manitou

I would really recommend anything Manley Hall has written on Freemasonry. He is an astoundingly metaphysical writer, and was a 33rd degree Mason. A few months back I read an 800 page opus called Morals and Dogma, by Albert Pike. This is an incredible work that suffers under that incredibly boring title - but it is fascinating to one who walks the path. If you can find it, Stimpy, I would really recommend it. It was a little pricey on the internet (maybe $60) and hard to find. On the front page of the work is written the following in large bold letters: "Esoteric book, for Scottish Rite use only; to be returned upon withdrawal or death of recipient" I feel lucky to have found it. Within this book, one chapter at a time, all the degrees from the 1st to the 32nd are fully described. It goes to the inner character of the man who is going up in 'rank' (although it's more 'service' rather than 'rank' within the Freemasonry structure). It draws upon every religion in the world for its wisdom, and a man who has achieved the rank of 33rd degree is the I Am consciousness. The funny thing is - the descriptions of the man's readiness only goes up to the 32nd degree. There is nothing at all written about the 33rd degree, lol. It is ineffable. Stimpy, I think the Scottish Rite thing might be right up your alley. The only problem is, you should probably enter the hierarchy around the 30th degree, lol. For you to enter at the level of 1st degree would be a bit of an insult to your intelligence. But if you're terribly patient, it'll pay off. If you desperately want to find Morals and Dogma and can't, let me know and I will loan this to you. It'll be about a year's loan though - it takes a great while to get through it. Oh well - there's always the Blue Lodge.

LOL. If you don't personally agree with staying in the Now, you will later. All the other stuff is illusion. We can drop it any time we want. I think this is why meditation is so important - it gives us a modicum of control over our thoughts - when to let them in, when to just be in the Now and realize that this is all we've got. The rest is all just a Story. But stories they are, and those emotions do affect us. If you are saddened by things in the past, my suggestion would be to take responsibility for those parts you played in the (break-up, etc) and make amends for them, rather than trying to resolve them by justification of some sort. But sometimes the best we can do is just let the emotion roll through, like a wave of energy. It always amazes me that it's just an emotion, that's all - and how many years I went expending so much energy trying to stifle them, afraid of feeling them for some strange reason. Kundalini energy often hits with a bang. There's not much subtle about it, particularly at the beginning. It's often accompanied by the sound of a loud train (nowhere to be found) or a tornado outside your house. Sounds too strange to be true, I know - but it did happen to me that way and I've subsequently read that it often enters others the same way. The kundalini energy (although I've never seen a great explanation for it) will go up through the chakras. It feels like the energy gets 'stuck' in a chakra, and that's when it's time to figure out why there is a blockage. If it's in the heart chakra, for example, that's usually easy enough to figure out. If it's in the chakra at the vocal chords, that's usually a more subtle dynamic and involves how you present to the world, whether you express yourself when necessary or let things build up. There are plenty of books written on the subject. I found that the way to get rid of the stuck-ness is to work on those character dynamics that are represented by the chakra. Personally, I feel that is the point to kundalini rising, but again - I don't think anybody's real sure. Kundalini energy does stay with you, manifesting in odd points of heat within the body and electrical buzzing or vibrations. It's actually pretty bothersome, if you ask me. It doesn't let up. Does that sound like anything you're experiencing? If your emotions are going haywire at this particular time, it could be a possibility, if it's accompanied by a bunch of other weirdness.

Are you sure you're not speaking of kundalini energy going up the chakras in front, and then down in back? This would be a different thing altogether and not subject to emotions. Emotions happen because there is friction between 'what is' and 'what we think it oughta be'. Staying in the Now, which is a lifetime's exercise as far as I'm concerned - will give you a degree of control over out of control emotions. You will be separate from the circumstance, you will be looking at everything as One and therefore not at odds at all. Also, letting go of attachments will go a long way to level the landscape of your heart. A very tall order. If we are caught up in emotions too often, we can always focus on something other than the self.

I've only read one book on this, The Tao of Physics (Capra). But looking at this conversation with long eyes, I don't think there is a disparity. If you think about it, a particle denotes space. It takes up space. A wave, on the other hand, takes up time. Time to get from point A to point B, even if we are actually only measuring probability. It seems like we're sitting at the intersection of time and space, if you follow this formula. Does this not denote a reality of sorts, even if it is temporal? Perhaps one of many realities. It's interesting to remember that no thing observed will look the same to me or to you at the same moment. Even if we are standing next to each other and looking at the same object, it will look slightly different to me than it does to you. The angle will be slightly different, depending on the position of our eyes. You can describe it, I can describe it, and it will sound as though it's identical. But if you took a measurement as to the actual width of the thing I'm seeing, as opposed to the actual width of it from where you're standing, it will always be slightly different. Even if we're both looking at a the moon, it will look slightly different, although not measurable. Does Schroedinger's kitty figure into this conversation at all?

Yes, that k-weeoo just isn't to be missed. Actually, the spiritual awakening of the original duck video greatly paralleled my own.

I have a slightly different vision of Christ consciousness. And this type isn't thrown around loosely. it's what remains after we have peeled the onion. Not an easy task, but the essence remains.

I just read a little on Anima Mundi and Jung. I understand about the Dao (or Lord) being at the center, but with no circumference. The fractal connection is really strange in your dream. I see now the connection with the fractals. In your understanding, when this philosophy refers to Christ hovering above the fractal world, is this within a Christian setting? (I assume not as you're posting within Esoteric / Occult) But does this refer to the Christ Consciousness within us all, just waiting to be found? Is there that analogy in the archetype?

It's almost like the black and violet waters were the void, out of which the forms coalesced. Your time-experience was greatly speeded up, almost as though time were removed from the picture and you were granted the visual confirmation that all forms are similar to fractals in that all form is illusion. Your 3 light thing sounded like the pointer in a Ouija game when I first read it. But do you think it has to do with the trinity (assuming you had a Christian upbringing as I did?); or even the fact that there is a rearrangement of the positions of the lights, which could be an inference that there are any number of combinations (or religious thought, or philosophies, or life conditions) that will take us to freedom or enlightenment and loss of structure? The fact that the combinations would control what was happening below the surface of the depths; as above, so below? What was the name you awoke to? Anything pertinent to you? It didn't sound to me that the abyss was the focal emotional point of your dream, or was it? Your analysis goes beyond my field of understanding, when you refer to Thelma and jAnima Mundi. But what a wonderful dream, to match your imagination - if you're the one that did the fractal-like painting in your avatar. If that was you, I can see where you dream in fractals. Fractals are important to you?

Setbacks-r-Us

What wonderful vision, bindi. I think you're right in your last paragraph. I don't think it's an all-or-nothing battle. I think it happens one day at a time, if we're mindful - and each day has sufficient problems and ego encounters for new progress. I wonder if that was what the Nazarene meant?

One way of looking at ego, is that it's the seeming separation between you and I. In essence, life is All One, and we are part of that All One-ness of life. It occurs to me that, in my view, the human ego can be represented by a heart monitor chart. The communal, all of us, is represented below the line which shows the beats of the heart. The spikes of the chart are all of us, with our individual egos. We (the spikes) look at each other and think we're separate. But we're all part of the whole, and the only reason we can even speak to each other intelligently is because we are all of the same frequency, we are all One. As to diminishing ego, a very effective method is to list your resentments and the people you dislike. Then, undefensively, look for the part you played in the scuffle. It's never totally one-sided. Once you discover your part in the situation, make amends for the part you played. It doesn't matter what the other person says, or whether they accept your apology. (Can you hear your own ego screaming NO! as you read this?) It is by doing these humbling actions that the ego gets tamed. How your apology or amend is received is not your business. It's only important that you do it; after all, it's your inner self that you are preparing for the light to come in.

Beautiful thread, CT. With as many words and philosophical thoughts as we love to banter about here, it never fails to amaze me that what the Rinpoche seems to be alluding to is to return to the state of the child. How beautiful it is when we realize that the years of meditation and inner work have truly paid off. That I no longer walk around in judgment; that I see the other person as 'god', regardless of what they're doing or how they're acting. This awareness, once obtained, grows over time and subtly overtakes the monkey mind. It is seldom that the monkey mind prevails now. Almost never. And when it's here....it's immediately detected and relegated to the ethers. How often it occurs to me how very wise we were as children. When we could say "bug off" to someone and not worry about hurting their feelings, because their feelings wouldn't be hurt. It was honest back and forth - no second guessing. Or when we would sing 'Row, row, row your boat....', not realizing that within that silly rhyme lies the secret to life.

And as such, you are living in the wu wei. Wouldn't the distant dynamics of the collective behavior of war be the same as our minds, once cultivated and still? I'm trying to think of a collective in nature that would demonstrate the workings of the distant dynamics. A beehive, maybe? An anthill? Maybe I'm trying to pee up a rope here.

19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. This reminds me a lot of the not-doing of wei wu wei. The sage appears as nebulous, unclear, muddled. Not that that is the way the Sage (General) really is; he just appears that way. The whole thing is a deception. As to my understanding of the mental planning and calculation that someone mentioned before, this too would be in accord with the Dao in a way. If the plans are too rigid, too well planned out, perhaps there would not be enough space for adjustment to conditions. I'm guessing that the most important thing is to let the enemy make the mistakes, from my prior reading of TAOW. This can also be compared to a martial arts tenet wherein the most effective motion is to 'pull' the enemy through the motion rather than resisting, causing the enemy to lose balance of his own accord. He just doesn't jump the gun, that's all. He awaits on the high ground, hopefully; watching and ready.

I agree with thelerner. I'd love to see a page or two. Your voice is very good, if you are the one who wrote the description. You sound well grounded with the grounded-ness that comes from having run the full gamut and having returned to the starting point. Aah. The Dao. Reversion to the start.

This morning after last night's riots, CNN interviewed one of the community leaders, a black minister named Jamal somebody, who has organized adults in the community to stand between the kids throwing rocks and the cops (or the businesses). His intent is to organize the cool-headed people to police their own kids; he's also the one that has gotten the Crypts and the Bloods to sign a peace treaty and be a part of this effort (we'll see how that one works out!) But what I found most interesting is that he has the idea to heal his community through the 12 step process! It is a miracle worker for people, but for an entire community? Wow! He spoke this morning of the first step, admitting that there's a problem to be healed. Not sure exactly what problem he was specifically referring to - surely it's more than just the actions of the kids last night. But I love his intent. The next step, once the first has been fully understood and defined, would be to realize that there is a 'power greater than themselves' that can restore them to sanity. I don't know if this will work on a communal basis - he has to find a way to make these steps intensely personal for the citizens involved - but I love the fact that, despite the horrible treatment young black men get in general, and the disrespect they often get from some police types (I'm qualified to say this as that's my background) - that he sees that merely 'placing blame' on everyone else may feel good at the moment but does very little to change the system from within. I think it would be wonderful if this would catch on all over Baltimore. The amends process back and forth, the acknowledging and forgiving of wrongs..... I think this fellow may be on to something. It sure seems better than continual brute force, if you ask me.

As one who has spent many years as an officer of a large city Department, please know that the black and Hispanic officers on the forces merely follow the dictates of their training and their training officers. The lower number of black and latino cops keeps them in the minority on the job, and they have no choice but to go along - believe me, there is racism within the departments as well.

Oh, I know that, you big nut, lol. I was trying to inject a tad of levity.

(I just don't think he should be tweaking her boob when she's trying to yank his hoodie off)

I'm not sure rolling one's eyes at a You Go Strong Girl single mother is the best way to handle things either. We can't go back and make a segment of society something it isn't at this point, or pretend that the fathers of the fatherless children will suddenly see the light and go back home and be a father such as yourself. This change must come from the inside out, starting with the kids today. The most unlikely connections, such as the gangs joining together to prevent destruction (amazingly!), and those brave men who came out and hollered at the youth is what is needed right now. Wu wei will make its way into this situation if there are enough people willing to be patient and let matters take their course - which they will, because as we all know there is a dynamic of beautiful Order under everything. It's just a matter of handling it at a minimum right now - kind of like frying a small fish - doing the least that has to be done for protection. Let the kids get it out of them. it's been building up for too long for them to be able to consciously control it on a dime. The forces of balance will finally take its seat when the time is right. This much we can trust, because we trust the Dao.

Let the trickling begin.

Hello, old friend. Haven't seen you in a while. I couldn't agree more with everything you've said on this issue. You've obviously given this a lot of serious thought, as I have. And as I said earlier (maybe on this thread, maybe not), our white ancestors haven't treated our black ancestors well since we kidnapped them off their continent. Then, when finally freed, were barely tolerated and little thought on a national level was given to bring them as a society up to speed in education or certainly in the area of respect. We have disrespected, ignored, gotten used to the status quo. It's funny how it makes my heart sing when I see black people in positions of responsibility, people who truly reflect the Content of Character that Dr. King would speak of. I feel a pride for them like no other, because I know how hard they worked to overcome the cynicism they must have heard from peers daily - particularly if they have arisen from blight. And on the other hand, in the totally opposite vein, I just witnessed one of the most beautiful pieces of police work I've ever seen. It's 11PM right now, and the police just cleared the town for the curfew. It was poetry in motion. It was Sun Tzu's Art of War. They Did by Not Doing. Wei Wu Wei. I understand that there is much collusion between the female black mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and the police commissioner as to how to coordinate this. I just wonder if the fact that a female had input in this particular case, that the ego was more contained. I say this only as a generality about men and women in particular, and I think some would agree. Men tend to be ruled by their, um, ego. Women tend to be a little more emotional perhaps, but ego doesn't seem to blind most of them as much as it does the men. Maybe I'm being too general here, that's only been my experience within the police community. Maybe that doesn't apply to departments around the nation, but my guess is that it would. For example, men resisted greatly the idea of women becoming unisex officers, back in the 1970's. In fact, we had to sue the City for it. But listen to just about any man on a large police department today (I don't know so much about the smaller ones - they're still pretty Good Old Boy in many places), men officers have found and seen for themselves that women will diffuse a situation in a totally different way (as long as they're not trying to imitate their male counterparts - some do, unfortunately). Women are no longer resisted like they used to be; in fact, they're becoming greatly respected for their innate ability to multi-task, to relieve tension from a situation. Granted, a small woman in a hand to hand combat situation might not be as effective as her larger male counterpart, but I think most everyone would agree that the goods outweigh the bads in this equation. At any rate, I'm really feeling pride for the mature citizens of Northeast Baltimore. May this spirit of healing and conciliation gradually make it's way throughout the whole city, from the inside out, One Day at a Time. It is this magic, this sudden mysterious change of heart that we as Bums have experienced many times in our own lives, that can happen with the involved people of Baltimore.

If things are as you say, then things truly have no hope and everybody might as well use force. The analogy of a recovery program in this sense, is that when I said that an alcoholic doesn't need to actually stop drinking before he starts attending meetings, is that most folks walk into those rooms still tippling, at the very least. Funnily enough, it seems like about 80 percent stay permanently (or as least as long as it takes to totally change your character around to the positive from the negative or the cynical; we do learn in those rooms that attitude is completely a choice we get to live with from day to day). How this pertains to this particular discussion, is that you have put an infinity of qualifiers on 'what has to happen next' in order for there to be healing in Baltimore. Fathers must come home....mothers must stay home with their children - it almost paints a picture of what white America looked like in the 1950's. I don't think it's realistic to return to a more bucolic period of time, as hard as we may wish. But I do think that we can start with Today. I don't think all the qualifiers must be met first, just as an alcoholic doesn't have to stop drinking to get through the doors. It starts with merely admitting the problem. I Am An Alcoholic. Or in the case of people who live in blighted areas, I Am A Citizen. I Deserve Job Skills. I will Learn To Love My Brother As Myself, Regardless Of His Color. I Will Work for More Representative Police Activity, people who look like Us, in our Community. There are any number of different ways that inroads can be made; and who are we to say that any particular inroad couldn't just go all the way to the heart of the city, and change hearts and minds of people who live there? For kindness to prevail, if people of good will will work one day at a time toward this purpose. I just think pessimism or cynicism is always part of the problem. Always. It may feel fashionable or educated to feel this way, but in reality it's the easiest thing in the world to fall into, and it's for people of lesser understanding than us Bums, in my opinion.

I'm guessing you're not a 12 stepper. One doesn't have to stop drinking to be allowed to attend meetings.

Don't even get me started on police unions. I used to be an LAPD union rep for my division, and the only consideration for the unions are the protection of the cops, in any form. Now in some jurisdictions there is a 'police officers bill of rights' that disallows them being questioned about the occurrence for 10 days? That's the total end of accountability - no speaking to Internal Affairs, no being questioned by supervisors about the incident. Nothing. Just your union rep and your attorney, that's all you talk to. And your union rep will now sit with you as your mouthpiece as a departmental proceeding is brought against you, and you never need to speak a word at all. Accountability? Puh. And, oddly enough, this system did spring up for the right reasons at the time. There was a time when the policeman or woman at the lower end of the ladder had no voice whatsoever in how much they were paid, no pension system to speak of, and no advocate within the system to help with police-related legal problems. Now they do. But like so many other labor unions, they get a little too big for their britches. The LAPD labor unions today no longer act like cops - they no longer work at cop assignments, some of them. A few are full-time lobbyists to represent 'police interests' in Sacramento. And boy, are these a flashy bunch of dandies (which expression I know really makes me sound like an old fart). This good old boy's system is so deeply ingrained in this nation. It honestly feels, in this Baltimore thing, as of tonight that there is a special something happening from within in the community. The good men of the community are coming out to the streets. Mama whipped the bejesus out of that kid last night in front of the whole world. Even the Cryps and the Bloods, it seems, truly have come together to some degree to protect the other businesses in town. I just heard one gang member interviewed, and I was rather astounded at how positive his attitude was, how he put out a plea to Cryps and Bloods across the nation to come together and fix their communities from within; that 'we need each other now'. There is a silver lining to this cloud, shimmering way in the distance. Mr. Shimmer Man, Marbles