Do you believe in God and why

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, save the frogs said:

FYI: 

has anyone mentioned "mantras" on this thread yet?

i came across this video by sadghuru.

i'll post the quote in case you don't have time to watch the video.

"In India, there are people that if you have a snake bite, just by uttering a mantra they will relieve you of the poison. Long distance."

Apparently, there was a guy in India who got famous doing this. 

 

I knew someone that needed their spine manipulated frequently. She discovered a person that was able to do it when nowhere near her. It happened to me too, on a telephone conversation, when I could feel a misaligned vertebrae realign.

 

The skeptical will be skeptical, of course, but believers know there is more to life than what we can see.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/16/2023 at 12:28 AM, Sunmaster said:

I stopped following the news many years ago, and I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The daily bombardment of negative news is very bad for our mental state, in my opinion. It does absolutely nothing to improve our lives.

1 million % correct.

 

Why do we need to know that a bus load of people in a far away country died in an accident, or that a plane crashed with loss of life on other side of the world?

IMO it's like they want to make everyone depressed and angry. Seems to be working too.

[save the frogs]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I knew someone that needed their spine manipulated frequently. She discovered a person that was able to do it when nowhere near her. It happened to me too, on a telephone conversation, when I could feel a misaligned vertebrae realign.

ha, that's pretty wild.

 

[save the frogs]

@sunmaster,

you made a comment about "information that has been passed down thousands of years".

well, you would have to assume that the information was kept in tact for those thousands of years.

never corrupted or modified or tainted in any way.

passing through thousands of hands throughout those thousands of years.

 

your comment reminded me of a quote attributed to buddha.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

[Sunmaster]

42 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

@sunmaster,

you made a comment about "information that has been passed down thousands of years".

well, you would have to assume that the information was kept in tact for those thousands of years.

never corrupted or modified or tainted in any way.

passing through thousands of hands throughout those thousands of years.

 

your comment reminded me of a quote attributed to buddha.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

You're quite right.
The difference between that info (I'm thinking Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and similar) and the bible for example, is the level of practical engagement.
The Yoga Sutras (a collection of Sanskrit teachings on the theory and practice of yoga) encourage people to practice and experience/validate the information by themselves. By doing that, the knowledge presented in the teachings is always kept alive throughout time and validated on a personal level, again and again.
What the Christian religion does through the use of the bible (I'm generalizing of course) on the other hand, is "this is the truth, you better believe it, or else". There is very little focus on practical application. And for that reason, such teachings are easy pray of distortions and corruption.

 

In a nutshell:

If 100 people learn the info through direct experience and they can all validate it to some degree, it is extremely unlikely that person 101 can willy-nilly put his own spin on that info.
If 100 people learn the info on an intellectual level alone (belief), than you will have 100 different interpretations of that info and none of them will know for sure, because they don't have any direct experience of it.
 

42 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

Amen to that.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Sunmaster

[Hummin]

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Even then you will only know them as they are now. I'm a completely different person now than I was 50 years ago. No one gets as cynical as I in a few years- I've been working on it all my life.

Im talking about forums members since I first came here years ago who havent changed much during that time. 

 

 

[Tippaporn]

Here's my personal observation which I'll share.

Life is a magical world in which the magic appears to be performed outside of ourselves.  "Life happens" is this the grand illusion.  But the truth is that we are the magicians who not only perform on a world stage but create the stage and all of it's paraphernalia as well.  We are forgetful magicians, as well.  And so, just like a good magicians trick, it only appears that someone else, someone who is outside of ourselves, is creating the magic of our lives.

We see a magician perform his art of illusion which deceives our senses.  Whether by sleight of hand or otherwise, the magician's art is to force the attentions of his audience in a direction which is away from the actual process he utilises to create his illusion of magic.  The audience is well aware that no real magic is being performed.  And despite this foreknowledge they are unable to perceive the magicians sleight of hand by which he artfully deceives his audience.  There are always, though, those few within the audience whose attention is not so diverted and they are able to witness the devices employed.  They then understand how the "magic" is performed.

We are all magicians in the truest sense of the word.  But for whatever reasons we have chosen, in this probable reality, to purposely forget our true roles.  And so it appears to us that the magic is not us.  Yet just as within the audience of a magic show there are those who perceive how the "magic" is performed there are always those among us who also perceive how the magic of our lives is performed.

I invite everyone to perceive the workings, the devices, with which we perform our magic.  And to then know beyond a shadow of a doubt who it is that we truly are.

[Sunmaster]

11 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

I invite everyone to perceive the workings, the devices, with which we perform our magic.  And to then know beyond a shadow of a doubt who it is that we truly are.

How?

Edited March 17, 2023 by Sunmaster

[Tippaporn]

1 minute ago, Sunmaster said:

How?

Do you want the long version or the short one? 

[Sunmaster]

Just now, Tippaporn said:

Do you want the long version or the short one? 

Medium?

[Hummin]

"Life happens" is this the grand illusion

 

Or just your illusion because you want to believe

[Woof999]

33 minutes ago, Sunmaster said:

Medium?

I think that is the short anwer.

[Tippaporn]

1 hour ago, Sunmaster said:

Medium?

Well, do you agree with the analogy?  Do you think it fitting?

Mornings are my best time.  Now I'm far from being a Jane Roberts but I cannot ignore the fact, nor do I even attempt to deny the experience, that in my mornings I am often literally assailed by information of which I know is coming from me but feels as though it was not.  I'll sit in quiet whilst drinking my coffee (I'm usually up hours before the rest of the family awakens), not yet focused on the day's reality, and information comes so quickly that I have a difficult time keeping up with it.  It just flows.

Part of my problem posting here is that the information I receive in the mornings is oftentimes perfectly that which I'd like to post but it is extremely difficult to recall once I attempt to "slow it down" enough for me to type all of the information out.  You have no idea how many posts I've started only to scrap them because I'm not satisfied with them because I've already forgotten much and as much of the flow as I can recall just doesn't come out the way I think it should.

My above magician analogy was produced in the way I describe.  But this analogy struck me to be such a wonderful analogy that I kept going over it in my mind again and again so that it was committed to memory.

The short of it is that we perform our magic via our thoughts.  Our thoughts literally produce not only our experience but all of the lovely paraphernalia as well.  And we are generally completely and thoroughly unaware that we create using thought.  The title of the essay Jane Roberts produced in 1963 says it clear as a bell in one simple sentence.  "The Physical Universe As Idea Construction."  Now others may think what they will of that statement.  They may take it as metaphorical or they can take it as pure nonsense.  I take it as literal.  Purely literal.  Zero distortion.

We are forgetful magicians, I say.  For who here believes in the concept that their thoughts create their experience, let alone their entire reality.  No one.  I do grant that you understand it, Sunmaster.  Everyone is looking for answers outside of themselves when the reality is that it's all coming from the inside of us.  And so we live, for the most part, in an illusion is which thoughts have no bearing on anything and furthermore it is not we who create our lives (okay, maybe to an extent - grudgingly admitted to) but something else . . . genes, heredity, the hand of God, chance, happenstance, luck, our environments, our past, Karma, the chemicals flowing through our brains, human nature (whatever that is) . . .  anything but US.

And just like the audience member who perceives the sleight of hand and sees the mechanics behind the "magic" anyone can become that audience member and see and understand the mechanics behind the magic trick which is our life.  The analogy doesn't fit in one sense.  The audience of a magic show are in full awareness that there is no real magic being performed.  They are all fully aware it is they who cannot follow along and they understand just as well that their attention is being deliberately and intentionally and artfully diverted to the magic happening rather than the process by which the illusion is conducted.  And when that member of the audience who perceives the devices, the sleight of hand, and stands up and proclaims he knows the magic then the audience applauds and beseeches that member to divulge the workings of the trick so that they know, too.

The analogy fails in that in r-e-a-l life the audience does not applaud that member who perceives the mechanics behind the trick.  Rather they attack him.  Viciously at times.  And they disparage his explanations as nonsense.  And worse.  I, for instance, am a deceptive cult leader who attempts to lead people away fro the r-e-a-l 'truth." 

 

Anyway, the short answer I've given you is not one which you are unfamiliar with, Sunmaster.  But as I've said before, the devil is always in the details.  And there are a lot of details.  It's funny.  I find that folks often expect short answers to explain the mechanics of life.  Despite have a deep realisation of how complex we are and how complex the world is.  But still, if you can't provide one paragraph explanations then they've neither the time nor patience to hear any more.

Hopefully folks understand that the above is not a judgement.  It is, rather, just an accurate observation of what is and nothing more.

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

41 minutes ago, Hummin said:

"Life happens" is this the grand illusion

 

Or just your illusion because you want to believe

I know nothing.  I know nothing.  I know nothing.  Just keep repeating it to yourself, Hummin.  You're doing just fine. 

Edit:  I forgot the smiley.
 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

49 minutes ago, Hummin said:

"Life happens" is this the grand illusion

 

Or just your illusion because you want to believe

BTW, Hummin.  It's no coincidence at all that you would be the first to confirm the below.

 

10 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

The analogy fails in that in r-e-a-l life the audience does not applaud that member who perceives the mechanics behind the trick.  Rather they attack him.  Viciously at times.  And they disparage his explanations as nonsense.  And worse.  I, for instance, am a deceptive cult leader who attempts to lead people away fro the r-e-a-l 'truth." 

For a guy who claims he knows nothing, at least nothing with absolute certainty, then surely no one else can claim to know anything with certainty either.  It's only logical.

[Tippaporn]

52 minutes ago, Hummin said:

"Life happens" is this the grand illusion

 

Or just your illusion because you want to believe

BTW also, I thought you were on a self prescribed sabbatical? 

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

BTW, Hummin.  It's no coincidence at all that you would be the first to confirm the below.

 

For a guy who claims he knows nothing, at least nothing with absolute certainty, then surely no one else can claim to know anything with certainty either.  It's only logical.

I know what I know, I believe what I believe, and  I say what I say! It is not up to me to tell everyone else what illusion they are on! 

 

I do not claim to know, like some others repeatably do often. Thats the difference, and I continue keeping my reality true and real for me! 

 

You see the difference? Maybe you need another decade around the sun, to understand that your reality might be different from others? Even Seth have his followers, it is still just a minor fragment of everything. Just a small tiny pixel of the whole truth.

 

One day you might understand ????

Edited March 17, 2023 by Hummin

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

BTW also, I thought you were on a self prescribed sabbatical? 

Did I say when? Maybe you needed me one more time? 

[Sunmaster]

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

Well, do you agree with the analogy?  Do you think it fitting?

Mornings are my best time.  Now I'm far from being a Jane Roberts but I cannot ignore the fact, nor do I even attempt to deny the experience, that in my mornings I am often literally assailed by information of which I know is coming from me but feels as though it was not.  I'll sit in quiet whilst drinking my coffee (I'm usually up hours before the rest of the family awakens), not yet focused on the day's reality, and information comes so quickly that I have a difficult time keeping up with it.  It just flows.

Part of my problem posting here is that the information I receive in the mornings is oftentimes perfectly that which I'd like to post but it is extremely difficult to recall once I attempt to "slow it down" enough for me to type all of the information out.  You have no idea how many posts I've started only to scrap them because I'm not satisfied with them because I've already forgotten much and as much of the flow as I can recall just doesn't come out the way I think it should.

My above magician analogy was produced in the way I describe.  But this analogy struck me to be such a wonderful analogy that I kept going over it in my mind again and again so that it was committed to memory.

The short of it is that we perform our magic via our thoughts.  Our thoughts literally produce not only our experience but all of the lovely paraphernalia as well.  And we are generally completely and thoroughly unaware that we create using thought.  The title of the essay Jane Roberts produced in 1963 says it clear as a bell in one simple sentence.  "The Physical Universe As Idea Construction."  Now others may think what they will of that statement.  They may take it as metaphorical or they can take it as pure nonsense.  I take it as literal.  Purely literal.  Zero distortion.

We are forgetful magicians, I say.  For who here believes in the concept that their thoughts create their experience, let alone their entire reality.  No one.  I do grant that you understand it, Sunmaster.  Everyone is looking for answers outside of themselves when the reality is that it's all coming from the inside of us.  And so we live, for the most part, in an illusion is which thoughts have no bearing on anything and furthermore it is not we who create our lives (okay, maybe to an extent - grudgingly admitted to) but something else . . . genes, heredity, the hand of God, chance, happenstance, luck, our environments, our past, Karma, the chemicals flowing through our brains, human nature (whatever that is) . . .  anything but US.

And just like the audience member who perceives the sleight of hand and sees the mechanics behind the "magic" anyone can become that audience member and see and understand the mechanics behind the magic trick which is our life.  The analogy doesn't fit in one sense.  The audience of a magic show are in full awareness that there is no real magic being performed.  They are all fully aware it is they who cannot follow along and they understand just as well that their attention is being deliberately and intentionally and artfully diverted to the magic happening rather than the process by which the illusion is conducted.  And when that member of the audience who perceives the devices, the sleight of hand, and stands up and proclaims he knows the magic then the audience applauds and beseeches that member to divulge the workings of the trick so that they know, too.

The analogy fails in that in r-e-a-l life the audience does not applaud that member who perceives the mechanics behind the trick.  Rather they attack him.  Viciously at times.  And they disparage his explanations as nonsense.  And worse.  I, for instance, am a deceptive cult leader who attempts to lead people away fro the r-e-a-l 'truth." 

 

Anyway, the short answer I've given you is not one which you are unfamiliar with, Sunmaster.  But as I've said before, the devil is always in the details.  And there are a lot of details.  It's funny.  I find that folks often expect short answers to explain the mechanics of life.  Despite have a deep realisation of how complex we are and how complex the world is.  But still, if you can't provide one paragraph explanations then they've neither the time nor patience to hear any more.

Hopefully folks understand that the above is not a judgement.  It is, rather, just an accurate observation of what is and nothing more.

 

Yes, I agree with most of what you say. But being a practical person, I wanted to know how you make that shift. 
I want to know what you do in practical terms. 
It's of no use to tell people "This is how it is, how it works" and expect them to take your word for it. 
So, what do you think people should do to validate what you're saying? 

[Tippaporn]

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

I know what I know, I believe what I believe, and  I say what I say! It is not up to me to tell everyone else what illusion they are on! 

 

I do not claim to know, like some others repeatably do often. Thats the difference, and I continue keeping my reality true and real for me! 

 

You see the difference? Maybe you need another decade around the sun, to understand that you reality might be different from others? Even Seth have his followers, it is still just a minor fragment of everything. Just a snall tiny pixel of the whole truth.

 

One day you might understand ????

"I know what I know . . . "   "I do not claim to know . . . "

Hopefully you can see the contradiction in those two statements.

Here's my stance:

"I know what I know . . . "   "I do claim to know . . . "

 

I understand fully that your reality is true and real for you.  I don't try to invalidate your reality.  I attempt only to show you there is a much greater reality than the one you are familiar with.  There's more.  Much more.  But also that it is beliefs which form whatever reality you consider to be true and real.  A transgender female, for instance, believes she is a she but the truth is that she's a he.  No amount of belief can change one's biological heritage.  Yet for the transgender female believing that he is a she is both true and real for them.  Kudos to them.  And I say again, kudos to them, though they deceive themselves.

That's what you don't get.  You don't get that there exists a bedrock reality that cannot be altered simply by believing reality to be what you want it to be.  You cannot simply ignore foundational truths and base your  beliefs upon assumptions which have no real roots in bedrock reality.  Well, of course you can.  But beware of problems when you attempt to do so.  Such as experiencing thoughts of negativity.

You are no doubt aware of the ever growing insanity which this world is experiencing.  What is the source of all this insanity?  Might it be because folks believe in ideas which have no basis in bedrock reality?  To believe a man can become pregnant is perhaps one of the best examples of how far man can drift into the theatre of the absurd and subscribe to ideas which are wholly and so obviously in direct contradiction to the very basis of human biology.  While believing that life happens to you also has no basis in bedrock reality it is a belief which is nonetheless subscribed to by the great majority of mass human consciousness.  And the strength of the "truth" of that belief prevents anyone from even attempting to consider that maybe, just maybe, reality doesn't really work that way.

And to speak the truth of how reality actually works, in the face of the belief in the exact opposite, is both heresy and nonsense.  You do not claim to know.  I claim to know.  And yet when i ask you to explain, in as much detail as you can muster, how this "life happens" works, how it functions, the mechanics behind it, you falter.  Badly.

You then interpret, through the filter of your beliefs, my questioning of your view of reality as my attempt to deny you your reality.  Again, I'm not trying to deny your reality, I'm attempting to broaden your awareness to more reality than that which you are presently aware of and familiar with.  And you feel insulted by that attempt.  Again, only because you believe I am attempting to deny what is true and real for you.

 

I understand more than most that no one shares the same reality.  It's been said by Seth, rather humourously, that it's amazing that anyone can say they even live in the same world.  Because the world is vastly different for each of us.  No two people believe the same.  Overlaps, sure.  But different enough that no two worlds are alike.  And sometimes even worlds apart.

Seth's comment that man cannot meet his current challenges using the set of ideas he currently holds to be true is because too many of those ideas have no true basis in bedrock reality.  And as I've said before, go ahead and oppose the laws which govern reality as much as you like but just beware that you will have problems as you do so.  It is inevitable and the problems are there to alert you that something is amiss.  Seth has made that comment several times and in one instance he added that if we do not return to bedrock reality and continue to believe the world works in ways in which it does not then our very survival as a species is at risk.  And I see the world drifting further and further from actual reality using greater and greater impoverished ideas.

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Did I say when? Maybe you needed me one more time? 

Now you might think I'm joking or being facetious but I tell you with great sincerity that you've been a blessing to me.  Granted in ways you would not understand. 

[Hummin]

2 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

"I know what I know . . . "   "I do not claim to know . . . "

Hopefully you can see the contradiction in those two statements.

Here's my stance:

"I know what I know . . . "   "I do claim to know . . . "

 

I understand fully that your reality is true and real for you.  I don't try to invalidate your reality.  I attempt only to show you there is a much greater reality than the one you are familiar with.  There's more.  Much more.  But also that it is beliefs which form whatever reality you consider to be true and real.  A transgender female, for instance, believes she is a she but the truth is that she's a he.  No amount of belief can change one's biological heritage.  Yet for the transgender female believing that he is a she is both true and real for them.  Kudos to them.  And I say again, kudos to them, though they deceive themselves.

That's what you don't get.  You don't get that there exists a bedrock reality that cannot be altered simply by believing reality to be what you want it to be.  You cannot simply ignore foundational truths and base your  beliefs upon assumptions which have no real roots in bedrock reality.  Well, of course you can.  But beware of problems when you attempt to do so.  Such as experiencing thoughts of negativity.

You are no doubt aware of the ever growing insanity which this world is experiencing.  What is the source of all this insanity?  Might it be because folks believe in ideas which have no basis in bedrock reality?  To believe a man can become pregnant is perhaps one of the best examples of how far man can drift into the theatre of the absurd and subscribe to ideas which are wholly and so obviously in direct contradiction to the very basis of human biology.  While believing that life happens to you also has no basis in bedrock reality it is a belief which is nonetheless subscribed to by the great majority of mass human consciousness.  And the strength of the "truth" of that belief prevents anyone from even attempting to consider that maybe, just maybe, reality doesn't really work that way.

And to speak the truth of how reality actually works, in the face of the belief in the exact opposite, is both heresy and nonsense.  You do not claim to know.  I claim to know.  And yet when i ask you to explain, in as much detail as you can muster, how this "life happens" works, how it functions, the mechanics behind it, you falter.  Badly.

You then interpret, through the filter of your beliefs, my questioning of your view of reality as my attempt to deny you your reality.  Again, I'm not trying to deny your reality, I'm attempting to broaden your awareness to more reality than that which you are presently aware of and familiar with.  And you feel insulted by that attempt.  Again, only because you believe I am attempting to deny what is true and real for you.

 

I understand more than most that no one shares the same reality.  It's been said by Seth, rather humourously, that it's amazing that anyone can say they even live in the same world.  Because the world is vastly different for each of us.  No two people believe the same.  Overlaps, sure.  But different enough that no two worlds are alike.  And sometimes not even worlds apart.

Seth's comment that man cannot meet his current challenges using the set of ideas he currently holds to be true is because too many of those ideas have no true basis in bedrock reality.  And as I've said before, go ahead and oppose the laws which govern reality as much as you like but just beware that you will have problems as you do so.  It is inevitable and the problems are there to alert you that something is amiss.  Seth has made that comment several times and in one instance he added that if we do not return to bedrock reality and continue to believe the world works in ways in which it does not then our very survival as a species is at risk.  And I see the world drifting further and further from actual reality using greater and greater impoverished ideas.

How can you tell me, my life is incomplete? Tell me I am suffering, lacking understanding of life? 

 

Thats the good question, how you can sit on your throne telling other peoples foult and short comings? 

 

Thats amusing and also quite interesting! 

[Hummin]

5 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

Now you might think I'm joking or being facetious but I tell you with great sincerity that you've been a blessing to me.  Granted in ways you would not understand. 

Im happy to learn by my humble nature I contributed to this thread.

 

Yin Yang out for now ☺️

[save the frogs]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How can you tell me, my life is incomplete? Tell me I am suffering, lacking understanding of life? 

because he's a cult leader?

maybe i'll go back and read his "body of work" on this thread at some point to confirm my suspicions. 

 

[Sunmaster]

Many years ago, shortly after that shift in perception, I was filled with a new hope and idealism that I could just tell my friends and the world what I had experienced and that would be enough to change their ways. I didn't work.

 

I also believed that a bushman could jump from his pre-modern development straight to a post-modern stage, given the right information, set and setting. I soon realised that it doesn't work that way.

 

People and societies have their own momentum when it comes to development. It's not possible to present them with knowledge they're not ready for, and expect them to take it in and change accordingly. All the logic in the world will not change that. 

 

This became even clearer for me during my 5-6 years of teaching English here. 

It was me who had to change, meet my students at their own level and gently show them the way by feeding them small bits at a time, in a manner they could understand. Through repetition they would then internalise the teachings, gain in confidence and learn to use what they had learned in real life. 

 

This is what I try to do here as well. I'm not interested in confrontation, because that hinders real communication. True communication is only possible when you can accept the other party as it is. Its not up to me to change them and make the world a better place. 

My only responsibility is towards the Self and to materialise it as best as I can in the material world, be it through my drawings, my writings or simply the way I interact with the world.

Some people may find the questions I pose interesting and of value. Others won't. This is beyond my control and I have no problem with that.

 

Take from this what you will. ????

 

[Tippaporn]

51 minutes ago, Sunmaster said:

Yes, I agree with most of what you say. But being a practical person, I wanted to know how you make that shift. 
I want to know what you do in practical terms. 
It's of no use to tell people "This is how it is, how it works" and expect them to take your word for it. 
So, what do you think people should do to validate what you're saying? 

No doubt there's some prep work to be done.

First of all there must be a willingness to suspend one's current beliefs while entertaining other ideas.  What I mean by this is that of course new ideas will clash in direct opposition to currently held ideas.  That's to be expected.  So current beliefs must be set aside temporarily while pursing fresh ideas.  Temporarily suspending currently held beliefs does not mean giving them up to never to return to them again.  It merely means setting them aside long enough to consider other ideas.  For you cannot consider new ideas while at the same time filtering new information through current beliefs.  It ain't gonna happen.

Another way of putting it is that you play with ideas.  No different than a child plays with building blocks.  Build them up and if your construction doesn't please you then tear it down.  Children treat building blocks as play.  Fresh ideas should be treated the same.  That is how it's meant to be.  Discard the deadly seriousness.  Don't fear that some unfamiliar idea, if followed, will take control of you and you'll forever get lost in some maze from which you are eternally trapped and can never find your way out.  By all means, retain your common sense.  Do not, I repeat, do not leave it at home.

That initial approach is a must.

I would recommend discarding any limiting beliefs which directly prevent one from any successful exploration of new ideas.  Chief amongst these is the idea that no one can know who we are or what the true nature of reality is.  That will quickly kill any exploration one undertakes.  For if your journey is to acquire true knowledge and yet you believe that no one, especially yourself, is capable of doing so then you've just defeated yourself.  Pack it up and go home.  Save yourself the time and trouble.

Another limiting belief which will ensure failure in your exploration is the idea that you are unworthy.  That heavy baggage will weigh you down to a standstill after only your first few steps.  It's a false idea and a severely limiting one.  Unload it.

I'll continue tomorrow in reply to your great post, Sunmaster.

[Tippaporn]

46 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How can you tell me, my life is incomplete? Tell me I am suffering, lacking understanding of life? 

 

Thats the good question, how you can sit on your throne telling other peoples foult and short comings? 

 

Thats amusing and also quite interesting! 

 

[Tippaporn]

44 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

because he's a cult leader?

maybe i'll go back and read his "body of work" on this thread at some point to confirm my suspicions. 

 

save the frogs.  The conspiracy theorist. 

[Tippaporn]

49 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How can you tell me, my life is incomplete? Tell me I am suffering, lacking understanding of life? 

 

Thats the good question, how you can sit on your throne telling other peoples foult and short comings? 

 

Thats amusing and also quite interesting! 

What's amusing and interesting, Hummin, is that even though I state repeatedly that I do not deny your reality or even bash your reality you keep on insisting that that is what I'm doing.

If I saw a besotted bloke laying asleep on a park bench in the middle of the morning and I remarked simply and without judgement or without adding any flowery embellishments that he drinks too much you would accuse me of sitting on my judgemental throne and in my high and mighty view of myself pointing out his faults and shortcomings.  And that I do so only because I suffer from insecurity.  At the same time I'm also denying the drunk his reality, pronouncing his life to be incomplete due to his lack of understanding life.

What's amusing and interesting, Hummin, is how you are able to read so much nonsense into something that's not there.

Not a single comment on the rest of the post.  That's remarkable.  You only see what you want to see.  I gotta hand it to you, you are one of the biggest crybabies I've ever come across.  A never ending river of salty tears.

And you will be back to read this.  Guaranteed. 

[Tippaporn]

42 minutes ago, Sunmaster said:

Many years ago, shortly after that shift in perception, I was filled with a new hope and idealism that I could just tell my friends and the world what I had experienced and that would be enough to change their ways. I didn't work.

 

I also believed that a bushman could jump from his pre-modern development straight to a post-modern stage, given the right information, set and setting. I soon realised that it doesn't work that way.

 

People and societies have their own momentum when it comes to development. It's not possible to present them with knowledge they're not ready for, and expect them to take it in and change accordingly. All the logic in the world will not change that. 

 

This became even clearer for me during my 5-6 years of teaching English here. 

It was me who had to change, meet my students at their own level and gently show them the way by feeding them small bits at a time, in a manner they could understand. Through repetition they would then internalise the teachings, gain in confidence and learn to use what they had learned in real life. 

 

This is what I try to do here as well. I'm not interested in confrontation, because that hinders real communication. True communication is only possible when you can accept the other party as it is. Its not up to me to change them and make the world a better place. 

My only responsibility is towards the Self and to materialise it as best as I can in the material world, be it through my drawings, my writings or simply the way I interact with the world.

Some people may find the questions I pose interesting and of value. Others won't. This is beyond my control and I have no problem with that.

 

Take from this what you will. ????

 

You are truly a gentle soul, Sunmaster.  You could have addressed your post specifically to me, as it is obviously in response to how you perceive my approach and you wish to comment on my approach by contrasting it with yours.  Of course as long as you don't name me then there can be no confrontation.  No worries if you directly name me or even call me out.  I enjoy criticism.  As long as it's constructive and not given for the sole purpose of denigrating.  I agree with what you say but I also disagree.  But you'll have to wait on my peculiar perspective until tomorrow.