manitou

What a perfect list of character imperfections to work on for clarity.

Dammit, BKA. We were just in the process of electing you Mayor on another thread Can't remember which one, I think one of the administrative ones.

What a wonderful sutra. I love his words on upward thoughts and downward thoughts. In my experience, it takes a lot more effort - it's more of a Practice, to dwell in upward thoughts. It's real easy to fall into negative judgment and think 'this is reality'. That's easy to do. Anybody can do that. But to continue to keep our focus on the Real, even while all the seeming events around us appear negative and going in the 'wrong' direction, in reality everything is happening just as it should be. In real time, here now. It's as though we know there's a light there to see, only the lens is real foggy. It's through removing our inner contortions that the lens can finally be cleaned and the light seen.

As I see it, the stiff leather, folded steel, and ignoring can all still be done out of love. Sometimes we have no control over the situation that comes to us, but our response can always be a loving one, even if it involves having to kill another. Far fetched, I know - but I do think this ties in with the reluctant warrior. The Sage's treasure is love - and this is not missed in The Art of War either.

I like that about the 3 treasures, Marbles. Right on, as I see it. As to there being a time for peace and a time for war.....I don't know if 'time' is the determining factor here. I'd say ignorance is more the motivating factor for war. Ignorance of how to work things out without killing each other. Certainly there is always a way - it's man's collective national ego (of which WE have in spades!) that acts out of ignorance.

The people who are here now, are here now. The people who have already lived and died are here now. The people yet unborn are here now.

Not a cop-out, darling. It's just that there's book-learnin' knowledge, and then there's experiential knowledge, the inner Aha's that are part of the self realization process that can't be communicated to another (unless they've been there as well and understand). The odd thing is that so many of us experience the very same things, or so very similar - that alone is all the 'proof' I need - it's self corroborating.

But what will be the outcome of all these wars? Hatred is just the other side of the coin. If we cast our eyes a little higher, we can see the goodness too. Unfortunately the goodness doesn't make the news. I think it's all reverting back to the One, when man can truly live in wholeness. The fellow who picks up the rifle and goes into the school is part of Us too. He's at a lower consciousness is all, but he is One with us. I feel nothing but compassion for people who resort to such things - hatred isn't a useful emotion.

Does it not seem that everything is becoming One? That the internet is causing the world to be more One than it ever has? That language barriers are breaking down because we can communicate with the interpreter on our twitter-boxes and everyone can understand each other? That the countries are becoming One, sooner or later, led by things by the IMF (regardless of how anyone feels about that organization!), and strange political alignments due to sectarian considerations. That people like us, all over the world, are reaching up and trying to merge our consciousness with the One consciousness that we know is there, but can't see, describe, or touch? I make my statements about time and space out of personal discovery - nothing scientific at all. Internal Aha's! - so of course I could be wrong. But the process of self-discovery, self-realization, does produce some answers. Only they're answers that can't be effectively communicated to another human being because the words just won't come together. There is no 'time' unless you're looking at a watch.

Only in meditation is time transcended. Can't be done with thought or words.

Are you sure about this?

Wow, LOL

I agree, Wouldn't the astral realms be part of the microcosm/macrocosm as well?

If one were to try and pin down the Truth of our Existence, what would it be to you, Dawg? Here's my (current) understanding of the Truth of our Existence: - That all manifestation, including us, is a big hologram of time and space intersecting. - That the Tao is in the state of reverting. To what? To the One. - That history and future and present are one and the same, and it's only the linear layout of our two dimensional thinking (one word after the other) that makes it appear as if it is a long string of time.

Maybe the Guru throws people out who seek him because they are still looking for 'attainment', a function of the ego, by finding him. Perhaps he knows that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. He can 'read' the configuration in others because he has the eyes to do so - and can see when one is ready for the teachings at his level. That's when he shows up with his blanket. Don Juan Mateus did the same to Castaneda - Mateus read Carlos' inner configuration and saw him as a shaman-in-the-making.

One with everything.

\However, the sign does say "Cultivate Mindfully"

I have a question for anybody on this thread. In my shamanic healings, the energy is run through the hands and it feels that the energy of both bodies (yours and the healee) have 'joined', as though there's no sense of separation at all. There is a wonderful sense of tingliness all over my body; but the oddest thing that is developing more and more is this magnetic pull in my abdomen when I am doing this consciously. This is when I know the energy is "running". Is this similar to how the energy feels when doing a Qigong healing?

sorry folks - I didn't read all the way back and see the structure. My bad

I've a feeling that this isn't quite what you're looking for, as I'm sure you've already done something like this. But for purposes of this thread, here are my thoughts: To achieve clarity (in order to See things As They Are, unhampered by ego) a good meditation might be to pick one character defect you possess (or just pick a character defect in general and meditate upon the degree to which you have it). Walk around with the awareness for several days - basking in the awareness and the revelation that we really do have character defects, not just other people!) Ask yourself how 'acting to the opposite' would be of value; i.e. if you have a tendency toward selfishness, try giving, or random kindnesses. if you can remember instances where your selfishness may have hurt another, even if it's humiliating to do so - go apologize. Even if it's been years. it will clear out your heart of resentments and allow more joy in. The sage became the sage by Knowing Himself. Jesus said the key was to Know Thyself. The alcoholic or addict cannot truly recover until he has stripped down his personality and examined and changed bad dynamics. This is how the sage that is described in Yutang's translation, Chapter 41: "Qualities of the Taoist": When the highest type of men hear the Tao (truth), They practice it diligently. When the mediocre type hear the Tao, They seem to be aware and yet unaware of it. When the lowest type hear the Tao, They break into loud laughter, If it were not laughted at, it would not be Tao. Therefore there is the established saying: "Who understands Tao seems dull of comprehension: Who is advanced in Tao seems to slip backwards: Who moves on the even Tao (Path) seems to go up and down." Superior virtue appears like a hollow (valley): Sheer white appears like tarnished; Great character appears like insufficient; Solid character appears like infirm; Pure worth appears like contaminated. Great space..........." So what does it mean to seem 'dull of comprehension?' This would infer acting within wu-wei - to not be the first to sprint out and try and solve a situation, get a promotion, be the first. The sage would hang back with his vision, looking at the true dynamics and not making a move until the action came directly in front of him. At that time, he would take the least amount of action necessary, but it would be the highest action possible for that particular decision. To be dull of comprehension would also mean that we didn't have a tendency to contend with each other on this forum, for example (and everywhere else in the world!) because the Sage would have no inner need to prove his superiority over another. He would know exactly who he was - One with the creative power of the universe. When he says "sheer white appears like tarnished:" I can relate this to my own situation. My relatives here in town are all pretty sure I'm going to a fiery hell because I don't attend church. That's their only criteria for their heaven or hell, it seems. It doesn't seem to overflow into their actions much of the time, or their outlook in general. So I appear tarnished to them, although on the inside I don't feel tarnished at all; I feel like a clean vessel. So - as to increasing our wu-wei awareness and effectiveness, I think we have to go through the back door on this and do it through our own character before we can develop the eyes to see with a clear shot down to the center. Then, once the clear shot is seen, we can see the dynamic coming to our own front door and know exactly when and how to act. There is actually no decision to be made. it's made for us because we are now attuned to the Way Things Work.

I'm speaking of man's acceptance or realization of higher beings, or things spiritual at all. When man first crawled out of the cave, or when early man feared sunset because there was no light - before his ability to create fire - can't you imagine that fear (from man's viewpoint, not the higher deities) was the thing that caused him to first worship the sun? Ra? It just seems to me that any "need" for man's spirit to develop (ancient, prehistoric man) would be motivated by fear of the unknown. Fear that the sun wouldn't come up again. Fear that the days were getting shorter and the nights getting longer. Fear that it was getting colder and game was moving elsewhere. it just makes sense to me that the need to implore something other than himself (or his community) to provide 'safety' for him would be to handle the things that he and his community couldn't control. Fear based. The lofty ideas would have to have come later. When men had a little leisure to think about such things; when every moment wasn't consumed with the business of surviving.

Maybe it's because as the layers of consciousness are pealed away (by us through our different modalities), we must go 'through' the reptilian brain which lays at the edge of our consciousness. After all, it sits within us. Maybe it needs to be acknowledged before further break-through can be made. I've never seen the fellow. But I do see a huge eye (or used to) when I would start my meditation. Maybe he's close to the membrane at the outer realm of consciousness that gets discussed on these threads - or maybe he's on the other side.

How about 'a child is the father of the man' - Omar khayam (sp?) The article reminds me of when my puppy first saw himself in a mirror. First he growled, barked, thought it was another dog. then his reaction turned into one of intrigue, and he spent quite a while just sitting there, putting his nose up to the mirror, staring at himself. It's interesting, tying up the mirror thing to self identity. A couple years ago, for some unknown reason, I was 'compelled' to cover up my mirrors. I put newspaper up over every mirror in the house (other than the one in Joe's bathroom!) I felt a need to NOT see myself in the mirror.\ It was as though I realized that every time I walked into a room with a mirror, I would glance into it to see my reflection. Why would that be? To assure myself that I'm still there? I decided to see what would happen if I didn't see my reflection. it gets a little harder out shopping though - reflections everywhere. But I did give it a good try. I can't honestly say that it changed me in any way that I'm aware of - but I sure felt the need to do it. I suspect that it integrated me in some way I can't put my finger on.

I'm guessing that non-attachment may be what the Buddha was talking about? Maybe non-attachment and emptiness mean very much the same thing in our context here.

yes, that's why I keep mine 2 inches long. Ya never know when you're going to be challenged to a cockfight.