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MarkostheGnostic
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Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 14,279
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 3 years, 2 days
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Re: Spiritual for the wrong reasons? [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#22020774 - 07/30/15 04:42 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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I was not here before my current birth. I will not be here after my upcoming death. Barely a blip in the stream of geologic and prehistoric time. 13.3 billion years behind my birth, unknown aeons ahead of my death. For all intent and purpose, I do not exist - for very long. If I predecease my wife, she will be the only human who would save the ashes of my mortal remains. When I suggested buying a cool Tibetan stupa-shaped urn she said, who would take possession of it? This all pertains to my existence as a historical entity - ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
So, what are we, treasured Eternal Ideas in the Mind of God that manifest as uniquely and briefly as every snowflake there has ever been, but remain somehow an Eternal Idea? Are we like every rain puddle that reflects the light of the sun or moon until it evaporates and ceases to exist, reflecting awareness that was never really our own possession but borrowed from God Who IS Awareness? Are we no more than impersonal members of a common ant colony that are crushed out of existence by the rolling passage of time? Are we gods or are we worms? The Bible says both in different places.
Better on my last nerves to practice dissociating, dis-identifying with my existence, and identifying with Being as prescribed by Eckhart Tolle and reified by some of my more profound psychedelic experiences wherein ego-death took place. Nevertheless, I will go back to reading William Barrett's book Irrational Man, before I see the new Woody Allen film entitled, Irrational Man. Quite possibly, Woody has appropriated the title of this very readable introduction to Existentialism. It was recommended to me by a former professor of philosophy with whom I have reconnected recently, and who was a student of William Barrett decades ago. You see, we must be able to embrace Samsara on equal terms with Nirvana - Existence and Being - simultaneously. Form and Formlessness, "Byss and Abyss" as Jacob Boehme put it. "No matter, never mind. No mind, never matter." - BE HERE NOW
-------------------- γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
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Hypnotoad420
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Registered: 05/27/15
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Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Tbh. Pink Floyd said it best. Cliché or whatever I don't care
All you TOUCH All you SEE Is all your LIFE Will ever BE.
Experience brings spiritualty but being spiritual does not bring experience, that is just who we really are shining through in a way we commonly identify with but shining through none the less. Personally, most people I feel if I mentioned anything metaphysical/spiritual to would have me ostracized and think I was straight from the looney bin so the fact he might be lucky enough IN THIS LIFE to actually wake up as people like to call it then damn that's great for him man and hopefully this girl shows him himself in ways he could never have without meeting her;so it could be his own realization manifesting and synchronizing to his reality. EXPERIENCE. without it there is nothing you should put your faith in without first having DIRECT FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE, and never judge the experience of another because then you are just ego sword fighting and that is not good for anyone, sure some things you can take for granted that other people have figured out or failed at or killed themselves over but nothing is so untrue when it comes to your own self and who you really are and what you really are because we are all different but we are all the same. 
Don't be confused by your ego for its not its fault its ours ultimately but more sinister I believe society obviously in my eyes feeds the ego every chance it gets from shit garbage food, television, media, religion, schools, and just about every other avenue where you are told what to think, eat, do, wear, feel, etc. Our ego is doing what it does to survive so its up to us to reprogram ourselves and align ourselves with all of our realities and all of our selves not the illusionary/disempowering ones being projected on us. EASIER SAID THEN DONE.
Be the change you want to see in the world - Buddha
Namaste.
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Ajahn Don
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Registered: 07/05/15
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Loc: The buckle of the Bible belt
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Re: Spiritual for the wrong reasons? [Re: Jokeshopbeard] 1
#22023274 - 07/31/15 07:03 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jokeshopbeard said:
Quote:
Ajahn Don said: There is no self. When you can fully grasp it, and accept it, life gets better.
Could you expand on this please Ajahn? This is a concept I have been wrestling with for some time, and I know that sometimes a few words from someone is all it takes to move ones understanding forward significantly.
I have recently found myself able to tap in to what feels to me like a universal consciousness, but I'm still very much trapped in the world of self. I'm sure there's a way to transcend this, I suspect by disciplined meditation practice which I perform every day, however I just can't 'grasp' it.. perhaps the problem is one of trying!
I'm not sure I can explain it to another person.
1. One day in robes while doing walking meditation, I realized "who am I?" Who was breathing? Who was watching? Who was watching the watching of the breathing? Which was me? At the time it seemed very profound, even if it sounds silly when I repeat it. It just made sense.
2. When I was a monk, one day I realized I had NO needs. I had shelter, clothing, and food--all provided for me. I had no fear of loss. Everything else was want. It was just my mind messing with me. (Recently I read a book which blew my mind completely. Highly recommended. Sapiens, a brief history of mankind. Amazing.) We as animals have the need to survive and the need to pass on our genes. Period. Everything else is a construct. Whatever is consciousness, it is only perception. Wants drive us far more than need.
3. There is no fixed, permanent self. There is only this moment. The future and the past do not exist anywhere in the Universe. Just this moment. What I perceive at this moment is "who I am." There is no ego to defend. In a moment, everything will be different, and I'll adapt to that. No worries. Just see it all for what it is, and relax.
We make so much out of all this. It seems so important. When one realizes it isn't, that it's all in our minds, and that through meditation the voice in our heads isn't who we are, it just is so much easier. I have less confusion. I have far less worry. The sooner I let go of emotion and realize this moment is impermanent, I come back to serenity. Pain is inevitable, but suffering isn't. That's what I mean when I say it gets easier. If I take 3 mindful breaths, I return to equanimity, which should be the goal of my meditation practice, nothing more.
One thing that needs to be addressed. Letting go does not mean not caring. Once one lets go of the negative, the hate and anger and despair, there is more room for love and compassion and joy. There is no question that an absence of self releases ambition and greed from the picture. Morality becomes very simple--Do Not Cause Suffering.
We desperately want answers to the big questions, but there aren't any Universal Answers to Universal Questions. There is only this moment. The answers are individual and unique. We want "happily ever after." Impermanence. If there is nothing permanent, then there is going to be suffering and recovery. How quickly does the suffering pass? For me, in a moment.

Namasakan
Ajahn Don
I told you it's hard to explain! lol
-------------------- "He's not altogether dense, but he's not altogether there."
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