manitou

Great metaphor. An ice cube choosing to remain an ice cube. Didn't Guan Yin do this? Quite a push-pull between Newtonian physics and the organizing principle of Mind. If the ice cube remained in the cubic form by choice - assuming the ice cube has enough awareness to remain square - this sets up a physical/metaphysical conflict. The ice cube would think it was all over when he loses his shape. But nothing has changed! Just the shape. Ice Cubes 'R Us

It is a Mason correlation. If you read Morals and Dogma (Pike), which enumerates all the qualities one needs for each degree (and the qualities one needs to lose), the 32nd degree is the last written chapter in the book. That's as far as words can take you. The 32nd degree is the last rung on the ladder before the I Am consciousness is realized. That's the 33rd.

That would be the 32nd degree.

I think it's never easy to go through yourself to find the real thing. But that's how the real thing is found. More reading doesn't get it. If we start from where we are now, it's possible to ride in to yourself with everyday things. If traffic makes you impatient, take the time to realize why it makes you uncomfortable. If you get into an argument with someone, as soon as possible examine yourself and see what button he's pushing, something from your young life that still sways your behavior. And the behavior is usually more developed because it's taken hold for years - the trick is to find the button and turn the memory around. However you can, turn it around. Making apologies for bad behavior is just about the best thing you can do to lessen the ego. Trying to go back and fix tendencies will pay off. But the trick is in being honest with ourselves. Welcome those times that you find yourself in an argument, because this will provide a big clue as to which dynamic needs tweaking. Developing humility is something that happens naturally when you're able to own your mistakes, see them for what they are, see why you did it, etc. Making amends. It hurts, dammit. But it works every time. Once you've gotten to the place of self-realization by removal of all the contortions inside, the light shines. Being in awareness of who you really are is its own reward. You know that all time and space is yours.

I'll bet your local carniceria could come up with one, given a few days...

Hi Yueya, I re-read my comment that you linked, and I don't see anything disparaging about it. I was wondering if Jung was an enlightened one. I don't see that as disparaging. and yes, I am familiar with Jung's input to Mr. Wilson and the development of AA. So sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way.

Just like the ending of Wizard of Oz.

Enough to stay out of oncoming traffic.

I wish there was an icon for a groan...

My observers are two dogs. It actually makes it a little harder to go....

Realizing we are all One helps this too. It's hard to be arrogant when you realize they are the same creature as you.

(The great man) thinks of his enemy as the shadow that he himself casts. DDJ, Ch 61 (Mitchell)

My perspective on this would be to look for the source of the discomfort. It's in a memory from way back. You have been imprinted in a certain way, and sometimes these imprints need to be reversed. And for anyone who wonders why the ego must be contended with at all - it doesn't have to be, unless you want clarity. If clarity is what is wanted, then these buttons which force ego to raise its head must be eliminated. If the ego is inflamed, there is something inside screaming for removal.

I don't see what the problem is. They all seem fairly healthy.

I remember laying on the grass and sky gazing when I was real young. At one point, it felt like I 'fell into the sky'. It was a really odd feeling. I think it was the first time I ever experienced the magnitude of the sky. But it has stuck with me.

If you can see the Whole of humanity, the Oneness - then there is no possibility of superiority or inferiority. It's like we're separate waves on the ocean, thinking we're different from each other - but we're really all the ocean. It's the same with the 'soul' that dwells inside us. It's all the same 'soul'. That warm column of presence you have inside you is the very same one I have. The only thing that gives us the feeling of separation is that this soul is contained in different skin bags. We are separated by our individual conditionings only. To penetrate ego (which is keeping you thinking you're separate or different), start where you are today. Every time you get into a tiff with someone, stop and examine what precious thing inside you that you're protecting. My list goes something like this: I was pressured to be the First to answer any question in class. I had to know it all, dad pounded that into me. We would play chess when I was maybe 8 and he would yell at me if I lost. I was brought up to feel like a piece of manure. Not intentionally, I'm sure, but that was the message I got. What resulted was that I became this hardened overachiever, a police detective, flippant at every turn, a superiority complex that could stop a train. It took alcoholism to bring me to my knees and shatter the wall. And then I had to rebuild it, but in an honest way, leaving ego out as much as possible. Certainly you don't have to go to these lengths. If a person is willing to begin the process on the own, the self-inquiry, there will be no need for crisis. Your ego must be penetrated. See why it's there. Deal with that. Let the other guy win an argument. And then just sit with that and see how you feel. Watch it as though you're separate from yourself. This is also a good way to start penetrating the ego. Memories can be found here, the memories that you reacted to when you were a kid. And then they can be modified. The reason this works is because linear time is an illusion, and it's all really happening Now. So we can deal with it Now. The last thing in the world I want is to be unkind to you. But please consider the possibility that you are not only crying out for help of some sort, but that you may be seeking attention. I get a sense that runs pretty deep in you. Do try and determine at what point in early life that you had to start acting out to get attention. Maybe there were older siblings? Sometimes if there are, the older ones get the attention, and the younger one is sort of forgotten? It's important that you find these things, or you will continue in this pattern of cannonballing yourself into every new pool you come across. I really hope you can get there. It's a little painful to go back and see where a tendency started, but it is truly worth the effort. Sometimes awareness alone of the causative factor in a dynamic is all it takes to start improving. Your behavior will modify a little at a time; you will be aware every time you see a situation coming, and you'll have the choice to act in your best interest, or fall prey to the old habits that keep you hitting a brick wall. You're so close, only ego thickness is stopping you. Oh, one more thing. This is just a general suggestion that's good for everybody. Jesus said it, 'Judge not, lest ye be judged'. What this means, is that if you are judging others in your mind, you will expect that they are judging you in theirs. When someone stops judging other people (their appearance, their religion, speech, etc) the feeling of 'being judged' will leave you. You won't have to find a perch that continually feeds your ego. You are very intelligent to have realized that ego is the one thing preventing you from clarity.

hand to open hand friendship extended to all during these hard times

I get a snippet of a vision of my own legs, child's legs, below the knee. I am barefooted, my skin is reddish-brown, and I am standing barefooted in red clay earth. This could be anywhere - but it is repetitive so I suspect there's something to it.

This is the memory I was talking about. See if there isn't some early childhood memory where you were humiliated by someone, probably in the family. If you can identify it, you can reverse it; and by doing so you will change the dynamic.

I'll bet that ball went way out of bounds.

Beautiful music, Limmers. I kept waiting for Clint Eastwood. Oh. I'll bet he was the whistler

I don't know how to manipulate energy either; like bending spoons. I've not sought that path. Working with energy means something different to me now. Wei wu wei is a way of handling energy by not-handling. The universe steps in and makes everything just perfect. All we have to know is when to ride it and the appropriate dynamic to use it on. The one thing I would suggest for someone like yourself, who has obviously spent a lot of time thinking and studying these things, the only thing that awaits you is going in to yourself, as mentioned before. It's not that hard. Any time you see your ego kicking up in an argument (which you indicated happens often on forums), stop.....look at your part in the altercation. Look what you are protecting that is so dear to you. Look at any young memories that pop into your head around the time of the argument. If you can do that, you can see where the snowball started rolling. There are buttons which we develop which people can push, and we respond every time. This is not freedom. It's having to react in a certain way; you have no choice. When you've seen why you are protective, or aggressive - this awareness will go a long way to correcting the tendency to react in anger (assuming you want to do anything about it). It sounds like you do. What you want, is to be totally free in your reactions, your actions. If you're pre-disposed to having your buttons pushed and haven't done anything to remove them, this will keep happening for the rest of your life and you won't be able to go that last step. If we are rebellious (still rebelling from things back when we were kids) then we are only operating at 50% capacity. If someone tells you to turn left, you will always want to turn right. That eliminates 50% of the potential reactions you could have. The buttons really need to be filed down, removed, for both clarity and the enlightenment you seek. It says in the DDJ how much people like the side paths, which can be a distraction. Like bending spoons. It is awesome to develop abilities that are a little woo-woo, but they can deter you from the real prize. Ego gets involved and sometimes people remain right there, stuck, until they realize the necessity of the inner work. So glad you're here, Indiken.

I keep this in mind all the time. Because my brain is getting confused about worldly things (like what day it is. seriously) I take a little comfort knowing that the sage too considered himself a fool. A fool would be the same as the beginner's mind, no? The beginner's mind is what is strived for. A mind which has no pre--conclusions or as void of conditioning as possible. Dementia is doing it for me on the natch, but I also wonder if worldly thoughts haven't taken a back seat to metaphysical thinking. The fact that someone comes to the conclusion that they have been a fool is a momentous event. It means, for that moment at least, that arrogance has been conquered, true humility is within reach. I applaud you, @Indiken, for your courage and your willingness to share your evolution here with us. You're a real quick study, aren't you?

I've studied different translations over the years. I'm a great fan of the sutras as well, Avatamsaka, Lotus - I've studied many. But it seems to me that it all boils down to the simplicity of the DDJ. The dynamics alluded to in the DDJ are subtle, but seem to cover the whole range of mystical knowledge and the dynamics of 'how things work'. My observation only.

Zhuangzi. Who knows? I strain to follow couplet with four syllables