silent thunder Posted July 3, 2020 Long before a thermonuclear war can come about, we have had to lay waste our own sanity. We begin with the children. It is imperative to catch them in time. Without the most thorough and rapid brainwashing their dirty minds would see through our dirty tricks. Children are not yet fools, but we shall turn them into imbeciles like ourselves, with high I.Q.s if possible. R. D. Laing 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Posted July 3, 2020 (edited) OK, ok, no one spank me too hard for this one.... but how about the Qur'an 2:2-3.... not the entire verse... just a snippet. It has to be, hands down, my favorite quote ever. And because it's buried in the Qur'an makes it just that much sweeter. Cause I'm not a Muslim. ( delicious irony ) Here's the verses from the Sahih International version. The quote I'm speaking about is bold and underlined. This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah. Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them. As I said, I'm not a Muslim, but I really like this idea. For those who don't know, in Islam, Allah is the ultimate reality. That means "those conscious of Allah" actually means "Those who are conscious of the ultimate reality" .That's why I like these two verses in the Quran, and it's one of my favorite quotes of all time. Those verses are talking about *us*. Students of the Dao, isn't it? Those who are conscious of the ultimate reality. Further, what does it say about us, the Students of the Dao? We believe the unseen. I don't know about you, but, that sums it up for me quite well in a nice tight package. What does it mean to be a Student of the Dao? We believe the unseen. The dao that can be spoken or seen is not the Eternal Dao. That's why it's my favorite quote. Cause I'm a Jewish Student of the Dao who believes in the unseen per the Qur'an. It's freak'n ironic as hell, and makes for fun at dinner parties and such. Edited July 3, 2020 by Daniel . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted July 4, 2020 It is by the action of consciousness becoming aware of itself that intelligence manifests itself, not when consciousness apprehends an inert object. It is not correct to say that there is a mixture in this universe of the sentient and the inert, for they do not mix. It is because all things are full of consciousness and when this consciousness comprehends itself there is knowledge. Vasistha's Yoga, p.140 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Posted July 4, 2020 6 minutes ago, manitou said: It is by the action of consciousness becoming aware of itself that intelligence manifests itself, not when consciousness apprehends an inert object. It is not correct to say that there is a mixture in this universe of the sentient and the inert, for they do not mix. It is because all things are full of consciousness and when this consciousness comprehends itself there is knowledge. You win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 4, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Daniel said: You win. no one lost Edited July 4, 2020 by moment 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted July 4, 2020 (edited) Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. I cannot experience your experience. You cannot experience my experience. We are both invisible men. The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. ~R. D. Laing Edited July 4, 2020 by silent thunder 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted July 5, 2020 20 hours ago, Daniel said: You win. No winning or losing. The beautiful thing about this forum is watching the knowledge (more accurately, gnowledge) pile up, one upon the other. This forum is a creation, our creation, of our combined understandings and tweaking of each other's perspectives. It is fabulous to see how a thread morphs according to the input of all individuals. You are an excellent addition to all this, Daniel. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted July 5, 2020 (edited) 18 hours ago, silent thunder said: The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. I suspect that this is true - it just feels true. Failing to notice. But nothing's coming to mind as I look back. Maybe I failed to notice that I was a raging alcoholic for many long years. Can you think of something in your life that went awry because you failed to notice something, Creighton? Edited July 5, 2020 by manitou because I like to put Silent Thunder on the spot 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 5, 2020 Even at 117, Misao Okawa said life is short. When asked about her long life, Okawa, who passed her title down to Weaver when she died at age 117, said, “It seemed rather short." Perhaps that's why she made sure to eat lots of cake at her last birthday. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 5, 2020 21 hours ago, silent thunder said: Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. I cannot experience your experience. You cannot experience my experience. We are both invisible men. The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. ~R. D. Laing The trick of course is noticing more while stressing less. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Posted July 6, 2020 15 hours ago, manitou said: No winning or losing. Ok. Thank you for pointing this out. 15 hours ago, manitou said: The beautiful thing about this forum is watching the knowledge (more accurately, gnowledge) pile up, one upon the other. This forum is a creation, our creation, of our combined understandings and tweaking of each other's perspectives. It is fabulous to see how a thread morphs according to the input of all individuals. gnowledge... ok. It will take a little time and practice, but I think this sounds really nice. Thank you for saying it. 15 hours ago, manitou said: You are an excellent addition to all this, Daniel. ty. It took a while to find y'all. I'm glad I did. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted July 6, 2020 You are wherever your thoughts are, Make sure your Thoughts are where you want to be. -Nachman of Breslov 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted July 6, 2020 14 hours ago, thelerner said: You are wherever your thoughts are, Make sure your Thoughts are where you want to be. -Nachman of Breslov And that's the challenge. It seems to take a lifetime to keep the thoughts high, out of judgment and criticism. But I can attest that life gets A WHOLE LOT BETTER when that practice is followed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 6, 2020 Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. -Martin Luther King Jr 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neti neti Posted July 7, 2020 "Vultures are the most righteous of birds: they do not attack even the smallest living creature." ~Plutarch 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) Everything we call civilization was invented in the last 500 generations—way too short a time for our bodies and brains to re-optimize. We're a bunch of forest primates in a totally unnatural environment, trying our little best. Someone needs to give our species a hug. Course 25 years might be a generous and modern number to consider a generation, as one goes back in time I'd assume a generation would be less, maybe strikingly. Perhaps 16 to 22 would be closer. . k . . Edited July 8, 2020 by thelerner 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) Often even a whole city (or country) suffers for a bad man who sins and contrives presumptuous deeds. ---Hesiod 730 BC Hesiod appropriated to himself the authority usually reserved to sacred kingship. The poet declared that it is he, upon whom the Muses had bestowed the two gifts of a scepter and an authoritative voice (Hesiod, Theogony 30–3), which are the visible signs of kingship. It is not that this gesture is meant to make Hesiod a king. Rather, the point is that the authority of kingship now belongs to the poetic voice. Edited July 8, 2020 by moment Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted July 11, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 10:04 AM, manitou said: I suspect that this is true - it just feels true. Failing to notice. But nothing's coming to mind as I look back. Maybe I failed to notice that I was a raging alcoholic for many long years. Can you think of something in your life that went awry because you failed to notice something, Creighton? Great question. I don't think so. Perhaps hindsight allows me to analyze and make judgements about past occurences, but that is all part of my storyteller and prone to the failings and blindspots of my assumptions and interpretation of how I view what I recall. It's also dependent on the quality of my recall and what rises to focus and what details slip away. Though I have no faith that such interpretations are accurate, they will be personally generated reflections. Being a detective, my Uncle always says that eyewitness testimony is the least reliable... I've come to agree with him as I explore my own memory and recall of events my wife and I have shared over 32 years. Whereas all that lies beyond my awareness, effectively does not exist for me... I cannot recall what I am not aware of, and what lies beyond my awareness entirely, cannot touch that process. This is a lovely catch-22/paradox for me. It's why I resonate so with the quote and why the pivot of my process has evolved into unfolding and nurturing a perpetual Doubting of my mental processes in total. My experience the last few years is that, all that lies within my mental process is prone to the interpretations and skew of my assumptions and conditioning... or lies beyond awareness rendering it effectively, invisible and uninteractable. I guess that's why when I encountered it in a shared teaching by Alexandra David-Neel, it veritably rang the bell of my entire body/mind awareness. Doubt with a capital D... has become my most treasured tool in the box lately. It 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) Ray Bradbury tended toward Buddhism, Though it ended up mostly a patchwork of many religions and philosophies. "I sit there and cry because I haven’t done any of this. It’s a God-given thing, and I’m so grateful, so, so grateful. The best description of my career as a writer is, ‘At play in the fields of the Lord". ---- Ray Bradbury Edited July 16, 2020 by moment 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zerostao Posted July 16, 2020 Think about what others do not think about. Look at what others do not look at. Listen to what others do not listen to. Do what others do not do. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 16, 2020 I have become simple-minded, and I am much the better for it. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neti neti Posted July 17, 2020 On 7/11/2020 at 3:13 PM, silent thunder said: Doubt with a capital D... has become my most treasured tool in the box lately. ... I Doubt that. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moment Posted July 17, 2020 "Proof that we don't understand death is that we give dead people a pillow."----- Jerry Seinfeld 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RiverSnake Posted July 17, 2020 "If you're one step in front of everyone, you're a genius....if you're two steps in front of everyone, a lunatic." Unknown 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
