roger

There's something I was thinking about, when it comes to wisdom and succeeding on the path. Something I feel that I've done very well, but only in certain areas of my life, and definitely not in others, is trying to make the right choice and do the right thing when conventional wisdom, or when one's natural inclination, would be to make an unloving choice. The thing is that it's those situations that are often our most important choices. An area of life in which I've done this well is in being giving. (btw I'm not being egocentric by saying this, just using myself as an example) I almost always give fives, twenties, or hundreds of dollars at a time to every homeless person I see. You see, there's a unique form of wisdom in that. I reason that they need the money, and to me it's not a huge deal to rid myself of that money, so, as a matter of logic, I give the money to them. Another thing is that, if everyone did that, think about how much better the world would be. So I see it as kind of a "higher" kind of wisdom to give so much. But when it comes to letting go, I feel that I've been very stubborn, and at the risk of sounding judgmental towards myself, even somewhat cowardly. I've always had this bad habit of hanging on to everything, never letting go, constantly obsessing, moment after moment, throughout my life. It's as though I really was AFRAID to let go and just BE. But that's illogical! Reason, wisdom, self-honesty, would let go. I know that's what I need to do, so I just have to be brave enough to do it. I feel that there comes a point when you have a choice, to jump or not to jump, and you just have to have the guts to do what you know is right.

Maybe the only thing necessary to walk any particular path is the will to do so. If you don't want to you won't; if you do, you will. Succeeding on a given path is another matter, and usually requires sincere devotion and commitment.

The key is in ALLOWING oneself to heal, to let go, to be at peace, to love, forgive, succeed, etc. Spiritual experience, in whatever form is appropriate given the circumstances, will happen automatically and naturally if it is simply allowed.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Karl. I love you man, you're beautiful.

Shad282, My sister once told me about a college class in which the teacher asked, "God is good, God is all-powerful, why is there evil?" Why would the Universe, God, or any loving power want all the suffering there is on earth? Here's my opinion. The divine plan is for TOTAL spiritual experience. All That Is wants to FULLY experience love, joy, truth, hope, strength, healing - ALL good things. Without anger, there would be no such thing as forgiveness; without sickness, there couldn't be healing; without ignorance, there wouldn't be any such thing as learning or growth. Without ALL possible experiences, All That Is couldn't FULLY experience all good things, therefore all possibilities exist.

I agree that anyone can walk a spiritual path, and I think there's a few rules of thumb that one must follow if they're to succeed. 3bob's suggestion that honesty, mainly self-honesty, is necessary, is right on imo. There has to be a fundamental integrity, a love, an honesty, or the individual will miss the point of "spirituality" and won't truly succeed. I just think that it's possible to have a foundation of integrity in life that is necessary for people whether they're interested in spiritual matters or not. But when it comes to spirituality, it's a must imo. This basic integrity is important but not absolutely necessary for other life paths. For example, if one is a professional musician, having a strong value system would be helpful, but not of utmost importance.

Smallsteps, My only caution would be to practice magic responsibly and never unethically. If you put a curse on someone to get revenge, you've just committed spiritual suicide imo. If you want a certain person as a sexual partner, and you cast a spell to get them, you've sacrificed your power. I feel that there are wiser, more self-loving ways to empower oneself and to manifest desires than magic, but that's just my personal preference, and it's definitely true imo that magic is the right path for some people. Follow your heart, follow your bliss, do what gives you peace and joy. One more thing is that, for some people, magic is a phase they go through and learn from. I'm sure there are many valuable lessons that can be learned from it.

Orion, Do what FEELS good, what gives you joy. The non-physical entity Abraham says that we have an "emotional guidance system" - which is how we feel. If you take a moment and ask yourself how a possible choice FEELS, you can know if it's a good choice. The wisest choices are the ones that feel GREAT - they give you peace, joy, and a sense of security and well-being.

Hi TI. I respect what you're saying, but many people have had great results from practicing TM. If you judge a technique by its effects, it's hard to deny its effectiveness. Nine months after I started practicing TM, I easily made the following changes: I quit deliberately thinking (I use the word deliberately because I still had thoughts, but I had a meditative mind all throughout the day), I became a vegetarian, I quit smoking, quit drinking, stopped pacing around my house as a way of dealing with stress, stopped driving my car around town at night as an escape, quit consuming caffeine, gave up all forms of sexual pleasure (I wouldn't even look at women sexually), changed my sleeping habits, stopped cussing, started keeping my room clean, and stopped listening to the radio (not that there's anything wrong with listening to the radio - I just felt that it usually robbed me of my peace). I made all of these changes with very little effort. I doubt that I would have been able to do it without the help of TM, but in total honesty, I do admit that it's possible - I just think very unlikely.

I believe it's quite possible to consider oneself a Christian and a Taoist simultaneously, DEPENDING on what one's beliefs are. If a person is a fundamentalist or evangelical Christian, and also a Taoist, they might need to examine their belief system. I can tell you with certainty that most evangelical Christian pastors would consider Taoism to be satanic and a perversion of the real truth. I'm not trying to stir up any conflict or arguments. But the OP suggested that Hinduism might be "the devil's religion" - and indeed, a true evangelical, who believes that if one doesn't accept Jesus as their savior they'll go to hell forever, most likely does believe that. I'm not judging Christianity. I'm just saying that it depends on one's exact point of view. Veezel, my suggestion to you is to figure out exactly what you believe.

You just need to figure out what you believe. Get on a journey, a search for the truth. You see, it's all about what's really true. Is there really an eternal hell? Is, as you suggested possible, Hinduism really from the devil? Figure out what you really and truly, honestly believe.

I think part of the purpose of becoming more aware, of acknowledging your faults and errors and weaknesses, is so we can forgive and accept them. If a person is very aware, but isn't accepting and forgiving of what they're aware of, it can lead to all kinds of problems, including psychosis. Two non-physical entities said, "The way you overcome your defenses is by FORGIVING YOURSELF for them," and, "You can change when you no longer see any NEED to change." The purpose of becoming aware of your problems and weaknesses isn't just to see all the work you need to do, or even just to gain insight and self-knowledge (although that's one purpose of it imo). Seeing ourselves clearly and recognizing conflicts and agendas gives us the opportunity to forgive ourselves and deepen our self-acceptance. I think it's wise to look upon ourselves and observe the activity of our minds - but don't JUDGE what you see....know that it's OKAY and accept and forgive it!

I thought about this teaching tonight, and I wanted to post about it here, because it seems very relevant to the times we live in. This was one of Krishnamurti's most significant teachings and he considered it to be of utmost importance. His idea was that intelligence is basically the capacity to think objectively, honestly. People usually "see what they want to see," believe what they want to believe, whatever serves their personal agendas. Consider the evangelical Christian apologist movement. The entire point of apologetics is the honest, objective, logical pursuit of truth. But are the Christian apologists really and truly, objectively inquiring into truth? Krishnamurti might say they haven't had the "awakening of intelligence," which is the deep realization of truly objective inquiry. The bottom line is that one can simply believe whatever "suits" them, because they WANT to believe it, or they can TRULY inquire and find the truth that honesty and objectivity lead them to. Is believing in creationism rather than evolution truly honest? Or is it believing whatever supports one's perspective because one wants to believe it?

Thanks, Karl. Peace.

I took a sociology class once, and the first day, the teacher asked us to make a list defining who we were. My list included things like, "consciousness, energy, love." The teacher asked people to read from their list. "I am a student." "I am a Christian." "I am a non-smoker." When it was my turn, "I am energy." Everybody gave me strange looks.

I've read some very negative things about "Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya" on amazon. One guy said it gave him problems and that it doesn't teach true kriya yoga. "Kriya Secrets Revealed" by J.C. Stevens is supposed to be much better from what I've heard. But then again, I'm not speaking from my own experience, that's just what others have said.

That's what I meant exactly.

You're "awesome" because you're the Self, because you're divine, you're Buddha-nature. I feel that we should identify with and see ourselves as we are in ultimate reality, in absolute truth. The real truth is you're perfect, entirely worthy, and wholly guilty of nothing, and infinite love and power exist within you. Don't believe that you, or that anyone, isn't awesome. If we believe appearances, then yes, we seem highly imperfect and some may even seem very unloving. But imperfection and lack of love are ONLY appearances, only ILLUSIONS. Just trying to help.

We unconsciously create blockages as a defense against our divine reality. That's just looking at it from one angle, but there are other, equally valid ways to see it also imo.

Thanks! The truth is I'm not too sure about what I said about others' negative energy not being able to hurt you. I haven't studied or thought much about it so I can't really say I feel sure about my comments. A lesson in ACIM is, "In my defenselessness my safety lies." I thought about this lesson and felt that it could be applied to protecting oneself from negative energy. In other words, don't TRY, just be defenseless and natural, and don't see it as a real threat. Again, I've never fully looked into this until now, but this is what I'm feeling atm. As I said in my other post, I could easily be mistaken.

For having a strong energy or presence, let go of fear, and open your heart to love. The more free you are of fear, the stronger and more powerful you'll be. To free yourself from fear, you have to look upon it and accept it. When you acknowledge and recognize it with an attitude of acceptance, and you know that it's OKAY that you have it, it will lose its power over you. I kind of feel that others' negative energy can't hurt you. I don't see it as a real problem, but one could imagine it's a problem and make it SEEM like one, based on their belief that it is. Far more of a threat to people is THEIR OWN negative energy and emotions. That's just my opinion, but I acknowledge I could easily be mistaken.

I just wanted to add something about fruits and vegetables, and why I consider it so important to include them in one's diet. I'm sure many of you here already know this. The value of fruits and vegetables lies far more in what dietitians and scientists can't measure than what they can. It's not the vitamins you're getting, but the "life force," the utterly positive, loving energy they have. Try eating a large amount of fruits or vegetables for one meal, and observe the spiritual effect it has on you. You'll probably notice an immediate change in your energy and mood, you'll feel uplifted and positive. I've noticed that effect on myself many times after consuming large amounts.

I've experimented with exercise many times, and I always find that it has a kind of hardening effect on me. It tends to make my energy very masculine, very tough. But, I do feel that for many people, exercise is very important. Just as meditation is right for some and not right for others, the same is true for exercise imo. For physical health (which affects emotional and mental health), I eat fruit and get a lot of protein. Doing those things makes my physical energy stronger. It gives me vitality and strength. Btw protein of course can help build muscle, but it can give one mental and emotional strength as well. At least that's been my experience. I also think physical exercise can help one develop chi and spiritual strength.

A very important question is, what is "chi"? I believe that, ultimately, love is all there really is. If chi exists, then, it would be love. I've felt that love, that chi, very many times. It doesn't happen as much these days, but for many years, for about a decade almost every day, I felt these explosions of intense love for other people within me. I see it as an experience of my divine nature. So yes, I believe it's very possible to feel "chi," which is love. I'll tell you a good way to release the love that ALREADY exists within you. There are blocks in people to the love that is the source and reality of their being. Those blocks can be released fairly easily and naturally through effortless meditation. Two techniques that are very good for releasing blocks to love are non-meditation and mantra meditation. Non-meditation is done by just sitting there, not "trying" at all. It's like when you're driving your car. Just BE. Just let thoughts come and go without effort. Be like an animal. That's why I call it NON-meditation. For mantra meditation, it's the same as non-meditation, but you're repeating a mantra. One of the best mantras is, "I am." Just repeat the mantra. Let thoughts come and go on their own. Don't TRY. It's so simple and easy. I feel that these two techniques are very helpful in releasing blocks to love, or chi, because those blocks will NATURALLY get released when you're not trying at all. Releasing blocks happens effortlessly, naturally, and even automatically, when you're just being free, being natural.

Have fun and do your best. Put your whole heart into it. I attended a retreat once and gave it my all, and I did have the breakthrough I wanted, which was the whole reason I attended in the first place. What you put in is what you get out.