Pierre

It just occurred to me that if you put together the four major "practical" philosophical currents of ancient Greece and Rome, you get quite a solid spiritual Path: Stoicism : acceptation of what is, and self-inquiry Epicurism : full enjoyment of simple things Cynism : spontaneity and liberation from conventional morality Skepticism : systematic questioning of all beliefs

The Way can seem quite easy at the beginning. You read stuff and you listen to people and you say "wow, cool that sounds great, I'm gonna do it!" But no matter what you think, you are going to suffer. For years. You'll feel insecure and weird and dull. There will be a war inside you that will sometimes lead you to the brink of madness. You'll be hopeless, not knowing what to do. You will want to go back to a normal life, and find that it's impossible. And you'll have to live with the terrible fear that you are completely wrong. You'll be lost between two worlds, belonging to neither of them. Maybe for a long, long time. I assure you it's worth the price. But do you have the balls to go through that ?

Stay in touch with your body and your senses, they're in reality. Breathe. Relax. And LET IT GO...

Can someone tell me how Leo went from "expert" to "master"? Isn't that gradation thing a bit childish?

Not so weird in fact. If you applied his energy and determination to the Path, you'd be there quite soon...

Ha ha, thank you Neo! "Schwarzy and spirituality", that's some topic! Excellent.

Man, there's no problem with fully enjoying the Park. That's what we're here for. It's just that the ego won't let you do it... So wake up, and go for the ride freely, no matter what happens.

Humans have the immense privilege and power to botch up their lives!!! (Not to use the four-letter word...)

Do what you want to do, or you'll end up in self-denial. And that leads to nowhere... Don't try to change your life, just insert a bit more awareness in it. And that is Now. Good luck

Hello Saitama, You will keep asking questions as long as you have to. Don't fight that, it's part of the process.

"Those who understand the Tao delight, like cats, in just sitting and watching without any goal or result in mind. But when a cat gets tired of sitting, it gets up and goes for a walk or hunts for mice. It does not punish itself or compete with other cats in an endurance test as to how long it can remain immovable - unless there is some real reason for being still, such as catching a bird. Contemplative Taoists will happily sit with yogis and Zennists for as long as is reasonable and comfortable, but when nature tells us that we are "pushing the river" we will get up and do something else, or even go to sleep. More than this is certainly spiritual pride. Taoists do not look upon meditation as "practice", except in the sense that a doctor "practices" medicine. They have no design to subjugate or alter the universe by force or will-power, for their art is entirely to go along with the flow of things in an intelligent way." Alan Watts, "Tao: The Watercourse Way", p.90

You're right, taoism is not very fashionable...maybe because there's no known taoist around. Taoism is so simple and natural and humble that it has no official representative...A very good point! You can also try Tchouang-Tseu, it's fascinating. But often obscure. The great "translator" of taoism for the West was Alan Watts. Read "TAO : The Watercourse Way".

Tolle's book is straightforward, practical and complete. It does a great job of stripping spirituality from religious terms. And the insistence on the awareness of the body and on the senses is essential. We tend to forget that in all our bla-bla about enlightenment. The guy looks and talks like a marmot under sedative, but he is definitely a Master.

You meditate for the pleasure of bathing in the silence of the mind. Otherwise you'd better do something else. This idea of 1000 hours to attain enlightenment is so funny...

The spiritual core of Islam is still alive in sufism, check it out.

Yes, this is THE question...See Lisa Cairns's interview under "Lists of great enlightened teachers", she makes it pretty clear.

Mâ Anandamayi Douglas Harding Arnaud Desjardins D.T. Suzuki Karlfried Dürkheim Swâmi Prâjnânpad Taisen Deshimaru

Keep the magical words in mind: BABY STEPS! Thank you Leo.

Yoga gives you energy and calm, connects you with your body, and makes you aware of mental noise. Priceless stuff on the Way...

Well Sigma, I have great news for you! You don't need to choose between science and meditation because, contrary to what most people think, science has a great spiritual value. It shows how everything is interconnected and that all separations are only conceptual. It leads to an ego-less sense of wonder before the immensity of time and space, the complexity of our body, the mysteries of the infinitely small. In all this there is no place for an absurdly pretentious abstract self. So please don't give up your passion, dig deeper and let science explode your delusions!

1. Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity 2. Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior 3. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I am 4. Douglas Harding, On Having no Head 5. Robert M. Pirsig, Lila

Like LordGainz I highly recommend Alan Watts. No one else explains with such clarity and wit that all your decisions just happen, like everything else in the universe...once you get this, there is no room left for the ego.