This sort of bums me out :(

[chegg]

Love what Chris d just said "Do the inner work, only speak from personal experience, ignore urges to quote teachers and books, then the flamewars would die out quickly."

 

Walk the path... And as Ghandi said "be the change you want to see in the world"

 

∞

 

Good Post !

 

I like quoting though, but I try and do it with a non-malicious intent.

 

 

 

Blessings of Love and Understanding !

:wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:

[mike 134]

People are at loggerheads with each other because there are so many sets of beliefs floating around here that are totally incompatible with one another. For instance, some people believe in magical stuff like superpowers, distance healing, remote viewing, shaktipat, and mind reading. On the other hand there are guys like me (or maybe I'm the only one) who are positivist materialists and believe only in science. I think the sole basis of spirituality is biology, specifically the CNS and PNS, and I am loathe even to use spiritual terms like kundalini and chakra, oftentimes placing them in quotes.

 

Its hard for me to understand how or why people believe in magical stuff, so when they post it's tough for me sometimes to take them seriously. But in the same vein I'm sure its difficult for others to put up with my obsession with so called petty matters like sex and money.

[manitou]

Hi Manitou,

 

I was resisting posting to this thread because I didn't want to contradict the theme presented in the opening post as I am truely in disagreement with it.

 

Yes, there is bickering. That will be found even in the best of relationships. We don't all think alike and I believe it was meant to be that way even though I don't believe in such predetermined concepts.

 

I will continue being a boulder on your path. I will agree with you when I can but I will also disagree with you when I must.

 

The bickering of concepts is important in our life, I think. These bickerings cause us to think. They cause us to possibly reconsider our understandings. This is always good. True, we may not change any of our understandings but at least we have, during the bickering, had the chance to question our understandings.

 

The problem arises when the bickering becomes personal instead of staying with the concepts being discussed.

 

I know there are a lot of folks here who do not agree with many of my understandings. This must be because we all have had different life experiences. What we are at any given moment in time is a result of our life experiences. Each interaction with others has the capacity for altering our understandings. And this is always good. Even the bickering is good if it is not taken to a personal level.

 

And each of us here has our own limits as to what level of criticism we are capable of dealing with. Sometimes we read something directed toward us that was presented in what the presenter thought was a constructive manner but we read it as something distructive. This happens in 'real' life as well. This is why it is important to not take what other people say here personally even though it was very personal in its composition.

 

I personally think that this board is much more understanding and compassionate now than it was when I first joined. Back then personal insults were being thrown about intentionally all the time. This type of interaction has declined dramatically.

 

Another thing is that we need be selective as to which threads we are going to get involved in. If there are concepts that "get our goat" we should stay very clear of those threads. If we get involved all we are doing is asking for trouble.

 

And just a personal note to you personally, I enjoy our discussions even though we don't always agree. At least we are able to express our thoughts and understandings and that is always good.

 

Marbles, you are my Teacher. For this I thank you.

[Marblehead]

Its hard for me to understand how or why people believe in magical stuff, so when they post it's tough for me sometimes to take them seriously. But in the same vein I'm sure its difficult for others to put up with my obsession with so called petty matters like sex and money.

Because we all need something to believe in. I'm not at exactly your level as I believe some things that you would likely reject. When we have a need we seek out whatever satisfies our need. Now granted, many of us don't understand what our 'real' needs are and that is why we see so many different means of satisfying our needs.

[Marblehead]

Marbles, you are my Teacher. For this I thank you.

That's what friends are for.

 

 

Edit to add:

 

I got on my best friend's case the other day because he wasn't doing something he should have been doing. I sounded like a nagging wife. Hehehe.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Marblehead

[Stosh]

People are at loggerheads with each other because there are so many sets of beliefs floating around here that are totally incompatible with one another. For instance, some people believe in magical stuff like superpowers, distance healing, remote viewing, shaktipat, and mind reading. On the other hand there are guys like me (or maybe I'm the only one) who are positivist materialists and believe only in science. I think the sole basis of spirituality is biology, specifically the CNS and PNS, and I am loathe even to use spiritual terms like kundalini and chakra, oftentimes placing them in quotes.

 

Its hard for me to understand how or why people believe in magical stuff, so when they post it's tough for me sometimes to take them seriously. But in the same vein I'm sure its difficult for others to put up with my obsession with so called petty matters like sex and money.

If you are obsessed with sex and money,, (either considering them petty or of great import.)

Wouldnt the subject matter here be frustrating ? and in fact be largely antithetical to the obsession itself ?

[mike 134]

Wouldnt the subject matter here be frustrating ? and in fact be largely antithetical to the obsession itself ?

 

Not necessarily. Over the last 2 years I've had strange symptoms that I guess you can call kundalini. Feelings of energy in the body, OBE's, psychedelic experiences.... you name it I've had it. I don't know how it happened to me since I never did any practices before. Nevertheless, this forum is a good source of info for this kind of thing, even if I have to filter out a lot of what is said. Since I interpret it purely from a biological perspective I roll my eyes and sigh when people say stuff like "trust and surrender to kundalini". But I always pay attention when somebody says, "twist your back and neck to X position to cause Y effect" because I know that, in doing so, certain nerve bundles are being stretched which could plausibly modulate the neuronal signalling therein and produce definite changes.

Edited December 12, 2013 by mike 134

[gatito]

Not necessarily. Over the last 2 years I've had strange symptoms that I guess you can call kundalini. Feelings of energy in the body, OBE's, psychedelic experiences.... you name it I've had it. I don't know how it happened to me since I never did any practices before. Nevertheless, this forum is a good source of info for this kind of thing, even if I have to filter out a lot of what is said. Since I interpret it purely from a biological perspective I roll my eyes and sigh when people say stuff like "trust and surrender to kundalini". But I always pay attention when somebody says, "twist your back and neck to X position to cause Y effect" because I know that, in doing so, certain nerve bundles are being stretched which could plausibly modulate the neuronal signalling therein and produce definite changes.

 

You'd need to let go of trying to shoehorn everything into a medical model if you wanted to explore your experiences properly (that is assuming that you wish to explore your own experiences).