when i got nothing better to do , i lay down restfull with eyes closed and i don't see anything - dark space . then i think of togetherness , then of the road through ... then my perception identity shifts to brain-space Right , like i got both eyes there . it's a feeling of anywhere from there . the most passionate feeling is even more intensely to the right and then downward , sinking . boom that last boom was so deeply resonate . it was much in that quality like the big spirit voice i heard in the forest of west virginia - a LifeSpirit that speaks wQ ... wQ . ( woo ) my motive is to be free and active in the shared conciousness . my will is gentle within that . got to be soulful , everyone gets a relationship ... by this we surf the wave , eh ?
What else would you do with your time? "Time wasted" implies that you have a better idea for "spending" your time. What would that be?
I'm in the same position. I'm a senior this year and will graduate, and I'm just wondering if I really want to be in school the next 4 years
Not at all, after suffering thru their indoctrination into the narrow channels our mainstream society flows thru you should by all means get out and explore, test the theories and philosophies they've spent "tens of thousands of dollars" to stuff down your throat over your most formative years. Mabey after four years, if theres still some semblance of modern culture around you'll have better, more self defined ideas about how you wish to spend the rest of your life. "Not to push a school of thought by any means", but have a peek at the book I mention in my Sig below. It's an interesting read, but dont just get frustrated by the first 10 pages as they basicly outline the bullshit we've all been subjected to thruout our lives. The rest of it delves more in relation with how to respond to it. Take it all as fact or foolishness, but take away from it that which rings true in your mind and not what stands or falls in the light of general social acceptance. http://www.scribd.com/doc/4000379/A-Dangerous-Book
I dropped out of college for a while when I was 20. It became obvious to me that what I most needed in my life at that point in time was nothing my classes were providing, and much more in line with what Fritz is getting at. My parents and my teachers thought I was stupid and crazy for dropping out, and in a sense I really was crazy, but some part of me knew I had to do that. And it turned out there was a reason for it, because during that time I had some pivotal experiences that changed my worldview forever and set me solidly on a path of spiritual faith and growth. After I got what I needed from that experience, I went back to college and got a degree, but it was for me, and for my own purposes the second time around - not because it was what authorities said I should do. But I would never tell anybody to do what I did, or to do what anybody else says they should do. Each person's decisions and path need to come from inside that person - that's what life is really about. I think that link from Fritz would be worth looking at...
Yep. But after so many years of being conditioned to follow societies path, wouldn't a period of withdrawl from that same line of programming be required for one to find just what that future path should be? Unless of course they had a good source of guidance as to remind them just what it means to really think for oneself as opposed to just subconciously reacting to environments and previous conditioning?
I'm not arguing, Fritz. It was what I needed. It's a really good idea for lots of folks. But again, I'm not going to tell anybody they should do that - and some people shouldn't, frankly. What you're saying is really right on, though, and resonates deeply with me. For the last few years the spirits have arranged a sort of prison for me that keeps me relatively isolated a great deal of the time, and the results have been not what I would have expected. I used to think that being comfortable socially required being around other people a lot, but to my amazement I'm finding that being by myself a lot has allowed me to relax my previous subconscious, habitual guardedness. As a result of new habits, the guardedness now tends to stay down even when I'm with other people, and so I'm more myself now in social situations than I used to allow myself to be, and have more fun. And I've gotten to know myself better in other ways, as you point out. Oh, and I edited my previous post - I was referring to killuminati when I meant to refer to you.
Much the same here, Even back in Chicago my job kept me fairly tied to it and I often found I did some of my best soul searching while locked into some random tedious task, almost like a Physical mantra of sorts I'd guess. But definatly since "Hittin' the hills" back in march and being relativley engulfed in nature. And I guess I have to concede that in alot of instances, Chocolate ice cream isn't everyones favorite flavor, some actualy like Butter Pecan. And in refrence to the book, have you seen any other works by this Author beofre? It was a "complete accident " that I stumbled across it while looking for eBooks on wild edibles, quite ironic considering the bounty of food for thought it gave me.
That's it, all righty. Never. Of course it was. Have you ever watched the movie Fight Club? If not, you need to. It was recommended to me by my stepson, and since I first watched it I bought it and have it sitting on the shelf next to my bed, ready to load into my DVD player at the slightest whim.
Yea', Awesome Movie IIR, been a while, probably overdue for a repeat. That reminds me, I'm runnin' low on soap!
Well i've gotta find some place to put these clips. Mmm? This thread looks ok... kinda relevant. I really want to share these particular gems among many others i've found on utube. In the absence of a corporeal, in-the-flesh spiritual teacher, utube makes a pretty good substitute and as i soak up these talks on a nightly basis now, some deeper truth (which i'd forgetten ...again) seems to be bludgeoning it's way into my understanding. I just thought this was interesting: Eckhart tells of when he took acid: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RofybYVNCe4&feature=user Gangaji - Being in peace - A powerful sermon from Gangaji: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GfYMI97ksdg Adyashanti - Chasing enlightenment http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uvSqFh6SZGU&feature=related And a slightly different take from Eckhart: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rdgO4UDrwm8 And a good one from Adyashanti - Pearls on a pig: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=L_xa2sGxdgU ... and i said i'd copy that last one out for zengizmo so next post is that
Adyashanti - Pearls on a pig: " ... and of course egos can't sustain non division for very long, cause' they just can't do it, cause an ego is just basically ... it's just in opposition to 'what is'... most of the time,.. to some extent,... with brief interludes, mini vacations. And then ego wants the environment around them ..to change, so that ego is not in opposition with it so it can get back to that feeling of not being in opposition, so "Oh honey! If you just changed, then i wouldn't be in opposition to you, and then it would be wonderful wouldn't it?" - What was that movie in which this guy sais "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" .. Ahh, 'My fair Lady' right? That's kind of a perfect summation of ego ... ego would just be like; "Why can't everyone be like ... me!? Of course some egos are really happy nobody is like them because, they're not even happy to be around themselves. So there are these moments, these little tastes of 'what it's like not to be in opposition to what is'... lovely! ahh, fantastic. - And that's not the 'same' as enlightenment but tastes of ...that's what it feels like, ...and that's why everybody is drawn into that place. Everything we do for entertainment, for relief, is to come out of opposition with ourselves, is it not? ...whether you are meditating, or taking a drug or going to the movies or watching your TV or eating your favourite food ...whatever it is it's temporarily allowing you to come out of opposition to what is, like; "This is such a wonderful TV program that i've forgotten all of my arguments with the universe! ...and to you honey, who's sitting right next to me ... it's such a wonderful TV program that i'm not preoccupied with my argument with you". - So everything we do, for entertainment to help us feel better, you can measure directly against 'how mutch it helps us not be in opposition'... if only because we are distracted. So most forms of entertainment are actually a distraction ...distracting us from our argument with what is. And there's nothing bad about that, it's perfectly fine ... it's good for us humans to be distracted from our opposition to what is, otherwise we can go a little nutty, i mean we can go a little nutty anyway but it sort of relieves a little bit of the pressure. But to have this real love affair with truth, because it's truth ... that reconnects you with reality. It's truth that reconnects you with the way things really are, with existence itself. Truth connects you with the existence of YOU... the truth is also the truth of YOU. There's nothing more underlying or foundational than what is, than reality. You can't get more foundational than reality right? And that's what spirituality is really moving about... reconnecting you back with the realisation of reality, the realisation of your own existence. So when we're not in connection, when we're not in the realisation, when we're not in the truth of what we are, mutch less anything else, but just oneself ... then there is opposition. And we think; "I'm in opposition for ALL these reasons."... there's many many many reasons that we justify our opposition isn't there? ... the state of the world, my upbringing, my lover, my next door neighbour, the dog i bought that i now don't want, ... whatever it is .. the 'situation', my job ..., we always think "If i could just fix these things, everything would be better." INCLUDING ... "If i could just fix myself, everything would be better." - But it wouldn't be better, because you can fix an illusion but it's still an illusion, right? - Or more accuately, there is no way to fix an illusion. 'You can put pearls on a pig but you can't stop it from squealing' ... you're not gonna make it beautiful because you put a pearl necklace on it, it doesn't help ... so you can try to improve yourself all you want, but if your fundamental sense of your own self is flawed .. not mutch is gonna change is it, not mutch is really gonna change. And spirituality ... well the name sais it; it's based on one of the fundamental realitys about YOU, me, us, however you wanna see it, the reality of spirit ... where we are actually the PRESENSE, the presense of spirit."
Liquidlight, thanks very much for typing all that out...that was quite a task. So I guess what he's saying is, just let go and be. How does one balance that with the need to accomplish goals? For example, I need to get up every morning and go to work to get money to buy food for myself and my family, keep us sheltered, etc. And all day long at work I need to perform tasks to accomplish goals, in order to change the external world in such a way as to try to improve my and other people's chances for continued survival - and greater comfort, truth be known. How do you let go and just be in the midst of all this?
That book quoted in my sig. touches alot of the very same points, and it approches that issue from the perspective of the seperate degrees of conciousness or self awarness or however you want to define the concious self or the environmentally moulded ego-based awareness of ourselves from the higher self or inner self as being much akin to the difference between the Actor in a play and the Persona or role he takes in the drama of life. Now naturally there are things we must do for the sake of our continued existance such as supply for our basic needs & wants but doing these things does not nessitate that we confuse the essentials from those things we do for the sake of gratifying the wants of our Ego's or sense of self worth which are often done not for the sake of really benefiting us insomuch as they are done for the sake of "measuring up" in the eye's of our peer's.
Point taken...and yet "measuring up in the eyes of our peers" is often an important component of survival. Consider this within the framework of biological evolution. There is some survival value to the present state of our ego, otherwise evolution would not have developed it to this point. I speak as someone who has been in the mainstream of "wordly success," more often on the fringes, has sometimes excelled in this area, and sometimes been relegated to the fringes of society. And always, always, in whatever circumstances I find myself, I have the lingering suspicion that whatever I might be considering "reality" at any given time is actually complete bullshit...