manitou

Daniel, how do you define ignorance? Of what? And is it not possible that we are not fully liberated until all structure is dropped?

This isn't a humorous tome, but on page 178 of Vasistha's Yoga it says: As long as the mind is swayed by thoughts of pleasure or happiness, so long is it unable to comprehend the truth. Hence, it is declared that he who declares 'All this is Brahman' to one who is ignorant or half-awakened, goes to hell. does anyone else find that a little rude?

You're adorable, ESA.

Hello friends, I'm a 12-stepper of 27 years, have walked the Tao to the best of my ability for the past 20. I've been looking for a forum like this. I'm very glad to be here.

And yet, in Vasistha's Yoga that I'm re-reading, it talks about finding moderation. As freeform said, 'aversion is very similar, but more of a 'push'. I am one with an addictive personality. With alcohol, I do have to stay away from the first one. But when it comes to sugar and chocolate and things like that, I am doing my best to temper myself and walk away from the urge to grab a peanut butter cup. I don't think aversion is the ticket there, I think it's ignoring the urge. This is something new for me. Normally I would cut out sugar or chocolate (or cannabis) and just walk away - aversion. But I think that rather than it being a binary choice, I'm going to focus on the healthy instead and stay in a good mental place. I'd love to just not have to think about it at all.

Thank you for the clarification. However, my technical challenges were in 2008. It's now 2020 and I'm doing pretty well with all this. Welcome to this wonderful website, Wanderer. You snagged a very old thread on that one. Check the dates of the post, for future reference.

And that's the challenge. It seems to take a lifetime to keep the thoughts high, out of judgment and criticism. But I can attest that life gets A WHOLE LOT BETTER when that practice is followed.

I suspect that this is true - it just feels true. Failing to notice. But nothing's coming to mind as I look back. Maybe I failed to notice that I was a raging alcoholic for many long years. Can you think of something in your life that went awry because you failed to notice something, Creighton?

No winning or losing. The beautiful thing about this forum is watching the knowledge (more accurately, gnowledge) pile up, one upon the other. This forum is a creation, our creation, of our combined understandings and tweaking of each other's perspectives. It is fabulous to see how a thread morphs according to the input of all individuals. You are an excellent addition to all this, Daniel.

It is by the action of consciousness becoming aware of itself that intelligence manifests itself, not when consciousness apprehends an inert object. It is not correct to say that there is a mixture in this universe of the sentient and the inert, for they do not mix. It is because all things are full of consciousness and when this consciousness comprehends itself there is knowledge. Vasistha's Yoga, p.140

That's quite an observation from Samuel. It makes a real case for self realization.

One whose consciousness is extroverted experiences pleasure and pain; the yogi, on the other hand, whose vision is introverted does not entertain ideas of pain and pleasure. Vasistha's Yoga - III:89 Swami Venkatesananda

I've always felt that way too, Rara. If you ask a soccer mom 'who is evil?', she'll say 'the guy on the corner that sells dope to my kid'. If you ask the guy on the corner 'who is evil?', he'll say 'the a-hole who ripped me off for my dope last night' I was a policewoman in Los Angeles, and I can tell you of instances where cops were absolutely heroic. I can also tell you of instances where they were prejudiced, mean, cruel. The departments need to really start looking at the mindset of who they are hiring. I went on the job in 1969 and there was absolutely no training on race relations. Back in the 70's, the cops or detectives would use the Tacticsl frequencies to talk to each other - unmonitored by anybody at all - and the attitudes some would display toward minorities was horrible. And it was truly open season on minorities of all stripes. Of course it's gotten somewhat better over the years, although not good enough. As evidenced by the actions of the police in riot gear. Actually, these guys are just afraid of being mobbed by the crowd. I know I was. But yes, it is definitely time for change. But how to force a cop to see things from an enlightened point of view, when ego runs so swiftly through their veins? That's the problem. The frustration of not being able to 'act out' will cause pent up frustrations within the cop, which will finally come out as they're beating the demonstrators.

Wonderful observations, and the ability to put it into words is pretty awesome. I've discovered that there is a place of Gnowledge which manifests when the mind is totally stilled. There is one anchor that is always connected to the Gnowledge - the other points of triangulation will come together and be seen for what it really is. IMO, it goes back to our conditioning. We see what we want to see, and our brains will cherry pick information to make it align with our previous beliefs. Once the conditioning has come into Awareness, and the unconscious tendencies (from conditioning) have been removed, the coast is clear.

LOL. You are horrible. I finally had to get the hair cut, it kept getting in the way. And yes, 20 bucks is 20 bucks.

I've got a theory on this. I think it's a question of consciousness. If the sage is in a state of consciousness, no thought - that would be the same state of consciousness that the rhinos, tigers, and soldiers are in. (I say soldiers because at the moment the soldier is looking for a place to stick his weapon into you, his mind is probably not chattering). The rhinos and tigers aren't burdened by words and thoughts. If they intuit the same Consciousness before them, they would not attack. Sort of like grounding your own consciousness to a low vibration to get your dogs to stop barking.

Having lost my husband two years ago, I fully appreciate what the man is saying about the one who has passed on is even nearer to you. He is. I was walking the dogs the other day, looking at the ridge of mountains that looks like a sleeping Indian. I always imagine that the sleeping Indian is Joe, I talk to him. That day, I bent over to pick up some dog poop, and as I was bent down, I could hear the rapid wingbeats of a hummingbird near the back of my neck. I stayed bent over, not moving, to see what would happen. He landed on the collar of my shirt, on the back - and then as he was flapping his wings, his little body was pressed up against my neck. It felt exactly like a gentle little kiss, and it made me cry. No doubt that it was Joe. (Unless, of course, it was like the Vasistha Yoga illustration of a crow landing on a palm tree at the same moment a coconut decides to fall from the tree).

I think 'no form' means internally too. External and internal are the same thing. No Form in thought would be to maintain the consciousness of no opinion, no good, no bad, no before, no after - just acceptance of what Is. I have little inner dialog any more. If it does come up and in a negative fashion, it is immediately corrected. This comes after many years of practice. But remembering the Wholeness of Everything in our everyday thoughts will magically remove any judgment at all.

I was young then. I lived in Hollywood and I had an odd quirk in my neck where my head would go down real fast and flip my hair over my head. Some director saw it and, well, the rest is history So nice to have you back, Nungers. I truly missed you.

love lift us up where we belong

Are you okay, darling?

Is it just me, or did I see Rita Hayworth in the second scene?

censorship

actualization

I don't know about the veracity of his lotus claims, but I do know that I gave him $20 just to see what it was all about. It wasn't specifically to do a lotus posture, but he referred to it as a reading. I emailed him a photo of a drawing I did, shortly after my husband Joe died. The drawings I do start with an eyes-closed squiggle, and then my right brain takes over from there. He did come up with the feeling of death in the drawing. There were many more specific things in the drawing that he didn't pick up on, but those things were so specific to Joe and I, that I wouldn't expect anyone to catch it. He was also very nice to deal with, and he took the task very seriously, contacting me several times while he considered the drawing. His reading wasn't awesomely impressive, but on the other hand he did pick up some things. He said he had never done that kind of a reading with a drawing. I was just curious. At the very least, he will take you very seriously as he's doing it.