Stosh

Like what suggests to you they were pushing the public to bust-a-hump? _ dont be patronizing though , it pisses me off and I will bite back I might not consider these people high level anythings , and you are still thinking you can tell the value of these people by conventional standards. Even psychos have a right to live well. But besides that , your expertise is in what one might call the maladapted. This doesnt disqualify your point , but the majority of these are still people who have been inundated with the same basic messages everyone else has, yet society still has these persons in abundance. To me , the undeniable implication is, that the society who is producing these individuals is not entirely successful with the paradigms its using. And it may be that equally , the inverse of those paradigms ,may not fit for all individuals. Ok..... oops ! just a tad into the realm of pushing again . Oooooh , good point, where we can agree entirely Fine ... Oops pushing again... For some thats an acceptable role. Ok Life may be hard or easy , and you may be fully engaged in it either way. You have some control over that , and some of that control is vested in your attitudes about what you expect for yourself, and the way you judge the world . True, some things in life are hard , very hard , but one should look good and squarely at whether they are optimizing the brief gasps of it we get. Your life is about engagement , but its not true to say that this is not a subjective stance , in and of itself.

Like anyone else I do act on gut reactions first , but there is strategy to it as well. It tests whether a person is really interested in getting to the bottom of an issue, if they are, they will have some patience. Most of the time I do not blurt out in a first post all the thoughts I have on a matter , nor all the points where I would be in agreement but do weigh differently. That's too rushed. anyway.. I do not believe ..The idea to drive surpass exceed , weigh and judge critically is the message of the classics. Not everyone is capable of being the best brightest strongest by circumstance or personal trait. Chuang would rather 'drag his tail in the mud' for instance. But what often gets bypassed, is that conventional ideas are held, because they have a sort of merit as well. There is no sin in being conventional , nor unconventional , "The sun shines equally on the wicked and the just , the Dao laughs at us anyway" . Pushing people to strive is only good for them if they can indeed prevail and while they strive they also get rewards. Because the moment of getting to the top of the hill , only lasts briefly ,, then there is the next hill. A life may get spent in pursuit of some thing imagined to be satisfying which isn't really. Or they may hate themselves for failures they were never really destined to overcome. Of the life missions one might self- assign , I would rather be the guy who takes the pressure Off my fellow humans , than to lay it on still more thickly. That's just me , its not because I feel I can change the world , or usher in a new paradise. Most of my fellow bums would also prefer to be the guys and gals ,who make life just a bit softer, whether or not we are to the ones recognized to have done so.

Gotta burn before you replant. Yes, The Daoist opinions have been incorporated in the new age trend , but that doesn't mean that the trend got it right , or that the trend prevails in today's society. It doesnt... But I dont know how I could Prove that the opinions you expressed are the conventional ones in any clearly unbiased fashion.

Much of what comes to us is a matter of luck - nobody asks to be born with cancer. etc This requires waste to be defined and I believe this is speculative Same thing - but their pride is dependent on things outside their control Would one prefer the bulk of their life to be satisfying or just the tip? Define this pathology because heart attacks and so forth are pathological and proven as connected to stress levels its possible you're impressed by crap you've been told is the good stuff. Youve done pretty good if you made it there and chasing further 'spirituality' would be counterproductive He doesn't have any need to compare, and find himself at fault at all , since others will supply that. Just IMO ( this post is so conventionally wrong that I was motivated to jump in )

It can be just like that. Like fine art appreciation the great artists intimate knowledge of their craft begins only to stand out as one learns to note it. Like the poetry of Lao , the humor of chuang or the insanity of Van Gogh....or the dull lack of inspiration in the Analects.

They probably did, but it's not universal that newly sighted people derive much more from the new input than a new taste experience. I Edited the earlier post. For many the illusion is so complete that they don't understand this even when it's explained .

Ones experience,is not objective truth. It's just a subjective experience. For example, color, is an experience due to physical activations of the eye and brain. The hues do not exist. The universe ,rainbows, even bubbles are all gray scale. That's why many people dream in black and white. The brain is not applying the circuitry to imply color.

That would be an Inspiring post but for the problem that it's not true nor can you even claim it's true. Pick a different term, like personal expression . And I gotta leave it standing though.

AL has depicted a bristleworm

That the stuff I said, reflects the reality of what is true, is what makes what I said true. Its not that my saying it, makes the the world be true by virtue of being in conformance with my words.

Truth as a word for something , needs to be defined , this is what google tosses out.. that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. I say there is a reality , and upon that stone the rest of the mental model is built which our words condone , our common limitations confirm. But in your insistence that there is no truth ,you cannot logically assert that you are correct in what you are saying , its just noise. You are allowed your choice of noise , but that doesn't mean you can manipulate the world to manifest materials as an act of will. Anything that exists is real , but your ideas are real only as ideas , not as physical ...unicorns. If you prove otherwise and can generate a living unicorn , I will concede that truth is a subjective thing and I have been misled.

That's untrue dude. But you are free to explore delusion as you like.

Like seeing in gray-scale ,, its not going to happen.

Thats funny , but its still built on the false premise , that individuals have their own truth,. Truth has no meaning if it is not independent of the individual. Yes I limit what I think truth is , when I hone it down to what actually exists , but that is not limiting what exists. And 'Bad and good' are not examples of what is truth,, its a polemic which depends upon believing that truth is NOT independent of the person. So it is really you folks who think they can validly run wild with truth and decide gay marriage is wrong etc. Not us folks who say that the truth is independent of my opinions and does NOT declare moral ' rights and wrongs. Moreover , you are merely asserting your opinion and cannot say that its in fact true , or that I am wrong, without contradicting yourself . I however , Can say that you are categorically wrong as a matter of fact, without being self contradictory. Since I assert there is true fact , but at the same time, I allow you the ability to defend your point., I may come to the same conclusion you have- if you do that well. BUT if there IS no true fact , then all you're doing is propounding unfounded opinion ,so you cannot convince me of your correctness , and we would remain at odds forever. tsk tsk

There is only conflict when someone misunderstands my point of view.

I don't know what any of that means, but it's pretty.

Um,no,all points of view are valid if they reflect the truth and cannot be defended if one denies that there is an objective truth .

I am not so sure there's a non-arbitrary line between sanity and insanity , nor is genius a defined thing. Nor can one consider the issue if one doesn't think that there IS an ultimate truth....and if there IS ultimate truth, then all equally have the truth, regardless of how it was arrived at.

Maybe , But Who is controlling Them? Gotcha there

I vote that it is a little bit of a double standard on Zen Pigs part but that since Buddha isnt exactly in the same class as your ordinary run of the mill guru that there is not enough weight here to pin him on it. Everybody please vote and make it a regular habit ( in the spirit of not doing the same thing repeatedly , and , since in the real competition you generally have a judge or panel of impartial judges- because contestants rarely want to concede anything , being contestants and all )

A good point there, indeed, Anything one mindlessly repeats or overdoes should be examined for its value. ( and that includes me)

That's a really good answer, I'm trying to aim you at my answer , by asking these few things of you , with the hope that you will arrive at the conclusion that is most consistent with your own beliefs , anchored in your own experience. ) IF the case is , that , the good or bad in the universe always balances out , no-matter what one tries to do , 1) the universe can be said to be impartial, And 2) you would have no power to affect the ratio of good to bad going forward . Right? So if this is true , the question to you is ...."Would you still wish to be a person who does good things ?" , ( as you judge them , and regardless of whether its endorsed by the universe.) " Or would you then wish to-- do those things which you consider bad ? ,, consider yourself bad"

Answer this please, why do you think you need to have no darkness ensue, in order to have a reason to do anything? (which is implied in your OP)

The Yin and Yang principles , IMO , are close to the ideas of undifferentiated and differentiated. I agree also, that its not a male vs female dichotomy. Which one should be considered dominant , I consider to be a false argument ,since the principles are codependent joined as they are, in a complementary pairing,, neither of them should be considered as being greater.

Rooster Cogburn. They must have been married men who loved their families, 'cause they scattered and ran for home!