LarryW

A perennial question, which I think is often held back by limited definitions. Please allow me to deconstruct your opening post a little. The original question is, 'Is There Free Will', then you go on to discuss whether 'we have free will'. To you that may be an insignificant difference, to me it is a very different question, as you are introducing selves (we), that possesses the free will. So you then have expanded it to three questions: what (if anything) is free will, what is the self, and what is the relationship between them? My view, is that free will exists, but not as a possession of the small self.

@Farnaby yes I know, luckily the Sun still exists, this was my little attempt at being Socratic It just seemed to me that @Dazgwny 's original question relies on a duality of subject and object: him and his friend. Or me and the Sun. It doesn't really matter what it is; that is what I'm calling relativity. By this logic, if there's no objects out there (because they aren't in my immediate awareness), then there's no subject either, and what is that? Emptiness, infinity, absolute, a collapse of the duality into unity. And then we re-create (re-incarnate) the duality in our minds when we start the cycle again. But the issue remains, if there is just a simple unity, why is my knowledge still limited, an awakened mind still can't see the sun when it's over the horizon, still doesn't know what their friends are doing when they're away. We don't have that type of omniscience, is what I interpret this thread to be about. I dunno (not being enlightened LOL) perhaps that's why people create stories of siddhis, paranormal phenomena etc.

Reading Currently reading 'The Meditation Manual' by Vishuddha Das (a youtube teacher I follow). It's a short book, 91 pages, but gives a mixture of his philosophy of meditation and some practical techniques: Insight, Mindfulness, Scanning, Mantra & Zazen. It's a good refresher for me and his ideas around the topic are giving me some fresh perspectives. It's his second book (the first was a bit of auto-biography as far as I can tell, I haven't read it), and one suitable for beginners. Come to think of it, I have a lot of beginners' books on meditation, not so many intermediate & advanced ones - what is that telling me? I do have The Mind Illuminated, perhaps I should read that next.

Never mind just your mate, what about the rest of the universe which you aren't aware of? Right now the sun has set where I live, does it still exist, and do I create it each morning when I see it again? When I go to sleep at night, does the whole of reality switch off, only for me to create it again anew in the morning when I wake up? Perhaps we can flip this round, and ask whether I exist if I'm not aware of anything else to relate to, ie am I a creation of relativity?

@Scholar I completely agree. With the caveat that, although we are making progress on some fronts at the moment, these identities are just symptoms of the deeper issues of ego. The danger is that we cure one form of inequality such as race, only for it to pop up again in a new form if we haven't developed our consciousness enough.

@Etherial Cat yes, having recently watched Leo's video on Strange Loops (I'm catching up on some older ones), I'm struck by the two-way projection, caught in the loop of language (social constructs) creating physical reality; and physical reality creating language. What's more real, the physical nature of our bodies, or the psychological constructs in our minds. But in view of the inequality and discrimination all over the world, my ideal would be to do away with race, but failing that, to relativise it as much as possible.

I was being literal about this - putting my hand on a piece of white paper (I used to be 'white British') and noticing the difference. Also comparing people identifying as black (who come in a wide range of shades) with something actually black. My conclusion was that we're on a spectrum with hundreds, possibly thousands of shades between the fairest and darkest skin. Heck, my skin varies in different parts of my body so which part do I choose, my hands, face? But if whiteness and blackness is obvious to you, that's your perspective which you're absolutely entitled to. Yes, this is a good point - when we fill in the forms and surveys etc, we are entirely free to self-select our identity individually. But we all project onto others, including calling them by a racial grouping without having asked them first how they identify. So my response to this is to resolve to refrain from referencing another person's race without hearing it from themselves first. Not making any assumptions based on external appearances. But I probably won't remember to keep to this without a bit of practice

I wonder why we even use such polarising language as black and white, even though it's clearly not literally true - there's no such thing as black or white skin? It's as if we want to polarise and push ourselves apart instead of using more relative language, such as shades of brown. I for one have decided to opt out and not have a racial identity, but 'none' isn't an option on the questionnaire at work, so I put myself as 'other'.

I've realised how unfit I've become since the coronavirus lockdown, much less exercise, been working at home when I used to walk to work etc. Put on some weight and eating too much too. I need to make time for exercise, eat more healthy and low calorie food. Simple things really, but the psychological attachments to food are more complex and this is one use for mindfulness practice, being aware of desire for food, allowing space for that, without being driven by it. Meditation practice is up and down, on/off, I struggle with developing a regular daily habit. But when I do sit, the practice usually goes smoothly, effortless, enjoyable. But I have this resistance, excuses, staying up too late at night etc to disrupt my practice. Perhaps this is the part of me which wants to maintain a separate identity and is afraid of the approaching wholeness/emptiness, as I've had glimpses but must be holding back from going deeper.

That sounds difficult, sorry to hear you're having a rough time. There's some triggers which you do have control over, have you considered cutting back or quitting the weed / edibles / binaural beats if those cause fear, hopefully could be a quick win? The factors which are beyond your immediate control, such as your past memories of horror movies will take some more work. The fearful childhood memories are like unhealed mini-traumas if you were too young for such things. It sounds like you believe the jinns, spirits, possession and paranormal phenomena are potentially real, perhaps this was part of your childhood culture? Although obviously the movies are made up and not real. But hopefully you haven't had any actual paranormal experiences, just fears and scary images. I came from a pretty materialist culture so this was less of a problem. As well as contemplating what you believe is real vs imaginary, perhaps some affirmations around the theme of 'this fear isn't real, it's a childhood memory' and mindfulness to bring you back to the safety of the present moment.

awesome achievement I've been following your progress and it's an inspiration for my own meditation practice, though I'm only aiming at 30 mins most days.

And that One is also an infinity of forms. Shapes, colours, sounds etc. It'd be pretty boring otherwise

Is this Pantheism? But it raises a question, is 'everything' a singularity (unity) or a diverse multiplicity of things, or both? I thought it was single, with the diversity a creation of our imagination.

The ordinary domestic cushions aren't firm or thick enough for me, so I used to have a Zen style zafu cushion - round, black, full of kapok, which was marvellous and lasted for many years. It was worth it for me, but then I had tried them in meditation groups before buying one, so I knew i got on with them. Eventually it went a bit flat so I replaced it with a home-made version. I need a bit of extra support so I made a bolster out of a couple of garden kneelers glued together. Then I have a folded up blanket on the floor about 3 feet across to make a soft base. It's a case of trial and error with me, I need to feel as comfortable as possible.

Strange loops - that's on my list of videos to catch up on

Libertarianism usually means liberty for the individual, ie individualism. But why? True liberty should also apply to the collective mind too, meaning that we (the democracy) are collectively free to apply restrictions to individuals, as much as to the government itself. That's the apparent paradox, created by our thinking that free will exists within the individual person. I suspect it's both: the collective is a creation of the group of individuals and the individual is a creation of the collective culture.

A subset of this question is to understand the different types of democracy. For example in the UK since the Brexit referendum, we've had an ongoing debate about direct democracy (referendums to make decisions) vs indirect (electing representatives to make the decisions on our behalf). Well of course it's not black and white, but what balance do we prefer. At the moment, it seems the right wing prefer referendums (let the people speak}, and the centrist/left wing prefer representation (choose your experts who know better than us). But I suspect this is all rife with bias - which technique will create the result I want.

"Is the practise actually worth it in your opinion or is it more of a fad?" The particular meditation I practice is worth it for me but this is a very personal and individual answer. For some people yes it's worth it, for others, it's a fad and that's how it's always been. Meditation - of many different types in all cultures - has been around for thousands of years and there's a whole range of responses. That's absolutely fine. Meditation is such a broad area, if you want, fishing can be done meditatively.

I'm returning to the forum after a 'sabbatical' of 6 weeks, struck by all the new members and moderators too! Things don't stand still. I finished the FutureLearn course in the Diamond Sutra, and I'm still digesting it. The course only covers sections 1-13 out of 32, and I want to read the rest, in a more modern translation, before thinking I have begun to understand it. The language is very Mahayana Buddhist with analogies needing interpretation. Not easy. A few miscellaneous thoughts to get off my chest: A few years ago there was a debate going on about how much CCTV surveillance there is these days, and the balance between fighting crime for our security vs the threat to our liberty if the technology is misused. But this year, the debate has changed: we regularly have videos shown on TV news taken on mobile phones - these have now become a sort of private surveillance by the people (as opposed to the state). We eagerly watch the smartphone footage taken without permission, and can now hardly complain about the state spying on us when we are spying on each other. I have realised recently how much I am still including SD stages blue and orange - eg I feel triggered by today's news that the BBC is dropping the words from the patriotic songs like 'Rule Britannia' and 'Land of hope and glory' (which I grew up with). But perhaps it's the singing aspect during the pandemic which is the problem? Hopefully it will be back next year. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-53901878 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-53895120 I want to start a list of market failures, to find out the limits of stage orange capitalism, and (maybe) point to some areas to focus attention on as we gradually transition to green. * Housing market - in the UK there has been a housing shortage (or population surplus if you prefer) for decades now, shown by rising prices, shortage of building land, increasing homelessness etc. * Oil market - not a free market because of the oil cartels rigging the prices. Why is this tolerated by the 'international community'? * 5g mobile internet - why is there a shortage of suppliers? Mobile phones are a massive market all over the world, yet now that the UK has ruled out Huwaei, we have few other options to build the hardware. * Healthcare & education. Income inequality causes poorer people to lack essential services in countries which rely on the free market. I am interested in church architecture, one aspect of which is spires. In the morning and evening twilight, viewed from a distance, my perspective flips from looking at a solid building on the skyline; to seeing the whole sky with a little crack opening up, as if the church (ie religion and spirituality in general) is a place where heaven breaks through into the world. Or at least symbolic of that.

Hi @fictional_character welcome to the forum it seems to me that sharing love and loving yourself is a perfectly valid consciousness work, I don't make a distinction between love and spiritual practice anyway. What ways of loving do you have in mind? Meditation etc may not be your thing right now, that's fine, it's good to hear you have the self-knowledge to decide these things for yourself. I assume you're being tongue in cheek calling us a cult ha ha!

If someone is laughing at you, they have a repressed heart and I'd say that's a sign they're not so far up the development spiral as they'd like to think. For me, the point is about finding and spreading happiness, not just comparing myself to others as if it's a race. Are you happy now? If you have a chronic unhappiness then maybe actualisation can help you.

Today the pubs have reopened in England with a further easing of the coronavirus lockdown, but it doesn't look like everyone is following the distancing rules, I am worried for a resurgence. But the economy can't take much more full lockdown. I find it curious that pubs etc are opening but not yet churches and religious/spiritual centres, I guess entertainment is more important here than spirituality. My meditation practice and dieting are making slow but steady progress, I'm being realistic and trying to avoid getting too ambitious - slow but sustainable progress is way better than a bumpy stop-start and feeling guilty about my failures.

Good points, I prefer the translation Craving rather than Desire because it has the sense of addiction. Ajahn Chah said something similar, that desire in itself doesn't cause suffering (dukkha), but desire mixed with ignorance and/or fear. Ie ignorance of our true nature, fear from identifying as a separate ego. The 3 fires need to be taken together, not separately.

Search for the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone (and eternal life in general, eg in Taoism), Kabbala, the right hand path.

but maybe it can be felt through our bodies, if powerful enough. I've seen a TV programme about vlf (very low frequency) sound waves being used in crowd control. I hear the worldwide hum sometimes, its low frequency but not as low as 7.83 Hz, a harmonic resonance perhaps? @nowimhere have you got a good link for researching it? Cheers