manitou

I laughed out loud at this clever response. You made my day, Mr. Earl

Okay. I think the place has quieted down. Here's my question. Can anybody tell me why we can't diagnose this obviously mentally sick man out of office?

Maybe he can bring a bong of fresh air

Best description ever

Nice catch.

Yes, yours is the way of willingness. I wish I had gone that route. Some of us had to go out and batter the hell out of ourselves for years, only to find that the only way to truly stay sober is by removing all the inner buttons that kept us drunk. Anyone turning their life around against very bad odds, it requires you inside to face all fears and resentments. The search for the inner buttons leads to the very same place as the self development training, I would think. At least, it feels the same as what you're talking about. And any rewards came as such a surprise to me because this spiritual journey wasn't what I set out to do at all; I would think many martial artists started out without the knowledge of what part the spiritual journey into self entails. I would guess most young kids would get involved because of Bruce Lee or a similar hero. Although you couldn't call recovery from habitual behavior a voluntary discipline as required in a martial art, the daily discipline of self examination is none the less an art that requires diligence and extreme discipline. There is a blend with meditation here too, as the only way to realize this degree of self realization is to be able to empty the mind to the exclusion of unwanted thoughts. This takes a day or two..... To my astonishment, at some point I realized the Oneness of all of us, and that we, communally, are the very mind of the creator process itself. Evolution is Here and Now; but it also lays out as a timeline. Perhaps it's the same dynamic as the as the particle/wave phenomenon of quantum physics. either way...I'm good.

And in the '70s I bought my first house - best rate available at that moment was 13.75%. Lerner, I checked out your stats and they made my head explode. Can you tell us in 20 words or less what they say?

Yes, good points. And you're right, who's going to give up the power? It seems that the country is locked into thinking it's got to be a binary choice. At this rate, the country will most likely implode from the weight at the top. And I'd also like to start up a wager as to whether or not the current occupant of the throne will ever give up power peacefully.

I think capitalism has surely created a great nation. Back when the Henry Fords and the Duponts and Westinghouse and all the giants were producing incredible things and building this nation - capitalism was at the heart of the motivation to build, bigger and bigger. It seemed to have worked beautifully. But now the manufacturing has gone, the steel mills are gone, the potteries are gone, auto plants are gone - and the only surefire career now for the general unspecialized populace is in something like the service field or being a mechanic or a plumber - jobs like that, just off the top of my head. This country's needs are entirely different now. The uneducated are getting further and further behind. The level of specialization within the scientific and academic fields gets higher and higher. The disparity between rich and poor is already ridiculous, and it's getting worse all the time. I think the time has come to consider seriously a more leftist approach, maybe trying to embrace the best of socialism and capitalism. Certainly at some point this is going to have to take place, to get us past this awful divide we find ourselves in. But the old idea of thinking that people should bring themselves up by their bootstraps and get no help from government is just a way of wanting to keep it all for ourselves. Tax cuts have once again been given to the reincarnations of Dupont, Westinghouse, and Ford. The rest can just go and eat cake. I think this nation needs to really look at itself. As a metaphysician, I realize that everything is Here and Now and linear time is an illusion. So I don't think the argument of how none of us were around when people were taken into captivity for the purpose of nation building is going to really cut it. It is all happening Now, and even if that concept isn't familiar to one's mind, certainly we can all agree that we reap the benefits of the nation they built for us by just living here. This was built at the expense of Native Americans, Africans, Caribbeans, Chinese, Japanese - and probably more I'm not thinking of. Our founding fathers and ancestors are the ones who committed the original sin, and I don't think this nation has ever seen the other half of this karma. Maybe it's happening now, I don't know. Maybe our current leadership is our karma. Actually, as I think about it, it probably is. I don't think there is any doubt that there are places within the poor populaces of all races that the mentality of being taken care of by others still lives on. Perhaps it started with the owner and master dynamic within indentured servitude or slavery wherein all the laborer's housing and food needs were provided for. This may be a dynamic that is passed from generation to generation - I don't know. But it seems likely to me that if this type of conditioning was passed down, it could go for an awfully long time. Have you ever tried to really re-condition yourself, to really change? Like a huge, basic point of view change? This is not an easy task at all, and involves changing one's character by about 180 degrees. I suspect that ones that are capable of doing this are masters. I think that to get out of a passed-down dynamic of this nature would be herculean. All I know is that I think reparations are long overdue. i say this in the spirit that I know that 'I Am' every person, every race, every nationality. I Am everyone, and what happens to one happens to all. Times have changed. Capitalism shouldn't be written in stone. And I think it may go a long way in trying to right a wrong, and ease our national karma.

I need to retract this, joeblast. I do have an opinion of you, and it's one of you being a very kind person. I'm sorry, my memory is not good, so I didn't remember it until this moment. I really appreciate the kindness you showed to me when my husband died a year and a half ago. I remember that you PM'd me a few times to check in and see how I was doing. What I don't understand, though, how someone with a golden soul could support anyone who belittles everyone, humiliates his co-workers, tears down any institution that gets in his way, acts like a dictator, has lied over 10,000 documented and researched times, pulled us out of the global climate change agreement, wanted to initially pull out of NATO, smashed the Iran agreement, is imprisoning people in cages with no sanitary provisions, cares for nothing else other than what money he can get out of it, and is obstructing justice, still to this day, right in front of our eyes. and I can't even think of one of the apple cart upsets that he does with regularity that benefited the U.S. They've all been exactly as you would imagine Putin would want to happen - for the purpose of totally smashing the U.S. culture. Fracturing us, dividing us exactly as we are But the other side of the philosophical coin (now that I got that tirade out of my system - thanks, JB, for the opportunity. I feel better now). On the other side of the philosophical coin is the unfathomable truth that all is One. That means that I am Trump and you are me. We are all the one Life; it's as though we're all an individual tentacle of a huge giant squid, each thinking we're different and not noticing that we attached up at the top. This is my highest thinking on this whole subject, and it works every time to remember this when I get too wratcheted up politically. Group hug, please. (( ))

"Damn, I had no idea" would certainly apply in both directions, friend. Please know that your political proclivities have no effect on my opinion of you. Actually, I don't have an opinion of you. But I've always enjoyed being with you on a thread. I think what underlies this discussion is the disparity of what the Sage would do, as opposed to what the Sage would not do. The Daodejing brought us all together, regardless of our specific paths. I think it comes as a surprise to some of us that it's possible to have deep knowledge of the spiritual dynamics of the DDJ, and yet not apply this to our outside life. We all have the love in our hearts to search for the true meaning of life - it's that same question that has been bringing us back here for years. But to embrace the incredible corruption of this administration and think that anything productive could come out of it just doesn't seem possible to me. You know, we truly do see what we want to see.

Rich! I remember you from Yamu's qigong class in Springfield MO. And, of course, your gorgeous blue eyes. I hope you're doing well! And Sean! you were there too! So nice to see you posting again! Big hugs to you both. I don't have a lot to add to this discussion - although I am a leftist, I don't have a lot of specific opinions other than being absolutely convinced that our president is the tool of Mr. Putin. I have a mental image of Putin sitting on a work bench, stirring a big bucket of red, white, and blue paint; Trump is the paint stick he's stirring with. I think the current chaos is intentional, and I've heard it said that chaos is right out of the Russian playbook. The man-made cyclone around us renders us immobile in the sense that we can't stop long enough to focus on any one thing, and this seems to be the intent. And from the point of view of just being a good human being, I can't for the life of me see how folks who otherwise seem to have deep understanding of the cosmic laws that govern are sucked in by such a mean spirited political view - a view where the rest of the world is unimportant, where racism is rearing its ugly head more each day. Where the conditions at the border are allowed to exist; and where Money is the god. This whole administrative scenario truly seems to be a swamp where creatures are unearthed daily. Other than that, things are going swimmingly.

that explains it

That last sentence snapped me around in some crazy cozmic way. As soon as I read it I felt like I went to the opposite side of the room and saw it from the opposite perspective. A yin-yang moment. The Dao is like a bellows.

Everything, really. You should write a book.

I recently had the realization that I don't have to strive for anything at all. This comes as a breath of spring to an overachiever. You are so eloquent. And you have a way of tunneling down to the truth. I hope your words aren't lost on anyone else that reads it; unless someone knows who they truly are, it will remain a mystery.

I'm real close to getting this joke, but it hasn't come through the mist yet.

If a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it...

I love it. "I feel like I haven't achieved anything." "GOOD!"

CT - You aren't one of those people who sucks people into a joke, are you? I've heard a lot of ticket stories. That one is just a little too perfect. But really funny. Tell me you're not one of those geezers who keeps these bizarre little scenarios in your head to pull out and use in social situations?

How is this known?

A wonderful quote! And so very close to the Hindu principle of Karma Yoga - wherein 'right work done well is a form of prayer'.

And seriously. Some guy polished my brake pedal with Armour All once. That was one wild ride home. I felt like a sparrow who just landed on a polished brass perch.

I actually like this post. It reminds me that the Daodejing tells us that the Dao regards us as ceremonial straw dogs anyway. Does it really matter when we live or die? Nothing 'out there' cares at all. We are the sentient being. But this also brings to mind that anything less than pure harmony is of the ego. Depression is of the ego. Pride is of the ego. Anything that embellishes our True Self, any prior conditioning - it's all of the ego. The awareness of depression being of the ego, somehow, is a motivator to me. Excessive ego is something I do not want to possess. when I let myself slip into depression, I'm back into my egoic illusion. Actually, on the path of self realization, depression is a pretty good guard rail.

I just have a thing about seeing sparrows spin around and around on a highly polished brass bird perch....