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Shop: Myyco.com Golden Teacher Liquid Culture For Sale, Isolated Cubensis Liquid Culture For Sale   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

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does being isolated making you more enlightened?
    #10983312 -

I work out of home, and my GF has a job which she goes to. Well, some of the thoughts,ideas,musings that I think of when I'm isolated at home all day are very stimulating.

When my GF comes home there isn't much time for that, but that is okay, our DNA makes us happy when we have a life partner. BUT

I got a dog recently

So now I am home all day, taking care of a dog, and doing work from home. I feel a bit 'dumber' ... is there something to it that being alone / isolated will stimulate the mind and lead you to more spiritual ends? when I didnt have a GF or dog I would be alone and suffer, back then life was a journey of self. During the time it sucked, but now I look at it fondly and almost with jealousy. maybe now I am more mature, have to take care of my dog, take care of my GF, so there's not much room for existential soul searching? I dunno, what is your expeirence? I am an introvert so maybe that makes a diff

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10983356 -

I have this similar problem. I suggest meditating man. Make your "self time" the most beneficial it can be.


--------------------
With Allure I Look to the Sky With Awakened Eyes

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10983489 -

I live alone and do so simply because I am on a quest for the Self - or whatever.

Recently, I've found the self easier to be with and I feel more comfortable sharing "it" or "my true self", the enlightened master, with everyone... gotta bring everyone up with me, as far as I'm concerned.  It's within each of us.

In my experience, it is pointless to be enlightened up on a mountain with no one to share your joy and misery with.  On the other hand, had I not climbed this mountain alone, I probably wouldn't have reached enlightenment....

One can only do it through personal practice, but once you realize, "Oh, I should just go with the flow and put out good vibes and watch the awesomeness that is life unfold before me," it is all for not if you cannot share that with someone else.

There is no lasting enlightenment without service.  Anyone can take a huge dose of some crazy pysches and be shown "the way", but good luck keeping that blissful peace if you're not willing to put in work and practice to integrate the knowledge into wisdom.  Part of that is being with people and other animals/plants and serving them in whatever way one can.

So to answer your original question - yes and no :smile:

Edited by playapez (09/01/09 11:30 PM)

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: playapez]
    #10984214 -

I think, when people or other creatures are around, your brain spends energy monitoring them, reacting to them, and also interacting with them.

I think to extend your example, playapez -
theres no point being enlightened on a mountain alone. but you wouldnt be enlightened without going up the mountain. BUT also you wouldnt be enlightened if you were born on the mountain.. you would just be a wild man. One needs society to give them tools for appreciation and knowing what is important beyond your individual needs. But at the same time, being immersed in culture forces you to conform to certain ways of thinking and it forces you to expend mental energies in ways that inhibit progress.

Which is why, id say, being alone stimulates interesting thoughts - your brain is playing with neural patterns that it normally deems innapropriate (due to social conditioning). When other people are around, our brain has important things to consider and so it does not experiment so much with novelty


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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: Noteworthy]
    #10987034 -

Noteworthy, that's much more of a materialistic explanation of "enlightenment", but it is true nonetheless.  More people can probably relate to your example than mine, though both are essentially the same.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10987990 -

When your alone naturally you become more introspective & start to see more insights, the thoughts have time to unravel rather then constantly chasing something

Eventually you come to a place where the isolation is Infinite, so no matter where you go you are in isolation

Its a shame you say that the more mature you are the less time you have for soul searching, i consider it the other way round...the more mature the mind is the more drawn it is to higher truth

:peace:


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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10989438 -

This much I'll share: Being more 'pulled together' - whether you want to consider it 'enlightened' or not, is alienating to others who are not as pulled together. My friends are from childhood, and are far away. I have acquaintances and we have different motives for even being in touch. If most of them didn't phone me, I'd let the acquaintance-ship lapse. Why? I require a certain amount of companionship, but it has to be based on something that is significant for both of us. I'm not a family man, so I can't relate to the acquaintance who idolizes his two kids and calls his highschool age daughter "beautiful" all the time when addressing her. I find that creepy. I cannot relate to another guy's soccer coaching because I'm totally disinterested. I find myself playing counselor to guys who can't get a relationship together, or who are unhappy at work. I'm a professional counselor but I don't want my relationships with friends and acquaintances to be counseling based. They see my life as being 'together,' and their's not, so there is envy, resentment, embarrassment, etc. Hey, I'm just trying to live my own life. I'm not in competition with anyone. I want everyone, including me, to be happy.

I'm watching a stripper do a dance for me on the bar - right in front of me. She spreads her labia - then she begins to climb down (I help her), and she begins to tell me that she's not comfortable stripping for a living. Does it say 'counselor' on my forehead? I walk to my mailbox and meet a neighbor I've never seen before. In minutes, she's telling me what psychiatric meds she's on! WTF? :wtf:

If one has a degree of enlightenment, such that things seem to be all 'green lights' for me from others' perspectives, they are only gonna be able to take me in small dosages. To others, me (and my Lady) are interesting anomalies. We are interesting, and so they might invite us to certain functions, for entertainment purposes I think. There have been guys I know for years, who have visited us many times, yet we have NEVER been invited to their homes. We are good hosts, offering food, beverage, conversation and music, but no reciprocation. One guy's new wife (according to a third party) found me too interesting on the evening we met. They haven't been back since. I was being animated and telling interesting stories, not flirting. The husband felt up-staged according to a third party member. Sorry :shrug:.

It's good that I'm introverted and have discovered a whole new discipline with experimentation, contemplation and reading, because I expect that I'm going to live my life pretty much with my Lady, and not with any circle of friends. I've never had such a thing and I can't expect to have one now. I just want to share significant interests, but nobody has my interests. If I knew others who were passionate about something other than sports, I could dig it too, but people I know don't seem to have passions that can be shared. I am not interested in competing or showing off. So people who have a lot of 'stuff' to show off with (like a millionaire lawyer we know) is just obnoxious to us.He always asks me what we've been 'doing,'aand he doesn't grok that it's about 'Being,' wherever we go and during whatever we do.

Isolation does not make one more enlightened, but it is, as they say, lonely at the top (of the proverbial mountain), when one seems to possess a higher, wider perspective on life. So it's just the reverse in my experience, and it has been this way for me as far back as childhood when I wanted to know things, and the other kids just wanted to run amok or play ball.


--------------------
γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10989597 -

percy said:
I work out of home, and my GF has a job which she goes to. Well, some of the thoughts,ideas,musings that I think of when I'm isolated at home all day are very stimulating.

When my GF comes home there isn't much time for that, but that is okay, our DNA makes us happy when we have a life partner. BUT

I got a dog recently

So now I am home all day, taking care of a dog, and doing work from home. I feel a bit 'dumber' ... is there something to it that being alone / isolated will stimulate the mind and lead you to more spiritual ends? when I didnt have a GF or dog I would be alone and suffer, back then life was a journey of self. During the time it sucked, but now I look at it fondly and almost with jealousy. maybe now I am more mature, have to take care of my dog, take care of my GF, so there's not much room for existential soul searching? I dunno, what is your expeirence? I am an introvert so maybe that makes a diff


Wow, I am pretty amazed that your dog somehow seems to take away from that kind of search. Its just that there is so much contrast in being there. Throw some Nietzsche and its almost inconceivable to me that your dog could be boring you - Well so long as you listen. Maybe ask the Iceman about that...

In general though, while its not an answer, I think solitude provides good contrast of being in itself, and I just don't understand how your new dog could actually impede on that. It should almost indefinitely bring your search into better focus. Put it this way; if you do your best communicate with him/her on the most subtle level, and it will be your best teacher between you and nature. Thats my take anyway.


--------------------
Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!

Edited by daytripper23 (09/02/09 10:45 PM)

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: daytripper23]
    #10989672 -

There is such a thing as over analyzing, and isolation seemingly increases the likelihood of bringing out the negative qualities associated with it.

Isolated or not, the closer one gets to truth, I believe, the more he or she will begin to realize that the truth varies, depending the the time, the place, and the individual.

Ironically, Siddhartha abandoned his communal/social/family life to discover the "Middle Way", which avoids extremism on either side--in our case, the balance between that of isolation and that of too much social interaction.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: Arden]
    #10989810 -

Right, it's all about oscillation. I've known a lot of solitude in the past few years but I'm not isolated.
I certainly feel more 'centered' and 'balanced' but I don't think there are stages of enlightenment; I'm either awake or I'm not.
There are many mystical states and stages of psychic development but Nibbana is beyond the scope of any subjective experience and can be recognized at any time.
Everybody has glimpses of 'true enlightenment' but disregard it immediately, most who awaken do so only temporarily, very few are permanently 'awake' or 'enlightened'.

Enlightenment is not waking up to reality it's more like reality wakes up from you, or so I hear.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: Middleman]
    #10990607 -

Haven't read but a few of the replies, but to answer your question.. yes, isolation caused by whatever reason (lack of responsibility in this case) causes a surge of thoughts.

Think about it this way, the less you have to think about.. the more you do think about.

The only reference I have to what I've said is an isolation tank which deprives you of all of your senses (touch,taste,smell,sight,sound) and forces you to be inside of your own head. It's been used as torture (probably just for extroverts) before even though the wiki entry doesn't say it.


--------------------
Take a bite out of reality :mushroom2:

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: ObscureThought]
    #10992014 -

Quote:
It's been used as torture (probably just for extroverts) before even though the wiki entry doesn't say it.


I just pictured locking up the loud asshole at the party in a closet, so that he must be alone with his thoughts for awhile.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: playapez]
    #10992247 -

playapez said:
I live alone and do so simply because I am on a quest for the Self - or whatever.

Recently, I've found the self easier to be with and I feel more comfortable sharing "it" or "my true self", the enlightened master, with everyone... gotta bring everyone up with me, as far as I'm concerned.  It's within each of us.

In my experience, it is pointless to be enlightened up on a mountain with no one to share your joy and misery with.  On the other hand, had I not climbed this mountain alone, I probably wouldn't have reached enlightenment....

One can only do it through personal practice, but once you realize, "Oh, I should just go with the flow and put out good vibes and watch the awesomeness that is life unfold before me," it is all for not if you cannot share that with someone else.

There is no lasting enlightenment without service.  Anyone can take a huge dose of some crazy pysches and be shown "the way", but good luck keeping that blissful peace if you're not willing to put in work and practice to integrate the knowledge into wisdom.  Part of that is being with people and other animals/plants and serving them in whatever way one can.

So to answer your original question - yes and no :smile:


would you be so kind to describe to me the types of services that you typically perform for others (be they people, plants, or animals...)?

thank you.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: playapez]
    #10996787 -

playapez said:
I live alone and do so simply because I am on a quest for the Self - or whatever.

Recently, I've found the self easier to be with and I feel more comfortable sharing "it" or "my true self", the enlightened master, with everyone... gotta bring everyone up with me, as far as I'm concerned.  It's within each of us.

In my experience, it is pointless to be enlightened up on a mountain with no one to share your joy and misery with.  On the other hand, had I not climbed this mountain alone, I probably wouldn't have reached enlightenment....

One can only do it through personal practice, but once you realize, "Oh, I should just go with the flow and put out good vibes and watch the awesomeness that is life unfold before me," it is all for not if you cannot share that with someone else.

There is no lasting enlightenment without service.  Anyone can take a huge dose of some crazy pysches and be shown "the way", but good luck keeping that blissful peace if you're not willing to put in work and practice to integrate the knowledge into wisdom.  Part of that is being with people and other animals/plants and serving them in whatever way one can.

So to answer your original question - yes and no :smile:


tl;dr

humans are social creatures


--------------------
The Great Mycelium (TGMM) is more than you and me, we are all part of One.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: percy]
    #10999238 -

does being isolated make you more enlightened?

i certainly wouldn't use the word enlightened..
but IME, when i am alone i tend to focus more
on the inner world than the outer world;
a scary thought for many, or so it seems.
i try to balance the two, but 'even moderation in moderation'..
from my point of view, the roots of most problems
facing humans today are internal, not external.

'People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul.' Carl Jung

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: abysmal]
    #10999524 -

I do enjoy isolation, although there are these moments where I begin to over-analyze my entire life.  It has it's place for me, but it has to be temporary.

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: paulie_walnuts1]
    #10999657 -

Can I add a little advice for the enlightenment seekers: enlightenment is a norm; there are so many "enlightened" people out there, I see them every day. This is because enlightenment isn't an unnatural or forced state, it is the intended state. We are all meant to know we are God, living in God's dream. Now what you really want is some proof, right? And so that's probably enlightenment for you; a single experience that will overcome all your doubts. Well, proof comes about through a change in consciousness, WITHOUT psychoactive drugs. One can see intuitively that they are dreaming, among many other things - that they are one with everything in all ways. There is actually a structure set up by God, if you will put it that way, which allows for many other things to come about such as telepathy, omniscience etc. through a 'growth' in your consciousness, so be looking for ways your consciousness can change, you have to learn how this comes about yourself. You will, however, find there are singular, passing experiences that can convince you of oneness and provide 'enlightenment'. These are impressive if you have them because there's a kind of kinship with the great monks and so on, but your natural consciousness knows what these experiences have to say already, you just have to get back to your natural consciousness after it has been trapped by the system you live in. Believe this: the system you live in has no idea and it's a mystery how the multitude survive.

Be prepared in your life to completely disregard everything you have been taught and to disregard everything that has happened in human history. It is a trap. You are a god.

In being a god, do not be afraid to be alone. In fact once you reach a desired state you will find being alone comes naturally and feels great.

I'm just saying this because I see myself, literally :wink:, in the younger ones here and I just want to save them some time.

Good luck guys.


--------------------

Wherever the hero may wander, whatever he may do, he is ever in the presence of his own essence — for he has the perfected eye to see. There is no separateness. Thus, just as the way of social participation may lead in the end to a realization of the All in the individual, so that of exile brings the hero to the Self in all.

joseph campbell


For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

jesus

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: curious mouse]
    #11002875 -

curious mouse said:
playapez said:
I live alone and do so simply because I am on a quest for the Self - or whatever.

Recently, I've found the self easier to be with and I feel more comfortable sharing "it" or "my true self", the enlightened master, with everyone... gotta bring everyone up with me, as far as I'm concerned.  It's within each of us.

In my experience, it is pointless to be enlightened up on a mountain with no one to share your joy and misery with.  On the other hand, had I not climbed this mountain alone, I probably wouldn't have reached enlightenment....

One can only do it through personal practice, but once you realize, "Oh, I should just go with the flow and put out good vibes and watch the awesomeness that is life unfold before me," it is all for not if you cannot share that with someone else.

There is no lasting enlightenment without service.  Anyone can take a huge dose of some crazy pysches and be shown "the way", but good luck keeping that blissful peace if you're not willing to put in work and practice to integrate the knowledge into wisdom.  Part of that is being with people and other animals/plants and serving them in whatever way one can.

So to answer your original question - yes and no :smile:


would you be so kind to describe to me the types of services that you typically perform for others (be they people, plants, or animals...)?

thank you.


Sure, but it may sound silly, and/or obvious.

I simply make time for friends and family.  I engage in conversation with full attention and when I see some pain in someone, I tune into it, breathe it in, and blow it away.  In this sense, I act as a guide to those who reveal to me they seek guidance.

This guidance comes in many forms, through story-telling, song, dance, drums... but most important in any method is the intention, and just letting go and going with the flow and the love.  I have helped many friends come to know themselves more completely through loving intentions... with and without the use of plant allies.

My "day job" is in the service industry, and with my intent/will/love I balance my work area and co-workers to create harmony in the workplace.  I would make tons more money if I focused on my own projects, and would be able to work only for myself, but I choose to work in the service industry because I enjoy it, and know it serves my path.

Plants - I simply take care of my houseplants.  I've studied the effects of talking to plants and determined without doubt that different tones/intentions directed at plants will produce different growth patterns.  I have posted about my experiments in this forum a few places.  So yes, I sit and talk with my plants as a service as well.

Hope these examples satisfy your curiosity.

Edited by playapez (09/05/09 04:26 AM)

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Re: does being isolated making you more enlightened? [Re: explosiveoxygen]
    #11002878 -

explosiveoxygen said:
playapez said:
I live alone and do so simply because I am on a quest for the Self - or whatever.

Recently, I've found the self easier to be with and I feel more comfortable sharing "it" or "my true self", the enlightened master, with everyone... gotta bring everyone up with me, as far as I'm concerned.  It's within each of us.

In my experience, it is pointless to be enlightened up on a mountain with no one to share your joy and misery with.  On the other hand, had I not climbed this mountain alone, I probably wouldn't have reached enlightenment....

One can only do it through personal practice, but once you realize, "Oh, I should just go with the flow and put out good vibes and watch the awesomeness that is life unfold before me," it is all for not if you cannot share that with someone else.

There is no lasting enlightenment without service.  Anyone can take a huge dose of some crazy pysches and be shown "the way", but good luck keeping that blissful peace if you're not willing to put in work and practice to integrate the knowledge into wisdom.  Part of that is being with people and other animals/plants and serving them in whatever way one can.

So to answer your original question - yes and no :smile:


tl;dr

humans are social creatures


So, you've learned that much... that we humans enjoy social interaction.  And you've also learned to speak. 

One day, you may learn to listen, and we'll come full circle  :smile:

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General Interest > Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology
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