zerostao Posted June 20, 2013 if its crazy for me not to require huge sums of money to live a happy healthy lifestyle, then call me crazy. "What if you need ten bucks a day on marijuana and bagua, rummage the trash for food and shack up in a commune to enjoy nature while I spend a hundred bucks a day on healthy food and a clean apartment in a safe neighborhood? " i do have my own cottage, and if i want to rumage, i prefer to do so out in the forest, where i can find all kinds of useful things. today i heard of where i could probably pick 20 gallons of blackberries. i have no idea or concern of market prices, i gather the blackberries so i can have blackberries. in my neck of the woods a blackberry is not a cell phone. bagua and marijuana are also free for the taking here. except for i am about to acquire a new bagua form, and i will pay for it, and then it will be free from now on. you were the one who mentioned the 2,000$ bottle of wine. i can make my own wine, sometimes i do. "People are dependent on money in various degrees" agreed, and this is my original position. "You don’t think wealthy people can be spiritual and like nature too?" when you look at nature, do you look at it for its aesthetic beauty, or look for an opportunity to turn a fast finacial profit? i dont look down on anyone, i never said anything bad about the rich. you did mention that not being rich financially is a failure and i disagree with that. there is more that flows than just money. i am actually a very grateful person. one thing i am grateful for, is that i dont have to have huge sums of money for my self esteem, health, happiness, over all well being etc regardless of if i have monies or not, i am getting along fine. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xor Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) There was an interesting study done on people who moved to the countryside. 10% of them were unhappy with their choice. I bet getting sunshine, taking a swim in clean lake or river, eating a bellyfull of berries that taste 500% better than the expensive crap you can buy at a shop and walking barefoot on the grass(without fear of drugneedles or broken glass) has alot to do with the 90% who were happy. i dont look down on anyone, i never said anything bad about the rich. you did mention that not being rich financially is a failure Exactly. Once you're content there's not much need to talk money is there? Only the poor and the wanna-be noveau riches will think money all the time. It's not like you will keep it in the grave. Edited June 20, 2013 by Guest 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh Posted June 20, 2013 There was an interesting study done on people who moved to the countryside. 10% of them were unhappy with their choice. I bet getting sunshine, taking a swim in clean lake or river, eating a bellyfull of berries that taste 500% better than the expensive crap you can buy at a shop and walking barefoot on the grass(without fear of drugneedles or broken glass) has alot to do with the 90% who were happy. Exactly. Once you're content there's not much need to talk money is there? Only the poor and the wanna-be noveau riches will think money all the time. It's not like you will keep it in the grave. That may be true, but having your family living out of a van.. not so cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DragonsNectar69k Posted June 20, 2013 The markets (not just the stock market) affects me as long as I live in a reality driven by money. But man cannot live on bread alone, said Jesus Christ. Quite right. I need to know where I am going after the body dies. He said that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (not after the body dies); seek and ye shall find. Thus,I am seeking the Tao of Dying that bypasses the bodily suffering and death of conventional spirituality Market forces move the world and price every necessities of material reality. If you think the stock market is BS, then you are viewing it as a means to make easy money without having to work for it. The likelihood is, you also seek the easy route to spirituality. Life is both material and spiritual. When one separates the two – pick one and diss the other – then, the life one lives becomes unwholesome. And one's mind is cracked, and a cracked mind is a devil’s workshop. Interesting. I actually agree with you for once. But you could ALSO say that the reality that one chooses to partake in is in fact 'CRACKED' as well. Which is why you seek... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 20, 2013 Interesting. I actually agree with you for once. But you could ALSO say that the reality that one chooses to partake in is in fact 'CRACKED' as well. Which is why you seek... can reality be chosen at will? one can't even choose one's place in life, can one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gentlewind Posted June 21, 2013 Interesting lady. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qy_qT6iKC0 Namaste, gentlewind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DragonsNectar69k Posted June 21, 2013 can reality be chosen at will? one can't even choose one's place in life, can one? Can virtue be chosen? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 21, 2013 Can virtue be chosen? you mean choosing a moral value as in choosing to avoid being bad? i feel like a river that avoids flowing upstream and choosing my path to the sea. a short answer to your question would be no. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) A different short answer is Yes, because virtue is subjective opinion the reality of virtue is spurious They give an example: of finding lost money some think its fine to keep , some think one has to search for an owner. One does something harmful to another .. and others consider retribution deserved or maybe they dont There are so many caveats and pivotable conditions , which individuals weigh seperately and differently that there is no "right " virtue , there is also no character or trait type virtue ,which is always beneficial. Like , ,a fat person may float better, and a skinny person might endure heat better. Whether a trait or "virtue" is beneficial or expedient ,, depends entirely on circumstance and subjective opinion. And while groups may be in accord about one thing or another,, they come to that accord independently. Changing ones own stance on a virtue is also malleable , not infinitely so ,, but within bounds it is possible to reconsider and adjust or accept new virtue or vice. Edited June 21, 2013 by Stosh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 22, 2013 A different short answer is Yes, because virtue is subjective opinion virtue is man-made. just because it is artificial does not mean it is a matter of choice. did man choose to invent nuclear weapons? the reality of virtue is spurious They give an example: of finding lost money some think its fine to keep , some think one has to search for an owner. either way, it is not a matter of choice. you do what you've gotta do. One does something harmful to another .. and others consider retribution deserved or maybe they dont "an eye for an eye" for some, and "turn the other cheek" for others. people cannot help being what they are, can they? we are born that way. There are so many caveats and pivotable conditions , which individuals weigh seperately and differently that there is no "right " virtue , regardless of the choices available, each ultimately ends up like a ball in the pocket of a spinning roulette wheel. there is also no character or trait type virtue ,which is always beneficial. Like , ,a fat person may float better, and a skinny person might endure heat better. no one likes being fat just to float. fat deposits itself in the gut without choice. Whether a trait or "virtue" is beneficial or expedient ,, depends entirely on circumstance and subjective opinion. And while groups may be in accord about one thing or another,, they come to that accord independently. is anyone independent ever? Changing ones own stance on a virtue is also malleable , not infinitely so ,, but within bounds it is possible to reconsider and adjust or accept new virtue or vice. it nice feeling - the ability to choose. everything else in nature is pretty much locked in to a cycle and a pattern. thanks for the argument. i couldn't help it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
三江源 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) . Edited July 20, 2014 by cat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gentlewind Posted June 22, 2013 I'm just going to put this link here in case anyone wants to read the telling of the passing of Joyce Gayheart, Michael Winn's wife. He speaks of communicating with her after her technical passing, and reading her pulses after she has passed and detecting her presence clearly. http://www.healingtaousa.com/JoyceGayheart/Shijie.html Will read this later cat when all is quiet ! Appreciate the link and am looking forward to the read. Have tried watching the Afterlife video of the lady lawyer and fell asleep twice - no reflection on her though as what I've heard was very interesting ! This also happens when I sometimes watch videos about the UFO topic - its as if I'm sprinkled with 'sleep dust' ! Effort number three coming up ! Namaste, gentlewind 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
三江源 Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) . Edited July 20, 2014 by cat 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gentlewind Posted June 22, 2013 I always fall asleep when watching documentaries about egypt. Will attempt lady lawyer tomorrow. x Strange eh cat ! Egypt, yes another mysterious country. Didn't Edgar Cayce gave a lot to say about Egypt ? Graham Hancock comes to mind also, remember him talking of his visits to Egypt and the pyramids, and he even found the name of his grandfather etched at the top of one pyramid some 50 or so yrs earlier. An explorer not only of this wonderful physical world but of consciousness too, Graham has taken ayahuasca several times. A man worth watching - and a posh Englishman Blessings to Everyone Namaste, gentlewind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) I see the word Virtue in terms of Te to mean: innate quality or essence. Such as; it is a virtue of grass to appear green. It is a virtue of bamboo to be flexible. As such, the way I perceive a choice of virtue, would be to follow a path with intention, that acts as a catalyst in creating the conditions of said virtue I desire to manifest. In practice. As I send out the intention to increase my patience. I am aware of more assholes/teachers dispensing conditions where I may express embody patience. Edited June 22, 2013 by silent thunder 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) I see the word Virtue in terms of Te to mean: innate quality or essence. Such as; it is a virtue of grass to appear green. It is a virtue of bamboo to be flexible. yep, grass and bamboo are what they are and none try to be green or flexible. therefore, te - as innate virtue - is a quality of human nature that cannot be cultivated at will. one cannot become good or bad. one just is. one doesn't even determine what is good or bad - it just is. As such, the way I perceive a choice of virtue, would be to follow a path with intention, that acts as a catalyst in creating the conditions of said virtue I desire to manifest. the path to hell is paved with good intentions (virtues of choice?), they say. in the east, mandates come from Heaven; in the west, they come from the individual. In practice. As I send out the intention to increase my patience. I am aware of more assholes/teachers dispensing conditions where I may express embody patience. holy cow! (as we say in india.) Edited June 22, 2013 by narveen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh Posted June 24, 2013 Thats quite a spin ! ( axholes) prompting one to develop ones patience. I like it. and if it be so , then that which you are, is evolving in a direction that you approve. self cultivated , so to speak , with an intermediary assistant of an axhole. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted June 24, 2013 the path to hell is paved with good intentions (virtues of choice?), they say. No good or bad in the intention to practice. Just intent. But it's nice to hear that one again, that old saying never settled in me. It's strikes me as a corporate slogan. After all, if you don't start with good intentions.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
三江源 Posted June 24, 2013 (edited) . Edited July 20, 2014 by cat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 24, 2013 Isnt the road to heaven paved with good intentions too? yes, it is like building a bridge from Hell. an escape route it breaks my heart to watch this, as i am dying on the cross. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gentlewind Posted June 26, 2013 The first lady on 9mins speaks of flowing towards the Light. Nice. Interesting 42 minutes. http://nhneneardeath.ning.com/ Namaste, gentlewind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh Posted June 26, 2013 The ancients went to great lengths to explain that good and bad were subjective concepts That the pursuit of ones illusions carried one away from ones peace , dispassion etc and that one conceptual situation required -gave existance to its opposite. Is that any news to yall? Good intentions often go awry , why? Because the sun shines equally on the wicked and the just. The sun doesn't know your intent and doesn't give a sot anyway! There is only what you do , the ramifications are ultimately unknowable and are zero sum anyway! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narveen Posted June 27, 2013 how does this relate to the tao te ching? is it a product of good intentions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gentlewind Posted July 6, 2013 Namaste, gentlewind 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites