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Post by Portto on Sept 29, 2010 7:01:59 GMT -5
"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
Love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves."
— Nisargadatta Maharaj
What do you know yourself to be? Everything or Nothing?
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Post by Jumbunna on Sept 29, 2010 7:20:59 GMT -5
porto - What do you know yourself to be? Everything or Nothing? I know myself to be free porto ... free to be me ... nothing other than everything that be-ing free means ... a play on words for sure but ... words are the only tools we have here and now 
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Post by peanut on Sept 29, 2010 9:48:03 GMT -5
Don't feel it is one or the other...the last line says it all.."and between the two my life moves"....knowing both are true...
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Post by Portto on Sept 29, 2010 10:24:33 GMT -5
Don't feel it is one or the other...the last line says it all.."and between the two my life moves"....knowing both are true... Nice! Do you consider yourself to be your life? |
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Post by Portto on Sept 29, 2010 10:26:51 GMT -5
I know myself to be free porto ... free to be me ... nothing other than everything that be-ing free means The "essence" is free. |
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Post by karen on Sept 29, 2010 11:08:15 GMT -5
What do you know yourself to be? Everything or Nothing? I don't know. |
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Post by charliegee on Sept 29, 2010 11:10:44 GMT -5
I'm with you Karen ... haven't got a clue ...
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Post by peanut on Sept 29, 2010 18:06:06 GMT -5
Porto...This passage captured me years ago. The meaning is clearer than years past. i am no-thing (nothing) and (love) the potential for everything. That is how i interpret it and see myself living it. Language is always the stumbling block because ultimately there is no "i".
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Post by Portto on Sept 30, 2010 7:24:12 GMT -5
Karen & Charlie: you don't need to be modest, now...
If we know that we exist, we already know what we are!
Maybe we can't put it in words, but the "knowledge" is there.
I am tempted to go with "I am everything," but not the everything that is made of lots of little things.
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Post by karen on Sept 30, 2010 10:51:43 GMT -5
I'm not being modest. I don't feel like everything or nothing. I won't be groping for either.
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Post by charliegee on Sept 30, 2010 12:19:12 GMT -5
don't think it's a question of modesty or false humility ... just haven't experienced this all or nothing and so say, in all honesty that I don't know ...
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Post by Portto on Sept 30, 2010 13:22:02 GMT -5
It seems to me that saying we don't know what we are is a bit like playing hide and seek.
We all know what we are. We are "it."
Maybe we prefer certain words, but we know we are life/awareness/consciousness.
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Post by charliegee on Sept 30, 2010 13:53:38 GMT -5
in a vague roundabout way, I suppose we all know on some level ... most people don't even give it a thought though ... and those who do seem to confuse the issue with their circuitous wording ... I follow on one level but on another I am quite lost ...
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Post by question on Sept 30, 2010 14:23:58 GMT -5
Step 1) I don't know. But I have some sort of inuitive hunch to believe which feels really good.
Step 2) Hey those guys' arguments sound really convincing, now I'm justified in believing. I'm Life/Awareness/God! Yay!
Step 3) Wait, what does that even mean? Is there anything I can actually identify that classifies as the absolute from Step 2)? Apparently I can't. What if at Step 2) I was simply playing a language game and fooled myself into believing a concept about some absolute thingy?
Step 4) Now I really don't know. But at least I have learned to refrain from putting faith into concepts (even if they're well intented) that I'm not 100% sure of.
I know nothing about nothing. I don't know nearly enough about everything to make statements about it that aren't ludicrous.
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Post by karen on Sept 30, 2010 16:18:24 GMT -5
I know nothing about nothing. I don't know nearly enough about everything to make statements about it that aren't ludicrous. Good reply. If I were to believe I am all or nothing, I'm pretty sure I'd be short-changing myself. |
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