manitou

That's almost too fun to think about. I dropped out somewhere around the graphs at the bottom. So the article is saying there is a possibility that there is an unnaturally formed concave rock orbiting Mars; and that there do not appear to be any natural phenomena that would explain the 90 degree striations? And that the Russians are scheduled to check this out further in 2012?

This is incredible! I haven't heard that name in years! He was the founder of the Philosophical Research Society on Los Feliz Blvd. in Los Angeles - I think it might have been by Western or Vermont, can't remember.... He used to sit up on the stage at PRS (I used to go to his lectures! I was maybe 21 or 22?) and he wouldn't so much speak as he would Channel! I realize this now! People were captivated with him, they wouldn't call it channeling at that time, but he would sit up there, Sunday afternoon week after week, an old man with beautiful white hair, dressed in a black suit, on a bare stage on a wooden chair. He would close his eyes. And he would channel. That's all it can be called. His ideas absolutely planted a seed of captivation in my heart and it was the very beginning of my metaphysical quest. It was maybe 1969 or 1970. I think trying to divide his channelings into categories would be quite a challenge. And yet, there was something tremendously logical about him which appealed to me, the detective by nature and trade. Funnily, I was introduced to his channelings by another metaphysical detective that I happened to be partners with at Hollywood Division. Manley Hall did organize his metaphysics into some degree of categorization, if I recall. I would be very interested in listening to his lectures again. Which particular series are you reading? Are they from a class he taught, or his channelings? Probably not all that much different one from the other, either.....he was about as close to the One as you could get.

Deep thinking generates knowledge... One of the most important books I've ever read, the Impersonal Life, talks about always looking 'under' the object or manifestation to see what the real idea behind it is. It seems to develop the ability to back up in space and see things from a long distance. Like getting out of the forest to see the trees. I don't think that 'deep thinking' is the same about 'thinking about something and not letting go of it'. It's all together different, as I see it. Deep thinking would be to observe the condition in its entirety, without making judgments, just seeing it for what it is. It's like the juggler stopping his juggling act all of a sudden - only then can he see the pieces in their entirety on the floor. To think about something without letting go of it, this is the very sort of attachment that is useless and harmful to us. When we dwell on a problem, not trusting that the Universe is actually a friendly place, and if things are left to their own devices by Not-Doing, the friendly force in the Universe will straighten it of its own accord. It's easy for a retired person to say this. My life is now such that I don't have to make things happen any more, I don't have to worry about financial matters that much. I truly feel for those who are still in the position of having to make a living. And I think it falls upon each of us to decide just how much energy we want to put into 'making a living', and what we see as the end result? If all our energy is put into building our castle bigger and bigger, then the prison walls get higher and higher. Finding balance. This seems to be what the chapter is about. It also talks about Wu-Wei when it says 'Do not plan things out in advance'. Again, how in the world is someone with kids and just starting out in life supposed to do this? This is the enigma. Is it possible that life gives us the cycles exactly as we need them? That some of us chose the path to raise kids and some of us did not? That our souls knew from the get-go what particular dynamics we needed in our life for our ultimate spiritual and physical vitality? That each of us has the capacity to reach enlightenment within their immediate lifetime, if the truths are realized and the soul's lessons are internalized? I remember an old boyfriend hollering at me one day a long time ago (I'd probably just drank a gallon of wine on our trailer trip)....CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING IN MODERATION??? No. At that time, I couldn't. Balance was nonexistent.

The Treasure it develops? Never Be The First In The World. Harried and rude drivers must think their trip is the most important, the most urgent....moreso than other drivers on the road. This goes directly through ego when this Treasure is developed.

I've always found it interesting that the TTC makes mention of the 3 treasures of the sage (as Lin Yutang puts it), and yet the TTC never really tells us how he got to be that way. The Nei-Yeh seems to go a bit further into inner cultivation, but still doesn't seem to answer some fundamental questions about this. I've noticed on this forum that there are several different opinions on the inner cultivation thing. There is a line of thought that the Sage becomes the Sage by actively cultivating his inner life and consciously attempting to develop the Te (virtue) of his condition; and there is another line of thought that feels that the best way is to act spontaneously and not actively attempt to change anything on the inside; that things are all natural, of the Tao, and will work out on their own. I think there's tremendous merit to both approaches, and it's a matter of choice. If one acts spontaneously, yet mindfully accepts and understands the lessons in life which are being served up to him, the spontaneous action will certainly lead to the One just as well as the man who intentionally develops his inner self. I've only got one translation of chapter 67 (The Three Treasures) in front of me; it is Yutang's. For purposes of further discussion, if anyone cares to throw other interpretations in his, it might be really valuable for purposes of triangulating this issue; essentially picking the brains of the masters / interpreters (if that is indeed the case) and really looking at the personality qualities of the sage. Lin Yutang - excerpt from Ch. 67: I have Three Treasures; Guard them and keep them safe: The first is Love. The second is, Never too much. The third is, Never be the first in the world. Through Love, one has no fear; Through not doing too much, one has amplitude (of reserve power); Through not presuming to be the first in the world, One can develop one's talent and let it mature. In my opinion, I would assume that this means the Sage is a non-judgmental being. In order to Love all things (seemingly good or seemingly bad) he would not make the judgment in his mind; every being would be worthy of Love, regardless of how vile. The challenge becomes how to love the seemingly vile. Or the argumentative. Or the unkind ones. To realize that he is, in essence, One with the vile ones too. As to Never too much, this seems to go to our fears of lack. We have a fear of not thriving, of not having enough - this seems to be built into us. This explains our national personality, in my opinion, of the panic when the stock market takes a plunge. We're so fearful of not getting all our benefits, not having the 'great American dream'....and yet, we are perfectly content to see our Brother grovel in the sand on the other side of the world with unsanitary drinking water and no place to lay their heads other than a cardboard box. This characteristic of the Sage (Never too much) is a characteristic that we too can develop; but the fear that seems to be hardwired into us can be eliminated by gratitude for what we do have. And an understanding that the only sure thing in life is Change. At any given time, circumstances may change for us, and the Sage will remain in a mentally mobile state in order to receive it without fear. When he says Never be the first in the World, I think the Sage has tempered his ego by this time. He has no more need to contend, he doesn't need to make the most money, be at the top of the corporate ladder; in fact, just the opposite. He may still be at the top of the corporate ladder, but not because he 'needs' to be because he's reacting to a fear of not being good enough inside. I think the Three Treasures (or whatever they're referred to in other translations) is a real key to developing the Sage-like qualities that we seek. If we're not seeking these qualities, why waste the time of being here? Then it's all just words. Any other interesting translations on Chapter 67 that will help triangulate this and flesh the Sage out fully?

That's a nice reflective thought, Cat. Challenging the preconditions. I would think that would kick off a nice inner journey. It's a crack you can get into and have some fun with...

Otis - that video was fabulous. I'm so glad you post them on TTB's. Several things struck me during that city-dance. First of all, that you kept going back to the yellow phone, doing everything with it but holding it to your ear. As though you are pointing out a 'break' in communications. Perhaps a break in communication between that which is seemingly real and that which is seemingly unreal. It's as though you're an imp, flirting with communications between two worlds. I also couldn't help but notice your attraction to the Enter and the Wrong Way signs being juxtaposed like that. It's like an acknowledgment that all paths, even if seemingly wrong, lead to the same place if we just keep walking.

Very good point, Sunny! Although in some cases like recovering from substance abuse, etc. - it's definitely a 'get' through working the 12 steps. The realization can't be found until all the junk is moved away. That's just one path, though....it happened to be mine. I admire people who have learned through the path of gentility, and things are definitely more of a 'let'. What I do know is that that the 'gets' will lead to the 'lets' if we are earnest in wanting to do the clearing work, and letting the One lead us into what we need to be led into. Very best wishes to you, over there on the other side of the world....

My suggestion would be to read several translations of the Tao Te Ching. It seems that different interpretations not only interdepend on language translation, but also the viewpoint and spiritual understanding of the translator. I think it's a little easier to triangulate the essence if you have more than one viewpoint to work with. The TTC isn't very long - it's easily internalized once understood. And I would couple this with the inner work, which it seems that you are already doing if I read your words correctly. The essence of the Tao is formlessness; you won't find dogma or a delineated path here. The essence is hidden and the prize is learning to accomplish by Not-Doing, which is called wu-wei and is a real enigma to anyone who has not done the inner work. Very best to you, and glad you're here... Manitou

It just doesn't get much more succinct than that.

I think that by the fact that they're called the Sage's 3 treasures, it would follow that these are attainments. He has arrived at the place in his mind where he is in balance (never too much), he has arrived at the place where he does not contend (never be the first), and he has arrived at the place where he no longer judges or stratifies in his mind; he loves all equally. My personal view is that the problem then becomes, how do we get that way? I think it is left to us to find a device, a willingness, perhaps a template, for introducing our selves to the inner journey. The inner journey starts with the surrender that Otis was talking about - a surrender that we have no control over life at all, not really; that there is actually something we surrender 'to' (our knowledge of wu-wei and the not-doing of life); I think this must be a continual process into self; that we can do so with the mere request to It (whatever you want to call it) that you are ready to see yourself as you really are. The willingness to get through all the conditioning that we've had done to us since birth, and our repeated and warped reactions. It is a way to find the direct route to the Source; this is the process of self-realization, and without it the Sage is not the Sage. The ego does take a beating during this process because none of us are perfect and we are flawed beings, particularly at the point where the journey has begun. But I do think that our lives up to this point are a mere precursor for the real journey we're intended to take. Not the physical one.

Wow! I love the immediacy of your voice. It emanates love and closeness as though we're sitting next to each other on a couch. Where the heck have you been? I agree that the old shamans had the brains to get out of the rain too. But it just doesn't seem like perceived linear time has done much for us, other than increase the layers of protection to the point of absurdity. And we have so many layers of self-protection built into our society regulations. We're all protected from ourselves (and of course, any physical phenomena like gravity, which could serentipitiously hurl us over the edge of the Grand Canyon to our immediate death) unless we have that guardrail to show us where the edge is. (Okay, so I know I'm not popular with soccer moms...) I'll wager back atcha. I think Ram Dass is right about that. In fact, I think it was even him that said 'all time and space is Mine'. When you figure out who Mine really is, it falls into place. Keeping this in the forefront of the mind seems to help any perceived discomfort I might feel whether in the city or the country. And I think your point about city dwelling being a measuring stick for your Love is right on (at the risk of dating myself).

I sort of agree with Infinity. If you take a look at the items inside your house most are dead items. Wood that has been cut down and turned into shelving. Elements melted down and made into glass. Metal mined from the earth and made into a computer table. I have wondered if one of the reasons modern man has lost so much of our primary power (I think the early shamans had the owners manual on this 'living' stuff) is because we have separated ourselves more and more from nature. We no longer sleep on the forest bed. We now sleep in a house which is separate from the ground, either raised with a foundation or sitting on a slab. Then we carpet the floor of our homes. Then we put a raised bed on there. With sheets and blankets and pillows. We no longer walk down the street. If we do, we're often walking on pavement or sidewalk. We hurl through Time with encapsulated cars - no wind on our face, no rain on our head. We've created umbrellas to take care of that. Our cars and transportation disrespect 'real' time (the sun going across the sky) and we zoom around squeezing way too much into a day. And then we worry about piling up potential energy - money - so that we can keep conditions exactly the same as they are - unchanging - or for a future plan to have more and more money and more Time (as in retirement). When in fact all we're really looking for is peace of heart, and we think that will be obtained if only we earn enough money so we can have a nice peaceful life when we're old. Does anyone really think 'retirement' is easy? That it's a given that your heart will be peaceful and satisfied once you no longer have to work? I think the happiest man may be the one chopping wood and carrying water. It's almost as though we've created an entire system which encapsulates us FROM nature. We just have to take off our shoes once in a while, go stand out in the grass, look around, and say Hello. The connection must be maintained.

The story of the frozen burrito and heroin addict was a strange day in my life. Right after he left, my knees buckled and I crumbled onto the floor. My fear all kicked in at the same time and left me in a heap. But how the heck my fear didn't show when he was there...I'll never know. It was another being inside me....

I'd be happy to take a crack at this, but I'd sure welcome some other voices. This chapter seems very nuanced and open to other interpretations. First of all, I'm never sure exactly what 'numinous' means. I looked it up in the dictionary on my desk and it's just not there. I assume that it comes from the root of number or numeral, so my guess is that it refers to making our vital breath (or essence) as The One. The smallest common denominator. It's tempting to think of it as 'luminous' as well, because there seems to be a direct connection. If we are in the place of the One, then in a sense we are capable of Seeing, of 'illuminating' the thing we are trying to see. Perhaps this is what it means when it says all things will be contained within us. By the question 'Can you concentrate?', this seems to say that all inner dialogue must be removed from the mind. This also infers to me that it takes years of meditative practice before we can get to the point of no-dialogue. In my experience, this does not happen overnight. In fact, I think it takes years and years, but I could be dead wrong here. That's just what it took for me. I think it goes on to say that if we get to the place of pure vision, then there is no need for divining tools. We see all things. We see that bad fortune and good fortune are two sides of the same coin, and it is merely our attitude that sees things as either a catastrophe or an opportunity. It is simply our choice as to the attitude we choose to wear to view the circumstances. The ghostly and numinous will penetrate it; they will attain the vision. It is because they have ceased searching with their left brain, the 'furthering the knowledge' quest. Instead, they see it as the intuitive thing that it is; the Sage will let life come to him, not the other way around. The journey is inner, the real journey. It is self-realization, the realization of What We Are All a Part Of. When we get to the point where we're not afraid to wear this realization and be part of the Answer, not the Problem....it is then that the vision clarifies. It is also a step out of ego....because the world will laugh at you. It wouldn't be the Tao if they didn't laugh at you. We need to become unafraid of the laughter and step out in Knowing. Yes, our worldly reputations will probably suffer greatly. We must be willing for this to happen.

My thoughts exactly. I've never had an identity, a real identity. Not until I stopped worrying about it and started to just Love everything there is. Love, in this case, doesn't mean putting your nose in other people's business and fixing their lives. Sometimes it means telling the hard truth to someone in a kind way. Sometimes it means loving that person, even if they're despicable in some way. Allowing that person to be the despicable person that they can be. As can I. Love means recognizing that I not only have Mother Theresa within me, but also Jeffrey Dahmer. When Edward said that Jesus said a man is his works, I partially agree with this. But I think that unless someone has truly done the inner work and eliminated the distortions within, that there is no longer a need to 'do work'. The work comes to you. We needn't go out there and look for it. My view of what Jesus meant is that a true man, a real human being, walks his talk.

I find it helpful to remember that the person you're flipping off because they just cut you off in traffic is actually You.

Oh yes, the clues are there. But all the old dead guys can do is point to the moon. The journey TO the moon must be made within ourselves.

Thank you for the thank you! But the one you should really be thanking is don Juan Mateus and Carlos.

I think there comes a state of mind where unconditional love is possible. It's after all our inner knots are untangled - a lifelong process. To withhold our Love (or compassion) from anyone is to make judgments on who deserves Love and who does not. If we are all One, then we are the Lover. When we are in consciousness with this, it truly is possible to love all unconditionally, regardless of how vile, because we place no expectations on their behavior. We realize that we too ARE that person, and that that person is merely stuck behind their own entanglements. He too wants to be free, but hasn't a clue about how to get there. Most people think the answer is all in the Outer; but it's just the opposite, seems to me. I hate to use myself as an example here, but one event does jump out at me. I walked in on a man and his two dogs burglarizing my house up in Big Bear, CA. This was after I'd retired as a cop, I had no gun. Something inside me told me to handle it differently. I pulled out my cop persona and demanded that he place everything in his pockets onto the floor. One of the things he pulled out was a frozen burrito from my freezer. When I saw that frozen burrito, my heart turned. I could feel it physically melt. I asked him if he was hungry; he was. I nuked the burrito for him and one for me, and we sat and talked. I told him he didn't have to live like that any more; I offered to take him to an NA meeting (he was a heroin addict). He didn't want to go to the meeting, and he ultimately left, and that was that. But a seed was planted in his heart that day. I didn't call the police, I honored my promise to him that I wouldn't, if he listened to what I had to say. A seed was planted. Maybe one day it will grow.

When the video mentioned the Nazarene turning water into wine by will, it also reminded me of the time he healed a deaf man by putting spit (water) on his fingers and sticking them in the man's ears. Ever since reading the book about the structure of water crystals changing depending on what was said to them, I've been talking to water before I drink it or take a shower, when I remember. I sort of see water as the midpoint between air and solid object. I'll bet if we found a way to test 'air' (thinking of it as a colloid we can't see, but we breathe it in) we would find that air too reacts to positive or negative stimuli. Just guessing here. A similar phenomenon that blows my mind a bit is the fact that when our body cells are reproducing in utero, the cells are all the same cells. There isn't a difference between a blood cell and a bone cell; the thing that differentiates between the two is how the cells align themselves when they're manifesting the creation. Mysterious stuff, but stuff that merely confirms the Oneness of everything, in my opinion.

I agree Zero. This is powerful stuff. Thanks for posting. I was getting pretty lonely. But I didn't want to pull a Palin and quit in the middle.

Awake to your sleep it bides its time and waits lurking forever.

LOL. i'm just too much of a lady to say the next natural flowing thing....

The participation here is killing me When the Nei-Yeh refers to an unimpaired mind, I think they are referering to a mind that is self-realized. A mind that remains after the journey into one's own character has been taken, realized, and dealt with. All things like selfishness, swollen ego, hate, anger, fear, pride....these are the very things that distort our lens of vision. When the lens has been cleared, the image is undistorted. We then become capable of projecting the true and the unfettered. The reason it cannot be hidden is because it is a shine that is invisible but undeniable. It does show up in our countenance as love and lack of judgment. Acceptance of all things. The reference to healthy skin color is perhaps the physical confirmation of the inner awareness. When in the TTC it mentions that the Sage is kept safe from harm, it is because of the energy flow mentioned in this chapter. What goes around comes around, simple as that. If we are emitting love for our brother (every one of them, regardless of what side of the world they live on) we will get love in return; perhaps not from the very same direction, but it will always return in equal measure. In equal measure will return unkindness, hatred, and anger as well. As I see it, this gives us an enormous amount of control over what kind of lives we wish to live. If we persist in living in fear of outer circumstances (which really aren't 'outer' at all, they just appear to be) then our fears will be realized one way or the other. If we instead choose to trust the balance of the Universe, this too will come our way. You can't even call it 'faith' at this point; it becomes Knowing, because we see it work over and over in our own lives and as this awareness settles in and we realize that this is actually the case, we stop manifesting problems in our lives. Or, when perceived 'problems' arise, we have a different perspective on the supposed problem and see it for the circumstance that we are to learn from. The creative force within us knows exactly what we need and when. All we have to do is let it happen and See why. We attract what we want, even if 'what we want' doesn't make any logical sense, or even if we think we 'should know better' after all these years. Sometimes we don't learn at all...we stay in the insanity of reacting the same way over and over and hoping that this time it will be different....if only we try a little harder. I think there is a certain surrender to Life that must be realized and embraced. I love the reference to the 'wordless pronouncement'. We seem to think that we are actually The Thinker, but is there not something within that generates the idea before we're even aware of it? As recently discussed on another thread, science is discovering that our bodies prepare themselves for the stimulus (of whatever we're about to think) even before we think it. There must be a split second prior to our supposed originating thought where it comes from The Source; the Source that we all share in Oneness. Perhaps this is why the chapter says that rewards are insufficient to encourage the good, and punishments are not sufficient to discourage the bad. Because it's not really the human 'us' that is the creator of the idea. apparently we are merely the vehicle. My personal theory, being as we only use about 10% of our brain, is that the remaining 90% of our brains work collectively and project the image outward. This would explain collective consciousness as well; in other words, how a baby born in this day and time will be born with a more modern set of mental tools than the baby born 1000 years ago. The last line says it all, to me.... "And once the mind is made stable, All under heaven will listen." This is to dance in the wu-wei and see life align around us. I only have my own experience to draw upon; but as a woman in her mid-sixties who has been on the metaphysical path since my early 20's, there is no longer any doubt in my mind that we Are what we Think. And our thoughts, we can control. It may take years of meditation to still the mind, and it may take years of inner work to find the love for all creation.....but we can ultimately put the two together and control our thoughts. We can cut off the judgmental ones, one day at a time - getting slightly better - becoming more patient and tolerant of those we previously may have called idiots. It is by changing our thoughts that our lives will align.