manitou

Repeat past mistakes. Moving finger having writ Over and over.

That's a wonderful healing story. And the kind of healing that so many disciplines are now determining that we're able to do so easily, really... It's so amazing to be able to tap into the body's natural intelligence. I've taken to talking to the unconscious intelligence in someone's body by whispering to it during a healing. That seems to get to the unconscious self in a rather startling way. The only thing is to be sure you know what you're going to say before you get it's attention, LOL. It works best if the person is very relaxed and susceptible to suggestion. I've also taken to speaking nicely to the disease - with love, even. I'm lovingly trying to coax a cancer out of a friend. Hasn't left yet, but we're still bargaining. The very best holiday wishes to you and your son. You too, Rainbow.

At some point within Buddhism do you lose the structure?

Thanks for posting the Einstein article Ralis - Taking this one step further, maybe time is really a distortion of What Is. Quantum physics was mentioned in the article too - I see quantum physics to be a direct analogy of what time and space are. The dichotomy of matter being both a particle and a wave of probability: a particle takes up space only. A wave assumes an element of time, as the measurement can be taken from point A to point B within the wave. Is it correct to posit that we are seated at the intersection of space and time within the quantum universe?

I already got one of those. Don't need another.

If this quote is attributable to Buddha, isn't he inferring Oneness here? If he considers the inclination of I and mine to be vainglorious, isn't he saying that the correct inclincation is us and ours? One?

This seems to go to what we were talking about earlier, the three treasures..one of which is Love. The Sage has only love in his heart and therefore probably wouldn't be interested in such raping and pillaging. It's actually a moot point with the Sage. I'm assuming that all of us here who have fallen in love with the Tao are aspiring to be One with the Sage.

This is much more metaphorical than what you probably want, but I visualise time as a deck of cards. The whole of what 'is' is the deck fully stacked and just sitting there. Time is contained within the deck, but not manifesting. When the deck is fanned out onto the green felt, is when time is seen. From our angle we can see only one card at a time, thinking this is what time is. One card after another. One day after another. But in reality, the card is only a part of the deck that is the whole. I think when persons have visions that see the future, they're merely seeing the whole deck which includes past, present, future in it; somehow they've accessed the dimension where time is removed. All the other elements and dynamics are latent within until time unfolds the deck. I see them as not 'looking down the road', but rather looking up at the full deck without the distortion of time. It all is. It's all present. It's all now.

Oh, I forgot something. Never be the First works wonderfully when you're driving in traffic. You'll be smiling all the way home.

What a nice discussion - thanks Dog, for posting this. The Sage has three treasures. The reason he has three treasures is because he has lived by the principles of the TTC, has practiced the motions of the three treasures, and is finally seeing the results. Before he came into possession of the three treasures he was probably a contentious jerk. But no longer. One of the treasures is Love. One of the treasures is Never Too Much. One of the treasures is Never Be The First. The one we're talking about here is Never Be the First. This goes directly to contention. We want to be the most correct, the ones with the answers. This is built inside of us. It is built inside of the Sage. But through Practice and allowing others to be the 'first', he is forever removed of the anxiety to be the first. It's better if they never see you coming anyway. How do we remove or file down our need to be the First with the answers, if we desire to do this? We have to go into personality and remove the rough edges; it works very well to do it in consciousness. We can opt instead to let Life be the battering ram, and that would work as well. It would just take a couple lifetimes for all the defects to be washed away by the grand stream. But doing it in willingness in this lifetime is certainly a shortcut. Never Be the First. It has a nice ring to it, once the ego has stopped hollering.

But this is interesting. Maybe we all do have to suffer your karma if you kill someone; it's just that it's so subtle that we wouldn't notice it? Maybe karma weighs in at different levels too. Individual karma vs. national karma. But it might go back to the old 'if a butterfly flaps her wings on one side of the world....' If we are truly One, if our brains are One but for different habits, then we must share each others karma as well.

Good point. Four years ago I did a cosmic backflip from California to Ohio because I had to get out of the dynamic with my mother. But I do try to 'love' her, just to get the most mileage for my own heart. I call her at least every two days, sometimes every day. I allow her to bounce her Rush Limbaugh witticisms off me and I actually use these conversations as a gauge to see if I'm in a transcendent enough place or not. It actually feels pretty good doing this. If she weren't my mother, there is no way in the world I would choose this lady as a friend. But, here we are.

I really agree with this. As to Castaneda, I've spent many years in the midst of his writings and on that journey. At the same time, I've loved the TTC. They are not incompatible. When one gets to the point where it is understood what the Power of Silence is (Castaneda's words), this is the same as wu-wei; it's just another vocabulary, that's all. Both the Tao and Castaneda require an impeccability of spirit to fully grasp the intended meanings.

Very best of luck with your family dynamics. My personal trick would be to try and stay in awareness that we are all One. You are your mother. Envision a huge hunk of swiss cheese and then see yourself as a hole in the cheese, your mother another hole. If there are things about her that bug you, that's because she's a mirror of you and in some fashion you have the very same issues unresolved inside you. I'd try to look at this visit as being a blessing from the Tao, an opportunity for you to do some internal housekeeping. You can turn this around to your benefit if you're willing to go in a bit.

Sometimes I think the Tao finds us when we're ready. I'd venture to guess most of us here have spent years and years of focus on various paths and end up here in the one that has the least structure, the Tao. I can't actually imagine a good scenario where the concept of Wu-Wei is taught to 'civilians'. The concept is so at odds with the basic urge to get out there and conquer the world (which is what you are basically teaching?) I think I would try and come up with a system that emphasizes personal integrity first, as others have said. Then spreading that integrity to their co-workers. Making sure integrity and fairness is central to any business decision. Perhaps a power sharing with co-workers, rather than all the power being from the top down. Paying absolute attention to detail in business. Making sure their employees have the very best of benefits or profit sharing. There are many ways that integrity can be brought into the business plan, and I think motivation can be successfully done from this angle. You have many good role models with wonderful social consciences - Ted Turner, who is turning into a fabulous social reformer, Warren Buffet, Bill & Melinda Gates...people who are giving much of their wealth back to society. I would think this could be a highly motivational factor for you to communicate. The wealthier these people become, the more they're in a position to do some serious good for the less fortunate. But as to Wu-Wei? There's no way you can communicate Wu-Wei - of course you can try and they will understand to some degree - but their hearts won't believe it until they have walked the journey for themselves; they can't hear it from someone else. Asking anybody who doesn't understand Do Nothing to 'do nothing' is going to be counter-intuitive to everything they already believe. It just can't be taught in a course. But social conscience as it pertains to business can be taught. Then....when things are buttoned down from the inside out, the outside will manifest on its own. I too agree with your feelings about not asking them to nail down their future. If the future is nailed down, serendipity is lost. But how to communicate this to someone who doesn't realize the world is really magic? Again, I think I'd go for the personal integrity. Nothing good will come if their house isn't in order.

I like this a lot, Marbles. That obviously came as a result of many years of simmering on the back burner.... I see this chapter in a straightforward way at a slightly different angle. The only way to get through to the center is to go through self. To Know Thyself. To understand all our own motives, our own fears, our own prejudices, all of it. Our mistakes. The times we forked people over. To come to terms with deeper and deeper self-awarenesses is the very thing that creates humility of soul. After we've seen ourselves for what we really are, can we take the sometimes humiliating steps to change that which we now see needs to be changed. Whether in the present or the past. What this chapter says is that we should Welcome the stripping down process - as it truly is the only way to get to the center. When it says to Prize Calamaties as our own Body, I think this is saying that in every calamaty is Opportunity....and every calamity may indeed involve another stripping down process where Ego is battered a bit more and more. We should receive calamities with open arms, apparently. Yeehaw. The man who has attained the utmost in humility may be trusted with the world. He has no illusions of faux power left.

There might be some room for compromise. I'd been stone sober for 25 years and a meditator for probably 20 of those years. In the past 5 years, I have re-introduced cannabis into my life for various medical reasons. But a wonderful side-effect is the facility with which one can view different perspectives, particularly in developing clarity toward study of the TTC or other tomes which require extremely abstract thought. This is a mindset I was not capable of previously - too left brain. Granted, this is not LSD------

It seems like at some point either belief or faith turn into a Knowing that is no longer questioned by the soul.

Immortal 1 - thanks for taking the time to post all that. This is some interesting stuff.

I think I see Snoopy in your yard, Strawdog - he's sitting on his doghouse, ears flapping. Dog, I feel like I live in the same pod that you do. Just today when I walked in to a store to buy a jacket, it occurred to me that assuming there were 30 people in the store, I was 1/30 of the whole. Yes, it is possible to do anything in the mindset. Even if one is putting on a criminal trial. I wish I had this mindset back when I was actually doing things like that. But of course there's a time and season for everything.

I rather like your question about whether a person who naturally walks within the flow of nature's laws is more of a Taoist than one who studies the TTC. I believe, yes. Even the Tao has structure when it is communicated (a nearly impossible task); yet a young baby who has no structure is certainly more of a Taoist than those of us who have tried to attain. I made a decision recently; it sounds strange and a bit retarded coming from someone in their mid-60's, I know....but I recently decided to Love Everything I Have. This includes my house, my husband, my dogs, my current situation in life. I decided to stop striving for more. To stop worrying about exactly where in the country I want to live....where would be the very best situation for us....and to just be happy about what I have NOW. This is a radical change of mindset for me. It seems like my entire life has been one of looking toward tomorrow, of preparing for something in the future....possibly a remnant of my old Christian mindset where the eyes are always set on some sort of afterlife. I've come to grips with the fact that I'll never be rich and famous. This too sounds odd too, I know. A Taoist seeking riches and fame? But this is my dichotomy. There is a pianist inside me wanting to be known and clapped at. There is a brilliant orator inside me wanting to be heard. There is a great thinker inside me wanting to be understood. There is an author inside me wanting to be read. All of these things involve the participation of another, the need for appreciation and acknowledgment by another human being. Is this merely people pleasing? Is this merely verification that I am as good as the rest of you? In my case, probably yes. Am I not sufficient as I am? What an incredible leap of faith it is to stop trying to control our destiny, when in fact the destiny is already there for us. Yes, I believe it is the time for me to become that leaf in the ocean, a leaf totally at the mercy of the tides and currents. Contained within the tides and currents are that which I need. Those lessons my soul needs to file down my emotional buttons (which I give people power to push on any given day, when I'm not consciously In The Tao. But the fear of surrendering to the current? It's tremendous. It's giving over control. It's allowing life to happen to us. I have a mental image I love. It's Snoopy, sitting on top of his doghouse, his ears flapping in the wind. A big toothy smile on his face. He is letting life come at him and loving every last drop of it. I want to be more like Snoopy and less like the arrogant uptight tightly-wound judgmental jerk I can become at the drop of a hat. But I also know how it feels to surrender everything to the life force, particularly when things are tense. The feeling of the blood returning to your veins, the breathing deepening, the muscles unclenching, the wisdom and knowing that All is One returned. Peace again. I seem to have something inside me which takes my own discomfort out on the little people in my life. When I speak of little people I'm not talking of a status - rather, I'm speaking of those people on the periphery of our life who serve us; the baggers in a grocery store, the clerks in a department store. Because those poor people are paid to stand there and be polite to everyone, I find that something in me loves to jump up and take advantage of that. If I'm in a lousy mood, the grocery checkers will get the brunt of it every time. I can be rude, arrogant....if I don't watch out for it. Sometimes it takes me off-guard and then I'll think about it later and realize how I could have done or said something so much kinder. But to be in the mindset of the Tao, this entire field of activity is transcended. When we feel the loving connection between each and every human and animal, there is no room for short-temperedness. It's not a factor. I'm just about at the point now, getting back to the leaf in the ocean, where I'm of the opinion that everything that happens to me during the day is my 'destiny'. My husband and I find ourselves trying to make ourselves more available to people we come across during the day - whether at a coffee shop or just running errands. I have read sufficiently and enough times that the spirit of Tao works through us. Just our presence alone, in consciousness with the Tao, works wonders that we don't see. Energies mix with other auras, energies are elevated. Rooms of people will elevate in spirit because consciousness of the Tao is mixed in with everything. Of course, having the luxury of allowing the Tao to dictate your day is only possible for someone who doesn't have to spend their time earning a living. My husband and I are fortunate in that we are both retired; to stay in the mindset of Oneness is a lot more difficult if one, say, is putting on a criminal trial. I guess there's a time and place for everything; no doubt there's a time and place in all of our lives for periods of retreat, study, contemplation. I treasure this period of time where I don't have to earn a living; I wish the same for everyone here.

In the third line, Lin Yutang says "In cleansing and purifying your Mystic vision, Can you strive after perfection?" It seems that people are always willing to jump to the opposing and say "But we're just humans, we cannot be perfect". That must be true. But on the other hand, all interpreters of this seem to be placing the onus of clarity back on ourselves. The process of cleansing and purifying your Mystic vision....how is this done? If we do not have an actual process for doing this cleansing, do we just let life bring the process to us? This seems to work as well, but it would take an entire lifetime to achieve mystical clarity by this standard. There are various processes for 'going in' to remove blockages. I don't see how clarity is achieved without the actual introspection and purging process. Yutang also says "In comprehending all knowledge, can you renounce the mind?" This seems to go directly to our habit of attaining book knowledge and believing that therefore we have achieved clarity and knowledge. Book knowledge is a wonderful thing and most of us have framed our perspectives through the evaluation of other people's conclusions. But true knowledge is something else altogether. It is Experiential. It can't be received from a book. It's as though the Tao, or Spirit, or the Void enters the body and directs it from within; the lessons received are swift and effective if one can see past the ego to the lesson. Another line from Yutang: "In loving the people and governing the kingdom, Can you rule without interference?" I don't know if any here will agree with me, (I'm really reluctant to write this because I know what's going to happen...) but it appears to me that Mr. Obama is utilizing the Tao or similar mindset in ruling the kingdom. I see him as a man who has achieved the ability of wu-wei, or Not Doing. He is ruling a big country as he would fry a small fish (elsewhere in the TTC). He seems to 'let' the legislation come to him and stand back while things are gelling, then step up when his presence is required. I just see the presence of the Tao in everything he does.

Yutang: THE UTILITY OF NOT-BEING Thirty spokes unite around the nave; From their not-being (losing of their individuality) Arises the utility of the wheel. Mould clay into a vessel; From its not-being (in the vessel's hollow) Arises the utility of the vessel. Cut out doors and windows in the house (wall), From their non-being (empty space) arises the utility of the house. And by the non-existence of things we are served. I like Yutang because he's a bit on the metaphysical side, he sort of speaks to my brain. What I get from this is that we are the thirty spokes uniting around the nave of not-being; it is from losing our individuality in the metaphysical sense that we become One. The essence is the Void in the center, the Tao; and we, those of us who are united around the Void in communication are of great value to the upward evolution of all of this. We here are of united utility (and in many cases, Intent). All it takes is our awareness and agreement with the process. When he says 'By the non-existence of things we are served', this could refer to the Not-doing aspect of the Tao spirit, the wu-wei. We are 'served' with the dynamic energy that is derived from not-doing.