Vmarco Posted January 28, 2013 So, while I agree that there is no absolute present regarding our living, there is relative present as well as relative past and relative future. Yes, I still hold to the understanding that time is linear - there is a past, present, and future along that line and we can difine the exact position we are at in the present as compared to any point in the past. (Of course, we cannot define where we will be in the future because it hasn't happened yet. To me, that is the most important thing,...to simply recognize that our perceived living situation is relative. Such a mindset allows for the uncovering of bodhicitta,...to honestly observe everything perceived as a dream. IMO, only through impeccable honesty can one realize the Tao,...which is synonymous with the Tathagata. Lao Tzu said, "the Tao doesn't come and go." Buddha said, "the Tathagata does not come and go." 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 To me, that is the most important thing,...to simply recognize that our perceived living situation is relative. Such a mindset allows for the uncovering of bodhicitta,...to honestly observe everything perceived as a dream. IMO, only through impeccable honesty can one realize the Tao,...which is synonymous with the Tathagata. Lao Tzu said, "the Tao doesn't come and go." Buddha said, "the Tathagata does not come and go." I don't hold to what I highlighted in red above but other than that I am in agreement. And it is true. Tao is ever-present. We can lose the spirit of Tao but it never loses us - we can, while living (and will at death) return. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiDragon Posted January 28, 2013 "I will tell the truth, nothing but the truth. So, help you God!"What is the truth here.....??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 "I will tell the truth, nothing but the truth. So, help you God!" What is the truth here.....??? Ha! You missed some of that saying. "I swear (left hand on the Christian Bible and right hand raised to God) to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." This used to be required in the courts of law in the United States. Didn't really mean anything. People still lied. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
timelessness Posted January 28, 2013 T.R.U.T.H is very mysterious, or at least it pretends to be. The more we look for it, the more it hides from us. If you stop chasing it, it would come to you, but just to tease you, to make you realize how fun it would be to have it. But when you open your eyes again to capture it, it disappears. So... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted January 28, 2013 then the quote may be attributed not to any one person who may have purportedly said it first, but to THE TRUTH:"Do not walk behind me, for i may not lead, do not walk in front of me, for i may not follow, but walk beside me and be as my equal. We may then guide each other." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 But when you open your eyes again to capture it, it disappears. So... Or for some of us, as soon as we open our mouth the truth disappears. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 "Do not walk behind me, for i may not lead, do not walk in front of me, for i may not follow, but walk beside me and be as my equal. We may then guide each other." A modification of an Albert Camus quote. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vmarco Posted January 28, 2013 Ha! You missed some of that saying. "I swear (left hand on the Christian Bible and right hand raised to God) to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." This used to be required in the courts of law in the United States. Didn't really mean anything. People still lied. Yes, they still lied,...but more important, anyone agreeing to the oath (so help me god) is instantly being dishonest. As a Buddhist once said, "Start knowing what you really know, and stop believing what you really don’t know. Somebody asks you. "Is there a God?" and you say, "Yes, God is." Remember: Do you really know? If you don’t know, please don’t say that you do. Say, "I don’t know.". . . False knowing is the enemy of true knowledge. All beliefs are false knowledge 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted January 28, 2013 A modification of an Albert Camus quote. Ah ha, one who might have spoken for the truth then? He said: "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." Thanks, Google! I think that is the sum of the consciousness of truth an individual as much as the rest of us 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 Yes, they still lied,...but more important, anyone agreeing to the oath (so help me god) is instantly being dishonest. As a Buddhist once said, "Start knowing what you really know, and stop believing what you really don’t know. Somebody asks you. "Is there a God?" and you say, "Yes, God is." Remember: Do you really know? If you don’t know, please don’t say that you do. Say, "I don’t know.". . . False knowing is the enemy of true knowledge. All beliefs are false knowledge True. I confess that I may be guilty of that as, being an Atheist, I say, "There is not god." and that is assuming that I know more than I really know. No, I do not know, absolute. But I have seen no evidence that any exist just as I have seen no evidence that frogs can fly. I feel comfortable saying, "Frogs cannot fly." (But there is a lizard that can walk on water. Its nickname is "the Jesus Christ lizard.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 Ah ha, one who might have spoken for the truth then? He said: "Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." Thanks, Google! I think that is the sum of the consciousness of truth an individual as much as the rest of us You done good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted January 28, 2013 I actually ponder this silly question all the time. I sure liked the OP. Seems like there's this entity that is coming into a type of self-manifestation through all of humanity, all of nature. Perhaps it will never be finished. Perhaps a black hole is the other side of a white dwarf and the entity just keeps breathing in and out, like a bellows as it says in the TTC. Perhaps it's just an illusion that we're sitting at the intersection of time and space, and the reality is that there is no time or space at all - only Thought. But because our brains are laid out to be used in a linear fashion it only appears that time is a component. In reality it's all happening Now. All of this is my current way of seeing it. I absolutely guarantee that in a year I will have evolved somewhat on this. Maybe there's something to the narcissistic idea of falling in love with one's own reflection. Maybe that's what happened to the life-force at the beginning and it is wanting to manifest into something tangible. Or something tangible and then intangible. I don't think even Jack Nicholson would have the answers on this one. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eye_of_the_storm Posted January 28, 2013 I have a feeling... that when we figure it all out...it's going to be pretty funny 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted January 28, 2013 (edited) posted a second too late, leads to a double post... fun times... added extra words so that you read this like its actually contributing something - even though it's just admitting a mistake ~ Having fun! Edited January 28, 2013 by Northern Avid Judo Ant 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted January 28, 2013 I have a feeling... that when we figure it all out... it's going to be pretty funny Added for irony, sorry for the double post, but i couldnt appropriately and properly add the quote since the forum got fixed (seems like a mistake, but its too insignificant) Truth: it will never be finished, for perfection is a pursuit, not a destination. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adept Posted January 28, 2013 What if there's nothing to figure out ? Our heads tend to hurt with all the endless questions to which there is no satisfactory answer. I think if we focus too much on the hypotheticals, we miss out on actually living. that when we figure it all out... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 28, 2013 I think if we focus too much on the hypotheticals, we miss out on actually living. Worth repeating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harmonious Emptiness Posted January 28, 2013 What is true now that has always been true? This is not a discussion question to be answered with elaborate description. It's answer is something that can only be known when the mind has gone beyond words, questions, correct, incorrect, knower, known, here, there, never, and forever. You exist now. Did you always exist? Your curiosity exists now. Did it always exists? What is true now, yesterday, and before you were born, that has always been? The Truth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted January 29, 2013 I have a feeling... that when we figure it all out... it's going to be pretty funny I just hope that we all get to have the last laugh together before we dissolve.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Everything Posted January 31, 2013 (edited) (Of course, we cannot define where we will be in the future because it hasn't happened yet. We can allways know we will be here and now, though. That is more then enough for me. Just the simplicity of it alone brings such ease into my life. I allways feel so fresh in each new moment, right now, right here. I also feel like my past allways supports me in exploring this new moment. It helps me identify what I am wanting and it supports my point of focus aswell, my identity, so that I may breath life trough this physical body of mine and flow life trough this experience of mine, in each and every single new moment. I feel like I can know what I want, thanks to this past of mine. live an eternity and not get tired. Such ease does it bring me to know that I will allways be here and now! I get into the rythm of each new moment, and it feels like my time becomes timeless. Like a jogger who forgets his jogging and no longer gets tired. That I have allways been here and now and allways shall be. But more importantly, I am here and now. It is miraculous to me! We will allways be here and now, that is the greatest certainty I have and it supports all of the well-being, in all of existance, that I have ever experienced in my life. Edited January 31, 2013 by Everything Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hydrogen Posted January 31, 2013 We can allways know we will be here and now, though. That is more then enough for me. Just the simplicity of it alone brings such ease into my life. I allways feel so fresh in each new moment, right now, right here. I also feel like my past allways supports me in exploring this new moment. It helps me identify what I am wanting and it supports my point of focus aswell, my identity, so that I may breath life trough this physical body of mine and flow life trough this experience of mine, in each and every single new moment I want to know what Qi Gong you're practicing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted February 5, 2013 Protecting truth:Se also: Internet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted February 5, 2013 Protecting truth: Se also: Internet. I heard that nothing can be posted on the internet that isn't true. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrandmasterP Posted February 5, 2013 It's all 'true' this internet info. True as I'm currently pedalling this hand knitted bicycle generator to power up the iPad. :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
