manitou

Thanks for posting that Trunk - great, fast information. Stretched my gray matter to the limits.

Thanks, Ulises, for posting that incredible letter. The utter desolation that is apparent in that soul is still capable of seeing the glimmer, able to find the gratitude for the one thing she has; her life. How beautiful that spirit is.

Laying face down on the ground, relaxing every muscle, feeling the tension releasing into the earth. Then reverse the process; feel the pulse of your heart inside you, your energy moving, think of sharing it with the earth. Picture the pulse going out with each heartbeat. Seeing manitou in the trees (the faces and forms you see - which results in an emotional exchange with the tree. Often funny, sometimes sad or compassionate). Talking with the manitou and holding your hands on the trees is wonderful. Enough can't be said for gently hugging trees, slowly embracing them, letting them know you're coming first. Be respectful of the tree; be respectful of the vines you step on to get there. Wrap your arms gently around the tree and feel the electrical connection. It has consciousness as well. Thank it for everything it's done for us, for making oxygen, for shading us, for feeding us. To see trees in small groups is fun and another way to interact with them. Sometimes one will look like a choir director holding his baton high, in front of 4 or 5 small children. Sometimes one will be swaying backward in laughter, standing in front of some old troll of a tree that's telling him a joke. As Don Juan would say, a shaman is never alone. An afternoon spent in the company of trees, only with a human that understands, is the most grounding experience in the world. You'll feel 5 years younger.

When he speaks of well-ordered words and well-ordered tasks, this condition must certainly be after a great deal of work. I would think well-ordered words are simple words; perhaps the least required to make a point, without involving the temptation to egoistically throw in liberally our genius. Well ordered words transcend argument; it's as though the sage gets up to the next level, the level above the argument, and ties things up neatly from that angle, transcending argument. But well-ordered words must be words without ego, without self-pity, without envy, without anger, without pride; they must be the words of the uncarved wood; in the simplicity shines the beauty. Becoming the sage, finding the simplicity, taking the straight road to the center to find Clarity, Love, and Compassion; I think these are all part of our quest; otherwise, why are we here?

Is anyone here old enough to remember the movie On The Beach? I don't remember who was in it - came out maybe in the early 50's. I just remember the couple embracing each other in the sunset on the beach, knowing that the cloud of radioactivity was coming right at them.

Little1, I so appreciate your starting this topic. I've been so reluctant to even mention CC anymore because of the loud hollerings of people who feel that they have been betrayed by Carlos; maybe the man went into a little dementia later on - so what? That takes nothing away from him. I hate to make this about me, but I need to make this about me for a minute. I never searched for the CC path. My husband had started reading the books (he's very metaphysical as well, as I am) and really got into them. He started noticing that things in the book had started happening to him too - odd things with crows, with seeing maybe an entity that wasn't really there - stuff like that. I thought that was grand, but I was still really loving the Tao and other eastern writings at that time. I gave no thought to CC. Until the things in the book started happening to me too. Until I found myself on a trail wrapped up in some roots and realizing I was in a dirt coffin. So many coincidences; I can't begin to tell you about the events with me and the little frog singing the same song, or having the cosmic sexual experience with a horse that had told my husband mentally that he wanted to have sex with me; he led me over to the horse and put my hand on the horse's neck, and the horse and I were off together on some sort of weird cosmic adventure that made both of us (me and Mr. Ed) shake. Until these things are experienced for one's self, there is no possible way the left brain can come up with this kind of communication, lol. Shamanism is so very real, and we are so very lucky to have had Carlos Castaneda and his Don Juan to show the way to all of us; particularly those who have written fabulous books as offshoots from Castaneda - Ken Eagle Feather, etc. It just gets better and better. And it aligns closer and closer with Taoist traditions and Eastern shamanism the further up the totem pole you get. Nobody will ever, in a thousand years, be able to convince me that Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan didn't know exactly what they were talking about. What a trip that path is. You'll end up at the same place as here, pretty much, but it's sure a ball along the way. They can holler Fraud!! all they want, Little 1, but you and I know better.

Nobody will ever believe me when I say this on this forum, lol. Ralis is going to jump all over me with both feet, so I've got my protective gear on. I'm telling you, for real.....Mr. Obama has been practicing wu-wei since he got into office. Some can see it. Apparently the Dalai Lama could see it as well, as if you recall he knocked on the White House door to say hi, but was turned away because China hadn't been to the White House yet. The Dalai Lama of course understood that graciously, and returned to the White House soon thereafter. He sees the actions of wu-wei for himself (or whatever the Buddhist counterpart would be). Action through nonaction. Ruling a large nation as you would fry a small fish. It appears to me that our man is making a run up the middle; some would call it abandonment; some would call it pragmatism. Believe me, his intent is set on liberal ideals, such as a single payer health system. He knows that The Intelligence will bring it around in a perfect fashion, and most likely evolving on its own. To take a liberal stand and wave the liberal flag would do nothing to change the logjam within government. Better a run up the middle for now so we can deal with the incredible things he has to deal with. Did you know his childhood hero was Spiderman? Good thing.... He will act only when the circumstances come to him, when he can see things for what they truly are. He is a warrior.

Oh my god. What a letter. What a spirit. What understanding of the power within, the trust in the Universe. I'm guessing that these incredible and stoic people are going to be the gold standard for rebuilding a city after tragedy: my feeling is that this rebuild will be the template for our green future; they will apply true brains, love, and common good to this rebuilding process. I just see it.

What do you want to bet the true answers are in the woo-woo lineage?

CHAPTER 6 As for the Way: It is what the mouth cannot speak of, The eyes cannot see, And the ears cannot hear. It is that with which we cultivate the mind and align the body. When people lose it they die; When people gain it they flourish. When endeavours lose it they fail; When they gain it they succeed. The Way never has a root or trunk, It never has leaves or flowers. The myriad things are generated by it; The myriad things are completed by it. We designate it "the Way." CHAPTER 7 For the heavens, the ruling principle is to be aligned. For the earth, the ruling principle is to be level. For human beings the ruling principle is to be tranquil. Spring, autumn, winter and summer are the seasons of the heavens. Mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys are the resources of the earth. Pleasure and anger, accepting and rejecting are the devices of human beings. Therefore, the sage: Alters with the seasons but doesn't transform, Shifts with things but doesn't change places with them.

I'm talking about short questions that make no sense logically but you're really hoping that some Bum, probably some lurker, actually knows exactly what you're talking about. Here's mine: Does anybody, in the back of their brain, feel like they're getting younger?

There's one line in the movie Hope Floats with Sandra Bullock that says it all: "Childhood is the thing we spend the rest of our lives getting over".

Very interesting and creative thought, Otis...

I'm never sure where I come in on the reincarnation thing, but one thing did occur to me not too long ago. Reincarnation, especially within family DNA lines, would be an excellent way for the Intelligence to increase the base understanding that the embryo comes into the world with. Babies today are born with a greater core knowledge (I'm sure there's a better term for this) than, say, 1000 years ago. I would think that reincarnating within DNA lines would be a very efficient way for nature to do this, as opposed to a haphazard jumping around. Why not stay with the structure already in place?

I have little tiny green bulb shoots coming up. Just barely. The robins just moved in. The turds have unfroze. Think we should move on to the next chapter?

I'd like to get back to the plate tectonics thing for a minute; and also the view that the world was an unstable place before us talking monkeys came along. Yes, we can all agree that the world was an unstable place. But putting this in the context of the Tao philosophy, why would this not be connected to the internal workings of man? We are all One. The Earth is all One. We are One with the Earth. Before talking monkeys came around, the One manifested through other creatures. There's just something about the consciousness that extends from one eyeball to another eyeball. The little black spot in my eye and the little black spot in a tiger's eye. When we come across an animal in the woods that has any degree of consciousness, there is immediate eye contact. Consciousness to Consciousness. They don't look at our knees, they look us in the eyes and we do the same to them. I realize that this is such a foolish notion, and that the scientists here will guffaw. I'm just saying, once in a while it's fun to really go out on a limb and try to look at this with a really long lens. It might just be that as our manifestations churn, so does the earth. We couldn't possibly be any more unsettled than we are now. I understand the Ring of Fire thing. But there is a wonderful challenge, as I see it, to see how this Intelligence really manifests. And both us and the Earth are certainly part of it. Perhaps a cosmic connection that will reveal itself in another cosmic setting or something.

These words by your teacher sound like they are words that will fall into place for you, within your specific context, at the right time. I'll bet you'll have a Eureka! moment on those words down the road. You'll know exactly what he was talking about as it pertains to you individually. If he is a master he can see into your soul.

1 Those able to transform One thing are called 'Spiritual'; 2 Those able to change One affair are called 'wise'. 3 To transform without expending Energy; 4 To change without expending wisdom: 5 By grasping the One only the Master is able to do this! My understanding of these particular lines is that the Sage is capable of nipping things off at the bud because his vision into the inner dynamics of things is so very acute. A small nip at the beginning of a problem will change the direction ever so slightly; this is called bending the light - and although it seems that the Sage has done absolutely nothing, the reality is that the change he affected was so subtle that he could see how it would play out, and as the situation plays out, the small tweak at the beginning takes more and more effect.

Actually, we may! My husband has a little '999' written under his hair on his scalp.

RIGHT ACTION We walk through many doors searching for definition of the Undefineable. We search the Bible The Baghavad Gita, The Tao Te Ching. We get dunked, saved, and swarmed by Passionate Praying People. We tearfully lay bare ours souls at altar calls. We cling to the words of others, Jesus, Buddha, Annie Besant, Lao Tzu Yearning for definition But we have found Understanding through Action. If you are homeless and dirty perhaps one of us will stop to chat so you may feel more human. If you are rich and well-heeled perhaps we will approach you without fear or jealousy. If you are great and famous we will love you anyway, although your brilliant essence only serves to showcase our own inadequacies. If we must take difficult action or do something you will dislike, we will try to do it gently, always considering your tender heart. We will look at you through the eyes of our soul and try to see where you stand on your path knowing that we can expect no more from you than you are capable of giving. We will not always expect you to keep your word if your past actions show us otherwise. We must be a bit wiser and understand that we have been let down only by our own foolish expectations. We who try to be true to Right Action understand what the real challenges of life are, They are all within; And that is where the true Journey begins. Barb Ortega

My suspicion is that you are so very open minded and willing to accept the views of others as viable, that your very definition of God and God's will will be changing. Evolving. A lot of this depends on how very firmly the belief of God creating the earth as per the Genesis accounts have been pounded into us. Although we get erudite and learned and say we now subscribe to this philosophy or that, the fact remains that many of us have the Christian lore pounded into our deepest thoughts. It takes a while for the evolution to occur. First we think of it as God's will - then we start looking at it as all being One; of time being removed and the realization that All is Now - these are realization that await you at a very deep level down the road. When I refer to the Christian lore, I am speaking of the idea of creation, the very base of Christian thought. At some point, one realizes that this ceases being compatible with your new perceptions and new directions of growth. It may perhaps always be there, but you will understand it in a different and a more evolved way - in fact, we are the essence of evolution itself. I think it's all about using this brain that we we evolved into. To cling to some words on a tablet that were hewn thousands of years ago is to remain stuck in that point in time in that tome, written for the people of that time by the people of that time. To purposefully stop evolving and to desire instead to remain stuck in the mire is the biggest waste of a human life that I can imagine. Getting back to the concept of God's Will, as you put it....that would necessarily mean that God, again the old biblical concept, is hanging around somewhere out in space and is directing this football game from the sidelines. Your understanding will increase to the point where God is not something separate from you, out there....it resides within your very breast, if you only knew it. The very last place we would think to look. It may be that we, as the collective, are He; we are very much included in the concept of the Almighty. I've taken to calling it the Intelligence. Somehow, it seems to work best if love and compassion can be worked into the equation as often as possible. 2. Is it possible to go against the external conditions? Is it only the Sage that would not go against the external conditions? There's not enough information in this question to answer it very well, lol. The answer is too vast.

I feel the same sense of gratitude after Marbles posts. I feel smugly normal.....

Yes, please PM me - we could figure out a ceremony to re-imprint. We will do it at the same time - your end and my end - the theory being that there really is no such thing as linear time anyway so any work we consciously do for 'back then' would work just as well for now and tomorrow too.

Thank you, Lerner. I never get too much of your words. Pillar, that's your problem. Right there. you have a fundamentalist and evangelical upbringing. Mine wasn't quite as rigid, but right up there too. There is a memory that probably runs through your mind often, but which often has no feeling attached to it, a memory of matter-of-fact quality. Start paying attention to those little scenarios right away; if you can, keep a pad of paper in your pocket and jot it down. You can figure it out later. Or it may be that you may have to seriously sit down and find it. Try this - sit down and write a letter to yourself as a young child. Apologize to it for some way you maybe didn't stand up for yourself, or something - anything - and just keep writing. There will be tears. There will be anger at your folks and your brothers and sisters. Don't worry about. Rez up, or Cowboy up, or whatever you want to call it and do it. You will find that moment (or moments) of humiliation, when you were made to feel like a turd because you wanted an extra cookie. This doesn't place blame on anybody. Why not? Because they too were the little kids that were punished for wanting an extra cookie. It just passes on from one generation to the next. Yes, please take me up on the offer. I don't charge nuthin', I just do it.