should we wait until we have absorbed a huge amount of knowledge...

[Songtsan]

And then involute? Or should we just involute right away, and will we be able to find everything we need there anyways? I feel kinda like I was a tabula rasa, and that I have not been around before at all sometimes, that this is my one and only chance to make it or break it, that if I don't succeed in immortality here in this time, there will be nothing left behind of me except the ripples I have left in this world, which is something, don't get me wrong, but I would like to exist for more than a paltry sum, as the me I know....I consider myself a collective/conglomerate of ideas, which has a reflexive, empty center...I believe that if I collect enough energy, I can form a spiritual embyro, which can exist after death, among the minds of men as a Djinn, Celestial immortal, spirit, etc etc....I may have built some, but I've sent off a bunch of excess into the world and have not much for myself...

[idiot_stimpy]

Whats so scary about your personality, not living on after death?

[Songtsan]

Nothing...non-existence has its own blisses, yet still, why not aim for the stars? Should I not go for the gold? Do you fear success? I don't fear not living, but I do fear entropy, in that my spirit wishes to keep clawing up and up the muddy slope, or die trying, because to become complacent is disenchanting to me...

[idiot_stimpy]

One persons success is another persons failure.

 

One persons failure is another persons success. 

 

Many fight to break free of the personality, while others fight to protect it.

[3bob]

sooner or later death reaches all beings except the Supreme Being... the interesting deal is that such deathlessness is already in us, the truest identity. 

[idiot_stimpy]

sooner or later death reaches all beings except the Supreme Being... the interesting deal is that such deathlessness is already in us, the truest identity. 

 

I enjoyed this one!!!

[Songtsan]

I fight never to be reborn in ignorance again...somehow or other. Perhaps this involves dealing with all my karma in this lifetime , escaping the wheel through paying back any misery I have caused....

[idiot_stimpy]

I fight never to be reborn in ignorance again...somehow or other. Perhaps this involves dealing with all my karma in this lifetime , escaping the wheel through paying back any misery I have caused....

 

For you crazy fox ali

 

[Songtsan]

I already do that, lol

[Daeluin]

And then involute? Or should we just involute right away, and will we be able to find everything we need there anyways?

 

What feels right to you? What feels balanced?

 

I feel kinda like I was a tabula rasa, and that I have not been around before at all sometimes, that this is my one and only chance to make it or break it, that if I don't succeed in immortality here in this time, there will be nothing left behind of me except the ripples I have left in this world,

 

It is interesting how we can know things strongly, but then fall into the trap of allowing fear to arise, even though that fear will hold us back from what we seek.

 

which is something, don't get me wrong, but I would like to exist for more than a paltry sum, as the me I know....I consider myself a collective/conglomerate of ideas, which has a reflexive, empty center...I believe that if I collect enough energy, I can form a spiritual embyro, which can exist after death, among the minds of men as a Djinn, Celestial immortal, spirit, etc etc....

 

Similarly, the idea of amassing something up also creates a separatist mentality - when one gains, others lose; to keep what one gains, one must defend from others, from self, etc. But this fear, and this separation, prevents one-ness.

 

So, the Sage holds three things dear:

Compassion - which nurtures openness, connection, harmony, and dissolves separation.

Frugality - which dissolves attachment, encourages refinement.

Not daring to be ahead of anything else - which prevents the awareness of progress from getting in the way of progress.

 

I may have built some, but I've sent off a bunch of excess into the world and have not much for myself...

 

Say we do a bunch of cultivation work, then take a break and look back at what we've cultivated. From an economic perspective, we can say that working produces income, and anything else is spending. When we spend, we exchange what we have cultivated for something else, and this can be valuable. At first it might seem worthwhile to look back and come to understand various experiences, but in time we might realize how every time we look back, the cultivation progress stops, and, that whatever we come to learn from our evaluations might seem valuable, but on the whole, is still removed from the truth. 

 

Replenishing energy is merely restoring ourselves to full health, what we had when we were born. Yes, most of us these days squander our energy wastefully, unknowingly. And we should see replenishment as a gift - one that can be repaid, the karma rebalanced. 

 

As one progresses with cultivation work, humility should naturally become stronger, as the ego becomes more and more dissolved. Thus naturally one will be led to be of service where-ever one is invited to service. The smile to the person passing one by, the loving acknowledgement of some flowers and trees, and all that exists in any moment, and the happiness to offer support to any who need it that one might encounter, as long as one feels in resonant with such support. If one feels unable to maintain their level of service, it is likely a sign that one needs to find a way to replenish, and perhaps to develop a better way of remaining replenished in the circumstance that might have been draining. In this way challenges allow us to grow, and often many of us are not blessed with the ability to chose to replenish before overcoming a challenge. From either side, it is merely about balance. 

 

And so, we come to follow our flow, using it to identify where we are leaking and where we need work, in the moment, without needing to stop the cultivation work in order to look back and examine ourselves. Often it is when we stop the work that the "product" bubbles up and wants to express in excess, and all that we come to learn and value is merely renewed egoic attachment, hindering the progress. 

 

So, to replenish is related to being of service, and being of service while being able to maintain one's center and health is related to one's learning and refining. As one is able to find more and more refined balance within this dance, one has no need of fears, for one is well on their way.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Daeluin

[Bearded Dragon]

Real knowledge exists right now. From moment to moment you adapt to it and move on. Anything else is entertainment. Do you think that if you can't get past the clinging you'll be a free spirit? Doubt it. I don't care to think about the afterlife but perhaps it will serve as some motivation initially. At some point though, the idea will have to dissolve into the freedom that it serves to mould.

[Songtsan]

Makes sense Daeluin, I've decided to pour my energy out into the world, and become a channel for limitless light. No longer will I seek to hoard 'mine own' (not!) Energy into myself...instead I will spread love outwards to all in need, avoiding petulant greed, so that I may be complete by 'owning' each and everyone of you in my heart as Divine emanations of the Supreme Being, the Creator of us all being this Sea of Infinite Bliss/Love/Energy...this is my Sufi vow, my Bodhisattva vow, to expend all my energies throughout the cosmos, knowing they were always borrowed anyways.

[Daeluin]

giving and receiving are one

[z00se]

Who knows what is right and what is wrong, but by enjoying ourself to wherever we aim to be, we cant go wrong.