UnbornTao

Cool. Usually it's INTP, though. But interesting.

https://youtube.com/@SamaneriJayasara Good for spiritual entertainment.

Degenerate + genius? Gnoofus - gnosis + doofus. Gloof - genius + goof

Need to watch the entire video!

Imagining a worse experience than the comparatively minor one you may be currently suffering. That above should put the pain into perspective and help us lighten up on it. We often do the exact opposite: we imagine a better experience than the one we're having, confessing that it isn't enough or needs fixing.

Somebody make up some new words about being an idiotic genius. Ignosapien. Not a fancy one. Subtleism - whatever Awakenism? - sistematized beliefs about what enlightenment is and means Etceterasis - rethorical device; the compulsive use of "etc." after two half-baked examples because you can't (or won't) come up with a full list. Etc.

No problem! Thanks for the thread/questions.

@Breakingthewall Ok, appreciate that. What's the cause and what's the effect in the example above? Meaning isn't a fact of the universe, but rather a human need. The hand movement doesn't have to mean anything in itself. But since we're calling it a 'gesture', we've already confessed that it means something. How does meaning come to exist? Also, why would it automatically engender anger and hatred? It might just as well elicit different reactions - depending on what it means to us. As I joked with Carl, in a different culture, that gesture could mean 'I love you'. So, we can recognize two different processes in this example - on the one hand, the particular hand movement itself; on the other, the meaning that is superimposed onto that perception. These are different in nature.

But in the Dazumbé tribe (in northern Congo), that gesture is an affectionate one, meaning "I love you." So... Btw, I had GPT make up that tribe.

Thanks for the input. In relation to the following picture, see if you can recognize, or pull apart, the component of meaning - as it occurs in your experience: What does the gesture mean? What's your reaction upon seeing it? Is it offensive? How so? Can you perceive it before, or without, interpreting it?

@Breakingthewall You love to talk.

You guys want to keep the consideration abstract and overly intellectual. But what is meaning, really? What shows up as constituting meaning in your own experience?

Sounds good, thanks. It was more of a rhetorical question meant to invite personal contemplation. Another exercise: pick a small, simple object and perceive it prior to the addition of meaning.

A charged interpretation that's generated by you and applied onto - or coming after - bare perception. Or, forget about answers and take a look. What makes something meaningful? What does it mean for something to have meaning?

@Carl-Richard Health - wholeness! Definitely.

@Someone here My point above is that you don't need to know what's ultimately true to be effective. You already do not know, and yet you act in spite of that. An amoeba also acts. The main purpose is survival, which is a different pursuit from the truth. You want the truth to be useful (or to be the same as what's useful), but it isn't. It seems you're hiding behind this condition of fundamental ignorance to undermine or avoid taking action. Also, you're being overly intellectual. I could recommend being more grounded; focus on your breath and body, and observe your experience. This should help.

@Someone here You are writing here, yet at the same time you aren't conscious of the nature of language. How come? You don't need to know what an object is or how it works internally to use it. You likely drive a car or use a smartphone without the slightest idea of their inner workings. Regarding your video game analogy: testing and exploring is precisely the point - you learn to play as you go, and you don't need to take a course on 'video game development' to figure out how to play. Again, you're conflating use or effectiveness with 'truth'. Does it get the job done? Then that's what matters in that domain.

We got WWIII before GTA VI.

@Carl-Richard It's true "If it's healthy, then in some way it must make you horny."

GPT: Being alive is an aphrodisiac.

Heil your friend.

One possibility - maybe not entirely relevant to your point - is that they simply take action, consistently. They focus on action rather than the plethora of activities that don't contribute much - and that may even displace action. We usually think that mental activities such as worrying, planning, thinking about doing something, desiring, complaining, resisting, procrastinating, justifying, judging - all that - are actually accomplishing something useful, or are the same as simply doing what needs to be done. But they're not. We could shift into a 'doing' mode - where only the appropriate action is taken in the moment, as best as we can. Washing the dishes is washing the dishes - resisting it, making excuses, planning it, procrastinating, idealizing it - none of that is the act of washing the dishes. It's a simple principle on paper - but a powerful one. And that was just a minor example. Now consider everything you do - mostly with your mind, though you can include the body too - that is ineffective, that drains your energy, and that isn't simply taking the required action in the moment. There's likely a lot to be found in that domain. If you can stop doing that - then you'll have increased presence and energy.