The Inner Work

[manitou]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

[Isimsiz Biri]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

 

It means you should open your heart to be connected to God Almighty.

[Uroboros]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

 

In my opinion, it is the difference between Experiential Knowledge and Implied Knowledge.

 

Reading a book or listening to a teacher and quoting them, without having experienced what they are talking about, is just Implied Knowledge. You do not really know for your self. You may trust the source and give it weight. Even so, until you experience it, it is not real for you.

 

Also, parts of our minds love to categorize and label. It can be easy to get lost in the world of mind, without actualizing the cultivation. By refraining from focusing on the mind (implied knowledge) you can focus on experience it self.

 

Peace

[manitou]

 

It means you should open your heart to be connected to God Almighty.

Is opening the heart the same as doing the inner work? How do you remove anger and greed, arrogance

and selfishness? Can a selfish person open their heart effectively? I'm wondering what methods some of the Bums use to get it so their hearts can open.

[manitou]

 

In my opinion, it is the difference between Experiential Knowledge and Implied Knowledge.

 

Reading a book or listening to a teacher and quoting them, without having experienced what they are talking about, is just Implied Knowledge. You do not really know for your self. You may trust the source and give it weight. Even so, until you experience it, it is not real for you.

 

Also, parts of our minds love to categorize and label. It can be easy to get lost in the world of mind, without actualizing the cultivation. By refraining from focusing on the mind (implied knowledge) you can focus on experience it self.

 

Peace

I agree, I think we're talking about book-learning vs. self realization, the outer vs. the inner. It seems to me that to get to the point that IB spoke of above, there must be a clearing out process involved first for the opening of the heart to be based on clarity rather than distortion.

[i am]

I'm sure you're asking for deeper meaning...because on the surface it's pretty obvious. Too many people regurgitating what they've read in books, giving it out as advice as though they KNOW, and using it in arguments as though they KNOW.

 

If you've never experienced it, shut up about it. If you have experienced it...I think in most situations you'd choose to keep shut up about it. Except in appropriate settings/cases. Advice I need to remind myself of often.

 

Those who know, don't speak etc.

 

But are you getting at something more with your question?

[i am]

Or using this question as a way to remind the forum of this great advice?

[suninmyeyes]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

It seems as if it is a formula that has helped someone achieve something at some point in time . However life is has its own unpredictable ways and timings ...and some opposites may work out perfectly depending on situation and person .

Edited December 12, 2013 by suninmyeyes

[Friend]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

From my perspective in the moment.

Without anything one still has oneself.

 

If one ignore to quote teachers and books

one has reduce one sort of filter.

The filter look to through "the expirience

of those one quote".

 

Books and teacher lead to specific labeling

of things. It as the well known of decribing

and eating an apple.

 

One tend more to see through what is quoted

and this also maybe set a filter

into others to define the situation one meets.

Other details which might been perceived

are reduced or ignored.

 

As well it set a sort of authority fallacity into ones

judgment.

We might trust Doctors more than an alternative

layperson who found a simple solution by common sense.

Aware people do fall less into this trap and see things more clear.

 

To speak from one own expirience can include the testing

of the things in book and by teachers.

It is the dimenision of creating an expirience

by passed down information.

To talk about ones own expirience

will give the individual perception of a situation.

 

Still in the inner work one can crystallize ones own wisdom

which can be very new and different but one become the sort of quotes....

 

Eliminating the information one gives

lead to having the mind of the person gain the suprise effect

which can lead to a deep expirience.

 

If one knows something already and the situation occurs

then it might not be expirienced as deeply.

The mind and knowledge interferes with the expirience

by seeking and comparing at the same time

while expiriencing the situation

 

- while one may have a different expirience in a different scale

than the book and the teacher.

 

One do have heard of the idea that the world is shaped by ones thought.

If one know something one has a suggestion in the subconcious.

One know for example the signs in the process and the awaiting of the signs

lead to having the signs without the result.

One do also know that a joke is not as much funny when one knows the outcome.

There is a word for it : Spoiler

 

Secrets are at times needed and been discussed when one has obtained it

by own inner work without knowing of the secret.

[Z3N]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

 

It means to be honest with yourself and others by only speaking and acting out of insight, and when you do this you speak form the heart of understanding which is without ego.

 

Be a light to your self.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Z3N

[manitou]

We speak of inner work on this forum. I guess I am questioning my own understanding. I am curious to know how others here actually do their inner work. Do you question your own motives on a daily basis? Do you make a point of looking for your own inner contortions and doing what you can to straighten them out? Do you meditate and search for the odd thought that comes to mind and question your motivation about the thought and what that tells you about you? Or do you not think about it, just trusting that Life will bring you what you need for your own evolution?

 

My understanding is one thing. There are so many here whose opinions I respect, and whose own personal evolutions are so visible - I am wondering about other methods of achieving clarity. My own method would more closely align with a life recapitulation, wherein the past is looked at, motives are examined, changes are made. A very long process. But maybe this isn't necessary. Maybe there is a shorter way, an inner rolfing of character defects and contortions.

 

I too am in agreement that everyone sees from where they stand in their own moccasins; but for purposes of context I will quote a passage from a book I read long ago; the passage remains with me always, for some reason:

 

(From Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism, by Yogi Ramacharaka):

 

"The brute instincts are still with us, constantly forcing themselves into our field of thought. Occultists learn to curb and control these lower instincts, subordinating them to the higher mental ideals which unfold into the field of consciousness. Do not be discouraged if you still find that you have much of the animal within your nature - we all have - the only difference is that some of us have learned to control the brute, and to keep him in leash and subordinate and obedient to the higher parts of our nature, while others allow the beast to rule the, and they shiver an turn pale when he shows his teeth, not seeming to realize that a firm demeanor and a calm mind will cause the beast to retreat to his corner and allow himself to be kept behind bars. If you find constant manifestations of the beast within you, struggling to be free and to assert his old power, do not be disturbed.

 

"This is no sign of weakness, but is really an indication that your spiritual growth has begun. For whereas you now recognize the brute, and feel ashamed, you formerly did not realize his presence - were not aware of his existence, for you WERE the brute himself. It is only because you are trying to divorce yourself from him, that you feel ashamed of his presence. You cannot see him until you begin to be "different" from him.

 

"Learn to be a tamer of wild beasts, for you have a whole menagerie within you. the lion; the tiger; the hyena, the ape, the pig; the peacock, and all the rest are there, constantly showing forth some of their characteristics. Do not fear them - smile at them when they show themselves - for you are stronger than they, and can bring them to subjection - and their appearance is useful to you in the way of instructing you as to their existence. They are an amusing lot, when you have reached the stage where you are able to practically stand aside and see them perform their tricks, and go through their antics. You then feel strongly that they are not YOU, but something apart from you - something from which you are becoming rapidly divorced. Do not worry about the beasts - for you are the master."

 

 

Beautiful.

[i am]

I started thinking maybe it was more the inner work part of your question you were most interested in...( makes me feel like a real genius, seeing as you made it the title of the thread ). Should have been obvious.

 

Well...it's all inner work, what we're doing here. Or at least it should be, right? Back when I was in college and first found the Tao of Pooh and other things and started getting my first taste of Taoism, some of the things that really resonated with me were the "you have to learn yourself before you can do any good in the world" stuff. I'm a chronic self-analyzer. So it fit well with me.

 

Get myself figured out first, then I can worry about the rest of the world. I see it more and more as I've matured and grown...so much misunderstanding and frustration comes from people not knowing themselves. They don't even understand their own motives, and are often deceiving themselves because of this, and then pretend to know the motives of others Right. You don't even know your own motives but you think you know theirs?

 

I've spent many, many hours, going over what I've done and said and who I've been, and how I feel about it, and how other people likely saw it. Less, lately.

 

And how can you possibly learn empathy, if you don't know yourself? What I can say with certainty, because I have EXPERIENCED IT, is that my empathy comes from knowing and loving myself. So when somebody does or says something stupid, I tend to cut them slack and look at their motives in the best possible light, rather than the worst. I make excuses for them. How often do I offend or shame someone because I WANTED to offend or shame them? Very, very rarely (wish I could say never). And so I project that to others.

 

I like the idea of inner Rolfing

 

I'm starting to think that for me anyways, having spent most of my life analyzing myself, it's maybe time to cut back a little. Less thinking, more being. My work on myself is not finished, but I think its time to take a more "hands off" approach, and let myself "be" for a while Sounds kinda Taoist, right? I know for a fact the biggest thing between me and the next levels is my own damn head. I'm not alone int that, I know...but I think I'm especially prone to getting in my own way.

[suninmyeyes]

We speak of inner work on this forum. I guess I am questioning my own understanding. I am curious to know how others here actually do their inner work. Do you question your own motives on a daily basis? Do you make a point of looking for your own inner contortions and doing what you can to straighten them out? Do you meditate and search for the odd thought that comes to mind and question your motivation about the thought and what that tells you about you? Or do you not think about it, just trusting that Life will bring you what you need for your own evolution?

 

My understanding is one thing. There are so many here whose opinions I respect, and whose own personal evolutions are so visible - I am wondering about other methods of achieving clarity. My own method would more closely align with a life recapitulation, wherein the past is looked at, motives are examined, changes are made. A very long process. But maybe this isn't necessary. Maybe there is a shorter way, an inner rolfing of character defects and contortions.

 

....

Manitou ,

 

where does the character come from and when , at what point ? Good or bad , annoying , jelouos , joyful , content or sad ?

 

Who is this character ? Who do this characteristics belong to ?

Where do they come from ?

In relation to what ?

 

 

 

This is kind of inner work that makes me sparkle these days ..not stopping by at Guilt and Self Pity and going for straight for the diamond .

Edited December 13, 2013 by suninmyeyes

[soaring crane]

On another thread, a Master said:"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."What does this mean?

 

A 'master'? Maybe s/he was being wily and testing to see if someone would quote him/her ;-)

 

But regardless, my gut response was that it's someone imposing his will on others, with an air of authority.

 

 

[Isimsiz Biri]

Is opening the heart the same as doing the inner work? How do you remove anger and greed, arrogance

and selfishness? Can a selfish person open their heart effectively? I'm wondering what methods some of the Bums use to get it so their hearts can open.

 

Good question. I replied before but no problem.

First, you have to understand what Nafs is. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafs)

It is not easy to understand it from Wikipedia link. For instance, Nungali can not understand it although he had consulted his Sufi master (???).

 

Second, you must understand the Purification of Nafs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazkiah)

 

If you pass the first and second stages but you still try to proceed, third, you should buy and read the book "Heart, Self, and Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony" (http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Self-Soul-Psychology-Balance/dp/083560778X) and do the exercises described in the book.

 

Fourth, you may find a real authentic Sufi lineage close to you if you are lucky enough.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Isimsiz Biri

[BaguaKicksAss]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

 

It's a common term that is used by many to mean self evaluation, seeing and working on the aspects of ourselves that we would rather not, that we ignore, that get in our way, and etc..

 

I'm sure it can mean many other things as well, but that is one common usage anyways .

 

[manitou]

I started thinking maybe it was more the inner work part of your question you were most interested in...( makes me feel like a real genius, seeing as you made it the title of the thread ). Should have been obvious.

 

Well...it's all inner work, what we're doing here. Or at least it should be, right? Back when I was in college and first found the Tao of Pooh and other things and started getting my first taste of Taoism, some of the things that really resonated with me were the "you have to learn yourself before you can do any good in the world" stuff. I'm a chronic self-analyzer. So it fit well with me.

 

Get myself figured out first, then I can worry about the rest of the world. I see it more and more as I've matured and grown...so much misunderstanding and frustration comes from people not knowing themselves. They don't even understand their own motives, and are often deceiving themselves because of this, and then pretend to know the motives of others Right. You don't even know your own motives but you think you know theirs?

 

I've spent many, many hours, going over what I've done and said and who I've been, and how I feel about it, and how other people likely saw it. Less, lately.

 

And how can you possibly learn empathy, if you don't know yourself? What I can say with certainty, because I have EXPERIENCED IT, is that my empathy comes from knowing and loving myself. So when somebody does or says something stupid, I tend to cut them slack and look at their motives in the best possible light, rather than the worst. I make excuses for them. How often do I offend or shame someone because I WANTED to offend or shame them? Very, very rarely (wish I could say never). And so I project that to others.

 

I like the idea of inner Rolfing

 

I'm starting to think that for me anyways, having spent most of my life analyzing myself, it's maybe time to cut back a little. Less thinking, more being. My work on myself is not finished, but I think its time to take a more "hands off" approach, and let myself "be" for a while Sounds kinda Taoist, right? I know for a fact the biggest thing between me and the next levels is my own damn head. I'm not alone int that, I know...but I think I'm especially prone to getting in my own way.

 

You and I are kindred spirits, I am. Ditto on the chronic self analyzer - out of necessity at first in my case, because I am recovering from alcoholism and the Steps are nothing but inner work. I too yin and yang between the cogitative self analysis and the need to bring things into the physical; changing focus from the inside to the outside. Agreed that we cannot know anything unless we know ourselves; we are all mirrors of each other and to see arrogance or greed in another is but to acknowledge that which is there in ourselves.

 

I've come to realize that we have all developed comfort zones within our lives. Most likely first developed in our formative years; it's like a bathtub ring from which all life manifestation from that point on is done - perhaps don Juan Mateus would call it our assemblage point, the point from which we view the outside world and how we interpret it. the moccasins we walk in. Obviously, everyone's assemblage point or bathtub ring is different.

 

My ego tells me I am a spiritual being; that I've come a long way; that I've been studying metaphysics for 40 years; that I've gone within myself to great depths since getting sober 32 years ago; that I am capable of Seeing and Being through the eyes of Love; that I am capable of being a cognitive part of the healing mechanism for other people, a practitioner. I can walk around in the I Am mindset for hours, days at a time; I can forget that I am a human being and see myself as a spiritual being, cutting everyone slack (as I Am said) and realizing that they are all doing the very best they can do, given their own bathtub ring.

 

I thought I was doing just fine. Until yesterday. And what a coincidence that I had already started up this thread. (Let me preface this by saying that one more time I am weaning myself off 30 years of taking Prozac - that should provide a clue)

 

I'd gone into Tractor Supply to get some dog food and when I returned to my car there had been a small fender bender in the parking aisle right behind where I was parked. A man had been slightly hit by someone coming out of a parking spot (he had a small dent at the front of the driver's door). He had called for the police to come document this occurrence. Needless to say, I was unable to back out of my parking spot, along with two other cars who were held hostage by this situation. The driver who had been hit refused to move his truck until the police got there.

 

The rage came out of me so fast, I couldn't believe it. Granted, I'm a retired cop and one of my pet peeves is when folks think the world has to come to a stop so a cop can come document the occurrence for their insurance company. This was the situation exactly. I asked him to please move his truck so I could get out; he refused, said the cop had to get there first. The situation went from 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds, my rage was bottled up inside me and I was in his face immediately, hollering at him to move his damn truck about 10 feet away so others could continue with their lives. (Example: Him: "I'm from Pennsylvania, I don't want any trouble". Me: "You want trouble? I'll show you trouble!" You get the idea.) My own behavior was ridiculous, despite any justification.

 

The man ultimately moved his truck.

 

This was on my mind the rest of the day. My own behavior was astounding to me; where in the world did this rage come from? Why did I manifest this situation? (I Am, I know you understand that last question). How could I have not known that the rage was there? How could a rage this large remain hidden?

 

Okay, now it's the next day. I woke up early this morning, laying in bed with a memory on my mind. I was grinding my teeth, my hands were in fists. The memory was of me, at the age of about 6, sitting on the lap of my father and doing my best not to cry; my father had just beaten me with his leather belt, as he often did, and he was saying "Don't cry or I'll really give you something to cry about". This was probably a weekly occurrence when I was a child. The answer as to where this anger came from, this rage that escaped yesterday from seemingly out in left field - was right in front of my eyes. It was from stifling this need to let out an emotion - let out the tears from the beatings - that I have continued struggling to do throughout my entire life.

 

This yin yang of emotion has been a bathtub ring for me my entire life. It is a bathtub ring that has set the stage for most of the relationships in my life; my need to create situations that duplicate these feelings; these feelings of stifling the anger and rage I must have felt as a young girl after the beatings with the belt. It even explains my career - my being a cop and putting myself in very dangerous situations, yet stifling the fact that I was often terrified. What an incredible pattern. And how it has affected the choice of men in my life over the years. That's a whole different story.

 

This is not my first realization of this yin yang. I have spoken of it before - to psychiatrists, in AA meetings, to friends. Perhaps it is cutting loose of the Prozac that is bringing it up to the level right underneath the skin - a new level, a more imminent level; one where the raging bull that lives within (one of the many animals, as the Yogi quote above) is just below the surface.

 

I no longer have anger toward my dad about all this. I did for quite a while, but it diminished greatly when I realized one day that he was brought up exactly the same way. and so was his father. And his father, ad infinitum. Apparently this tendency is just the gift that keeps on giving through the generations. Whose to blame? Nobody, as far as I can see.

 

But I've got to do something with this. I've got to bring it into the physical, to release it, to express it. I will take measures to do this today, within a more controlled setting. as opposed to whacking off somebody's head in a parking lot.

 

Thanks for being here.

[i am]

You're better at this than me...But you're older and wiser

 

This probably explains why though I'm an extremely non-violent person, I've recently had to regularly stop myself from fight fantasies during the day.

 

I was always a bit of a wuss. Didn't stand up for myself as a kid, and though I never really got in fights, the few scuffles I got in, I didn't walk away from with much dignity.

 

Well since then my confidence is miles higher, and I can take care of myself in a conversation/argument, but now that we're all getting older and wiser, physical fights are all but non-existent.

 

Then out of nowhere after I start practicing martial arts, I'm having these little daydreams of people giving me good excuses to kick their ass. Silly, childish...Having to say out loud "peace under heaven" to kick the daydream out of my head. Having to catch myself when in real life situations some younger punks are being douches and I'm making no attempt to get myself out of the situation because...it'd be kind of nice to teach them a lesson, right? But no...I may or may not do well in a fight (more likely not), but I don't want to hurt anyone, even a douche. Very silly that I'm needing to remind myself of this, though.

 

I know from my own admittedly very mild experience, "don't mess with someone who has something to prove"...

[SonOfTheGods]

On another thread, a Master said:

 

 

"Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books...."

 

 

What does this mean?

 

Do Your Own WILL, & Follow Your OWN Truth- the personal path resides WITHIN

 

Internal > External

[johndoe2012]

Sometimes I also find it better to release issues physically or verbally because I have a history of suppressing myself. So the brain and body need to be rewired not just the energy behind the issue.

 

I have worked with anger a lot and some months ago I got angry fully releasing it without suppression and it felt awesome. Anger when it is pure is just raw energy waiting to be released, what's there to feel bad about?

 

I know people cultivate different aspects here but the inner work which I do energetically has done wonders for me.

 

Sometimes I see old stuff like "I know better than others" come up and I work with it. I liked the Castaneda part which was quoted here

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/32906-dealing-with-trolls-petty-tyrants-and-socially-inept-posters/

 

self-importance, that's a difficult one, ha ha

 

i am: I know the feeling of being a wuss, ha ha. I always ran away from karate lessons when we had to fight, I never liked it. Now I wrestle with my oldest son and I love it. Nothing wrong with fighting, I guess it has to do with confidence and courage

[manitou]

Sometimes I also find it better to release issues physically or verbally because I have a history of suppressing myself. So the brain and body need to be rewired not just the energy behind the issue.

 

I have worked with anger a lot and some months ago I got angry fully releasing it without suppression and it felt awesome. Anger when it is pure is just raw energy waiting to be released, what's there to feel bad about?

 

I know people cultivate different aspects here but the inner work which I do energetically has done wonders for me.

 

Sometimes I see old stuff like "I know better than others" come up and I work with it. I liked the Castaneda part which was quoted here

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/32906-dealing-with-trolls-petty-tyrants-and-socially-inept-posters/

 

self-importance, that's a difficult one, ha ha

 

i am: I know the feeling of being a wuss, ha ha. I always ran away from karate lessons when we had to fight, I never liked it. Now I wrestle with my oldest son and I love it. Nothing wrong with fighting, I guess it has to do with confidence and courage

 

 

Yes, it feels fabulous to release it. I went out into the snowstorm today with the dogs and threw snowballs at a tree, cussing at it at the same time. I was talking not only to my father, but to his father and his father. The horrible violence and repression that has been handed down through the years. It's amazing how many times this particular issue has arisen in me - this is not my first rodeo with this - but as the years go on, I keep peeling the onion and it just gets closer and closer to the core. And to be able to look back and see how this repression has colored so much of my life, as I previous mentioned. It's just unbelievable.

 

And yet this discomfort has been the very reason I have turned to more ethereal avenues to live with it. And perhaps this is the way it's supposed to be. At times in my life I have turned to religion (back when) and later on to metaphysics. It is the discomfort that has pushed me upward and onward in my search for peace of heart. It's what I 'drank at' for all those years. Just peace of heart, being able to merge with some degree of comfort with the world around me.

 

There is nothing to feel bad about, I agree. It is just raw anger, and it feels wonderful to feel it leaving. Not to say that there still isn't a good deal of it left. It's just that the particular bubble of anger that arose yesterday (no doubt touched off by the man not letting me leave my parking spot - keeping me 'hostage' much as my father used to do when he would make me sit on his lap after he beat me, making me tell him that I loved him) - I couldn't get away. And then deprive me of my Prozac, my coping mechanism - and POW! There it was. It's all so simple to see it now.

 

There will be other triggers. I'm more prepared now. The anger feels so much better when you can see the source of it. Previously, I would just leave my husband and take off - or burn another bridge behind me. The behavior didn't start so much with the beatings, but the STIFLING of the anger about the beatings. That's where the pattern started. To be able to identify it now is a luxury; it was the confusion and the lack of vision as to what it was about that was the determining factor in my own behavior; and the need for alcohol, and the need for Prozac. Just to get by.

[manitou]

Do Your Own WILL, & Follow Your OWN Truth- the personal path resides WITHIN

 

Internal > External

 

 

To do our own Will is key; and yet sometimes it seems that just the opposite seems to be true. The I Am resides within us, IS us. We are the Manifester. If we do our own Will, we are in alignment with the Tao - although we are certainly raised to do exactly opposite - to do the will of others around us - our parents, our teachers. As we develop into Self Realization, Self Awareness - our own Will does align with the Dao; our desires become the desires of the highest and best, sooner or later. We wade through this human being of an entity, this imperfect reflection of That Which Is True.

 

What an incredible ride this is. How fortunate I feel to have people like you to communicate this with. Fellow journeyers on the Way.

[SonOfTheGods]

To do our own Will is key; and yet sometimes it seems that just the opposite seems to be true. The I Am resides within us, IS us. We are the Manifester. If we do our own Will, we are in alignment with the Tao - although we are certainly raised to do exactly opposite - to do the will of others around us - our parents, our teachers. As we develop into Self Realization, Self Awareness - our own Will does align with the Dao; our desires become the desires of the highest and best, sooner or later. We wade through this human being of an entity, this imperfect reflection of That Which Is True.

 

What an incredible ride this is. How fortunate I feel to have people like you to communicate this with. Fellow journeyers on the Way.

 

It feels like the opposite, due to opposite polarities.

 

Sometimes if I do a ritual, I also do a backup/contingency ritual too- so I can bend the easily opposing forces if I include them at the beginning.

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

 

To do our own Will is key; and yet sometimes it seems that just the opposite seems to be true. The I Am resides within us, IS us. We are the Manifester. If we do our own Will, we are in alignment with the Tao - although we are certainly raised to do exactly opposite - to do the will of others around us - our parents, our teachers. As we develop into Self Realization, Self Awareness - our own Will does align with the Dao; our desires become the desires of the highest and best, sooner or later. We wade through this human being of an entity, this imperfect reflection of That Which Is True.

 

Thank you for those words manitou.

 

My heart goes out to you in this thread.

 

We all do silly things.

 

We don't have to be perfect.

 

Just perfectly ourselves!

 

...

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

 

Always seek the higher Will.

 

On edit: Ah hell.

 

What do I know?

 

I don't know nuthin'.

 

Don't get me wrong.

 

I done stupid things.

 

I biggest fool ever live!

 

And that just shows my hubris.

 

Gosh this is difficult, isn't it?

 

I'm sorry if I don't really get a handle on things properly sometimes.

 

A lot of honesty shown by manitou in this thread.

 

I really respect that.

 

...

Edited December 15, 2013 by Captain Mar-Vell