steve

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Everything posted by steve

  1. Letting Go of Good and Bad

    I think Luke’s experience and direction of growth are related to wisdom, in particular the wisdom of equanimity and mirror-like wisdom. This can be a very elusive and challenging idea to the mind and is an area that often leads to frustration and disagreement. During such teachings it’s very common for people to bring up the most extreme examples to test the hypothesis. I think it is helpful to recognize this subject matter as occupying the boundary between the mind which judges and the mind’s nature, which has no argument with whatever arises (mirror-like wisdom). The nature of mind does not discriminate between murderer and saint, it is beyond good and evil such that both are a part of life’s experiences. Having a full realization of these aspects of wisdom is rare and I believe Luke’s comments to be an indication of becoming a bit more familiar with inhabiting this territory.
  2. Nothing has changed. Glad you found a way to make it work. As best I can tell the forum settings are optimal, not sure what else I can do to improve the situation. Sorry
  3. Letting Go of Good and Bad

    This subject is close to my heart. How do we value people, or other sentient beings for that matter? Is it based on intelligence, productivity, attractiveness? Is it based on how closely they are related to us or is it more transactional? I share your conclusion that life is innately precious and any system of ranking is arbitrary and more a reflection of the judge than of those being judged.
  4. @Gerard Nothing has changed in the forum software. Were you posting links or files saved on your machine? Not all 3rd party hosting sites and file types are compatible with the forum software. If links, please paste them here and tag me. Thanks PS - is it this link you are referring to from the other thread? https://ibb.co/VJW7NLH The host site, ibb.co, is not on the list of sites from which the forum software allows automatic image embedding. That may be the issue and cannot be changed. That said, I was able to post that image as a test and it automatically embedded. Don't know if that has to do with my level of permissions vs yours or not. I suggest you clear your browsing data and try again. Also, be a bit cautious with files hosted at ibb.co, there are reports of embedded malware in some of their hosted files.
  5. Current Events Discussion

    You should now have access. Enjoy
  6. Greetings Friends, The moderation team is committed to minimizing censorship and promoting a wide range of discussion here. We are not the arbiters of truth and do not have the time or expertise to vet technical claims and official narrative, or define what constitutes "conspiracy theory." We are here to facilitate civil debate and discussion on a wide range of topics. The primary mission of this site to host discussion related to Eastern spirituality. While the emotional challenges associated with current events can be a wonderful opportunity to engage in one's own personal and spiritual practice, more often such discussions deteriorate into argument. This has been having a negative effect on the board from a content and energetic perspective for several years now, understandably exacerbated by a global pandemic. While we don't want to ban discussion of important topics, we don't want the inevitable argumentation to drown out the board's primary focus, Eastern spirituality and personal development. Consequently, we have decided to create a new sub-forum in The Rabbit Hole labeled Current Events. This will be a private forum, viewable only by members in good standing who request access. All Covid, political, and other current events type threads not in PPDs will be moved there shortly. All future threads on Covid and current events of all types will be hosted in Current Events. Such discussions will also be permitted in PPDs. Current Events will also be an area the mods can use to sequester other contentious threads. Members that are drawn to such topics are invited to request access to use this private sub-forum, or PPD, provided they do so with mutual respect. Please note that all forum rules will apply. Those who come here to focus on spiritual dialogue and prefer to avoid the current events should find it a bit easier to do so by simply not requesting permission to access. In order to request access to this new Current Events café, please post a request for access here or send me a request by private message. You will need to have a post count of at least 50 to be granted access. It will take some time to migrate the threads, grant permissions, and workout any kinks that may arise so please be patient. We sincerely hope this small adjustment will facilitate productive discussion in a way that is supportive to as many members as possible. Thank you for your cooperation!
  7. If you look at the number of spiritual practitioners in the history of our world and the number of verified enlightened human beings, living or "dead," I think it is equally true to say "the probability of attaining enlightenment WITH the help of an enlightened master is near zero." This might belong in the Unpopular Opinions threads but it seems relevant here - Enlightenment does not exist outside of the mind. It is a wonderful and exciting idea that is easy to conceptualize. It can be great for motivation, for finding security, and for defining our personal metaphysics. There are many of us who have experiences of freedom, clarity, and opening of the heart/mind to varying degrees, and these experiences can be unbelievably profound and transformative, but it is the mind that creates and grasps at a condition or ideal of human or spiritual perfection. While we may point to this or that person, historical or living, and claim they are evidence of our idea of enlightenment, no one can know the level of attainment, or lack thereof, for anyone other than themselves. I don't exclude the possibility that a condition, or the unconditioned, exists that may align with how some of us conceptualize "enlightenment" but I question how useful it is to objectify and grasp at such an idea as an objective or support. In the Bön dzogchen teachings, enlightenment is considered a dissolution of body, speech, and mind into the 5 elemental lights. How useful is it for me to focus on dissolving into light? So far for me, not very. While it is good to have some idea of the big picture relating to my spiritual practice, I find it far more supportive to look at my own personal condition and how that is affected by my choices and practices on a day to day basis. Whatever "enlightenment" may be, I do not believe that anyone or any tradition has the key, has cheat codes, or a monopoly anymore than I believe that any one of the ~ 3,000 religions of the world have had the one precise and correct concept of "god" and how to approach and commune with Her. Consequently, while teachers, teachings, and transmissions may be helpful for many, they are not exclusive, only supportive. If we choose to follow a particular tradition, I do think a personal relationship with someone experienced in the paradigm and methods is better than trying to figure it out on our own through books. We each need to find our own path in this life and I think it is useful to keep an open mind and heart and to begin to trust in the subtle inner knowledge that only comes to light when we are still, quiet, and open enough.
  8. Intra ocular pressure

    Here is a study on some commonly used remedies and the bibliography should be useful. It is biased towards Western medical paradigm so take that into consideration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7309662/
  9. Current Events Discussion

    You should now have access. Enjoy
  10. Current Events Discussion

    It was started when feathers were getting ruffled during Covid as a way to preserve some freedom of discussion without polluting the other forums. Access available, you just need to ask. All political discussion is limited to that area. Enter at your own risk but forum rules still apply.
  11. No more right-wing bullshit.

    The developing tangent was moved to the Current Events forum as requested -
  12. I really appreciate your sharing. I’d like to offer my perspective on the subtle point of “deepening” of “non-dual perception or understanding” fwiw. I propose that deepening, understanding, and perception are unrelated to non-duality but are related to the self, as the nature of mind is beyond all such concepts and is unimputable. What this sense of deepening of understanding and perception represents is the continual release of subtle remnants of self, which are never completely gone in this lifetime with, perhaps, very rare exception. Even when we feel free of the constraints of self, it is there in increasingly subtle forms. It is that very release of these myriad aspects of self which give rise to the equally varied experiences of awakening. Just my $.02, ymmv.
  13. While waiting for Mark to respond, here are books and websites that offer guidance in stretching to achieve lotus. One of my fav books is Becoming the Lotus by Martin Faulks. Here is a brief video guide - The key is patience and perseverence. Good luck!
  14. More Unpopular Opinions

    My “Eiffel Tower” was once in the Guinness Book of World Records! The librarian made me take it out
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  15. In the beginning was disorientation, my sense of "reality" was tickled by entheogens and reading Castaneda excited my spiritual curiosity. Later, the horrors of Rwanda and Yugoslavia caused me to investigate what humanity means and helped me to begin looking for purpose. A transmission through the writings of Jiddu Krishnamurti, got me to orient - to actively turn the light around, to look at my own condition, my subjective experience and interpretation of it. To see that I need to actually do the work rather than think and talk about it. To see the primacy of my personal perception in creating reality and to investigate and ultimately broaden that into empathy based on perspective. Anthony Demello's admonishment to WAKE UP. To be aware of my own patterns, drives, and tendency to label experience rather than open to it. To be aware in order to give oneself the possibility of choice, expressing values rather than conditioning. And Ramana and Nisargadatta who reminded me to continually ask 'who/what is this sense of I?' with perseverance and openness. From the precision of attention and transformation of Daoist practice to the simple suggestion of the Bönpo to "leave it as it is." To simply being here, sharing this path and experience with all of you and to continue to observe and learn and course correct when I stray.
  16. More Unpopular Opinions

    I once read of a koan in which the master demanded the pupil pull the Eiffel Tower [sic] out of their pocket! The pupil was enlightened on the spot.
  17. More Unpopular Opinions

    A potentially unpopular opinion - There has never been, nor will there ever be, any separation in any sense between wuji, taiji, and their limitless manifestations. All such distinctions are inaccurate yet useful for purposes of analysis and discussion.
  18. Is there an east/west schism

    I read a very powerful autobiography called The Falcon by John Tanner. It gives a first hand account of what it was like living as a hunter gatherer in the Great Lakes region in the late 18th century. Highly recommended.
  19. Know thyself

    It was spontaneous and unexpected. It was also preceded and succeeded by lots of reading, energy practices, martial arts, meditation, self-investigation, even entheogens, 
 so many things going back to ‘my’ beginning that I can see connected to the web and can’t point to one thing or a particular group of things really. Ultimately it’s a perspective, nothing more or less.
  20. Spiritual arrogance and it's pitfall

    And it can come in many sizes, shapes, and flavors. It can be obvious or extremely subtle. Me too, and likely will again... I just want to take a moment and say that it's really nice to have you active lately, @idiot_stimpy. The subject matter of your threads and sincerity of your posts have inspired me to engage a bit more in discussion. Thank you
  21. My experience is one of many voices, many identities that are present in relation to whatever circumstances are present. Some are bold and clumsy, obviously rooted in patterns of conditioning and a slave to mundane desires and aversions. Others are far more subtle and sophisticated. They are more difficult to discern and thus can give the false impression of wisdom. For me, there is no single "true inner voice" that I have identified. In my experience, any voice is related to concept and language and is necessarily a product of conditioning. The true inner voice, or nature as I prefer to label it, is non-verbal. Connecting with this nature is not a matter of choosing between voices but more one of allowing all voices that arise to come and go without engagement, connecting instead to the openness and silence. Action is based on trust in the openness rather than trust in an inner voice. This distinction is subtle and possibly semantic but it's interesting for me to observe and explore this inner landscape and the ambiguous labels we attach to it for purposes of understanding and communication.
  22. Spotting a fake master

    I appreciate the words of support. I’m doing fine and so as not to raise any alarm, this doesn’t involve any of my teachers. Some friends have been hurt and my role was mostly consultative. I appreciate the kintsukoroi metaphor, a truly beautiful art. And the process of healing is also beautiful if we are open to it. As silent thunder has stated so well, it is our wounds that open us to what is, the cracks that let the light in (Leonard Cohen). My own spiritual path started as a result of deep trauma and don’t expect to remain unscathed on this Earth, as comfortable and appealing as that might be. PS - the painting is magnificent!