manitou

You can go to ST's post and click on it - you'll see the whole original post. Blofield told of a sage who had his way with a student who asked how there could be a difference between Daoism and Buddhism. It's wonderful.

I've heard it said that if you meet more than 2 a-holes in a day, it's probably You.

Another paragraph that hits me: (pg 252) Vasistha's Yoga: Living is appropriate to one whose mind is well controlled by his self-knowledge and who is aware of the truth. He should live who does not entertain notions of egoism and who is unattached to anything, who is free from likes and dislikes and has a calm mind, whose mind has reached the state of no-mind. It is proper that he should live who is established in the perception of the truth and who functions here as if playfully, who is inwardly neither elated nor depressed by external events, who is free from the desire to acquire or to reject. He, hearing of whom or listening to whom, people experience great joy - life alone is appropriate to him, and not death.

If time is truly not linear, then the thought and the action are actually taking place at the same time.

I find sharing personal things liberating too. If we are able to see an undesirable trait within ourselves, we are no longer 'that'. The separation from the undesirable trait has begun. And as to others seeing our shadows? Why should it matter? What can anyone do to harm us in an anonymous forum? If someone else can see an undesirable trait within us, that means they have the trait as well, or they wouldn't be able to see it. I think we really fear only one thing - what someone else will think of us. Or...what we will find if we go into our own conditioning and personality. Those of us who were 12 steppers know the liberation of sharing with another our foibles. And when we really find what we are looking for - and the realization of unity has occurred - it happens that there is nothing to fear. The Christ Consciousness (known by lots of different names) does not fear. It loves. I'm not sure it can do both at the same time.

I sort of feel just the opposite, Apech. To me, it seems as if we are speaking soul to soul. I've said many things here that I wouldn't say in my meat-life (a forever thank you to Steve for the new word!) Even though we don't know each other's physical personas, I think that we come to know each other better because of the inner soul aspect. For example, I wouldn't know you if we walked past each other - but whenever I see your name on a post, I know it's really going to be worth reading. From the years we've internet-known each other, I have a general impression of you as someone steady, of great depth, willing to participate, and you give the impression of great kindness. And Steve? Deep, earnest, shoots for impeccability in his behavior as it pertains to his spiritual path, really smart and pretty darned humble. I know the intensity of his desire for spiritual understanding - and I suspect that those of us who have been long-timers on this forum all have this intense desire, seeing as we've hung around for so long. I don't worry much about revealing myself. Those of us who have walked a path of recovery have had to reveal ourselves to others, to groups, to sponsors. Being an open book feels good. I have absolutely nothing to hide any more. This is how I see it; if we come to realize that we are The Intelligence and there's no separate entity 'out there' directing traffic, and we can stay in that mindset as often as possible throughout the day - then there is no fear of what some other stranger on the internet can do. I actually do take the part seriously in the DDJ where it says the Sage comes to no harm, not from tigers, not from nothing. If we maintain the mindset of the Intelligence, that is the Sagely mindset that will keep us safe. I know that I've gone far out onto a ledge with the sage mindset thing. But if we don't walk the talk, what's the purpose of all these words?

It took me forever to get that joke, Nungers.

What I've seen of your activity here has always been harmonious to that which you do for a living - being a physician, healing others. It is obvious to me that you are one who truly tries to walk his talk. This is no easy trick in this day and age. I know that you are in consciousness much of the time in your meat-life. I think the more we can stay in consciousness, the smoother our meat-life goes. I think that this particular Dao Bums community has done much to elevate the consciousness of humanity, in ways we're not even aware of. Your wisdom and compassion have been a steady and glowing presence, a real foundation stone on which others have built. In some ways I feel almost closer to personalities here than out in the meat-life. (I'm loving your expression, if you can't tell). I think that's the practice now. Walking our talk. I thank you and all other Bums who have participated in my own growth.

The italicized words were the ones that jumped out at me. First, this sentence: Luckily, you have been realized by me. What a casual way of putting that which is virtually the sum of one's life's work into a simple thought. Luckily, you have been realized by me. Those words are everything. Those are the words of the god-consciousness, the I AM, - and so many different words for the same thing in so many different religions. It, the consciousness, is speaking to us from within. It is saying it is ecstatic that you have finally made considerable progress through your own ego, seeing it as the reckless driver it has always been. You can glimpse the true light, right there through that haze. The truth dwells in you while you are in concert with it's consciousness. It is ecstatic that you are forever changed and finally seeing from a balanced place of clarity. You have found love. And 'Salutations to the Formless Self'. Do words get better than this?

Thanx once again, big brother. You know I have always followed your advice. Even when I put that frog in the blender. Mom was a little ticked, but dad got it fer sure.

Me too, but I'm looking forward to it.

I don't know that I've ever heard it put just like that here before. That's nice. Sometimes I sit in realization of the intersection of Time Avenue and Space St. I sit in realization that the only reason I perceive depth is because my mind automatically does a calculus of the relativity between objects and a quick conclusion as to how far away it is. This IS truly the intersection, as I see it - and how that also explains the gazillions of Buddha-lands of the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras. This is only one tiny little intersection. Imagine how many other intersections there are. And sometimes I will try to see things two-dimensionally, as though everything I perceive is painted onto a flat canvas. That's kind of trippy in a hippy dippy sort of way. I think about this one a lot. The matter out of which both objects and humans is the same matter, the same atomic structure. Then, certainly all matter must have enough consciousness to hold its shape, just as our subconscious and parasympathetic systems continue to function even though we may be asleep. I can see no better demonstration of intelligent Awareness.

To create our own reality through our conditioning? As a means for experiencing everything this existence has to offer? And that this earthly existence of ours isn't being judged by any external entity? To learn to live without fear of judgment? To examine our own conditioning and realize we are the way we are, so that we can realize that which we are not? There's lots of stuff. And when we do turn our minds off, hopefully our parasympathetic systems ignore the signals.

Thing is, I think your meat-life is right here. It amazes me how much of the child I still have inside me. There is something in there that hasn't aged at all and I still feel like a little kid much of the time. I never feel like an 'adult', whatever that is. And yet, I can look back and see that I've made many adult decisions. I just don't know who the heck that person was...

Great topic. After 40 years of practicing no-thought meditation, I can honestly say that my mind is so much more uncluttered now. Not just with an absence of dialogue, but with an absence of rumination and fretting. Our mind is our thoughts, but when there is no rumination on something I wish I hadn't done, or something someone said to me, or that I'm feeling fat today.......when all those things are silenced, I am Here Now. And when I am Here Now, this is when we notice stuff. It's when we can see synchronicity, and we intuit the right thing to do in any situation - or not. There is a lightness to my days now that was never there before. My thoughts always tended toward the paranoid, and I felt that I wasn't as good as anyone else in so many ways. This has left me - because now, when I look into the pupils of the eyes of another, I am looking into the eyes of god. And keeping this awareness alive during the day is now my practice. I actually don't meditate that much anymore because I really don't feel a need for it. Sometimes I do, just for the beauty of how it makes me feel. Personally, I feel that the years of attempting no-thought have really been worth it. My life is changed in ways I couldn't imagine.

padded cell

Great music. Reminds me of the Dothraki riding over the plains...standing on their horses' backs....swinging those scythes.

Will power is a funny thing to think about. There are times when Will Power can get us what we want. Especially in younger life, when we're amassing our fortunes and putting our families together. Later in life, once all the kids are gone and we start searching for meaningful answers, Will Power becomes less and less important. In fact, at the end of the line is Acceptance of What Is. Will power isn't necessary. One could say it requires will power to walk the road to enlightenment, but it seems that once the desire has come to the heart, will power is no longer needed. The desire to grow now seems to spring from within, and enlightenment becomes the only thing of importance. When you say courage needs will power, I tend to agree with that. The incidents that require real courage are those when we have to say something to someone, and we're afraid to, for some reason. The longer a person lets the unspoken words fester, the more out of whack we get. The more co-dependent the relationship gets. True honesty is clarifying and eliminates the need to remember untruths. We become unencumbered. So, maybe the real question is 'is enlightenment worth it?' We do have to change much about ourselves to achieve it. Self realization, IMO, is a necessary component - and that means going in to our personalities and seeing what makes us tick, dropping the blame, dropping the excuses; in addition to riding herd on our own thoughts and striving to keep them 'high'. (Or, as the Nazarene said, cast your eyes high upon the hill)

Congratulations to you, Scholar. You may be going through the process of self-awareness, where the decision is made to change one's life; to take responsibility for everything 'we' have manifested, to stop blaming anyone, to stop judging anyone, to realize the love for life and see the design behind it. To have the ability to admit a mistake, and to apologize for it. And once we don't have all the encumbering baggage, it's possible to start asking the important question - Who Am I? Really? I'm guessing this is the very question that Gautama Siddartha went in on to become the Buddha - finally realizing, at the very basis, who we are other than the conditioned ego identities that we compile through life. At this point, it's merely the process of peeling the onion. (An apt expression, as the closer you get to the core, the more tears are shed). Very best wishes to you. I'm glad you found your way to TDB's.

I'm on my second reading of Vasistha's Yoga. I've mentioned this one before on this thread. The second reading is even more exquisite than the first reading, because I understand more now. I first heard of this tome in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, who mentioned this book. Apparently he is on a pretty serious path of his own, if this book is any indication. The quote on the back says 'For aspirants of the highest beatitude, the Yoga Vasishtha is like nectar. . It is a storehouse of wisdom.' (Swami Venkatesananda) I couldn't agree more. You can open this book randomly to any one of the 725 pages - and the wisdom contained in such a succinct manner is astonishing, to me. The soul of this book is to the bone, and it will carry you to as close as we can get to that which can't be described.

I sure hope Kamala is in the last episode

Had to google that one. And to think Rosemary was president of the Future Homemakers Club during high school.

An unforgettable article. Now I'm all confused.

Nice to see you, Stimpy --

This may sound crazy, but it's the way I think. Try focusing on your fears, one at a time. They are visible within your posts. Be meditative - focus on a fear, and let it play out - all the way out. All the way to where your legs are amputated. Then, just breathe through it. See yourself on that hospital bed. Accept it. Love it. And know that it's not really You at all lying there. "You" are still dwelling in consciousness, just as before. This is why we have nothing to fear, ever. Our consciousness is eternal. Stir, add chocolate, and repeat for each fear.