Do you live by your ideals/values?

[oildrops]

I don't know about any of you, but the more honest I am with myself the less I can live the way modern man lives. Have you reached a level of honesty and enlightenment and still live in the damaging and horrible way that most people live? Is it true, or it is a selective form of morality, that is blissful ignorance by virtue of clever mental rewiring? I almost feel like asking this question on the internet is ironic in itself. I have not given up my ideals, but they are on hold right now, because life has been too painful being homeless and solitary.

 

Where does the earth goddess live in your heart when you start your car engine?

[Marblehead]

Interesting concepts here.

 

First, to answer your root question: Yes, I live my life almost inclusive according to my ideals.

 

I have mentioned before, when I am at home I have my delusions that all is well with the wrold and there is nothing for me to worry about. When I leave home I leave my delusions home because I must be able to relate with the "real world".

 

I would agree that when we are not at peace with our "inner essence" it would be difficult, if not impossible to attain to "higher" standards we have placed on ourself. There must be harmony (and once in a while balance) between our inner and outer self.

 

Where the rest of the world is headed don't concern me too much as long as the 'rest of the world' doesn't mess with me too often. But when it becomes too much it is just too much and I must somehow respond in order to bring back the harmony into my life.

[C T]

Did you become homeless and solitary by choice? Sorry if the question brings up some kind of aversive reaction, but i have met happy, homeless people who dont feel life has to bend according to their ideals. Most times they learn that by embodying the yielding principle as opposed to the hard resistance principle, it gives them a greater leverage when tough times comes a knocking. This enables the coping mechanism to function with greater integrity, and still allows room for growth despite being faced with tough challenges. The more tenacious ones actually use the challenges as steps to become even stronger in the process, but such inner determination is quite a rare commodity.

 

I feel for you, and genuinely want to listen to more of what you have to say.

[Captain Mar-Vell]

...

Where does the earth goddess live in your heart when you start your car engine?

 

I don't worship at the altar of Our Ford.

 

And I do try to live up to.. well, something.

 

Conscience, maybe.

 

I fail often, surely.

 

But I suppose I try to be sincere, and thoughtful.

 

No-one wants to be a hypocrite.

...

Edited February 4, 2014 by Captain Mar-Vell

[3bob]

Well the created realms vary from the most corrupted hell to the most refined heaven of purity...

and the Tao, Sages, Masters, Saints, Immortals, Buddha's, Guru's, Gods and Angels haven't changed that set up, lets ask why that is?

 

(which may be getting off topic but after who knows how many millions of years the same game remains)

Edited February 4, 2014 by 3bob

[RiverSnake]

Oildrops….you may find it of great value to study a bit of feng shui. We may not be able to change society as a whole….but we can at least change the "space" that we live in and still have an enjoyable and fulfilling life. A desire to want to shift our surroundings and living space is IME a symptom of growing spiritually and a natural part of living healthy. When shifts occur internally we naturally want to see them expressed externally.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited February 4, 2014 by OldChi

[oildrops]

Did you become homeless and solitary by choice? Sorry if the question brings up some kind of aversive reaction, but i have met happy, homeless people who dont feel life has to bend according to their ideals. Most times they learn that by embodying the yielding principle as opposed to the hard resistance principle, it gives them a greater leverage when tough times comes a knocking. This enables the coping mechanism to function with greater integrity, and still allows room for growth despite being faced with tough challenges. The more tenacious ones actually use the challenges as steps to become even stronger in the process, but such inner determination is quite a rare commodity.

 

I feel for you, and genuinely want to listen to more of what you have to say.

 

Thank you. I am going to need to read this a few times because I feel truth here. I have been in and out of homelessness and solitary living for years. It's not so much a choice as it is an inability to bend and to knowingly harm others. I have a highly abstract mind and every choice I make ripples out. I need to work on making choices from a better place, because I have become angry, and feel the desire to make others uncomfortable.

 

I had found myself in a manipulative situation with a predatory and energy draining overtones for 3 or so months...and old friend. I recently have gotten free (kicked out), and I finally feel life moving forward. I have been learning to love myself again. I also recently expressed my desire to live free of money and society to my girlfriend and she left me because she can't think about that lifestyle. Painful, but that energy is now free to reach forward. I don't ever want a house that is warm at other living things and the earths expense.

 

I have been taken in during these cold months on and off by friends whos love I do not take for granted. When it becomes warmer I plan to live outdoors once more. I see humanity with wide open eyes and I truly feel hate at times. I am able to play the game, I have the social and work skills. I'm hoping to play for only as long as I need to in order to live as a natural citizen. Privileged, yes, ungrateful, yes, but I have lost faith, and I want a new way.

 

Oildrops….you may find it of great value to study a bit of feng shui. We may not be able to change society as a whole….but we can at least change the "space" that we live in and still have an enjoyable and fulfilling life. A desire to want to shift our surroundings and living space is IME a symptom of growing spiritually and a natural part of living healthy. When shifts occur internally we naturally want to see them expressed externally.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

 

I have lost track of this. Maintenance. I will fold my clothing and rearrange my backpack tonight.

Edited February 5, 2014 by oildrops

[RiverSnake]

I have lost track of this. Maintenance. I will fold my clothing and rearrange my backpack tonight.

I apologize. I did not see the very end of your post and didn't realize you were living in such a situation.

 

I understand where your coming from. Sometimes I feel frustrated by society and its tendency toward parasitism. At one point I contemplated asceticism very seriously and was on the verge of doing what you do.

 

But in the end i decided to approach it in a more moderate way. I got rid of almost all of my clothes and only kept what i needed for work and day to day living. Got rid of almost all my books and all of my miscellaneous possessions. Got rid of my bed and i sleep on the floor. I now live in an empty room with a closet of clothes and thats about it. I didn't have many possessions to begin with.

 

There are pros and cons to each approach to living. When you approach your life-style as you do it does tend to force you into a dis-empowered situation where you have to ask others for whatever you need to survive so by pursuing absolute freedom from the social structures of man you at the same time become dependent on the system for charity..and you lose a lot of your power to pursue your own dreams, passions and life purpose.

 

My more moderate approach that i have decided to take for my own life is to rid myself of all unnecessary possessions and cultivate intensely in a state of quasi monk-hood...yet at the same time work diligently so i can pursue my own dreams. Rather than being mastered by the "Game" and being drawn into the parasitism of our polluted and consumeristic society I decided to take full Mastery of my living situation and my finances just as a Buddha takes full mastery of his mind, body and emotions.

 

Its a choice to play both sides of the fence and make society work for your spirituality. Carefully and finely crafting your life and space within the social structure so that it sustains and nourishes your life and higher purpose. Mastering society rather than letting it master you. Using the heavy to reach the light. Jing to Shen as it were.

 

There are pros and cons to each approach and either way is a delicate balancing act both internally and externally. I hope my sharing was of use to you as i do not know the answer to your predicament. Blessings to you on your path.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited February 5, 2014 by OldChi

[thelerner]

I think part of the Taoist sensibility is the art of living well in your surroundings, whether in forest, mountain or city. Being in it, but not of it.

 

Its always best to live on your own terms within your own values but there is an art in blending and thriving in your surroundings. Meaning thriving according to your values, not societies. Maybe moving elsewhere makes it easier but I think it can be done most places.

 

I remember talking to a Chicago guy who shut off the electricity and gas for his apartment. He did it to be closer to nature, more intune with it. In the midst of a city he created an urban cave. Such things can be done. Not easy, but shining examples to the rest of society.

 

 

<Have you reached a level of honesty and enlightenment and still live in the damaging and horrible way that most people live? Is it true, or it is a selective form of morality, that is blissful ignorance by virtue of clever mental rewiring? .. Where does the earth goddess live in your heart when you start your car engine?>

 

Hmnn, how do I manage? Well I'm not to high on the enlightenment scale. Honesty?.. I'm okay. I may select a more positive viewpoint on some environmental things, yet others select the very worst; perhaps the truth being somewhere in the middle.

 

I see movement, trends and philosophies often moving like a pendulum. Whereas others see them as straight lines going off into hell. I also see market place economics at work; a force as powerful and inevitable as gravity. When plenty is available we use plenty, as it grows scarce we stop; revalue and find other ways. We are spoiled, which happens when you grow up with much. Spoiled, decadent, not good attributes but there are plenty worse. Things change.. are changing.

 

Last time I started my car the earth goddess was in a rain forest in St. Lucia, the time before that she was in Peru. She's around, not in my heart, but a little bit of her sleeps in my compost pile to be awakened with spring plantings.

Edited February 6, 2014 by thelerner

[GreytoWhite]

Solitary homelessness is wretched, I was in a similar place myself a few years ago. I still don't have much in the way of material items and prefer it that way, everything I own fits into a roll away carry on luggage except for the knowledge in my head. I volunteer at the local food bank. I do my best to live as I feel is right, fail regularly, and keep trying.

[Samurai Mountain man]

I try to live by my values yes, but I have discarded my ideals. That is maybe because I am flawed and foolish.

 

I value compassion, flexibility, sacrifice, preservation, kindness, balance. I fail plenty of times but it don't matter how many times I fall of the path, the path there always remains and i can get back on it.

[chegg]

.

.

Edited March 14, 2015 by chegg

[Bearded Dragon]

I need to work on making choices from a better place, because I have become angry, and feel the desire to make others uncomfortable.

 

That would result in a feeling of power I guess, but true power would be accepting your circumstances as a snapshot in time and then not acting upon the desire. Repressing emotion is not good from my viewpoint, so in order to reign in on it you can just treat it like one of those friends that you have but choose never to visit.

 

You can look at the other side of the coin and see it like being thrown in a pool in order to learn how to swim. Amidst the chaos you settle and eventually it turns around and becomes a different thing altogether.

 

Good luck with your journey. Follow your ideals. That is true strength.

[oildrops]

I have reduced my consumption of intoxicants as the result of losing my girlfriend. They were vices that made things feel okay, even though I know they are not. Without them, the waves are more intense but they don't last, and I ride them out. I already feel the universe coalescing in a positive way, and I am finding my situation better every day. Warm beds, adoptive families. At the same time, I know things are not okay, and the anger comes from everyone walking around acting like it is all fine, and feeling the expectations of my youth, to succeed at money, and to marry a girl who succeeds at money. Too many suburbs, too many shopping malls, too many unconscious consumers, too much energy use, too little love, not enough listening to one another, not enough knowledge being passes down. At times though, when I am able to smile at a stranger and make it through a day without feeling helpless, I feel lucky, and grateful.

 

I am inspired by the responses here so far.

 

Carefully and finely crafting your life and space within the social structure so that it sustains and nourishes your life and higher purpose. Mastering society rather than letting it master you. Using the heavy to reach the light. Jing to Shen as it were.

 

The word craft resonates with me, and the idea that I might have a purpose though I want to reject the notion for reasons I can't get into now.

 

 

Last time I started my car the earth goddess was in a rain forest in St. Lucia, the time before that she was in Peru. She's around, not in my heart, but a little bit of her sleeps in my compost pile to be awakened with spring plantings.

 

This brought my eyes to water.

Edited February 7, 2014 by oildrops

[C T]

I have reduced my consumption of intoxicants as the result of losing my girlfriend. They were vices that made things feel okay, even though I know they are not. Without them, the waves are more intense but they don't last, and I ride them out. I already feel the universe coalescing in a positive way, and I am finding my situation better every day. Warm beds, adoptive families. At the same time, I know things are not okay, and the anger comes from everyone walking around acting like it is all fine, and feeling the expectations of my youth, to succeed at money, and to marry a girl who succeeds at money. Too many suburbs, too many shopping malls, too many unconscious consumers, too much energy use, too little love, not enough listening to one another, not enough knowledge being passes down. At times though, when I am able to smile at a stranger and make it through a day without feeling helpless, I feel lucky, and grateful.

Thank you for continuing to share your feelings openly, Oildrops.

 

Despite the present level of palpable confusion, enabling yourself to remain aware of even fleeting moments which brings a smile or ignite small hopes in your heart, thru very simple, uncomplicated connections with nature, with people, can be one of a few positive ways to help with rediscovering your bearings.

 

I'm rooting for your growing strength in becoming less dependent on intoxicants. This is heart-warming to read, and the best wishes to you on this sometimes difficult road.

 

Try to dwell in a spacious attitude of grateful awareness as much as possible. Find little blessings to be thankful for. Sure, the pressing stuff will be around for a while, but to surrender to them completely is to give them overpowering dominance ~ some say befriending our demons can turn them into our greatest allies ~ this could work, but demands much analytical energy, so it wont be a method i favour. I'd rather encourage cultivating a spirit of grateful awareness, and slowly build on that foundation. Its a higher road, a more joyous road, one which brings assurance that once we get flowing with the present, there will be less debris to steer around.

 

I hope these words can help a little with your current process.

 

Blessings!

[RiverSnake]

Life purpose......it's just a fancy way of saying follow your bliss. Look inward and find what lights you up like a Christmas tree.....then you can turn that into a living. Wish you the best and hope you find more clarity in your life. Keep cultivating.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited February 7, 2014 by OldChi

[oildrops]

I have been fueling the fire a bit too much lately, and I do give energy to the problems I see. The problems I am concerned with are outside of myself. I figure someday I will settle, but I haven't expelled all of my energy yet that wants to go toward a subversive life. I think this is a time for us all to use our free will and our energy to target the issues at hand, not to ignore them any longer. It's a catch 22, and it's a sacrifice, but we are not going to be comfortable forever. We need to bolster the natural citizen, and we need to confront the demons of our civilization,

 

That is where my idealism comes in, I am not worried about myself getting drunk every few days, or smoking some of gods green herb. If anything, it makes me more intolerant to the current human condition, which I believe is the correct way to feel. For the record, I have never been dependent on an intoxicant, which is how I can make a choice when when are clearly going to cause more pain than give me a lesson.

 

I have this conversation often with friends of mine, the line between giving energy to the problems and letting it corrupt your own mental clarity, which in turn makes one less able to positively affect change outwardly- and sticking ones head in the proverbial sand. I see a lot of blissed out facade, and folks who do care enough to live in a way that to me is a half hearted effort to live by ones ideals. I want more people to see the non-linear effects of their consumption and to feel guilt for their actions, in order to help them transition to a new way of life. That's asking a lot, and I don't have high expectations, but another one of my ideals.

[C T]

Please accept my apology for choosing the wrong word to use, Oildrops.

 

It was not my intention to imply a dependency. I misunderstood your position.

[Marblehead]

Well, I'm still an Anarchist. That hasn't changed.

[RiverSnake]

Creation is a slow turning wheel.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

[Marblehead]

Creation is a slow turning wheel.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Thanks for the chuckle.