Thoughts, like blowing leaves

[Marblehead]

My thoughts seem to have become 'feelings' more than words. I wonder if I should put the words back on because sometimes I feel too much and actually 'wording' it seems to have a calming effect.

 

Hahaha, reverse-meditation :-)

 

Silent movies get boring.

[Mal]

Express your experiences in whatever way you wish.

 

 

Not a picture of me

[Marblehead]

Not a picture of me

 

You were taking the picture, right?

 

Nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there, especially during the winter.

[Birch]

Silent movies get boring.

 

Well, I've found if I shut up too much then they're (the movies) still actually quite deafening.

Anyways. Seems that these days, meditation and me aren't much of a thing. I'm not sure if this means I should do it more or less, or just forget about it.

 

What do you reckon Mr MH?

[Marblehead]

Well, I've found if I shut up too much then they're (the movies) still actually quite deafening.

Anyways. Seems that these days, meditation and me aren't much of a thing. I'm not sure if this means I should do it more or less, or just forget about it.

 

What do you reckon Mr MH?

 

Hehehe. You asked the wrong person for that question. I have no advice.

 

I don't have a specific practice or routine. I will sometime go for a week or two without any (formal) meditation. Meditation for me is another one of those spontaneous things. I guess my subconscious mind knows when I need it.

[Mal]

You were taking the picture, right?

 

No But I've recently been doing short standing practices at work where I can see the horizon and some hills, there is a nice breeze so you hear the wind whistling past you. Also have 2 little peregrine falcons that fly about, stooping on things, which is invigorating to observe.

 

Practicing there makes me feel like "the king of the world" so I was goggling a picture that would sum up that sort of feeling.

[Marblehead]

No But I've recently been doing short standing practices at work where I can see the horizon and some hills, there is a nice breeze so you hear the wind whistling past you. Also have 2 little peregrine falcons that fly about, stooping on things, which is invigorating to observe.

 

Practicing there makes me feel like "the king of the world" so I was goggling a picture that would sum up that sort of feeling.

 

Alright! I'm glad I asked you about it. Yes, sounds like you have a nice place to practice.

 

Hehehe. Yes, king of "your" world, Mal. Nothing wrong with that. The picture is fitting.

[Mal]

Alright! I'm glad I asked you about it. Yes, sounds like you have a nice place to practice.

 

Hehehe. Yes, king of "your" world, Mal. Nothing wrong with that. The picture is fitting.

 

I've access to views like this locally

definitely no snow (I've never seen that stuff in "real life")

 

but obviously not meditating so I'll use a holiday pic from the beach at Agnes waters

I seem to enjoy pointing my nose to the wind and just listening

[oat1239]

Seems to me one's definitions of "the negative" also change. For example, one may start by thinking violence is an utter negative, then after some length of meditation experience one may recognize violence as one of the energies of the universe, from the microcosmic to the cosmic levels. And that violence is a force in the omnipresent process of change. One may still prefer peace, but come to appreciate it is only one side of the coin.

 

Yin is yin and yang is yang, however not everything is pure yin and not everything is pure yang. Not everything is wholy bad and not everything is wholy good. Because of this we are sometimes faced with having to make judgement calls where may have to try to decide if the good outweighs the bad enough in some certain circumstance to justify it. We may have the situation where we hold ideas or concepts about things and want to superimpose these ideas or concepts on the world and try to make the world conform to our concepts, rather than just observing how things really work naturally. If we say we shouldn't differentiate between negative and positive for example because in our mind we think that this is being biased or judging, then we may miss out on lessons that we could otherwise be learning through direct experience and observation. We have become stuck with a concept we are holding in our mind and have instead possibly closed our 'eyes' to experiencing and observing the way something actually is.

 

In the Tao Te Ching it says something to the effect of:

"One strips oneself of passion in order to understand the sessence

One regards life with passion in order to see its manifest forms"

There are various translations of this but this seems to be the general idea.

 

I have observed that meditation tends to make me more positive overall. I don't seek this but it just occurs naturally. By just observing I note this is occuring. If I try to impose a mental concept on this that one should ideally be neutral somewhow so how could it be that one could be drawn towards the positive without intention of some sort? Shouldn't one be neutral and make no differentitation between negative and positive? I think this confusion arises because of people missing the principle outlined in the passage quoted above. Such things are hard to describe in words so I find it easier to say that in this universe yin is yin and yang is yang. Yin is not sometimes yang and vice versa, but there are many combinations of yin and yang in things.

 

Another way to say it is most people would rather not have something very bad happen to them if they are being honest, even though at the same time they may struggle with concepts in their mind of whether one should really differentiate between yin and yang or good and bad. This I think is the difference between directly understanding the workings of form as it really is in this universe through experience and observation and trying to impose a concept held in our mind on the universe (form). When something is clearly bad we for the most part have little trouble recognizing that it is bad and not in ours or others best interest, but when yin and yang are mixed in closer proportions we may have more trouble distinguishing. This doesn't mean that there is no difference between yin and yang however and thus we should not differentiate between them. Sometimes we can get too far into ideas and concepts and thus we can miss what is right in front of us if we would instead just observe the way things really are. This is how I 'see' it anyway.

Edited August 27, 2011 by oat1239

[Marblehead]

 

I seem to enjoy pointing my nose to the wind and just listening

 

Yeah, but that's the only way one can hear the flapping of the butterflies' wings.

 

That is a nice view on the mountain.

 

Snow? I've had my share. In fact, I have had your share too so don't bother going to see any. But then, if you go with your girlfriend she could make a snow ball and throw it at you. Most women get off doing things like that.

[Marblehead]

Nice post Oat1239,

 

That neutral position you spoke to I would suggest is wu wei. But even in the state of wu wei we really aren't neutral because we are going to do what needs be done. We will be taking a side, or a position.

 

Even Nietzsche's "beyond good and evil" gets caught in this dilemma because we are going to act or not based on our inner constitution and external conditions.

[stan herman]

Nice post Oat1239,

 

That neutral position you spoke to I would suggest is wu wei. But even in the state of wu wei we really aren't neutral because we are going to do what needs be done. We will be taking a side, or a position.

 

Even Nietzsche's "beyond good and evil" gets caught in this dilemma because we are going to act or not based on our inner constitution and external conditions.

 

Uh-huh

[zerostao]

there was a moment in time when

in a grove who's leaves

were stirred by a gentle wind

that late autumn and the leaves

in their most glorious colors

seemed suspended between

the tree tops and the ground

just floating free and easy

i didnt even notice the blue sky

and the white fluffed clouds

just the play of the sunlight

and the brilliant leaves

the grove had turned into a

kaleidoscope

[Marblehead]

there was a moment in time ...

 

I've had that experience. Lost in the kaleidoscope.

[C T]

Thoughts

like blowing leaves

drift across the barren land of dreams

clasp only that which is painless

with claws sharpened by desires

at times, running scared

nightmarishly

from itself

the mind

the frontierless mind...

the inhibitor comes, followed by the clown

the poet, and then executioner

and a thousand other images

each in turn

pirouetting in the spotlight

yet none is real.

Edited September 1, 2011 by CowTao

[Marblehead]

yet none is real.

 

True. I have destroyed all of mine.

[stan herman]

True. I have destroyed all of mine.

 

Me too, except their ghosts linger on.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Some leaves blowing through my mind right now is that: even in oneness with the Tao, emotions, dislikes, anger, desires, do not stop washing up on the shore, but on some rocks the waves form pools, whereas others don't have anywhere to store them

[Marblehead]

Some leaves blowing through my mind right now is that: even in oneness with the Tao, emotions, dislikes, anger, desires, do not stop washing up on the shore, but on some rocks the waves form pools, whereas others don't have anywhere to store them

 

Agree. Can't stop the thoughts. They are a natural function of the brain. They are what causes dreams. The question is: Are we going to give them a place to hang around or are we going to let them wash back out into the ocean?

[Z3N]

Agree. Can't stop the thoughts. They are a natural function of the brain. They are what causes dreams. The question is: Are we going to give them a place to hang around or are we going to let them wash back out into the ocean?

Hahahahaha a great wise man told me that understand that your thoughts are like logs rushing by in a roaring river torrent. And you are getting smashed and pushed around while you gasp for air and grab hold of a log. But you can never grab hold of them cause the river currant is to strong! But why when you only have to swim to the shore to sit on the banks to realize safely your thoughts, as you watch them go by. Siting peacefully non attached and not gasping for air.

[Marblehead]

Hahahahaha a great wise man told me that understand that your thoughts are like logs rushing by in a roaring river torrent. And you are getting smashed and pushed around while you gasp for air and grab hold of a log. But you can never grab hold of them cause the river currant is to strong! But why when you only have to swim to the shore to sit on the banks to realize safely your thoughts, as you watch them go by. Siting peacefully non attached and not gasping for air.

 

Yes, good example of not resisting the flow. We find the opportunity and we swim to shore. We all need to learn how to swim and flow and learn when to do which.

[Bluefront]

Listening to the silence makes it much easier to find yourself.

 

 

What is "yourself" and where did you find it?

 

I have been searching for it too, although with no success so far.

[Marblehead]

What is "yourself" and where did you find it?

 

I have been searching for it too, although with no success so far.

 

Hehehe. All I can say is, "Good luck!"

 

(Hint: You need to fully feel your emotions and understand why they are there when they come to the fore.)

[Jeff]

What is "yourself" and where did you find it?

 

I have been searching for it too, although with no success so far.

 

My point is the same as Z3N in the above post. "You" are not your thoughts or emotions. Or, your "spot on the riverbank", can be found in the silence of the mind. Try listening to the silence and see what you find...

 

[Bluefront]

My point is the same as Z3N in the above post. "You" are not your thoughts or emotions. Or, your "spot on the riverbank", can be found in the silence of the mind. Try listening to the silence and see what you find...

 

 

I don't find anything because I'm not looking for something specific, or I don't know what that is, so I can't say "found it!"

So what have you found?

 

Tell me please, what should I look for?

If you don't know what it is, how can you them claim to find 'it'? Since you never knew what you were looking for in the first place.