I don't want to own anything anymore!

[Songtsan]

I don't want to own money, objects, this body, this mind, knowledge, or any of it. As soon as I feel this way, and I go around saying 'not mine,' 'don't want it,' etc. my spirit friends take over my body and start doing everything for me...then I just 'ride the Ox' - how wonderful!

[Marblehead]

I hope you have some place to eat and sleep.

[Stosh]

What happens when you disown your spirit friends?

[soaring crane]

I hope you have some place to eat and sleep.

 

 

[Songtsan]

When I don't care about the body, etc is when the spirit friends take over....so I wouldn't know how to disown them...its Kriya yoga basically...

[Stosh]

Ill have to take your word for it.. I dont see anyone mentioning spirit friends associated with Kriya Yoga. But its not my thing.

[Bearded Dragon]

I don't want to own money, objects, this body, this mind, knowledge, or any of it. As soon as I feel this way, and I go around saying 'not mine,' 'don't want it,' etc. my spirit friends take over my body and start doing everything for me...then I just 'ride the Ox' - how wonderful!

 

It's nice as long as one isn't trapped on that side of the coin. The only things I really want these days are musical instruments. I feel like I want to buy lots of them. The freedom is that I don't feel like I really need to buy any, and I don't care if my house burns down and they all disappear. This is freedom on both sides of the coin where having stuff and not having stuff doesn't matter equally.

 

I think it's good to renounce things in order to serve the purpose of severing the tie, but after that you can feel free to have whatever you want if it's not going to effect you.

[woodcarver]

You can start with your internet connection

[idiot_stimpy]

Crazy Fox Ali, the void owns everything and nothing at the same time.

[Songtsan]

@BD - buy my Djembe from me! and my dumbek!   @Woodcarver - I don't pay for internet... I use my landlords WiFi.....

[z00se]

Anything of worth u can post to me. Ill pay postage and make sure heaven knows how spiritual uve become

[Songtsan]

I'm not ready to divest myself of all things, merely give up ownership. Doesn't mean I can't hold on to them. There just won't be sense of ownership or entitlement. The empty hand grasping the hoe handle.

[Daeluin]

Remember to balance the extremes.

 

Remember we all depend on a foundation for our existence.

 

That foundation at its core is whatever sustains your life. For most of us it begins with food and shelter, and means working to pay for these things. Doesn't mean we own anything. Respect where you reside and what you eat - these things become parts of us.

 

In time, through cultivation, our needs for food and shelter might become very small. We just listen to our needs, and listen to how they change, and there we are. I am working on living in a small house I've built on a friend's property (8x10'w/loft) and bicycling as only means of long distance transportation. I still work. I am trying to make this a gradual transition. In time perhaps I can depend upon even less. Right now this is where I need to be to balance all the different aspects of my life, including social ones, without burning any bridges. I could abandon all of it, but these bonds are part of my karmic journey - I am right where I need to be, if I just listen.

 

In time, perhaps I will be able to depend upon less and less, gradually reshaping my foundation.

 

Remember, extreme changes break apart the potential stability of a foundation.

 

Often all we need to do is find stillness, centering ourselves in acceptance of all that is. In acceptance perhaps we realize we have much we do not need, and there is always time to let everything find a good home. It is not what we are on the outside, it is what we are becoming on the inside. Don't let the way the outside has been shaped distract from the work on the inside. Wield patience to maintain sincerity.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Daeluin

[Songtsan]

I didn't mean to imply I was going to start walking around naked eating out of garbage cans, just that I'd be letting go of ownership ideas and going into full on selflessness... The art of letting go, while wearing ordinary clothes so to speak....definitely, paring down as you mention has been a lifelong pursuit of mine. I always feel 'safest' having as little as possible, paradoxically. However, it is the mindset itself, of being done with selfish attitudes, which is so freeing.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Songtsan

[Marblehead]

I'm not ready to divest myself of all things, merely give up ownership. Doesn't mean I can't hold on to them. There just won't be sense of ownership or entitlement. The empty hand grasping the hoe handle.

You actually said something very important here.  It has deep roots.  It is an important Buddhist concept.  I believe it is an important Taoist concept as well.

[Marblehead]

Freedom can also be attained when one has "enough" and no longer has any desires.  That could be called being comfortably free.

[Shevek]

I recall a couple of occasions years ago when I had spent all the money I had on me, down to the last coin.

 

It left me feeling relaxed, perhaps even euphoric, I remember a sense of great freedom.

[Marblehead]

That was right before you started feeling the pains of hunger, right?

[Shevek]

As I recall, I wasn't hungry or worried at the the time - I knew where to get food without needing any cash!

It was just an unusual feeling that made an impression on me at the time.

[Marblehead]

As I recall, I wasn't hungry or worried at the the time - I knew where to get food without needing any cash!

It was just an unusual feeling that made an impression on me at the time.

I was just testing.  I do understand what you were talking about though.  The content of being contented (in the moment).

[zanshin]

I remember a time a friend dropped another friends expensive camera and broke it years ago. It really made an impression on me how well this guy handled it. He didn't get stressed or angry at all- and he wasn't a trust fund baby or anything. The one who broke it felt terrible. I think it is something to aspire to not to be overly sentimental or attached to possessions.

Edited May 18, 2015 by zanshin

[Silent Answers]

Once you have kids, you don't have stuff anymore. The collection of cool gear you'd collected over the years is given a new purpose as a smashed, chewed on, possibly even shat upon, play thing.

 

Zanshin, is your friend a father?

[Songtsan]

I've been homeless on the streets, and in homeless shelters for a few months, and of course in prison for two years. In prison, you were allowed to own 2 pairs of pants, 3 t-shirts, 3 underwear, 3 pairs of socks, a jacket and sweatshirt. Everyone was equal in that, it was fine. The food was the worse food you could eat...homeless shelter food was much better. For years of my life, I have walked around with less than 10 dollars in my wallet at any time. I've also owned two businesses, a juice bar and a massage/personal training business, made over $30,000 a year. I honestly don't think I felt all that much safe/secure in either extreme! You won't ever starve here in America, unless your parents aren't taking care of you, you know gross negligence....what I most want out of things, if I'm to be attached, is the best nutritional health money can buy....I don't care if I'm dirty, tired, and smelly. I want the best food, preferentially. Still I will settle for less....

[zanshin]

Once you have kids, you don't have stuff anymore. The collection of cool gear you'd collected over the years is given a new purpose as a smashed, chewed on, possibly even shat upon, play thing.

 

Zanshin, is your friend a father?

Now he is, but that was back in college when we were basically kids ourselves. It seemed amazing to me that something like that could happen without screaming and swearing, because I thought that's what people were supposed to do. It is hard as a parent, I feel like I should teach my kids to be responsible and take care of things, but have come to not care so much about material things myself. I don't feel too upset if crap gets lost or broken. The 14 year old went to a pool party at much wealthier friend's house couple weeks ago. When I picked him up I enjoyed his rave about the house without moralizing about materialism, but also realized I truly would not want that fancy house with multiple big screen tvs myself at all. My daydreams tend to be more getting rid of stuff and downsizing to a cottage in the country.

[amoyaan]

I don't want to own money, objects, this body, this mind, knowledge, or any of it. As soon as I feel this way, and I go around saying 'not mine,' 'don't want it,' etc. my spirit friends take over my body and start doing everything for me...then I just 'ride the Ox' - how wonderful!

 

I totally get this! Nothing in this world really belongs to us, it all belongs to the field of existence; all just objects that are simply arising and subsiding in awareness. Even our body doesn't really 'belong' to us. We had no part and no say its creation. It's just something that appears for a duration, same as the mind and all its constituent thoughts, desires and fears. Maya makes us assume ownership, but the ownership is just an illusion...and the source of much suffering.