Vmarco

For example: Once I got to really understand politics I quit voting. Once I got to really understand religion I quit religion. Once I got to really understand people I quit be so open with them. Once I got to really understand rush hour traffic I quit going home at that time. Once I got to really understand my family I quit being so family orientated. Once I got to really understand the media I quit being media-ted.

The term continuum necessitates time,...and time does not exist,...as in, stands alone. Latin exsistere to come into being, exist, from ex- + sistere to stand, stop; akin to Latin stare to stand. A continuum is a concept about perceived conditions transitioning to other perceived conditions. Would not call time a concept, because time does not need the sentient mind. Ego has quite a romantic notion that for duality to be there must be an individual observer, as if Bohr's Law implies that observers and the observed need a human connection,...that humans somehow effect things into perceived reality. LOL The next term to look at is "now." There are two "now's," the relative and the absolute. The relative now is an illusion (which is actually the past),...the absolute now, is real. There are no conditions or time in the absolute now,...which we could call The Tao. "If reality is conceived as beyond all thoughts, and contemplation directed according, words may help to lead one to a stage where all thoughts cease and reality is experienced." Sri Atmananda The relative, through the 6 senses, sees a now that moves in time. In reality, nothing has moved, even a centimeter, in all eternity,...what the senses perceive as movement is a simulation that reproduces itself 186k mps, relative to whatever so-called speed one is perceiving from. So, to the question...life,...that is, the property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter,...is a continuum,...however, life is not in the now, but always in the past. Sentient beings do not perceive a world that surrounds them,...but a world that surrounded them. As to the question of the thread,...can the now be realized from the past? In other words,...without truth realization, can people, at some point in the illusion of time,...experience the now?

Thanks for the responses to: Once I got to really understand ________ I quit ________.

Yes,...the unenlightened would be snuffed out for eternity in an instant. But the point is, if given a choice, could you uncover enlightenment in 2 weeks?

And some old airmen fly on further.

The we that we think we are is never in the now,...the 6 senses can only perceive the past.

The HHJ is only 81 sayings,...thus a short, but interesting read. Appears to have been compiled from oral sayings around 300 CE https://www.tumblr.com/search/Hua%20Hu%20Ching

In the mid-90's, Gregg Braden, a New Age purveyor and accredited geophysist described the Hopi traditions Great Purification as a "shift" that will bring a zeroing-out of the electrodynamic fields on Earth for near 3 days. This temporary voidance of the EMF will bring great fear and panic to the majority of Earths human population, for the EMF is like a glue that holds together most of our beliefs. Articulating the Hopi prophesy with contemporary themes, Braden likened this Great Purification/Shift to the original computers which did not have internal batteries as our PC's now have. At the Shift, when the EMF zeros-out, will be similar to an older computer "crashing", which meant, it would lose all existing information, and would have to be reprogramed. At the Shift, most people will literally "pass out" due to the exposure of being removed from identification with their beliefs. The one's who remain awake however, their Collective Consciousness, will be the reprogram when the EMF restarts. For those who passed out, when they arise, their past will be erased, and all they will know is what those who remained awake, reprogramed them to know. Under this 2012 paradigm, those who realize and dissolve their belief patterns before 2012, thus being as immune to the shock of zero Electrodynamic field, will be the one's to set the agenda for the next cycle. The original teachings mentioned in the Hopi Prophesy appear to go much further back, to the time before the Kali Yuga, when the "world turned another way". Those Original Teachings include the Ways of the Feminine,...not the patriarchial feminine of today,...but the authentic feminine, as in Mother Sky. They called it the time of the Blue Star Kachina,...the Birthing of HumanBeingness. (see the discussion "the Other Feminine"). There are stories of ancient temples where Initiates would be shielded from what is called electromagnetic energy; the motion of duality. Reduction in the EM field that surrounds us is said to reduce the EMF around the brain which activates and processes sensory inputs. Perception functions through an energy field. Yet consciousness is not energy. Authentic consciousness is "connected with" when we shutdown brain lobes and senses as experiments with Freethought Meditators have shown. Turning down the EMF of brain lobes uncovers the consciousness that energy has obscured. Science believes that the EM field around the brain is a byproduct of that brain,...but what if brain function arises from the EM field? Some temples in Central Asia, Egypt and Mesoamerica, through an awareness of sacred design, are said to have lowered the natural EMF in a particular area within the structure. It is said that the King's Chamber of the Great Giza pyramid, which is not commonly considered a temple, had such a sacred space. One would have to admit that the facts of its architecture is intriguing. First, there is no doubt of the sacred geometric measurements. In addition, there is no evidence that anyone ever occupied the chambers worn down, unremarkable, red granite coffer; which appears too large to have been introduced after construction. That is interesting considering coffins were the most important purchase for a tomb, often ornately decorated, with among other things, false door facades. The 5 chambered anatomy above the King's chamber is also a puzzling, especially for today's object-ive minded sciences. What was the need for such a 51 foot complex above the red granite coffer? Neither the Queens chamber, nor any known tomb appears to have no such construction. Could the King's chamber of Great Giza pyramid, when it was fully intact, have been a sacred space where Initiates could experience their conscious core by decreasing the EMF? We know today that neuroscientists (Persinger's Helmet) can envelop someone with particular wavelength patterns and have them witness Jesus, Mohammed, or a ghost. But what occurs if we enter a deep relaxation and turn down the wavelength patterns? Would we be free to witness reality through a very thin, marginal EMF filter? Could a sacred space or vehicle liberate us from the accumulated iconography of complex brain activity, and encourage a direct, wave-free experience with non-duality? Collapsing the energy supported wave function and entering a Ki point, guiding our attention towards the motionless Now and the still Light of our Source.

Think that is Hua Hu Ching, Forty Eight,....which those who have no real interest in waking up will deny the source as not Lao Tzu, as if they could show the Tao Te Ching as authentically Lao Tzu.

You mean that the "materialistic/empirical point of view is fundamentally dishonest." My personal view, as well as the view of prajnaparamita, is that empirical evidence encourages incurable neurosis. Nothing wrong with empirical evidence if understood in its proper place, that is, empiricism is based on objects that ultimately do not exist. Empirical evidence is Skandha evidence. The Skandhas are not real.

Absolute and saintly are surely contradictions,...although many who cling to the relative for their identity do use the term absolute as if it can merge with relative ideas. Lao Tzu 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; 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 virtuous integral life, can you attain pure Tao." Spiritual insight is beyond knowledge,...beyond the 6 senses.

This is a Taoist forum,..Lao Tzu, like prajnaparaita, said,"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." Lao Tzu If one's heart consciousness arises from the 6 senses, it is merely the Relative Heart,...not the Heart of Essence,..nor the Heart-Mind of bodhisattva's. The 6 senses can never experience the Tao. To say that the "human is nothing more than his mind. If we take away seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, and thinking," depends on the definition of human. If the term is limited to the physical-emotional-mental body,...then yes,...the human could be said to be nothing more than mind,...relative, physical mind that is. Shantideva said, "Relative and absolute, These the two truths are declared to be. The absolute is not within the reach of intellect, For the intellect is grounded in the relative."

Guess that's a mis-definition of spirituality, which has been become so polluted by the ignorant, that it has become a main talking point of the ego enlightenment movement. I agree with you that,...from a "we are our body" point of view,...the perceived end is the same for everyone,...however, the materialistic/empirical point of view is fundamentally dishonest,...as in, total BS. From a Lao Tzu or Buddha point of view, there is another self, beyond the skandha self,...which when realized, opens a different perspective on the way things are. The only way, according to Lao Tzu and Buddha,...to recognize the Tao or Tathagata,...is to wake up before the body dies. Thus, an honest person could not confirm that same is all for everyone,...and is quite possible that the unawakened flash out.

This is a dishonest statement. How do you know "the end is the same for all?" Surely it is a humanistic hope, a New Age fantasy, or faith-based delusion. What if, as many have suggested (Hopi Day of Purification, Christianity, Islam, and numerous other belief systems) that "not all" will make it. Would not the more honest speculation be those who "wake up" while in the body while have a different experience than those who do not. Delusion, belief, conditions, etc., cannot return to Source,...for they are not of Source. Thus, the better theory would be, that the end of conditioned folks will be different than unconditioned folk. Do the meek really inherit the Earth,...or is that a mantra of those who turn, and pretend,...that their faith that a good god will save them. I don't recall Lao Tzu or Buddha ever saying to cling to faith that someone will save you, because all will be saved. However, I have heard, wake up before you die. What if you had a thousand reincarnations to wake up in,....and the end of the universe is not in 22 billion years, but 22 years. With out being awake, how does one honestly gnow that they will return to Source without waking up before the end?

Only seen Battlestar Galactica of those suggestions. My tastes are more into adventures, even though I'm currently enjoying Criminal Minds. Fringe, Chuck, L Word, the Kill Point, Merlin, Game of Thrones. The Games of Thrones can be seen free on http://www.cucirca.eu/

This information age is amazing. No longer do we have to follow a series week to week, season by season. I like watching a 50 minute show during dinner,...so the series format is great. A year ago I watched Fringe,...found it entertaining. This year I started Criminal Minds,...an excellent crime drama in my opinion,...many quite powerful, like season 1, episode 14. I only like one episode of Breaking Bad (which was filmed in my hometown of Albuquerque),...it was a season finale where Walter White used a chemical from a flower on a boy that mimicked poison to expose his enemies,...and the last words, to his neurotic wife over the phone was "I won." Every other episode seemed to break bad.

Since the Joseph McCarthy Era, during the post-World War II years, Christianity has infiltrated nearly every aspect of the United States government, trimming that wall of separation into a small hedge, which now, inescapably, allows their beliefs to pollute our everyday environment with its virulent, theocratic moralistic views. These views may have all the good intentions of its faithful, yet that does not reduce the irrationality of the superstition or diminish the threat to the nation of my birth from that faith’s agenda for a monotheistic, theocratic government. Many Tea Party morons call themselves Theocrats. The historic truth is, according to people such Herman C. Weber, DD, an expert in religious censuses and statistics, that few early Americans were members of a Christian church. In the 1933 Yearbook of American Churches, for instance, it says that just 6.9% of U.S. citizens belonged to a church in 1800. By 1850, religious membership had risen to 15.5%. By 1900, Christians had doubled their percentage to 37%. However, not until 1942 did Christian affiliation exceed 50% of the U.S. population.

Yes,...IMO all Christians have an inherent basic goodness,...nevertheless, all Christians are basically dishonest. Anyone who believes in a god for their identity is dishonest. Because America is predominately a Christian Country (since 1942), this dominance pervades everything in American life,...from laws to customs,...to the ugly crosses of death not polluting every county in America, but at all levels of government. Although Americans are allowed to practice the delusion of their choice,...it should also be noted that it is impossible for a Christian or other theist, to ever realize the Tao. Somehow, Al Gore got it correct when he said in 1992, “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.” No theist can be spiritual,...it is IMPOSSIBLE. Spirituality comes through the Heart,...whereas theism arises from ego. The Heart is only accessed by letting go of conditions. Theism is a meme,...a condition of the head. The gnowledge necessary to be in harmony with the Planet will not come from theism. "We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand....after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." Bill Moyer quoting Secretary of the Interior James Watt on Global Warming "I don't know that those who don't believe in God should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." George HW Bush, August 27, 1987

I lost more than $100k investing in Obama backed Green Companies, like A123. It will likely be years and years before America gets into cleaner energy. And thus, America remains a rather filthy place,...CO2 pollution,...noise pollution,...the visual pollution of faith-based institutions and self-centered clothing choices,...the pollution of American attitudes. Overall, I find America to be among the most disgusting places to live,...a place were people seldom smile, unless they hear a joke disparaging of others. As a consequence, in America, the Illiberals out number the Liberals. What is a Liberal? "someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, that is what a ‘Liberal’ means, and I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’” John F Kennedy September 14, 1960 A liberal is not against Civil Rights, like restricting the right to bear arms, or the right to freedom from religion. Thus, there are few true liberals in America. A liberal America would be interested in zero-energy housing like Germany,...Healthcare like the top 10 happiest Countries,...and the removal of all Constitutionally illegal references of theism. The 1st Amendment is directly opposed to the First Commandment. Common Law "is that system of law which was introduced by the Saxons on their settlement in England…about the middle of the fifth century. But Christianity was not introduced till the seventh century.…We may safely affirm that Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." Thomas Jefferson February 10, 1814 "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

Yang and Yin do not represent the Tao,...any more than a lever, and its position, represent a fulcrum. Yes, Yang and Yin effect their motion from the stillness of the Tao, but are not of the Tao. 108 goes back into antiquity,....most likely from the Bönpo,...for whom multiples of 9 was most important. Nothing is more or less than Nine. For anyone wishing to understand that last sentence, try Russell's "New Concept of the Universe."

The "old boy" was incorrect. The Tao is not One. One cannot exist without two,...nor two without one. Lao Tzu correctly said, "The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things....The Tao gives rise to all form, yet is has no form of its own."

Or....thumb one for each direct experience between breaths, that offers the realization that meditation often becomes an avoidance of truth. "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." - Wei Wu Wei

You must be thinking of the lady in the red dress in the simulation machine in the Matrix. Morpheus: "the Matrix is a system. That system is our enemy. When you are inside you look around - what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, - the very minds of the people we are trying to save. But, until we do, these people are still part of that system and to them we are their enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to awaken - and many of them are so inert, so inured - hopelessly dependent on the system - that they will fight to protect it"

Yes,...Marco Polo was said to have stayed there (Hotan) on his trip.

Yes,..in the Off-topic area,....it shines light on the currently perceived societal group-thinking, or paradigm that much of humanity clings to for its identity. Unlike New Agers, who believe in Ego Enlightenment (going inward),...Bodhisattvas (like the Buddha) focus on the outward, to precipitate the uncovering of real enlightenment.