MT

[三江源]

joeldjohnston

 

'cept some of us aren't chinamen. damn i wish I wasn't such an ignorant westerner.

 

Ignorance isnt actually bliss, is it.

[Samurai Mountain man]

Ignorance isnt actually bliss, is it.

 

Nope, specially when someone beats you over the head with it at every turn.

[三江源]

If only ignorance were soft and fluffy, maybe then it could be quite fun.

[chenping]

No, its not pathetic. We are all in the same boat as for the planet Earth bit.

 

But you guys feel at home on Planet Earth, I don't. You feather your nest, have families and friends and your Tao. I feel as if I am in the land of hungry ghosts.

 

Being stuck however, is a frame of mind/point of view that can be changed. Freedom of thought allows us to expand what our mind is capable of perceiving and the Tao has been the gateway to that capability for me. No matter how mundane this existence is, I can focus on those words and escape the bonds that would otherwise be an incredibly oppressive reality.

 

That's it! That's exactly what I am talking about. You get yourself unstuck and make yourself at home here in ghost land. I don't want to. I don't belong here. I want to get out of here like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick road back to Kansas.

 

Once you know what you're seeking, obtaining it is a matter of practice. For me, I seek equilibrium/balance. I seek singular simplicity in a sea of endless complexity.

 

It's crazy, man. I seek nothing and I don't see any point to my being here in this reality. I don't want third eye, yin yang, whatever. As long as I can't get out, I could sure use a lot more money to get real comfortable. I am heading for Bhutan next week. It's $10,000 for a five-day stay in the Punakha Valley. No trekking, no temples. I will just lay back with a hot-stone bath and massage. As long as I am stuck, I might as well live it up.

[joeldjohnston]

From Chapter Twenty:

 

"Others have more than they need, but I alone have nothing.

I am a fool. Oh, yes! I am confused.

Other men are clear and bright,

But I alone am dim and weak.

Other men are sharp and clever,

But I alone am dull and stupid.

Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,

Without direction, like the restless wind.

 

Everyone else is busy,

But I alone am aimless and depressed.

I am different.

I am nourished by the great mother."

 

Sounds like you are looking in the right place in being here. I didn't always have a feathered nest, or a family to care for. There was a time when this was me and like you, I wanted none of the trappings that mundane life brings. Even still I struggle with where I have ended up as it is in contrast to my reclusive nature.

 

Do what your gut tells you to do. If that's seeking wealth and comfort, seek wealth and comfort. If that's becoming a hermit in the mountains, go be a hermit in the mountains. If that's devoting your life to charity for others, then do so. If reading the TTC makes sense to you, then consume it as you follow your instinct. The path for each of us is different.