manitou

I'm so darn liberal on this, I'd like to see basic needs distributed to everyone on the planet.

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It seems to me that we're almost talking about apples and oranges. My guess is that the meditative journey that takes one to separate realities, such as the scenario Veejay refers to, is more a phenomenon of seeking. That dynamic is from the inside to the outside. Yes, there are separate realities; they can also be accessed through shamanic techniques. I'm not sure Buddha had the only handle on it, I think the indigenous were well aware of the separate realities as well. The other journey is the journey from the outside to the inside. This is where the Personality gets edited, and this is the path that ends up at the One. It's the journey of self-awareness, the series of internal gulps of 'Aha!' that ties together that which we have learned on the outside with what we are on the inside. If done over a long period of time and with great impeccability, it brings us to the source; hence the term 'sorcery'?. It's entirely different than the inside to the outside; rather, this is the clearing process that brings us to the One (or, if the Buddhists prefer, the space between the matter). It seems to me that the Middle Way is the perfect blend of the two. The Middle Way brings us into balance so we don't get too far out in either direction.

To reconcile the straw dog question? That seems irreconcilable if you take the passage on its own, in its own context. But to put it in alignment with the rest of the Tao, I would say that fortune and misfortune falls on everyone equally, without favor. I don't think the intent of the straw dog reference shows in any way that the Tao is unloving. I see it more as a well we can tap into, if we get down there far enough in our own self realization to use it. The Sage is able to love (or feel compassion for) all varieties of sentient beings, without distinction; if the Tao treats all men as straw dogs, apparently so does the Sage. I've read that straw dogs were used as ceremonial proxys in certain situations. I don't think the term 'straw dogs' is used in an arrogant sense, like the Tao or the Sage wipes his feet on people or anything. I think it's used more to indicate the Sage's compassion extends to everyone equally, rich, poor, kind, mean.

You're right, the Tao isn't for sissies. But there is a huge reward. When we become adept at understanding and applying the Tao, we get to practice the wu-wei of life; the doing by not-doing. This can be translated into everyday life, as many times as we can remember to be in the moment, regardless of what we do for a living or how we spend our days. This is the beauty of the study of the Tao. When you're asking yourself what you should do, the answer probably is do nothing as to the cosmic dynamics of the situation. Learning to do this well is another situation. It becomes almost a sorcery. It is The Art of War for everyday life. Part passive, with just a dash of passive aggression when needed...but always interfused with love or compassion for every being because we know that when we look at that Other, that the Other is us. The consciousness. The little black dot in the eye of a human, dog, horse, or insect. And once that sense of Oneness is realized we cannot hate another, regardless of what they're doing.

What a beautiful and honest post, Kate. I do see what you're getting at, and the same thought occurred to me. Here's what I finally decided. Based on the knowledge that all is One, I do think it's possible to get to the Source if and when we attain Self-Realization. I don't think there are many people who can actually get to the Source, and I don't know if I'm one that can or not. But I do know one thing. Nothing is gained without trying. I've noticed that the more I'm willing to step out of convention (essentially, be willing to look like an a-hole to the rest of the world) and actually put into physicality that which I claim to Know in my heart, that which I "believe". Actually, that's the wrong word too. To believe something is to see it as something separate, much like Santa Claus. When we Know something, it's that thing that has finally settled into our hearts and the knowledge has landed in our hearts because the knowledge resounded in our hearts to begin with. If there really are such things as weather shamans, who knows how they do it? In my own defense on this, I didn't think I could do much harm in the path of a Cat-5 (I don't even think there's a Cat-6?) to envision a little bubble of high pressure over the town. Just seemed to me like cyclones liked low pressure, but you're right - I'm not a weatherman, but here's what I think. In the unlikely event I was actually able to get through to Source, Source would have understood my intent and complied, even if the high pressure thing was wrong. That was my thinking before I did the ceremony. But I actually did consider just what you were talking about. That's how I resolved it to my satisfaction. If a person were trying to make a living as a weather shaman, it would be nearly impossible. I'm not sure the individual human spirit really wants to believe that it's possible to influence weather. His results would always be written off to coincidence. You'd have to get your payment up front, lol.

Everybody - we're having some nice discussions about the individual chapters of the Tao up in the pinned Tao Te Ching topic. We're just not getting enough participation. This is some good meaty stuff. Please join us?

I couldn't agree with this statement more. This is the essence of wu-wei, of which as a Buddhist you may not be familiar. It is through not-knowing and elimination of character defects, ego, and the daily internalization and usage of what we have learned through the left-brain endeavors. Once this state is realized, it is as though we are blind men walking through life in a sense, making no judgments; merely letting life be the teacher. This is self-realization. This is when we can finally transcend form into formlessness, a return to the Tao. The intellectual urge has been transcended.

So what you're saying is that it was wrong to try?

I would go along with Songs on this one. I think this is the time for LSD or ayahuasca; at the very least, some cannabis. If you're not familiar with the mind-expanding qualities of these drugs, then you're missing something. My guess is that your data would fall together during one of these forays.

I've always been so terribly left-brained by nature that visualization is nearly impossible for me. But I agree with everything that's been said about the other senses. Also, I find that I can visualize to some extent is I move my fingers a tiny bit, as though I were painting the visualization onto a canvas. That seems to work, and I think it's something that would increase with more practice.

Beautifully said. It becomes a one day at a time exercise in fielding the stimulus that comes in to us, actually 'wearing' the enlightened mindset so that the love or compassion requires. Once the I Am consciousness is achieved, then it is just practiced. That's the mental part. The physical part is the total relaxation and opening up of energy channels to allow the kundalini energy to flow; with practice, we can project this on to others for purposes of healing.

Thanks, Veejay. I guess I still have enough ego to say that the water fountain analogy isn't the extent of my spiritual understanding. Buddhism writings are the thing that got me out of my obnoxious born-again Christianity many years ago. The mindset didn't appeal to me as much as the non-structure of metaphysics (the Tao understanding came later). Please consider that other paths are worth taking as well.....and they lead to the very same place.

I serendipitously found The Wisdom of China and India, edited by Lin Yutang, at a yard sale some years back. It has a large section on Changtse, Mystic and Humorist. Also the Middle Way of Confucius. It was written in 1942; I just couldn't live without this old book. It never sees the bookshelf. I think I'm going to send out an invitation for others to join us here. I'm not sure everyone looks up at the pinned topics all the time. This is really a wonderful thread, methinks....

Yes, she seems to say it about as well as it can be said. When she talked about the sky, I got a mental picture of a fountain; all the water droplets spring from the same source, but individuate as they are up in the air. When they hit the ground, they return to the source and do it all over again. We're in the collective when in the fountain, individuals while up in the air. The beautiful infant in your picture has the eyes of one prior to manipulation of any sort. The pure eyes of an infant is music to the soul. A great shaman, the Nazarene, talked about us having to return to the 'mind of a child'. I've thought about this a great deal. This is a mind without manipulation, without desire for result, without judgment. There is no good or bad to that infant. In some translations of the Tao, it refers to he infant who has not yet learned to smile; smiling would be a learned reaction to stimulus. It seems that to get to the point where we are truly a duck who can shed water from its wings, the self realization process must be engaged; the more disengaged we become as a result of removing our own foibles, the closer we return to the source of the fountain. And I think Time needs to be removed from the equation. Einstein proved that time is a relative thing, an illusion essentially; in actuality perhaps we're not only All One in this time era; perhaps we're All One throughout Time as well. Inside us dwells the Aboriganal, the first pure ones who truly acted out their humanness without all of the self-stifling behavior we've learned over the years.

Does it seem like it's slowly increasing in intensity? There's just no describing it, really. I do think we're describing the same oddness. For some reason I had a feeling you'd know what I was talking about, lol.

Marbles, you and I are always on the same page. Except for the L-word.

Lin Yutang: (Last stanza only, the preceding are very similar) From the days of old till now Its Named (manifested forms) have never ceased, By which we may view the Father of All Things. How do I know the shape of Father of All Things? Through These! (then Lin has footnoted 'manifested forms' after this line) It seems like there are some pretty powerful disparities between the translations, going to the essence of the chapter. I think the essence of the chapter is that the Tao manifests from the inside to the outside. If the Tao could be visualized as a bright white light, then all of its manifestations radiate along the rays. All of the translations seem to be saying that in order to understand any aspect of the Named (manifested forms, including us) we have to follow it back (reversion) to the well of the Tao. Somehow when I read this chapter it reminds me that 'the oak is in the acorn', which to me is a pretty powerful latency. The intent is built into that little seed. What Yutang seems to do, is he infers that we can also see the shape of the Father of All Things through the forms! If we truly can see what is under the form, what the cause of the form was, what the intent of the form is, and why the form was needed in the first place....that through inference we can know the Father. But it seems that there is only one translator, John Wu, that took the extra step and told us to look inside ourselves for the Tao. 'How do I know the ways of all things at the Beginning? By what is within me.' This is as deep as it gets, I think. The Tao lives within. We must go in to find it. Sounds like self-realization to me....

Honestly, the only thing that does it for me - that really makes me feel like I'm home - is to be in the I Am consciousness. And how often can we wear that? Songs, it seems like the last year i've become aware of this electrical undulating monster inside of me, or that's what it feels like. It's like I can't meditate my way out of this one, and the times I'm actually at home in my own skin are few and far between. The only thing that calms this thing is to either tell myself to Be Here Now, or to Do-Nothing. It seems to be an underlying anxiety level that has nothing to do with my life situation; my life situation is fine. Better than fine. But it feels like a building up of perhaps 'communal' anxiety, perhaps leading toward a type of culmination or an end game or a joining together; I can't even put it into words. Do you share any of this?

Thanks so much for posting that, Girard. It is beautiful to observe the awarenesses merge into the One. Not only in the content and return to to simplicity, but this is the same nature that we as Westerners aspire to obtain, or liberate ourselves to. How ironic life is, that it hides the answers so deeply inside of ourselves, and at the end of all the striving we find that we're right back where we began. Not only in our own psychic dimensions, but in our communal societal evolution; right back to the wisdom of the indigenous. Toltec, Aboriginal, Tao....it's like they got the original instruction manuals for the feeding and care of the human body, and it's like the old telephone game where the instructions get all balled up as it goes down the line. Down the ages. Life is such a mystery. I'll bet the two headed rainbow serpent also represented the second attention that is spoken of in the Toltec tradition, as presented by Castaneda. When in the second attention it is a separate reality; not a reality where different objects are observed, just a different perch from which to view the present reality. I don't know anything about the Aboriginal traditions, but they sure align with the Toltec. Plus, I would imagine the Aboriginals made use of plenty of hallucinogenic plants? The separate realities can be manipulated, and often the realities become one. How much spiritualism of all varieties this must have bred with the mind-expanding qualities of the plants at their disposal. Seems like back to the future, or something.

Your Healing Hands; Polarity Experience (Richard Gordon) Astral Dynamics (Robert Bruce) Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change (Master Wu) Complete Guide to Marijuana Horticulture (Jorge Cervantes) The Mystic Warriors of the Plains (Thomas Mails)

Me too. Always have. I wonder if those of us who never felt a fit anywhere are more prone to looking for the fit through spirituality.

If you are living in this state of ennui maybe you should question your work. Maybe you are setting up the result as an end result that will make everyone happy. (a new house? a vacation? an investment portfolio? just putting kids through college?) Or maybe the kind of work you're talking about is the necessary work to get a particular degree or the right combination of initials. If the components of that field of endeavor are terribly boring to you, again, maybe you should rethink the direction. To fall off the cliff and live entirely in the Tao (a preposterous supposition for most) would be to live in the here and now. To put Love into your every action, to put the very highest of yourself into your work. And even if it's mundane, there must be a way to perfect it more. That would be the ideal of the Tao. But in the case of disliking the work so much, the only thing that is probably keeping you there is something more altruistic; otherwise you wouldn't be doing it. In that case, the thing to do would be to embrace the work out of love, knowing that you're actually doing it for your child, if that's the case. To do the work in as much consciousness as you can and to use it as a meditation. I think that's how the Sage would approach it.

Damn. I've got that dusty old hat still hanging in the back of my closet too.

My input would be for you to try and figure out why, on some cosmic level, you are manifesting this problem. The sexual dysfunction could be an analogy for something deeper. If the physical remedies don't work, do give some thought to this. It may be attached to a young memory. If this turns out to be the case, then an imprint reversing the memory might go a long way. More of a shamanic soul-dynamic approach.