manitou

I think enlightenment pertains not only to the presence of Light that we finally uncover, but it also pertains to 'enlightening ourselves of our personal baggage' through the inner work. Enlightening ourselves of the structure of any particular religion, enlightening ourselves of judgement of everyone else (thereby enforcing our own egos and the illusion of separation from each other), enlightening ourselves from Fear because once we know that We are It, we are the walking, talking, thinking manifestation of That Which Is, what is there to fear?

Beautiful post, Orion. A breath of fresh air. This is what I've discovered too. Is that is just happened, and continues to happen. It's a process, not a destination. Once the Oneness with all things is discovered, felt, and experienced - then it's a lifetime of dealing with the ramifications of that, with the further development of that reality within our lives.

Not sure if it's a plane wing or a hospital wing. All I know is I can't move.

Well, I've only been at this for a few weeks, so I'd appreciate it if you could direct me where to go next. If shedding identity in meditation doesn't meet your standards (and you see it as a false start) please tell me exactly what mental experience I need to have happen to reach your degree of adeptness. I look forward to the day when I get serious about all this.

You forgot?? How could you possibly forget the image of nicely powdered cellulite gyrating 12 different ways?

Perhaps I am acting. The only edge I've been to is the one where you're alone, all alone out there in the darkness. There is no other presence there, no sense of presence at all. The identity falls off around you. You get an absolute feeling that you have the choice of returning or not. It is terrifying. Are you speaking of another edge that I missed?

Yes, I'm in one of the bigger wings. 5 point restraints at the moment...

Did someone call for a bellydancer?

That means a lot to me coming from you. You have the master brain of a Grand Inquisitor (don't worry, lol - I do too, I just don't use it) and your challenges are always great fodder for conversation on these threads.

Yes, that describes awareness on a subjective/objective perceptive, but it doesn't take into account the mystical Beyond. I see it as a pretty left brain account of awareness. D I have no emotions at all when I see the raccoon. There is just an urge inside me to honor that life, to do a little swirl in the air over the raccoon with my finger to facilitate the onward movement of that soul, and to remove the raccoon from the middle of the street so it can go back into the stream of life. It's also helpful to motorists who may be driving that way so they don't break an axle. It's just an act of kindness overall, Stosh - it's a love of life that's a little unusual - I'm sure it makes people gag to see me pick up a raccoon with its guts hanging down. But a love of life it is, a non-judgmental way of approaching something very seemingly repulsive and even rotting, and showing love to even that. To be non-judgmental about the smell, about the blood on my hands. Not to be freaked out. To stay in the now, not worrying about the reactions of passing motorists or the possible maggots I'm touching under the animal. It's love, that's all. And I do feel love for life when I'm doing it. Actually, I do see a motivation on this. It is my own path of impeccability, a remnant of the Castaneda walk. It's self-tracking. It's doing what's in front of me to the best of my ability, without judgment. It's being true to the development of my own soul. But I think it also has to do with using Death as an advisor - to be acquainted fully with death so that it is not a fear to me. Our society hides death behind closed doors. The 'being part of the whole and realizing it constantly' (which is the ultimate goal in my case) is a Practice. The more I 'practice' this, the less I have to practice it - it becomes the default mindset after a time of practice. Stash, it is merely a way of loving my brother as myself - to Walk our Talk - to realize that that person standing in line ahead of me is One And The Same as I. It is a choice, this mindset. I could just as easily choose to think My Ego is all I am, and that I am constantly at odds with Your Ego or anyone else I come across. But this is a stance that ultimately ends in separation, enmity, war. The Awakened Man will realize Who he Is, and of What he is a Part.

Well then neither one of us can see the forest through the trees. There is something beyond ego and logic and feeling good about yourself, needing strokes. The author of the saying doesn't seem to understand that. That is because his mind has not yet expanded to the degree that is required to understand that. That type of understanding does not sit at the end of knowledge, it sits at the end of knowledge. Here's why ego doesn't apply, when you can express yourself within the consciousness of the one: Think of a heart monitor machine, the old kind where the tape printed the line and the peaks of the heartbeat. Hold out about a 3 foot section of the tape. All the peaks (the tall ones are adults, the little blips are kids) are the pointed structure of our ego, holding us up and making us into a blip. Everything below the line is the All. We are part of the All. We are All the All. For me, a blip, to look over at you, also a blip, and to think that we are separate is ridiculous, isn't it? We are not separate at all. This is why ego is not pertinent within the framework of the One. For me to hurt you is to hurt me. Literally. Any more than that, Stosh - ask yer folks, lol.

Think of the 3 Treasures. (Yutang) Never be the first Never Too Much Love We all have the capacity to be the Sage - it is, after all, within us. To have these three treasures ingrained into our behavior, to see it as a perfect model for behavior - we can choose to align ourselves as much or as little as we see fit. There are some folks on the Bums, myself included, who takes inner cultivation very seriously. These are ideals that we set for our own behavior. These ideals extend to each and every person on the face of the planet, hence the Love. And I pick up road kill, for crying out loud, and carry it off to the side of the road. I don't care what I'm wearing or the fact that I have bare hands. I do it to honor the dead raccoon or dear or squirrel - and to put it back into the chain of life by allowing the vultures and crows to get to it. This too is love, the love of the All of Life. Staying in the Now, at risk of sounding trite, is the only way to feel, experience, and convey this kind of Love of Life. It can't be done if there is inner dialogue of yesterday or tomorrow. It must be done each and every moment, realizing the unfolding of new forms in front of us constantly; with the curiosity and innocence of a child. We are all capable of this. It does require doing an awful lot of work to get the ego under your command, so you are not reacting as a result of its stimuli. This is where the self-cultivation comes in. It does require the ability to Be, wherever we are, in a state of no-thought. We are all capable of this too; most of us have been meditating for years around here. Of course, Karl, I admit that I'm not there all the time. Are you? I know that it's becoming more and more natural for me to be in that state, regardless of whether I am home or in town. The gaps between thoughts are becoming longer and longer. This is a reward that has been a long time in coming for me, and I am realizing for perhaps the first time in my life what it means to flatten out the 'landscape of my heart'. Stosh, my first few paragraphs were headed your way, re: the motivation being stroking my own ego. It no longer is, that I can see. Course it could always be I've got a big log in my eye.

Not sure Pope was an enlightened one, from this passage....

Karl, if you're walking around in a state of Oneness, there isn't any thinking involved. Just an encounter of love and no judgment of good or bad. One doesn't need to think about 'being kind'; it is already there in our nature. If I'm not in a state of Oneness, if I've fallen into the illusion of forms - then it is just as you say.

This sentence jumped out at me, Wayfarer. To see life within the Dao, we must realize that this is merely a dance of forms. All things are equal, in that they are all the same matter. The matter in my hands is the same matter as the keyboard I'm typing on. And to extend this sameness to all humanity - to realize that there is equality in all human beings, that they are all a walking, talking piece of the Dao, or God, or Great Spirit - that no one is more important than another, regardless of where we are living - what continent, what country, what creed, what race. Yes, there is this silent Knowing that sits down deep, when my mind is still, when my muscles are relaxed, when my breathing is calm. It doesn't change - it is that thing that you mentioned that is not changeable. Very nice post...

Hi Lerner, Your last post, you mentioned 'I can get there'. In your Interests, under your avatar, it says 'Getting closer to Fine without going too Crazy'. Can you see the relationship? I just finished listening to a few Eckhart Tolle CD's. He would tell you that there's no place to Get To. That to just realize your true self Today (trying to remove yesterday and tomorrow from your field of thought) is all it takes. To be very grounded in your body, in the sense of Who you Really Are. You are Awareness. Your Awareness is perfect, except for the interference of your thoughts and judgments. To me, inner peace is bliss. Just to have the 'landscape of our hearts flattened out', to not feel my heart grip in anxiety about tomorrow, to stop listening to stories about myself in my mind about yesterday. What an incredible balancing act this is. I'm not sure anyone gets it and gets to keep it 24/7. I don't know. Maybe we could ask the Dalai Lama. Or maybe Donald Trump.

When you say double life, I assume you're talking about the physical state and the witness state?

I think instead that it's what's left over after the undesirable has been removed from within. It springs forth naturally, it's not a product of reason.

Interesting question, lol. My guess is that it would depend on how many years he was unenlightened and perhaps mean-spirited. Surely those creases and wrinkles wouldn't go away overnight.

It seems to me that kindness is a by-product of Realization of Oneness. when we realize that we are not separate from each other at all - that we are all the same Body, the same Mind, merely manifesting through 'separate' filters and forms, it is not difficult at all to be kind to anyone - even if they're not being kind to you. Love ceases being conditional. It doesn't matter if the other person acts kind in accordance with your action. When our mindset is in the One, there is no separation between you and them. Just the illusion of separation, which isn't real at all.

Are you relating to people okay in general? Is conversation difficult with so many different things going on? Has your perspective on things in the world changed? i.e. do you have a different outlook on things political? Can you see things in the world more holistically? Can you see everyone as the One? Does it feel that way? Are there things you are connecting that didn't make sense years ago, but make perfect sense now? Could you please discuss the concept of Castaneda's 'impeccability' re: things you do during the day? Do you find that your own inner impeccability has anything to do with your recent elevation to a different level? My guess is that you are a self-tracker, a tracker of your emotions, your perspective, your character elements. Do you have a guess as to why this is taking place now? (You may have discussed this previously but I haven't read the entire thread). What I'm asking is, did you reach a threshold of another type before this activity began? P.S. I read every book of his 40 years ago too, lol. I recently re-read the whole series with more mature understanding of inner dynamics, and there are some very subtle metaphysical concepts that tap into the workings of the Dao, although told through strange and funny stories. I just love him.

Your likening it to a holographic field of meaning is a wonderful image. Do you think that the 4 (meaning death at the surface level) is the reason that all pursuant numbers that CT listed are to be avoided, because of the fact that 4 is mentioned? Or is that something more holographic too? I couldn't help but be reminded of several of the Sutras in their mention of buddha-land upon buddha-land - almost like being in a glass funhouse. There seems to be such a 'rhythm' about CT's list that transcends the mere mention of 4. Or not. What do I know, lol? Thank you for your beautiful explanation, Taomeow.

Is the source of this something in nature? Or something in Chinese lore? Or the I Ching? Or Astrology?

Spotless, you'd make an old lady happy if you'd go outside and lay down on the grass once a day, face down, surrendering yourself to the Mother. Stay there as long as it takes to get all this physical and metaphysical integrated. Maybe back off the qigong for a day or two, just for balance? Out of curiosity, has your K-activity ever left your crown chakra? Is that part of what's going on at this time? You say people are glowing. If you're familiar with Castaneda, would this not correspond to developing the ability to see the luminous egg that don Juan Mateus speaks of, at the center of all people? Because you've gotten down to your own luminous egg, the assemblage point of the energy for the human body?

Okay, hotshot. LOL. Are we even now? So the number 4 in Chinese is the number 13 here? That really does throw an ominous cast over this whole page 4 enigma. On the darker side - if the page was missing it could be lurking somewhere to surprise Basher. Basher, I hope your affairs are in order.