Words from some Old Coyotes

[三江源]

Good, I'm glad you agree with me. So is fear of death a type of developement?

 

 

 

No need, no wish, just enjoying life so much that it is exciting.

 

 

 

Didn't need to but it would be nice, YEEEEHAaaa! How about a French Maid outfit

 

 

Yes, fear of death in children arises from a sense of feeling unsafe/unprotected by parents. And when it is present in adults,it is a development arising from lack of trust in life.

So yes, fear of death is a development, arising only in less than ideal situations, from an initial interest and acceptance of death as part of life.

 

An insatiable appetite for 'excitement' is a compensatory mechanism set in place usually from simply not receiving enough personal attention-love.

 

I dont think wise old farts need to be excited all the time. Unless old lady farts dress perpetually as Fifi's.

[Starjumper]

I agree

 

I dont think wise old farts need to be excited all the time.

 

Yes, a person can be happy without being excited,. How about enthusiastic instead of excited, does that work better?

 

Unless old lady farts dress perpetually as Fifi's.

 

Um, well the jury is still out on that one Right now I'm trying celibacy, easy for old farts, but that will probably change in the future.

 

Yes, a person can be happy without being excited, how about enthusiastic instead of excited, does that work better?

Edited January 12, 2011 by Starjumper7

[Starjumper]

Actually I would prefer cowgirls over French maids, and Indian (native american) maidens instead over cowgirls. Maidens vs maids

 

Edited January 12, 2011 by Starjumper7

[9th]

btw - this one will be challenging for those with attention deficit disorder, or those who don't have enough free time

 

A man of knowledge is one who has followed truthfully the hardships of learning, a man who has, without rushing or without faltering, gone as far as he can in unraveling the secrets of power and knowledge. To become a man of knowledge one must challenge and defeat the four natural enemies inside him.

 

When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialize for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning. He slowly begins to learn--bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. And his thoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined, and so he begins to be afraid. Learning is never what one expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount mercilessly, unyieldingly. His purpose becomes a battlefield.

 

And thus he has stumbled upon the first of his natural enemies: Fear! A terrible enemy--treacherous, and difficult to overcome. It remains concealed at every turn of the way, prowling, waiting. And if the man, terrified in its presence, runs away, his enemy will have put an end to his quest and he will never learn. He will never become a man of knowledge. He will perhaps be a bully, or a harmless, scared man; at any rate, he will be a defeated man. His first enemy will have put an end to his cravings. It is not possible for a man to abandon himself to fear for years, then finally conquer it. If he gives in to fear he will never conquer it, because he will shy away from learning and never try again. But if he tries to learn for years in the midst of his fear, he will eventually conquer it because he will never have really abandoned himself to it.

 

Therefore he must not run away. He must defy his fear, and in spite of it he must take the next step in learning, and the next, and the next. He must be fully afraid, and yet he must not stop. That is the rule! And a moment will come when his first enemy retreats. The man begins to feel sure of himself. His intent becomes stronger. Learning is no longer a terrifying task.

 

When this joyful moment comes, the man can say without hesitation that he has defeated his first natural enemy. It happens little by little, and yet the fear is vanquished suddenly and fast. Once a man has vanquished this kind of fear, he is free from it for the rest of his life because, instead of fear, he has acquired clarity--a clarity of mind which erases fear. By then a man knows his desires; he knows how to satisfy those desires. He can anticipate the new steps of learning and a sharp clarity surrounds everything. The man feels that nothing is concealed.

 

And thus he has encountered his second enemy: Clarity! That clarity of mind, which is so hard to obtain, dispels fear, but also blinds. It forces the man never to doubt himself. It gives him the assurance he can do anything he pleases, for he sees clearly into everything. And he is courageous because he is clear, and he stops at nothing because he is clear. But all that is a mistake; it is like something incomplete. If the man yields to this make-believe power, he has succumbed to his second enemy and will be patient when he should rush. And he will fumble with learning until he winds up incapable of learning anything more. His second enemy has just stopped him cold from trying to become a man of knowledge. Instead, the man may turn into a buoyant warrior, or a clown. Yet the clarity for which he has paid so dearly will never change to darkness and fear again. He will be clear as long as he lives, but he will no longer learn, or yearn for, anything.

 

He must do what he did with fear: he must defy his clarity and use it only to see, and wait patiently and measure carefully before taking new steps; he must think, above all, that his clarity is almost a mistake. And a moment will come when he will understand that his clarity was only a point before his eyes. And thus he will have overcome his second enemy, and will arrive at a position where nothing can harm him anymore. This will not be a mistake. It will not be only a point before his eyes. It will be true power.

 

He will know at this point that the power he has been pursuing for so long is finally his. He can do with it whatever he pleases. His ally is at his command. His wish is the rule. He sees all that is around him. But he has also come across his third enemy: Power! Power is the strongest of all enemies. And naturally the easiest thing to do is to give in; after all, the man is truly invincible. He commands; he begins by taking calculated risks, and ends in making rules, because he is a master.

 

A man at this stage hardly notices his third enemy closing in on him. And suddenly, without knowing, he will certainly have lost the battle. His enemy will have turned him into a cruel, capricious man, but he will never lose his clarity or his power.

 

A man who is defeated by power dies without really knowing how to handle it. Power is only a burden upon his fate. Such a man has no command over himself, and cannot tell when or how to use his power. Once one of these enemies overpowers a man there is nothing he can do. It is not possible, for instance, that a man who is defeated by power may see his error and mend his ways. Once a man gives in he is through. If, however, he is temporarily blinded by power, and then refuses it, his battle is still on. That means he is still trying to become a man of knowledge. A man is defeated only when he no longer tries, and abandons himself.

 

He has to come to realize that the power he has seemingly conquered is in reality never his. He must keep himself in line at all times, handling carefully and faithfully all that he has learned. If he can see that clarity and power, without his control over himself, are worse than mistakes, he will reach a point where everything is held in check. He will know then when and how to use his power. And thus he will have defeated his third enemy.

 

The man will be, by then, at the end of his journey of learning, and almost without warning he will come upon the last of his enemies: Old age! This enemy is the cruelest of all, the one he won't be able to defeat completely, but only fight away. This is the time when a man has no more fears, no more impatient clarity of mind--a time when all his power is in check, but also the time when he has an unyielding desire to rest. If he gives in totally to his desire to lie down and forget, if he soothes himself in tiredness, he will have lost his last round, and his enemy will cut him down into a feeble old creature. His desire to retreat will overrule all his clarity, his power, and his knowledge.

 

But if the man sloughs off his tiredness, and lives his fate though, he can then be called a man of knowledge, if only for the brief moment when he succeeds in fighting off his last, invincible enemy. That moment of clarity, power, and knowledge is enough.

 

- Castaneda

 

[zerostao]

Actually I would prefer cowgirls over French maids, and Indian (native american) maidens instead over cowgirls. Maidens vs maids

 

ones that drive chevy pickup trucks......

[Starjumper]

ones that drive chevy pickup trucks......

 

Sure, I wouldn't kick her out of bed even if she farted!

[9th]

[9th]

The only thing that counts is action, acting instead of talking.

 

- Castaneda

[3bob]

Quotes are ok but don't count for much unless you can put them into your own words.

[Starjumper]

Quotes are ok but don't count for much unless you can put them into your own words.

 

True, but people tend to not piss on quotes from famous masters the way they would on an identical opinion from someone they see as a peer =)

[9th]

True, but people tend to not piss on quotes from famous masters the way they would on an identical opinion from someone they see as a peer =)

 

You give away too many secrets!

[Starjumper]

You give away too many secrets!

 

That is my fear, but I'm on a roll now so here's another secret. Leave the author's name off till the moguls start pissing on you. Then tell them, they still won't get it anyway so we might as well have some fun with it.

[Mark Foote]

The only thing that counts is action, acting instead of talking.

 

- Castaneda

 

The only thing that counts is action beyond volition, the rest is karmic circles waiting to ripen; how's that.

 

Had a thought this evening. Sometimes I believe that Castaneda saw and experienced the things he wrote about, leaping, flying, balancing on nothing upside down in a world that is revealed when we are no longer bound to making sense. My thought tonight is, that is also the world I experience, although I do not leap, fly, or balance on nothing upside down; when the volitive activities cease, then action takes place outside of the context I am giving things. In fact, my experience is that when volition ceases, action is actually in harmony with the past and future, even though it may take place without regard to the context I conceive at the moment. To move outside of the context I conceive is to allow the place of occurrence of consciousness itself to act outside of the content; this mostly is very natural, and yet as Castaneda pointed out, the feeling can sometimes be dramatic and even other-worldly though no one else may perceive the difference.

[C T]

The only thing that counts is action beyond volition, the rest is karmic circles waiting to ripen; how's that.

 

Had a thought this evening. Sometimes I believe that Castaneda saw and experienced the things he wrote about, leaping, flying, balancing on nothing upside down in a world that is revealed when we are no longer bound to making sense. My thought tonight is, that is also the world I experience, although I do not leap, fly, or balance on nothing upside down; when the volitive activities cease, then action takes place outside of the context I am giving things. In fact, my experience is that when volition ceases, action is actually in harmony with the past and future, even though it may take place without regard to the context I conceive at the moment. To move outside of the context I conceive is to allow the place of occurrence of consciousness itself to act outside of the content; this mostly is very natural, and yet as Castaneda pointed out, the feeling can sometimes be dramatic and even other-worldly though no one else may perceive the difference.

 

It is precisely because others do not perceive the difference that affords one space to be free! Not so much freedom as a destination, but the very recognition of absence of volition, and effortless, on-going mindfulness of this process, is in itself self-liberating! Wonderful stuff!

 

Such sweetness to stand between being and non-being, neither still nor moving, with zero impedance nor need for structural support, either from self or others... perpetual potential, where one's intentions, thoughts and actions begin and end simultaneously, seamlessly, without any residual stain to soil the next one. To even describe this as 'absolute freedom' is to somehow imbue it with a hint of limitation... hence tis better to keep quiet, and go even deeper, to the coreless center.

 

Am grateful to have found some inspiration from your experiential sharing, Mark.... thanks! Wonderful insight, yet again.

[三江源]

Yes, a person can be happy without being excited,. How about enthusiastic instead of excited, does that work better?

 

 

I dont believe that being any one state all the time is any sign of good alignment, it certainly isnt the tao. To expect yourself to be enthusiastic all the time is ok for a puppy. For anyone else it is a pathology. Is nature always enthusiastic? doesnt it sometimes go dormant, sometimes germinate quietly, sometimes die, sometimes rest calmly, sometimes just glow, sometimes fade, sometimes die, sometimes..etc etc.

 

I say this because the drive to be 'up' and 'full on' in our world is just so prevalent and dominant and so YANG.

 

I'm all for loving and respecting the pause in life, when it comes. And we dont need to be all enthusiastic in our pauses. It's fine to let go and just be, without any adjectival addition.

[C T]

I dont believe that being any one state all the time is any sign of good alignment, it certainly isnt the tao. To expect yourself to be enthusiastic all the time is ok for a puppy. For anyone else it is a pathology. Is nature always enthusiastic? doesnt it sometimes go dormant, sometimes germinate quietly, sometimes die, sometimes rest calmly, sometimes just glow, sometimes fade, sometimes die, sometimes..etc etc.

 

I say this because the drive to be 'up' and 'full on' in our world is just so prevalent and dominant and so YANG.

 

I'm all for loving and respecting the pause in life, when it comes. And we dont need to be all enthusiastic in our pauses. It's fine to let go and just be, without any adjectival addition.

Agreed without reservation! Nicely said, Cat.

 

Even my puppy's puppiness takes on different shades at different times... sometimes he is all 'old dog' in his ways, and yet at other times he is all fun and games!

 

However, i suspect that no matter what conditions are surfacing, and being experienced, one can still remain in 'one state' within. What this state is, and how it manifests, and what it means, may differ from person to person. Some would like to name this inner poise 'Equanimity', but thats only because people can be odd in the sense that they have to put restrictive labels on their discoveries, which only serves nothing more than boxing it up so for ease of recollection, mostly out of fear that they may lose the poise and not know how to rekindle it, or perhaps to enable it as a topic of conversation over dinner with friends. If only words were that effective... now, mantras, they are a different story altogether.

[三江源]

Agreed without reservation! Nicely said, Cat.

 

Even my puppy's puppiness takes on different shades at different times... sometimes he is all 'old dog' in his ways, and yet at other times he is all fun and games!

 

However, i suspect that no matter what conditions are surfacing, and being experienced, one can still remain in 'one state' within. What this state is, and how it manifests, and what it means, may differ from person to person. Some would like to name this inner poise 'Equanimity', but thats only because people can be odd in the sense that they have to put restrictive labels on their discoveries, which only serves nothing more than boxing it up so for ease of recollection, mostly out of fear that they may lose the poise and not know how to rekindle it, or perhaps to enable it as a topic of conversation over dinner with friends. If only words were that effective... now, mantras, they are a different story altogether.

 

I feel that 'one state' within. Yes.

 

Interesting, in itself, that base point without weather.

 

nice point, cowtao.

 

oh, the endless labelling, and boxing up, and attachment to discoveries! sandpit, tricycle, and storytime with a biscuit...

[9th]

That is my fear, but I'm on a roll now so here's another secret. Leave the author's name off till the moguls start pissing on you. Then tell them, they still won't get it anyway so we might as well have some fun with it.

 

IMHO, its funny enough when you point at the glass door and they still smack their head into it. YMMV.

[Starjumper]

IMHO, its funny enough when you point at the glass door and they still smack their head into it. YMMV.

 

Nice! thanks for that view

[Mark Foote]

I dont believe that being any one state all the time is any sign of good alignment, it certainly isnt the tao.

...

I'm all for loving and respecting the pause in life, when it comes. And we dont need to be all enthusiastic in our pauses. It's fine to let go and just be, without any adjectival addition.

 

"a sign of good alignment", indeed. Alignment generates the ability to feel; the ability to feel moves, as the impact of place in consciousness creates activity of alignment. Just hit sit.

 

"Fine to let go and just be":

 

If the extent of inhalation and the extent of exhalation guide the stretch and activity we feel, we fall headfirst into feeling beyond knowing sometimes; is this the cessation that the Gautamid described as part of his practice, both before and after enlightenment?

 

right there, in front of us the whole time?

[Aetherous]

Thanks everyone for sharing this stuff...