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Post by silver on Aug 20, 2012 20:08:20 GMT -5
Have you 'been there' ZD? are we a ball of golden light, like I sense? When my mom was in the hospital dying, she was lying there, out of it on life support, and I could see and sense an aura of tiny sparkling gold filaments floating about - not unlike those black magnetic filaments in the magnetic toy we used to have as kids. but they were in a small field/aura that I noticed. I've never seen an aura before or since that time. In the forum I haunted before this, I have a myspace thread called Going for the Gold. I'm pretty sure 'gold' plays into this spirit thingy. I'm not trying to nail that down, but it is unsettling that I don't fully understand all this new stuff I'm being exposed to in your book, tpon and this forum and feeling concerned about how we all will 'know' one spirit from another. Like the joke people worry that it will be boring 'in heaven' because life beyond the veil will be 'too perfect' or something like that. I'm pretty sure this all sounds sorta stupid.
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 0:02:40 GMT -5
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 0:24:54 GMT -5
This is a brief one about a boy and his hyena - I love it - also the comments are pretty funny.
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 0:38:11 GMT -5
A couple of days ago, my neighbor and I went out to dinner and I was telling her about something that happened to my brother when he was in high school. My grandmother was in the kitchen when Tommy came up from the basement where he was studying, looking white as a sheet. He told her that he had seen his dad - His dad died before he was born, so while he was doing his homework, he looked over his shoulder and saw him.
Tommy later joined the Navy and was home on Christmas leave when he was killed in a car accident 4 days before my 14th. He was 18.
He was good to me. That meant a lot.
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Post by Reefs on Aug 21, 2012 2:31:54 GMT -5
The most famous story along this line is the story of two Zen monks who came to a river. One of the monks pulled up his robes and waded across. The other monk walked across the river on top of the water. When they got to the other side, the monk who had waded across said, "If I had known you were that kind of a monk, I'd have broken your legs before we ever got to the water!" Ha ha. ... but the rule is "Don't seek anything special. Just go about your business and be an ordinary guy or gal." Nothing is deeper than not-knowing and being ordinary. As E. implied, I suspect that many of the Zen stories are just stories designed to make a point. Although anything is possible, I seriously doubt that the Zen monk in one of the stories walked across a river on the surface of the water (unless he had a pair of those special water-repellent shoes--LOL). The story is just a graphic way of saying, "Don't get attached to psychic paranormal experiences that are likely to make one feel special." Interesting story. I'd say the story could be interpreted in both ways. The monk who was walking on water could be seen as stuck with his superpowers which he likes to show, so the monk that was wading thru the water pointed that out. Another interpretation could be that the monk who was walking on water wasn't aware of doing anything superduperlike and it just happened. Then the monk blaming him of just showing off could be seen as stuck in his 'being ordinary' doctrine. Was that the entire story? If the story is that short, both interpretation would seem valid. And depending on which interpretation you choose the story could point out where you are probably stuck. What do you think?
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Post by zendancer on Aug 21, 2012 4:27:40 GMT -5
Have you 'been there' ZD? are we a ball of golden light, like I sense? When my mom was in the hospital dying, she was lying there, out of it on life support, and I could see and sense an aura of tiny sparkling gold filaments floating about - not unlike those black magnetic filaments in the magnetic toy we used to have as kids. but they were in a small field/aura that I noticed. I've never seen an aura before or since that time. In the forum I haunted before this, I have a myspace thread called Going for the Gold. I'm pretty sure 'gold' plays into this spirit thingy. I'm not trying to nail that down, but it is unsettling that I don't fully understand all this new stuff I'm being exposed to in your book, tpon and this forum and feeling concerned about how we all will 'know' one spirit from another. Like the joke people worry that it will be boring 'in heaven' because life beyond the veil will be 'too perfect' or something like that. I'm pretty sure this all sounds sorta stupid. Silver: No, what you wrote does not sound stupid, but it is a product of mind. It's a natural consequence of imagining separateness where there is none. Have I been there? No. I can only be here and now because here and now is all there is. There is no time or space, so there is no "there." There is only what we might call "the play of consciousness" which is inseparable from "what is." It is possible to have realizations of the unity I am pointing to. My wife's mother died when she was a baby. There was a certain amount of psychic trauma associated with her mother's absence while growing up because all of her friends had mothers, and she didn't. When Mother's Day was celebrated at church, for example, she was the only child who had to wear a different colored flower than the other children (adults can be so clueless in matters like this), so everyone was aware that she had no mother and felt sorry for her. You can imagine how this made her feel. When she grew older, she daydreamed a great deal about what her mother must have been like, and what it would have been like if her mother had lived. As an adult, she later went on a silent Gangaji retreat where her mother issues arose, and she suddenly had a big realization. She realized that her mother had never gone anywhere, was still here, and could never leave her. Her realization was direct and unmediated by thought, so it cannot be understood by the mind. Her realization was a non-local kind of body-knowing, but it resolved her long-held sense of loss. Things are not what they seem. One deep insight into what's going on can change everything.
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Post by Portto on Aug 21, 2012 7:06:29 GMT -5
The most famous story along this line is the story of two Zen monks who came to a river. One of the monks pulled up his robes and waded across. The other monk walked across the river on top of the water. When they got to the other side, the monk who had waded across said, "If I had known you were that kind of a monk, I'd have broken your legs before we ever got to the water!" Ha ha. ... but the rule is "Don't seek anything special. Just go about your business and be an ordinary guy or gal." Nothing is deeper than not-knowing and being ordinary. As E. implied, I suspect that many of the Zen stories are just stories designed to make a point. Although anything is possible, I seriously doubt that the Zen monk in one of the stories walked across a river on the surface of the water (unless he had a pair of those special water-repellent shoes--LOL). The story is just a graphic way of saying, "Don't get attached to psychic paranormal experiences that are likely to make one feel special." Interesting story. I'd say the story could be interpreted in both ways. The monk who was walking on water could be seen as stuck with his superpowers which he likes to show, so the monk that was wading thru the water pointed that out. Another interpretation could be that the monk who was walking on water wasn't aware of doing anything superduperlike and it just happened. Then the monk blaming him of just showing off could be seen as stuck in his 'being ordinary' doctrine. Was that the entire story? If the story is that short, both interpretation would seem valid. And depending on which interpretation you choose the story could point out where you are probably stuck. What do you think? Koans are not supposed to be interpreted. What would you do if you and a bunch of friends were walking through mud and your best friend suddenly started levitating alongside, while letting all the others continue through the mud? Or, what would you do if you and a bunch of friends only had cucumbers to eat, and your best friend started eating ham without sharing?
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Post by Reefs on Aug 21, 2012 7:17:48 GMT -5
Interesting story. I'd say the story could be interpreted in both ways. The monk who was walking on water could be seen as stuck with his superpowers which he likes to show, so the monk that was wading thru the water pointed that out. Another interpretation could be that the monk who was walking on water wasn't aware of doing anything superduperlike and it just happened. Then the monk blaming him of just showing off could be seen as stuck in his 'being ordinary' doctrine. Was that the entire story? If the story is that short, both interpretation would seem valid. And depending on which interpretation you choose the story could point out where you are probably stuck. What do you think? Koans are not supposed to be interpreted. What would you do if you and a bunch of friends were walking through mud and your best friend suddenly started levitating alongside, while letting all the others continue through the mud? Or, what would you do if you and a bunch of friends only had cucumbers to eat, and your best friend started eating ham without sharing? That wasn't a koan. That was a zen moral story.
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Post by Portto on Aug 21, 2012 7:32:24 GMT -5
Koans are not supposed to be interpreted. What would you do if you and a bunch of friends were walking through mud and your best friend suddenly started levitating alongside, while letting all the others continue through the mud? Or, what would you do if you and a bunch of friends only had cucumbers to eat, and your best friend started eating ham without sharing? That wasn't a koan. That was a zen moral story. Zen people have morals? ;D
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 13:14:51 GMT -5
That wasn't a koan. That was a zen moral story. Zen people have morals? ;D No, but their stories do............!
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 17:08:17 GMT -5
As you can see, I sometimes tend to think a lot about death. Soon after I woke up this morning, I started thinking about it and a scene from Forest Gump came to mind, where Bubba was dying in Forest's arms and he said I'm tired I want to go home. After having read half of tpon, I had to wonder is that the body talking or is that the inner self or spirit or real self talking or both? Is the inner real self ever tired or are they just there with their hands in their pockets like waiting to blow this popsickle stand or what? I think I already got that they don't have a purpose (or do they?) - that they just 'are'......
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Post by relinquish on Aug 21, 2012 17:26:19 GMT -5
As you can see, I sometimes tend to think a lot about death. Soon after I woke up this morning, I started thinking about it and a scene from Forest Gump came to mind, where Bubba was dying in Forest's arms and he said I'm tired I want to go home. After having read half of tpon, I had to wonder is that the body talking or is that the inner self or spirit or real self talking or both? Is the inner real self ever tired or are they just there with their hands in their pockets like waiting to blow this popsickle stand or what? I think I already got that they don't have a purpose (or do they?) - that they just 'are'...... The 'inner self' of anybody is the 'inner self' of EVERYBODY. It is simply the stillness that is aware of all movement. If that which we initially think to be our awareness is seen to move, by what is that movement seen? Obviously it's nothing personal AT ALL.
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 17:31:28 GMT -5
As you can see, I sometimes tend to think a lot about death. Soon after I woke up this morning, I started thinking about it and a scene from Forest Gump came to mind, where Bubba was dying in Forest's arms and he said I'm tired I want to go home. After having read half of tpon, I had to wonder is that the body talking or is that the inner self or spirit or real self talking or both? Is the inner real self ever tired or are they just there with their hands in their pockets like waiting to blow this popsickle stand or what? I think I already got that they don't have a purpose (or do they?) - that they just 'are'...... The 'inner self' of anybody is the 'inner self' of EVERYBODY. It is simply the stillness that is aware of all movement. If that which we initially think to be awareness is seen to move, by what is that movement seen? Obviously it's nothing personal AT ALL. Okay, so is there a soul or spirit apart from this inner self? Because of many spirit/ghostly encounters people have reported, it would seem so to me, that there are spirits/souls. I have a feeling that it is different from this 'energy' thing that is aware of all movement. Seems boring, though. *shrug*
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Post by relinquish on Aug 21, 2012 18:01:55 GMT -5
The 'inner self' of anybody is the 'inner self' of EVERYBODY. It is simply the stillness that is aware of all movement. If that which we initially think to be awareness is seen to move, by what is that movement seen? Obviously it's nothing personal AT ALL. Okay, so is there a soul or spirit apart from this inner self? Because of many spirit/ghostly encounters people have reported, it would seem so to me, that there are spirits/souls. I have a feeling that it is different from this 'energy' thing that is aware of all movement. Seems boring, though. *shrug* 'Boring' is an opinion held by one who appears to move. The stillness this movement is witnessed by has no opinion of itself or of anything else. It is simply open to ALL that appears. All that begins and ends. All that comes and goes. 'Your' baby body came and went. 'Your' child body came and went. 'Your' adult body came, and WILL go. YOU were none of them. YOU will never grow old, and YOU were never young. YOU always ARE.
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Post by silver on Aug 21, 2012 18:38:21 GMT -5
Okay, so is there a soul or spirit apart from this inner self? Because of many spirit/ghostly encounters people have reported, it would seem so to me, that there are spirits/souls. I have a feeling that it is different from this 'energy' thing that is aware of all movement. Seems boring, though. *shrug* 'Boring' is an opinion held by one who appears to move. The stillness this movement is witnessed by has no opinion of itself or of anything else. It is simply open to ALL that appears. All that begins and ends. All that comes and goes. 'Your' baby body came and went. 'Your' child body came and went. 'Your' adult body came, and WILL go. YOU were none of them. YOU will never grow old, and YOU were never young. YOU always ARE. Okay. I get that. I'm no longer bored. But what about spirit/ghost encounters? What is that? I realize that people come and people go, yeah. And as such, we pay attention to what goes on around us, even all the while you realize or believe or just 'are'. You drive a car maybe, you have friends, family, neighbors, you do stuff. All that doing stuff is meaningless to you, right? It doesn't fit into any equation of any kind and as we respond to each other's posts, it too is meaningless stuff?
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