Zigzag Idiot and the ladder of Objective Reason

[Karla]

On 12/21/2018 at 6:59 AM, Zigzag Idiot said:

Slipping past the collective ego as a universal heretic

 

 

We Have to Risk the Aloneness and the Terror of Being Totally on Our Own

To have a free mind is to be a universal heretic. You don’t believe in the ultimate reality of any concept. You can assume any belief you find useful and attractive, but you don’t need to hold on to any of it. Without being captured by your beliefs, you are strong enough and confident enough to throw away any and all beliefs and perspectives, each and every philosophy and story. You can stand totally alone, completely independent of all that comes through the mind, through time and space. This station of realization is difficult and rare. Most of us don’t have the nerve to lose our minds. Although terrifying, it is necessary for true freedom. We have to risk that we may be wrong. We have to risk the aloneness and the terror of being totally on our own. We have to risk cutting all of our supports, burning all of our bridges, destroying all of our boats. They are all ultimately and fundamentally concepts that come from hearsay or, at best, from our own past experiences. Even the concepts and knowledge that have come from our own immediate experiences cannot be relied on. That knowledge is like Buddha’s words—old, unless corroborated in this moment. Maybe a week ago you had an experience of realization, but how do you know that will be the same today? Who said that God won’t change or that self-realization should continue being the same today? In other words, we cannot hold on to any concept past our direct experience of it; otherwise, what we’re doing is believing a story. Whether someone else’s or our own, a story is a story, not true reality here and now. To be truly independent and autonomous, we need to be free from the concepts acquired from others as well as our own past experiences.

Diamond Heart Book Five, pg. 63

Love! I am feelin' this exactly for meee.

[Zigzag Idiot]

16 hours ago, Karla said:

Love! I am feelin' this exactly for meee.

???

Ted led a Fourth Way group a while back and he addresses them directly in this video. Knowing this in advance may prevent a little confusion. He expresses some things in just 3 or 4 minutes that are really powerful. 

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

On 12/16/2018 at 0:33 AM, Zigzag Idiot said:

My being attracts my life.

Maurice Nicoll said it and I continue to observe it. He also said:

The essence of the idea of Karma-Yoga is to meet with unpleasant things equally with pleasant things. That is, in practicing Karma-Yoga, one does not seek always to avoid unpleasant things, as people ordinarily do. Life is to be met with non-identifying. When this is possible, life becomes one's teacher; in no other sense can life become a teacher, for life taken as itself is meaningless, but taken as an exercise it becomes a teacher. It is not life that is a teacher, but one's relation through non-identifying makes it become a teacher. Nothing can change being so much as this practice - namely, to take the unpleasant things in life as an exercise. (Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, Vol. 1)

This is worth watching just for the guy answering  his phone @ 1:42 while working on a Statue.

 

 

 

 

 

My path has and still involves re-reading books and rewatching videos. It seems that most knowledge has layers and levels of depth plus I forget so much,,,,

This was one of the first Youtubes I posted to my Journal. I've probably watched it 10 times in the last 6 months.

Being solidly in three centered awareness, is key. There is often a disconnect between this state and ordinary neurotic 'narrative' consciousness. Specifically, in those who experience of periodic heavy depression very little of this higher awareness or energy or Self-Remembering can reach someone in who, to use Echart Tolle's phrase, the painbody is active. I've noticed that Jana Dixon and a few others have actively incorporated the word 'painbody' into their Self Inquiry vocabulary. I think it is a very helpful synonym for irritated or distressed ego. It's a more comfortable word if you're in the shit and trying to study your way out. It sounds more forgiving. Sounds less judgmental. Also that there is a wide variation of pain bodies is a helpful notion. Or, it was/is for me. I thought about starting a forum topic on "painbody".

Im watching an older Charles Tart DVD. He is calling certain kinds of Mathematics - a state specific science.

Buddhism he his calling - a state specific technology. This makes even more sense having just watched Ted's video about self observation.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Zigzag Idiot

[Zigzag Idiot]

Watching the new one,,,

 

The Voice of Happiness 

After Bankei had passed away, a blind man who lived near the master's temple told a friend; Since I am blind, I cannot watch a person's face, so I must judge his character by the sound of his voice. Ordinarily when I hear someone congradulate another upon his happiness or success, I also hear a secret tone of envy. When condolence is expressed for the misfortune of another, I hear pleasure and satisfaction, as if the one condoling was really glad there was something left to gain in his own world.

"In all my experience, however, Bankei's voice was always sincere. Whenever he expressed happiness, I heard nothing but happiness, and whenever he expressed sorrow, sorrow was all I heard."

 

This story and one the other day about Ryokan and the thief are from this book. About 15 years ago after reading it twice, I started tearing out the pages of the Zen stories I didn't like and just left the ones  I did and a few I couldn't decide on. One day I'll probably buy the book again and see if it reveals any change in my impulsive decision. I probably was a bit of a Zen devil at the time. 

 

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Traumatic life experiences, if we use the energy in them, can result in becoming more impartial. The more impartial we are, the freer we are inside of other people. Giving Zero fucks. Also not being cynical in attitude about giving zero fucks is necessary. So it's also not giving a fuck about not giving a fuck. Only when I became free of other people did I start to really enjoy people and even appreciate them more. When I care about what people think about me, that's the beginning of inner considering. And the beginning of becoming in subtle conflict with oneself.  Most of us don't cross this threshold of giving zero fucks, one time and all at once, permanently. We go back and forth for years and then one day we find that we're more 'there' than not. We're not concerned if the personality contradicts itself because we're not identified with the personality.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Zigzag Idiot

[Zigzag Idiot]

The need for exercising the capacity for divided attention,,,, Witness Consciousness,,,,, being the watcher.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Leo mentioned synchronicity near the end of his last video. A lot of people overlook the fact that Carl Jung coined the phrase "synchronicity" in large part due to being introduced to the ICHING and its influence on him. A friend of his, Richard Wilhelm is really the one responsible for introducing the ICHING to the west with his translation of it into German. Jung actually wrote the forward to this edition which is still considered by most to be the best translated version of the ICHING to date. 

I think the world will eventually discover Carol Anthony and Hanna Moog's recent translation and upgrade of the ICHING in their new edition - The Oracle Of The Cosmic Way, and they will eventually get their due. Just my opinion though.

In part Jung articulated that it was constrained chance which allowed synchronicity and the "mechanics" of the ICHING to work as it did. 

This morning I got hexagram 54, lines 2 and 6 changing to a second hexagram of 51. A tiny fraction from hexagram 54 line 6 this morning: "The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it. The man stabs the goat, but no blood flows. Nothing that acts to further." 

Sooo, what the hell does that mean? ? Its symptomatic of the usual cryptic metaphors handed down from the original translation. Here is a part of Carol's interpretation: "This line can have many possible meanings, all of which circle around the principle that doing something for appearance's sake leads to results that are empty of their promises."

You can see the practicality of this in that it addresses my underlying attitude about the here and now.

This is a very practical book if one is sincere. Something also pointed out by Jung in the forward of the Wilhelm/Baynes edition. 

Not related to this mornings reading but another except I would like to share concerning unconditional love from The Oracle Of The Cosmic Way:

"The idea of both conditional and unconditional love comes from the collective ego, and reveals its thinking in terms of opposites. Giving love on conditions is the ego's way of withholding love until it gets what it wants. True love is a Cosmic gift to a person's true self, and is meant to flow from there to other's true selves, and back to the Cosmos, in a complete circle. This Cosmic gift is never meant to be thrown away at the ego because the ego is outside the Cosmic principles. The collective ego has invented the idea of unconditional love to rob the True self of its very life force, under the pretense that it is "spiritual" to extend one's love to everyone, regardless of the ego's presence."

This is an amazing book. It's more than just a book,,, I've just scratched the surface in understanding all the different facets of it.

[Gog]

4 minutes ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

 A friend of his, Richard Wilhelm is really the one responsible for introducing the ICHING to the west with his translation of it into German. Jung actually wrote the forward to this edition which is still considered by most to be the best translated version of the ICHING to date.  

I am not a fan of Wilhelm's translation, for English translations I tend to go to the rather eclectic selections of the Orientalist (sic) scholar Thomas Cleary, as well as original English commentary by authentic Taoist masters. I have yet to try and read any text of the oracle in traditional characters. FYI as I understand it the German philosopher Leibniz is often said to be the first European to study the Yi Jing, way before Wilhelm and Jung, and it is from his study that the European concept of binary was developed. Leibniz was a diplomat as well as a philosopher and mathematician, also designing machines for movement and computation. I do not know if he actually translated the oracle or simply observed the combinations of yin and yang, at any rate, I'm sure there were others before him who were aware of its existence. Quite why it is called the ICHING is beyond me, perhaps it simply means 10. Thank you.

[Zigzag Idiot]

@Gog My horseshoes and hand grenade style of paraphrasing and generalizing.

"Book of Changes" comes from somewhere,,,? I also understand Confucius had a part in adding to the text way back when. This is one of my sources for others who want to dig a little. http://www.ichingwisdom.com/i-ching/richard-wilhelm/

Thanks for the finer distinctions.

[Gog]

11 hours ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

@Gog My horseshoes and hand grenade style of paraphrasing and generalizing.

"Book of Changes" comes from somewhere,,,? 

The Sun and the Moon possibly.

Being "Greek" I tend to think of Asia as starting East of the Bosphorus though most of my relatives think of such a notion as being far too antiquated.

Whether that makes Europe Western or Centric...

My apologies.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Synchronicities and Oh, I-remember-now experiences. 

There was a phrase/idea that I heard from an evangelical preacher 20-25 years ago that came to me a couple of days ago. It really describes ego backlash in a weird way.  The preacher was making note on how newly 'born again' Christians would give themselves totally over to God but it usually wasn't too long before they started trying to take some back.

I saw this in myself as a 'new agey' type when I started really getting into spirituality with Eckart Tolle and flirting with Zen Buddhism. I had a spiritual ego that would collapse whenever life overwhelmed me and I became negative. It was only hindsight which showed me a lot of this. My negativity would trigger both semiconscious and unconscious guilt that I would defend against in a handful of ways. Sometimes I was able to remember myself and not react to a stressful event but more often than not I would go through the cycle of 'acting out' - having guilt - then defending against the guilt  through something other than objectively observing it.  There were a  few ways of defending against the guilt which demanded a rejection of myself as a 'spiritual person' like episodes of long binge drinking or just proud belligerence. Usually not both at once. I was a happy irreverent drunk or a sober 'workaholic company man' who was often too serious on top of disguising my confusion about the world and emotional suffering. To get some relief I would cycle back around to my spiritual ego mixed with a few sincere efforts. I was a mess. My last drunk was in February of 2005. Before that was about 3 years. My drinking really tapered off at the end of the nineties, right after I turned thirty. By the time I pulled my last drunk, I was in spiritual ego most all of the time. I was reading Almaas by then.

I really think I was an Alcoholic in my last life.

I guess I'll get to the synchronicities later,,,,

[Zigzag Idiot]

This description of 'buffers' is really to the point.

Buffered Consciousness 

One of the keys to psychological absorption is provided in the Guirdjeff- Ouspensky system in the concept of buffered consciousness. Humanity is involved and absorbed (psychologically entangled) in manifestation such that awareness is quite limited, by conditioning, by circumstances, even by transient evolutionary necessity. 

The principal factor of absorption is ignorance. The human being in general has no realization of his or her true nature, the purpose of his or her existence (incarnation), the nature of the universe (evolution, karma, etc.), the superficiality of material existence, etc. As the human being evolves in consciousness there is successive realization culminating in self-realization or awakening to the higher self. In the meantime, virtually all of the apparent 

forces and factors in the objective world conspire to keep humanity in ignorance. This is due almost entirely to the inherent inertia of matter and the submission and emersion of humanity in matter (physically, emotionally, and mentally). But it is also due to the (needed evolutionary) consequences of the experience of struggling with this emersion and rising above and beyond this state of conditioned existence. 

Much of this conditioned existence (absorption) (psychological sleep) is built or compounded upon ignorance, based on (unconscious) psychological comfort and the (unconscious) psychological evasion of inner and outer contradictions. Psychological sleep is in a sense a matter of self-deception. In failing to recognize the reality of manifested existence, human (personality) consciousness contrives unconsciously, and collectively creates a model of manifestation consistent with quite limited understanding (assumptive delusion). That model generally includes the delusion of separate existence (as personalities) and the delusion of material reality (denial of that which is spiritual). The human being does not want to believe in the superficial and transient nature of life in the lower world (and the superficial and transient nature of the lower self or personality) so that a belief system is contrived to accommodate psychological comfort (sometimes through religion, sometimes through personal philosophy, always through rationalization (conscious or otherwise)). In any event, the unconscious assumptions that are made about manifested existence, which contradict reality, contribute to the continued enslavement of human beings to unrealistic patterns of sense perception. 

In order for a person to awaken from this sleep of deep psychological conditioning (which has been sustained for countless incarnations), a person requires certain shocks (jolts) to the psychological system. Gradual evolution does not provide many major crises or shocks, but there are (merited) occasional shocks (to the unconscious) which spur the individual onward (or back to within the bandwidth of the evolutionary path). Once the evolution of consciousness reaches the point of conscious appreciation of reality, then the series of shocks (intense experience) moves more to the realm of conscious psychological experience and the need for shocks is lessened. But whenever the serious student strays sufficiently from the path (e.g., when the student becomes absorbed in personality experience or expression), the progressive balance must be restored. 

The spiritual student is really one who recognizes the limitations of human (personality-centered) consciousness and who works to overcome the implied conditioning, eventually becoming self-realized (awakened to the conscious presence of the higher self). 

From: page 16 https://www.uppertriad.org/Chapters/4_TOP_372.pdf

[Gog]

Guilt is a word used without much thought, at most it is considered a base emotion, possibly in response to Catholic dogma or some other ideology. In fact it serves a very useful purpose in reminding one of one's separation. Sin is the separation of the human being from God, the splitting from the source, which is the meaning of the fall. Sin is not something inherently bad or wrong, it is simply a state of being, in separation from the almighty. Orthodox Christians seek to attain Theosis, union with God, which is also the meaning of Yoga, or so I am told. Guilt is the recognition that one has not attained such a state yet. Whether such a state is ever attainable whilst alive is debatable, as is the concept of death itself. Self-realisation, Theosis, Marriage, etc. are all ideals. The connection between the yi jing and astrology is well documented, it is not I who seeks to absorb but you as was indicated by the question mark, unless I misunderstood. Anger is a gift. Thank you.

[Zigzag Idiot]

On one hand - "The Red level of consciousness is impulsive and egocentric. The core

motivation is about doing what you want and being who you are, regardless

of the consequences (Ooten, Unpublished). Neurotransmitters related to guilt

are not physiologically present in individuals at this level, thus guilt is not

expressed (Graves, 2005)." - http://www.consciousdynamicsllc.com/home/levels_of_consciousness.html

On the other hand - "Guilt: The Sage has made it clear that the word guilt, and all ideas related to it, do not have a Cosmic basis. This includes the idea of original sin, as well as the idea that we become guilty for whatever we do or fail to do. The idea of guilt, associated with the image of an inextinguishable stain, is an invention of the collective ego to keep the Individual under control." - The Oracle of the Cosmic Way.

Zigzag Idiot finds third force. Awakened Conscience is the intelligence of the Universe. Remorse of Conscience is real guidance whereas guilt is illusory.

[Zigzag Idiot]

22 hours ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

Once the evolution of consciousness reaches the point of conscious appreciation of reality, then the series of shocks (intense experience) moves more to the realm of conscious psychological experience and the need for shocks is lessened. But whenever the serious student strays sufficiently from the path (e.g., when the student becomes absorbed in personality experience or expression), the progressive balance must be restored. 

This was near the end of the article on Buffered Consciousness just above. Although It's Fourth way material, it points to an occurrence mentioned in the I CHING when one incurs a fate by slandering the Cosmos, thus imprisoning the 'Cosmic helpers'. When we reunite with our True Nature the Cosmic helpers or nature spirits are free to help us again. They remain able to help when we are balanced and connected with our True Self. 

Its also similar to what is called in Christian Hermeticism the "freeing of the guardian Angel". The guardian Angel is freed —often in order to be able to acquit new missions—when the soul has acquired the disposition of its part of "likeness" in order to experience the Divine more intimately and more immediately, which corresponds to another hierarchical degree. Then it is an Archangel who replaces the freed guardian Angel. Human beings whose guardian is an Archangel have not only new experiences of the Divine in their inner life, but also, through this very fact, receive a new and objective vocation.

in short, purifying the emotional center of negativity (shadow work) we can then overcome temptation to abuse power and the Universe suddenly starts supporting us in a stepped up manor and offers us more force. It seems like it's spelled out more plainly in the I Ching than in Christianity.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Watching the second one now. Talking about metaphysics.

 

[tsuki]

2 hours ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

On 17.02.2019 at 6:58 AM, Zigzag Idiot said:

Once the evolution of consciousness reaches the point of conscious appreciation of reality, then the series of shocks (intense experience) moves more to the realm of conscious psychological experience and the need for shocks is lessened. But whenever the serious student strays sufficiently from the path (e.g., when the student becomes absorbed in personality experience or expression), the progressive balance must be restored. 

This was near the end of the article on Buffered Consciousness just above. Although It's Fourth way material, it points to an occurrence mentioned in the I CHING when one incurs a fate by slandering the Cosmos, thus imprisoning the 'Cosmic helpers'. When we reunite with our True Nature the Cosmic helpers or nature spirits are free to help us again. They remain able to help when we are balanced and connected with our True Self. 

@Zigzag Idiot I'm very thankful for this passage and your commentary. My recent departure from spiritual path into bayesian statistics that was fueled by my instinct of self-preservation was abruptly redirected back to my previous course. I'm not at ease with saying that the universe took care of me, or that I have a guardian angel, but your words are very soothing. I wonder whether I will ever be able to honestly say that I'm special and that I deserve to be taken care of.

[Zigzag Idiot]

                              Have you noticed how intense pain shows up in waves.

Bad Tooth ache or ear ache are good examples. But if you've experienced intense grief, there it is. It's just not painful phenomena when you consider an orgasm. What about music and how it affects us from waves of sound vibrations. Or back to something distressing, how about a cyclical psychological depression?

To transform pain I need to let go first thing. Surrender immediately at the beginning and don't brace against the wave. Let it completely go through. I watch the interval between waves. Just watch and breathe.

When it's time I let go. I give up a second time. But if I lose myself in watching the interval and I lose my inner balance because of the pain. I can still observe and watch myself go over the waterfall. This allows me the opportunity to surrender and let go for a third time. The last instance helps guarantee a return ticket in my pocket back to having a peaceful teflon coated inner world. A sanctuary. In work on myself, I've lost and then regained the sanctuary countless times.

This kind of long term inner struggle is the norm for people doing Inquiry. Stage growth is slow but States come and go, like waves.

[Zigzag Idiot]

When On the campaign trail in 1990's Bill Clinton was mocked by the orange and blue for saying "I feel your pain".

To me, this is the epitome of SD green level. Existential angst or hypersensitivity to one's own pain as well as others pain seems common. But what is obtained in increased compassion is lost with regards to common sense. I think a lot of people enter into green through some form of trauma and when they go to yellow and 2nd tier will have resolved it and processed the emotional charge from this experience. Greater continuity of Consciousness and inner stability or independence develops from having overcome these deep traumas adding to the transpersonal feel of yellow. Commonsense returns.

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by Zigzag Idiot

[Zigzag Idiot]

Just started watching this one.

 

 

"Like our finger prints, our palm prints are unique, one of a kind. Unlike our finger prints, however, our palm prints can change with age. Sometimes the lines of the hand can change rapidly, relating to a change of life. For instance, Arnold Keyserling observed the lines of the hands of his brother change overnight when his brother's leg was amputated in World War II. The lines of the hand have meaning. They are not meaningless chance - chaos. Nothing is. But you must know the fractal correspondences, the keys to decipher the meaning of the hands. Palmistry as known in the West has lost most of these keys, and as it is now popularly known, is mostly non-sense. Aside from lacking the fractal keys to properly read the lines, most palm reading today proceeds from a false premise, that you can know your future from your palms. You cannot know your future from your palms, or anything else. The Strange Attractor prevents such mischief. You can only get an idea as to your present potentials. The lines are a kind of message from your Higher Self who always knows just who you really are, and what you should do." - From Chance and Choice chapter 7.

 http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/energy/

 

I haven't verified everthing said in this chapter other than the lines of the hands DO move. I've been watching my lines change for 15 years. My 'willing' line  seems to change the most and the thinking line is a close second. On my left hand the awareness line changes more than the others.

I can feel energy in my hands. According to quite a few forum posts, it's pretty common.

With the hand many can sense a warm spot about 1-3 inches above the scalp.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Zigzag Idiot