C T

Fi-re: two syllables? Wiki says aye, dic.com/websters says nay.... .... .... .... the matter of hearts thirteen in a deck of cards jokers can be wild...

creating desire in the midst of desires sure to kill fire...

Could this be the same story i wonder? http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/Stories/cucumber.html (just curious..)

Sometimes debates are used here (where we are, in the relative realms of existence) to clear mental blockages, and also to make us question some of the conditioned boundaries inherent in most, if not all of us. Of course with the ultimate aim (for some) to arrive at a view of the Self as you have suggested here. What you speak of is a relationship from the level of the Absolute, whereas most of what is discussed here is relative, and relatively applicable (or not). It can be hard to ignore the relative just so one can maintain the view of the Absolute at all times. Of course it would be most ideal if one has attained to that level of 'resting in suchness', but until then, the goal of understandings and insights will still have to depend on conventional communicative means. You may or may not see it this way. If not, then you must be one of the few individuals who can rest in constant samadhi then. That would be simply wonderful, 3Bob, to say the least.

No wonder you are always 'peace and love'! Very nice. Lucky you MH. Must be quite a challenge to still the mind for those who live right next to the busy rail lines. Any handy recommendations for folks there?

why do you want more? when less is so much more fun! Space to invert time...

Thanks for sharing. I see you are in a 'good' place Effilang.

Thank you. Clear.

Greetings Xabir! Would be great to hear an elaboration on this Self - is it some kind of supreme consciousness thing, the one that Dwai mentions so often? Thanks!

(choke splutter cough!! ) benzene, sweat, blood, tears a potent mixture indeed indestructible...

(that's because, and only because you are twisted and owledgeable.. ) Seriously though, that sounds very big-hearted and noble, unless of course your aim was a last-ditch attempt to placate the mice in the hope that they would be distracted enough to leave the rope-chewing in favor of the strawberry? To buy more time perhaps? Aah the joys of a few extra moments of being alive! Yet when there is ample life the yearning always seems to be on something other than the simple act of joyful living... Another story on attachment: It was a mid-summer's day. There is this boy, hardly sixteen, working in the rice fields of Burma. Feeling parched with thirst, he heads for the drinking bucket at the end of the field. Opening the lid, he finds an ant on the inner edge of the bucket, probably there to get a respite from the heat as well. Feeling invaded, the lad picked up the ant and without a moment's hesitation squished it, as though thinking, "How dare you, a worthless and lowly creature, invade this space reserved for thirsty folks like me!" (the writer then suggests this is a demo scenario and no ants were killed in the writing of this - but it was also aimed at suggesting how attachments are formed wherein the attachment was purely a mental projection and nothing else, for the water was not harmed nor destroyed by the ant's presence there). Next scene. The boy's sister was also working the same field at the same time. Shortly after the brother had his fill of ant-free water, she too decided to have a drink of water and headed to the same spot where the bucket was placed. Lifting the lid, she saw another ant also seeking shelter within the cool confines of the bucket. She thought to herself amusingly, "Oh its such a hot day indeed, even the ants are seeking the cooler sanctum of this watering hole". But it does not belong here, she mused, for this is a 'human' facility, and proceeded to lift out the ant and flicked it away in the direction of the ground, and the little ant quickly scampered away, looking for the next shelter from the heat. If it had any feelings, it would probably be quite annoyed at being denied the pleasures of the cool environment it found itself just a few moments ago. Another scene. After a while, It was the uncle's turn to head for a drink of water. Same thing happened when he lifted up the lid - yet another ant was found inside, only this one had fallen into the water and had forgotten its surfboard... This was the first thought that crossed the man's mind when he saw the ant there. He smiled. Without a moment's hesitation, he lifted the ant with his finger, walked with it to the nearby hut where lunch was being prepared, picked up some sugar granules and sprinkled them on a shaded area of ground by the side of the hut and left the ant to delight itself with the sweet treat! Watched the ant 'enjoying' the sugar for a short while, and then went away back to have a drink of water for himself. Human nature, expressed in 3 different ways. One was attached strongly to what was 'mine'. The next one was detached, nonchalant and indifferent, and the third was spontaneous kindness, achieved thru non-attachment to the perception of what was and was not 'his'. Evolution of conscious awareness. Before attachments to things can be formed, first of all come attachments to perceptions of things and the division of what is 'mine' and what is 'theirs'. (Story courtesy of Leo Buscaglia, an English professor who founded the 'Love Class' at the University of S. California.) Here he is, relating a short poem called "Only you can make a difference..." :

Hello Bob... I'd rather not go into this. Some Taoists would become quite sensitive and proclaim that Buddhists are starting their sermonic preaching again.. You get the drift.

Well said Forest. Just as nails are made of non-nail elements and coffins made also of non-coffin elements. Therefore the self that lays in the coffin must also be made of non-self elements. So in the self exists traces of iron and wood - likewise in wood and iron exists traces of the 'flesh and blood' being. One cannot exist without an 'other'. Nail - coffin - body : one aspect of one set of elements. Iron - wood - bones : another aspect of another set of elements. ad infinitum. all connected.

coyote sunset harbinger of a new day taste the morning dew...

Yeah Tao99, lead the crusade by all means. I am sure it will do us all a world of good. I mean this seriously. With gusto, as someone likes to say. ps - i would like to review my mistake, so if you could direct me to the post(s) where these complaints were made, it would be so helpful in that i can rectify them.

O yes, i absolutely agree from the viewpoint of conducting a business. Please the customers at all costs, so goes the saying. But a forum is quite a different ball park altogether wont you agree? The thing is, we are all 'customers' here. I do see the reason behind this consideration which you have come up with, and i feel you have done it not without due reflections on all the possible implications. So job well done! But i foresee it could lead to a lot of (avoidable) burden being lumped onto the laps of the mod team, that's all. Think about it further before deciding on anything. I mean, there are scores of threads that get hijacked all the time, and multiply that with the number of individuals who may start to access the 'report' button just cos they feel their time is being wasted at reading thru stuff that they subjectively interpret as unsatisfactorily unrelated to the topic and so on.... it could get pretty messy imo.

yeah....... LOL just for your record.... this has never been my view. not that it matters much to you, but i thought i'd say it anyway, just as reminder to myself to refrain from possible future view-change.

When this was written i included 'me' in the handful btw.

This is not the time nor place to rebutt what you have stated Tao99. You have expressed your feelings, and often its hard to argue feelings anyway, so i will refrain. But thanks for offering your distorted view (you Buddhists...) once again. You see what you have been programmed to see (and say), and not an inch pass that. But i do agree with you in many of the things you say, although it does not mean that each time i do, or do not sometimes, that i come out firing with dis/agreements, based on my interpretations, which could be quite silly, because after all, there are merely interpretations in the final analysis.

I'm with Sloppy on this one. There are hundreds of threads that goes off on a tangent. I feel the agitated ones are only a minority who's making the most noise. Who decides anyway if anything's off topic? Just because a handful feels dis-eased does not mean anything significant - there are those who may take things in good light from what they read and not say anything in support for fear of verbal reprisals from this minority group, so rather than engaging themselves in worthless and unnecessary grief, they would simply refrain from expressing any opinions in support, or otherwise too, sometimes. So the situation could end up being quite messy, for the scenario could be that the supposed 'hijacker' gets reported, and those who follow with their multitude of objections then could also be reported and so on - where is the point in all this? How is this going to resolve? Moreover its a very subjective area i think. Just because one or two does not favor a certain style of certain individuals is no concrete indication that others feel as they do. Unless of course a consensus can be reached as to how many complainants react before action is taken. Then it could be quite legit. How many of us here are innocent of posting off-topic stuff anyway? I mean, seriously, there is a someone who follows another someone around correcting syntax and style of writing for god's sake, and that's ok? I dont see any objectors raising their voices there...

Its not appropriate to take up 'mind' as refuge, neither relative nor ultimate. One way to look at it is to understand how mind sticks to things/phenomenon, and recognize the process of how this could lead to all types of distractive pursuits. This is the buddhist notion: first understand the causes of delusion, and then cut thru it as it arises with one-pointed seeing. In Dzogchen its said: Liberate one's thoughts at the moment of seeing. In Zen it is like to arrive at the state of 'no mind'.

Being without burden is quite different from being naive. One who is naive (in Buddhist circles - as an example) goes around telling everyone that he is so blissed out and is beyond distraction and has that self-inflating trip going. That is the epitome of delusion for a buddhist. And i see this all the time, in retreat settings especially. He thinks he is free, but he carries much around. And these guys have been practicing like for years!! Those who can remain in non-distraction do not usually say they are; they simply go about doing what is at hand - usually these are the ones who stay behind to put away the zafus, arrange the mats, stack the retreat manuals, attend to the altar's needs, sweep the grounds, etc. It makes no difference to them whether they are leading the retreat or emptying out the garbage cans. To these souls, all is simply 'one taste', and takes delight in this knowing. Such individuals are tuned in to themselves, to others... deeply. In this way, how can their intentions and actions ever harm anything? If one day humanity evolves to a point where more people are like this, Mother Earth will rejoice. Its like a celebration for the return of the prodigal child... Now this could well be a tat naive to be thinking this way. But still its a good motivation to keep one awake to the possibilities.

That's true bro. I would not worry too much if i were you... appearances are seen for what they are, eh? Neither good nor bad. "Do not investigate phenomena; investigate the mind instead. If you investigate the mind, you will know the one thing which resolves all. If you do not investigate the mind, you can know everything but be forever stuck on one." -- Padmasambhava

Could well be. Have you seen this book http://www.amazon.com/Love-Letting-Fear-Gerald-Jampolsky/dp/0890872465 before? Its titled "Love is Letting Go of Fear" by G. Jambolsky. Quite good.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when i read the fees this Verdesi fellow asks for to set up 'initiations' with the various 'lineage masters'! Hollywood blockbuster spirituality? You bet. Lord knows he might even win an oscar one of these days.