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Post by silver on Sept 14, 2013 11:30:52 GMT -5
He started it! I just happened to notice is all. The one who is always making it look like he's so with it regarding race, bigotry, etc. isn't all together re the gender 'issue', no biggie to me, I just noticed like I said. Who started what? Oh for god sake.
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Post by quinn on Sept 15, 2013 8:38:34 GMT -5
Otherwise speaking, what I'm describing is a state. It is temporary, even if there is an absence of all else during that period. I cannot control it because it has nothing to do with me, so attempting to bring that state about at all times isn't worth bothering with. I do, however, feel that state to be 'better' in a way, and so I strive for it regardless--although said efforts are substantially less intense than before. So now I'm sitting here knowing that what I seek is impossible to achieve. And all that's left is to accept that, but because I don't want to I keep seeking a way around it. Which is silly. I can be pretty dumb sometimes. Feel free to discuss, not that I have control over whether you do or not. For some reason I occasionally feel compelled to write things. Maybe it's just a story to believe, like Q suggests. Worth consideration. Doesn't matter if it's a state. Or, to be more precise, that's irrelevant. It's a taste of what is always there. The recognition of it is temporary, but what it is is not. No need to throw the baby out with the bath water. How real does that 'state' feel? You can't control when it happens, but you can focus on the pearl within it.
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Post by mamza on Sept 22, 2013 12:44:18 GMT -5
Otherwise speaking, what I'm describing is a state. It is temporary, even if there is an absence of all else during that period. I cannot control it because it has nothing to do with me, so attempting to bring that state about at all times isn't worth bothering with. I do, however, feel that state to be 'better' in a way, and so I strive for it regardless--although said efforts are substantially less intense than before. So now I'm sitting here knowing that what I seek is impossible to achieve. And all that's left is to accept that, but because I don't want to I keep seeking a way around it. Which is silly. I can be pretty dumb sometimes. Feel free to discuss, not that I have control over whether you do or not. For some reason I occasionally feel compelled to write things. Maybe it's just a story to believe, like Q suggests. Worth consideration. Doesn't matter if it's a state. Or, to be more precise, that's irrelevant. It's a taste of what is always there. The recognition of it is temporary, but what it is is not. No need to throw the baby out with the bath water. How real does that 'state' feel? You can't control when it happens, but you can focus on the pearl within it. I don't know if I just suck with words or what, but it doesn't really feel any sort of way. It's more like there's recognition of how totally awesome everything is in those moments. It all just feels like it's right. Not because there's some wrong way that it could but doesn't feel, but because it's the only way it could be. It's as awesome as awesome can get.
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Post by silver on Sept 22, 2013 12:54:40 GMT -5
Doesn't matter if it's a state. Or, to be more precise, that's irrelevant. It's a taste of what is always there. The recognition of it is temporary, but what it is is not. No need to throw the baby out with the bath water. How real does that 'state' feel? You can't control when it happens, but you can focus on the pearl within it. I don't know if I just suck with words or what, but it doesn't really feel any sort of way. It's more like there's recognition of how totally awesome everything is in those moments. It all just feels like it's right. Not because there's some wrong way that it could but doesn't feel, but because it's the only way it could be. It's as awesome as awesome can get. *nods* I think you're (also) saying that there is no comparing - there is no this / not this.
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Post by mamza on Sept 22, 2013 12:56:44 GMT -5
Ahead is a shelf of clouds making everything seem dark as I'm driving down the highway. But then the sun rises directly into all three of my mirrors and makes a tunnel of intense, golden light as a super funky Daft Punk song comes on. Then I'm just stupidly happy because funk is the silliest, most gratifying feeling when you don't expect it. I was so happy to be there, stuck in traffic, in that spot right then. There was literally nowhere else in the world I would have rather been. Nothing could've topped that in that moment. It was so fun for so long and when it was done I didn't even notice. Which showed me, yet again, that whatever that state is isn't brought on by anyone or anything. It doesn't happen to anyone or anything. There is just that, until that's seemingly something else. It reminds me of a kaleidoscope shifting around until all the images line up into one picture, then all the mirror images split as it continues to spin around. So now there's a question: how can I make it happen more frequently? To which I have answer: I can't. It's clearly not caused by me in the first place, so the idea that I can somehow affect or influence it is flawed. But because I can remember how it felt and describe it as best I can, it feels like it happened to me, regardless of my knowing otherwise. Otherwise speaking, what I'm describing is a state. It is temporary, even if there is an absence of all else during that period. I cannot control it because it has nothing to do with me, so attempting to bring that state about at all times isn't worth bothering with. I do, however, feel that state to be 'better' in a way, and so I strive for it regardless--although said efforts are substantially less intense than before. So now I'm sitting here knowing that what I seek is impossible to achieve. And all that's left is to accept that, but because I don't want to I keep seeking a way around it. Which is silly. I can be pretty dumb sometimes. Feel free to discuss, not that I have control over whether you do or not. For some reason I occasionally feel compelled to write things. Maybe it's just a story to believe, like Q suggests. Worth consideration. This is where becoming truthful with yourself becomes incredibly important. Is spirituality a way to get high without any drugs or is it about discovering what's true. I'm not sure it's either. It's more a side effect of curiosity. At one point I was worried I was crazy and somehow came across spirituality in an attempt to find an answer. Then it showed other things to me. Those things interested me, and my curiosity grew. Do I do things because they make me feel good? Absolutely. Am I interested in how things are rather than how they could be? Yes. But neither of those things are motivation enough for someone like me (with a track record of seriously low levels of motivation) to keep at it for as long as I have.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2013 17:09:42 GMT -5
This is where becoming truthful with yourself becomes incredibly important. Is spirituality a way to get high without any drugs or is it about discovering what's true. I'm not sure it's either. It's more a side effect of curiosity. At one point I was worried I was crazy and somehow came across spirituality in an attempt to find an answer. Then it showed other things to me. Those things interested me, and my curiosity grew. Do I do things because they make me feel good? Absolutely. Am I interested in how things are rather than how they could be? Yes. But neither of those things are motivation enough for someone like me (with a track record of seriously low levels of motivation) to keep at it for as long as I have. Yeah, the mind isn't interested in 'this' moment or in how things actually appear. So in it's dissatisfaction it concocts a story that the next moment will hold something more satisfying, like truth, or enlightenment, or realization, or Oneness, or happiness, or whatever... But in it's folly the next moment becomes the same dissatisfying here and now moment that it was trying to escape from in the first place... Silly mind...
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Post by quinn on Sept 23, 2013 7:13:05 GMT -5
Doesn't matter if it's a state. Or, to be more precise, that's irrelevant. It's a taste of what is always there. The recognition of it is temporary, but what it is is not. No need to throw the baby out with the bath water. How real does that 'state' feel? You can't control when it happens, but you can focus on the pearl within it. I don't know if I just suck with words or what, but it doesn't really feel any sort of way. It's more like there's recognition of how totally awesome everything is in those moments. It all just feels like it's right. Not because there's some wrong way that it could but doesn't feel, but because it's the only way it could be. It's as awesome as awesome can get. I'm not actually asking you to describe how it feels. What I'm suggesting is that, rather than thinking about it, feel it. Like in the gut. Move your focus. I have no idea if that's a good pointer for you or not. It was for me and I'm sharing it. All of this focus we have, with the reading and the forum (which is in a real philosophical bent right now) and listening tends to get very mind-y. Head heavy. Which is fine for understanding, but can get in the way. I'm saying that, beyond the simple practice of ATA, when these states happen there is an aspect that has nothing to do with any kind of psychology or attachment or philosophy. That's the pearl.
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Post by silence on Sept 23, 2013 9:29:25 GMT -5
This is where becoming truthful with yourself becomes incredibly important. Is spirituality a way to get high without any drugs or is it about discovering what's true. I'm not sure it's either. It's more a side effect of curiosity. At one point I was worried I was crazy and somehow came across spirituality in an attempt to find an answer. Then it showed other things to me. Those things interested me, and my curiosity grew. Do I do things because they make me feel good? Absolutely. Am I interested in how things are rather than how they could be? Yes. But neither of those things are motivation enough for someone like me (with a track record of seriously low levels of motivation) to keep at it for as long as I have. Good enough.
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