Nobody's perfect- NOT!

[Bum Grasshopper]

[mat black]

yeah, if we seek perfection we'll never find it.

 

judgement unwittingly locks us and possibly others into reinforcement of unconciousness, so as Buddha says:

 

from the Anguttura Nikaya:

 

"The results of karma cannot be known by thought, and so should not be speculated about. Thus thinking, one would come to distraction and distress.

Therefore Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgements about others"

[Sahaj Nath]

When I meet these people I now think “what can I do to get this person closer to the Tao and on a healthier path?

 

Mistakes are but learning opportunities.

 

 

 

there is still quite a bit of judgment in that question, when you look at it.

 

how about:

 

"how might i be able to serve this person," without any assumption about where they are or where they might need to go.

 

 

btw: a year and a half ago i was one of those people. i'm still a big guy, but i'm 120 lbs lighter and that feels pretty good. kinda makes me wonder how i ever attracted students in the past!

 

 

 

hey mat,

 

nice quote!

Edited October 31, 2007 by Hundun

[Bum Grasshopper]

there is still quite a bit of judgment in that question, when you look at it.

 

btw: a year and a half ago i was one of those people. i'm still a big guy, but i'm 120 lbs lighter and that feels pretty good. kinda makes me wonder how i ever attracted students in the past!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good point. It is amazing on how many levels we judge on. What if I had met Buddha and thought that!

 

 

At what point in your practice did you lose all the weight?

Edited October 31, 2007 by Bum Grasshopper

[seadog]

yeah, if we seek perfection we'll never find it.

 

judgement unwittingly locks us and possibly others into reinforcement of unconciousness, so as Buddha says:

 

from the Anguttura Nikaya:

 

"

The results of karma cannot be known by thought, and so should not be speculated about. Thus thinking, one would come to distraction and distress.

Therefore Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgements about others

"

Great! I Am going to read this everyday for a month.

[Sahaj Nath]

Good point. It is amazing on how many levels we judge on. What if I had met Buddha and thought that!

At what point in your practice did you lose all the weight?

 

 

at the point where i had a library's worth of knowledge and very little execution. at the point where i was so miserable on a daily basis that alcohol became medicine.

 

 

my life at the time wasn't even a sliver of what i was capable. but it was such a familiar cycle, it just felt like home. like many of the most ardent seekers on this forum, the story of my life is largely dark and painful. but i won't bore anyone with the details.

 

 

the point that changed everything was a late night after work. i was all angsty & shit, drinking bourbon and feeling like i was in a prison and couldn't escape from it. i realized that if i chose to believe that, then that was all that my life would ever be. then i said to myself, "shit! my life is happening RIGHT NOW! THIS IS IT! look at how much time i've already wasted, and i don't know how much time i've got left! well FUCK THAT!"

 

i told myself that the next day was going to be different. and i meant it. and so it was.

 

no drugs. no system. no professional diet plan. no gym membership. and no support (until it was obvious that i was serious and it was working). just different and better choices, and consciously & actively changing the recordings that repeated themselves in my head.

 

and i lost 80 lbs in the first 4 months alone.

 

the weight was important, but it was my psyche that was the real adventure. THAT was the key! it wasn't about stepping on the scale every day; it was about cultivating beauty, gratitude, WILL, and the momentum to shape my world according to my vision. every single day. and it got easier and better. every single day.

[hagar]

What a great thread!

 

I myself are facing these issues on a grand scale these days.

 

Made me think of a man I met when working in a rehab clinic for drug addicts. He told me he quit heroin cold turkey. Now this is in itself an amazing feat. But I realized it went deeper than that. He said that he finally found that being hooked on drugs was not about addiction, but about choice. Or not facing choices.

So he chose to quit. Period.

 

Makes me wonder how many pure choices I have made. I think most of my life has been dominated by the desire to have my options open, which is probably a consequence of deep down feeling like choice is about losing wholeness or perfection. What folly!

 

h

[Bum Grasshopper]

I have only been practicing now for a few months. Since, I have quit drinking alcohol and coffee. I am eating healthier choices and portions. I practice Tai Chi/ Chi Kung and meditate everyday. I am more aware of my thoughts/ feelings/surroundings. I am sleeping less and better than I ever had before. I have much more energy, yet I am profoundly relaxed. I treat people better. I am more alive!

 

I have stopped taking anti depressants and a drug to treat restless leg syndrome. I try not to put anything in my body that does not naturally exist in nature.

 

And all this comes with no conscious effort. These changes just seem more natural and appealing now.

[fuego]

I can attest to similar changes in my own life, since I began the path walking through myself a bit more than a year ago, now. As I said in another thread, I think that everyone is perfect in their flaws and imperfections. In learning to accept myself for who and where I am right now, I found it much easier to do so with others.

[arnquist]

Everyone is perfect eh? Sure judging people can be bad but what about, I dunno, caring? I think it's okay to judge others if you care about them and you do it gently and appropriately. It seems to me like being detached from everything is just as bad as being attached to everything, calling everyone perfect is just as bad as saying no one is perfect. Gotta keep things in balance, that's what I think.

[fuego]

Everyone is perfect eh? Sure judging people can be bad but what about, I dunno, caring? I think it's okay to judge others if you care about them and you do it gently and appropriately. It seems to me like being detached from everything is just as bad as being attached to everything, calling everyone perfect is just as bad as saying no one is perfect. Gotta keep things in balance, that's what I think.

 

Ah, perhaps I did not elaborate fully. I shall do so now.

 

To be able to have compassion and understanding for yourself is the foundation upon which one's compassion and understanding for others is founded. Once I accepted myself for who and what I am in this moment, for all my flaws and imperfections, I began to truly have compassion and understanding for myself, and then began to accept others for who they are in this moment, without judgement. This is what I mean when I say "everyone is perfect in their imperfection," because though we might reach and strive for what makes us happy, the very choice to do so is a beautiful one.

 

I hope that this makes more sense - if not, I'll try to elaborate more.

[Bum Grasshopper]

I found that if you look deep inside of yourself, you find the Tao, which is perfect. If you peel back all the layers of an individual, you will also find the Tao, whether you care about them or not.

[Bum Grasshopper]

Let me put this scenario to you all:

 

A stranger moves into your neighborhood. You find that this person is on the sex offender list. You immediately gather your children and sternly warn them to stay far away from the house and the person. You instill fear in your children that this person is BAD and DANGEROUS! You call all your neighbors and inform them of your find.

 

You are protecting your children from their innocents. It is your duty.

 

Neighbors take up action to try to get this person out. Everyone sneers at him and offers no kindness.

 

Later you find that the reason this person is on the sex offenders list because he got caught taking a piss behind a bar and got arrested for indecent exposure. He has a steady job and volunteers his time at the senior citizen center.

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us to be kind and trusting to all, good or bad. But when does this become negligent?

 

What is the difference between judgment and intuition? Would it not be O.K. if we sensed danger and took appropriate action? Is it not possible to be wrong in intuition?