et-thoughts Posted August 20, 2012 This is one of my favorite videos by him: I like that... you be ahead in the queue ... everyone wants to be ahead in the queue ... and I also like the notion that death is the final action in this life... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted August 20, 2012 This is one of my favorite videos by him: I like that... you be ahead in the queue ... everyone wants to be ahead in the queue ... and I also like the notion that death is the final action in this life... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted August 20, 2012 Maybe your own life and death follow the same principles of life and death of a thought, so it may be helpful to study where thoughts come from and where they go to, how attaching and identifying with a thought brings suffering and how they self liberate if you let go your attachment and anxiety, and whether "you" and your identity are located any more in your thoughts than in the space they arise in. If "you" are as much the space in which things arise as the form which emerges then do you ever really die? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Warrior Body Buddha Mind Posted August 20, 2012 How can you prepare when death comes unexpectedly, enjoy LIFE cause death is just a new beginning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eye_of_the_storm Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) I have witnessed a death more or less and heard of other accounts of death that correlate with my own experience... and it seems an act of grace / clarity /knowingness come over the person some hours + before the moment... I don't know what this is though I find it reassuring ... perhaps as the body loses it grip on the spirit? the spirit begins to shine through? Edited August 20, 2012 by White Wolf Running On Air Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted August 20, 2012 how attaching and identifying with a thought brings suffering ... If "you" are as much the space in which things arise as the form which emerges then do you ever really die? I see that attaching and identifying with a thought can bring about all sort of things... like joy peace understanding... and quite a bit more...does one ever really die... NO! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted August 20, 2012 I see that attaching and identifying with a thought can bring about all sort of things... like joy peace understanding... and quite a bit more...does one ever really die... NO! It may bring some temporary pleasure to attach to certain thoughts, but the thought will pass away and then you will experience fear and loss as you cling to that which is transient. In my experience anyway I gain far greater sense of joy and peace when I am able to not identify with my thoughts. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eye_of_the_storm Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) It may bring some temporary pleasure to attach to certain thoughts, but the thought will pass away and then you will experience fear and loss as you cling to that which is transient. In my experience anyway I gain far greater sense of joy and peace when I am able to not identify with my thoughts. are they your thoughts... i am curious to this and how this may be influenced by ones environment... until one is able to shield ones mind? or not so? Edited August 27, 2012 by White Wolf Running On Air Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eye_of_the_storm Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) I think to remain objective to thoughts is important... to not identify with them etc hmm watching clouds go by..but you are the clear, vast sky...kind of thing nothing that hasnt been said before Edited August 20, 2012 by White Wolf Running On Air Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted August 20, 2012 It may bring some temporary pleasure to attach to certain thoughts, but the thought will pass away and then you will experience fear and loss as you cling to that which is transient. In my experience anyway I gain far greater sense of joy and peace when I am able to not identify with my thoughts. When the thought passes away some experience a greater understanding peace joy and all sort of things... cling to that which is transient... and relieving it through recalling and/or pre-living it through anticipation ... as well as fully experiencing it in the moment, the eternal moment.... oh and we could replace the thought with the being or the experience and realize that when someone passes away or when an experience passes some experience a greater understanding peace joy and all sort of things... of course we should be mindful what it is that we cultivate and keep alive within ourselves... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Small Fur Posted August 27, 2012 (edited) This post is about dying. I been thinking about it alot since 09, it is quite hard to keep from it. My huge qigong victory over my liver disease was awesome, but I still wonder about dying. I am NOT talking about giving up on living, no not at all, its just that sometmes (espcially since I got ran over four weeks ago and refused to die under a Ford Ranger), it is counterproductive to me reaching a place of calmness inside. Why do I worry about it? We are all going to die, bet that. I have now stared death down twice and I don't care to admit, it still scares me! T I want to get over this fear of the unevitable. Forgive me for asking such an ignorant question, but what is the Taoist view on dying? I do think my soul (shen, qi) will continute to exist after my shell has ceased to function. If this is too abstract I will delete it. All input is welcome, my skin is pretty thick too, so I am ready for no one to hold back. You fear death, partly because you have a limited conception of what it is. Death is... A Cycle of Transmutation Death is a moment of transmutation just as birth is. In fact, you live and die each moment simply by breathing- one full breath rotation is a completion of the cycle of life and death. They are inextricably linked. This microcosmic breath of life and death is reflected in the macrocosm of the rising and setting of the sun each day and night, and thus the cycles of the seasons from spring to winter. That is Beyond our Conception of Time To talk about these cycles makes us believe that time is involved. And while on earth, where things are linear, it appears to us that time is involved, in fact, living and dying is beyond the linearity of time. This is because we actually exist in a multitude of spaces and dimensions simultaneously. These threads of our being are weaving in and out of existence all the time. So your perception of living and dying is based on a limited vantage point. You have already died. You are still being born. Each moment is itself eternal and infinite- therefore, you will never be born, you will never die. This is the paradox of the Tao. Whose Process is MultiFaceted The fact is you have many layers of existence even within your single body, let alone the other variations or your existence throughout time and space. This is why we physically can change drastically in appearance over time, feel emotions we never knew were possible, have psychic experiences, etc., because we are made of many layers (or in ayurveda sheaths of form). These same sheaths and deeper energies of the universe that create them are the types of energies and alchemies that allow for egoic death, spiritual rebirth of the yang fetus and much more. But This is all Bull because... The thing is, you can read this over and over or consult what the Taosist's have said- such as, po will go out the anus into the earth (the corporeal death you fear) but the hun will rise out the head and go the sky (the spiritual life that continues to your relief) yet the shen is rather immortal to this all (the transcendence you long for); but the realization of this isn't going to be found entirely in my words. Intellectually grasping it isn't enough, you must experience it. No, no, I am not talking about that car that ran you over, I am talking about another kind of death. It is a sort of 'spiritual' death in which you understand you are not even entirely the you you think you are to worry about losing the you that you're not. (Got that ;-) These experiences can happen through deep meditation, through an emotionally life altering experience, and by other means, all of which require, before you 'die' the willingness to let go of your pre-conceptions and prejudices of death to face the truth of your existence. That willingness can't come from the mind but must start in the heart. The sincerity to truly know what your life is made of and about will transcend you far beyond any concept of death. When the mind is still enough, the heart is true enough in its devotion to know without striving, then it is possible you may know- and that itself doesn't require any special technique. Edited August 29, 2012 by Small Fur 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eye_of_the_storm Posted August 27, 2012 Thank you again Small Fur Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
et-thoughts Posted August 27, 2012 malikshreds In essence you claim that to know death one has to experience death... which would make death ignorant about death... in a broader context what you claim is that in order to know something... you have to experience something... Evidently one can know stuff without having to experience it firsthand ... and some things are better to not be known... some possibilities are meant to remain as possibilities forevermore... I believe one can know life by living and love by loving... Death seems to desire to live through the suffering death of those alive rather than the death experience of death... I like to say we die as we live... thus learn to live with peace, understanding, joy, wisdom... gracefully Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Observer Posted August 28, 2012 Small Fur made an amazing post so I guess the only thing I can add to that is; just relax and enjoy each breath! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
