manitou

I think much can be learned from triangulating the 3 Treasures that the sage possesses, from the DDJ.. Each translation is going to say something different, but I suspect that if you got to the bottom of each translator's idea of the 3 Treasures, they would all say about the same thing. I think it's only possible for us to truly know wu-wei when we ourselves have developed the same 3 treasures. For purposes here, I'll use the 3 treasures as enumerated by translator Lin Yutang - I have his translation pretty well internalized. His idea of the 3 treasures are the following: 1. Never too much - to me, this goes directly to balance in all things. it avoids the urge to hoard for ourselves and disregard the needs of others. I think that in order to master wu-wei, that this character trait must be developed. 2. Never be the First - this is an affront to our original ego that we were born with. Is it possible to train ourselves to seek the middle way, without having to push ourselves out front to satisfy our own ego and our own character deficiencies? Have we gotten to the point where we no longer need to prove to others, or to ourselves, that we are superior to others. 3. Love - the sage keeps this at the forefront of his mind. He knows that all others, regardless of how despicable, are merely the other half of himself. That he has no place to judge himself superior and others lesser - that we are all One and as such, all deserve the benefit of the cohesive dynamic of the universe, the tendency toward love, toward light, toward truth, toward kindness, toward Oneness. I think that when the above traits have been developed (or more likely, uncovered within ourselves by removing all the faulty dross that we've been told throughout our lives) that wu-wei can be lived on a daily basis. On a moment to moment basis, if we can stay in the mindset and not get phased by the seeming happenings and dynamics around us. Intentional inner work is the key, IMO. A casual acknowledgement of the 3 Treasures probably isn't sufficient to further development. I believe they must be developed within ourselves if we truly want the fruits of the DDJ.

Excellent post, Student - The usage of non-interference rather than not-doing does seem better, at least in my mind. Many people are put off by the concept of 'not-doing' as though it were a sign of laziness or something. The concept of non-interference is to watch and stay on top of a dynamic, allowing it to play out without our interference. I think the sage would normally do the least amount of interference in any situation in order to enable the situation to conclude as naturally as possible, thereby allowing it to follow the Dao of things. The sage also knows to nip it all in the bud. To handle the small before it becomes large. This must be factored in as well. As I think about it, the emotion that causes us to interfere would generally be fear, I would think. Fear that something might not come out 'correctly', in our opinions. But what do we really know of a situation, or another's motivations, or another's fears? Do we really know what it is that another actually needs? Probably not. Allowing things to Happen as they Happen seems to be the best way to act in concert with everything. And yet, when the action does come our way, when a decision is required, when a word must be spoken - kindness, tolerance, and taking the highest path must be the way we relate to the situation, in order to enable the wu wei and watch it fall into place. To live in enlightenment is to have peace of heart - to Know who we really are, and to live consciously within the everyday illusion. All so very mysterious; and yet, when discovered, it makes life all so very much easier.

Stosh, this is downright anal.

Don't oxen part their hair down the middle? Or am I thinking of water buffalo?

is that your painting, Skydog? Very nice, if so.

I love this so much. Having had to put my 30 year old horse down, this particular image was the only thing that got me through it at the time. I add my Dad in there, in the pasture, and he's feeding all the horses, dogs, and cats.

What's the difference between believing and knowing? It seems that beliefs are touchy things, bound up in the ego of the believer. Brains are involved. Most often, at least here in the midwest part of the US, beliefs are something that are handed down by the folks, the kids are dragged to church, and the 'belief' in the power of the devil and of hell and of salvation only by believing in the saving grace of Jesus - these beliefs are unquestionable if you want to get along in this part of the country. Best I just keep my mouth shut around here. The Lore of Christianity rules, not to be questioned. Seems to me that 'believing', such as a religious 'believing', is merely a choice to continue with a mind construct that defies all common sense. I think it's when we stop having to 'believe' anything with our brains that Knowing has a chance to settle in. There are certain unseen Laws and Rules of the Universe that must be proven to ourselves in order to be understood and "gotten". In my particular case, and I can only speak for me, a degree of Knowing has arrived due to the shedding of unnecessary personality parts. I've done this over a period of 30 years - the conscious elimination of undesirable traits (which I have had to do to stay sober, so it really wasn't all my own volition). The process of peeling the onion is the single most important thing I've ever done in my life, as I see it. It has been during the peeling process, always, that growth has occurred. The type of growth that sheds the need for belief in any particular religious construct. Once we have reached this milepost, there seems to be a wellspring of information that is at our instant access; perhaps it really is the Akashic records, as some have said. Whatever it is, it is phenomenal. There is no doubt. The answers and the right actions are there, because somehow we have managed to transcend the visible phenomenal world and can see the workings of a dynamic that is invisible to most, but most clear to one who can see its workings in their own life. It is the dynamic, the tendency toward the light, that becomes visible. It is through these eyes that we become able to see and relate one object/person/situation to another. It seems to serve as a sort of template or blueprint that guides and prods us to the highest action. Can anyone else explain this in different words?

A wonderful clip, TI - thank you. What a wonderful and common-sensical clip. I loved it when he said "If you don't see God everywhere, be concerned".

This is the key, according to don Juan Mateus. Look for the odd situation and interpret it.

In the Castaneda world, the crows are the messengers. When Castaneda was first confronted with his path, a crow appeared. it did all sorts of weird gyrations, and the nagual Don Juan Mateus made fun of Castaneda because he didn't recognize that the crow was trying to get his attention. My partner Joe and I had exactly the same thing happen. We were camping in a campground just above Santa Barbara, and a crow started dancing (over in the next vacant camping site) - he was fluttering his wings, flexing his wings out weirdly and acting in ways we'd never seen before - especially strange because we're birders and pretty familiar with birdie behavior. This went on for quite some time. it was shortly after this event (when joe and I first started reading the Castaneda series) when 'our' crow did this - we read about Castaneda's crow shortly thereafter, and we entered Castaneda's path. A few months later (same campground) we had taken a lady friend up camping with us at Rancho Oso. We were going to do a healing ceremony on her, deep healing - because she had lost her twin sister several years back. Our friend Pam was unable to shed the depression from the loss of her sister. she was saving all of her sister's old clothing in a separate closet in her house and was unable to cut anything loose. I had Pam bring an item of her sister's clothing for the purpose of burning it. We consecrated an area with our staffs, we had Pam lay face down on the earth. We performed a ceremony, and as the fire burned the dress of Pam's sister, suddenly approximately 60 or 70 crows appeared - they were shrieking, sitting in the trees, and watching us. it was the most unholy sound I've ever heard in my life, lol. Hey, maybe they just didn't like the fire. But when you live in the World of the Weird on a daily basis, things like this become somewhat ordinary.

I think our totem animals come and go with necessity. I've had odd experiences with herons - I'm a seer so I think this is why the herons appear. What an incredible seer a heron is - have you ever watched one of those birds fish? What accurate aim they have to have to catch their fish. Their vision must be impeccable. One day I was driving down the 101 Fwy in California and a heron kept pace with my car. He was eye level with me, he was flying over the center divider of the freeway, very low. We maintained eye contact for some time (at least to the degree that I felt was safe!) It was incredibly strange to see a heron doing that - but I figure it was part of the synchronicity and I realized the connection of a heron to a seer. I now have a small statue of a heron in my healing bag. It's a question of seeing what the developed character traits of the animal are and utilizing and bolstering those desirable traits within ourselves. Sometimes it's helpful to ask "why am I manifesting this?" when an animal appears in an unusual setting - the appearance of the animal can help explain the reason for the unusual setting, or help explain something else going on in our lives. It's a question of figuring out what the animal is best at, what traits they've developed.

isn't recovery fabulous? It's like those of us who have had to recover from something have a different perspective on balance and clarity. Once achieved, it's the polar opposite of the way we used to live. What an incredible dynamic, this recovery thing. and usually the reason we took the foolish path was only because we wanted to be loved, or appear cool in the eyes of others. At least, these were my reasons. Recovery also seems to involve a true soul searching, a clearing house of negative emotions. Once the resentments are removed, the shadows are gone. We gain vision. I think those who are recovering from something are very lucky indeed. Very best wishes to you in your continued journey.

Faith. Faith to me is the assuredness that the universe is a friendly place. I also have faith that I create my own reality.

You can take the light with you too - I sometimes imagine light coming out of my fingertips - long rays - and it keeps us mindful of what we really are. It can be done anywhere and even in a crowd of people. A good visualization to encourage mindfulness.

Sadhguru's description of the third eye matches my own experience. The depth of the inner vision equates to the length of the outer vision; by learning of our own inner dynamics (because all things follow natural laws) those inner dynamics can be superimposed on the outer world. It is as though one can raise up above a messy situation and one can actually envision a mental protractor that shows the angles and destination of any dynamic. This is invaluable during deep healings to see the dynamic that caused the diseased manifestation. Steve - I've never heard it said that to 'manifest' is to 'dissolve into' the experience. That's kind of wonderfully put. although slightly different from manifesting as a result of not-doing.

Don Juan Mateus was always emphasizing to Carlos Castaneda that he me must find something to "stop time". Like old Chi said, the more focused we become, the less impact time has on us. This has a lot to do with making / manifesting exactly what sort of life we want, by gaining mastery over our thoughts and inner dialogue.

The way I think it works is that by stripping ourselves, we get down to the original human, a being we all share. if we get to the point where we've stripped the superfluous away (especially the resentments and judgments) we are left with the original human personality, both a receiver and an actor. So by getting to know our unembellished self, we can get to know the unembellished self of others, as One we Are. What results is Self Realization, the thing which nobody can give to anybody else. it's an inside job. Once Self Realization has been achieved, the third eye is developed - perhaps in conjunction with Kundalini awakening? I don't know how the third eye is developed - I just know it happens; and when it does, we're looking at things and situations from a different vantage point. Any thoughts on the third eye and Self-Realization?

No. That was Geronimo.

this is no small thing,discovering a Jewish identity. My guess is that it will cause a paradigm shift in your spiritual vision for some time to come, until it all merges back together. To merge a communal perspective that's as specific as those of the Jewish culture would be an overwhelming discovery, at least for a time. Particularly if you are a thoughtful person, a deep person, such as you are, Aaron. Lots of love and best wishes to you as you merge this into your journey.

I like this, FH. It brings to mind that the Dao is a template. Your lines above delineate this, quantify the Dao in a sense; the sacred numbers and sacred sounds came from the Dao, emanate from the Dao. The blueprint for all of life, these sacred numbers and sounds. Funny how the Dao was implemented for the purpose of reversion, back to the One. Makes you wonder what the purpose is, anyway? Just to finish back where we started? The One is all-knowing and certainly understood with its One-brain that man would fall away from the fullness of the One and start naming and differentiating. it's as though there is a Demi-Urge of sorts that is evolving into 'something', but anybody's guess what it is; and for some reason, it needed to scatter into a zillion different pieces (us, throughout all of time) and reassemble itself in a more intentional way. Sometimes I just think that It wanted Company. Can Li Erh share any secrets like......Why??

Yes. On the morning I was born, the same two dogs were there, only the name was already taken. So he just went generic.

A young Indian brave asked his father: Father, how is it that babies in the tribe are named? 'Well, son' said his father, "On the morning when your oldest sister was born, I stepped outside into the morning air, and the first thing I saw was a young fawn. This is why I gave her the name of "Morning Fawn". "And on the morning your brother was born, i stepped outside the teepee and heard loud thunder. This is why he is 'Crashing Thunder'. But why do you ask, Two Dogs F*cking?"

A worthy endeavor, Skydog! Very best wishes to you. No tips here, but admiring of your idea.

Another way of saying to watch your intentions, is to check your own motives.

I think TTB's is a forum for bouncing off each other, filing off our rough edges. If a person's ideas don't change over the years, they're not learning. We are evolving through each other, as we are Oneness anyway.