Zen Pig Posted December 30, 2018 On 12/27/2018 at 5:59 AM, Taoist Texts said: for what end? what end? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spotless Posted December 30, 2018 What is sought in the original post is gained fastest in basic practice. In basic practice time expands and fades - patience expands and becomes now. Judgement is replaced by knowing in knowing nothing. The books are to point and help you remember. Then cast them aside and learn the basics - they are the most advanced. The turtle transcends The rabbits brother is Wylie coyote 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Still_Waters Posted December 30, 2018 2 hours ago, Spotless said: What is sought in the original post is gained fastest in basic practice. In basic practice time expands and fades - patience expands and becomes now. Judgement is replaced by knowing in knowing nothing. The books are to point and help you remember. Then cast them aside and learn the basics - they are the most advanced. The turtle transcends The rabbits brother is Wylie coyote Wow ! You hit the nail right on the head with that post. Verily, the simple "basics" are indeed the "most advanced". Your insight into time was intriguing, as time most assuredly does "expand and fade......and becomes now". While the books are there "to point and help your remember", it is very true that "judgment is replaced by knowing in knowing nothing". In "not knowing" or "knowing without thinking", somehow all is revealed. I loved your post and would love to hear more from you. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Still_Waters Posted December 30, 2018 On 12/26/2018 at 8:31 AM, Zen Pig said: I think it is good to have a solid spiritual practice. My so called "practice" involves a couple hours meditation, both sitting and walking, physical exercise, MA, and the like. almost no reading these days, because I have found so little that resonates for me as having any value. I am sure that there are some good old manuscripts out there, but one still has to be careful of how the translator did his/her job. I have a bit of a different take on spirituality. in short to quote the Doctor Strange movie, "It's not about me, it's never been about me". I have seen so many religious or spiritual people who practice in order to get "saved", go to heaven, or get a good reincarnation, and so on. Many do religion or spiritual things to keep from going to hell, or getting a bad rebirth, depending on ones belief. I once read a passage in Jewish mysticism (kabbalah) that talks about the perfect sacrifice, which is to sacrifice yourself, or do something good and noble without any chance of reward. to do something good for only the sake of being a good person. For me, spirituality is not about some here after or rebirth. It is about doing something good, kind, loving right here. Not suggesting that I am at this point in my development yet, as I still do practices for my own development, to be honest, but i am a work in progress, and living a natural, good life without grasping is slowly sinking in. There's a lot of really good points in your post, but what caught my attention most was "the perfect sacrifice, which is to sacrifice yourself, or do something good and noble without any chance of reward". Like yourself, I do almost no reading nowadays because there is a point at which one must practice more and read less despite the fact that many manuscripts have some really good pointers albeit along with a lot of stuff in which I too "have found so little that resonates for me as having any value". In reading the Sufi Master, Hazrat Inayat Khan, he avoids words such as "annihilation of the ego" or "sacrifice yourself" and actually replaces it with what I consider a more positive term: "resurrection in God". I've noticed that, as one enters the stillness more and more, one attunes to that which lies beyond and henceforth acts quite naturally and effortlessly in the best interests of the Totality with no expectation of a reward. It just happens. As I've often said, it's metaphorically comparable to soaring like an eagle into the metaphorical sky of (God) consciousness, seeing the Big Picture, attuning to it, and then returning to act as wisely as possible in the best interests of all with the understanding that the "all" includes one's own little self as well. I think that we are saying pretty much the same thing but in slightly different words. I really liked your post ! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Still_Waters Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) On 12/28/2018 at 7:13 AM, rideforever said: So giving things to people .... does not help them get into a groove. Money just doesn't work. Although this world is so imperfect you have to consider each situation on its merits. If one is judicious in giving, money can indeed work. I've been in situations where people have embarrassingly been without money (such as when one discovers at a cashier counter that one doesn't have money because they left their wallet in the other purse). In such situations, I just tell the cashier to add their bill to mine and I would pay it. When they insist on getting my number or address so they can pay me back, I just tell them that the way to pay me back is to do something similar for some one else in an equally embarrassing financial situation. The idea resonates and is received very positively. If more and more people can be similarly inspired to do similar random acts of kindness, the world would become a better place. One random act of kindness, as described above, can create a very positive rippling effect. After all, it's only money but giving money can have very positive effects when done judiciously and wisely. This is just one example, but this one example should suffice to make my point. Edited December 30, 2018 by Still_Waters 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
