manitou

What a nice straightforward chapter. I think it's basically saying: Never let 'em see you coming. The person who needs to shout their knowledge, who wants to make himself out to be more than he is (by standing on tiptoe and trying to raise stature) is not on solid ground, by virtue of the fact that he is, after all, standing on his tiptoes. One who shows himself off does not become prominent. The Tao is a thing of Attraction, not Promotion. We strive to become beings of attraction, without the need to show off our knowledge. The Sage has do-nothing woven into his soul. Not in a lazy manner; but in a manner where he waits for dynamics to show themselves well enough to see what the problem actually is. This small chapter seems to be giving us a template for the Sage posture, or at least a clue to our destination.

You know that you're a shaman, don't you?

Non, this would be the time to try and inject a little love into your life. Starting with you. As a recovering alcoholic, I've gotten into the pit that you're in many times. Please start with yourself and do something nice for yourself every day. Maybe take yourself out for a cup of coffee, or buy a new book you've been wanting. Do something nice for YOU daily. But don't stop there. Do something nice for somebody else today, but DON'T LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE DOING IT. In fact, don't tell anybody you did it. This will change an internal dynamic inside yourself where you're not thinking about yourself all the time. It will turn you from an inner-directed person to an outer-directed person. As it stands right now, you seem pretty furled up. Come on, friend. Just walk away from the negativity. Repeatedly trying to figure it out will only serve to keep you there. Look up at the sun.

This was very helpful - thank you! I think I can intuit my way into incorporating this. I'll do a little research first. Thanks again -

You're breaking my heart, being down there in Florida with your flowers. I spent my day picking up frozen turds in the back yard.

That's some serious essence.

I don't know anything about this, but there's sure a joke in there somewhere, lol. It'll probably come to me in the middle of the night.

Thank you - nice video. I will use the lung/cat exercise for my own purposes - it's exactly what I need right now. The Mantak Chia book may be what I'm looking for. Thanks.

LOL. You oughta check the catalogs - they've made flowers that smell good too.

Perfect.

This is wonderful, and so succinct. This is to leave the illusion of self-identity behind, and get to the essence underneath. The Oneness of us all, now and then. I think everything has its roots in shamanism, because wherever we ancient humans and tribes sprang from, we would all have had the same moment of awe over the sun riding across the sky each day, the moon riding across the sky each night. It would have been no other way. The tribes would have minor differences over how to respond to natural weather events, etc. The minor differences would evolve and evolve and sooner or later ceremonies would crystallize - each tribe different because they reacted to the same things slightly differently at the beginning. If we buy this Tao stuff at all, that we can get back to the original One, then these tribes are merely us in a less sophisticated time. We are them. We are One. We are all the same Entity, both forward and backward in time, in addition to Now. New age shamans triangulate into another person's soul to assist in healing; specifically to bend the light or change an imprint from long ago. This directly aligns with bending the light in a wu-wei sense. They are identical, as far as I can see. And I fully agree that all paths do merge together, if followed to the point where the inner journey converges with the One.

Can you recommend a good overall book on healing sounds? I would love to merge healing sounds into shamanic ceremony, as I'm a musician. It would make imminent sense.

What a subject. After mentally masturbating this very question for years and years, I have come to only one conclusion. We are here for 'whatever it is' to Experience. That's all. Not to judge, not to try and do good works, just to experience. It apparently wants to feel It's own natural creation. This idea that is Mankind is apparently just an idea that has come, or is coming, into fruition. It seems to just want to experience every emotion. It apparently has not finished evolving; it seems to me that the kundalini phenomenon that affects many of us is the proof that the evolution continues. Being in a Witness frame of mind goes along with this quite nicely; hence, the Sage.

There are many who have come to believe 'As above, so below,' in a cosmic sense. My opinion is that it's happening on both levels simultaneously.

Too bad about the Bodhi Tree. That was an old haunt of mine from the old hippie days. That and McCabe's Music in Santa Monica, where Doc Watson used to play. And seeing Nina Simone at the Troubadour. Woof.

I really feel your aloneness; that's the way I am too. Luckily I do have a mate that's the same way; I can't tell you how fortunate that makes me feel. 25 years ago we were mates with shitty attitudes; now we're mates with loving attitudes. The physical friends I have, I could count on one hand - people I would really call friends. It's funny - I feel your aloneness, as I feel mine - and yet it is this very aloneness that drives us along our paths. When you say you have love for anyone who is nice to you - I feel the very same way. How often is it in this day and age when anyone is really nice to us anyway? Most of us are too busy bumbling our way along to notice anyone else at all. The genuineness of your spirit and your self honesty certainly shines through in your post Infinity. As to 'fuck 'em all!', this is always my self defense. Sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes I see 'em all as merely a part of me, running around with unrestrained and unexamined behavior. That too is me. Thank you for your honesty...

Depends on what kind of plants, chuckle chuckle. I guarantee you, when you're sitting on the ground with gloves on and have your hands down in the earth, and get that wonderful smell - you will feel like you've come home.

To quote you from another thread: "Yep."

I think unmike said it all here in just two words. Unfair expectations. That's a big cause of negative emotions. We have to learn to put ourselves in the moccasins of another. When we do, we usually find they are just looking out for themselves, not us. Why should they be looking out for us? When Marbles said moving inward to try to get under the negative emotions I think he put his finger on it. To combine the two, what Unmike said, and what Marbles said, is a formula for handling these negative situations. But it does take maturity. I think to master this particular dynamic - what to do with negative emotions - is a big part of allowing the Sage inside us to come out.

Aaah, you've brought the shamanic into it. Well done.

I fully agree here. There is nothing meek in a great master soul; no mistaking humility for meekness there. But it doesn't seem to make sense to me that only the meek (aka, humble people) would inherit the earth. Doesn't seem like there'd be enough of them left to even find each other. It makes more sense to me that the original thought of the writer, whoever that was, was that the rulers would be displaced and the common man inherit the earth. I don't cotton to Christianity any more as a spiritual form, but prophesies are prophesies, regardless of where they come from. We all have the ability to tap into visions, once we get down deep enough. It just seems to me like the biblical writer was talking about a political condition, such as we have now; it makes sense to me that 1) this prophecy may be coming true, what with all the commotion around the world, and 2) for the first time in history we're all able to view it happening at the same time. I think in all tomes we have to give a lot of leeway to the words because of the translation factor. Just look at how many ways the Tao can be translated. Would not the same thing happen with the bible from Sanskrit, if that were the original language of the writer? It's the fundamentalists that get themselves into trouble.

I've come to understand there is a God and we're it.

I've even seen the components for ayahuasca sold online, I think it was Bouncing Bear Botanicals. LOL, I don't know if I'm a false shaman or not, but either way - I've had really nice success with cannabis as far as mind expansion and instantaneous connection with the second attention for ceremony. Beyond that I guess I'm a bit of a chicken. Did try the salvia once and turned into a tarantula and walked out the front door on my back.

There's also sort of an odd phenomena that happens as a result of many years of an examined life. The emotions affect us less and less; they are not nearly as devastating as before we had a sense of self. Our emotions can dwell in the void as well, apparently. when we're in a perfectly balanced place it seems like all emotion is transcended. My mantra for day to day life is usually Be Here Now or Do Nothing. Because I suffer from a nervous disorder anyway, maintaining balance is essential to my happiness and things can get real out of whack real fast. Feels like I'm always having to ride the ox in a conscious way to maintain balance; I seem to have no filters left.

I'm just going to have to assume you're a highly evolved ax murdered doing time somewhere who has a whole lot of time to think about this stuff.