GrandmasterP

That guy is as dead as a doornail. Fact. There are a few sick puppies on every religious path. There's a set of caves under Naples with dead monks hung up on the walls. It's a popular tourist attraction and revenue spinner for the Franciscans who operate the franchise.

Yay! I'd always suspected that to be the case.

Just go careful buddy. Your OP had a whiff of the 'tinfoil hat' about it. For sure you're as right as ninepence now but if this gets to be a regular and unwelcome interchange then it maybe needs looking at.

It's a common enough delusion is conversing with 'God'. Best avoided for sound mental health though If s/he starts to answer back and you find your self conversing aloud in public, then at that stage, seek professional help.

What sort of dinosaurs?

"I can envision the immediate future, up to 30 seconds..." Depending on the length of the drop, so can I.

Moobs?

Kundabuffer. Now there's a word that really rolls off the tongue eh? No surprise there that it really caught the popular imagination and is a forever being used in conversations. What a pity the neologism ' Lolcat' hasn't enjoyed the massive success with the public that 'Kundabuffer' has gained since Gurdjieff's day. Round these parts they speak of little else.

Classic example of an opinion piece/ advertisement dressed up as analysis that's been written in such a way as to lull and then to catch customers. The tempting 'hook' at the beginning that he's going to thoughtfully unpick some issues via analysis. Thus... ( He cites and numbers the 8 attributes)..... ................................................................... 1: "Right understanding or view (Wisdom)"..... "Notice what comes in at number one? In fact the practise side of things (concentration) does not start until weve developed some wisdom and ethics." Looks good so far. But then he sets his own brand bait out thusly...... "Without these, depth meditation is at best useless or self-focused and at worst a precursor to psychic disintegration.".... OK that's a bit too much too soon so he tempers his whackiness with an ostensible appeal to wider ( vast and gracious) tradition in the next part....... "This is why these vast and gracious traditions developed around depth spiritual practices, traditions that include ethics, intellectual development, community engagement and service, without which practise is sterile. It is why traditionalist philosophy espouses the practice of an exoteric religion to house, ground and contain our esoteric transformations. It is why, in the video, HH the Dalai Lama refused to bless a new monastery that did not include a library but focused solely on meditation practise." .... Yay Dalai Lama! he's a good dude. So now, having passed off his own brand of woo by spurious association with some recognised paths ( must be good, look at the company I keep!) our chum can move in for the kill and sell his own-brand schtick after dressing it up to suck in his less than critical readership. Here's the sales pitch, right at the end. After softening up the punters and getting them to an unreflected " Yes Please" he moves in for his 'win' to close the deal and sell his ' Inner Light Tradition' -related merchandise here....... "I am probably a lone or lonely voice in this respect, but there you go Ill finish quoting myself from a similar post: Right understanding. This is not a practice, but an attitude, a focal point, a giving up of the egos sovereignty. It is the neophyte in the Inner Light tradition declaring I desire to know in order to serve. ." ............................................ They're all at it. Every other online guru and 'wisdom vendor' has product to shift. This guy's doing his best to shift his merchandise. Caveat Emptor. Did you spot the products BTW? He sells.. Inner Light Tradition books And Depth Spiritual Practices Seminars

Tranquility I do like the sound of. Could do with some of that right now what with getting ready to move house, new puppy and Mrs GMP away on a course all day every day this week. Supposed to be starting a Life Laundry this week but that's on hold until the packing crates and tip-run boxes arrive. I tend towards the 'all journey- no destination' view but that's a subjective call because all I have to go on is my own experiences and everyone's different so others will 'know' differently. Those times that I have been in the zone ( all past tense cos I'm not there right now) have been numinous but transitory. For sure those experiences of the 'extra-ordinary' sublime do colour the rest of my 'ordinary' life. Perhaps the sublime tenders... " A life less ordinary."* Perhaps not. *http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Less-Ordinary-Baby-Halder/dp/818901367X/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405416086&sr=1-9&keywords=a+life+less+ordinary The author was an illiterate low caste Indian woman. She learnt to read and write. Then she wrote this inspiring book. The 'transformative' is ever to hand.

It was only ever a matter of time until poor Jack cracked. Get well soon Jack bro. All good wishes to ya.

This thread's called " Buddhist Discussion". TTB is an inclusive forum hence folks who are able to differentiate between discussion and preaching perhaps feel more at home than those more comfortable within the security of unbending dogmatics. The rather more exclusive " Buddhists Only" club is here..... http://www.dharmawheel.net/index.php Hope that helps some here to find like minded chums.

Respect! We just had the two boys under five but it felt like more at the time. Today I am resolved to nap like a puppy. Right now she's eating a cushion.

A foolish man tries to be good, And is therefore not good. A truly good man does nothing, Yet leaves nothing undone. A foolish man is always doing, Yet much remains to be done. TTC 38

I quite like Camus' concept ( in L'Etranger) of the "Sublime indifference of the Universe". "High" indifference maybe implies ( to me anyhoo) something 'above' and maybe 'looking down on'. Sublime maybe covers those ten directions better than 'Higher' which can only be 'up'. Excellent thread topic Manitou. Your guy's ' High Indifference' state seems to be a place he can describe and delineate pretty well, hence it's possibly a staging post along the journey as opposed to being the terminus of a path ( if indeed there is any ultimate destination at all). Those nice folks who give testimonies on the batgap site linked to elsewhere on here ... http://batgap.com/ ...seem to be saying much the same as this chap does... " This is how it really is." and for them; maybe it was - at the time; but, generally; not whilst they are testifying ' about it' there on batgap. My two cents remains...that.... If something cannot be described then any attempted description thereof, falls short.

[Meditating] - I always reach exactly the state I want to.... The state of looking at whatever state I’m in at that moment. ( Brad Warner)

Nope Jack's right. That's the law. Jack has to be right.

Just when I thought that it had gone to sleep too!

That Magus of Stavrolos guy was a Christian ( Greek Orthodox and the local powers that be wanted to excommunicate him but Archbishop Makarios wouldn't let the local Bishops do so) and I reckon he was definitely in the zone. Post 271 here... http://thetaobums.com/topic/24167-what-are-you-reading-right-now/page-17

That's the spirit Sunchild. Keep smiling. Turn those lemons into lemonade dude.

Let it all out dude, you'll feel better for getting it off your chest and Bums, in the main; are good listeners. This is just a phase that you're going through. As you get older your priorities and outlook will alter.

Could be a little goose. We get those around here now and again Jack.

Definitely not QiGong classes! Those tend to attract seniors. Yoga's a good call as long as you can stand the flatulence. That back row gets the worst of it.

Nothing is lost if nothing is gained...if possession is an illusion, as there is no one there to hold on to anything, then there is also no one to lose or let go of anything... May well apply elsewhere but, round these parts; all bets are off with relation to trespassers. ( Smithers... release the hounds).

Most experiences aren't forgotten though. Riding a bike for one. You can go for years off the bike but soon as you get on one again you can ride it. If you'd never had that bike riding experience then you'd not be able to ride the bike very well or at all until experience was gained via practice. Some past experiences might be from previous lives though. For example some take to cultivation like ducks to water from the get go whilst others can't seem to stick at it. The former were maybe cultivators in a previous lifetime.