manitou

Me THINKS I need some DRINKS Your poetry STINKS

This is the most coolly eclectic and wonderful bit of prose I've ever seen........

I've found that the things that really take the most courage are the things we are afraid to tell someone. Or we don't want to hurt their feelings. Those things that take up so much space in our heads, adding to that a fear of what others may think or say. We stay in relationships because we talk ourselves into it, continually seeking to beat a square peg into a round hole. My definition of self realization, or enlightenment, is when we finally realize who we really are. Once that happens, it's like the balance of our years is spent in deeper and deeper acceptance of what life brings us - the gap between good and evil no longer exists, as once in Realization, we realize the need to label or condemn anyone has left us. If we are in a situation that was previously taxing, it now becomes a more holy alliance when we fully realize that we and the other are indeed the same entity, for lack of a better word. It becomes a moment to moment service of and for the Highest within us. The idea of wealth changes. One can see anonymity for the blessing that it is. So many things become clear, more loving, peaceful.

Wasn't the Council of Nicaea the body that decided upon the books of the bible? Which to include and which to hide in Nag Hammadi? I looked on Amazon and can't find the copy of the one I read. You, however, brought the receipts. So probably it is more likely that Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky and that explains everything.

I think he was the perpetrator. And I do specifically remember that he had to make a choice as to who he thought should be the central figure.

In my understanding, this means to tame the ego, because the ego is a result of our conditioning. One can start from where they are. If and when you get into a snit about something, or get into a spat with someone - this is a perfect time to freeze the dynamic and look at the part you played in it. Be ruthlessly honest with yourself, don't place blame on anyone or anything. See your part in the misunderstanding, and see if there isn't a little memory from childhood that springs to mind when this dynamic is observed. If there is a snippet of a memory, this is the dynamic that needs to be reversed. To reverse a dynamic, sometimes awareness of the dynamic and its origin are sufficient, if you are the sort of person who is not afraid to be impeccable about seeing yourself as you really are, and have the motivation required for this. Sometimes it is very helpful to actually have a ceremony where the initial dynamic is reversed. Healings have been accomplished with both methods. The motivation for me to do this self-examination was mandatory as I was recovering from alcoholism. Then there came a point where the alcoholism was no longer important; it was merely the starting point. The important thing was enlightenment, and once that desire is in the heart, the big throbbing ego is reduced to history.

Yes, me too. It's amazing how much of today's Christianity is based on fear. I read a biography of Constantine once, and if I remember correctly, Constantine had to come up with a solution for the fact that the soldiers under the command of the emperor would think nothing of beheading any ruler if they didn't agree with him. So he organized the framework of Christianity as a fear mechanism so that the soldiers would be too fearful to behead him. And I believe that he had several historical figures in mind for the centerpiece of this framework - Jesus of Nazareth, John the Baptist, and Appolonia (not sure of the spelling on that one). Constantine chose Jesus. I read this quite a while ago, and my memory may be faulty on this, FWIW. But that was the basic gist of it.

Sad sack

It seems to me that any 'ism' at all is limiting by its own dogma.

Yes. Fear dies when ego is diminished and the connection to the whole is realized.

This is just wonderful. Two things captured me on this. First, that the point of manifestation of the emerging fractal is akin to an event horizon in a black hole, only in reverse. Second, to look at it metaphysically is to see a journey from outward appearances down to the essence of the meditating woman, the I Am that she is. As I read this thread, which I only clicked on because I saw Dwai was hanging out here, I am so impressed with the earnestness of the connection of perfection of body form or practice, combined with the desire to perfect the spiritual self as well. I know nothing of the MAs, other than having spent some time speaking with a bujinkan ninja who teaches the craft and lives a few blocks over. When I first met him, we all got along great and became friends. He started showing me some of his routines one day, and he wasn't into it 30 seconds, when I said "Are you familiar with the Daodejing? Everything you are doing reminds me of it!" I'd been studying different translations for some time. He then told me that indeed, the martial arts were based on the combined understandings of both Lao Tzu and Sun Tsu. I think the first thing I had noticed was the economy of movement, the yin/yang of male and female in his movements. I felt the Sun Tsu influence when he would wait for the 'enemy' and using the enemy's own motion to upend him. Surely these are things are so very basic to everyone on this thread, but I'm a bit in awe at realizing, not learning, the working presence of the Daodejing in your movements and subsequently, if the inner journey is taken, in your life. To hear folks on this thread talk of perfecting your physical path and the spiritual path as one is truly music to my ears. I too walked a very long path, but it was the path of alcoholism, and subsequent recovery from it. I'm sure not comparing alcoholism to martial arts in any way - but that was apparently the path that lay at my feet. And now here we all are, here together. What connects us, is that the more we peel our inner onion, the less of our conditioned self is there to distort the emanations of the light that is Us. And the more we peel, the brighter the sun gets. To see the true reality of nature, to know who we truly are - we finally become Self Realized beings limited only by our imaginations. To become capable of engaging an opponent in an enlightened mindset - knowing that you and he are one and the same - is that even possible? But then again, the master of the battlefield will count the dead enemy with a heavy heart.

"The ultimate truth cannot be learned. It must be realized." (The guy in my daydream just a minute ago)

Even in exile, friendship exists and can become an anchor - Elie Wiesel

lovers' lane

Bodhi tree

Decomposition

LOL. Acceptance makes it more like a fun roller coaster ride.

And then to understand the alignment of the memory with an aspect of our current behavior. This is how the change is made - the memory is re-imprinted, often to the opposite. Because linear time is an illusion and it's all really happening in the Now, when done in this consciousness it's possible to change a tendency (and therefore a disease) to a more desirable outcome.

It is absolutely true, IMO, that the childlike innocence does return. My roommate tells me that I'm the 'happiest, most joyful' person he's ever met. Maybe it's because I've finally gotten through the heartbreak of Joe dying. But it does feel lighter and lighter all the time. Problems are gone. Acceptance is the key.

It looks really tempting. So much to read, so little time.

Those are priceless, white kitty.

They cleverly hide everything in a book. It's called Morals and Dogma, by Edmund Pike. Who in their right mind would pick up an old dusty book at a yard sale named Morals and Dogma??? For some reason, I did. I was rewarded with the Freemason's instructions for self-realization. If you're into such things, it was pretty fascinating, really. It's about 900 pages. I actually read every word...

See-Line Woman

I saw an article somewhere that talked about this very thing - and that it had been detected in the U.S. prior to anything coming out of China. Virus crossover sounds likely to me, but I'm no rocket surgeon.

Thank you for letting the Absolute be.