ZzzleepingBear

Not really. I mean that thinking about something like "The" now is nothing but an abstractive thought process. There is nothing called "The" now to comprehend except missguided thoughts and beliefs itself, that's all.

You're welcome man. Wheter you end up taking a break or not is of course up to you. But If I where in your shoes, I would primarily focus on gaining trust in your own ability to reason and discuss from a place of curiosity. Where does the left and right intersect with eachother, and how far down a particular road can we go from there? Those are the kind of starting points to be looked out for, if a meaningful discussion are the main goal. On a side note. One's own doubt are fine to express fully, as long as it doesn't come with alot of projections on to others, that may linger around with said self doubt. So any concerns you may hold as a conservative in here, should be just fine to express as long as you take accountability of it being yours only. Same rule applies for the left obviously.

I just want to make it clear that I'm not picking any side here between left and right. At the end of the day, we are all people looking for what we believe will benefit everyone in the end. Or atleast that should be the main goal of politics imo. With that said. Making definitive claims about the other side no matter what side you take. Is like begging for a clash and butting of heads, rather than having an open curiosity about any argument and discussion that could be taking place. Fear is of an equal amount on both sides with different flavours when claims are expressed and projected on the other side. So why making self certified claims at all, if the goal is to have an open discussion about a topic? @Synnergy I would advice you to present your views like you just did with your opening post. And keep asking open ended questions of your interest if you want some more diversity of opinions in here.

Any side becomes problematic when there is no nuances left to what is supposed to be a open discussion about a certain issue. If you want to discuss your point of view. Then open up with a question rather than a claim of some sort. Any discussion transition into merely arguing as soon as sincere counter-argument and questions are being ignored or dismissed without a rational argument for it to be put down. Once any side say the words "You are wrong" without explaining why that is so. Then that's a clear sign that there is no further discussion to be had from that point on.

Ok ok, you dont need to yell it at me about it... Jokes aside, I get what you try to say. So let's take a look at this example. If you take a bite out of an apple and I come around and asked you, "hey man, what are you eating?" You may say, "I'm eating an apple". So I start to make a chewing motion with my mouth, and you may ask me the same question "What are you eating?" And I say, "Like, right now?" You, "yes??" And I say, "I'm eating eating itself right now" And you go "hu??!" I say, "I don't have anything in my mouth at the moment, I just do this chewing motion inorder to eat the eating.". Do you see how this make no sense what so ever? The now is always part as the eating, but what you bite into is what counts. Eating something and swallow it down is what needs to happen inorder to call it eating in the first place. Just like the now is not a thing on it's own, but a lable to something that can't be reached, because it already is. I't is like looking for a square circle. You can spell it out like I just did, but that doesn't mean that you can find one. The same goes with I should say, "The" now. When you don't look for it, then it's easier to be aware of. Presence.

Dancing

What exactly is it that you are trying to comprehend right now?

It sounds like you have made some serious progression on your spiritual path. Now is time for your next lesson.. Go for that icecream and throw some frisbee with a friend or two, or go do some other fun that comes to mind.

This is a banger!

It depends on what is concidered to be flowing. When things no longer flow, then where does your mind go? Do you mind?

Unfortunatelly I can't tell you. You simply have to ask a stone that lives in the woods, they know for sure. And remember to be patient with them, they tend to take their time before they answear.

A big part of trying, is to notice what works or not. Frustration can arise from expectations that don't match the reality. If you hold on to frustration, notice that the frustration must contain certain expectations for it to arise at all. you also say, I'm frustrated. You may disagree with this, or call it a freudian slip of thought. But you imply that you are identified with your frustration by saying that you are frustrated. You can't really be frustrated, but you can feel frustrated. It's a big difference and despite that obvious fact, alot of people stil would go back to say that they are frustrated, when they feel frustation rising in them. They just don't notice that it arises in them, so they misstake it as their identity instead. "I am frustrated". Notice your frustration as a thing on it's own. See where it takes you, because it craves your attention despite your plea for it to subside back to where it came from. If you can't see it in yourself, notice how it can happen in others. it may start raining and some people might feel frustrated that they got wet when it rain on them, since their stubborn expectation of maintaining to keep dry is tying to steal the show from the present and obvious reality of wet clothes and body here and now. It is if it is. Feeling frustration is not the main problem, but the identification with the frustration can definitely be one.

@Blackhawk You seem to suffer from overthinking things. Here is some medicine for that. It's a good 4 min investment for a overthinking mind

The foundation for solipsism, is to make the argument that they alone are everything and everyone around them. So inorder to deny the existance of others, they seem to have a compulsive desire to tell those other that they don't exsist in this Solopsist presence... How convenient that the argument for Solopsism require a apparent outside npc to be told all about this, don't you think? I mean, I don't feel the need to argue with birds that they aren't real humans (as they pretend to be), but merely birds.. :-P

Thank you. Despite the death itself being fake, he seemed quite affected from that short meditation I noticed.

Look. You can go out on a camping trip in midst of a current wildfire, despite warnings and fear from other people who choose not to go on camping during a wildfire. Is it recommended to do so? Absolutly not. Can you do it any way and survive? Yes, yes you can. As long as the winds are not blowing in your direction where you have decide to put up your tent. The same goes for this virus. You can avoid it, and you may not be deadly sick if you are lucky. But it's playing dice with not only your life and health, but with others life indirectly by being a potential spreader. Just look what is happening in India. They are probably one of the most tolerant people of bacteria and viruses in general, as they have a culture where they embrace and live close to everything that may carry with it, bacteria and viruses. A westerner in comparison, could probably not engage on the level as a native in india can with their cultural doings where they are expossed with a hightened bacterial environment as in comparrison with western culture in general. And despite Indias innate resistance to higer bacterial expossure on a daily. They are now having a increasingly growing problem with covid, and a now also a mutation of this virus. So it's easy to say that this covid wildfire is of no problem, if you live in a 1st world country where you are at a lesser risk of expossure in the firstplace. But that itself doesn't explain away, the growing problem that takes place all around the world right now.

If there is just everything that is happening. Then is that judged as a problem, in relation to your expected shift in awareness? If something is happening, you can only be aware enough to notice that it happens. Once you believe that a certain something is going to happen, then you no longer percieve what is happening. And you start to calculate what may or may not occur from what initally was a happening. While what happens, unfold all at once without the narrow cause you put in it's place.

This is old but gold. And as I watched it again now a few years later, I just realised that this is a commercial. Haha I never even noticed that, back then.

@Preety_India Haha that's great

You're welcome @ndm678 . And once your thoughts calm down, you can with more ease shift your awareness to your breath and body sensations in general, and of course your direct environment, more so than before.

If you haven't seen this already, this is quite a wholesome little vid.

You already have some good momentum here by being aware of thought, as a doing on it own. So that's great. Thinking about not thinking is where this meta hiccup really becommes a merry-go-round as you already noticed. Here is what you can try and do. Instead of thinking about not to think once you catch yourself thinking. Try to confirm the thinking an meet up with it as if you want to get the point of the compulsive thoughts, as you would while listening to a child. If the child say, "Oh look there is a squirrel in that tree. You can confirm with, "yes, I see". This allow you to create a gap between what is seen, and what comment may arise as respond to seeing. Another thought might be self blaming thoughts like. "I'm such an idiot". Notice the thought and confirm it with something like. "Ok, I'm listening". This approach invites the arising of the compulsive thoughts to play themselves out as you follow along in a present state of awarness of them. The smal comments you initially do, is to invite the thoughts that arises to make their point as if they have a point. When you listen into theses compulsive thoughts, you don't try to ignore or confronting them by doing so. An continuous inner dialog, can only be maintained aslong as it is a dialog. By listening in and confirming a thought as if you been waiting for a point to be made, you might start to notice that the thoughts intensity and rapidness start to go down.

This is a nice little snippet of buddhism, thank you for that. And here goes the t-shirt version from what I just learned. "Don't be a "Sukha" Remember the "Dukkha"!

"What is the ego?" What is what? Who is asking, what is? What is who? Who is what? Who says ego is something? Is something ego? Ego is what now? The ego? Is ego? ego? is? ? !

It depends on what you want to master. Certain mastery would be impossible without one.