neimad

right on. i just wanted to add this in regards to manifestation and creating what you want in your life. manifestation is true, we do have the ability to alter our own life and create what we want from it with our intention. we are all so focused on the magic of "i want a ferrari" and then poof in 2 weeks we suddenly get one. perhaps if your intent and focus is that strong is this possible.... but the often neglected point is that manifestation takes work, just like everything else!!!!! just like enlightenment takes work, so too does the ability to get what we want in our life. a very simple example: a fat person decides they really don't want to be fat anymore. there intent is so strong, they do all the right things... the affirmations, etc. then.... they start working towards the goal. they start eating the right food, they start exercising. pretty soon the energy they are putting towards this goal begins to expand.... suddenly people are giving them advice on diet, they make new friends at the gym to keep them motivated..... and 6 months to a year later.... wow! they have lost a lot of weight, are feeling better about themselves and have just.... wait for it.... ALTERED THEIR REALITY!!!! this kind of story is so mundane that we gloss over it and forget that this is the kind of power we all have. we have a goal, we want it strongly enough that we pour our energy into it and if our intent is strong enough..... it comes true because to some degree we are able to influence our illusion. it's our game and we all do have the ability to move within it in the pattern we want. it's about the level of intent, about how much you really want whatever it is.... cos if your intent is pure and strong, you will do whatever you can to achieve that goal and it will come true. you get back what you give out.... for sure. although i still dwell on the thoughts of their being a strong matrix of collective consciousness (earth consciousness) that tries to hold us into a set pattern or agenda in the same way our thoughts hold the set pattern for the cells within our body...... overcoming that bigger pattern (collective karma?) is what us spiritual seekers are looking for as well as overcoming our own micro-patterns (individual karma?).

wow... thank you owl for this article... sean, perhaps this would be better moved into the member article section of the forum? this is a whole new area to me, but i am increasingly aware of the amount of stagnation i have in the pelvic region and have just begun exploration with the aneros.... but this looks like taking it to another level.

not at all. masturbation is great, IF: - one approaches it within the right context and right attitude - one is aware of it for what it is, and - one does not do it to excess. masturbation can be very satisfying if these conditions are met... but it's no substitue for sex (experience)! however it CAN be extremely good preperation for deepening the level of sex (experience)... if the intention is right.

hagar - it's all lies. truth can never be told, it can only ever be alluded to.... it is an experiential thing. i continue to say this, and i hold by it. all this conversation about it, while offering us the oppurtunity to have an insight (experience) of truth, is usually just mental masturbation..... not to say i don't enjoy it, but it's just another petty indulgence of mine. but then again to exist as a human being in this dimension is all indulgence! nevertheless most of what hagar says gives me a lot to reflect upon. anyways i digress. when it comes to destiny and creating your own reality, i think there are two possibilities (each having infinite variations) for each individual. 1. an individual holds to the pattern given by the earth consciousness. that is he/she fulfilles the role in the bigger picture, having a particular experience that goes upwards to god saying "oh yeah, now i know what that's like". this is where most people lie, and this is having little to no control over your life. this is also the "destiny/karma" path. 2. when an individual begins to apply themself spiritually, the more so they do, the more they lessen the hold of the pattern over them and begin to break free to create their own oppurtunity to exist. this is "the secret" (not that i have watched it yet, but i will). this is to break free of destiny/karma.... to free oneselsf from the webbing that tries to constantly pull us into the pattern is to become enlightened. to truly break free is to be able to perform miracles, life becomes easy.... things happen as you wish because this dimension is just like our dreams/astral dimension. just illusion. these are just thoughts. i have yet to have the experience to verify these theories.... so thats all they are, theories.

thanks sean. opening up more to the present changes EVERYTHING huh? perspective is entirely changed and all those silly little things we spend most of our time dwelling on dissapear. life becomes easier and more enjoyable. however i think there are degrees of presence... like i am still at a fairly superficial level of presence, i am aware that i can only deepen this presence further and further. there is no end point until we are once again one with the universe. i understand about the fear, fear is really and truly our only limiting factor.... but i think it's also such a useful thing. it gives us an opprtunity to have this journey..... we are all trying so hard to get to the end point (whatever we want to call it, enlightnement, etc) yet the journey is what gives us that oppurtunity. deepening presence only makes it so much more enjoyable. i have found for myself that my emotions have become so stable. i used to be some kind of depressive... i would be really depressed for a week or two, then all of a sudden i would be high for a week, then low again.... this was continous. now i'm just at the same place all the time. you'd think it would get boring, but it doesn't. it's like i can have emotions, but i am watching them from a place of stability (although when i feel happiness or joy, i let myself enter into that... but when i feel angry, frustrated or sad... i just observe that and don't even go into it). like there is some disconnection between the emotions (which i have come to realise are entirely biochemical... these simple emotions are just part of the physical body, hormones etc... which is why diet is so important in regards to state of well-being) and this thing i identify with as being "me". i understand that the body is a part of me, but it's only a part.

http://www.spiritual.com.au all sorts of interesting articles. i'm reading the stuff about astral projection at the moment..... cool stuff. this is my next intended focus point for my spiritual studies.

a lot of people have the tendancy, need or habit of backing up any statement they make with a quote or reference to someone elses works or a religious point of view. i just want to know whether you feel that you shape your ideas to fit other peoples concepts.... or do you shape other peoples ideas to fit your concepts? i guess maybe being raised as a buddhist by a father who encouraged an enquiring mind (although in retrospect i find it a little hypocritical because he is unable to present a point of view without first stating "from the buddhist perspective....", yes i have a bit of an issue with my father... but thats for another time) has given me the oppurtunity to fit into the latter category above. i have read widely in the past and continue to read.... but i always find when i read a book, listen to a teacher or have a discussion with another individual that any ideas presented that are of interest, i will either take them away to digest and eventually incorporate into my OWN perspective reshaping it to fit my own particular thought pattern and concept structure.... or i will immediately translate what has been said or read into my own particular concept language and find the similarity with my own point of view.... thus shaping the idea to fit my own concept. anything i find that doesn't not resonate as being a valid line of thought or reasoning, i discard. so how do YOU work? do you need someone else to shape your world view? or can you understand that regardless of anything anyone else ever says... no matter how profoundly it resonates with you, you still need to experience it in your own terms to actually own that as true knowledge/wisdom? perhaps one of you chronic quoters can quote that line from the tao te ching that goes something like: "the tao that can be discussed is not the true tao..... etc"? i'm not being critical or judgemental of the way anyone works, i'm just on a real 'thought' trip at the moment and am in the process of dissecting the way my brain works and so in line with my communication experiment, i am phrasing my own perspective in the form of a question

hehe i was just playing around. there is definately something deeper that doesn't ever change.... the only thing that really changes is my attempt to desribe it, to bring it into this dimension. can it ever really be brought into this dimension? i don't think so.... not fully. i don't think it can ever be fully understood while residing here in the 5-sense physical. so perhaps it's more about removing the confinements of this dimension to go towards 'it'. i dunno, i'm getting all spun out lately... things are beginning to make less and less sense, rather than more. yet the less it all makes sense, the more comfortable i feel, the more i can just appreciate the total absurdity of it all. sometimes in the morning i sit and laugh at all the weird noises going on... i open my eyes and i see things and they make me laugh harder... it's all so weird. (freeform, i'll get to the cheng hsin response later).

i can identify 4 general areas that is possible to have a verbal communication about. 1) talking about the future. dreams and goals, ideas and plans.... basically telling someone what you wish for or intend to do. 2) talking about the past. past events, situations, circumstances.... basically telling your life story. 3) talking about the present external. that man is walking down the street. there is a bird in the tree. thats a beautiful sunset.... describing the scene. 4) talking about the present internal. our thoughts, right now.... telling someone what you are thinking about. what is the usefulness of these 4 areas of verbal communication? 1. useful only if you share common goals with the individual you are discussing this with and using this to create a plan, other than that just traps in wistful thinking that more often than not leads nowhere. 2. really not much relevance. traps you in the past, steals you from the present. possibly only useful to elicit a laugh (bringing you back to the present, even momentarily). 3. pretty useless really as unless the person is blind, they can see what's going on! has relevances for pointing out imminent danger or something the other person can't detect with any of their senses (although i don't think thats ever really possible, just the degree to which we listen... most of the time cos we are so caught up in talking!). funny thing is that young children often only communicate in this form. i place the question though is if the child only communicates itself this way, because it is brought up around so much damn talking that it falls into this pattern of needing to verbally communicate. 4. unless you are engaged in a discussion about truth with another individual... this form of communication drives you up the wall!!! funny thing is that a lot of drugs (probably more so the natural ones) elicit this kind of form of communication. so you can see that much of our verbal communication is largely useless, and yet we expend so much energy and time caught up in these silly banterings, mostly 1 & 2... but amongst us seekers we will drift into 4 any time we can. none of these really bring us into the moment and we have the capability of communicating in so many different ways that do! someones smell, how they look, how they feel to touch, how they move... how they 'feel' (using other sensory abilities, electromagnetic fields for example) all communicate information to us. we are in constant communication with everthing around us at all times and just by focusing on it, by trying to be aware of it all, by focusing the intent in that direction... we are brought into the moment. so why do we all talk so much!? edited to place in order of possible correspondances with chakra system.

yeah i see.... it's true. i have been so focused on the communicating outwards that i am neglecting the receptive portion of it. thank you for bringing it up. my ego is affronted by your post that i am imposing a sense of arrogance upon.... but i choose to instead look beyond that and see the value in the words. don't for a second think that i neglect anything you (or anyone else for that matter) say, i'm still in a process of seeing what comes up.... and i was able to observe what came up for me as a response to your post, i could see how i reacted and i have just learnt a new thought pattern i am holding. it's all a big experiment and a process, i hold no claim to be free of ego. also i want to restate a point i made over in the other thread.... i am having this response to your posts. therefore i am having difficulty with the receptive portion of communication, i agree.... but for me to have this response it means that your message isn't coming across clearly either. neither of us are communicating effectively as there are issues coming up. your last response acts as if it is my own faulty map of reality that is responsible, blame is shifted upon me for the breakdown and there is dissapointment as i am a let down as a human being..... perhaps there should be a little more enquiry into this? if your words were truly effectively empowering (to use the quote by peter ralston) then would there be any issues coming up for me? shifting blame is not something that comes from moving at a higher level of consciousness, which is what i feel all of us on this forum are trying to achieve in one way or another. so why be dissapointed in me? i am ready to accept that there is some communication problems on my behalf and i'm ready to approach those issues head on and to discover what is really going on. i'm actually quite proud of myself rather than dissapointed. communication is definately important, for to resolve issues one must communicate them (bring them to attention).... which is what i have been trying to do all along perhaps there is oppurtunities for me to not be the only person learning something here? i dunno.....

i = this is my experience... i acknowledge that what i am saying is relevant to me exclusively, and may not be relevant to you at all. it used to seem egotistical to me to use the word "i" all the time... but now i am realising that most of the time it's the only place to be when involved in a discussion with someone else. if you are not communicating your own experience, who's are you communicating? it's actually probably quite a polite form of conversation. you = questioning/instructive. i am trying to be aware of when i use this now... using "you" when writing a post on here, or when talking with someone is like jabbing a finger into their chest... it's telling someone that this is applicable to them and not to yourself. forms an unnecessary division between oneself and the other.... i'm finding it's actually quite impolite and i am finding i don't like to be addressed in this manner... it can come across as a little arrogant, that is when it is phrased as intructions (worst is "you should..."). phrased as questions however is a little different. we/us = i share this with you. it is common to both of us and i am in the same boat as you. we are together on this one. also quite polite... shows that one can acknowledge that there is connection (and possibly even fosters the attitude of connection with all?). one = i just realised this as i was writing it as another form. "one" from what i remember is the old school form of addres... why has it gone out of fashion? it's pretty profound actually... "one" it fosters an attitude of being one with all.... the collective self. wow. as i have been finding that most people like to jab me in the chest lately, this has come to my attention. if one doesn't wish to be another persons teacher/puppetmaster then should one use the term "you" when not engaged in actively asking questions?

it's cool, i'm prepared for harshness.... i need noone to tip-toe around my ego and i have no intent nor desire to make everyone refram their language to suit me! these are just observations coming up for myself with my own language, words are so much more powerful than we give them credit for.... each word can have a preconceived idea (energetic value) attached to it. i'm not actually trying to create rules, just bringing some issues that are coming up for me into the common space.... again, if it's not appreciated, if no value is being had by my posting i can shrink back down into cyber silence with ease. however i know that the way i am addressed affects the way i respond. if i feel like someone is trying to teach me, then i'm going to respond in a manner that i don't want to listen to them anymore if i haven't asked them to teach me..... it's got nothing to do with their intent, it's my own deal... perhaps i miss out on something of real quality and thats a shame. for me i am interested in my effect on others... how can i myself better reframe my own language so that my message can always be most effectively and efficiently transmitted? how can i better my ability to communicate? if i alter my language will it enable people to truly hear more of what i am saying? so the post is not about me trying to chang you so my ego feels better..... it's about me putting out my approach to changing myself to allow more effective communication with others. totally different intention. don't take anything i say as rules, don't even take it as a guideline or a suggestion.... don't take it as a criticism, don't take it as an affront. the only thing it is, is an observation from my own point of view. and the simple fact that people aren't getting that causes me to scuttle back and question again how can i get my message across more clearly, without having to state my intention each and every single time? if an individual doesn't get my message, it's usually not because of a fault on their part, it's because of a fault on my part! p.s. "I and I" very cool.... even more unity.

all valid points freeform and thanks for the suggestions.... i take them as suggestions, even though it appears that the dialogue is actually an attempt to teach me. would you like to be my puppetmaster and decide how i structure my life and experimentation? i reacted as if there was an attempt to impose a standard upon me because of the language used.... i know it's not the case but it comes across as if i am a pupil and to follow the instruction given. i am training myself, i am creating games and exercises for myself to train me to be more conscious of my thought patterns. i am using a structure that is applicable to me. if this kind of experiment is something that you, freeform, has engaged in before then please discuss the results obtained, the methodology used and the experiences that occurred. i would be most interested to read about them. if not, why is it that i am being instructed? i'm not trying to be confontative here, i'm just following a precept of communicating anything that comes up for me.... and what came up for me from your posts was that there was an attempt to guide me. much love though. (i highlighted elements of the previous reply just to show the kind of language being directed at me).

so what i think is an illusion and what i think i like is pretty arbitrary.... but this statement isn't applicable to you, cameron? hahaha sorry i'm on a real word trip right now..... cleaning up my language, it's an amazing and exciting process so i'm sharing it with all of you who might appreciate it. if you don't.... well let me know and i can easily keep it to myself. p.s. freeform... we do exercises like that at cheng hsin... it's fun. learning what it's like to experience the universe as another individual.

i finished the book.... it was very compelling so i just read the whole thing... although i skimmed through the areas where plato discussed the stages and types of cancer along with all the other diagnostic stuff..... excellent book, i must say. it's obvious plato has gone to a lot of effort in study and self-research over the years (in vaster areas than just prostate cancer). the writing style is both light yet also has moments where it can be quite profound. excellent health advice for the prostate, and advice i will be applying to myself. it really resonated with me... i have so many questions and things i want to discuss with you now plato....

i'll say it again..... talking is not the only form of communication, nor is it the most effective way of building connections. letting go of extraneous conversation allows more time to be spent on deeper levels of communication..... and i still think we all have the potential to talk without our mouths anyway.... we can never just shut up enough to realise that. i've given and received telepathic communications before, so i know it's possible... i've just never spent the time to really work on it. all too often we are so caught up in thinking about what we want to say to the other person while they are talking, that we actually miss everything they are saying (with their mouth, body and energy field). this is about INCREASING the ability to communicate effectively, not eliminating communication. it's not about silence.... it's about speaking appropriate to any given situation. by becoming aware of which form of speach you are using, you begin to increase vigilance of your thoughts and also begin to bring another practice of wu-wei into your life..... it's about truly listening to another, allowing them to communicate with you and then responding appropriately to them giving them exactly what it is they are looking for from you. it's all about the thoughts, i am becoming increasingly aware that one of the important keys to unlocking enlightenment is in the vigilance of thoughts.... of taking this bitch we call the brain (mind) and taming it to our will, rather than letting it run rampant like it does now. i know that so many spiritual people out there say the same thing.... stillness of mind, etc.... but i'm coming to these conclusions on my own rather than taking anything anyone else says at face value.

i'd like to reframe the second tier of verbal communication.... from being aware of every conversation i have and which category my speech falls into, i feel that the second level needs altering a little. the first 4 are very obvious, and obviously also unnecessary. so instead: 5) responding. discussed before. 6) probing. this is generally asking questions to get the other party to talk about themselves. it could be done in different ways, but most useful is to allow the other party a level of comfort and at an even higher level an oppurtunity to resolve their own issues. 7) teaching. discussed before. these are my own categories that i am coming up with, i haven't read them anywhere... it's merely observational. i intend to stay mostly in these 3 areas.... except when appropriate to go into one of the first 4 forms. to go back and give a more finite answer to this experiment than merely the pursuit of wu-wei (freeform, i did go away and think about it some more) it's because i often find that i lose myself in meaningless conversation in one of the first 4 forms. i talk excessively about myself and my own experience and have what i think are ineffective communications. also something from one of carlos castanedas books really struck me (actually a lot from those books struck me, whether they were phony or not.... there were some incredibly powerful teachings present in his books! i have no interest in following his path, but the path of the warrior as outlined by don juan.... woah) and that was about erasing the past, about not talking about yourself and creating the air of mystery. i feel the urge to cultivate about myself an ability to just dissapear.... to be invisible (stuart wilde also talks about this kind of stuff, in an entirely different manner and very funny). so i guess it's kind of about destroying a layer of my own ego. i have only had two frivolous conversations today... and by frivolous i mean that i strayed into an inappropriate usage of one of the first 4 forms. it's not about whether the conversation is meaningful or not, it's about myself and my own discipline. i am prepared to discuss anything, but if its something i want to discuss i must get there by skilful means (using probing and responding). i seriously think i am onto some very powerful stuff here, i urge anyone else who is willing to take this experiment with me to give it a shot..... but of course feel free to redefine everything in your own terms and outline the experiment as suitable for you. i am a teacher to noone but myself. p.s. i can even possibly see some crossover between my self designed forms of communication, and the chakra system.... interesting. all in all though its not important.

understood... i can't explain accurately what i have experienced and what i mean, it's just interesting. perhaps i was wrong to use words like lead and guide.... but i experienced the flow of the conversation with someone yesterday.... it was very unusual and i am unable to put it into words, but thats what i want... all the time, with everyone because it's beautiful and the other person cannot help but feel happy..... i'd prefer it if you didn't put your standards upon me. life is a game, this existance is my experience and my experiment. do you have a clear idea of what it is you are truly trying to achieve with anything it is you do? as far as i know this kind of clarity about every single action one undertakes doesn't really exist, perhaps this is what enlightenment is about? i am just playing my game and enjoying it... i have nothing else to do in this life. i think this kind of communication can happen with anyone at any time if you cultivate the right level of awareness, which is my eventual hope. a state of presence. appropriateness for the situation. wu-wei. harmony. balance. anything and everything i do is geared towards that.

well yeah the overt aim is about communication. but it is also about talking.... i am realising that we cannot effectively communicate with another if we are caught up in relating our own tales (forms 1 & 2). as someone else put it "i'm still here" speak. from initial observations i am seeing that as i become increasingly aware of what comes out of my mouth (categorising it into whichever form it belongs, stripping away anything needless) that the entire flow of communication changes... the person i am talking with is more able to be themselves and their energy actually increases. i am thinking that that will be the next stage.... is to become consciously aware of the flow of energy in a communication and either let the other person guide the flow (and then help them out so that whatever issue they need to resolve becomes resolved effectively and efficiently) or guide the flow myself to achieve any agenda i might have (probably less likely to occurr). its amazingly interesting stuff. thanks for the exercises though, i often engage in those kinds of exercises in cheng hsin and i have another one that i am just about to play with called "reach and withdraw" .... about saturating your focus on an object until you are entirely 'with' it... and then withdrawing your focus or intention completely until it becomes non-existant to you. very interesting stuff this mind. also i am becoming more aware of the links (anchors in NLP talk?) between thoughts, how an event can trigger a particular thought (usually about my ex... i have so much linked up with her) and i'm in the process of rewriting these connections. the brain is an amazing thing..... more of this in another thread things are truly changing literally every day for me. every day i have a deeper understanding of myself, there is no regression only progression. its awesome and seems that there is even a slight exponential factor involved!

i was reading cams journal and read him saying he wasn't sure about the karma of eating eggs.... well i just want to start a little thread about peoples opinions of eating karma. for me i don't buy this whole nonsense about not eating meat because of the negative karma associated with it...... to me a plant is as alive as an animal. everything is made from the same stuff, the same universal force. to not eat an animal because you fear the karmic consequences of it's death is ridiculous to me. to not eat dead animal for health reasons, however, is totally justifiable if you feel it's better for your health. matter (read here: energy, as matter is only condensed levels of energy) cannot be destroyed, it only changes form. same with consciousness.... (this leads into the whole thought about whether energy and consciousness are the same thing or not, but thats for another discussion). all living beings consume some form of energy because that is the nature of this universe, things are in constant flux, constant motion. plants consume sun energy and mineral energy from the soil. animals come along and consume that energy converting it into themselves. then other animals come along and eat that animal then converting that energy into a part of themselves. some is excreted, some is shed in the form of dead skin, etc. eventually that animal dies and returns the rest of itself to the soil and eventually some plant takes up those minerals and the cycle continues. my opinion is that is is the intention and awareness behind your actions that determine the 'karma'. for example killing an animal for the sheer glee of it, of course that is a negative action and is going to leave a negative imprint on your being. eating a purely vegetarian life but never being grateful for any morsel of food you eat, never taking the time to acknowledge the universe for giving you a chance to exist.... how is this person any better off than the same person doing the same thing but also eating meat? for me there is no difference. plants are alive, they are permeated with life-force as much as we are. they just operate at a different frequency of time than us, much much slower and we can't relate to them in the same manner. so how is eating them any better than eating an animal? back when my parents still used to eat meat they would justify negating themselves of the bad karma by saying that they didn't kill it themselves and it wasn't killed especially for them as such they weren't getting the karma. that is ridiculous, that is not taking responsibility for your actions. for me i think if you are going to eat an animal you need to be able to kill an animal. to collect your own food, and if you eat animals that means killing them yourself, is to be responsible for your own actions and in my opinion the highest level of consumption you can be in (aside from being breatharian). i look forward to the day when i can be entirely responsible for the food i eat, and that includes killing the animals myself. better i do it than someone else.... then i can show the proper respect to the universe that provides me an oppurtunity to exist. just some ramblings from a crazy young man.

i'm reading the introduction now.... i am super busy with work and training and only have enough time to allocate about 30-60 minutes one night a week to read this book, and i'm only allocating this time because i am extremely interested because things i have read from plato in the past have often resonated with me. and plato, if you read this.... i'm really enjoying it so far and what you are saying makes a lot of sense to me. i have reichs first book but haven't yet had the time to jump into it, but i am waiting for the appropriate moment... that form of thought always made sense to me. will post a more thorough review when i have read a lot more. actually i initially bought myself an aneros because of something plato had written, but it had been lying neglected for a long time.... then seans comments inspired me to give it another shot... it's early days yet but i am getting a lot of tension release in that area from using it, remarkably so.

what's wrong guys? want to reach enlightenment but find the concept of higher communicative faculties something not worthwhile? well what sensory do you think you use to understand god? your sight? your smell? your taste? your touch? your hearing? ...... or something higher than that? something perhaps a little more.... multi-dimensional? on another note, have just almost completed a day with only engaging in two very brief frivolous conversations. have already noticed my perceptive levels increased, more intent on trying to feel what it is the person is really saying behind the words. with a friend at a morning tea break at work, he was real spun out and wondered why i had changed.... but he was actually more visibly relaxed around me and feel into a more at ease role. was very interesting. i've got a piece of paper and a pen to carry around with me and anytime i engage in one of these conversations i make a mark on the paper, just so i am always on gaurd! very powerful method of altering your thought processes.......

i'm planning on heading to thailand in september, probably for around 6 months. i'm thinking of buying a motorbike and riding around SE asia.... who knows, malaysia might be a nice spot to visit.

for real. i was kinda heading in that direction with my posts... just been waiting for peoples responses... but i think the less inane chatter we indulge in, the more we are able to open ourselves up to our 'telepathic' (i.e. using all our sensory) abilities. for sure we have this, we just don't use it.

i'm so buying the detours "extended trails" dvd eventually.... elsewhere and kujo are amazing and i will be using them as inspiration in my own explorations in abstract breakdancing.