manitou

I wonder what The Rapture would look like?

I find this incredibly funny.

I wonder if the same imprints caused by conditioning in early childhood are also caused by exposure to video games? Does the soul know the difference, really, between actuality and a video game scenario? Are internal reactions to stimulus of lesser impact because they're artificially created?. I don't know, but I suspect not. Or does the soul even know the difference between a nighttime dream and a daytime occurrence? Is it possible that our currently manifested self is a mixture of not only externally caused imprints (by parents, punishment, etc) but also dream-caused imprints? (Please just go along with the 'soul' concept, although it infers duality. You know what I'm talking about ) I bring this up because of today's mass shooting in El Paso, TX. Apparently the shooter posted some right winged stuff; he posted it to a like- minded website. On that particular site, there are not only right wing extremists, but extremists who use expressions such as those used in video gaming. In today's particular case, he posted before he went out to shoot, and there were remarks like 'Rack up those points, bro' - things like that in response. Perhaps the 'rack up the points' was a common phrase within the gaming circles. I'm not a soccer mom. I'm not here to put down video games. But damn! Is there any chance that the mass shooters of today could well have been negatively imprinted when younger by video games? Probably someone's done a study on this - but I'm guessing we're more creative thinkers....

Funny thing, though. I felt something like 'triumphant' after I got back home. I had been married for 35 years, as you know, in a co-dependent relationship in which we both recovered and ended up with a great life. I haven't lived alone in years. I never go on a trip alone, except meeting up with a Road Scholar group and doing small group travel. But this time I decided to just get on an airplane and go by myself and do something that was a stretch for me, but something that was on my bucket list. I feel like I reclaimed a big part of myself that had been missing for some years. Know what I mean? Yes, the lights appeared from a green glow on the horizon. It was beautiful, the snow was deep, I'm glad for the experience. I also went on a dog sled ride and through their ice museum, which was incredible. Great to be back in the desert, though. And - if anyone is ever tempted to buy those As Seen On TV socks that are supposed to be good to 32 below? Don't believe it.

Dangerously close to not-doing.

OMG. I just got back from Fairbanks AK and had to sit in a yurt at 35 below for 4 hours to see the northern lights. I wish I had thought to turn it into a meditation and get through it that way. That's the coldest I've ever been in my life. I was pretty sure my toes were goners, but they came back to life in warm water. That's painful, thawing your feet in warm water. Wish you'd started this thread a week ago

That's 139% all cat. Can you get her weight down?

I think this says it all for me too. thanks, ST

Have you run this by your wife?

How about kittens and konstant konsciousness?

That's quite a question you've posed. The ideal life I might have imagined for myself 30 years ago isn't what I would want at all today. At that time I would have idealized a fancy new car, a huge house at the beach, etc. etc. Today, honestly, a nice quiet life is the greatest thing. It enables me to not aspire to things; that way, the heart is calm. The peace is there. that's all I was really looking for - even when I was looking in the wrong places. Actually, I think we're looking at this whole thing backwards. The question is, are my habits of thinking manifesting a satisfying life? If our life is in shambles, it's because our thinking is in shambles. We can see the resulting manifestation around us every day.

The only problem is, the rest of us weren't mimes in our past life. Really, that is a fabulous way to get kids to remember things. I had a science teacher in high school teach us the female reproductive parts of a flower by doing a little samba, including wagging finger, to the cadence of "stigma, style, and ova-reeeee!" Sounds like you are great with kids.

I agree. Human company can be exhausting. I usually go into a do-nothing mode as soon as I enter a crowded room. Otherwise the anxiety messes with me. And the anxiety stems from heavy imprinting as a youngster that I wasn't good enough. As much as I've tried to remedy this with the I Am consciousness, it sneaks in every chance it gets. The perfect life. I think I might have it. Nothing urgent to do, go to a movie any time I want, check in with the Bums, read my metaphysical books, work jigsaw and crossword puzzles, do my crazy art, and go on a trip to somewhere in the world I haven't been, about every 3 months. I take off for Fairbanks, AK the day after tomorrow; I've put in a requisition for the Northern Lights to appear while I'm there. Hopefully. Otherwise it's a long way to go to a -17 temperature just to stare at a black sky. I think they have dog sled rides too. I'm really looking forward to this! I've lived in some ideal places. The most ideal place is in our minds when we remember who we really are.

What I think is that our lives manifest better and better as we tame the beast between our ears.

Nice.

The years have borne out that this is a woman to be taken very seriously. She appears to have an intelligence that transcends huge problems and is capable of seeing the dynamics. I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that she was a self-realized one. And I do believe her when she says she is praying for all different people, including those in the administration. I personally just trust her intent and her intelligence, regardless of which side of the aisle she were to sit on. And if she is truly praying for the president, this would go a long way to keeping herself in balance, not letting bitterness take up lodging in her soul. Yes, she is good at getting people to bend to her will. Seems like she's got the perfect job for this point in time. So, it wouldn't surprise me if it were a wu-wei dynamic (or another tradition as known by a different name). The wu-wei dynamic is common to all self-realized ones, regardless of what path they used to scale the heights. I don't know, at all. It's just what I See.

Nancy Pelosi.

Nungers - what strikes me is that picture juxtaposed with your signature line, about the serpent coming forth from the earth.....

The Sage would make no judgment. The overriding pertinent dynamic here is love. The Sage would do the most loving thing he could for this fellow; the Sage would have the wisdom to know (anticipating your question) the difference between loving and enabling. He wouldn't be afraid to speak the truth to this man, but he would do it in a kind and gentle manner. Being able to confront all situations with Love is borne of the knowledge that we are all the great I Am. This is what the self-realized ones know. We're all the same soul, only with different conditionings. We think we're separate but we're not. To look into the eyes of another is to look into the eyes of the Dao, the Intelligence, the I Am, God - any number of names.

TWA Terminal

It might a strength that she has developed from raising kids and being a grandma to so many. She clearly put a political dynamic into a dead stop, and as a result of that stop, other dynamics took rise. I think the delay may have spooked Bolton too. I actually do see it as the operative dynamic in wu wei, even if it goes by a different name in her household... Fascinating, either way. And thank you, my dear friend, for understanding the question and responding in a lucid manner.

Jesus.

I think they are able to either transcend sentiment (closer to the Dao) or to totally engage in human emotion. The choice is theirs.

I hate it when the government shoots vapors through my air vents. It's lucky this fellow had a back door step to take his old pawn shop typewriter out to and hack out this masterpiece.