tsuki

No, please. Please endorse my enlightenment! Do you give out certificates? I need one! Please!

I was under the impression that I was disagreeing with you and elaborating on what I initially stated. lul I'm glad that we converge nonetheless .

@now is forever What's so weird about me saying that? Survival is only an issue if you construct the future. Ego is time (past/future) and distance (this/that).

Don't be sorry. What can I do to earn your approval?

From one point of view, you use your car to move around the city. From another point of view, your car uses you to move around the city. From one point of view, you live in your house and take care of it so that you're comfortable. From another point if view, your house lives within you and it feels uncomfortable when you neglect it.

Surrendering to life is a powerful spiritual practice. It only seems that you need to keep hold of the ego in order to function. The answers arise out of emptiness while you serve your purpose. Then, you die. How is that any different from ego failing to survive and getting killed? It's not like you can help yourself from living the life you live right now. Perspective is just a matter of meaning-making context you're clinging to. I get what you're saying though. 'Ego is important to survive' is the branch of spirituality Leo is selling. What I'm saying is simply that ego has no existence of its own and thus, has no power to do anything. Its only function is to provide the smokescreen when something needs to be created out of nothing.

@Karas I'll take the liberty to answer your question, even if it is directed at Leo. I hope you don't mind. The distinction is simple, but radical. Whatever you find repulsive and unacceptable about the world, is your own shadow. There are things so monstrously different from what we expect that they can overwhelm us. Especially when we're young. To deal with them, we shut off and deny a part of ourselves that came in contact with it. This denial is what gives birth to shadows. A shadow is an externalized version of our repressed self. Something that threatens a part of us that we deny that exists. The more you repress a part of you, the more it sticks out in others. That is because: Others don't share the same trauma so they don't need to repress that part of themselves. Your subconscious mind became skilled in noticing that, which it constantly represses, so it sticks out like a sore thumb in others. So, how can we distinguish between our Shadow and clear observation? You gotta do your shadow work . The most straightforward way is to observe what's appalling about the world and: acknowledge your capability of doing it acknowledge your vulnerability to it The other, more sophisticated method of spotting shadows is establishing the relationship with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is tricky because it is very subtle and its language is artsy. It speaks in symbols, dreams, prophecies, etc. If you really want it, it will open up to you and tell you all of your dirty secrets. Beware though, it's a beast. There is a reason why it's not a part of your conscious experience . The rules of thumb of shadow work are: you feel like shit while doing it and for some time afterwards your baseline experience improves The rules of thumb of clear perception are: you meet evil with various forms of love such as compassion or curiosity it is receptive and has no need to react to what it perceives

@CreamCat

Give yourself some time. You seem to be pursuing wisdom, that's a good ground upon which you build your life purpose. You're not wiser than yourself. If you don't know what you should do, then it is best to admit that and learn in the meantime.

@CreamCat I think you're exactly where you should be.

Hey, don't defend yourself like that. I really admire you. I wouldn't be able to make a thread like that, even if I tried to. The fact that it comes naturally to you makes me envious. You're a genius. I am talking about that. I wrote that to back what you were saying in the OP. It was spot on. Low self-esteem, or low intelligence are a web of beliefs that we pick up from environment. The fact that we're trying to shake free from them is how they are true. We're wasting energy to fight something that's not there.

You know exactly what to say to piss people off without getting banned. You strike a very delicate balance between stupidity and naivety with the occasional spark of brilliance. Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that it is accidental. I appreciate your art.

Today's meditation - 35 minutes, aimed for 45. Sightless gaze on the flame. I can dive into the flame, but once I shake out of it and check the timer - I'm done. I just don't appreciate how violent life is. When I'm lost in the gaze, even blinking or breathing feels like rape. I get accustomed to the stillness and I forget just how disturbing movement is. One of the deep fears I experience when I'm lost is that once the mind becomes still I will not be able to turn back. That is because there is nobody within silence to think that it's enough meditation for today. On the other hand, there is no silence within the battery of thoughts to hear the violence of what is happening. There is no such thing as empty experience. Again, the whiteout arrived very quickly and it started to turn to blackout. As strange as it sounds, it was difficult to tell whether it was black or white. Yesterday's uncontrolled eye movements turned out to be defocusing. As I relaxed my body, the eyes stopped pointing at the flame and I saw two candles. The animal got scared of that and it took a few trials and errors to stabilize it. If the candles were too far apart, the eyes would refocus forcibly.

This reminds me of the following video: I thought you mind find it interesting.

You know that God creates through devilry, right? We're instruments of God's will hahahahaha.

So, in order to preserve the separation between map and the territory, you have to say that being lost is equal to not being lost. I'm proud, you little devil.

@now is forever Okay, how about this: You're reading a Buddhist scripture and POOF, you're enlightened. How is that not getting lost in the map?

@now is forever

Ahahaha, yes... certainty is our greatest friend when we don't want to get lost in maps.

Oh really? What if I'm standing in the middle of the shopping center and I know where I am, but I don't know where to go? I'm trying to read a poorly designed map and I wander off into imagination, trying to guess what kind of horrors the designer's childhood must have been like to produce such a monstrosity... and POOF, I don't even know why I came here in the first place. What did I want to buy here, exactly?

Oh really? What if a map is complicated or poorly designed?

@Shadowraix I'm sorry, but I can't accept what you're saying yet. That is because I have contemplated these issues and came to different "conclusions". Probability theory is the language of applied science. It speaks about trends and expectations. You can never repeat an experiment exactly. If you do, then your method of measurement is not precise enough. This remark is more general, but I posed it in scientific terms to relate it to what you wrote. They don't work. They arise in emptiness and we rationalize the connection when we introduce time. When you observe reality as it unfolds, it is governed by synchronicity. Causal chains of reasoning only exist in retrospect, or when you plan ahead. However, when you observe this reasoning as it unfolds, it is governed by synchronicity too. Everything arises in emptiness for no reason whatsoever. The only rational response to a universe like that is: gratitude and happiness. My question to you is: What is the use of usefulness? What is the reason for indulging in reason? (These are the same question)