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One implication of the above is that it puts the responsibility of transformation totally on us individuals. From a oneness perspective it's God's will will be done, so the ultimate job of transformation is done by God, but here God means the totality, like Brahman, and we are that reality so the personal responsibility will be there on the level of doing the personal work needed. Even Christians will have to admit that since it says in the Bible (John 1) that the Word of God has made everything, so we are the Word of God. It's the ego that has the false belief that it can do or be something outside of the Word of God.

@NahmI have some trouble decoding what you're saying, but i think we are on the same page I just had a powerful meditation on Keith's Cacao (ceremonial grade), and in general I notice how important daily meditation is on this journey of transformation and staying on track. A lot of stuff is happening right now: A few days ago I went to see a girl for cuddle therapy I never met before. There is good chemistry and connection. During the session she was holding me and at first there was resistance. I noticed that deep breaths would help me to allow this. After a while I started the weep and cry for like 10 minutes. Pretty intense. After sitting up again, I noticed my arms and hands and maybe my whole body vibrating strongly, tingly sensations. A sensation that I recognized from a Kambo session about 2 months back. I believe this is energetic blockages being released from the body. Will probably have more sessions with her as I think she can really help me. There was also a lesson here that I still need to integrate: That it is Okay giving and receiving love, that I deserve it and that Yes - it is possible to be betrayed, but this true core of me can never be "hurt" or "diminished" by it. Only the Ego can. This insight seems actually a bit confusing/conflicting with the whole healing the inner child/trauma stuff. Not sure how this connects yet. Ideas? I decided to do the dieta in Peru and already had an introduction call with them and paid a deposit. Think this can be really powerful. I saw this girl again I was writing about in my initial post and she invited me to an alternative festival the upcoming weekend. Not really in my comfort zone, but will go as I think it should be good for me.

3 days at a awesome yoga-festival is over. It was awesome, but also I encountered a lot of resistance towards the physical, social and emotional process I was in, but now I feel very released. Did 3 classes on friday, 4 on saturday, and 4 on sunday, plus lots of extra social festival stuff going on in-between. Basically the whole thing was a little bit too much, especially since I have been working night-shifts for 2 weeks just right before this and I’ve been feeling something compared to being jet-lagged through-out this whole festival, but it was also very very inspiring much of the time and I felt I was going really deeply into many of the yoga sessions. However I wasn’t prepared for getting into such a strong sense of resistance towards the whole thing at times. It sometimes felt like being in a prison. But I mean, yoga is painful in many ways, it is really about encountering a lot of the resistance one has in body and mind, and learning to relax with that - to breathe into it - so of course that is going to be challenging sometimes. Coming back home now, I feel released and refreshed, but I’m also very glad the whole thing is over, and I look forward to return to my daily practice. I think my theme for the whole weekend was learning to find sort of the sweet-spot in the resistance. When one gets into it, and really surrender into it, there is some really juicy transformation going on, and there is sort of a love for this transformation that makes going into the resistance attractive. Of course that is not how resistance feels most of the time, because most of the time I’m not able to surrender fullt into it, but when I am that is really a juicy sweet-spot, and the memory of that spot is what brings me back to the practice over and over again.

Christianity.com Christianity/ Wiki / Salvation /What Does It Mean To Be Saved by Grace through Faith? What Does It Mean To Be Saved by Grace through Faith? Salvation by grace through faith is not a difficult thing, in that it’s not a formula to follow but rather a miracle to believe and receive. Salvation is God’s righteousness at work in us when we say yes to His plan. Saying yes is how we demonstrate faith. We get saved by grace through faith, but we also live by grace through faith. Danielle Bernock The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that people are saved by grace through faith. But what does that really mean? A common answer is that we’re saved from going to hell when we die. But the truth is, salvation is so much more – as is the grace by which we receive it through faith. Salvation is God’s righteousness at work in us when we say yes to His plan. Saying yes is how we demonstrate faith. We get saved by grace through faith, but we also live by grace through faith. Salvation by grace through faith is not a difficult thing, in that it’s not a formula to follow but rather a miracle to believe and receive. What Is Salvation? Salvation is an amazing miracle we watch unfold in our lives. The view of salvation as a ticket to heaven or an escape-hell card ignores life here on earth. The salvation that Jesus secured with His death and resurrection is one that restores a believer’s oneness with God (Romans 5:10). This provision of unity ushers in wholeness, one piece of truth at a time through the power of Christ’s love. Jesus came to give us abundant life. In salvation, Jesus Christ transforms us from the inside out. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV) When a believer in Jesus fully leans into this spirit life, the transformation affects every area of their lives (Romans 8:5-11) – and there is no condemnation in the process (Romans 8:1-2). Saving Grace: The Meaning of God’s Grace God’s grace is an undeserved gift for sinners. John 3:16 is one of the most quoted verses from the Bible and embodies the message of God’s grace. “For God so loved the world that He gave…” Gave. That’s a demonstration of grace because grace gives what is undeserved. Romans 5:17 says that it’s through “the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness that we reign in life.” This gift God provides has nothing to do with our earning it. It’s given graciously through what’s called a gratuitous contract. This contract is solely for our benefit and ratified with the blood of Christ. God paid for everything and we receive everything. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) God’s grace provided righteousness for sinners. The grace of God provided what we lacked: righteousness. This righteousness is what gives the Holy Spirit the ability to dwell in us and usher in the transformation of salvation. And this righteousness is a gift because of grace. The grace is because of His love; God is love. God demonstrated His love for us in Christ dying for our sins when we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8). By His grace, He provided righteousness for us in hope that we’d believe—or have faith (Romans 3:22). Salvation by Grace through Faith God’s grace is so amazing we may have trouble believing it’s true. That’s where faith comes in. It’s so amazing it takes faith to receive it. Believing God is as good as He says He is. Believing His grace. Believing Jesus came to personally deliver the grace of God to us. The salvation God offers us is freely ours if we’ll dare to believe He’s that good. Faith says, I believe you are that good, and I receive your amazing reconnection. When we do this, He gives us new life. Jesus called it being “born again” (John 3:1-3). Example of Salvation by Grace through Faith The thief on the cross received salvation by grace through faith (Luke 23:39-43). The man simply reached with a sincere heart for the goodness of God’s help and believed Jesus would give it to Him. Jesus did. Salvation is God’s righteousness at work in us when we say yes to His plan. Saying yes is how we demonstrate faith. We get saved by grace through faith, but we also live by grace through faith. Salvation by grace through faith is not a difficult thing, in that it’s not a formula to follow but rather a miracle to believe and receive.

Yes but remember how the adept stages work at a fundamental level. They are no longer samadhi practices. One practice can help but it may not be enough. Culadasa might give the impression that advanced stages don't require that much effort so it is much faster to progress compared to the beginning stages time-wise. It makes sense on paper but this is not true. It is a common misconception. The effort one puts in to progress after chapter 7 gets lower and lower. That is true and that is because you let the effortless attention develop and become the default operating system. Surrender and non-striving is the name of the game in advanced practice. But it takes A LOT of time to re-program the body for stage 7-8-9-10 type of work. As Culadasa mentioned in an interview, A mature stage 8-9 practitioner can do 3-4 hour sits consistently with little to no suffering. Like daily 3-4 hour sessions. That is some serious mastery in my eyes. I can do 2 hour SDS sits. I can also deal with a lot of pain and suffering but I've never attempted a 3-4 hour sit. My equanimity levels are not that high. I still need more work in mental and physical pliancy. My nervous system can't quite work with pain on that level for 3-4 hours. Maybe I can do it on a chair if I really focus. And lets not forget that at least 1 insight has to be experienced until this point. These insight experiences are unpredictable and can happen in weird ways. So it takes even more time to understand and experience these insights. Culadasa also says that even though it is theoretically possible to go all the way up to stage 10 and still not experience any deep insight experience, in practice, most meditators will have at least 1 insight experience sometime in stage 6,7 or 8. Definitely before stage 9. So if someone claims to solidly attain stage 8-9 and still saying that he didn't have any sort of transitory awakening experience, (or any deep experience like Arising and Passing Away or temporary cessation), then I'd be suspicious. He probably peaked into stage 8-9 and then went back to an early stage as his baseline. The first stages are actually faster to go through compared to adept stages. Even though you exert more effort, at least the goals are like a to do list. In stage 7 and beyond, everything turns into mastery of the existing skills + insight practice and as a consequence, the nervous system needs even more time and practice to handle the mastery requirements. So it is a mistake to think it is so easy to progress from stage 7 to 8 by doing only one or two practice. That also applies to stage 9 to 10. One's progress will get slower post-stage 6-7. These adept stages are all very deep attainments and you can spend a year or two for each stage before moving on. And if you did that, you'd have awakening experiences on a consistent basis. And that tends to translate into 7-10 years of diligent practice as Culadasa says in his book. That is a good time frame to expect significant results and transformation. If one doesn't experience these, then they don't do the TMI techniques properly. On that level, the bare minimum would be consistent but transient insight experiences and that is way more than what your average meditator experiences after 20-30 years of practice. That is why I recommend Culadasa so much. His methods shave off decades of spiritual anguish with clear skill based goals.

I want to give an update on my journey that hopefully inspires you. I apologize in advance for it being rather long but hopefully my boring story ends up proving worthwhile for you. So for those of you whom are familiar with my posts (though don't confuse that with actually knowing my background and story) may be familiar that I've been going through a hard time for pretty much the last 10+ years. For those that aren't, I'll give you some backstory that hopefully doesn't bore you too much. Since the age of 11 (I'm 24 now) my family has had to deal with a lot. One of my parents became seriously mentally ill and since I was in 6th grade and my brother at the time when he was just 4 or 5, we had to make sure our parent didn't kill themselves on a regular basis. This went on till I was 22 when our family fell apart. I've always struggled in school and with people due to a very hard case of ADHD and also harassment. I always knew I was intelligent but I always felt like I was a failure because that's all my life seemed to reflect. I've always been extremely ambitious to the point of delusion in most cases. School was a really big challenge for me, especially as I became more independent in high school as I was just in a program that just doesn't suit kids that have things like genuine ADHD. This created such a schism in me because I always had big goals but I was always failing. I knew I "had it" but nothing ever came together. I also was dealing with a lot of mental health stuff with what went on in my house and in myself. As I suffered more, the more I didn't know who I am. When I was junior, I got pulled out of school because I went to my counselor saying I was ready to die. Next thing I know, high school is over after I came back and finished senior year, I didn't accomplish any single goal I set and I wasn't even going to a university. I felt like both life and myself and had let me down. Both Fall and Spring semester of my first year in junior college I left early as a result of not going to classes I couldn't sit through anymore. As a competitive runner, my running just became more and more meaningless. Once I left school I never finished a single season of neither cross country or track season I committed to. I eventually found myself in a hospitalization program which is also where I found meditation. Later on I got into personal development through Tony Robbins after listening to so many motivational videos on YouTube. I couldn't keep going on my own but these things sparked something (my love for life I still had left). I couldn't believe what I was finding and I just devoured everything, though it was still neurotic. My desire for growth was projected as an aggression to "prove them wrong" and maintain that winner. This became exhausting until I realized all of that was based on the fact that I really felt hurt because I felt like a loser and I felt hurt. The competitiveness and desire to succeed no longer made sense. It wasn't until I found a Sam Harris guided meditation with Self-Inquiry at the end when I realized the most important question I've ever had... who am I? After that first sit (as painful as it was) I realized I didn't know who I am. How can I live not know who I am? Who is that's aware of "me"? What is it that's aware of "me"? If I'm aware of me is to be aware that I'm not me!?!? How can I honestly live a life not knowing who I am and say that I've fucking done anything of any significance? Then I found @Leo Gura and I finally felt like I was listening to me on the other end. I found a resource that embraced and encouraged every single thing I've ever found important and wanted to know. Philosophy was important. Having a life purpose and doing something big and doing something important does matter and should be pursued. I can't live not knowing who I am. Knowing that is important. Then I found Om Swami's memoir and then I realized "this is my life. This is what I'm here to do. This is the only thing I've ever really wanted. This is exactly what I've been looking for." Despite all that, I still struggled for many years. Being as depressed as I was, I was crying every single day because I was listening to Leo and I was really starting to realize what life is meant to be and getting clear on what is most important to me but I couldn't live any of it. I was sleeping in the same bed as my dad at 23 with no future. 'I can't REALLY do what Leo or any of the people alive and in the past have done!' This burning desire though just wouldn't shut off to the point where I felt it was torturing me. I was working in a retail job that I just hated myself for going to. How and why did I end up here?! WHY?!!? One of my best high school friends was the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft! My friends represented the USA in running and I used to kick the shit out of them in a race! I'm embarrassed to show my face to people! Then after one post on the forum here I got an offer to come out here in New Jersey to sell pest control going door-door. Door-door sales? That's the hardest form of sales! I can't even keep eye contact, not mumble and stutter and stand straight! However, being the good salesman, now one of my best friends, convinced me that I had the chance to maybe earn $55k this summer. Having no real sales experience and only a month and a half in advance notice (other guys on the team were Mormon missionaries who prepped about a year in advance for this) I accepted it, terrified of what my future was. However... I couldn't go another day looking myself in the mirror feeling the shame and rage towards myself by staying and having sleep with my dad still at 24, having never taken any chance. I knew I HAVE TO DO THIS. After my first week of sales and putting in 12 hour days and not having made a single sale I already had multiple meltdowns. Social dynamics and literally forcing the way I interacted became the development I was really running from. I realized how and why I struggle with eye contact. I realized how and why I talk so fast. Having to change all of this in order to survive demanded a transformation and look myself in the mirror and forced a change. I then realized after 5 days how I literally was a different person. I talked different. My being was different. I slowed down my speech. I could hold eye contact. I felt more grounded. When looking at a video of myself a month before I came out I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The seed was planted. However I did have to switch to being a service pro. Sometimes there's only so much pressure a person can take before suffocating. Sometimes pressure on a stone can create a diamond. It can also cause it to get crushed. Despite the transition, I was now living in a unit I was paying for. I cleaned after myself and I loved it. I loved cleaning my mess. it forced me to be honest about my inadequacies and after emotional turmoil I started to... just do it. The more I "did it", the more my word slowly began to gain power again... despite many relapses. I was cooking for myself. I was working 60-75 hours a week. The hours hurt and the more I felt overwhelmed the more my burning desire for truth burned in my heart painfully. "Why am I out here?!" "What do I want?!... I don't know!" "What impact do I want to have on the world?... I DON'T KNOW!" The fatigue and exhaustion from the hours hurt. I wanted to be free. I wanted to be int he mountains. I wanted to heal. However... I also loved this. I was changing. I was taking on responsbility and I noticed that I was actually changing. My word started having power. I was becoming more confident. I was learning to relax my entire body when I felt extreme stress and could literally let go. Good days became more consistent, despite the still pretty consistent emotional volatility. My faith started to increase. I started to really inspect my unconscious mind through various exercises I was creating. Deeper clarity started to emerge. I even got to meet @winterknight! Then today I was called into my manager's office and was told I was either gonna be laid off because we had too many workers at our location or they were going to move me to a different location. I immediately realized "they have an office in Denver/Boulder, CO" which is where I was planning on trying to maybe move to if all worked out (which it didn't seem like it was). Then I immediately asked if I could be moved over there. They immediately said yes and they would fly me out and I wouldn't have to pay rent. Not only that I could keep the job and reduce my hours as I could go to therapy and get psychoanalysis done in order to really finally heal. I left the office screaming YES! I immediately emailed Integral Zen leader Doshin Roshi whose close with Ken Wilber and am now in contact with him. I'm also around other enlightened teachers like David Loy and many others in that area. My plan is to really meet these people and study under them as best as I possibly can and so far, this is starting to seem doable... and I can't fucking believe it. I'm finally going to get the healing I need, I'm now going to do serious fucking consciousness work and I have ways of even traveling.... How? How did this happen? Why? Why did this happen? The two questions that I felt the most negatively when I uttered them now bring great gratitude. Was it because I wanted this so bad that I couldn't live without it and there was some law of attraction thing that set in? Maybe. Whose to really confirm that and say definitely? One answer I can say with confidence is that I had faith and I took what little of it I had left and jumped... and I had very little of it left. I had faith though because I knew, not that my life mattered, but that I can't waste this. I refuse to fucking let my life go. When I see Leo post a picture of how overweight he was in his 20s and when I see his videos I see and hear the heart of someone whose driven to serve this world, that's fucking real. Not some cute talk about metaphysics and parrot nondual blabber. I knew I had to keep going because I DO love life. I can't fall back asleep and ignore all that I know I yearn for... and I invite you to do the same... Take the leap and claim the responsibility that you will do this. Whatever "this" is. Throw yourself into a situation that DEMANDS you grow and DO IT. When you're put into a situation by your own hand that's hard, look at yourself and also feel yourself in that moment. Awareness ALONE is curative. When you're aware of how much you lie to yourself, how much you cheat yourself, how much you ruin your own happiness, how much you deceive yourself of your own love for yourself, how much you mask your own selfishness, how much you shirk your responsiblity in this world to others, how you play victim and watch yourself doing it... THEN your life will change because you won't be able to tolerate it anymore. Then you will feel empowered, despite how many times you fall back. That's how this is done. I'm one of the most skeptical people I've probably met and also one of the most cynical. If I can have faith in the shit I've gone through, so can you. Take back your life. Not because you have to but because you love life. Thank you Leo for helping me cultivate the faith and show me a new path in life. I don't want to know where I'd be if I didn't find your channel. Thank you for showing me. I hope one day I can live that which you're realizing one day and be of service to the world like you are.

Ok, here's what it is. I will try my best to describe it briefly to the best of my knowledge. If you have the deepest awakening, it will go something like this: You become God/No-self. You're not embodied. There is no external environment. That's why they call God, "no self." You're just being pure, unconditional consciousness. This is the eternal YOU. No beginning. No end. You make this transformation into Everythingness. You might see yourself forming and coming together into something like infinite spherical stars (strangloop), but these stars are actually infinite universes. They're all you. You'll not only see it; you're all of it. The everythingness (YOU) comes together into this super massive, infinite black hole (aka, white hole). Yes, there is an event horizon before this. So, yes, there is a "freeze" before you make this transformation. Why do they call it a white hole? Because the Everythingness is "white" and came together and get transformed into a white void, where you're facing backwards (aka, Riding the Ox Backwards, singularity, Godhead, God's arrow). Finally, you embody into your ego, while the world/universe is created by YOU. You will remember all this from your ego's perspective. Initially, you might think this is grandiose, but it's not. When you were God making these transformations, it was totally "normal." You were just being. Most importantly, when you embody into your ego, you feel this massive love, indicating that you're in the "to love" realm. I could go further into details but too long. Everything in our lives is based on this awakening. Principles of life such as: Nothing is permanent. Everything transforms. Nothing dies. There is only transformations. Everything in the world is based on love. So, find a deep calling based on love. Everything is just you, so be kind in general. Learn to be detached in life. Work on yourself and your calling--because only you exist in the present moment. The list goes on and on.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj8ulLtLwsE ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ NO HEADPHONES REQUIRED, BUT RECOMMENDED. ❯❯ This 8D AUDIO track features: 4hZ, 7.83hZ, 10.5hZ, 33hZ, 111hZ, 126.22hZ, 141.27hZ, 144.72hZ, 207.36hZ, 211.44hZ, 222hZ, 256hZ, 512hZ, 528hZ, 555hZ (isochronic tone), 741hZ, 963hZ, 4096hZ, 8192hZ, 8D Audio Movement & Natural 432hZ Tuning. ████████████████ BENEFITS AND EFFECTS ████████████████ █ Various Studies/Researches On Sound Healing, Meditation, Brain Waves and MORE: █ pastebin.com/kBnrC4uQ ✓ 4hZ ❯❯ Enkephalins, Extrasensory perception; Astral Projection, Telepathy, "Seduction mindset". Catecholamines, vital for memory & learning, respond at around 4 HZ. Subconscious Problem Solving/Full Memory Scanning. ✓ 7.83hZ ❯❯ Earth Resonance, grounding effect. "Schumann Resonance". 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It cleans the cell (“Solve polluti“) from the toxins. Works on healing/clearing and balancing your throat (Visuddha) chakra. Directly works on awakening your intuition which is your inner voice from the soul, improves connection between you and your higher self. Frequent use of 741 Hz leads to a healthier, simpler life, and also to change in diet towards foods which are not poisoned by various kinds of toxins. ✓ 963hZ ❯❯ This is the last of 9 Ancient Healing Tones called "Solfeggio Frequencies". This tone awakens any system to its original, perfect state. It is connected with the Light and all-embracing Spirit, and enables direct experience, the return to Oneness. 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Shinzen Young was saying, somewhere in the middle of the clip, that "the Source created a wormhole." The Source is Shinzen Young's way of describing God (meaning, you, the infinite consciousness). The wormhole represents Riding the Ox Backwards. It's this transformation back into your ego from God.

What new structures? I agree with you when you said direct experience. If you're teaching because you developed new structures from other teachers, that's a belief. If you're teaching because you're drawing from your direct experience, then that's authentic. A teacher can only teach you to be more articulate. For example, Shinzen Young calls the transformation from God/No-self: Riding the Ox Backwards and God's arrow. Look up God's arrow under his name. That's why I think Shinzen Young knows Truth because he described the transformation from God as God's arrow. Leo, on the other hand calls it singularity or Godhead. Anyway, that transformation will take you back to your ego, and your ego will be bombarded with this massive love, indicating that you're on earth, the to love realm. The description of my whole story, I have to find a way to speak of it in my LP.

Is it good, to practice being honest? In some ways it's probably useful. An even more powerful method I discovered, is to be confused instead of being honest! That may sound crazy at first. The idea is that trying to be honest is still my ego actions. Being confused is outside the ego actions. Even acting out of confusion is a good practice. Even when such action out of confusion leads to being dishonest and telling lies and shit. Because it's a moving away from the old ego structure and allowing chaos to operate to bring about the transformation of transcending and including the ego.

Yikes, I just realized that my theory leads to a horrible short-term prediction, that the divisions in religions will remain. And also, maybe even more disturbing, that the fallacies and inconsistencies in mainstream science will remain! Because those are global ego traits, which will (and I believe it has already started) turn into a cocoon. The global ego is based on a false foundation and its fruit is manipulation, division, fakery and deception. Not a pretty picture, but it's a necessary one, just like how the caterpillar needs to dissolve into a mess inside the cocoon in order to become a butterfly. In this short video Bruce Lipton explains how there will be a period of chaos before a transformation: In my theory however, most of the chaos will be prevented by the global ego remaining as a cocoon until the new social structure is complete. So it will be a much more orderly transformation (it's a higher level of holon and therefore the transformation will be more clever). Still, my prediction also leads to zero chance of resolving the inconsistencies in science and divisions among religions, and that's horrible, or at least tedious, from a short-term perspective.

Not only religions as I mentioned have been deliberately made to be conflicting. Also science has been made to be contradictory. We can see this in for example how Einstein's relativity and quantum mechanics are like oil and water, two different things trying to describe the same reality. I don't have the math skills to determine if what is presented in this video is true: But yeah, I have come across Einstein's con math in a simpler case (Lorentz transformation). However, I do believe black holes do exist, it's just that we don't need Einstein's relativity to describe them. Personally I think a black hole is generated whenever the structure of the vacuum energy becomes matter and dense enough. And Einstein is only one, although a major, example of how science has deliberately been made confused. The purpose, the same with different religions and different languages, is to maximize creativity and uniqueness in the development of civilizations. The Bible refers to this principle in the story of the Tower of Babel, where "God" and his cronies had to come down to earth and divide humanity to prevent us from becoming a mere clone of what existed before. "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”" - Genesis 11:1-7

7-25-2019 57 The Penetrating. Line 4: Remorse vanishes. ,,,,,,,,,, 1. Cosmic Consciousness There is a lot written about Hexagram 1 and Hexagram 2. The Judgement for Hexagram 1 - The Cosmic Consciousness is great through its interpenetration of all things, it discerns what feels harmonious and brings it into form through transformation. "Cosmic Consciousness" is the name the Sage gives the aggregate consciousness of the Cosmos. It is the invisible origin of all the things that exist in form as Nature. Nature is the primary way in which the Cosmic Consciousness manifests. All things that exist in Nature are compressed Cosmic Consciousness, and are unique aspects of it. ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Later in the commentary it says when a person receives Hexagram 1 without changing lines, it is a message to remind him that he is an equal part of the Cosmic Whole. This means that while he is unique, he is not special. Just as humankind is not "chosen" or distinguished among animals. No individual human or group is considered to be elite or heroic. It tells him that if he will take his proper place in the Cosmic Whole by saying the inner No to the delusion he is special, he will put himself back into the Cosmic stream of chi energy ( his source of creativity, nourishment, help, and healing) from which he has become separated. Being separated also means he is no longer in contact with the Sage, the Cosmic Teacher. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly could be more than just a metaphor for planetary change. Then it's the same kind of process on a higher holon level. "When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, the transformation is so radical that it's hard to believe they belong to the same species. But regardless of the new wings and body, the new diet and airborne lifestyle, butterflies remember what they learned as babies. In a study published yesterday in Public Library of Science ONE, Georgetown University biologists gave mild shocks to tobacco hornworm caterpillars while exposing the caterpillars to particular odors. After the hornworms built cocoons and emerged as moths – a process that involves the reorganization of both brain and nervous system – they still avoided the smells that once brought them shocks." - Full article: https://www.wired.com/2008/03/butterflies-rem/ I poster earlier about how the World Wide Web is a global ego structure. That's the "caterpillar" stage. With the butterfly development analogy the World Wide Web will dissolve but also be included! It's like the transformation of the nervous system from caterpillar to butterfly. I think however that the internet will remain as the foundation. The World Wide Web is a layer on top of the internet so it can be replaced while still keeping the internet as a foundation and information infrastructure.

This world needs a lot of "empathy in words" and "empathy in action" Here I come with a new concept and I call it ampeternal empathy. Which basically means visualizing yourself from an outsider point and imagining giving empathetic advice to yourself to sort of separate yourself from the situation that you are stuck in. It also means showing [not just advice] love and care and support for the self in a third person form.. The other concept is reformative love. Which means loving things and states of mind and animals and humanity and God or ethereal things instead of loving humans. Replacing love to a living with love for a non living or ethereal aspects. The last concept is of instructional redurance - this means that auto suggestion methods are used to bring about redurance. Redurance means a process of growth healing,transformation, repair and proper condition. Active redurance - this is when redurance is actively happening [with or without instructions] Passive redurance - means the body's own inherent slow mechanism of redurance to survive. Based on the body's indigenous design to survive. Survival instinct. Off shoot redurance - if there is real redurance happening as a result of instructional redurance then this is a case of offshoot redurance, this means Instructional redurance is successful acting.

If I understand right your trying to say that you want to stop energy transformation. This is impossible, unless the source itself is an infinitely generated source of energy. There will always be energy transformation because of chemical reactions. Heat for example is always produced as a result of lithium batteries using reverse reactions to power your device. However, there’s no reason to say the idea is totally impossible, if you find a method to do so. It’s stated that the government may have hidden Nicola Tesla energy harnessing device which actually created energy out of cosmic energy. So i would be lying if I said you couldn’t find away to make the source infinite. This would put a lot of businesses out of business and so you wouldn’t even be allowed to market such a product. You would get lobbied or killed basically. Therefore its impossible to stop the energy transformation happening in devices. Technology needs to become obsolete so companies can produce more. It’s an inherent bug in the system itself that causes the device to die created by the company themselves . If you marketed a fully functional product- you would go out of business.

Cosmic principles Law of Ma'at There is divine goodness in everything 2 law of Oneness Everything is related and interconnected. Nothing happens in one without influencing the other 3 law of karma Everything is correlated. Cause and effect. What goes around comes around. As you sow so you reap. Good leads to good. Bad leads to bad 4 Law of sheene A divine intelligence weaves everything together. Without this wisdom true goodness is not possible 5. Law of Primordial Everything came from a primordial origin. It was an idea at first. 6 law of Tao. There is sequence inherently present in things in the universe. A natural way or order. 7 law of Synchronicity The universe conspires to achieve and manifest the primordial 8 Law of Constitution and Attributes Whatever is within is reflected without 9 Law of Opposites and Balance Everything has an opposite. They balance each other. This is how ultimate balance is achieved. 10 Law of harmony Everything reshapes and designs to return to the original harmony or order. 11 Law of Yin and Yang There are masculine and feminine forces 12 Law of the Cup There is to be something for something to come about. Anything cannot be created out of nothing. 13 Law of Hoome Everything is governed by hoome 14 Law of Energy and Eternity. Energy is eternal 15 law of resonance Everything that is in resonance continues and that which is opposite self destructs. 16 law of attraction You attract whatever you create 17 law of the next What happens now affects the next 18 Law of action and rhythm.. Planned action. Action should be decided by conditions. An action without condition machine without fuel. Every action should the condition for which it is meant. Guided action 19 law of consequence Every consequence is the result of an action or condition.. 20. Law of fulfillment /law of truth Everything good or bad eventually fulfills its prescribed mission. The ultimate is achieved unless halted. Whatever is meant to happen will happen 21 law of transformation and healing. Everything can be transformed and accommodated and healed at any point. 22 law of Arrest and reversal. Everything bad needs to be arrested before it proceeds and replaced by everything good to be released. One process has to end and the other must begin for attaining balance. 23 law of randomness From randomness comes order. Randomness crystallizes into order. An idea forms out of rubble.

Taoism, Daoism (Chinese: 道教; pinyin: Dàojiāo) Chinese philosophy to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world: simplicity and selflessness in conformity with the Tao, leading a life of non-purposive action, a life expressing the essence of spontaneity.. Taoism, also known as Daoism, arose about the same time as Confucianism. Laoze (Chinese: 老子; pinyin: Lǎozǐ, also Laotzi, Laotse, Lao-Tse, Lao-tzu, Lao Zi or Lão Tu), is considered to have written a book of 81 chapters, named Tao Te Ching, also Daodejing (trad. Chinese: 道德經; simpl. Chinese: 道德经; pinyin: Dàodéjīng), a classical Chinese text, mainly concerning 道 tao/ dào "way," and 德 te/dé "virtue”, life, strength. Taoist thought focuses on genuineness, longevity, health, immortality, vitality, wu wei (non-action, a natural action, a perfect equilibrium with tao), detachment, refinement (emptiness), spontaneity, transformation and omni-potentiality. This religious and philosophical tradition of Taoism had its roots in the nature worship and divination of the earliest Chinese people. The word ‘Tao’ 道 (or Dao) translates into "path", ”method”, “principle” or "way", the character 教 translates into ‘”teach” or “class” and Taoist belief is based on the idea that there is central or organizing principle of the Universe, a natural order or a "way of heaven", Tao, that one can come to know by living in harmony with nature and hence with the cosmos and the Universe. The philosophy of Tao signifies the fundamental or true nature of the world, it is the essential, unnameable process of the universe. Tao both precedes and encompasses the universe. Nothing in the Universe is fixed, static or non moving; per se everything is transforming all the time. The flow of ‘chi’ energy, as the essential energy of action, existence and active principle forming part of any living things, is compared and believed to be the influence that keeps the universal order of Tao balanced. Analogies exist between all levels of existence: the Universe, the cosmos, Earth and mankind are structured analogically and are equal in detail, forming an interconnected whole. Through an understanding of natural laws, an individual can be one with the Tao by living in accordance with nature (cosmos/ Universe) and all its transformations and changes, adopting and assimilating to these, and hence can gain eternal life. With and due to the transformations and changes of the phenomena everything and every being spontaneously, by intuition and in impulse establishes its own ‘way’. From an ethical point of view it is considered correct not to interfere with the spontaneity or alter it by any means, expressed by ‘wu wei’ (chin. 無爲 / 无为, wúwéi or also in Chinese: 爲無爲 / 为无为, wéi wúwéi, non- action as in abstention of any action opposing nature). All things with their transformations and changes are considered to be self regulating, self expressing in their natural form. ‘Wu wei’ does not signify not acting at all, but rather not forcing things on their way. Wu wei signifies that the action should be immediately in accordance with the Tao, hence the necessary will be done without exaggeration, hyperbole or overeagerness as these are considered obstructive, though rather in an easy, facile, non disturbing way, leading to overall harmony and balance. It is a state of inner tranquillity, which will show the right effortless action at the right time. (i.e. the harmonious complexity of natural ecosystems- the tao- works well without man made changes- wu wei. Wu wei could be characterised by the adaptability of the flow of water in a stream. I.e. Water flows without awareness, or naturally, downriver (principle of tao). It might be blocked by an object (branch or stone), though without contriving to do so, finds it way around the object. Water acts without motive, it acts with wu wei. If one wants to travel on water, one will use a boat or ship, since it is suitable as she moves around adequately on water. If one wants to walk on land, a boat is not suitable to move around. One will only be annoyed and only have difficulties, not gaining anything but inflicting damage to oneself.) Taoism does not identify man's will as the root problem. Rather, it asserts that man must place his will in harmony with the natural universe. Taoist philosophy recognizes that the Universe already works harmoniously according to its own ways; if a person exerts his will against or upon the world he would disrupt the harmony that already exists, he would go ‘against the flow of life’. (i.e. the harmonious change of seasons of summer, autumn, winter, spring - the tao- works well, though through man made global warming, the harmony is disordered. Damming rivers might result in devastating flooding- unwanted by mankind, though produced by the same. On the other hand, the yearly flooding of the river Nile provides the soil with natural fertiliser. Damming the river would result in less fertilised soil, hence weaker crops, less harvest, less income, more hunger.) The return to tao, the return to the interconnected whole and unity, can only be accomplished if dualistic thoughts are abolished and acts are conducted naturally and spontaneously. Completeness in Taoism is thought of as empty, soft and spontaneous, and likewise should be the action: without the interference or intervention of a dualistic intellect, intuitive and adapting to a situation. The completeness or perfection of any act detects by intuition the best way to proceed, and it is considered absurd to put one’s energy into an unfruitful, unsuccessful act just in order to act at all and hence exhaust and diminish one’s energy. Any act should be in accordance with the surrounding, circumstances and means. In this manner, wu wei is ‘not interfering’ or ‘action through non acting’ and can be considered as creative passivity. Resulting from this attitude of ‘letting it happen’ results consequently as well the approach of non violence and lack of resistance. The wu wei is characterised by an activity undertaken to perceive the Tao within all things and to conform oneself to its "way." The practice and efficacy of wu wei are fundamental in Taoist thought. The goal of ‘wu wei’ is alignment with Tao, revealing the soft and invisible power within all things. When following the ‘wu wei’, the goal is called ‘pu’ (simplified Chinese: 朴; traditional Chinese: 樸; pinyin: pǔ, pú; lit. "uncut wood", translated as "uncarved block", "unsewn log", or "simplicity"), representing a passive state of receptiveness. It is believed to be the true nature of the mind, unburdened by knowledge or experiences. Pu is a symbol for a state of pure potential and perception without prejudice, without illusion. Pu describes an aimless action, because with a goal, one would develop anxiety about this goal. Pu describes the ‘just being’ without the aim of being. (i.e.: Playing an instrument just for playing, not thinking about the playing, since otherwise one will get in ones own way and interfere with one’s own playing.) The ‘te’ (Chinese: 德; pinyin: dé, "power; virtue", ‘”heart”, "inherent character, personal character; inner power inner strength; integrity") is the manifestation of the Tao within all things, the active expression, the active living, or cultivation, of the "way" Tao, the implementation and manifestation of the Tao through undesigned actions. The Tao implements and manifests itself through undesigned actions. If Tao is honoured and if ‘te’ is considered precious, than there is no need for any regulations: all is working durable by itself. Therefore, allow Tao to create, generate, nourish, proliferate, accomplish, ripen, mature, foster and protect; produce without owning, affect without keeping, increase without domineering: that is secret Tao. Thus, to possess the fullness of te means to be in perfect harmony with one's original nature. All things in the Universe, including mankind, are a microsomes of the Universe, to which all natural laws such as The Five Elements Theory, Feng Shui, the concept of the bagua and especially the the yin - yang philosophy, being an important concept of taoism since yin and yang emerge from the tao- apply. ‘The way of life’, rituals, certain foods (Five Elements), meditation, visualisation, imagination, mystical worlds, qigong, t'ai-chi-ch'uan, certain techniques of breathing, sexual practices (spiritual and cosmic pursuit, maintaining health, enhance one’s lifespan) and substances and medicine effect the believers physical and mental health, as well as the knowledge of nature with its natural herbs, traditional chinese medicine and knowledge of alchemy does. By understanding himself, man may gain knowledge of the universe, and vice versa. In Laotzi’s definition, tao is considered to be the pervasive principle of all things in the universe, being the highest reality and the highest mystery, the primordial originality and unity, a cosmical law and an absolute. From the tao diverted the ‘ten thousand things’, namely the cosmos, as well as the order of thing, similar to a law of nature. But tao itself is not an omnipotent being, but the genesis, the source and the alliance, the conjunction of opposites and as such not definable. Tao is ‘the nameless', because neither it nor its principles can ever be adequately expressed in words. From a philosophical point of view tao can be seen apart and beyond from all defining abstract concepts, because it is the reason for and the reason of being, the transcendental origin and transcendental philosophy and as such incorporates all, including the antipode of being and non being. Based on that, nothing can be said referring the tao, because every single definition would impose a restriction. But tao is both, unlimited transcendency as well as the immanent principle of the cosmos and the universe. The effects of tao create the genesis by generating duality, yin and yang, light and shadow, since every action creates a counter-action as a natural, unavoidable movement within manifestations of the Tao. From the metamorphosis, movement, motion, flow, interaction and interplay of the duality emerges and arises the world. The ‘Three Jewels of Tao’ (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo) refer to the three virtues of taoism: 1) compassion, kindness, love (Chinese: 慈; pinyin: cí; literally "compassion, tenderness, love, mercy, kindness, gentleness and implies the term ‘mother’, ‘mother’s/ parental love’) 2) moderation, simplicity, frugality (Chinese: 儉; pinyin: jiǎn; literally "frugality, moderation, economy, restraint, be sparing") When applied to the moral life it stands for the simplicity of desire. 3 ) humility, modesty The third treasure is a six-character phrase instead of a single word: Chinese 不敢為天下先, Bugan wei tianxia xian, "not dare to be first/ahead in the world", referring to the taoist way to avoid premature death. Taoist Deities Taoist deities include nature spirits, ancient legendary heroes, humanized planets and stars, Hsien (humans who became immortal and achieved divinity through Taoist practices and teachings, see: 8 Immortals), ancestor spirits (see: Ancestor Worship in Taoism, Joss paper) and animals such as dragons (see: dragon dance), tigers, phoenixes, snakes (see: Animal symbolism) and lions (see: lion dance). All human activities—even such things as drunkenness and robbery—are represented by deities as well. Heaven, the pantheon (of which the Chinese taoist culture has over 30) mirrored the political system of China at that time with all of its civil servants, bureaucrats, having an army, a royal family, parasitical courtiers, higher or lower ranking deities, who could be promoted or demoted according to their actions (see: 8 Immortals, Chang’e, Guan Yu (revered as Saintly Emperor Guan), Guan Yin, Jade Emperor, Kitchen God, Tsai Shen Yeh). Reflecting the order of the Chinese political system, each single department of the pantheon is overseen by a particular deity, spirit or god. The highest Taoist deity, Yù Huáng -ti (see: Jade Emperor), is associated with the ancient Chinese god Shang Di, ruler over all Heaven, Earth and the Underworld/ Hell. The Jade Emperor, also referred to as Yù Huáng -ti, adjudicates and metes out rewards and remedies to actions of saints, the living, and the deceased according to a merit system loosely called the Jade Principles Golden Script. The seven brightest stars of the constellation are Ursa Major, the Great Bear, also called the Big Dipper. In Eastern Asia, these stars compose the Northern Dipper. They are colloquially named "The Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper" (Chinese: 北斗七星; pinyin: běidǒu qīxīng). Taoist believe that this star constellation is the seat of the celestial bureaucracy of the gods. Sometimes there are said to be nine stars - two invisible "attendant" stars, one on either side of the star Alkaid. In contrast to the Confucian program of social reform through moral principle, ritual, and government regulation, the true way of restoration for the Taoists consisted in the banishment of learned sageliness and the discarding of wisdom. "Manifest the simple," urged Lao-tzu, "embrace the primitive, reduce selfishness, have few desires." As the Tao operates impartially in the universe, so should mankind disavow assertive, purposive action. The Taoist life is not, however, a life of total inactivity. It is rather a life of nonpurposive action (wu-wei). Stated positively, it is a life expressing the essence of spontaneity (tzu-jan, "self-so"). See also:

@Charlotte you asked good questions. A person can't just take these things on blind faith. One day, when I saw myself not having any embodiment or an external environment, and then everything came together, and then there was this massive transformation into embodiment, guess what, I only believed it was all just a dream. I passed it off as a dream when I woke up. It took a few very profound ah-ha moments to convince me that these things relate to life itself. Someone else cannot come and tell me to do this and do that, try this method and that method for it to happen or convince me. Like I said in my other posts, I'll explain it in my life purpose, how I came to know--my process. A person can't just say it, and the next person believes in it.

Yea I asked a question on this forum a while ago and this video gave me the answer when I found it. Good perspective on how to use psychs in a not necessarily clinical setting for personal transformation and also not for spirituality necessarily either.

Problem of Evil in Taoism Article 3, Volume 5, Issue 10, Summer and Autumn 2016, Page 35-47 PDF (442.89 K) Document Type: Research Paper Authors Qorban Elmi ; Mojtaba Zarvani Associate Professor of Religions and Mysticism, University of Tehran, Iran Abstract This paper attempts to present the Taoist understanding of evil. In the Taoist tradition, especially in Tao Te Ching, evil is divided into two categories: causal evil and consequential evil. Causal evils are those evils that are said to be the causes of other evils; consequential evils are those that are said to be the consequences of the causal evils. Causal evils originate from human will, and cause suffering. This means that evil is not equal to suffering. Lao Tzu does not clearly talk about natural suffering. He regards all evil and suffering as resulting from human actions that are not in accordance with Tao, which is the source of all life. Therefore, the way to overcome evil is to follow Tao, to actualize wu-wei in life. Keywords The Problem of Evil; Taoism; Lao Tzu; Causal Evil; Consequent Evil Full Text Introduction The problem of evil is an old problem that has baffled man since antiquity. The core of the problem is that the existence of evil seems to contradict the belief in the existence of God with His attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and absolute goodness. Thus, although every worldview has to explain the existence of evil, it is an especially acute problem for theism, because—unlike atheism that affirms the reality of evil but denies the reality of God, and unlike Pantheism that affirms the reality of God but denies the reality of evil—theism affirms the reality of both God and evil. Religious traditions are important sources for thinking about evil. Among them we can mention Taoism. Taoism is a spiritual, philosophical, and religious tradition of Chinese origin that provides special insights the problem of evil. In this paper, we will attempt to review these insights and present a fuller picture of the Taoist understanding of evil. Taoism First, we must have a brief overview of Taoism and the its developmental. Taoism has different meanings for different minds. “It is undoubtedly the most incompletely known and most poorly understood philosophy” (Kirkland, Barret, and Kohn 2000, xi). The confusion, I think, comes from mistranslation of the word “Tao.” Tao is the main theme of Taoism, but since Northeastern Asians have used it in many different cultural contexts, the word has been used differently in everyday life. Therefore, given that there are no clear boundaries in the different practices of Taoism, according to Creel, “the more one studies Taoism, the clearer it becomes that this term does not denote a school, but a whole congeries of doctrines” (1970, 1). Taoism, which emerged in the 6th century B.C., is one of the two great native Chinese religio-philosophical systems and a major influence in the development of Chinese culture. The goal of Taoism as a philosophy and religious tradition, as expressed in the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu, the Chuang Tzu, and the Lieh Tzu is a profound, joyful, mystical, and practical harmony with the universe. Taoism is regarded as “the philosophy of ‘Lao and Chuang’” (Lin 1976, 7). As Needham, one of the Taoist scholars says, “the Taoists were deeply interested in Nature but mistrusted reason and logic” (1956, 163). Taoism is, in general, is a system of thought or philosophy or a form of wisdom to help one learn the way and practice it. According to Blofeld, “Taoism is an ancient method of human development and also a living manifestation of an antique way of life almost vanished from the world” (1978, v). As a religion, Taoism emphasizes the alchemical relations between macrocosm and microcosm, seeking a formula for immortality by breath control, diet, exercises, sexual continence, or chemical elixirs. The word Taoism, pronounced like Daoism, comes from a Chinese character Tao, which means the way. The way is usually further defined as the way of the ultimate reality, the way of the universe, the way of human life, and the way of nature. The main idea of Taoism is to live naturally with the flow of life. Living naturally comes about through observing the nature to learn the wisdom of life. The wisdom of life includes not forcing or controlling life, but simply being there. One of the characteristics of Taoism is Wu wi. Wu wi is the principle that the natural human mind is non-conceptual and not human-oriented. Wu wi looks through and beyond the human realm and our conditioned existence to see and hear the nature’s point of view. Blofeld’s view of a dedicated Taoist isone who seeks to live as closely as possible in accord with the nature. From the outset, this involves contemplating the nature’s ways, recognizing their fitness, and the perception that all of them are good in the sense of being essential to the pattern as a whole (1978, 6). In the world, Taoism is known through the books Tao Te Ching and Chuang-Tzu. The authorship and the year these books were published is still debatable, but the Tao Te Ching of Lao-Tzu is typically dated around the 4th century B.C., whereas Chang-Tzu is thought to have been written in the third century B.C. These two books are collections of Taoist writings and stories, though Taoism was practiced long before these books were written. The Tao is the source of all things. It is the fundamental truth of the universe, and as such, it is a non-conceptual and inexpressible experience. It is important to realize that if you conceptualize and think about the Tao, you only move farther away from what it actually is. The Tao is realized by being it. These expressions are esoteric and leave us wondering. As Lao Tzu comments in Tao Te Ching (1980,ch. 40), “Ten thousand things under heaven are born of being (yu). Being is born of non-being (wu).” For Lao Tzu, non-being is the ontological basis of being, and non-action is the ethical basis of action. Non-being in Taoism is not a negation of being, but rather the possibility of being. As the ground of being, non-being has the returning movement. Here, returning or reversal movement is identified with the unity of all beings in Tao. Metaphysically, in Taoism, non-being, as the ground, is the ontological expression of wu-wei. Thus, the undifferentiated or unlimited non-being is called the supreme good in Taoist metaphysics. Also wu-wei, as Tao’saction, has the spontaneity. From this understanding of wu-wei, one knows that there are two outstanding attributes of the Tao—that is, the source of being or life and the principle of spontaneity (tzu-jan). Wu-wei is the Tao’sway of returning or unity. In itsmovement, the Tao has procreated all beings through its creative process. Every growth and multiplicity comes from its creativity. But the completion of the Tao’s procreation is done in the Tao’s returning movement, receptivity. Wu-wei is a negative way or a passive way. But by taking a negative nay (wu-wei), the Tao comes to have the positive action, “spontaneity.” Just as the reality has two elements: yin and yang, the Tao’smovement has two directions: creativity and receptivity. Lao Tzu saw the evolutionary process of creation in the Tao’s creative process, and its completion in the Tao’sreceptive process. Meaning of Evil As a definition that can help us identify the evils discussed in the Tao Te Ching, we can say that evils are those things, events, or actions that are either condemned by Lao Tzu, or have to be avoided according to him. This is based on the assumption that only evils are to be condemned or avoided. It does not mean, however, that, in Lao Tzu's view, things are evil simply because they are to be condemned or avoided (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 301). For Lao Tzu, good means any action that is not caused by the artificial actions of the human beings. Non-artificial actions are spontaneous actions (wu-wei). On the contrary, “evil” means any action that is caused by the purposeful action of the human being. Willful or purposeful actions are unspontaneous actions (yu-wei). What is the origin of evil? How and why does evil occur? What is the Taoist concept of evil? Lao Tzu does not articulate his answers to these questions clearly or directly, but his metaphysics of the Taoprovides the theoretical ground with which to deal with those questions. Origin of Evil Where does evil come from? Cosmological1y or cosmogonical1y, evil comes from the process of differentiation or separation. As examined in part I, the Tao has the bipolarity in its metaphysical structure: yin and yang. In Tao Te Ching (1988, ch. 42), Lao Tzu says, Taogives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to ten thousand beings. Ten thousand beings carry yin on their backs and embrace yang in their front. Blending these two vital breaths (ch’ i) to attain harmony. Here, yin and yang represent two directions or two movements of the Tao: creativity and receptivity. All things come from the blending of these two movements. In the process of differentiation or procreation, the harmonious blending is called good, and the disharmonious is called evil. Here, good and evil are relative, just as yin and yang arerelative. Just as yin and yang are inevitable constituents of the reality, good and evil are also inevitable on the cosmological level. The cosmological view is an aesthetic view. Thus, good and evil, in a cosmological sense, are neutral in value judgment. In the Taoist metaphysics, yin and yang are relative, reliable, dependable, and complementary to each other. Thus, good and evil are relative, reliable, dependable, and complementary to each other and to the Taoas a whole. In this aesthetic view, which is neutral in value, it is difficult to say that Lao Tzu was concerned with the natural evils. In the same manner, whether there are natural sufferings in Lao Tzu’s thought is not an easy question to answer, partly because he does not explicitly and directly deal with this question. Two Kinds of Evil There are two kinds of evil. Evils that are caused by free human acts (moral evil) and those that are part of the nature (natural or physical evil). Man-Made Evil or Moral Evil Lao Tzu recognizes two kinds of man-made evils. The first kind is that which causes human sufferings in the world (causal evils). They supposedly originate in the use of the human will. The second kind of evil is the human sufferings caused by the first kind (consequential evils). It will be shown that Lao Tzu's philosophy of Tao is deeply concerned with eliminating these evils from the world. The relationship between a causal evil and its consequential evil(s) can be a complex one, but Lao Tzu generally sees a simple and clear causal connection between them. I shall argue that all the causal evils that concern Lao Tzu originate in the use of the human will and that all the consequential evils are said to be sufferings of some kind. This means that not all evils are sufferings, because there are evils that are not sufferings in themselves but are the causes of sufferings (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 302). Moreover, unlike causal evils, sufferings are not to be condemned or denounced. Lao Tzu may have taught that we should forgive people for their causal evils or to treat them in the all-embracing spirit of the Tao, but there is no doubt that causal evils are more evil than consequential evils (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 302). As stated before, the causal evils supposedly originate in the use of the human will. On the assumption that all things produced by Tao are good, there is no good reason to say that the human will itself, presumably produced by Tao, is evil. But it is possible to say that the use of the will is the source of causal evils. Whether the distinction between the will itself and its use can be properly made will be left unanswered here. The important question we must ask is whether every use of the will is evil. This is not an easy question to answer. Generally speaking, we can say that the use of the will is evil if and only if it is used against one's true nature, the other people, or the natural world. In Lao Tzu’s language, the use of the will is evil if and only if it is used against the nature of the Tao and its operations in the universe.[1]We may call this use of the will the assertive use of the will. On the other hand, the use of the will is not evil if and only if it is used to resist asserting something in the way described above, or, more positively, if it is used to follow the Tao and its operations in the universe. We may call this the non-assertive use of the will (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 302). Natural Sufferings Whether there are natural sufferings in Lao Tzu's thought is not an easy question to answer, but it seems that In Lao Tzu's view, there are no natural sufferings. In other words, there cannot be any physical or mental pains in the universe where the assertive will is not operative. It means that all the sufferings in the world are supposedly man-made (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 307). Lao Tzu repeatedly says that if we would only give up our assertive will, the cause of man-made sufferings, there would be no dangers, disasters, and so forth. It is likely that the dangers or disasters referred to are limited only to man-made sufferings. Moreover, he maintains that if we follow Tao, “all things will take their proper places spontaneously” (Tao Te Ching 1963, ch. 32), and they will “transform themselves of their own accord” (ch. 37). “Heaven and earth will unite to drip sweet dew, and the dew will drip evenly of its own accord without the command of man” (ch. 32). This is because Tao is the source and principle of purity, tranquility, spiritual power, life, and peace in the world (ch. 39). In examining the Tao Te Ching, we cannot identify any suffering that is not explained as man-made. The fact that he does not deal with natural sufferings is evidently not because he is not concerned with them, but because no such thing can exist in his world-conception. Chuang Tzu, however, differs from him on this point. Chuang Tzu, the other major Taoist philosopher, definitely recognizes the existence of natural sufferings, which he explains as the effects of the wonderful transformation of all things in Tao (ch. 6). He advises people that the pains should be accepted as they are, and should not be regarded as evil (See Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 306-7). Explanation of the Existence of Evil in the Universe An important issue in Western discussions of philosophy of religion is the problem of explaining the existence of evils in a universe supposedly created by an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing God (Hick 1963, 40-47). A similar question can be raised with regard to Lao Tzu's philosophy. If the universe is spontaneously produced from Tao, the summum bonum, how can there be evil in the world? On the basis of our discussion so far, we can formulate the following form of argument to express Lao Tzu's position: 1. The Tao is the summum bonum. 2. The Tao is the ultimate source of all things and events. 3. All things and events are good if they are not the results of some interference with the spontaneous evolution of the Tao. 4. The assertive use of the human will is an interference with the spontaneous evolution of the Tao. Therefore, every thing or event that is caused by the assertive use of the will is evil. Premise 4 can be revised to say that only the assertive use of the will is an interference with the spontaneous evolution of the Tao. In that case, all evils are either some assertive uses of the will or their consequences. Our discussion points to this stronger position. Premises 1, 2, and 3 are the basic beliefs or assumptions of Lao Tzu's philosophy, which we shall not question here. The problem is whether premise 4 is consistent with them. It seems reasonable to say that the will itself is good, because it is clearly not a product of the assertive use of the will. Here we come to two important questions. The first is why man, who is supposedly good by nature, uses the will to assert something against the Tao. Would it not be possible to always use the will in accordance with the Tao? The second question is whether the will is “free” to interfere with the Tao's evolution. With regard to the first question, no ready answer can be found in the Tao Te Ching. The question probably had not occurred to Lao Tzu. We can safely rule out any Satan figure responsible for causing man to assert something against the Tao. The answer can probably be found in Lao Tzu's idea of the Tao’s decline. Even though the will itself is good insofar as it is produced by the Tao, it is probably a product at the Tao’s decline, thus not an ideal product. It may have the inherent tendency to deviate from the Tao. The idea of the decline of the Tao is found in Tao Te Ching (1963, ch. 38), just quoted, where it is said that when the Tao is lost, te appears. The appearance of te is apparently not caused by something other than the Tao itself. A similar idea appears where Lao Tzu says, “When the great Tao declines, there appear jen and i.”(Tao Te Ching 1963, ch. 18). Though the appearance of jen and i can be explained as the result of the assertive use of the will, the idea that the Tao declines cannot be ignored. This seems to mean that the Tao, though believed to be inexhaustible in its power, is limited in power after all. This is undoubtedly a critical issue in Lao Tzu's philosophy. It may be argued that if te represents a fall from the Tao, the natural world, which is te, cannot be as perfect as the Tao itself. This is true, but we have argued that even though it is, in a sense, a fall from the Tao, the natural world is so full of the power of the Tao that Lao Tzu cannot see any suffering in it. All evils, according to our interpretation, come from our assertive use of the will. The second question, whether the will is free to interfere with the Tao's evolution, is in a way related to the first question. When the Tao is full of power, it is almost impossible for the will to interfere with its operations. “If one tries to hew wood for the master carpenter, how can one avoid hurting one's own hands?” (Tao Te Ching 1963, ch. 74). But when the Tao is in decline, the will will be in a better position to do so. There is, however, another reason why, in Lao Tzu's philosophy, the will is in principle free to interfere with the Tao. In his conception of the universe, there are no external or eternal “laws” of nature, to which all things must conform. The principles of change are internal laws that are supposed to emerge spontaneously when the relevant conditions exist. Some kind of causality certainly exists in Lao Tzu's thought, but it is something akin to the Humean, not the Newtonian, conception of causality (Sung-Peng Hsu 1976, 313-14). It is important to note that Lao Tzu has no doubt that the will is free to interfere with the Tao. He is afraid, however, that the use of the will causes suffering in the world and turn the spontaneous universe into a mechanistic one bound by laws and virtues. Overcoming Evil The way of wu-wei, as the action of the Tao, suggests how one can confront the problem of evil and suffering in this present human life. The way of overcoming evil is to read “evil” backwards. In other words, the way of overcoming evil is a way of living. In a Taoist theology, the Tao is the source of all life. As the origin of life, the Tao originates, nurtures, and fulfills life in the world. Therefore, In Taoism, the way of overcoming evil is to follow the Tao, to actualize wu-wei in human life. To follow the Tao’s will is the way to live everlastingly. Then, what is the task of human beings in the midst of evil and suffering? In the Taoist tradition, human beings are the mediators between Heaven and the earth. The function of a mediator is to embrace others and live with them through self-emptying and self-sacrificing, which is the vision of wu-wei. The task of a mediator is to actualize wu-wei; that is, to recognize the interconnectedness, interrelatedness, and interdependence with the others and with the Tao or God. Thus, the vision of the Taoist theology opens its eyes not only to human cultural world and God, but also to the ecological world. In sum, the way of overcoming evil in the Taoist theology is to engage with wu-wei. Wu-wei has the ontological basis to embrace being in non-being, as well as the ethical practicality to do something in non-doing. In the metaphysics of the Tao, wu-wei is the ultimate ground to embrace being. Likewise, wu-wei as non-action ethically embraces action. Wu-wei in the narrow path represents the yin of the Tao, and yet it embraces yang in itself as a whole. This receptive characteristic of the Tao provides humankind the vision to resolve the evil in this present world. Finally, since any aspect of the world is a manifestation of the Tao, corresponding to a different participation of the Yin and Yang principles, nothing can be considered to be essentially evil in the world. Even if Yin is termed as a negative principle, it never manifests itself alone. In the Tao Te Ching, it is stated: When beauty is abstracted, then ugliness has been implied; when good is abstracted, then evil has been implied. (Tao Te Ching 1988, ch. 2) Every positive factor involves its negative or opposing counterpart. What is usually called evil, as physical and mental manifestation, is the result of a lack of balance between the two opposing principles and corresponds to a bigger participation of the Yin principle. Evil belongs to the nature of the world, so humans have to subscribe to the universal harmony and respect the equilibrium of the two polarities. The Tao is eternal and so are the two principles Yang and Yin. Therefore, good and evil must be eternal as necessary elements of our world. Conclusion Lao Tzu regards all evil and suffering as resulting from human actions and from getting out of the natural way. From this perspective, evil refers to any action that is not in accordance with the Tao. The way to overcome evil is to accept it as part of the reality and follow the Tao—to actualize wu-wei in human life. The Taoist metaphysics does not leave the solution for the problem of evil to the future or to the other world, but rather embraces it in this life. In the Taoist metaphysics, evil and good are two parts of the reality, as one sees it in the Yin-Yang relation. The bipolarity of the Tao, thus, provides not only the theoretical basis but also the ethical practicality to deal with the problem of evil. References Blofeld, John. 1978. Taoism: The Road to Immortality. Boston: Shambhala ChuangTzu. 1968. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. Translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press. Creel, Herrlee Glessner. 1970. What is Taoism? And other studies in Chinese cultural history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hick, John. 1963. Philosophy of Religion. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. ———. 1978. Evil and the God of Love. New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers. Tao Te Ching. 1963. Translated by Wing-tsit Chan. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill. ———. Translated by Stephen Mitchell. New York Harper & Row Publishers. Lin, Yutang, ed. and trans. 1976. The Wisdom of Laotse. New York: The Modern Library. MacGregoi, Geddes. 1973. Philosophical Issues in Religious Thought. Boston: Houghton Milllin. Mackie, J. L. 1973. “Evil and Omnipotence.” In Philosophy of Religion, edited by W. Rowe and W. Wainwright. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Needham, Joseph. 1956. Science and Civilization in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pojman, L., 1991. Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Kirkland, Russel, Timothy Barrett, and Livia Kohn. 2000. “Introduction.” In Daoism Yu-Lan, Fung. 1952. A Hisrory of Chinese Philosophy. Translated by Deck Bodde. Princeton. N.J.: Princeton University Press

Traditional breatharianism might be useful as a method for catalyzing a transformation of the ego. Some claims breatharians have made are that they feel good and with lots of energy without food and even without water, and also that they can eat food sometimes in social situations or for pleasure. And judging by what alternative researchers such as Nassim Haramein and Dr. Jubb have said, those claims are actually valid! Food and water are huge survival issues for the ego. Being able to transcend the need for food and water surely will transform the subconscious a lot. Another claim I have heard is that food is a strong addiction. The trick for me then is how to move from food addiction to breatharianism without causing a lot of extra suffering in the beginning. I think I will try a method of gradually reducing food and water intake instead of jumping straight into dry fasting which is quite extreme and leads to suffering in my experience.

In order to create any real change towards say a more fulfilling life or create any sort of significant change or transformation there has to be a submission to what’s required. What may be required though may not be something you necessarily want to do. If you or I wish to invent something that’s effective tit cannot be ineffective. With that said, if we’re clear on our own top values, wouldn’t it be safe to say that our top values are also our own top principles we can submit to to help facilitate a real change? For example: Let’s say I realize that my top value is Truth. So I’m really passionate about seeking what is actually true about anything, I’m curious about life and all that cool stuff. However... I have a pattern of low integrity, laziness, lying, etc. Couldn’t my top value in this case not only help me to give me a pointer of not only what I want to pursue but how I can live my life? So if my top value is truth, being in integrity with such a principle would probably involve speaking the truth, telling myself the truth, putting my ass on the line and actually doing what it may take for me, whatever that is, to realize what’s for myself what’s true in my own personal investigation, etc.?

Wow. These are great insights. From what you've written, it definitely seems like you've experienced serious insights similar to mine. Great work! Now continue deepening them with samadhi development. And I think Culadasa will be a great mentor for you. And you are right. I'll definitely be planning some serious retreat time in the near future. Also I know how Shinzen accessed full-on permanent stream entry in his 4th year of practice. Considering that most of us (including myself) are householders, we might limit ourselves and say: ' Well, if it took Shinzen 4 years, then who am I to make it in less than that time frame? I'm nowhere near meditating as much as or as intensely as monastics.' This path is unpredictable and we should be open to anything. There are examples from non-meditators like Eckhart Tolle all of a sudden going from depression to enlightenment. And on the other hand, meditators who have their stream entry in their 30th year of meditation. Any period of time is a potential for deep transformation. I'm very much open for anything and I think every meditator should shift their mindset to 'Enlightenment is doable and It can happen at any moment as long as I do the practices. I just need to systematically train my nervous system and be open to whatever occurs.' I think after the development of stable and sustained concentration, every meditator must SERIOUSLY set their intentions on awakening