manitou

I'm not sure I see the question here...it seems like the sage has a couple choices - does he attend to the injured party, or does he go after the attackers? This question probably weighs heavier on a TaoBum that is into the martial arts. My first instinct is that as one of the Sage's treasures is Love, his instinct would be to attend to the ailing shopper and not worry about the attackers. He would know that the attackers will attract to them what they need. His time to take a stand would have been at the time of the actual attack and not to pursue it down the street, particularly if there is someone ailing. I feel like I'm missing the point of the situation somehow....

I think this is absolutely perfect.

Oh that's wonderful TaoMeow. I've missed you! Have you been gone somewhere? Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Vortex, as to finding something in my brother that mirrors something distasteful that I have inside, I'd be happy to do this but there's nothing inside my brother that is distasteful. He's a great guy, albeit when there's any family strife he merely ignores everybody - this is the only thing that gets my goat. Looking deeper inside, I believe that my frustration comes as a result of my aging, my reduction in power within the family decisions. He is much more equipped to handle the decisions and I've got to get used to that. I now see it as a loss of control issue and it's a little painful to see your own capacities slipping away. Actually, truth be known, I think I'm following my mother into a dementia state in some areas of my life. On one hand, this is disturbing. On the other hand, it makes following the Tao easier. Each day is truly a separate compartment now. But that's interesting. With an Alzheimer's patient yesterday, today, and tomorrow all blend into one. She's happy as a pig in mud on any given day; it's the people around her that tear their hair out. Is this not the Tao at work? Maybe Alzheimer's is the one sure path to total enlightenment, LOL.

it just doesn't seem like there's any other way. the profit motive has skewed us all out of balance. I love the idea of communal living for the good of all. Some of us are no good at competing in the profit motive arena at all. People will often say something like "But the opportunities are open for everyone!", in justifying the capitalist system we suffer under. But in reality not everyone is given the same talents. Some of us are skilled in other areas - music, literature, art - but just don't have the 'going for the kill' instinct to make any kind of money. It's not our focus. The money-energy gets stuck in the hands of those that have that particular instinct. With the internet being the great equalizer of all time, things are going to evolve as they should, I'm thinking. The individual minds of men meet in the collective on the internet. We are talking soul to soul. Some of us are in Europe, some in America, some in China, we are everywhere. We no longer need to stand behind our humanly-foibled leaders for national dialogue. We can have it right here, right now, on the internet. Perhaps barter will become a greater part of the new world economy, once the world has determined what it wants it to be. For some reason this discussion reminds me that as we journey inward into our own psyches, the journey seems to take us back to our beginnings. The mind ceases being so judgmental and becomes more childlike, more full of wonder and less of opinion and judgment. I imagine the ancient ones saw the tribe, the commune, as their reality. I'm thinking it was more about the group and less about the individual. I suspect that they huddled together for healings, sharing the Oneness that perhaps they were able to actually See manifesting around them. So perhaps modern man is going to have to return to the tribal, in a sense, where everyone is provided for. It certainly seams like a nice and balanced wrap-up from one type of living model to another. It resonates for me.

There are very nuanced issues we're talking about here..evolution in enlightenment. Maybe Ken Wilber is off base here, maybe he's not. But I really like those people (and the magazine) because their main focus is is on how to get great minds together and try and figure out where mankind is going from here...and with an enlightened twist. They are a real Green force; they are trying to take on the big questions. Seems like a healthy focus to me. They are brilliant people in action.

Balloons like static. Animal magnetism In a funny place.

First of all, thank you Immortal4life for posting those videos and information. You went to a lot of trouble and it was very nice. After reading the Nag Hammadi a couple times and trying to understand it, it seems to me that the focus of the words and actions of Jesus were more on a "here's how you become awakened" on an individual basis, as opposed to the prevailing structured religions where "only through THIS RELIGION can you become awakened." I also think that the concept of Jesus "saving" people from their sins was an outgrowth of the church injecting fear into the mix as a means of control of the population. After all, fear of hell fires would be very effective as a control tool for unsophisticated minds. The whole thing about the Essenes is very interesting. The timing seems serendipitous that our awareness of this rather shamanic (nature-loving) group is coming to the forefront at this point in time. There could not be a better time for a reawakening of an awareness of how to love the earth, how to love each other, how to share, how to live communally, how to heal each other. Perhaps the Tao is moving in the direction of an Essene-style system throughout the world; seems that the profit motive has taken us about as far down the tube as it can possibly take us. Maybe the Essene model is exactly what we need. Perhaps that will be the default mechanism in place if and when the world economy caves in on itself. The concept of water as a healing force or a changeable force seems to trickle through the story of Jesus, whether at the moment of his baptism by John the Baptist, when he turned water into wine, when he walked on the water after he stepped off the boat, and particularly when he healed the deaf man by spitting on his own fingers and placing the spit in the ears of the deaf man! There's something about water! I can't remember the name of the Japanese scientist (Emoto or something close?) who will utter a beautiful word like 'Love' to the glass of water, then he will freeze the crystals. Then he'll speak an ugly word to another glass of water like 'Hate', and freeze that specimen as well. The difference in the frozen crystals, examined under microscope, over and over bears out the fact that water is a living substance that reacts to our intent. The beautiful word crystals are....well....beautiful. The hateful word crystals are misshapen and out of whack. How could the prevailing temple authorities not be a bit skittish about such knowledge becoming commonplace? After all, that would render the religious structure totally unnecessary. They would lose their statuses as the wise elders. Perhaps they wouldn't be paid at all. Of course they did their best to squash anything that reeked of individual self-realization and pushed the "only through US can you find the kingdom". This discussion has made me want to go back and reread the Dead Sea Scrolls. My eyes are more elevated now than they were the first time I read it.. Actually, now I can't wait....right after I finish Secret of the Golden Flower. (A heavy Tao book, wow.)

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Is it just to be happy?

Kip - you have a way of intermingling soul with words that hits the cosmic bullseye. That was real, it was experienced, it was self-aware, it was witnessed. I for one will certainly listen to your music. Thank you for sharing that.

Somehow I managed to get the last couple sentences of my reply into Easy's square. What I wanted to say to everyone is that this has been a little enlightening for me. Thank you for being the holder of the mirrors, Bums. I feel better balanced about the whole thing. Are there any other present-day Sage stories?

Oh, Easy, that is balm for my soul. Thank you so much. First of all, you're right. It wasn't a 'whole friggin situation'. It was me that wasn't getting my way at the moment, and I moved out of state because of it. The Sage absolutely brought this on herself. The family, as yours, set this trust up in loving consideration of everyone involved; the bait my brother and I snap at is that it just sits there. I am no different than he, and if I were suddenly entrusted with the responsibility I would be vibrating a bit and acting a little funny until things settled down. The Sage will take one day at a time and respond in love at each opportunity. You are absolutely right. Nothing healthy can flow from family strife. The Sage will not allow her peace to be ruffled by this attachment. The Sage may have to choose one day between attachment and non-attachment in this matter, and she will do her best to make the right decision for all involved. Or the Sage can wimp out and suck her thumb. This conjures a bit of self-pity, so she won't grasp at this analogy. Maybe she should just Do Nothing.

What is irreversible? Could you explain a little more?

God! I love this! I love stripping myself naked in front of total strangers! It's like an AA meeting all over again! Yes, you clever foxes. It's about the pie. The sage is due 1/3 the inheritence and should have mentioned that the first go-round. It is all about the money in this particular question. I don't pretend that it's about Mom - she's quite well taken care of, and she gets my attention daily, albeit from across the country. The sage is thinking more of protecting her financial interests, which is probably very un-sagelike. The sage will have to make the decision whether to trust the brother to naturally do the fair thing for everyone involved - essentially "Do Nothing" as Da Ching would say. That is what the sage will likely do. But if the sage doesn't stay in the elevated mindset things could so south badly and she will become way too human and be a crazy woman because as much as she likes to think that she can walk away from the control of a relatively large chunk of change and not be attached at all, this is one hell of a test. And yet something inside her knows that she could do that and be just fine...

I must comment on this. The smiling Mr. Wang suddenly realized that walking the Tao or similar path is a process of removal, going from sophisticated thought patterns one develops in the aging process back to the innocence of a child. It is a reverse process; although our body ages, our minds become more childlike and non-judgmental; we see beauty in every little thing, we notice a fresh new breeze. These are things that children do. The 'mature adult', as the world sees him today, is one whose thoughts are usually cynical and judgemental to some degree. To be as a child is what the Sage aspires to; a wonderous place of love and non-judgment. We're all capable of it. It's just that the path is simple but not easy and it involves both an outer and an inner journey.

3bob, what an insightful story. Good vision on your part. This goes to the heart of what the upwards evolution is about. Yes, it's wonderful to finally find The Garden of Eden place. But I think the sage would not be the one going over the wall and jumping for joy; he instead would be concerned about his brothers who hadn't found their way yet. Yes, he would stay behind because he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he made it all about just him and his own happiness.

Yes, I think upon second reflection I can squeeze a comment out. 'To manage the things of the present, and to know the ancient beginning, this is called the beginning of the thread of the Way.' The more we read, study, discuss, learn, the more it seems to revert to the ancient knowledge. It's as though mankind was evolved with everything he needed at his disposal, including earth magik, but through 'progress' we have lost the beginnings. There are those of us who are seeking the beginnings again, and Know that we are getting very close indeed. So once we have picked up the thread of the Way, this takes us back to the ancient beginnings in our understanding. All we need do now is take one day at a time and do 'as the Sage would do' to the best of our abilities, if we are indeed seeking upward evolution. I have a sense that the ancient tribes knew that they were all One. I'll just bet they huddled together for healings at the very beginning - the combined energy would have run rampant. Might be as the concept of medicine men (and ego, of course) started to enter their consciousness, they began to lose the original essense and power of the communal. They gave the power to another. This is purely my conjecture.

It really is like trying to chase a wisp of smoke to try and comment on this chapter, lol. Let's hear it for Nothingness.

Airtight fictions rule? Now this is really something We need to discuss.

Kali - I think your post was masterful, albeit a little in yer face. But it did indicate a bit of frustration with the mental masturbation we like to do around here. Please do check in more often. You sound like you are a true warrior who can cut through the baloney instantaneously. Your input would be valuable. Yes, there is a lot of blah blah blah. I'm at a point in my life where we're retired and I have the time to check in a few times a day. The blah blah blah keeps me sane because I live in the bible belt. Your avatar is quite powerful!

What else can possibly be said?

I was going through some old boxes and came across this poem I wrote about 10 years ago. I like it still. ON THE TAO Words, ideas without structure, without form planted a seed in my heart, ever growing. My soul now a butterfly it comes back and alights softly on the Tao-bubble gathering nectar and needed repose for its next adventure. Gentle words and parable attempt expression of that which cannot be expressed. Endless possibility as a destination, it demonstrates to me The Something of Nothing. The most perfect painting is a blank canvas, the most haunting melody the moment of silence when the conductor first raises his baton. Barbara Ortega

Reaching for my sweets, I zigged when I should have zagged. I screamed out in pain.

I hadn't considered that the dreams are a memory - maybe they are. It would be just like me to spend a lifetime pouring over scrolls and being happy as a pig in mud. But either way, I do have a sense of inputting into my psyche, and the words seem to be only about a foot from my eyes in the dreams. It feels like I'm in a cosmic library of sorts. Wish I consciously knew what all this stuff says. I'll bet it's in there subconsciously and that it's been retained from the dream or re-emerging from the past life memory. It's just odd.

May I add a poem I wrote a while back and just happened upon? It seems to fit right here in this discussion. RIGHT ACTION We walk through many doors searching for definition of the Undefineable. We love the Bible, The Baghavad Gita, The Tao Te Ching. We get dunked, saved, and swarmed by Passionate Praying People. We tearfully lay bare our souls at alter calls. We cling to the words of others, Jesus, Yogi Ramacharaka, Annie Besant, Lao Tzu Yearning for definition; the ever elusive definition and measurement. It's there and yet it's not there. But some 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 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 you past actions show us otherswise. 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, And that here the true Journey begins. (Barbara Ortega)