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Post by onehandclapping on Jul 21, 2013 16:00:23 GMT -5
I've found that some of the simplest advice ends up the best. "Make your hands into binoculars and put them over your eyes. Look through them. That's what you are seeking...." --a quote from a conversation I had with a teacher a few years ago....
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Post by laughter on Jul 21, 2013 17:05:28 GMT -5
Hi Esponja: Yes. The statements I listed are typical thoughts that adults entertain. One thought leads to another, and, as you suggest, the body/mind wanders off into lalaloopsey land. If it is seen that thoughts psychologically separate the thinker from THIS, then whenever various thoughts are recognized, it is like a dharma bell. "Aha, time to shift attention away from this thought to what can be seen, heard, felt, etc." After I started meditating, I soon realized that I had spent years and years living in my head and had ceased looking at the world around me. I began taking walks down country roads while making an effort to look at the world non-conceptually. It was very frustrating at that time because thoughts were almost incessant, and it was difficult to hold attention on direct sensory perception for more than a second or two. With persistence, however, this gradually changed, and the mind's talkativeness and endless commentary diminished. Today the mind is primarily silent, compared to the past, and it functions in the background, with virtually no commentary. At times, the body sits and watches clouds without a single thought occurring for long periods of time. This is neither good nor bad; it is simply what has happened as a result of shifting attention away from thoughts over a long period of time. It is not special. The first time I saw clearly how thoughts keep us separated from the truth of "what is" occurred one day while pouring concrete. At that time I harbored a powerful fantasy about running off to a mountaintop or wilderness area where I could meditate in peace and get enlightened. I did not realize that this fantasy was a fantasy, and it arose almost daily. I'd be doing some sort of construction work, and a thought would appear, like, "Shoot, if I could just go off into the wilderness and leave this meaningless construction work behind for a while, I could have a big enlightenment experience and become a Buddha. All I need is some serious silence." Ha ha. It seems very funny now, but at the time thoughts like this were causing me a lot of frustration and discontent. One day I was pouring concrete with some fellow workers. As we rested for a moment in the shade of a concrete truck, that same fantasy started to get cranked up. I thought, "Dam*, if I didn't have to be pouring concrete, then I could be......." That's as far as the thought proceeded. I suddenly saw that thought as a thought, only, and I saw how the thought separated me from the truth of "what is." I then asked myself a deceptively simply question, "What must I be doing this moment? Not in the future, but now?" When this question was asked, it was obvious that I had to be pouring concrete. I then realized that in the past I had been continually jerked around by a crazy fantasy, and oblivious to the truth. From that point on, I began using that question, "What must I be doing this moment?" to cut off fantasies about the future before they could get up to speed, so to speak. It was like recognizing a bad habit and putting a stop to it. All of us have thoughts that, if followed blindly, will keep us separated from the truth of who we are and what we have to be doing moment by moment. The list I included above only includes a tiny sampling of the silly thoughts that keep most of us entranced and lost in our heads. The other day I heard about a super-wealthy fellow who made this statement to one of my relatives, "Any time I walk into a room, I want to know that I'm the wealthiest person there. If I meet anyone who I think has more money than I do, it makes me feel competitive and inferior." What an incredibly sad statement! On a less incredible scale, a great many people continually measure themselves in comparison to other people. "Is she prettier than I am?" "Is he more successful in his work than I am?" "Does he own a better car than I do?" "Have I achieved as much as they have?" A high school reunion is a classic place where this sort of comparison-thinking occurs, and I have heard some amazing comments at past class reunions. It's as if people are still competing against each another fifty years later. As attention is shifted from thoughts to direct sensory perception, the truth of one's being becomes more and more obvious, but the key is to catch old habitual thought-trains early and de-rail them, so to speak. Some people think extremely negative thoughts about themselves, and they stay depressed because of their thoughts. "I'm too fat." "I'm not successful enough." "I'll always be poor." "I'm just an unlucky person." These kinds of thoughts are why Byron Katie often asks people, "How would you feel without that thought?" If you look at the above list of thoughts, you may recognize one or two that commonly arise in your mind. Memorize those thoughts, and the next time one of them occurs, recognize it and use it like a dharma bell--a reminder to shift attention to what can be seen, heard, or felt. If you are familiar with universal sound--the background ringing in the ears--you might experiment with shifting attention to that. If not, just look around or shift attention to the breathing process. Take several deep breaths, and feel the air moving into and out of the body. By continually shifting attention away from negative thoughts, fantasies, thoughts of comparison or judgment, the mind gradually loses its dominance, and eventually freedom from thought can occur. Who we are is THIS, infinite and unimaginable, but we usually spend our lives thinking that we are persons-- continually jerked around by endless self-centered thoughts. Bottom line? Shift! *smile* *Shift* HAHAHA! My ears ring all the time...... here I was just annoyed when I could hear it....... *Shift* HAHA!! This *shift* thing is gonna lead to some entertaining conversations I got a feeling. But I'm thinking about getting my abs in shape so I guess that's a good thing...... *shift*... hahaha. shift happens!
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Post by onehandclapping on Jul 21, 2013 17:39:12 GMT -5
*Shift* HAHAHA! My ears ring all the time...... here I was just annoyed when I could hear it....... *Shift* HAHA!! This *shift* thing is gonna lead to some entertaining conversations I got a feeling. But I'm thinking about getting my abs in shape so I guess that's a good thing...... *shift*... hahaha. shift happens! HAHAHAHA!! I'm copyrighting it as we speak. Get you t-shirt at the next Gangaji retreat near you. hahaha.
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Post by onehandclapping on Jul 21, 2013 17:39:39 GMT -5
*Shift* HAHAHA! My ears ring all the time...... here I was just annoyed when I could hear it....... *Shift* HAHA!! This *shift* thing is gonna lead to some entertaining conversations I got a feeling. But I'm thinking about getting my abs in shape so I guess that's a good thing...... *shift*... hahaha. shift happens! HAHAHAHA!! I'm copyrighting it as we speak. Get you t-shirt at the next Gangaji retreat near you. hahaha. *shift* HAHAHAHA!!!!
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Post by laughter on Jul 21, 2013 18:16:30 GMT -5
HAHAHAHA!! I'm copyrighting it as we speak. Get you t-shirt at the next Gangaji retreat near you. hahaha. *shift* HAHAHAHA!!!! Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
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Post by tzujanli on Jul 21, 2013 19:22:03 GMT -5
Greetings.. HAHAHAHA!! I'm copyrighting it as we speak. Get you t-shirt at the next Gangaji retreat near you. hahaha. *shift* HAHAHAHA!!!! Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch. LOL.. "Bang the gong", brother.. chase the evil Tzu away.. wouldn't want to actually get still and see for yourself, eh.. just let Niz do your realizin' for ya.. The thing is, i'm clear about what my theories are, and they're not 'beliefs'.. but, you and the other disciples keep on chanting your beliefs, you wear your beliefs like wet robes, dripping with self-righteousness.. Be well..
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Post by laughter on Jul 21, 2013 20:10:09 GMT -5
Greetings.. Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch. LOL.. "Bang the gong", brother.. chase the evil Tzu away.. wouldn't want to actually get still and see for yourself, eh.. just let Niz do your realizin' for ya.. The thing is, i'm clear about what my theories are, and they're not 'beliefs'.. but, you and the other disciples keep on chanting your beliefs, you wear your beliefs like wet robes, dripping with self-righteousness.. Be well.. First, I understand that most of what I refer to as ‘what I know’, is what I ‘believe’ I scrutinize my own beliefs and understandings, I sincerely try to find fault with the beliefs and understandings I accept as consistent with ‘what is so’ I have am comfortable that my understanding of mind, what I believe about mind, is that mind is a medium common to all perception, awareness, experiences, imagination, reasoning, recollecting, and cognitive processes, and it is upon and through such medium that ‘that which is’ is made known in relation to itself (self-awareness). Mind is infinite and isolated at the same time, allowing for that which ‘is’ to utilize mind according to its intention, as an independently functioning ‘part’ of the infinite, and/or as ‘all’ of the eternal infinite, for exploring its own existence. Mind allows for isolated ‘parts’ of its wholeness to experience privacy as different ‘unique patterns’ of the same essence, like the unique snowflakes that are all the same essence of water. In this way, ‘that which is’ senses and perceives its existence in the same medium, mind, as the ‘isolated parts’ of itself experiences their freely interactive experiences with other ‘parts’, and with the part’s inherent awareness of itself as ‘that which is’, too.. a functional equality, as necessary to be true to your own experience of ‘You’.. E qually acknowledged, are the beliefs that create harmony, like the beliefs that alert us to danger, or that remind us of necessary activities for our well-being, or that counsel us of our relationship with the continuum of Life. And the best for last! it is my understanding that the mindscapes are stored in consciousness as intact and precise energetic echoes of the original, a Cosmic Memory, accessible through when someone's mind is so still that the individuated 'interface'/barrier falls away and the individuated perspective establishes coherence with the Whole.. in this understanding, the energetic signature that is the individuated being resonates with other 'memories', people/places/events, having similar energetic signatures, allowing for clarity to reveal ever greater interactions with the Cosmic Whole, either through stored memories or as what is actually happening, now..
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2013 20:41:23 GMT -5
Greetings.. LOL.. "Bang the gong", brother.. chase the evil Tzu away.. wouldn't want to actually get still and see for yourself, eh.. just let Niz do your realizin' for ya.. The thing is, i'm clear about what my theories are, and they're not 'beliefs'.. but, you and the other disciples keep on chanting your beliefs, you wear your beliefs like wet robes, dripping with self-righteousness.. Be well.. First, I understand that most of what I refer to as ‘what I know’, is what I ‘believe’ I scrutinize my own beliefs and understandings, I sincerely try to find fault with the beliefs and understandings I accept as consistent with ‘what is so’ I have am comfortable that my understanding of mind, what I believe about mind, is that mind is a medium common to all perception, awareness, experiences, imagination, reasoning, recollecting, and cognitive processes, and it is upon and through such medium that ‘that which is’ is made known in relation to itself (self-awareness). Mind is infinite and isolated at the same time, allowing for that which ‘is’ to utilize mind according to its intention, as an independently functioning ‘part’ of the infinite, and/or as ‘all’ of the eternal infinite, for exploring its own existence. Mind allows for isolated ‘parts’ of its wholeness to experience privacy as different ‘unique patterns’ of the same essence, like the unique snowflakes that are all the same essence of water. In this way, ‘that which is’ senses and perceives its existence in the same medium, mind, as the ‘isolated parts’ of itself experiences their freely interactive experiences with other ‘parts’, and with the part’s inherent awareness of itself as ‘that which is’, too.. a functional equality, as necessary to be true to your own experience of ‘You’.. E qually acknowledged, are the beliefs that create harmony, like the beliefs that alert us to danger, or that remind us of necessary activities for our well-being, or that counsel us of our relationship with the continuum of Life. And the best for last! it is my understanding that the mindscapes are stored in consciousness as intact and precise energetic echoes of the original, a Cosmic Memory, accessible through when someone's mind is so still that the individuated 'interface'/barrier falls away and the individuated perspective establishes coherence with the Whole.. in this understanding, the energetic signature that is the individuated being resonates with other 'memories', people/places/events, having similar energetic signatures, allowing for clarity to reveal ever greater interactions with the Cosmic Whole, either through stored memories or as what is actually happening, now.. Whoa! You got a thing for reefs?
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Post by onehandclapping on Jul 21, 2013 21:25:59 GMT -5
HAHAHAHA!! I'm copyrighting it as we speak. Get you t-shirt at the next Gangaji retreat near you. hahaha. *shift* HAHAHAHA!!!! Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch. General tzu-- hahaha. Tasty yet funny. Oh the General can't be told anything because he's got it all figured out. He seems to know more than Niz......at least according to himself. I'm waiting for Tzu's new book entitled "Tzujani: The Story of the Greatest Teacher of All Time and how everyone else has gotten it wrong up to this point". Steve could have written a foreword for the book but it appears he's moved past that egoic idea of self. Could we get that lucky with Tzu? I'm not holding my breath....
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Post by tzujanli on Jul 21, 2013 22:09:02 GMT -5
Greetings.. Greetings.. LOL.. "Bang the gong", brother.. chase the evil Tzu away.. wouldn't want to actually get still and see for yourself, eh.. just let Niz do your realizin' for ya.. The thing is, i'm clear about what my theories are, and they're not 'beliefs'.. but, you and the other disciples keep on chanting your beliefs, you wear your beliefs like wet robes, dripping with self-righteousness.. Be well.. First, I understand that most of what I refer to as ‘what I know’, is what I ‘believe’ I scrutinize my own beliefs and understandings, I sincerely try to find fault with the beliefs and understandings I accept as consistent with ‘what is so’ I have am comfortable that my understanding of mind, what I believe about mind, is that mind is a medium common to all perception, awareness, experiences, imagination, reasoning, recollecting, and cognitive processes, and it is upon and through such medium that ‘that which is’ is made known in relation to itself (self-awareness). Mind is infinite and isolated at the same time, allowing for that which ‘is’ to utilize mind according to its intention, as an independently functioning ‘part’ of the infinite, and/or as ‘all’ of the eternal infinite, for exploring its own existence. Mind allows for isolated ‘parts’ of its wholeness to experience privacy as different ‘unique patterns’ of the same essence, like the unique snowflakes that are all the same essence of water. In this way, ‘that which is’ senses and perceives its existence in the same medium, mind, as the ‘isolated parts’ of itself experiences their freely interactive experiences with other ‘parts’, and with the part’s inherent awareness of itself as ‘that which is’, too.. a functional equality, as necessary to be true to your own experience of ‘You’.. E qually acknowledged, are the beliefs that create harmony, like the beliefs that alert us to danger, or that remind us of necessary activities for our well-being, or that counsel us of our relationship with the continuum of Life. And the best for last! it is my understanding that the mindscapes are stored in consciousness as intact and precise energetic echoes of the original, a Cosmic Memory, accessible through when someone's mind is so still that the individuated 'interface'/barrier falls away and the individuated perspective establishes coherence with the Whole.. in this understanding, the energetic signature that is the individuated being resonates with other 'memories', people/places/events, having similar energetic signatures, allowing for clarity to reveal ever greater interactions with the Cosmic Whole, either through stored memories or as what is actually happening, now.. NICE!! a perfect trifecta!! juvenile, persistent, and intentionally ignorant.. geeeze, Bill, find some authenticity, stop thinking that this quest defines 'you'.. but hey, it's your choice, keep devoting your time and efforts, and.. all you do is look like a jilted lover out for revenge, your self-image driving you madly to be the conquering avenger.. don't you get it, yet? Be well..
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Post by laughter on Jul 22, 2013 8:33:07 GMT -5
Greetings.. And the best for last! NICE!! a perfect trifecta!! juvenile, persistent, and intentionally ignorant.. geeeze, Bill, find some authenticity, stop thinking that this quest defines 'you'.. but hey, it's your choice, keep devoting your time and efforts, and.. all you do is look like a jilted lover out for revenge, your self-image driving you madly to be the conquering avenger.. don't you get it, yet? Be well.. The lack of a bow here is not out of a lack of respect for Tzu' the man, but out of respect and reverence for the Zen tradition of which I stand outside of. (** nods, smiles **) (** turns and walks away in silence **)
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Post by laughter on Jul 22, 2013 8:43:20 GMT -5
Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch. General tzu-- hahaha. Tasty yet funny. Oh the General can't be told anything because he's got it all figured out. He seems to know more than Niz......at least according to himself. I'm waiting for Tzu's new book entitled "Tzujani: The Story of the Greatest Teacher of All Time and how everyone else has gotten it wrong up to this point". Steve could have written a foreword for the book but it appears h e's moved past that egoic idea of self. Could we get that lucky with Tzu? I'm not holding my breath....Good call!
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Post by tzujanli on Jul 22, 2013 9:09:54 GMT -5
Greetings.. Next time General Tzu starts chirpin' 'bout "beliefiness" just link him back to these. Guy has no claim on the word. Zero. Nada. Zilch. General tzu-- hahaha. Tasty yet funny. Oh the General can't be told anything because he's got it all figured out. He seems to know more than Niz......at least according to himself. I'm waiting for Tzu's new book entitled "Tzujani: The Story of the Greatest Teacher of All Time and how everyone else has gotten it wrong up to this point". Steve could have written a foreword for the book but it appears he's moved past that egoic idea of self. Could we get that lucky with Tzu? I'm not holding my breath.... At least the disciples are consistent, avoid the message/kill the messenger.. there's no substance there, just your disapproval of the messenger and your fear of the message.. Be well..
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Post by esponja on Jul 22, 2013 9:26:41 GMT -5
Hello again all! Not too sure how to even post on this new (ish) forum these days, bare with me. ZD, was wondering if you could help with the 'shift' part? Do you shift to the actual? I.e mind deals with ideas and before you know it you're off in lalaloopseyland, do you mean then to catch the thought and focus on what's happening? Thanks Hi Esponja: Yes. The statements I listed are typical thoughts that adults entertain. One thought leads to another, and, as you suggest, the mind wanders off into lalaloopsey land. If it is seen that thoughts psychologically separate the thinker from THIS, then whenever various thoughts are recognized, it is like a dharma bell. "Aha, time to shift attention away from this thought to what can be seen, heard, felt, etc." After I started meditating, I soon realized that I had spent years and years living in my head and had ceased looking at the world around me. I began taking walks down country roads while making an effort to look at the world non-conceptually. It was very frustrating at that time because thoughts were almost incessant, and it was difficult to hold attention on direct sensory perception for more than a second or two. With persistence, however, this gradually changed, and the mind's talkativeness and endless commentary diminished. Today the mind is primarily silent, compared to the past, and it functions in the background, with virtually no commentary. At times, the body sits and watches clouds without a single thought occurring for long periods of time. This is neither good nor bad; it is simply what has happened as a result of shifting attention away from thoughts over a long period of time. It is not special. The first time I saw clearly how thoughts keep us separated from the truth of "what is" occurred one day while pouring concrete. At that time I harbored a powerful fantasy about running off to a mountaintop or wilderness area where I could meditate in peace and get enlightened. I did not realize that this fantasy was a fantasy, and it arose almost daily. I'd be doing some sort of construction work, and a thought would appear, like, "Shoot, if I could just go off into the wilderness and leave this meaningless construction work behind for a while, I could have a big enlightenment experience and become a Buddha. All I need is some serious silence." Ha ha. It seems very funny now, but at the time thoughts like this were causing me a lot of frustration and discontent. One day I was pouring concrete with some fellow workers. As we rested for a moment in the shade of a concrete truck, that same fantasy started to get cranked up. I thought, "Dam*, if I didn't have to be pouring concrete, then I could be......." That's as far as the thought proceeded. I suddenly saw that thought as a thought, only, and I saw how the thought separated me from the truth of "what is." I then asked myself a deceptively simply question, "What must I be doing this moment? Not in the future, but now?" When this question was asked, it was obvious that I had to be pouring concrete. I then realized that in the past I had been continually jerked around by a crazy fantasy, and oblivious to the truth. From that point on, I began using that question, "What must I be doing this moment?" to cut off fantasies about the future before they could get up to speed, so to speak. It was like recognizing a bad habit and putting a stop to it. All of us have thoughts that, if followed blindly, will keep us separated from the truth of who we are and what we have to be doing moment by moment. The list I included above only includes a tiny sampling of the silly thoughts that keep most of us entranced and lost in our heads. The other day I heard about a super-wealthy fellow who made this statement to one of my relatives, "Any time I walk into a room, I want to know that I'm the wealthiest person there. If I meet anyone who I think has more money than I do, it makes me feel competitive and inferior." What an incredibly sad statement! On a less incredible scale, a great many people continually measure themselves in comparison to other people. "Is she prettier than I am?" "Is he more successful in his work than I am?" "Does he own a better car than I do?" "Have I achieved as much as they have?" A high school reunion is a classic place where this sort of comparison-thinking occurs, and I have heard some amazing comments at past class reunions. It's as if people are still competing against each another fifty years later. As attention is shifted from thoughts to direct sensory perception, the truth of one's being becomes more and more obvious, but the key is to catch old habitual thought-trains early and de-rail them, so to speak. Some people think extremely negative thoughts about themselves, and they stay depressed because of their thoughts. "I'm too fat." "I'm not successful enough." "I'll always be poor." "I'm just an unlucky person." These kinds of thoughts are why Byron Katie often asks people, "How would you feel without that thought?" If you look at the above list of thoughts, you may recognize one or two that commonly arise in your mind. Memorize those thoughts, and the next time one of them occurs, recognize it and use it like a dharma bell--a reminder to shift attention to what can be seen, heard, or felt. If you are familiar with universal sound--the background ringing in the ears--you might experiment with shifting attention to that. If not, just look around or shift attention to the breathing process. Take several deep breaths, and feel the air moving into and out of the body. By continually shifting attention away from negative thoughts, fantasies, thoughts of comparison or judgment, the mind gradually loses its dominance, and eventually freedom from thought can occur. Who we are is THIS, infinite and unimaginable, but we usually spend our lives thinking that we are persons-- continually jerked around by endless self-centered thoughts. Bottom line? Shift! *smile* Thanks ZD, there's a bit I want to answer later but for now, the only thing I wonder, is that if we live always in the moment with not too much commentary, how much dreaming would occur? I mean isn't it sometimes ok to wish to be someplace different?
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Post by topology on Jul 22, 2013 11:12:55 GMT -5
Greetings.. General tzu-- hahaha. Tasty yet funny. Oh the General can't be told anything because he's got it all figured out. He seems to know more than Niz......at least according to himself. I'm waiting for Tzu's new book entitled "Tzujani: The Story of the Greatest Teacher of All Time and how everyone else has gotten it wrong up to this point". Steve could have written a foreword for the book but it appears he's moved past that egoic idea of self. Could we get that lucky with Tzu? I'm not holding my breath.... At least the disciples are consistent, avoid the message/kill the messenger.. there's no substance there, just your disapproval of the messenger and your fear of the message.. Be well.. o/~ To the music of killing me softly by the Fugees o/~
Speaking my message from clarity, Telling you how it actually is, Martyr me softly with your words, Martyr me softly with your words, Hoping you learn how to see, Martyr me softly with your words. *slaps OHC*
Quit trying to crucify Tzu of Ark, and take his message, bitch.
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