manitou

OMG. I'm so very sorry. After the first post, I was going to say something after 'LOL'. I can't remember what. But my finger flew off a key and I jammed up my keyboard and nothing would type. And then, to make it worse, I tried a very tricky maneuver and ended up posting a picture of the toy boxes I just bought for my pregnant niece. And I certainly didn't mean for LOL to be a direct response to Moment's earlier post. It's just that's where I got stuck. My computer skills are legendary around here. I can't imagine how all of that happened, but on this thread somehow it seems appropriate.

LOL

We've both been on this forum for quite a while. Not that you were ever obnoxious to anyone, but I have certainly noticed your growth over the years. And what has developed is a god-man, a person who knows fully who he is and appreciates the fact that we all come from separate conditionings and because of this, we can't possibly see as others do through their lens. You are kind regardless of the flak that's going on around you. Thank you for sticking around, ST. You have morphed into something wonderful.

Huzzah!

Both, often.

I think it's the anonymity of emoting behind avatars. I think this venue is wonderful to discover the true feelings of ourselves and others. And I think that since it's anonymous, people can be much more hurtful online, not having to actually confront someone. But it's also a display of the character we've developed. If we take advantage of our avatars to be a jerk, that tells heaps about the person posting. I think that how we behave on forums such as this are good gauges (or gages? Gaajuz?) for our own spiritual growth. If someone's constantly getting into chingazos here, that's pretty telling that there's inner work left to do. I don't think enlightenment occurs in duality.

I'm finishing up Volume 6 of Baird T. Spalding's Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East. If nobody's read it, it's an account of a group of professional and scientific folks to went to India for some years and lived among the masters of India and Tibet. The first three volumes are filled with what can only be called true magic, as figures from the past, Buddha, Jesus, and others - would appear as if they are in the flesh and spend time with them) At the end of the book there is a collection of Spalding's letters. Spaulding was writing to someone from India. The one I was reading today was one that said the most curious thing: "They have something over here that's the real thing. They know the great Law! The Law by which cause becomes effect and vice versa." Don't know why that grabbed me. But it kind of reminds me of a metaphysical meeting point that can probably be experienced by mages more than anyone else. Like the two dynamics run into each other at some mysterious meeting point. Any thoughts on that?

What a fabulous resource! I've bookmarked that page and want to look more into the retreats.

OOPS! My bad. How embarrassing

On behalf of low slung battleships everywhere, I object. Resoundingly and repeatedly

Is that you in the video, Mr. Passerby? That video just blew my mind. The explanation of the 'intent' part of spells, your hooking in with conditions within the room that already exist, the hint of this all being connected with something greater, and the exquisite description of the dynamics at play. This really amazes me because of the similarity to my own healing practices, in which I can 'see' the dynamics at play, trace them down to their source, and re-imprint so that the dynamic is changed and different manifestations result. The mental process the video describes is the same method I use, and it's one that I just happened upon myself. No one taught it to me.

You're right, my friend. I have studied various traditions, and perhaps mixed up different knowledges. But there is a beautiful place where they all meet in the I Am. Personally, I'm not really sure that the truth, whatever that is, is convoluted or specific. I don't think it clings to a single path to the exclusion of others. I don't think it remains a theory, the Oneness, if paths converge there, and if it's from this position that healings and wu wei can be done. Your path sounds marvelous. But, being jamless, you may be missing out.

I am doing apples and oranges, I think. If one is in possession of the I Am consciousness (also known by countless other names) as a result of self-realization, it seems that the understanding of that is the knowledge that we are all the Dao, God, Christ -- whatever consciousness you want to call it. There isn't really a difference between us, we just think we're separate. I'm assuming that you have full knowledge of that consciousness. That would mean that there is no separation between you and the entity and that all is Here Now. This is the poser I'm asking Also, if you have accepted the divine condition, you actually are an immortal.

These three words are out of your text. I have taken them completely out of context. I think what Steve was alluding to, and what I'm asking you, is how in your mind do you reconcile The Immortal You with another entity? I am truly interested in that. I think the hardest (and most subtle) thing to learn is how to wear the robe once we discover that we have a robe on. If I were in the position of dealing with an actual entity, my mind would justify the duality by realizing that linear time is an illusion, and therefore it is very possible that you and the entity are one and the same. I think we're all one and the same, and that includes those that came before us and those that will come after us. Do you have thoughts along those lines?

@flowing hands - thanks so much for your wonderful description. I can only imagine how profound that experience was for you and those that witnessed it. I'm probably talking about apples and oranges here, but at what point does it dissolve unto oneness? Doesn't the presence of 'others', whether imagined, projected, or seen, have an inherent duality in it that must be transcended at some point? We are like little ripples on the ocean, all thinking we're separate from each other. Do you not dissolve into the entity as one would ultimately surrender to the unity of all life? P.S. Okay, this has gotten serious. Just when I typed 'unity' in the last sentence, the lady on TV said 'unity' at the same moment. The native Americans used to see it with what the crows were doing at any instant. Our synchronicity more often involves electronics, lol. But synchronicity is there just the same.

And I'm guessing the Dao can probably do okay on its own without guardians or defenders.

I would love to see this thread too. I know of the sincerity, wisdom, and seriousness that flowing hands brings to this forum. I would love to know, from the inside, how he happened to make contact the first time. Same with Josh Allen. Would you both be willing to go into detail on this?

This is from Volume 6 of Baird Spaulding's works, Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East. This paragraph was probably written in 1935 or so, but it seems more important today than ever. "It is time that the mass of humanity learn to distinguish between the message and the messenger; the Truth and the vehicle through which Truth is presented to the world. Truth is the same regardless of the book that presents it or the teacher who proclaims it. It is not the setting through which Truth is presented that should be the point of consideration but the amount of Truth that is given. Learning to distinguish between the thing that is taught and the manner in which it is taught comprises all the difference between confusion and illumination"........."The fact is, whether it be the teaching of Hindu, Christ, or modern metaphysics, the purport of any true message is that the Truth is to be found in the human heart and the contact is made right where we may find ourselves at any moment of our existence."

LOL. Now you're getting into the realm of the subtle.

That's the one.

This discussion reminds me of the place in the DDJ where it says that the Way is very wide, but sometimes people get caught up in the side routes.

I agree - the conflict is in our minds. And it's also an exact mirror of the conflict within us that needs resolving. Such an incredible interaction between what our psyche needs and how it goes about recreating situation after situation until we finally 'get it'.

this is disturbing

I agree. We are now officially beating a dead horse...