Forestluv

I agree with this sentiment. After going through my direct experience, I've been able to draw a distinction within compassion. Before I had my severe anxiety/panic episodes, I would say I had compassion for my students with those disorders. I really tried to imagine what they were going through. I really wanted to help them. I spent extra hours tutoring them. I allowed them to take exams alone in a quiet room. I tried to be supported. I would say I was truly compassionate. They really appreciated my efforts. Sometimes they gave me heart-felt "thank you" cards or gifts. Yet once I experienced it myself, the compassion dynamic shifted. It was a different type of connection. I knew what it was like and the students knew this. They started telling me things they said they have never told anyone else. For a couple students, I was the only person in the world they could talk to about certain elements of anxiety/panic. I think this was because I just knew. I was them and they were me. It's a beautiful connection, yet it's different than the compassion I described above. So, I use different terms. I would call what I described above as "true compassion" and I would call what I describe in this paragraph as "true empathy". I've found both to be helpful to form human connections. I've found that sometimes a person is trying to communicate through a compassion channel and the other person through an empathy channel. Sometimes, compassion is helpful, other times empathy, other times a combination of both. . . Yet sometimes these two channels aren't "clear" because egoic "noise" can enter. For me, something like wanting to "be right" can be interfering noise. People use these terms in different ways. This is a good example of using terms in a different context. I would say true compassion exists as a form human connection between two people. I would say that true empathy is when that separation dissolves and there is simply the shared experience and humanness. With these descriptions, consider a friend I have that has suffered through post-partum disorder. I am a male and have no children. I would say I have very strong compassion with her, yet just a little bit of empathy is present - since I don't have the direct experience and that direct experience is not shared when we are together. In contrast, my sister died in a tragic accident. My gf also lost her sibling in a tragic accident. My gf and I have very strong empathy together, yet just a little bit of compassion is present. I think both are beautiful.

I’ve actually done this quite a bit in my life. For example, I would discuss anxiety and panic disorders within a place of personal comfort. Often with good intentions. Fir example, I would genuinely try to help my students with their anxiety/panic disorders. A couple years ago, I started having extreme anxiety/panic attacks that were unbearable. I had never experienced this degree of intensity and didn’t understand what the experience was *really* like. After this, I related very differently with people that have anxiety/panic disorders. Our communication and connection is very different. We still discuss the psychological dynamics from headspace, but there is now something more present. Yet I think both are important and useful. The headspace and heartspace of human connection are more integrated.

@Key Elements Your detective analogy was helpful for me. Thank you.

Consider your cellular level. Independent cells are functioning in your body. Individual neurons interact with individual muscle cells. Collectively, all these cells give rise to the next level up - your body. You. Now imagine you were 100% obsessed with the functioning of each of these independent cells in your body. That would cause problems within the next level up. It would be problematic in your social and work life. Consider the other extreme. Being 100% obsessed with your social and work life. This will cause problems at the cellular level and inhibit the cells in your body from interacting well with each other. For me, it’s an integrated whole. Focusing too much on one leads to imbalances. I often see people gain trans-personal awareness of collective consciousness and then reject personal consciousness. This was problematic ime. This is just one way of looking at things I find helpful.

Sure. It’s just what’s arising in my mind right now based on my experience. It may have value for some and may lack value for some.

I would consider this one “level” of consciousness and I find it problematic getting stuck in any one level of consciousness. When I was contracted within the personal level of consciousness, it was problematic. Then I realized the social level of consciousness and tried to rehect the personal level of consciousness. This became priblematic as well. I’ve found there are various levels of consciousness, similiar to various levels of maps. There is a map if Los Angeles. a map of California, a map of the U.S. and a map of the World. They are are inter-related and each has truth and is useful. Getting stuck in any one map is problematic - at the cellular, organismal and community levels.

There is a story of self realization. There are stories of awakening and enlightenment They can be beautiful, helpful and useful at times, yet stories nonetheless. Whether I am self realized, intelligent, playing coy. . . all stories. They can be useful and fun - yet I’ve found over-immersion causes problems within the human mind-body.

That witness consciousness and the storyline are not mutually exclusive. Imagine you are in a cafe and there is witness consciousness of the background chatter. Does the prescence of the background chatter mean there is no witness consciousness? What if I said sometimes I like the background chatter and sometimes I get too imnersed in background chatter and don’t like it. Would that mean I don’t realize there is background chatter? There is also a storyline about the self, realization and awakening. I kinda like it at times and it can be useful. Other times there is too much immersion in that awakening storyline. Would a rabbit understand that storyline? Would nature understand it?

I don’t know what your idea of self realization is.

I don’t drink alcohol. If someone asks me if I want a drink, I just respond “no thanks”. If they ask why, I simply say “It’s not my thing” (this suggests I have a “thing” that is better than alcohol). If they ask “what’s your thing?” that ooens up a new area. If the press more on the alcohol consumption at this point, that usually indicates they have an issue with it.

This is just my experience. I found I can get too caught up in the timeline, in the storyline. I’m not saying to reject the story, memories, goals, plans etc. As you’ve said, there is magic in that. Yet what I’ve found is when I become over immersed in the storyline/timeline it becomes problematic and the magic kinda gets distorted. I’ve found it best to have a balance between tge timeline and Now. Not to reject one or the other. A balance. There is sooo much to explore in Now. So much to discover, experience and be. Now, without the story or timeline. I think of it like salt and pepper. I like both and I like having a balance. Too much salt or too much pepper doesn’t taste so good.

@Shaun I like this question. When I was learning Spanish, I noticed I was always translating Spanish to English. It took a lot of effort to break that habit, so I could just hear the Spanish. Somewhat similarly, I notice my mind “translates” words/thoughts to meaning. At times in life that is very useful. Yet other times, it interferes with certain forms of exercise. One meditative practice I do is to allow thoughts/words as impulses. I also add in a second impulse - my favorite is bird chirps. I sit there and allow thought impulses and bird chirp impulses to arise right next to each other. This allows contrast. It’s totally obvious if I am giving meaning to word/thought impulses and not bird chirp impulses. Allowing both to coexist equally as simply impulses in my brain helped me a lot in this area.

♥️ ?

@Shin makes a beautiful point - being over-serious can be unhealthy and impede spiritual progress. There is a lot of silliness and laughter along the spiritual path and it can be helpful to laugh at our own egos at times. @Serotoninluv ? Time for some dancing in my kitchen. . . ?

❤️ ♥️ ?

@tsuki Thank you. Sometimes I add clarity to posts. The posts to you prior to my “Haha ?” were not edited, but someone elses were. . . (I edited this post by adding the below image. Haha ?)

Haha ? I’m not saying you are wrong. I’m saying you are wrong AND right. One needs to let go of one to see the other. Then let go of the other to see both and neither. I am saying you are wrong and right. I am also saying I am wrong and right. The Tao is both wrong and right. Look at the image I attached. I’m cool with agreeing and disagreeing with all of those paradoxical statements. It’s not a thinking thing. It’s nonverbal. Yet we often use words and images to help “see it” Immersion in nature helped me a lot. In some areas, nature is a better teacher than humans.

Nice drawing! I also like the below image. Notice how there is: 1. A young woman 2. An old woman 3. Both an old woman AND a young woman simultaneously. 4. Neither an old woman nor a young wonan simultaneously. 5. Numbers 1-5 above are all true and false simultaneously. If we add them all up. . . Drumroll. . . Everything and Nothing ? Each step gets progressively harder to “see”.

There is a deeper level of opposites.

There is no duality between duality and non-duality AND there is duality between duality and non-duality. There can also be clinging to one end of this paradox.

Very close!

@Paul92 You are creating this meaning and can stop if you want to,

I noticed you post a lot about “good” vs “evil”. You seem to want to have a universal objective definition in a relative context. In the above example, the contrast between the rape (evil) and birh of a baby (good) is a distraction from the underlying issue: you want a universal objective answer to “what is correct”. Yet this is relative. You can create any meaning you want in a relative context. I could say “yes”, “no” or “maybe”. In an absolute context there is abscence of meaning. The above situation would be neither correct nor incorrect.

@Paul92 To me it sounds like you are forcing yourself into a decision you don’t need to make. Illusion = Real. And Real = Illusion. If you get trapped one side and reject the other, that is separation and life can’t get painful.

It is fine to criticize teachers, videos and the forum in a thoughtful manner. Yet please do not engage in click-baiting, profanity, inflammatory posts, namecalling etc.