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 dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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 The search for IT 
#8627534 - 07/12/08 11:20 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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For as long as I've been alive and can remember, my life has been about some sort of search. Sometimes the search is more obvious and sometimes more subtle. And it seems like nearly everyone I've ever met is in the midst of a similar search. There are so many things to search for: enlightenment, knowledge, wisdom, peace, love, pleasure, sex, existence, non-existence, possessions, validation, fame, wealth, and the list goes on and on.
It's as if there's always some sort of carrot dangling in front of our faces, and we're an ass, endlessly chasing one carrot after another, trying to finally get THERE. Wherever 'there' is, it's definitely not here. There's got to be some thing bigger, better...something that will finally provide lasting satisfaction and fulfillment out there.
But not here.
Maybe if I turn on the TV I'll find it...
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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blewmeanie
 
Registered: 10/01/06
Posts: 28,984
Loc: 
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 Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8627573 - 07/12/08 11:33 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Maybe you arent actually chasing anything. Maybe you're just trying to catch your balance.
What's the difference between running and falling?
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deranger
Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 6,840
Loc: off the wall
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8627596 - 07/12/08 11:38 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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There's got to be some thing bigger, better...something that will finally provide lasting satisfaction and fulfillment out there.
But not here.
why come?
here is the only place to be
try a vipasanna retreat
when "there" dissolves, here grows big... top it off with a big dose and it expands even more, better than any thing I could wish for
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 PhanTomCat
Teh Cat....
Registered: 09/07/04
Posts: 5,908
Loc: My Youniverse....
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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 Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8627600 - 07/12/08 11:39 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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"It" is ultimately the search for the "self", and the search for the self's "place" (home) in the universe....
It is a balancing act, that seems perpetually out of balance in some way or another (IMO)....
It's like trying to see your own face without a reflective surface or other external means....
>^;;^<
--------------------
I'll be your midnight French Fry.... 
"The most important things in life that are often ignored, are the things that one cannot see...."
>^;;^<
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PhanTomCat
Teh Cat....
Registered: 09/07/04
Posts: 5,908
Loc: My Youniverse....
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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 Re: The search for IT [Re: blewmeanie]
#8627608 - 07/12/08 11:42 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
blewmeanie said:
Maybe you arent actually chasing anything. Maybe you're just trying to catch your balance.
DaMMiT, beat me to the punch.... 
>^;;^<
--------------------
I'll be your midnight French Fry....
"The most important things in life that are often ignored, are the things that one cannot see...."
>^;;^<
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Re: The search for IT [Re: deranger]
#8627683 - 07/13/08 12:09 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
SyntheticMInd said:
here is the only place to be
I was here once. Then I went there. Let me tell you, the grass is much greener over here. 
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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WhiskeyClone
Not here
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8627704 - 07/13/08 12:15 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
dblaney said:
Wherever 'there' is, it's definitely not here. There's got to be some thing bigger, better...something that will finally provide lasting satisfaction and fulfillment out there.
But not here.
It has to be here. There is no there. Look for it here.
--------------------
Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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deranger
Registered: 01/21/08
Posts: 6,840
Loc: off the wall
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8627723 - 07/13/08 12:23 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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I was here once. Then I went there. Let me tell you, the grass is much greener over here.
the grass is always greener over there, into the here...
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8628503 - 07/13/08 08:17 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
dblaney said:
For as long as I've been alive and can remember, my life has been about some sort of search. Sometimes the search is more obvious and sometimes more subtle. And it seems like nearly everyone I've ever met is in the midst of a similar search. There are so many things to search for: enlightenment, knowledge, wisdom, peace, love, pleasure, sex, existence, non-existence, possessions, validation, fame, wealth, and the list goes on and on.
It's as if there's always some sort of carrot dangling in front of our faces, and we're an ass, endlessly chasing one carrot after another, trying to finally get THERE. Wherever 'there' is, it's definitely not here. There's got to be some thing bigger, better...something that will finally provide lasting satisfaction and fulfillment out there.
But not here.
Maybe if I turn on the TV I'll find it...
This is a great question IMO. I have struggled with it all my life. I now suspect that lasting fulfillment may not be part of an existence that is temporary. We strive for total and lasting fulfillment because we cannot handle the impermanence of our being and personality structure. The problem is within and not without.
--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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WhiskeyClone
Not here
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
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Re: The search for IT [Re: Icelander]
#8628592 - 07/13/08 09:06 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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IMO there is no need to make fulfillment last. You don't need to be fulfilled later. To need to be fulfilled later is to be unfulfilled now.
Come to terms with now, and make a habit of it. There is nothing out there to acquire or achieve, life has no cure.
--------------------
Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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truekimbo2
Cya later, friends.
Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 9,234
Loc: ny
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the famous it.
i don't know what "it" is, but i feel it out there
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You can check the last post in my journal for contact info.
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backfromthedead
Activated
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 3,592
Last seen: 15 years, 8 months
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Re: The search for IT [Re: truekimbo2]
#8629026 - 07/13/08 11:39 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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My search was purely one of questing for information.
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Quote:
WhiskeyClone said:
IMO there is no need to make fulfillment last. You don't need to be fulfilled later. To need to be fulfilled later is to be unfulfilled now.
Come to terms with now, and make a habit of it. There is nothing out there to acquire or achieve, life has no cure.
I guess there are no carrots dangling in front of your face. 
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Re: The search for IT [Re: Icelander]
#8629220 - 07/13/08 12:37 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Icelander said:
This is a great question IMO. I have struggled with it all my life. I now suspect that lasting fulfillment may not be part of an existence that is temporary. We strive for total and lasting fulfillment because we cannot handle the impermanence of our being and personality structure. The problem is within and not without.
Well put. So then if the problem is within, what is the solution?
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8629239 - 07/13/08 12:41 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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There is none IMO. We are finite and long for the infinite. It's a price we pay for being what we are. Some say we are already infinite and don't realize it. That may be true, but the fact of our illusion is built into our structure consciously and unconsciously. We can tell ourselves we are infinite all day long and yet the organism won't go there at the unconscious level. We can tell ourselves we will die and the same applies it seems.
--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.
" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.
With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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WhiskeyClone
Not here
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8629471 - 07/13/08 01:58 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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I see dangling carrots all the time, but whenever one looks like salvation or enlightenment, I don't trust the impulse to grasp at it. If there's anything that will give me fulfillment, it isn't some root vegetable in the future.
--------------------
Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Re: The search for IT [Re: Icelander]
#8629486 - 07/13/08 02:01 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but it really sounds like what you're articulating is a very fatalistic view. We're finite, limited, temporary beings. We will never find total fulfillment, we will never connect with anything bigger than ourselves, we will never fully grok our own end, we will simply run around in endless circles, forever, so deal with it. Is that a fair description of what you're saying?
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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Ginseng1
Elegant Universe
Registered: 09/02/04
Posts: 3,310
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8629533 - 07/13/08 02:23 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
dblaney said:
For as long as I've been alive and can remember, my life has been about some sort of search. Sometimes the search is more obvious and sometimes more subtle. And it seems like nearly everyone I've ever met is in the midst of a similar search. There are so many things to search for: enlightenment, knowledge, wisdom, peace, love, pleasure, sex, existence, non-existence, possessions, validation, fame, wealth, and the list goes on and on.
It's as if there's always some sort of carrot dangling in front of our faces, and we're an ass, endlessly chasing one carrot after another, trying to finally get THERE. Wherever 'there' is, it's definitely not here. There's got to be some thing bigger, better...something that will finally provide lasting satisfaction and fulfillment out there.
But not here.
Maybe if I turn on the TV I'll find it...
Ah, you speak of arrival.
Sometimes I find myself arriving. Sometimes it is after a good love-making session. Soemtimes after a really good workout at the gym. Or sometimes it is just laying down in bed listening to some great music. Last night at the bar, I laughed so hard I almost shat myself. All these experiences are great and have been perpetuating my life for some years now, among other things ofcourse!
I usually feel like I have found the things which I have always been looking for when I arrive at these pleasures. I cannot describe in words what it is exactly what I am looking for, but I sure know I feel like I have temporarily 'found' things.
I do not agree that what we are truly looking for cannot be found 'here'. Like Bob the alien said, "If God exists in this universe, then God exists in all possible universes." In the context of this thread, this means that if there is anything to be found in any of this chaotic swirling star soup, if can certainly be found here. 'Here' is not apart from anything else, it only appears to be so. We are already there. We have already arrived! I think the trick is becoming aware of your awareness of your constant arrival. Because we never left. We just want to believe that we have because we would get bored after billions of years. That, or we are made to believe that we have left and found something that is much too far from us, but that is because we are just so god damned busy with work and interdependencies that forces us to pay attention to the more mundane realities of this world. If only all of us could attend to what really matters and what really has substance, that which tickles the sould and lets us know that we have indeed found what it is we are looking for.
And that is to do nothing more than to experience!
--------------------
Flowing through beginningless time since time without beginning...
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Rahz
Alive Again
Registered: 11/10/05
Posts: 9,334
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Re: The search for IT [Re: dblaney]
#8629537 - 07/13/08 02:26 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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>>>>we will simply run around in endless circles, forever, so deal with it.
The "it" that you are looking for is you. You are it. You are that. You are the here and the there. It is a realization, a discovery, (self-realization, self-discovery). Once that's done, there is learning still, but the carrot is no longer important.
"Dealing with it", is learning to ignore the ego. So, the illusion goes on, but there's no need for that feeling of running in endless circles.
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free."
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Re: The search for IT [Re: Rahz]
#8629556 - 07/13/08 02:36 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Rahz said:
>>>>we will simply run around in endless circles, forever, so deal with it.
The "it" that you are looking for is you.
How do you know this?
--------------------
"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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