpractice premiums, by Vulture Capitalists. The REAL question is,...on this Taoist forum,...is why you support Constitutionally illegal government endorsements of religion, choose to allow religions to continue draining Americas wealth through their Free-Ride Tax exemptions, and are against the ending of Corporate Welfare, whose dollars ARE NOT immediately put back into the economy, but put in havens for the wealthy. The bottom line is that you Tea Party people only want wealth redistribution for the wealthy and religious,...paid for on the backs of a shrinking Middle Class.

Ah! If it's not on Fox Entertainment, it's Left wing propaganda. http://ralphdeeds.hubpages.com/hub/Sarahs-Birtherday-Tea-Party

Well,...if you read the posts within this thread, a link was given to support the statement that many Tea Party people choose to be identified as Christocrats,...which is nothing extraordinary, considering their involvement in the over 40,000 new, many intrusive, religious motivated laws, Tea Party legislatures inacted in 2012. Tea Party faithful = anti-Tao

Does following the Tao suggest stripping away an already bare-bones safety net for people, which is immediatey pumped back into the economy, or inacting over 40,000 new laws, mostly intrusive, like restricting voting rights, penalizing women who desire an abortion, or denegrating LGBT's? What about the $Billions in Corporate Welfare and $Trillions in Religious subsidies, forced upon middle class tax payers. Everytime you pay a sales tax is because Religious entities are not paying their fair share. I have yet to observe a single instance were Tea Party Christocrats (as most like to be called) have followed the Tao. Not only that, but Tea Party Christocrats get their information from the most non-Tao media outlet in existence,...Fox Entertainment.

Why are you so slightful? The post is clearly about ALL religious subsidies. "Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church andstate forever separate." Ulysses S. Grant, September 25, 1875 If you are truly concerned with the State of the Nation, and political ethics for Taoists and Buddhists, instead of bulky at the insignificant amount dribbled to those in need of a social safety net, which immediately goes back into the economy, you might consider the $Billions in Corporate Welfare and $Trillions in Religious subsidies. I agree with Ralis,...no honest, clear thinking, Taoist or Buddhist would support the Tea Party agenda. V

Ralis,...the delusions of these Tea Party folks is infinitely complex. Their denial and dishonesty boggles all reason. The social welfare system had massive, down to the bare-bones, reforms in 1996,...however, Corporate Welfare was untouched, and billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies continue unchecked. Then add the Trillions of dollars which tax-payers have to pay to subsidize Judeo-Christianity. "It is not just one tax that religious organizations are excused from paying, but an entire constellation of them. Clergy are exempt from federal taxes on housing and can opt out of Social Security and Medicare withholding. Religious employers are generally exempt from federal and state unemployment taxes, and in some states, religious publications are exempt from sales tax. Church benefit and retirement plans do not require the church employer to match its employees' contributions. Churches are automatically exempted from filing annual public informational reports on their financial status and activities, and donations made to churches are eligible for income tax deductions. And, of course, the two major tax breaks: church groups do not have to pay income tax and do not have to pay taxes on property which they own." It's OK for the Tea Party folks to bitch about the most streamline social safety net on the planet,...but they won't talk about the real problems. Repealing churches' tax exemption threatens no one's freedom of religion. Churches are fundamentally unlike the other kinds of groups that usually declare not-for-profit status. Charities and educational institutions, for example, serve all people equally. However, churches do not. They are free to discriminate, and do discriminate, against people who do not share their beliefs (this is called the "ministerial exemption"). They can and do discriminate against people for being gay, for being women, for being unmarried, for their age, for having health problems, or for virtually any other reason. (A recent New York Times article, "Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights", gives more information on the liberties given to churches that would never be granted to any other employer.) At the very least, these groups should pay taxes if they intend to treat their employees in this way. Even better, this special treatment should end, and they should be held to the same anti-discrimination rules as any other business. But no,...Tea Party Christocrats don't want fairness or liberty,...they want BIG Government intrusion in the lives of those that are not Tea Party Christocrats,...as proven by the over 40,000 new laws in 2012 alone,...much of which are intrusive Tea Party sponsored laws. Church tax exemptions also tilt the playing field and violate the principles of the free market. Allowing churches to buy up as much land as they want, and hold it forever without paying taxes, stifles the ability of other people to make meaningful use of that property in the future and grants churches an unfair advantage when providing social services that compete with other businesses. Even worse, churches are also unfairly exempt from many licensing and regulation requirements that all other types of businesses must comply with. Churches are even exempt from taxes on side assets like parking lots. The faith-based anti-Americanism of the Tea Party folks is so obvious. If they were really interested in their blather, Gary Johnson would be the Republican nominee,...not Vulture Capitalist Willard M Romney. MrBlast and the Tea Party folks spewing their less government rhetoric, while in large part, sponsoring over 40,000 new laws in 2012, should be criminal,...but at the least is wholly dishonest. V

Many Tea Party folks prefer to be called Christocrats http://www.examiner.com/article/religion-tea-party-politics-and-the-new-christocrats

I agree. Corporate Welfare and the subsidizing of the Judeo-Christian meme through tax-exemptions must be eliminated. There can be tax-exemptions for educational organizations,...but they must have some sense of honesty. If someone over 18 years of age wants to engage in the delusion of their choice, like the Judeo-Christian meme, it shouldn't be paid for out of my taxes. http://www.christianitymeme.org/